GB2417714A

GB2417714A - A vehicle and modular load compartments for carrying emergency equipment

Info

Publication number: GB2417714A
Application number: GB0419536A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jon Ellis
Original assignee: Ferno UK Ltd
Current assignee: Ferno UK Ltd
Priority date: 2004-09-03
Filing date: 2004-09-03
Publication date: 2006-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2024-09-03
Also published as: GB0419536D0; GB2417714B

Abstract

A pod 10 carrying emergency equipment is supported by legs 34. The vehicle is reversed beneath the pod and the vehicle is raised to lift the legs off the ground. The legs are then removed from sockets in the side of the pod, rotated through 90{ and then reinserted in those sockets to store the legs. When the vehicle is reversed beneath the pod electrical contacts beneath the overhang portion 22 of the pod are pushed in and slide over a conductive strip on the pod (see figure 4).

Description

VEHICLES AND CARRIERS

The present invention relates to a carrier and a method of operating a carrier, a method of making an electrical connection between a vehicle and a carrier and a vehicle and carrier system.

The present invention is particularly, although not exclusively, applicable to carriers that are mounted and transported by vehicles and in particular carriers that include emergency equipment.

Rescue vehicles and emergency service vehicles are required to carry a large amount of rescue apparatus for a wide range of rescue situations, for example a fire rescue, water rescue, mountain rescue, road accident, chemical spillage, or natural disaster. The amount of specialist equipment required for each situation is very large and a single vehicle is unable to carry all of this equipment at one time. Either separate vehicles need to be kept with the required equipment onboard for each of the above situations or precious time must be lost to load a vehicle with the required equipment when an emergency call out comes in.

An expansion in vehicle traffic over recent times has meant large rescue vehicles are finding it increasingly difficult to attend incidents within accepted response times. Smaller rescue vehicles are more able to cut through heavy traffic but are unable to carry a wide variety of equipment and may arrive at a scene without sufficient specialized equipment for the particular situation.

It is an object of the present invention to attempt to overcome at least some of the above or other disadvantages.

The present invention is defined in the claims.

The present invention can be carried into practice in various ways but one embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference only to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pod 10 mounted on a vehicle 12; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the pod 10 when separate from the vehicle and supported by legs 14i Figure 3 is a perspective view of the flat bed 16 of the vehicle; and Figure 4 is a perspective cross sectional view through an electrical connection made between the vehicle and the pod.

As shown in Figure 1, the pod 10 is mounted on the flat bed of the vehicle 12. The pod 10 contains emergency equipment and this may vary from pod to pod and any one of a selected pod may be used by being loaded onto the vehicle and transported to an emergency scene. The pod may be used when mounted on the vehicle or the pod may be left at the scene leaving the vehicle free to perform other duties such as fetching another pod with the same or different equipment and using that pod with the pod being mounted on the vehicle or with the pod being self supporting.

In use a number of pods 10 will be stored. Each pod has equipment for a different emergency response onboard, stored on slidable tables which can be slid partially out of the back door 16 of the vehicle. When the emergency services are called to an incident they will then select which pod they require. For example if they are called to a road accident they will need the road accident response pod which may contain, for example, cutting equipment (which can be powered from the pod or powered by oxycetalene cylinders in the pod) necessary to free people trapped in vehicles. Once the required pod has been identified that pod is fitted to vehicle 60.

Pods may also contain water and a lightweight pump. These pods could be delivered, for instance by a single vehicle making repeat trips, to strategic locations during wilderness fires and used by fire fighting teams to prevent the spread of fire to residential areas. They may also be used while attached to vehicles, for small car fires, for instance.

To open the door 16 the tail board 18 of the pod is hinged down to the position shown in Figure 3 and a handle on the door is used to raise the door upwardly and rearwardly about hinges 20. The required drawers are then slid rearwardly and downwardly to allow access to the equipment on the drawer from the rear or sides of the drawer.

Access can also be gained to a stretcher board or ladder that is stored in the top of the pod along the front overhang 22 of the pod which is located partially over the cab 24 of the vehicle.

The pod is maintained in position by two catches 26 on each side that releasably connect the pod with the vehicle.

