JP2023521548A - pod vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle having a pod separable from an internal chassis, the vehicle allowing the pod to be detached from the chassis and further moved with the pod partially or completely detached from the vehicle during emergency evacuation or pod transport. It has a control system that allows The control system then activates a device to prevent another vehicle from entering the chassis. [Selection drawing] Fig. 1

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent document claims priority to GB 2007051.2 and PCT application PCT/IB2020/061837 (the "prior application"), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As part of the disclosure of the literature, it is incorporated by reference. And where this patent document differs from the full content of the prior application, it should be considered as a desirable alternative rather than an undesirable but acceptable alternative.

The present invention relates to vehicles, and in particular to vehicles having separable pods for carrying people or products.

UK Patent Application Publication No. 2007051.2 PCT application PCT/IB2020/061837 U.S. Patent Application No. 15/929,449, Granted U.S. Patent No. 11,254,272 U.S. Pat. No. 9,076,471 U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,813

Conventionally, passengers in vehicles are protected by airbags in the event of a crash, but serious injury or loss of life/property is still unavoidable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide good protection by isolating and protecting pods used to support people or products from the vehicle chassis in the event of an accident.

It is therefore another object of the present invention to allow the pod to be separated from the chassis in the event of an accident or pod transport.

1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle in which the pod is separable from the chassis inside; FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle with a support surface 4 for lifting pods; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle with a battery pack 7; FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle with a battery pack 7 lifted from a chassis bottom 8 by a support surface 4; FIG.

Note that the above figures may not be to scale, for example in FIG. 1 the gap between the pod and the chassis is greatly exaggerated so as not to obscure it.

According to the invention and with reference to FIG. 1, in the vehicle of the invention, the pod is removably secured to the chassis, directly or indirectly, by a mounting device which may be a multi-point electromechanical locking system.

When a hazard detector controlled by the control system detects or predicts a hazard that could result in a collision or a fire on the chassis, the control system causes the mounting device to detach the pod from the chassis (the "detachable pod"). .

The control system may be any conventional system including one or more processing units located in the chassis or pods, or partially located in the chassis and partially located in the pods, or partially or fully cloud-based. computing system.

According to a first embodiment, and with reference to FIG. 2, by lifting the support surface 4 from the chassis floor to a height above any upward protrusion above the chassis floor by means of a telescopic drive device 5. , the control system allows horizontal movement (i.e. lateral and/or vertical movement) of the pod on and off the support surface 4 (if the cushion 6 does not inflate to lift the pod, otherwise , a lower height would be acceptable).

The control system then causes the pod to escape or move away from the crash impact in a direction according to the crash information provided by the hazard detector.

The drive mechanism disclosed by the "previous application" or any conventional drive mechanism can be used to lift the support surface 4 and move the pod horizontally.

A vehicle according to the invention may not have a support surface 4 . Referring to FIG. 1, the vehicle has an upwardly projecting head 1 and tail 2 and without the support surface 4 the pod can only move laterally.

The vehicle of the present invention instead has a flat skateboard-type chassis, unless it is specifically designed to reduce the diameter of the wheels and/or the wheels are mounted on the chassis at a significantly lower height. It is possible that the road-going wheel only has an upward projection, in which case the support surface 4 would not be necessary.

The support surface 4 can be replaced with a cushioning device(s) located on the chassis, to push up the attached and detached pods when the cushioning device is inflated by the control system as disclosed by the "previous application". , the cushion device occupies a space above the chassis floor.

According to a second embodiment and referring to FIG. 2, a cushion 6, which may be a conventional airbag, is placed within the pod and occupies the space below the pod when inflated.

During emergency evacuation, the cushion 6 can be inflated by specific signals from the control system when the pod is moved out of the chassis by the drive mechanism and/or external shocks described above.

Specifically, the control system determines which portion of the pod moves off the chassis before the detached pod is lifted off the chassis floor 3 (or, alternatively, the support surface 4, if present) and hits the ground. All of the plurality of cushions 6 are inflated to their full extent or range of motion in order to determine or continuously determine if the cushions 6 are in, and thus protect the bottom surface(s) of the dislodged portion. . At this time, the cushion 6 may not be fully inflated, or may be partially/partially inflated before moving off. The control system can use any conventional method, such as a laser range sensor, to determine the position of the pod relative to the chassis, thereby determining which part has moved out.

