GB2529835A

GB2529835A - Utility vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2529835A
Application number: GB1415551.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James John Alexander Dowle; Ian Salsbury
Original assignee: NORMAN TRUST
Current assignee: NORMAN TRUST
Priority date: 2014-09-03
Filing date: 2014-09-03
Publication date: 2016-03-09
Anticipated expiration: 2034-09-03
Also published as: GB201415551D0; CN105460086A; GB2529835B; CN105460086B; BR102015021209A2

Abstract

A vehicle 10, typically a truck, has a load space 34 bounded on at least two opposite sides by side walls 34, and a canopy 52 removably fitted to side walls 34 comprising a covering supported by a plurality of legs 46 extendable from a first length to at least a second length, a difference between the first and second lengths corresponding to a height difference between the side walls and a lowermost extent of the vehicle. Suitably, canopy 52 may be usable when removed from vehicle 10; alternatively, canopy 52 can be attached on one side to a side wall 36 of load space 34, and can extend away from vehicle 10 with legs 46 on the far side of canopy 52 extended to reach the ground. Attachments for guy ropes (56, Figure 2) may also be provided. The covering may be a flexible cover over a rigid framework, or may alternatively be a rigid sheet of thermoformed plastic or fibre-reinforced plastic.

Description

Utility Vehicle

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a utility vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

Utility vehicles often include a load space into which items can be loaded. To protect and retain the items during transit (etc.) there may be a canopy over the load space.

Canopies may be rigid canopies, such as of polymeric or composite materials, or they can be a metal framework firmly secured to or integral with the vehicle, with a flexible cover attached to the framework. The flexible cover is often a durable textile material such as canvas or the like.

US4,263,925 discloses a pickup truck with a canopy that can be removed and used separately from the truck as a tent. The canopy is made up of a canvas cover over a framework that includes legs which attach to the side walls around the load space, via shallow sockets at the top of the side walls. When attached to the truck, the canopy is tall and extends above the height of a crew cabin located to the front of the load space. When the canopy is used free-standing, extension pieces are fitted at joints in the legs in order to compensate for the depth of the pickup truck bed, thus preserving the same floor to ceiling height inside the canopy whether it is fitted to the truck or free-standing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Once fitted, the canopy is usually usable only as a cover for the load space. This flows from the necessary design criterion of fitting neatly over the load space and forming an integral whole with the remainder of the vehicle. It would however be useful if the canopy could be put to other uses. In particular, we have noticed that utility vehicles travelling to a remote location (such as a disaster site) often carry tents or the like within the load space which must be erected on arrival. If the canopy could be used as a tent then both space in the vehicle and time on arrival would be saved. US4,263,925 is an exception to this, but describes a singularly impractical tent as when fitted to the truck it will develop significant wind resistance and when separate from the truck it will lack stability.

Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle having a load space bounded on at least two opposite sides by side walls, and a canopy removably fitted to the side walls, the canopy comprising a covering supported by a plurality of legs, the legs being extendable from a first length to at least a second length, wherein a difference between the first length and the second length corresponds to a height difference between the side walls and a lowermost extent of the vehicle. This makes the canopy usable when removed from the vehicle -the legs can be extended towards or to the second length thereby creating a usable space underneath it. However, this degree of extendability means that the canopy can be fitted in various alternate configurations. In a first alternative, the canopy is attached on one side to a side wall of the load space, and extends away from the vehicle with the legs on the far side of the canopy extended to reach the ground and support the canopy.

Significant stability will then be provided by the attachment to the vehicle, creating a stable structure with significant internal height. In a second alternative, the canopy is attached to the rear end of the vehicle, by at least one leg on either side and with other legs extending to the ground behind the rear of the vehicle.

The side walls can have sockets for receiving the legs, thereby to retain the canopy when fitted to the vehicle. These sockets can be in the form of tubes within the side walls, into which the legs can slide.

The legs are ideally extendable telescopically, as this allows adjustment of the exact leg length to suit the terrain over which the canopy is being fitted. This terrain may be uneven. Ideally, the legs will be extendable to slightly beyond the second length, to cope with such variations. Alternatively, the legs may be extendable by unfolding a section into alignment with the upright part, or by adding an additional leg section onto the legs, or otherwise.

The canopy can have side panel sections which extend upwardly from an upper part of the side walls to a roof section; such side panels will then provide a convenient means to allow reconfiguration of the canopy.

The canopy can be a flexible cover over a rigid framework, in which case it may have an excess of material with which to cover the difference between the first length and the second length. The flexible cover can have fasteners with which to retain the excess material when the legs are set to their first length (such as when canopy is fitted to the vehicle). Alternatively, the covering can be a rigid sheet such as a thermoformed plastics material or a fibre-reinforced plastics material. This will provide additional rigidity to the canopy.

