Wheelie toy vehicle

Abstract

A toy vehicle having front and rear road wheels is provided with a mechanism to elevate the toy vehicle from an initial orientation supported on all of the road wheels into a wheelie orientation supported on the rear road wheels and to return the vehicle to the initial orientation supported on all of the road wheels. The mechanism includes: a crank; a spring loaded wheelie bar; and a slide plate driven by the crank so as to release the wheelie bar beneath the vehicle to elevate the vehicle from the initial orientation into the wheelie orientation and to thereafter extend a tongue member from a rear end of the vehicle to return the vehicle back to the initial orientation.

1 . In a toy vehicle having a plurality of front and rear road wheels, a mechanism is provided to elevate the toy vehicle from an initial orientation supported on all of the plurality of road wheels into a wheelie orientation supported on only the rear road wheels of the plurality of road wheels and to return the vehicle to the initial orientation supported on all of the road wheels, the mechanism comprising:
 a crank;   a spring loaded wheelie bar; and   a slide plate driven by the crank so as to release the wheelie bar beneath the vehicle to elevate the vehicle from the initial orientation into the wheelie orientation and to thereafter extend a tongue member from a rear end of the vehicle to return the vehicle back to the initial orientation.   
     
     
         2 . The mechanism of  claim 1  wherein the slide plate includes a latch member configured to releasably hold the wheelie bar and wherein a rear end of the slide plate forms the tongue member. 
     
     
         3 . The mechanism of  claim 2  further comprising a main beam fixedly positioned in a chassis of the toy vehicle, the main beam having an upper side supporting the slide plate for longitudinal sliding movement in the vehicle and further rotatably supporting the crank in engagement with the slide plate. 
     
     
         4 . The mechanism of  claim 3  wherein the crank includes a cam and the slide plate includes a cam follower surface and wherein the mechanism further comprises a spring positioned to bias the slide plate to the rear end of the vehicle and the cam follower surface of the slide plate into contact with the cam of the crank. 
     
     
         5 . The mechanism of  claim 4  wherein the cam follower surface is formed by an opening in the slide plate, the opening including a transverse forward edge contacted by the cam to push the slide plate forward thereby releasing the latch member from the wheelie bar while retracting the tongue member into the chassis. 
     
     
         6 . The mechanism of  claim 5  wherein the cam follower surface formed by the opening is further formed by a longitudinal slot extending forward in the slide plate from a lateral end of the transverse forward edge of the cam following surface at a forward end of the opening, the longitudinal slot being configured to receive at least a trailing edge of the cam of the crank to permit the slide plate to be moved rearward by the spring and extend the tongue member from the rear end of the toy vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The mechanism of  claim 4  wherein the toy vehicle includes a chassis, a rear axle mounting a rear pair of the plurality of road wheels, the rear axle being supported for free rotation in openings in the chassis, the mechanism further including a worm fixed to the rear axle so as to rotate with the rear wheels and the rear axle. 
     
     
         8 . The mechanism of  claim 7  further comprising a pivot arm supporting the rear axle with the worm for up and down movement in the openings in the chassis. 
     
     
         9 . The mechanism of  claim 8  further comprising another spring located to bias the pivot arm so as to engage the worm with a worm gear forming the crank with the cam. 
     
     
         10 . The mechanism of  claim 9  wherein the wheelie bar is also supported for pivotal movement from a bottom side of the main beam. 
     
     
         11 . The mechanism of  claim 10  wherein the wheelie bar includes an arm pivotally supported from the main beam and wherein the pivot arm supporting the rear axle and worm includes a lever extending into contact with the wheelie bar arm, the wheelie bar arm including another cam positioned to strike the lever and pivot the lever and the pivot arm so as to disengage the worm from the worm gear to permit reinitialization of the crank. 
     
     
         12 . The mechanism of  claim 1  further comprising a weight located above the rear axle so as to shift a center of gravity of the vehicle from in front of the rear axle in an initial orientation with all of the plurality of road wheels on a support surface to a location over or slightly behind the rear axle to maintain the vehicle elevated in the wheelie orientation on only the rear road wheels of the plurality of road wheels.