Alternatively, a conventional free-fall detection device (U.S. Pat. No. 9,076,471 is incorporated herein by reference and provides an illustrative, non-limiting example) can be used to can detect the free fall of the pod from the pod and issue a free fall signal to the control system, in response to which the part that has moved out (instead, that part has not yet moved out), in the manner described above. Inflate the cushion 6 to its full extent or range of motion to protect the bottom of the.

According to a third embodiment, during emergency evacuation, the control system causes the detached and detached pods to perform the preferred movement method. The method of movement may include lifting and/or tilting the pod by the support surface 4, if present, and/or moving the pod horizontally and/or initiating movement immediately or later.

The control system then indicates that less loss (including loss of life and/or loss of property and/or injury, etc.) is caused when compared to what would be caused if no movement of the pod were to occur. If so, determine the preferred pod movement method.

Desirably, the control system controls two or more pods by comparing their respective expected losses, e.g., to laterally and/or longitudinally move the pod partially or completely out of the chassis. A preferred method of movement should be found among the possible methods. The more methods and comparisons possible, the better the results. As a preferable moving method, not moving can also be considered.

As an improvement, the preferred transportation method may require moving the vehicle, for example by fully automated driving. Specifically, the preferred method of locomotion may require the vehicle to decelerate to a lower speed and/or have reached a new location before the pod can be detached from the chassis; , the vehicle may be required to decelerate to its low speed and/or move its new position, or the vehicle may be required to decelerate further to a low speed and/or the pod may be partially removed from the chassis. Yet another new position is reached before it can be moved off target or completely off. This is done for reasons such as to avoid the pod impacting an external object or an external object colliding with the pod.

To determine the losses described above, the control system can detect and identify objects external to the vehicle of the present invention, such as people, animals, vehicles, etc., in adjacent paths, lanes, nearby areas, and the like. It is possible and may include techniques used in conventional lane change assistance and/or fully automated driving to achieve this capability.

According to a fourth embodiment, barrier plate(s) hinged to one or more sides of the chassis floor 3 (or, alternatively, the support surface 4, if present) under the control of the control system. To prevent horizontal movement of the pod by using conventional techniques, e.g., motorized curtain gate technology, to allow horizontal movement of the pod to a vertically upward position, i.e., a barrier position , horizontally downward position or vertically downward position (i.e., non-barrier position), and US Pat. No. 6,357,813 is hereby incorporated by reference as an illustrative, non-limiting example. .

During emergency evacuation or pod transfer, the control system optionally includes a barrier plate(s) to prevent unintentional movement of the pod in an unfavorable direction(s), such as by an external shock. to the barrier position.

The control system further inflates the cushion(s) to protect the side(s) of the pod that faces the upright barrier plate(s) and the pod impacts the barrier plate(s). can be prevented. The cushion(s) may be placed on the pod or barrier plate(s).

The above-described innovative approach for determining preferred movement methods is also used to determine unfavorable direction(s), ie movement direction(s) that result in greater loss. Alternatively, the unfavorable direction(s) may simply be the direction(s) that lead the pod to face the detected/expected impact directly or even more directly.

Also note that the barrier plate can be replaced with other conventional controllable barriers. And with such a barrier, the above-mentioned drive mechanism for horizontally moving the pods during emergency evacuation may not be necessary at all, eliminating the drive mechanism and saving costs, absolutely , which is further desired.

According to the fifth embodiment, any pod movement caused by external shocks and/or the drive mechanism(s) described above will cause the space in the chassis originally occupied by the pod itself when removably secured to the chassis. remains.

The control system can do so by using the techniques described above to determine the position of the pod with respect to the chassis, or by using pressure sensors to detect if the pod has moved completely out of the chassis. To determine the dimensions of the space left or the space currently occupied by the pod, and then prevent an external object, such as another vehicle, from entering the vehicle. to a position such that it partially or fully occupies the space currently occupied by the pod, or even extends/moves outward from the vehicle but cannot extend/move into the space currently occupied by the pod. , thereby resulting in a collision with the pod (whether the vehicle is also attached to or connected to the barrier plate(s) mentioned above, additional shock-resisting/absorbing materials and/or structures, support surface 4, telescopic drive device 5).

Alternatively, the telescoping drive device, which may not be the telescoping drive device 5, may be internally pressured by the pressurized fluid (or by spring action), thus reducing the volume of the space whenever the pods move away leaving space. The telescopic drive device arranged around automatically extends into the space by pressurized fluid.

