GB2133356A - Vehicle cab arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle having a load or equipment carrying portion includes a cab movable from an upstanding operational configuration to a low profile stowed configuration. The cab comprises forward and rearward wall portions 14, 15 and a roof portion 16 which bridges the forward and rearward wall portions when the cab is in its upstanding configuration. Wall portions 14, 15 are each hingeable about respective horizontal hinge axes A, B respectively between an upstanding position and a low profile position. In the low profile position rearward wall portion 15 overlies a major portion of the floor region of the cab. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicle cab arrangements This invention relates to vehicles having cab arrangements which are movable between an upstanding configuration and a low profile configuration.

Such vehicles are used to carry equipment such as missile launchers, fire fighting apparatus, cranes, earth working equipment on a load carrying portion of the vehicle. In such applications, when the equipment is operated, it is important to ensure that movement of the equipment, and/or its field of view, is not obstructed by the cab arrangement. This is particularly so where the carried equipment is heavy and therefore mounted as low as possible on the vehicle in order to maintain the centre of gravity of the vehicle at a low level, for stability.

In the past, it has been known for the cab arrangement to comprise a pram-type canopy frame which is covered by a flexible waterproof material such as canvas, so that the cab arrangement may be stowed as required. Such cabs, however, do not provide good protection from weather and furthermore do not protect the interior of the cab arrangement when it is stored and the equipment operated. In this specification, the term "chassis" should be taken to include those parts of the vehicle, both structural and nonstructural, which remain fixed when the cab is moved between an upstanding configuration and a low profile configuration.

According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a vehicle having a chassis, including a load-carrying portion for carrying equipment, and a cab arrangement upstanding from the chassis forward of the load-carrying portion, said cab arrangement being movable between an upstanding operational configuration and a low profile stowed configuration, said cab arrangement including spaced forward and rearward generally rigid wall portions upstanding from said chassis, said forward wall region being movable to a low profile position and said rearward wall position being hingedly mounted for movement about a respective generally horizontal axis to a low profile position in which it overlies at least a major portion of the floor region of said cab arrangement, there being means releasably to maintain said forward and rearward wall portions in their respective upstanding positions.

Preferably, said cab arrangement includes a roof portion bridging the forward and rearward wall portions when the cab arrangement is in its upstanding configuration and being removably attached to one of said forward and rearward wall portions.

Preferably, said forward wall portion is hingedly mounted for movement about a respective generally horizontal axis between said upstanding position and a low profile position.

Convenientiy, said roof portion is hingedly mounted on one of said forward and rearward wall portions, and removably attached to the other of said forward and rearward portions. In this instance, it is preferable for the roof portion to be hingedly mounted on said forward wall portion.

Advantageously, said roof portion is foldable to lie adjacent the inner surface of said forward wall portion, the two then being hingeable to at least a horizontal low profile position. The rearward wall portion may included flap portion hingedly attached adjacent an upper edge region thereof which when said cab arrangement is in its low profile position may be unfolded to overlie a portion of the floor region not overlaid by said rearward wall portion.

Preferably, the respective hinge axes of the forward and rearward wall portion lie in a common, generally horizontal plane. Naturally, in this instance, in order to allow the cab arrangement to be moved to its low profile configuration, it is preferable that any structure within the cab which projects above this plane, is removable or movable to a position below the plane. The plane may be located adjacent and above the vehicle power plant/gearbox.

Further aspects will become apparent from the following description, which is by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle with a cab arrangement in an upstanding configuration; Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the vehicle of Figure 1 with the cab arrangement in a low profile configuration; Figure 3 is a general perspective view of a cab arrangement of the form shown in Figure 1 in an upstanding configuration; Figure 4 is a general perspective view of the cab arrangement of Figure 3 in a low profile configuration, and Figure 5 is a schematic view of a steering column assembly, for use in the cab arrangement of the previous Figures.

Referring initially to Figures 1 and 2, a motor driven, wheeled vehicle 10 comprises a chassis 11 having a load carrying portion 12 and a forward control cab 1 3 which houses the vehicle driver and beneath which is located the powerplant P.

