Jogging stroller
Baby strollers have been widely used for many years to provide a convenient transportability. There are a variety of strollers. For example, there are one for two infants to sit in tandem, cart-like stroller for facilitating shopping while taking an infant out, and jogging stroller equipped with two large rear wheels and a small front wheel, jogging stroller being easy to manipulate such that it is suitable for an adult to jog while pushing it. Vigorous exercise is widely recognized as a healthful pursuit, and increasing numbers of people engage in such exercise by fast walking or jogging to reach or stay in good physical condition. With the resurgence of physical fitness, persons of all ages, including the parents of infants and young children have developed great interest in all forms of physical exercise, particularly in jogging and walking at relatively high speeds. Jogging and similar exercises have become increasingly popular, as such exercise develops the cardiovascular system and generally increases the health of the person so engaged, as well as allowing the jogger to experience fresh air and the outdoor environment. New mothers are not exempt from the above benefits, and yet with the time constraints and pressures of parenthood, often find themselves unable to exercise regularly, even if they did so before the birth of their child or children.
Infants and small children certainly can’t be left unattended for any period of time, therefore it has become popular for parents to use jogging strollers to take the child or children along on the jog. Parents of babies or young children are often concerned with physical fitness and like to run or jog to maintain fitness. They also often like to take their babies or young children outdoors in a baby stroller. Many parents like to combine these two activities by pushing a stroller with the baby seated securely in the stroller while the parent jogs. Baby strollers are conventionally configured with a seating area for the infant and three or four wheel assemblies, which are sometimes arranged in pairs of wheels per assembly. While such strollers and carriages for infants and small children are well known, they are not generally suitable for use on jogging trails and other relatively uneven terrain. The bulk and inconvenience of such a stroller may make its use sufficiently inconvenient to preclude more than very infrequent use, thus accomplishing nothing toward enabling the parent to exercise as desired. Accordingly, jogging strollers have been developed with larger wheels and other features which make them more suitable for use by a parent while the adult jogs or exercises. Baby jogging strollers have been the subject of prior art and have developed into highly engineered and popular items, especially among young parents. There are a number of commercially available baby jogging strollers which are designed to be propelled by a user while jogging or walking.
Jogging strollers typically comprise a frame having wheels which rollably support the frame on the ground surface. An elongated transverse bar extends across the rear of the jogging stroller. This handle is gripped by the jogger while jogging in order to propel the stroller. Jogging strollers are typically made with larger wheels than walking strollers to enable the jogging stroller to be used on rougher terrain (such as old sidewalks, for example), without jostling the child in the stroller too much. Wheels on conventional strollers are typically small and can vibrate when the stroller is moved quickly, such as during a brisk walk. The typical three-wheeled jogging stroller is configured with a frame assembly formed of tubular aluminum for vehicular strength and light weight, one or two seats usually of a flexible cloth-like material, and pneumatic spoked-wheel tires. The two rear wheels are often of a diameter approximating that of an elementary school child’s bicycle with the front wheel of the same or somewhat smaller diameter. Three-wheeled strollers have a significant advantage over their four wheeled predecessors in that a three-wheeled configuration is better suited to steer, negotiate bumps and comfortably carry a passenger. Trailer strollers are another classification of strollers. Trailer strollers typically attach to the frame of a bicycle and allow a passenger to be towed by a rider of the bicycle. The trailer stroller includes only two rear wheels, with an attachment to the bicycle frame as a forward support, which is located in the same position as the front wheel of the jogging stroller.