The fluid pressurization device is supplied by a fluid pressurization device controlled by a control system or a reservoir storing precompressed fluid.

As another alternative, the support surface 4 can be replaced with a truss of similar dimensions (alternatively a framework). If the support surface 4 or truss is raised from its minimum height, i.e. the level of the chassis floor, to a higher height, it better occupies the space initially occupied by the pod and can be better occupied by another vehicle. prevent intrusions;

According to a sixth embodiment, the control system determines if the vehicle of the present invention is supporting the pod and if the pod is not in the vehicle by means of the pressure sensor described above or any other conventional technique, The control system then activates or moves/extends the above-mentioned anti-intrusion device(s) or parts thereof to predetermined positions. If the control system itself moves the pod off the vehicle of the present invention, no determination is required.

Desirably, the control system determines whether the intrusion prevention device(s) or a portion thereof has moved/extended to a predetermined position, directly or indirectly, thereby determining whether the intrusion prevention device(s) is in good working order. It has a sensor, which can be a conventional movement/position detector, to determine if it is functioning properly. As an example, devices for detecting the physical location of an intrusion prevention device(s) or parts thereof are used. As another example, an intrusion prevention device(s) or part thereof locks the device(s) in a position when moved/extended to a predetermined position and determines whether the device(s) is successfully locked. A dedicated electromechanical lock is used to send the indicating signal to the control system.

Alternatively, a visual inspection can tell if the anti-intrusion device(s) or part thereof has moved/extended to a predetermined position, and therefore the input device associated with the control system is the anti-intrusion device may be used to receive user input to indicate whether the (s) are functioning properly.

If it is determined that the anti-intrusion device(s) is not functioning properly, then as the vehicle of the present invention travels from a location to a destination, the control system will determine if the anti-intrusion device(s) is functioning properly. If the following locations are available at a slower speed than permitted to do so, drive the vehicle of the present invention to a nearby parking location, otherwise drive it to its destination.

On the other hand, if the control system receives a request for operation (either an autonomous operation request or a non-autonomous operation request) and the anti-intrusion device(s) is determined to be malfunctioning, the control system rejects the request. or may drive autonomously at a particular speed or another speed that is slower than the permitted speed. Alternatively, if the intrusion prevention device(s) is determined to be malfunctioning, the control system may be disabled from receiving such requests directly or indirectly.

The control system also emits warning signals to request repair and/or warn other nearby vehicles of potential risks. The signal contains information for identifying the vehicle of the present invention, such as the location of the vehicle, and information regarding the abnormal functioning of the anti-intrusion device. The information is preferably information about the speed, direction of the vehicle of the present invention, and/or whether the vehicle of the present invention has an oil tank or battery pack in the underside of the chassis and whether an intrusion may cause an explosion, etc. It may contain information indicating that it may be accompanied.

According to a seventh embodiment, in the above-described method disclosed in the first embodiment, the pod is lifted to a height above the at least one upward projection during pod transfer. It is moved horizontally into/out of the support surface 4 to the adjacent platform.

The adjacent platform can be another vehicle with the support surface 4 raised to substantially the same height.

The control system of the pod-accommodating platform causes the support surface 4 to lower the transferred pod to the level of the chassis floor and the attachment device removably secures the pod directly or indirectly to the chassis.

Movement of the pods is coordinated and controlled by the control systems of the pod transferor or the containment platform, or both.

According to an eighth embodiment, referring to FIG. 3, the vehicle of the present invention preferably has a battery pack 7 partially or wholly embedded in the chassis bottom 8 to save space.

The control system then includes a sensor (Fig. 3, Fig. 4).

Referring to FIG. 4, when such an obstacle is detected, the control system causes the battery pack 7 removably secured to the underside of the support surface 4 to be removed from the battery pack 7 by causing the support surface 4 to lift. to a height that prevents or at least reduces damage to the

Its height should be determined according to the size and/or height of the detected obstacle, if the following information is available.

After the vehicle of the invention has passed the obstacle, the control system causes the support surface 4 to be lowered to the level of the chassis floor.

It should be noted that the pods are indirectly and detachably fixed to the chassis throughout the process, ie detachably fixed to the support surface 4 connected with the chassis.