The canopy can also have a plurality of attachment points for guy ropes, to provide additional stability when off the vehicle.

The vehicle will likely have a cabin in front of the load space, in which case we prefer that with the legs at their the first length and the canopy fitted to the vehicle, an upper extent of the canopy is substantially level with an upper extent of the cabin. This reduces the wind resistance of the canopy when the vehicle is in transit and also provides a neat and harmonious external appearance.

BRTEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying figures in which; Figure 1 shows the vehicle with the canopy in place; Figure 2 shows the canopy removed from the vehicle and in use as a tent-like structure; and Figure 3 shows the canopy part-fitted to the vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to figure 1, a utility vehicle 10 has a crew cabin 12 in front of a load floor 14. An engine (not visible) is installed beneath the cabin and drives two front wheels 16 (of which only the left wheel is visible). A pair of rear wheels 18, 20 are fitted beneath a rear part of the load floor 14, which has arches 22 on either side in order to accommodate them.

All four wheels are attached to the chassis of the vehicle via sprung and damped suspension arrangements.

The front edge of the load floor 14 is bounded by the rear wall 24 of the cabin 12, and the two lateral sides of the load floor are bounded by side walls 26, 28. The rear edge of the load floor 14 is bounded by a tailgate 30 which is attached to the chassis via hinges allowing it to be dropped down to provide access. The side walls 26, 28 are in two parts, a lower section 32, 34 which extends upwardly from the base of the load floor 14 to level with the top of the suspension arches 22 and provides additional rigidity to the vehicle structure, and an upper section 36, 38 which brings the top of the side walls to a level corresponding to that of the tailgate 30.

The upper sections 36, 38 of the side walls 26, 28 are formed of a framework of box-section steel struts to which a flat panel of wooden, composite or other material is attached.

The framework comprises an outer rectangle 40 having upper and lower horizontal sections at the top and bottom edges of the panel, joined to vertical sections at the front and rear edge of the panel to form a rectangle. In addition, two vertical struts 42, 44 are included in the framework, running between the upper and lower horizontal sections about 1/3 and 2/3 along the rectangle respectively. These provide additional bracing for the rectangular panel.

In addition, all four vertical sections are hollow and have an opening at (at least) their upper ends in order to receive the legs 46 of a canopy framework 48. The vertical sections may also have openings at their lower ends in order to assist with drainage, etc. The canopy framework 48 sits above the load floor 14 and comprises four inverted-U-shaped struts 50, each of which thus defines a pair of downwardly-extending legs 46 on either lateral side of the framework and a top rail extending across the vehicle above each of the legs 46, at substantially the same level as the top of the cabin 12. Longitudinal rails 52 complete the framework, in the form of two rails along the upper part of the legs 46, and a central rail joining the top central parts of the U-shapes. More or fewer rails may be provided as desired in order to obtain the necessary degree of bracing required. A cover 54 is fitted over the canopy framework to form the roof and walls of a canopy over the load floor 14. This may be of a flexible canvas material or a rigid material such as thermoformed plastics or fibre-reinforced plastics (eg GFRP or glass-fibre-reinforced-plastics).

The canopy fits onto the vehicle as shown in figure 1 by sliding the lower parts of the legs 46 into the vertical struts of the side walls 26, 28. Clamps and/or locking pins or the like may be provided in order to retain the legs 46 securely in place.

As shown in figure 2, the legs 46 can be unlocked and removed from the side walls, and the canopy framework 48 moved away from the vehicle, in order to create a free-standing tent. It will be noted from figure 2 that the tent is taller than when fitted to the vehicle, even taking onto account the depth of the upper side wall sections 36, 38. This is achieved by the legs 46 being extendable, we prefer telescopically. In other words, the legs comprise concentrically-arranged inner and outer profiles which may be slid over each other in order to extend or retract. These can be circular-section or differently profiled such as square or hexagonal section, and the smaller inner section may extend upwardly or downwardly, but we prefer circular-section legs whose inner profile extends upwardly out of the outer profile and is formed integrally with the top rail. Clamps and/or locking pins may be provided to secure the legs at a chosen length. In other arrangements, the legs 46 may be extendable via the addition of extension pieces, which may be separate, or stored alongside the legs, or hingedly attached to the legs so that they can be swung into position.

The cover 54 can, if flexible, be unrolled along the additional leg length in order to reach the ground. This rolled-up part can be stowed while attached to the vehicle using fasteners such as fabric straps carrying hook-and-loop fasteners (e.g. Velcro®), buckles, hooks and the like. A rigid cover 54 can include fold-out sections, or additional clip-on sections, or can include a flexible lower portion, rolled-up in the same manner as noted above.

