GB2145759A

GB2145759A - Curtain-sided vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2145759A
Application number: GB08323150A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Alan Richards
Original assignee: SOUTHFIELDS COACHWORKS Ltd
Current assignee: SOUTHFIELDS COACHWORKS Ltd
Priority date: 1983-08-27
Filing date: 1983-08-27
Publication date: 1985-04-03
Also published as: GB8323150D0

Abstract

A curtain assembly for closing a curtain-sided vehicle body comprises: a curtain 11 having parallel edges, upper 31 and lower 41 tracks provided with runners 34, 44 and resilient attachment means e.g. elasticated webbing 37, 47 for attaching the curtain to the runners. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Curtain assembly for vehicle bodies This invention relates to curtain assemblies for vehicle bodies, to curtains for use therein and to vehicle bodies having such assemblies; it is applicable, for example, to motor vehicle bodies of the van type suitable for urban deliveries.

Urban delivery vehicles are vehicles designed for delivery of goods to a substantial number of locations during a single day or a single trip. A common form of urban delivery vehicle has a body at least one side of which has a curtain mounted for longitudinal movement with respect to the body such that when in a withdrawn position the vehicle can be loaded or unloaded from that side, and when in the fully extended position the contents of the body are protected from the elements and/or retained in position by the curtain.

Substantial improvements in urban delivery vehicles are described and claimed in our U.K. Patent Application 82 03221, one aspect of which is a curtain assembly for closing a vehicle body. In particular, that application discloses a curtain assembly comprising a p.v.c. curtain adapted to extend between the cant rail and side rave of a vehicle body, the upper and lower edge portions of the curtain being attached respectively to a set of runners running on a rail carried by the cant rail and a second set of runners running on a rail carried by the side rave, the upper runners comprising means for suspending the curtain and the lower runners comprising a retention means for the curtain and a means for guiding the curtain during its opening and closing.

The present invention, provides a curtain assembly having substantial advantage over that described in U.K. Patent Application 82 03221.

Accordingly, in one aspect the present invention provides a curtain assembly for closing a vehicle body or other goods container, said assembly comprising: a curtain having first and second parallel edges; a first track provided with runners; a second track provided with runners; and a plurality of resilient attachment means attached to the curtain in the region of said first or said second edge, each of the attachment means being adapted to be attached to the runners of the respective one of said first and said second tracks. In a preferred form of the invention the curtain has a first set of resilient attachment means attached to it in the region of said first edge and a second set of resilient attachment means attached to it in the region of said second edge, whereby the curtain can be secured to the runners of both the first and second tracks.

Curtain assemblies of the present invention show considerable advantage over those of the prior art in that there is no need to use sprung trolleys or other sprung runners, thereby not only simplifying the structure and obtaining increased reliability, but also providing as assembly that is substantially cheaper than one using sprung runners.

The resilient attachment means used in the present invention are preferably such as to permit only a very limited degree of extension.

Where the curtain assembly is fitted to the tracks in its completed state, the normal pro cedure-at least where the curtain assembly is one having resilient attachment means at both the upper and lower edge regions, the attachment means engaging at their free ends with the respective runners-is to engage one set of runners with one of the tracks (normally the upper track, thereby suspending the curtain in a substantially vertical plane). The lower edge of the curtain is then pulled downwards so as to overcome the resiliency of the resilient attachment means and the lower set of runners is engaged with the lower rail.The dimensions of the curtain, resilient attachment means and runners are chosen so that when the lower set of runners has engaged the lower rail and the downward pull discontinued the resilient attachment means continues to provide tension in the curtain and serves not only to hold the runners in place on their respective rails but also to keep the curtain substantially flat.

In one form of the invention the resilient attachment means comprises woven textile material and the desired resiliency is obtained, for example, by using a material having an inherent elasticity or by using a textile material that has had applied to it, for example by inter-weaving, threads or other filaments of elastomer. A suitable material, mentioned by way of example, is that known as "elasticated webbing", and the specific description that follows with reference to the accompanying drawings refers to the use of such material.

