Children's ride-on vehicle assemblies having trailing vehicle detection systems
First Claim
1. A children'"'"'s ride-on vehicle adapted to be a leading vehicle of a children'"'"'s ride-on vehicle assembly having a leading vehicle and a trailing vehicle, the leading vehicle comprising:
- a leading vehicle body having at least one seat adapted to receive a child;
a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to the leading vehicle body and including at least one driven wheel and at least one steerable wheel;
a steering assembly including a steering mechanism adapted to receive steering inputs from a child sitting on the at least one seat and to convey the steering inputs to the at least one steerable wheel;
at least a portion of a connection apparatus adapted to selectively couple a trailing vehicle to the leading vehicle for relative movement with the leading vehicle, wherein the connection apparatus is in a coupled configuration when the trailing vehicle is coupled to the leading vehicle and in an uncoupled configuration when the trailing vehicle is not coupled to the leading vehicle; and
a drive assembly selectively configured to rotationally drive the at least one driven wheel of the leading vehicle in a plurality of drive configurations, the drive assembly comprising;
means for selectively driving the rotation of the at least one driven wheel;
at least one user input device adapted to selectively actuate the drive assembly; and
a sensor assembly adapted to detect when the connection apparatus is in the coupled configuration, wherein the drive assembly is adapted to restrict driving of the at least one driven wheel to a subset of the plurality of drive configurations when the sensor assembly detects that the connection apparatus is in the coupled configuration, and further wherein the plurality of drive configurations includes at least one drive configuration that is not in the subset of the plurality of drive configurations.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Children'"'"'s ride-on vehicle assemblies having leading and trailing vehicles that are removably coupled together by a connection apparatus. The leading vehicle is an independently operable ride-on vehicle having a drive assembly that is selectively configured between a plurality of drive configurations, such as responsive to user inputs via user input devices. The assembly further includes a detection system adapted to detect whether or not the connection apparatus is in its coupled configuration and to restrict the plurality of drive configurations responsive thereto. This restriction may be automatic responsive to coupling of the leading and trailing vehicles together, and it may be made regardless of user inputs that otherwise would select and/or enable one of the restricted drive configurations.
44 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A children'"'"'s ride-on vehicle adapted to be a leading vehicle of a children'"'"'s ride-on vehicle assembly having a leading vehicle and a trailing vehicle, the leading vehicle comprising:
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a leading vehicle body having at least one seat adapted to receive a child;
a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to the leading vehicle body and including at least one driven wheel and at least one steerable wheel;
a steering assembly including a steering mechanism adapted to receive steering inputs from a child sitting on the at least one seat and to convey the steering inputs to the at least one steerable wheel;
at least a portion of a connection apparatus adapted to selectively couple a trailing vehicle to the leading vehicle for relative movement with the leading vehicle, wherein the connection apparatus is in a coupled configuration when the trailing vehicle is coupled to the leading vehicle and in an uncoupled configuration when the trailing vehicle is not coupled to the leading vehicle; and
a drive assembly selectively configured to rotationally drive the at least one driven wheel of the leading vehicle in a plurality of drive configurations, the drive assembly comprising;
means for selectively driving the rotation of the at least one driven wheel;
at least one user input device adapted to selectively actuate the drive assembly; and
a sensor assembly adapted to detect when the connection apparatus is in the coupled configuration, wherein the drive assembly is adapted to restrict driving of the at least one driven wheel to a subset of the plurality of drive configurations when the sensor assembly detects that the connection apparatus is in the coupled configuration, and further wherein the plurality of drive configurations includes at least one drive configuration that is not in the subset of the plurality of drive configurations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification