AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 Innovation Patent Specification Title: Transit vehicle Applicant(s): P&O Automotive and General Stevedoring Pty Ltd Inventor(s): Edouard Atichian Agent: © COTTERS Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys The following is a full description of the invention which sets forth the best method known to the applicant of performing it. CoTPOO1 2 Transit vehicle Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transit vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates s to a transit vehicle for use carrying drivers during the loading and unloading of vehicles from cargo ships. Background of the Invention When loading or unloading new cars from cargo ships it is customary for a number of drivers 10 to each drive a vehicle into or out of the cargo ship to and from holding areas on the docks. The drivers are generally not permitted to walk into the ship because this activity would expose them to safety risks on account of the vehicles and conditions present. Furthermore, the distances are generally sufficiently far that walking becomes inefficient, and slows the loading or unloading operation. 15 In the instance of vehicle unloading for example, a number of drivers are generally driven into the ship in a transit vehicle, and each driver is dispatched from the transit vehicle to take control of one of the cars that requires unloading. 20 On account of the large number of cars that require unloading from a cargo ship, it is advantageous to transport a large number of drivers in each load. This reduces the total number of loads that are required, which in turn adds to the efficiency of the unloading/loading operation. 25 For a number of reasons, existing transit vehicles are generally not well adapted to the purpose of vehicle loading and unloading. One such problem is that the roof clearance within a typical cargo ship is relatively low, such that vehicles like vans are generally too high to enter. In contrast, smaller vehicles such as sedans and wagons generally only have a passenger capacity of 5 persons and in some instances up to 7 or 8. However, given that 30 the driver of the transit vehicle is not involved in the unloading operation, this means that only around 6 or 7 drivers are transported in each load.
3 On account of stringent operational health and safety requirements, it is important that the drivers are not exposed to any hazardous or dangerous working conditions. Accordingly, the transport method for unloading the cargo ships should not subject the drivers to any unnecessarily risky situations or conditions. 5 Object of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the above disadvantages, or to provide a useful alternative to existing transit vehicles. 10 Summary of the Invention In a first aspect, the present invention provides a vehicle having a rear passenger compartment having a sunken floor foot well; bench seats with back rests located in the rear passenger compartment on both sides 15 of the vehicle and above the foot well; an air actuated suspension system including a plurality of airbags; and a barn door providing access to the rear passenger compartment from the rear of the vehicle. 20 Preferably, the rear passenger compartment is accessible for emergency through at least one side of the vehicle through a sliding door, and a portion of one of the back rests adjacent to the sliding door when in a closed position is pivotable such that said portion of the back rest is downwardly pivotable to provide emergency access to or from the rear passenger compartment through the sliding door. 25 Preferably, the air actuated suspension system includes an automatic load levelling device. In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of modifying a vehicle, the method including the following steps: 30 removing a portion of the floor from a rear compartment of the vehicle and installing a sunken floor foot well; installing bench seats with back rests in the rear passenger compartment on both sides of the vehicle and above the foot well; 4 cutting and lowering the roof to a total height of not more than 1600mm; removing the existing suspension system and installing an air actuated suspension system including a plurality of airbags; and removing the existing rear door and installing a barn door providing access to the rear 5 passenger compartment from the rear of the vehicle. Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of specific example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 10 Fig. 1 is a top view schematic showing a transit vehicle; Fig. 2 is a side view of the transit vehicle of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view of the transit vehicle of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 shows a portion of the suspension system of the vehicle of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 shows the rear compartment of the vehicle of Fig. 1; and is Fig. 6 shows the underside of the foot well of the vehicle of Fig. 1. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments A transit vehicle 10 is disclosed. The vehicle 10 of the preferred embodiment is created by modifying a Kia Grand Carnival. However, it will be appreciated that any light passenger van 20 type vehicle may be modified in accordance with the invention. The vehicle 10 is designed for use within cargo ships having low roof clearances. As such, the roof 12 is cut and lowered to an overall height of 1620mm or less. 25 As depicted in Fig. 1, the vehicle 10 accommodates up to twelve passengers, including a driver and one front passenger in a front cabin 14 and ten more passengers in a rear passenger compartment 16. Prior to modification, the vehicle 10 provides access to the rear passenger 16 compartment by two sliding doors 18. However, the vehicle 10 is modified to include a barn door 20 located at the rear of the vehicle 10. The barn style door permits the 30 ten passengers to quickly board and unload from the vehicle 10. In order to provide adequate room for up to ten passengers in the rear compartment, the floor is lowered by installing a sunken foot well 22. The foot well is created by cutting out a 5 large portion of the floor out of the rear passenger compartment 16. The size of the foot well 22 when viewed from above is approximately 2200mm x 825mm. The foot well 22 is shown in Fig. 5, and it is also shown in isolation in Fig. 6. 5 The foot well 22 is a generally U shaped foot well fabricated from steel. As seen in Fig. 6, the underside of the foot well 22 is reinforced with a steel frame 24 fabricated from welded rectangular hollow section. The steel frame adds to the rigidity of the sunken foot well 22, and ensures that there is no adverse effect upon the structural integrity of the vehicle 10 chassis. The interior of the foot well 22 is covered with a hard wearing vinyl, which provides 10 a non slip, visually pleasing surface. As seen in Fig. 5, bench seats 26 are installed on each of the two sides of the foot well 22. The bench seats 26 also include a back support 28, and the seats 26 and back supports 28 are each padded with 80mm heavy padding. For safety reasons, lap seat belts are fitted to is each of the ten available seating positions in the rear passenger compartment 16. Each passenger in the rear compartment has around 390mm to 400mm of space. The original sliding doors 18 are generally not utilised for entry and exiting from the vehicle 10. However, the sliding doors 18 are retained as emergency exits. On each side of the 20 vehicle 10, in the rear passenger compartment, a portion 30 of the back support 28 which is located adjacent to the sliding door 18 opening is hinged, by hinge mechanisms 32. This allows a portion of the back support 28 to fold downwardly, away from the centre of the vehicle 10, providing ready access to the sliding doors 18 in the event of an emergency. The hinging mechanisms 32 of the back support 30 are selectively lockable, such that in normal 25 operation the back rest is uniformly rigid. The hinges are shown in Fig. 5. In addition to the modifications made to the floor well, the existing rear coil spring suspension is also removed. As a replacement to the original suspension, the vehicle is fitted with air bags 40, as shown in Fig. 4. The suspension system is constantly self 30 adjusting to maintain a constant roof height of 1620mm, by means of an automated load levelling device. The air bag suspension 40 provides superior ride comfort and enables the vehicle 10 to be operated closer to the ground and hence allows the vehicle 10 to enter into low clearance spaces of 1625mm. The airbag suspension 40 is operable by a high volume compressor and an accumulator. The air bag suspension system 40 provides automatic self 6 levelling, such that the vehicle 10 can automatically adjust to uneven passenger loading in the rear. This feature also prevents the vehicle 10 from becoming stuck inside the ship when all of the passengers alight. In contrast, existing suspension systems have a tendency to result in raising of the vehicle as the weight inside is reduced. 5 The level of softness or firmness of the air bag suspension 40 enables the suspension characteristics to be automatically varied as required depending on the operating conditions. For example, the suspension may be set low and soft when operated within the cargo ship, to minimise the required roof clearance. Alternately, when operated outside on the dock, or 10 on the roads at higher speeds, the suspension may be stiffened by inflating the air bag suspension 40. The overall height of the vehicle 10 is reduced by fitting low profile tyres to the existing rims. The effect being a reduction in the overall external diameter of the wheel, and hence is reducing the height of the vehicle 10. The odometer is adjusted to compensate for the new diameter. The under chassis clearance must be sufficient to enable the vehicle to be driven up or down a ramp having an incline angle of at least 100. On the underside of the cabin at the rear, a 20 skid plate is provided to reduce the risk of structural damage to the vehicle in the event that the tail end of the vehicle bottoms out when commencing a ramp. To increase the awareness of dock workers and other people in the vicinity of the vehicle 10, the vehicle 10 is fitted with flashing headlights and taillights. A rotating amber light is also 25 fitted. The vehicle 10 ignition system may be operable with a swipe card. This enables the vehicle 10 operator to track which drivers have been driving the vehicle, which may be important in the event of an accident or other such event, as the vehicle 10 may provide conclusive 30 records of driver history and times etc. The vehicle may also include a speed control device, to limit the maximum speed. The vehicle 10 may also be provided with a shock recorder system. The shock recorder system also provides access to information on the way the vehicle has been operated. This 7 may also provide valuable information in the event that an accident or other unforeseen event occurs. Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be s appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.