Handle-Navigable Rolling Wheel Toy

Abstract

A manually-driven hand-navigable wheel toy comprising a handle with a fork portion comprises at least two prongs that rests on a wheel and which enables and guides the wheel's motion during the operation. The at least two prongs straddle the wheel rim with the fork portion being in contact with the outer portion of the wheel rim during operation. The wheel is set in motion via, for example, a forward push of the wheel through the handle and is kept steadily moving toward a desired direction by steering the wheel with the aid of the at least two prongs of the fork portion of the handle. The wheel toy further comprises lights such as blinking LED lights located along various sections of the toy.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hand-driven rolling toy, comprising:
 (a) at least one wheel;   (h) a handle portion for pushing or pulling the wheel; and   (e) a fork portion in contact with the wheel for enabling and guiding the wheels motion, wherein
 the fork portion comprises at least two prongs, 
 the two prongs are on opposite sides of a wheel rim, 
 the fork portion of the handle rests on the outer surface of the wheel during operation, 
 the two prongs are separated by a length only slightly wider than the wheel's rim to enable wheel motion with minimal wheel wobbling, and the forks allows the wheel to be navigated in any direction with a slight twisting hand motion, 
 and wherein the wheel's motion can be reduced or stopped by a twisting hand motion or by pressing one of the forks downwards against the wheel rim. 
   
     
     
         2 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the wheel is a transparent hollow tubular wheel comprising multi-colored plastic objects that roll within the wheel during operation of the toy. 
     
     
         3 . The toy of  claim 2 , wherein one or more of the multi-colored objects emit light and/or sound during the wheel's motion. 
     
     
         4 . The toy of  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of light sources. 
     
     
         5 . The toy of  claim 4 , wherein the light sources further comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes. 
     
     
         6 . The toy of  claim 4 , wherein the light sources further comprising a plurality of multicolored blinking lights. 
     
     
         7 . The toy of  claim 1  further comprising at least one strip of light emitting diode array. 
     
     
         8 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the handle is curved. 
     
     
         9 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the wheel's rim is essentially flat. 
     
     
         10 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the wheel's rim further comprising a depression in the middle portion of the wheel's rim. 
     
     
         11 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the wheel's further comprising a semi-circular and/or cylindrical cross-section. 
     
     
         12 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the two prongs' ends can be connected via a detachable snap-on connector or clip-lock to prevent separation of the wheel from the handle during operation. 
     
     
         13 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein a connecting portion that connects the prongs has a length that can be adjusted and set in a fixed position to accommodate different wheel rim diameters. 
     
     
         14 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the handle's length is manually adjustable. 
     
     
         15 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the toy further comprising two wheels. 
     
     
         16 . The toy of  claim 15 , wherein the two wheels are connected by a bar and the toy handle is connected to the middle portion of the bar. 
     
     
         17 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the toy is made of polymer. 
     
     
         18 . The toy of  claim 1 , wherein the wheel further comprising a cylindrical tube. 
     
     
         19 . The toy of  claim 2 , wherein the cylindrical tube contains one or more multicolored balls that roll inside the wheel during operation. 
     
     
         20 . The toy of  claim 19 , wherein the one or more multi-colored balls generate light or sound when the wheel moves.