GB2393694A

GB2393694A - Aerodynamic fairing

Info

Publication number: GB2393694A
Application number: GB0322372A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andy Bacon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-10-01
Filing date: 2003-09-24
Publication date: 2004-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2023-09-24
Also published as: GB0322372D0; GB0222735D0; GB2393694B

Abstract

An aerodynamic fairing of the kind fitted to the roof of cabs (10) of trucks. One part of the fairing (14) is adjustable relative to the other (13) to adapt the fairing to different vehicle bodies. The fairing is made up of spaced apart base members (13) between which is located an adjustable central member (14), adjustment of which alters the inclination of the upwardly facing surface of the fairing. The central member is connected to the base members using a tongue (26) and slot (27) or pin (35) and aperture arrangement, which provides the pivot for the movement of the central member.

Description

Aerodynamic Fairing This invention relates to aerodynamic fairing and in

particular to aerodynamic fairing for fitting to the roofs of cabs of vehicles.

With commercial vehicles which include a cab preceding a body which is larger than the cab, for example in rigid bodied freight vehicles and in articulated vehicles, it has become customary to mount above a cab fairing which guides the airflow over the cab and the surfaces of the body to achieve greater aerodynamic efficiency of the vehicle as 10 it travels along the road. Such vehicles are fitted with bodies of different sizes and in order to maximise the aerodynamic efficiency of the fairing, such fairing should be tailored to the shape of the body. Alternatively, the fairing may be made adjustable so that adjustment thereof tailors the fairing to the body size.

15 The present invention is more particularly concerned with the provision of adjustable fairing for commercial vehicles. An object of the invention is to provide aerodynamic fairing which is an improvement over existing fairing in its ease of fitting and transportability. 20 According to the invention, aerodynamic fairing for the roofs of cabs of vehicles comprises a base arranged to be mounted on the vehicle roof to extend longitudinally to the sides thereof, and a central member defining an upwardly and rearwardly inclined air guidance surface, the central member being mounted at its forward end to the base nor movement of the rearward end of the member up and down about pivot means, there 25 being overlapping portions of the base and the central member to define air guidance surfaces to the sides of the fairing and the rear end of the central member being fixable in one of a selection of positions.

( Preferably, the pivot means includes leading parts of the central member which locates with the base and elastomeric means between the central member and the base which, while allowing said movement, locates the member relative to the base.

5 The leading part may include slot and tongue means, the tongue being urged towards to a located position by said elastomeric means.

Alternatively, said pivot means includes a pin engageable in an opening and constrained by elastomeric means to locate the pin relative to the opening for said movement.

1() Preferably, the base comprises forwardly projecting arms arranged to extend to each side of the cab, the central member being movably mounted on the leading ends of the arms for movement about the pivot means.

IS In one arrangement, the central member extends transversely between the leading ends of the arms to lie close to the roof of the cab to which it is arranged to be fitted.

Towards its rear end the central member is arranged to be fixed in a selected position in relation to the base by suitable fixmg means, usually to each side of the central member.

Conveniently, the base is fixed directly to the roof of the cab by fixing means located through the base member into the cab roof.

The components of the fairing are advantageously arranged so that the base is in two 25 portions, one arranged to each side of the cab roof in use and the central member is arranged to receive the two portions of the base for transportation purposes prior to assembly. Further f attires of the invention will appear from the following description of an

30 embodiment of the invention given by way of example only and with reference to the drawings, in which

( Fig. I is a perspective view of a vehicle cab with the fairing fitted, Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. I with the fairing shown separated from the vehicle, Fig. 2A shows a scrap view of the part of the fairing illustrated, Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal cross-section through part of the assembled fairing, 10 Fig. 3A shows an alternative arrangement for interconnecting the fairing, Fig. 4 shows a pictorial view of the manner in which the leading end of the fairing is assembled, I S Fig. 5 shows a front perspective view of a fairing component, Fig. 6 shows an enlarged view of the leading end of the fairing, and Fig. 7 shows an alternative fixing arrangement.