The resilient attachment means can be attached to the curtain in any convenient way; for example, it can be attached by stitching or rivetting, by means of adhesive or flamebonding or by a combination of such methods.

There is now described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying infor mal drawings, a curtain assembly, the curtain for use therein and a side of a vehicle body equipped with the assembly according to embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings: FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the side of the vehicle body showing the curtain assembly in its closed position; FIGURE 1.1 is a rear elevation of a portion (on an enlarged scale) of the curtain shown in Figure 1, prior to securement to the curtain runners; FIGURE 2 is a section on the line A-A of Figure 1 showing the upper portion of the curtain attached to upper curtain runners; and FIGURE 3 is a section on the line B-B of Figure 1 corresponding to that of Figure 2 but showing the lower portion of the curtain attached to lower curtain runners.

The vehicle body described below with reference to the drawings is of the van type having a base, and four corner posts upstanding therefrom to define an elongate structure having two parallel sides and two ends. The corner posts support a roof, and the two corner posts at each side of the body are interconnected at their upper ends by a cant rail and at their lower ends by a side rave. A pelmet extends along each side of the body immediately beneath the cant rail. The principal purpose of the pelmet is as a weather guard to prevent rain and snow from entering the vehicle over the top of the curtain.

The curtain 10 comrises a sheet 11 of heavy duty p.v.c. having upper and lower parallel edges 1 2, 1 3. To the upper edge portion of sheet 11 there have been attached by means of stitching a plurality of resilient attachment means one of which 1 6 is shown in Figure 1.1. Each of these attachment means comprises an elongate strip of elastic (elasticated) webbing sold by R.G. Trade Ltd.

under the Trade Mark "Pirelli Webbing". This webbing has a width of 50 mm. and contains steel cords which limit the extent to which the webbing can be stretched.

As can best be seen in Figures 2 and 3 with reference to strip 16, each of the strips of webbing has been secured to the upper edge portion of the curtain by straight rows of stitching running parallel to the lower end edge 17, to the two parallel side edges 18, 1 9 and by a row 20 extending transversely across the strip and parallel to row 1 7. The portion of the webbing above row 20 is not attached to the curtain. A plurality of elongate strips of webbing corresponding to the strips attached to the upper edge portion of the sheet 11 extends along the lower edge portion of sheet 11. If desired, and in order to strengthen the attachment between the webbing strips and the sheet, other stitching or other securement means may be used.

In the curtain assembly of this preferred embodiment the free ends of the strips of elastic webbing attached to the upper edge portion of curtain 11 are secured to a set of runners 30 adapted to run on a rail 31 carried by a cant rail 32 extending, for example, along one side of the vehicle body. The runners 30 act as suspension means for the curtain. One of the runners 30 is shown in Figure 2. It comprises a plate 33 having in its upper portion two spaced apart holes carrying spindles (not shown) on which are mounted twin wheels one of which 34 is shown in Figure 2. The circumferential surface of the wheels is such that they fit closely and are able to move easily along rail 31.

The lower, cranked portion 35 of plate 33 has formed therein an elongate slot 36 whose dimensions are such that it can accommodate the webbing strip 1 6. The free end of strip 1 6 is attached to the runner by being fed through slot 36 and folded back on itself so that its end portion 37 overlies the portion of the strip secured to curtain 11 and that overlying portion is secured, for example by stitching.

Conveniently this stiching passes through both iayers of the webbing and also through the curtain.

The webbing strips dependent from the lower edge portion of curtain 11 are attached to a set of runners 40 one of which is shown in Figure 3, and those runners are adapted to run along rail 41 carried by side rave 42 extending beneath and parallel to cant rail 32.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 the runners are of the same design as the suspension runners shown in Figure 2 and this is convenient in that only one type of runner is needed in producing the curtain assembly.

