This invention relates to a foot propelled vehicle, and is particularly but not exclusively concerned with a vehicle which a child can sit on and propel by engaging their feet along the floor.

There are known starter bicycles which a child can sit on before they have acquired the skills necessary to ride a pedal powered bicycle. Such a starter bicycle may have stabilising wheels to the left and right of the frame which are intended to ensure that the bicycle will not topple over, even if the child lifts its feet from the ground. The stabilisers can be removed as the child becomes more experienced, but there is than an increased of injury to the child.

One object of the present invention is to provide a foot propelled vehicle which has improved stability.

Viewed from one aspect, the present invention provides a vehicle comprising: a front housing in which a front rotatable ground engaging sphere is mounted by means of bearings such that the front sphere can rotate about a plurality of axes; a rear housing in which a rear rotatable ground engaging sphere is mounted by mans of bearings such that the sphere can rotate about a plurality of axes; a seat portion for a user; and a handle mounted on the front housing for the user to hold whilst riding the vehicle.

Preferably, the vehicle is foot propelled, and a user can sit on the seat portion with the user's feet engaging the ground to propel the vehicle. The seat portion may be provided on the rear housing.

Such a vehicle can be manoeuvred in any direction by translation or rotation in the ground-plane. This makes the vehicle easy and fun to ride, although it requires balance from the operator to use effectively. In preferred embodiments, the spherical "wheels" mean that the vehicle will not fall awkwardly either on top of or underneath a rider. Essentially, the outer casing of the spherical components rotates until stopped by the ground, and so nothing actually falls down to present a hazard for the rider. This is an obvious benefit when considering the age and developmental stage of the target rider for the preferred embodiment.

In a preferred embodiment, the vehicle is provided with a stabilising system comprising rotatable ground engaging member on the left hand side and the right hand side of the vehicle. In general these will be located between the centre of the front sphere and the centre of the rear sphere.

Whilst the ground engaging members of the stabilising system could be small wheels, castors or the like, preferably each member comprises a stabiliser housing in which a rotatable ground engaging stabilising sphere is mounted by means of bearings such that the stabilising sphere can rotate about three orthogonal axes.

The stabilising system is preferably removable from the vehicle, and preferably can be re-attached as needed.

In general, the vehicle will have two principal ground engaging members only - the front and rear spheres - and the optional stabilising ground engaging members. Those stabilising members will generally be of significantly smaller size than the principal ground engaging members and will have a substantially smaller diameter than either the front or rear sphere..

Preferably the front sphere and the rear sphere are hollow.

In a preferred arrangement, the one sphere, typically the front sphere, can be separated into two halves, and the other sphere can be positioned within it for storage or transportation. Preferably, that other sphere itself can be separated into two halves for storage and transportation, so that other components can be placed within the sphere and then the filled sphere placed inside the said one sphere. The other components could be any or all of the stabilising system; the seat; the hand engaging portion and so forth.

The arrangement may be such that one housing, such as the front housing, is larger than the other. In that case, the smaller housing may be fitted within the larger housing for storage and transportation. The sphere in the larger housing will be removed to facilitate this, and the larger housing may be split so that the smaller one can be placed within it.

The smaller housing could be such as to receive other components such as any or all of the stabilising system; the seat; the hand engaging portion and so forth. To this end the sphere may be removable from the smaller housing and / or the smaller housing may be split.

In preferred embodiments, the front housing and front sphere are larger than the rear housing and the rear sphere. Thus the rear sphere is of smaller diameter than the front sphere.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the front sphere is larger than the rear housing. In such an arrangement, preferably the front sphere can be separated into two halves, and the rear housing containing the rear sphere can be positioned within the front sphere for storage or transportation. Preferably, the rear sphere itself can be separated into two halves for storage and transportation, so that other components can be placed within the rear sphere and then the filled rear sphere placed inside the front sphere. The other components could be any or all of the stabilising system; the seat; the hand engaging portion and so forth. It will be appreciated that things could be the other way round, with the rear sphere being larger than the front housing.

The hand engaging portion may be in the form of a handle or handlebar arrangement, having for example an upright portion projecting from the front - A -

housing and a crossbar. Alternatively, there could be a pair of protuberances provided on the front housing

It will be appreciated that whilst the invention is particularly applicable to a foot powered vehicle, it could be applied to a vehicle provided with means for rotating one or both of the spheres to drive the vehicle along, such as a pedal mechanism, an electric motor and so forth. Furthermore, whilst the invention is particularly suitable for young children, versions could be constructed for older children and for adults.

The vehicle may for example be constructed principally form plastics materials or any other suitable materials including wood, metals and composites.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side view of a first embodiment of a vehicle in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the vehicle;

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating how spheres are mounted;

Figure 4 shows housings nested together;

Figure 5 shows spheres nested together;

Figure 6 is a side view of a second embodiment of a vehicle in accordance with the invention;

Figure 7 is a top view of the vehicle of the second embodiment; Figure 8 is a diagram showing the second embodiment in a condition suitable for storage and transportation; and

Figure 9 is a diagram showing an alternative way of mounting a stabiliser system on the vehicle.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings in more detail, there is shown a first vehicle in accordance with the invention, which comprises a front main assembly including a front main housing 1 which is attached releasably to a rear main assembly which comprises a rear main housing 2. A junction portion 3 is provided, attached releasably to both housings. A seat or saddle 4 is provided on the rear housing 2. A handle comprising a pair of uprights 5 and a cross bar 6 is attached to the front housing 1. A front hollow sphere 7 is mounted in the front housing 1 by means of bearings 8 that permit rotation about three orthogonal axes. A rear hollow sphere 9 is mounted in the rear housing 2 in a similar manner, by means of bearings 8'. The rear sphere is of smaller external diameter than the external (and internal) diameter of the front sphere.

A left stabiliser 10 comprises a left stabiliser housing 11 in which is mounted a left stabilising sphere 12 by means of bearings 8" that permit rotation about three orthogonal axes. A right stabiliser 13 is of the same construction, with a right stabilising sphere mounted within a right stabiliser housing by means of bearings 8" that permit rotation about three orthogonal axes . The stabilisers 10 and 13 are attached releasably to the front housing 1 and the rear housing 2. The spheres of the stabilising system are of substantially smaller diameter than the front and rear spheres.

The vehicle can be used with the stabilisers 10 and 13 attached, or with them removed.

It will be appreciated that Figure 3 is generic, to represent the front housing and sphere, the rear housing and sphere, and the stabiliser housings and spheres. For ease of storage and transportation each of the front housing, rear housing, front sphere and rear spheres can be separated into two halves. In a disassembled state, in this embodiment, which is by way of example only, the components can be arranged as follows. As shown in Figure 4, the rear housing 2 is within the front housing 1, and itself contains the saddle, junction portion and handle. As shown in Figure 5, the rear sphere 8 is within the front sphere 7 and contains the stabilisers 10 and 13. The split lines of the hollow spheres are indicated at 14.

It will thus be seen that this embodiment of the invention provides a foot propelled vehicle which comprises a front housing (1) in which a front main hollow sphere (7) is mounted by means of bearings (8) for rotation about three orthogonal axes, and a rear housing (2) in which a rear main hollow sphere (9) is mounted by means of bearings (8') for rotation about three orthogonal axes. The vehicle includes a seat portion (4) for a user; and a handle (5, 6) mounted on the front housing for the user to hold whilst riding the vehicle. On each side of the vehicle, between the front and rear housings, is a stabiliser (10, 13) comprising a housing (11) in which is mounted a stabiliser sphere (12) by means of bearings (8") for rotation about three orthogonal axes. One main hollow sphere (9) may be used to contain components of the vehicle (10, 13) for storage or transportation, and that sphere may be fitted inside the other main hollow sphere. One housing (2) may be used to contain components of the vehicle (3, 4, 5, 6) for storage or transportation, and that housing may be fitted inside the other housing (1).