Referring to the drawings, Figs. I and 2 show a typical cab of a vehicle to which the invention is applied. The vehicle is usually the tractor unit of an articulated vehicle or the cab unit of the rigid vehicle each of which are located in front of a load containing 25 body (not shown) which extends above the level of the cab roof. The cab 10 has a roof 11 which extends generally horizontally and is normally provided with fixing means (not shown) by which fairing is attachable to the roof of the cab.

The cab pairing 12 is shown in Fig. 1 assembled and fixed to the cab roof 11, and in 30 Fig. 2 is shown disassembled and it comprises three basic elements, two base elements 13 and an adjustable central element 14. When assembled and located on the cab roof 11, the Airing serves to provide air guidance surfaces to guide air during forward travel

( of the vehicle over the cab 10, so that the air flow passes over the vehicle body with minimal drag.

The base elements 13 comprising a left-hand clement 13A and a right-hand element 5 13B are arranged to be rigidly fixable to the cab roof 11 by fixing means, such as screws (not shown) which locate in screw-threaded apertures in the cab roof 11. Each element 13A and 13B extend along the sides of the roof 11 and each element has a forwardly directed portion with a leading end 16. The outer surface of the elements 13A and 13B define generally upwardly directed air guidance surfaces 17 which are intended 10 to guide the air flow to the sides of the body in known manucr. It is to be noted that the elements 13A and 13B are readily fitted to the roof 11 of the cab 10, the fixing means being readily accessible along the inside edges Tithe elements before the element 14 is fitted. The lower edges of the element 13A and 13B fit flush with the upper surface of the roof 11. There is also provided a ledge 19 extending generally horizontally from the 15 leading end and an outwardly directed curved surface 18 towards the rear end. The surface 18 is intended to provide a continuation of the air guidance surfaces provided by further elements 20 located to the rear and to each side of the cab 10, the elements 20 being fitted in known manner to the trailing edges of the sides of the cab 10. The surface 18 can be omitted.

I'o the rear of the elements 13A and 13B there is provided an upwardly directed member 21 (big. 3) by which the rearward end of the central element 14 is attachable, as will be described.

25 The central element 14 provides an upwardly and rcarwardly directed upper surface 23 to each side of which is formed a downwardly and outwardly directed surface 24 which is aligned with the air guidance surface 17 of the associated element 13A or 13B.

At the leading end of the central element 14 to each side of a nose portion 25, is 30 provided a tongue 26 which is arranged to engage in a slot 27, such a slot 27 being formed at the leading end of each of the side elements 13A and 13. Adjacent each slot 27 Is located an elastomeric element 28 which is compressed by the tongue 26 in order

( for the tongue to enter the slot 27 and this serves to hold the tongue 26 in position in the slot 27 whilst permitting the element 14 to move up and down at its rear end about the tongue and slot connection. Hence the rearward end of the element 14 can be positioned at various heights relative to the cab roof, the element 14 overlapping the elements 13A 5 and 13B at its sides.

Towards the rearward end of the element 14 there is located at each side a downwardly extending portion 30 having an aperture for receiving a fixing bolt 31 and in order for the element 14 to be fixed in its selected position, the fixing bolt 31 extends through the 10 portion 30 of element 14 and the portion 21 of each element 13A and 13B. The position of element 14 is selected so that the rearward end of the element 14 is at the necessary height according to the body located behind the cab 10. An opening or a series of openings are made in the portions 21 of the elements 13A and 13B so that the element 14 can take up different positions on the cab.

As an alternative to the tongue and slot connection described and shown in Fig. 3, the element 14 may be connected to each side of the nose 25 by a pin and grommet system shown in Fig. 3A. In this case a pin 35 is rigidly attached to the element 14 to extend outwardly in the forward direction and when the element 14 Is attached to the elements 20 13A and 13B the pin 35 extends through an opening formed in a grommet 36 fixed to the associated element 13A and 13B. By this means, the element 14 may move up and down about the connection due to the resilience between the pin 35 and grommet 36.