Note that the above embodiments/examples/alternatives are given as examples only. And it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications in any one or any combination thereof can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 chassis head 2 chassis tail 3 chassis floor 4 support surface 5 telescopic drive device 6 cushion 7 battery pack 8 chassis bottom

Claims (22)

Apparatus for a land vehicle capable of supporting a separable part, wherein when so supported, said separable part rests on a vehicle support at a relatively low height and is attachable to and detachable from said vehicle. fixed to
impact resistance/shock absorption means;
control means for activating the impact resistance/absorption means when the vehicle is not supporting the separable part;
apparatus, including 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for determining if the vehicle is not supporting the separable part. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means then automatically effect the activation of said impact resistance/shock absorption means. By directly or indirectly detecting whether at least part of said impact resistance/shock absorption means has moved or extended to a particular position, said impact resistance/shock absorption means is functioning normally after said activation. means for determining whether
or means for receiving, after said activation, a determination by a user as to whether said impact resistance/shock absorption means are functioning normally;
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: means for receiving, autonomously or by a human driver, a request to drive said vehicle, said Approve the request, otherwise deny the request, or, if it is determined that the impact resistance/absorption means are functioning properly, drive the vehicle at a speed lower than the permitted speed. means of driving autonomously, or
for disabling the means for receiving a request to drive the vehicle autonomously or by a human driver if it is determined that the impact resistance/absorption means are not functioning properly; means,
5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising: Driving the vehicle autonomously, driving the vehicle at a higher speed if it is determined that the impact resistance/absorbing means is functioning normally, otherwise driving the vehicle at a lower speed 5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising operating means for doing. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the driving means drives the vehicle to a nearby parking location instead of a distant destination if it is determined that the impact resistance/absorption means are not functioning properly. . 5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising means for signaling to draw said external attention, wherein said means for resisting/absorbing impact is determined to be malfunctioning. if. 9. The device of claim 8, comprising identification information of the vehicle and information about the abnormal functioning of the intrusion prevention device. 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said signal containing said danger information may be caused by an external intrusion by another vehicle. further comprising means for raising the support to a relatively high height;
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said shock resistance/shock absorption means comprises said support and said means for raising said support. Apparatus for a land vehicle capable of supporting a separable part, wherein when so supported, said separable part rests on a vehicle support at a relatively low height and is attachable to and detachable from said vehicle. fixed to
lifting means for lifting the support;
control means for causing the lifting means to lift the support to a relatively high height in order to prevent another vehicle from entering the vehicle when the vehicle is not supporting the separable part; and,
apparatus, including 13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising means for determining if the vehicle is not supporting the separable part. 13. The control means are also for moving the separable part away from the vehicle, after which the control means automatically effect the activation of the impact resistance/absorption means. The apparatus described in . 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the support is attached or connected to additional shock-resistant/absorbent materials and/or structures. 1. An apparatus for a land vehicle, said land vehicle having a separable part, said separable part resting on a support of said vehicle at a relatively low height and being detachably secured to said vehicle,
means for detecting a dangerous event or an imminent dangerous event involving said vehicle;
detachable means for moving said separable part away from said vehicle when said dangerous event or imminent dangerous event is detected;
impact resistance/shock absorption means;
control means for moving at least part of said impact resistance/absorption means into at least one of a first space left by movement of said separable part and/or a second space outside said vehicle; By moving or extending partially, but not into a third space currently occupied by said separable part that may be partially moved outside said vehicle, another vehicle can be moved into said vehicle. control means to prevent intrusion;
apparatus, including The control means comprises first means for detecting whether the separable part has moved completely off the vehicle and/or second means for determining the position of the separable part relative to the vehicle. including means of
17. Based on the results obtained from the first means and/or the second means, the control means determines the dimensions of the first space and/or the third space. Apparatus as described. further comprising means for raising the support to a relatively high height;
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said shock resistance/shock absorption means comprises said support and said means for raising said support. 17. Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said shock resistance/shock absorption means are operating under internal pressure to automatically move into at least part of said first space. 20. Apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said control means are also for activating/enabling pressurizing means for providing said internal pressure when said dangerous event or imminent dangerous event is detected. 17. According to claim 16, wherein said movement of said separable part is directly or indirectly caused by means of said device and/or impact impact, and said dangerous event or imminent dangerous event is fire and/or collision. Apparatus as described. A land vehicle comprising a device according to any one of claims 1-21.

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