The present invention relates to kick scooters and, more specifically, to a wheel brake for a kick scooter.
Early kick scooters do not have brake means. When stopping movement, the rider must press the leg upon the ground. However, it is difficult to maintain balance when pressing the leg upon the ground to stop movement. In order to eliminate this problem, the inventor invented a wheel brake for kick scooter (under Taiwanese Utility Model Patent Application #088201817). This structure of wheel brake comprises a wheel guard pivoted to the rear side of the footplate of the kick scooter near the rear wheel, and spring means mounted on the rear side of the footplate and connected to the wheel guard to lift the wheel guard away from the rear wheel. When pressing down the wheel guard with the foot to compress the spring means, a part of the wheel guard is forced against the periphery of the rear wheel, and the rear wheel is stopped from rotation.
The present invention provides a wheel brake for a kick scooter, which stops the wheel from movement by means of the control of a brake lever. According to one aspect of the present invention, the wheel brake comprises a brake member, and a spring means. The brake member comprises a transverse axle projecting out of two sides thereof in the middle and pivoted to the front fork of the kick scooter above the front wheel, a front brake shoe disposed at a front side thereof, the front brake shoe having a brake face adapted for pressing on the periphery of the front wheel of the kick scooter to stop the front wheel of the kick scooter from rotation, and a rear actuating base disposed at a rear side thereof and fastened to the brake cable for enabling the brake member to be pulled by the brake lever to force the brake face against the periphery of the front wheel of the kick scooter. The spring means is connected between the front fork of the kick scooter and the brake member to hold the brake member in the non-operative position where the brake face is spaced away from the periphery of the front wheel of the kick scooter. According to another aspect of the present invention, the spring means comprises two coil portions at two distal ends thereof, the coil portions each having a retaining tip respectively fastened to the front fork of the kick scooter, and a substantially inverted U-shaped bearing portion connected between the coil portions and bridged over the brake member to hold the front brake shoe of the brake member away from the front wheel of the kick scooter.