It will be seen that whether using the connecting means of Fig. 3 or Fig. 3A the element 25 14 is readily attached to the elements 13A or 13B by first locating the tongue 26 through the slot 27, or the pin 35 through the grommet 36, at each side and then securing the rearward end of the element 14 by bolted connection using the bolts 31 to each side of the element 14. At the leading cod of the assembly, the nose 25 of the element 14 lies flush with the roof 11 of the cab between the leading ends of the 30 elements 13A and 13Ps, the assembly providing continuous guide surfaces for the air now upwardly over the top of the cab roof and to the sides thereof so that the air flow

( passes upwardly over the vehicle body and to the sides of the vehicle body to obtain aerodynamic flow.

The use ol the fairing described avoids the need for internal frames for fitting the 5 Pairing to the cab, it is simple to fit and does not require the person fitting to operate in difficult positions. Due to the omission of a conventional hinge, the fitting of the assembly is simplified whilst not diminishing the sturdiness ot the assembly. Moreover, the fairing components arc readily transported with the side elements 13A and 13B locating within the central element 14 during transportation.

Referring to Fig. 7 there is shown an alternative way of fixing the central element to the elements 13A and 13B. In this case there is provided pins 40 (only one of which is shown) which are locatable through transverse openings 41 in the nose 25 of element 14 and into a bore 42 in the leading end of the element 13A and 13B using an R clip 44 15 to secure the pin 40 in position in each case.

lo give access to fit the pins 40, the nose of the element 14 is formed with an opening at 45 to admit the hand inserting the pins 40. The opening also admits a flow of air under the fairing but this flow may have application for providing air supply to the roof 20 vent (not shown) in the cab roof.

Claims

( Claims

1. Aerodynamic Airing for the roof of cabs of vehicles comprising a base arranged to be mounted on the vehicle roof to extend longitudinally to the sides thereof, 5 and a central member defining an upwardly and rearwardly inclined air guidance surface, the central member being mounted at its l'orward end to the base for movement of the rearward end of the member up and down about pivot means, there being overlapping portions of the base and the central member to define air guidance surfaces to the sides of the Airing and the rear end of the central member being fixable in one of 10 a selection of positions.

2. Aerodynamic Pairing according to claim I wherein the pivot means includes leading parts of the central member which locates with the base to each side of the central member.

3. Aerodynamic fairing according to claim I or 2 wherein the pivot means includes tongue and slot means, pivot pin means, or other pivot arrangement.

4. Aerodynamic Airing according to any one of' the preceding claims wherein 20 there is provided elastomeric means between the central member and the base which allows said pivot movement and, resiliently locates the central member relative to the base.

5. Aerodynamic Airing according to claim 4 comprising a tongue and slot 25 connection defining the pivot means, the tongue being urged against the elastomeric means when located in said slot.

6. Aerodynamic fairing according to claim 4 wherein the pivot means includes a pin engageable in an opening, the pin having location means to locate the pin relative 30 to the opening during said movement, the location means including elastomeric means or clip means.

(

7. Aerodynamic fairing according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the base comprises laterally spaced, forwardly projecting arms arranged to be fitted to each side of the cab roof, the central member being mounted between the leading ends of the arms for movement about its pivot means.

8. Aerodynamic Pairing according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the central member extends transversely between the leading ends of the arms to lie close to the roof of the cab when fitted thereto.

10

9. Aerodynamic fairing according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the central member is arranged to be fixed in a selected one of several positions at its rear end to adjust the inclination of the central member about the fixing means.

10. Aerodynamic fairing according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 15 base is arranged to be fixed directly to the roof of a cab by fixing means located through the base member into the cab roof.

I I. Aerodynamic pairing according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the base is formed in two portions, arranged to lie to each side of the cab, and spaced apart 20 and with the central member arranged between the two base portions for pivotal connection thereto.

12. Aerodynamic fairing according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the central member is arranged to receive the hasc for transportation purposes prior to 25 assembly with the base on the vehicle.

13 Aerodynamic Pairing according to any one ot the preceding claims wherein the central member is formed with protrusions to each side thereof arranged to receive fixing pins which connect the central member to respective base members to each side 30 of the central member.