Separated from the vehicle, the canopy will be more accessible in that to gain access to the interior it will not be necessary to climb onto the load floor 14, and the suspension arches 22 will not intrude. However, the canopy will be less stable as the legs 46 will not be secured in or to the vehicle. This can be alleviated to an extent by the use of guy ropes 56 which can attach to hooks or loops formed in the upper regions of the cover 54 or in the canopy framework 48, and secured in the ground in a conventional manner.

To provide greater stability, the canopy framework 48 can be secured in one side wall 36, 38 of the vehicle as described above, but in a displaced arrangement so that the canopy framework 48 extends to the side of the vehicle in the manner of an awning as shown in figure 3. The legs 46 of the remaining side of the canopy framework 48 are then extended (as above) still further in order to reach the ground alongside the vehicle 10.

Bearing in mind that the ground may be undulating, this requires that the legs 46 are able to extend by at least the difference in height between the side walls and a lowermost extent of the vehicle.

The point on the side walls from which the difference in height to the lowermost extent of the vehicle should be measured is the point on the side wall at which the bottom of the legs are secured. Thus, if the legs are clipped, bolted, or otherwise secured to the side wall so that the ends of the legs rest on the top of the side wall, then the point of measurement is the top of the side wall. Likewise, if the legs are secured in the side wall by dropping into recesses or channels in the side wall, then the point of measurement is the base of the recess or other location within the side wall where the legs end.

A lowermost extent of the vehicle means the bottom of the tyres or other form of contact with the ground. Usually, the vehicle will have a suspension (as described above), which may vary the position of the wheels relative to the remainder of the vehicle in reaction to loads placed in the vehicle or terrain encountered during use. Accordingly, we refer to the position of the lowermost extent of the unladen vehicle when stationary on firm, level ground. In this way, the canopy can be deployed as an awning in most circumstances.

The addition of heavy loads into the vehicle will reduce the distance by which the legs need to be extended, and therefore provided that the legs are able to reach the ground when the vehicle is unladen, then the awning can then be used in any load state. Any unevenness in the ground can be accommodated by variation in the leg length; some additional extendability may be useful in coping with ground that falls away on that side of the vehicle.

Clearly, if the ground falls away too severely then it will not be possible to use the awning, but it is questionable whether a reasonable user would wish to pitch the awning on such ground.

In this way, a stable base is provided for the tent/canopy/awning while also allowing good access to its interior. The canopy is usable during transit to protect items in the load space and does not occupy any additional load volume.

Strictly speaking, in order to obtain this benefit, only the legs on the outside face of the awning need be extendable. The legs on the side of the canopy that is fitted to the vehicle in both figures 1 and 3 (i.e. the left side of the canopy as drawn) could be sold and unextendable. To place the awning on the other side of the vehicle, the canopy could be rotated through 1800. However, to offer the flexibility of figure 2 and the flexibility of choosing the preferred orientation of the canopy when in the arrangement shown in figure 3, we prefer that the legs on both sides are extendable.

It will of course be understood that many variations may be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A vehicle having a load space bounded on at least two opposite sides by side walls, and a canopy removably fitted to the side walls, the canopy comprising a covering supported by a plurality of legs, the legs being extendable from a first length to at least a second length, wherein a difference between the first length and the second length corresponds to a height difference between the side walls and a lowermost extent of the vehicle.
2. A vehicle according to claim 1 in which the side walls have sockets for receiving the legs thereby to retain the canopy when fitted to the vehicle.
3. A vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the legs are extendable telescopically.
4. A vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the legs are extendable by unfolding a section into alignment with the upright part.
5. A vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the legs are extendable by adding an additional leg section onto the legs.
6. A vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims in which the canopy is a flexible cover over a rigid framework.
7. A vehicle according to claim 6 in which the flexible cover is provided with an excess of material with which to cover the difference between the first length and the second length.
8. A vehicle according to claim 6 or claim 7 in which the flexible cover has fasteners to retain the excess material when the canopy is fitted to the vehicle.
9. A vehicle according to any one of claims ito 5 in which the covering is a rigid sheet.
10. A vehicle according to claim 9 in which the rigid sheet is of one of a thermoformed plastics material and a fibre-reinforced plastics material.
ii. A vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims in which the canopy has a plurality of attachment points for guy ropes.
12. A vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims in which the vehicle has a cabin in front of the load space, and with the legs at their the first length and the canopy fitted to the vehicle, an upper extent of the canopy is substantially level with an upper extent of the cabin.
13. A vehicle substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying figures.