The vehicle cab comprises forward and rearward rigid walls 14 and 1 5 spaced longitudinally and each mounted on the chassis for hingeing movement about horizontal axes A and B respectively. A roof portion 1 6 is mounted on an upper edge region of forward wall 14 for movement about horizontal axis C and, when the cab is in an upstanding configuration, is releasably attached to an upper edge region of rearward wall 1 5. The upper edge region of wall 1 5 also hingedly carries a flap portion 1 7 for hingeing movement about horizontal axis D.In order to move the cab from the configuration shown in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 2, roof portion 1 6 is detached from rearward wall portion 1 5 and then swung together with forward wall portion 14 a sufficient amount anticlockwise to allow roof portion 1 6 to be folded against the inner surface of forward wall 14. The two are then swung together anticlockwise about axis A to assume a depending position, as shown in Figure 2, lying against a lower fixed portion of the cab. In order to complete the transformation of the cab, rearward wall 1 5 together with flap 17 is swung about axis B to lie horizontally over a major portion of the floor of the cab, and then flap 1 7 is unfolded about axis D to overlie the remainder of the floor.

Having described in schematic detail the construction and operation of a vehicle having a cab assembly movable between upstanding and low-profile configuration, a more detailed description will now be given with reference to Figures 3 and 4 and those parts already described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 are given like reference numerals.

The cab arrangement includes fixed lower front and side walls 1 8 and 1 9 respectively which form part of or are attached to the chassis of the vehicle. The rigid forward wall 14 is hingedly attached to lower wall for hingeing movement about axis A by means of hinge arrangements 20, which also include torsion springs 21 to counteract the weight of front wall 14 and roof portion 16 when these are pivoted downwards.

The forward wall is held in the upstanding position shown in Figure 3 by means of two overcentre, toggle-action clamps 22 (only one of which is shown), which are located as far rear from hinge arrangements 20 as possible to give good triangulation of the two front walls 14 and 1 8 The clamps 22 are preferably provided inside the cab, but are shown outside in Figure 3 for clarity.

The upper edge of forward wall 14 is formed as a generally horizontal trailing portion 23, to which roof portion 1 6 is pivotally attached by means of hinge arrangements 24 (only one of which is shown) for hingeing movement about axis C. As an optional feature, complementary regions of trailing portion 23 and roof portion 1 6 may be cut away to provide a hip hole 25 to allow an occupant of the cab to stand up and protrude through the roof to gain better visibility.

The adjacent edge regions of roof portion 16 and rigid rearward wall 1 5 are provided with the complementary parts of an overcentre toggle action clamp 26 which allow the releasable attachment of the roof portion to the rearward wall 1 5. To assist proper location of the roof portion and the rearward wall 15, mating dowels and bores (not shown) are provided which also provide increased rigidity to the wall and roof when clamped together.

Rearward wall 1 5 is pivotally attached to the chassis by means of pivot arrangements 27 which allow pivotal movement of the rear wall about axis B. A releasable stay 28 is provided to maintain rearward wall 1 5 in an upstanding configuration.

A flap 17 is attached to rearward wall 1 5 by means of hinges 29 for movement about axis D.

Referring now to the inside of the cab, there is provided a pair of seats 30, each comprising a back rest 31 and a cushion 32. In order to allow hinge axes A and B to be as low as possible, back rests 29 are detachable from the chassis and cushions 30 are pivotally attached adjacent their lower front edges to the chassis, so that they may be folded forward through roughly 18to. In a similar manner, gear stick 33 is either detachable or foldable.

It will be noted that hinge axes A and B lie in a common, generally horizontal plane, and in the arrangement described, this plane lies adjacent the highest immovable item in the cab, for example the vehicle powerplant/gearbox housing.