The sides of the pod are vertically aligned with the side boards 28 of the vehicle.

The pod, at each side, has two legs 14 stored in a recess 30, as shown in Figure 2.

Each leg is an L shape and of square cross section. The horizontal part 32 of the legs are located in sockets of the vehicle. These are slidably located in correspondingly square sockets in the pod. The main part 34 of the legs overlap each other in the stored position with one part being inwards of the other. Both main parts are supported on a spigot 36 that extends outwards from the pod.

In order to remove the pod from the vehicle the catches 26 are released. Then, the leg with the outer main part 34 is slid out and removed from the pod, rotated through 90 with the part 34 then being reinserted only part way into the socket to leave the leg clear of the sides of the vehicle. Then the process is repeated for the inner leg.

This is effected on both sides of the pod.

The base of each leg is now just clear of the ground. The vehicle has a hydraulic system that allows the rear of the vehicle to be lowered through about 14cm. This transfers the weight of the pod from the vehicle to the legs and allows the vehicle to be driven off.

To mount the vehicle on the pod the lowered vehicle is backed up towards the pod with the tail gate down.

Vertically pivotable rollers 38 at each side of the rear of the vehicle are contacted initially by the forward section of the pod to guide the pod onto the flat bed with the pod subsequently engaging and moving past slide 40 mounted inwards of each wheel hub shroud 42. As seen in Figure 2, the pod includes a lower section 44 arranged to move past the wheel hub, a wider section 46 arranged to be located above the wheel hub 42 but inwards of the side of the vehicle and a still wider section 48 arranged to extend over and be flush with the sides of the vehicle.

During the final part of the reversal of the vehicle six pins 50 on the pod, mounted just below the rear of the overhang 22 are caused to engage with contact strips 52 located in the rear top surface of the cab. The pins are caused to be slid back with a housing 54 of the pins against a resilient force of a spring. The pins also slide slightly along the strips to wipe away any dirt and assist in good contact being made. In this way permanent and effective electrical connection is made without a male and female connection being required such as with a plug and socket. Finally, the vehicle is raised which further enhance the connection.

The electrical supply from the vehicle may be used to power or charge equipment in the pod or to power the emergency lights 56 on the pod.

The pod is also provided with four lift hooks 58 that extend through the body of the pod to the main steel frame of the pod and allow the pod to be connected to and lifted by a helicopter, for instance. This enables the pod to be transported to locations not accessible by vehicles or to provide the rapid transport of the pod, which is particularly useful for instance when roads are blocked.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features

disclosed in this specification (including any

accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A carrier including at least one leg, the leg being movable from a storage position to a support position in which, in the support position the leg extends downwardly and provides at least partial support for the carrier and, in the storage position, the leg extends transverse in the support position and is at least partially supported by the carrier.

2. A carrier as described in claim 1, in which in the storage position, the leg is totally supported by the carrier.

3. A carrier as described in claim 1 or 2, in which the leg extends further away from the side of the carrier to which the leg is connected in the support position than in the storage position.

4. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, in which in the storage position, the leg is at least partially inboard of the side of the carrier.

5. A carrier as claimed in claim 4, in which the leg is completely inboard of the side of the vehicle in the storage position.

6. A carrier as claimed in claim 4 or 5, in which the leg is flush with the side of the carrier in the storage position.

7. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the leg includes an angled section which, in the support position, extends at least partially into a socket of the carrier.

8. A carrier as claimed in claim 7, in which the angled section also extends at least partially into the socket in the storage position.

9. A carrier as claimed in claims 7 and 8, in which the angled section is able to cooperate with the socket such that relative rotation of the leg in the socket is inhibited in at least two different relative positions

10. A carrier as claimed in any of claims 7 to 9, in which the angled section and the socket are quadrilateral in cross section.

11. A carrier as claimed in any of claims 7 to 10, in which the angled section is a right angle with respect to the leg.

12. A carrier as claimed in any of claims 7 to 11, in which, in the storage position, the angled section is further into the socket than in the support position.

13. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the leg is at least partially supported in the storage position by a projection extending outwardly from the carrier.

14. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the leg is vertical in the support position and horizontal in the storage position.

15. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, including two legs on at least one side of the carrier, the legs being arranged to be located at least partially side by side, adjacent to each other, in the storage position.

16. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, including at least three legs arranged to provide complete support for the carrier in the support position.

17. A carrier as claimed in claim 16, in which all of the legs have any of the features claimed in any of claims 1 to 15.

18. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the carrier comprises a pod.

19. A carrier as claimed in claim 18, in which the pod includes emergency equipment.

20. A carrier as claimed in any preceding claim, which is arranged, in use, to be transported by a vehicle.

21. A carrier as claimed in claim 20, in which the vehicle is arranged, in use, to provide complete support of the carrier when the legs are in the storage position.

22. A carrier as claimed in claim 21 in which the vehicle, in use, is arranged to be lowered prior to manoeuvring the vehicle beneath the carrier when the legs are in the support position with the vehicle subsequently being raised to lift the legs off the ground to transfer support to the carrier and the vehicle with the legs subsequently being arranged to be moved to the storage position.

23. A carrier substantially as herein described with reference to and or shown in any of the accompanying figures.

24. A method of operating a carrier comprising moving at least one leg of the carrier from a support position in which the leg provides at least partial support for the carrier to a storage position by causing the leg to extend transverse to the support position with the leg being at least partially supported by the carrier.

25. A method of operating a carrier when the carrier is as claimed in any of claims 1 to 23.

26. A method of operating a carrier substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in any of the accompanying figures.

27. A method of making electrical connection between a vehicle and a carrier to be transported by the vehicle comprising causing relative movement between the vehicle and the carrier such that an electrical contact on one of the vehicle or carrier is caused to bear against a conductive portion on the other of the vehicle or carrier to make the electrical connection.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27 in which the electrical contact is caused to be moved against a resilient bias as a result of the relative movement of the vehicle and carrier.

29. A method as claimed in claim 28 in which the electrical contact is caused to move in a linear direction.

30. A method as claimed in claim 28 or 29, in which the electrical contact is arranged to move in a direction which is at an angle such as, for instance, an acute angle to the direction of relative movement of the vehicle and carrier.

31. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 30, in which the relative movement of the vehicle and carrier causes the electrical contact and the conductive portion to slide over each other.

32. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 31, in which the conductive portion is caused to be at an angle relative to the direction of relative movement of the vehicle and the carrier along at least part of its extent.

33. A method as claimed in claim 32, in which the angle of the conductive portion changes along its extent.

34. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 33, comprising transferring the load from the carrier to the vehicle after the electrical connection has been made.

35. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 34, comprising causing relative movement in an along direction with electrical connection being made and enhancing that connection by subsequently causing relative downwards movement.

36. A method as claimed in claim 35, comprising reversing the vehicle to effect the electrical connection and enhancing that connection by subsequently raising at least the rear of the vehicle.

37. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 36, in which one of the electrical contact or conductive portions is located on the cab of a vehicle.

38. A method as claimed in claim 37, comprising the electrical connection being made on an upper portion of the cab.

39. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 38, in which the conductive portion is located on the vehicle.

40. A method as claimed in any of claims 27 to 39, comprising powering equipment in the carrier from the vehicle.

41. A method of making electrical contact substantially as herein described and shown in the accompanying figures.

42. An electrical connection system comprising one of a vehicle or carrier having a conductive portion with the other of the vehicle or carrier having an electrical contact, the conductive portion and the electrical contact being arranged to be in electrical connection when the carrier is transported by the vehicle.

43. A system as claimed in claim 42, in which the electrical contact is movable against a resilient bias.

44. A system as claimed in claim 43 in which the electrical contact is linearly movable.

45. A system as claimed in any of claims 40 to 44 in which the conductive portion includes a sliding region.

46. A system as claimed in any of claims 42 to 44, in which the conductive portion changes in angle along its extent.

47. A system as claimed in any of claims 40 to 44 in which one of the conductive portions or electrical contact is mounted on the cab of a vehicle.

48. A system substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in any of the accompanying drawings.

49. A system as claimed in any of claims 42 to 48 when used in a method as described in any of claims 27 to 40.