A second embodiment of a vehicle 15 in accordance with the invention is shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8. The vehicle comprises a part-spherical front housing 16 and a part- spherical rear housing 18. A front hollow sphere 17 is mounted in the front housing 1 by means of bearings in the manner illustrated in Figure 3 that permit rotation about three orthogonal axes. A rear hollow sphere 19 is mounted in the rear housing 18 in a similar manner. The rear housing 18 and rear sphere 19 are of smaller external diameter than the external (and internal) diameter of the front sphere 17. A right stabiliser 20 comprises a left housing 21 in which is mounted a left stabilising sphere 22 by means of bearings that permit rotation about three orthogonal axes. A left stabiliser 23 is of similar construction. The stabilisers 20 and 23 are attached releasably to the front housing 16 and the rear housing 18, and in this embodiment serve to join the housings together although there could be additional components such as junction portion similar to portion 3 of the first embodiment. The spheres of the stabilising system are of substantially smaller diameter than the front and rear spheres.

The vehicle can be used with the stabilisers 20 and 23 attached, or with them removed. In both embodiments the stabilising spheres could be solid or hollow.

A seat 24 is provided on the rear housing 18. A pair of protuberances 25 and 26 are provided on the front housing 16, which a rider can grip with their hands.

Alternatively a handle such as that in the previous embodiment could be provided.

For ease of storage and transportation, the front and rear housings can be separated from the stabilising systems and each of the front housing, rear housing, front sphere and rear spheres can be separated into two halves. The vehicle can be disassembled as follows.

By separating the front housing 16 into two parts, the front sphere 17 can be accessed and separated into two parts. Similarly, by separating the rear housing 18 into two parts, the rear sphere 19 can be accessed and separated into two parts. The stabilising systems 20 and 23 can be placed inside the rear sphere 19, which is reassembled and placed inside the rear housing 18, which is itself reassembled. Any other components such as a handle, or a junction portion, may also be placed within the rear sphere 19. The rear housing 18, with its contents, is then placed within the front sphere 17. This is reassembled and placed inside the front housing 16, which is itself reassembled. This embodiment is of simpler appearance than the first embodiment, but it could be enhanced, for example by means of a fabric covering depicting an animal such as a caterpillar, a mythical creature such as a dragon, and so on. Such a fabric covering could also be stored within the rear sphere. Such an arrangement could also be used with the first embodiment.

It will thus be seen that this embodiment provides a foot propelled vehicle comprises a front housing (16) in which a front main hollow sphere (17) is mounted by means of bearings for rotation about three orthogonal axes, and a rear housing (18) in which a rear main hollow sphere (19) is mounted by means of bearings for rotation about three orthogonal axes. The vehicle includes a seat portion (24) for a user; and a handle (25, 26) mounted on the front housing for the user to hold whilst riding the vehicle. On each side of the vehicle, between the front and rear housings, is a stabiliser (20, 23) comprising a housing (21) in which is mounted a stabiliser sphere (22) by means of bearings for rotation about three orthogonal axes. One main hollow sphere (19) may be used to contain components of the vehicle (20, 23) for storage or transportation, and that sphere (19) and its housing (18) may be fitted inside the other main hollow sphere (17), inside that sphere's housing (16).

Figure 9 shows an alternative way of attaching a stabilising system to the vehicle. In this case, the left hand stabiliser 20, comprising housing 21 and sphere 22 is attached to a part of the vehicle indicated schematically at 27 by means of a link 27 between the housing 21 and the vehicle part 27, which is pivoted at one end to allow for pivotal movement of the stabiliser 20. The stabiliser 20 can thus move upwardly and away with respect to the vehicle part, this movement being moderated by a resilient member 28 such as a spring acting between the vehicle part and the housing 21. A corresponding arrangement is used for the right stabiliser 23. In this manner, even with the stabilising system deployed a rider can "bank" the vehicle when turning.

It will be appreciated that there may be many variations of the specific structures described above and illustrated, and that the invention may be viewed from a number of aspects and claimed in a number of different ways. For example, instead of mounting the spheres for rotation about three axes, they could be mounted in an alternative manner providing more limited freedom of movement.