Referring to Figure 5, steering mechanism 35 via a shaft 36 carried in a cylindrical tube 37. In this embodiment, the tube is secured to a lower region of front wall 14 by means of releasable screw clamp arrangement 38 and shaft 36 is connected to the steering mechanism via a splined, releasable joint 39. In order to stow the steering wheel and its associated shaft and tube when the cab is to be moved to its low profile configuration, clamp arrangement 38 is released and wheel 34 with tube 37 is lifted, thus withdrawing the shaft 36 from its splined joint 39 and allowing the steering column to move with forward wall 14 about axis A.

The cab arrangement preferably also includes side doors (not shown) which may be in the form of furlable canvas panels attached to the roof portion 1 6. Alternatively, they may be in the form of light-weight panels of fibre reinforced material hingediy'attached to forward wall 14, but which may be removed prior to moving the cab arrangement to its low profile configuration.

The roof portion 16 is of rigid frame construction and may be covered either with a canvas sheet or a panel of stiff material, for example, aluminium sheet. Where the steering wheel is disconnected from the steering mechanism in the manner described above, it may be necessary to provide a recess in roof portion 1 6 to allow it to be folded ciosely against forward wall 14. Hook and eye arrangements 40 are provided to hold the roof portion against the forward wall 14 when the two are in their folded down position.

In order to move the cab arrangement of Figure 3 to the low profile position shown in Figure 4, the steering wheel 34 is disconnected from the steering mechanism 35 as described above, seat backs 31 are removed, seat cushions 32 are folded forwardly and the gear stick 33 is removed or folded. Clamps 22 and 26 are released together with stay 28. The sequence of steps then follows that described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

The described arrangements give a cab of relatively high structural rigidity and which provides good environmental protection for the occupants of the cab, but which may be moved relatively quickly (in roughly one minute) to a low profile configuration which offers protection to the interior of the cab. The part of the cab arrangement which protects the interior of the cab when it is in its low profile configuration may be suitably strengthened.

In a modification of the above-described arrangement, the torsion springs 21 may be replaced by gas spring devices or other suitably hydraulically damped devices. The arrangement may include linear hydraulic jacks to effect movement of the forward and rearward walls 1 4 and 1 5 respectively. In addition, alternative arrangements may be employed to stow the steering wheel 34 when the cab is moved to its low profile configuration; for example, the steering wheel may be removed and/or the steering column folded.

Claims (10)

1. A vehicle having a chassis including a loadcarrying portion for carrying equipment, and a cab arrangement upstanding from the chassis forward of the load-carrying portion, said cab arrangement being movable between an upstanding operational configuration, and a low profile stowed configuration, said cab arrangement including spaced forward and rearward generally rigid wall portions upstanding from said chassis, said forward wall region being movable to a low profile position and said rearward wall portion being hingedly mounted for movement about a respective generally horizontal axis to a low profile position in which it overlies at least a major portion of the floor region of said cab arrangement, there being means releasably to maintain said forward and rearward wall portions in their respective upstanding positions.

2. A vehicle according to Claim 1, which includes a roof portion bridging the forward and rearward wall portions when the cab is in its upstanding configuration, and being removably attached to at least one of said forward and rearward wall portions.

3. A vehicle according to Claim 1, wherein said forward wall portion is hingedly mounted for movement about a respective generally horizontal axis between said upstanding position and a low profile position.

4. A vehicle according to Claim 2, wherein said roof portion is hingedly mounted on one of said forward and rearward wall portions, and removably attached to the other of said forward and rearward portions.

5. A vehicle according to Claim 4, wherein said roof portion is hingedly mounted on said forward wall portion.

6. A vehicle according to Claim 5, wherein said roof portion is foldable to lie adjacent the inner surface of said forward wall portion, the two then being hingeable to at least a horizontal low profile position.

7. A vehicle according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein said forward wall portion is hingeable to a downwardly directed low profile position.

8. A vehicle according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein said rearward wall includes a flap portion hingedly attached adjacent an upper edge region thereof which, when said cab arrangement is in its low profile configuration, is hingeable to overlie a portion of said floor region not overlaid by said rearward wall portion.

9. A vehicle according to Claim 2, wherein the respective hinge axes of the forward and rearward wall portions lie in a common, generally horizontal plane.

10. A vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in, any of the accompanying drawings.