There are many types of electric vehicles for children on the market. Some are designed for remote control use, and some are ride-on models for seating the human body. The invention targets the ride-on electric vehicles for children. They usually imitate the real vehicles and may include jeeps, beach vehicles, automobiles, motorcycles, race-cars, golf cars, and the like. The vehicle types and models are abundant to suit all kinds of tastes and preferences of children. Besides varying styles and models, as the ride-on electric vehicles are designed for seating children, safety is the most important design and production consideration.
As previously mentioned, the ride-on electric vehicles for children usually imitate the structure of the real vehicles. They also have a shifting mechanism. The general ride-on electric vehicles for children generally have speed shifting and forward and backward shifting functions. A shift bar is usually provided to achieve the shifting function. The conventional electric vehicles generally have separated shift bars to control speed and positive and reverse rotation. Such a design could easily shift to a high speed and reverse condition, and become very risky. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,114. It has an actuator to control shifting of speed and motor rotation direction. The actuator is pivotally installed and may be rocked to trigger switches that are in parallel with the actuator to accomplish the shifting effects. As the actuator is rocked about a pivotal point to perform shifting directly, children often cannot precisely shift to the desired speed or direction. As a result, control is difficult and risky conditions frequently occur.