The free ends of the webbing strips are attached to cranked end portion 45 of the runner 40 by the same means as that adopted for attaching the upper free ends described above with reference to Figure 2.

It will be seen from Figure 3 that the portion of the webbing strip attached to the curtain is different at the lower edge portion from the attachment at the upper edge portion. At the lower edge portion the overlying free end 47 is secured to the overlaying portion of the webbing strip but neither of them is secured to the curtain; the curtain is secured to the webbing stip only in the region 48 thereby permitting the lower edge portion of the curtain to incline outwardly at 49 so as to overlie and preferably to be secured to plate 43 at its extreme lower edge portion 50.

The curtain assembly described above with reference to the drawings can be produced as follows. First, the strips of elastic webbing are secured to the curtain in the dispositions described above. Then a runner is presented to each of the free ends of the webbing strips, the strip is fed through elongate slot 36, folded back on itself and secured, for example, by stitching. Preferably, when the webbing strips are secured to the curtain they are under slight tension. When each of the free ends of the webbing strips has been secured to its respective runner the curtain assembly thereby produced is presented to the wall of the vehicle to which the curtain assembly is to be fitted, the runners attached to the upper edge portion of the curtain are engaged with rail 31 in the disposition shown in Figure 2, the runners attached to the lower edge portion of the curtain are pulled downwards, thereby extending to a small extent the elastic webbing, until the runners engage rail 41. When the downward force is removed thP elastic, webbing contracts thereby drawing both upper and lower runners firmly against their respective rails.

Claims

1. A curtain assembly for closing a vehicle body or other goods container, said assembly comprising: a curtain having first and second parallel edges; a first track provided with runners, a second track provided with run ners; and a plurality of resilient attachment means attached to the curtain in at least one of the regions of said first and said second edges, the, or each, plurality of attachment means being adapted to be attached to the runners of the respective one of said first and said second tracks.

2. A curtain assembly according to Claim 1, for closing a loading or unloading aperture of a curtain-side vehicle body, in which the up per edge portion of a, or one of the, curtains of the body is suspended by means of resilient attachment means from the runners of the first track and the lower edge portion of the curtain is attached to the runners of the second track.

3. A curtain assembly according to Claim 2, in which the attachment of the lower edge portion of the curtain to the runners of the second track is by resilient attachment means.

4. A curtain assembly according to Claim 2 or 3, in which the first track is part of, or is carried by, a cant rail of the vehicle body and the second track is part of, or is carried by, a rave of the vehicle body.

5. A curtain assembly according to any of the preceding claims in which the runners are wheels or rollers.

6. A curtain assembly according to Claim 5, in which each track comprises a rod and the wheels or rollers engage their respective track on a face thereof facing away from the respective edge portion of the curtain, whereby the wheels or rollers are self-retaining on their respective track.

7. A curtain assembly according to Claim 5 or 6, in which the wheels or rollers are each pivotally mounted on a carrier provided with means to engage said resilient attachment means.

8. A curtain assembly according to Claim 7, in which the wheel or roller is mounted on the outboard side of the carrier and is disposed between the carrier and the cant rail or side rave, respectively.

9. A curtain assembly according to Claim 7 or 8, in which the carrier is a plate having a cranked arm or other extension, the extension having means for attachment to the respective resilient attachment means, the carrier being of shape and dimensions such that the resilient attachment means is substantially aligned with the respective track.

10. A curtain assembly according to any of the preceding claims, in which the resilient attachment means comprises a length of woven textile material.

11. A curtain assembly according to Claim 10, in which the textile material is elasticated webbing.

1 2. A curtain assembly according to Claim 10 or 11, in which the textile material contains a steel reinforcement.

1 3. A curtain assembly according to Claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. A curtain assembly for closing a loading or unloading aperture of a vehicle body or other goods container, substantially as described herein and substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 5. A vehicle body or other goods container including a curtain assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims.