JP3652891B2 - Four-wheeler - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a four-wheeled vehicle, and more particularly to a bus for carrying a large number of passengers.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 4-283128 discloses a four-wheeled vehicle having four fuel tanks on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall at the center of the vehicle body in order to hold as much fuel as possible in a limited vehicle space. These fuel tanks are elongated and cylindrical, and are arranged side by side along the traveling direction of the four-wheeled vehicle. One seat is attached to the upper side of these fuel tanks.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, a bus having a plurality of seats facing the inside of the vehicle body on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall of the vehicle body along the inner wall surface of the side wall of the vehicle body is known. In this bus, a large number of passengers can get on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall at the center of the vehicle body without providing a seat. As in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-283128, if a fuel tank is provided on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall at the center of the vehicle body in order to hold as much fuel as possible in a limited vehicle space, the number of passengers that can be boarded is small. It is not preferable. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to secure as many passengers as possible in a four-wheeled vehicle having a plurality of seats along the inner wall surface of the side wall of the vehicle body.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, according to the first invention, in a four-wheeled vehicle including a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels, a plurality of seats facing inward of the vehicle in the width direction of the vehicle includes the four seats. A fuel tank provided along the inner side surface of the side wall of the wheeled vehicle and storing fuel for driving the four-wheeled vehicle is located below the seat and on the bottom wall of the four-wheeled vehicle in the width direction of the vehicle. The fuel tank extends below the seat and on the bottom wall of the four-wheeled vehicle across a plurality of seats.
[0005]
According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the fuel tank is disposed on the bottom wall via an elastic member.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bus 1 according to the first embodiment. The bus 1 is a four-wheeled vehicle including a pair of front wheels (hereinafter, front wheels) 2 and a pair of rear wheels (hereinafter, rear wheels) 3. In FIG. 1, only the left wheel is shown. The vehicle body of the bus 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped or box shape including an upper wall 4, a bottom wall 5, a right side wall 6, a left side wall 7, a front side wall 8 and a rear side wall 9. These walls 4 to 9 have heat insulation properties and block the interior of the vehicle from outside air. Therefore, it becomes easy to adjust the temperature inside the vehicle by a temperature adjusting device (not shown) and maintain it at a predetermined temperature. The left side wall 7 in front of the front wheel 2 is provided with a door (hereinafter referred to as a front door) 10 that is opened and closed when a passenger gets on and off. Further, a door (hereinafter referred to as a rear door) 11 that is opened and closed when a passenger gets on and off the left side wall 7 between the front wheel 2 and the rear wheel 3 and close to the rear wheel 3 is also provided. In the present specification, “front”, “rear”, “right” and “left” are terms indicating directions viewed along the traveling direction of the bus 1.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle body of the bus 1 according to the first embodiment includes a frame frame 13 that is formed by connecting a plurality of thin, thin plate-like frames 12 so as to cross each other. The vehicle body is manufactured by attaching a plate plate to the frame frame 13. For this reason, the vehicle body is light and strong. Further, the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 of the vehicle body includes four projecting portions 14 projecting upward to form a wheel housing space or a recess for housing the front wheel 2 and the rear wheel 3. The inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 is substantially flat except for these protrusions 14. For this reason, when the passenger gets on the bus 1, gets off the bus 1, or moves inside the bus 1, the passenger does not have to go up and down the steps. Moreover, since the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 is substantially flat, the height from the road surface to the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 can be made very low. Note that the number of frames 12 constituting the walls 4 to 9 of the vehicle body is determined by the strength required for the vehicle body.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 3, one driver's seat 15 facing forward is disposed on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 on the front side of the protruding portion 14 that houses the right front wheel 2. Seats 16 facing forward are arranged one by one on the protrusions 14 that accommodate the right front wheel 2 and the right rear wheel 3. The inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 between the protruding portion 14 that houses the right front wheel 2 and the protruding portion 14 that houses the right rear wheel 3 faces the inside of the bus 1 along the inner wall surface of the right wall 6. In the first embodiment, four seats (hereinafter, right center seats) 17 are arranged side by side. One seat 18 facing forward is disposed on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 on the rear side of the protrusion 14 that accommodates the right rear wheel 3.
[0013]
On the other hand, no seat is provided on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 on the front side of the protruding portion 14 that accommodates the left front wheel 2, and a first entrance / exit space 19 for passengers to get on and off is secured. Seats 20 facing forward are arranged one by one on the protruding portion 14 that houses the left front wheel 2 and the rear wheel 3. No seat is provided on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 immediately before the protruding portion 14 that accommodates the left rear wheel 3, and a second entrance / exit space 21 for passengers to enter and exit is secured. A plurality of inner wall surfaces of the bottom wall 5 between the protruding portion 14 that accommodates the left front wheel 2 and the second access space 21 face the interior of the bus 1 along the inner wall surface of the left wall 7, first implementation In the embodiment, two seats (hereinafter, left central seat) 22 are arranged side by side. One seat 23 facing forward is disposed on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 on the rear side of the protrusion 14 that accommodates the left rear wheel 3. Further, a plurality of seats facing forward, in the first embodiment, four seats (hereinafter referred to as rear seats) 24 are arranged along the inner wall surface of the rear side wall 9 of the vehicle body at the rear portion of the bus 1.
[0014]
Therefore, in the first embodiment, a seat is provided on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 only along the inner wall surfaces of the right side wall 6, the left side wall 7 and the rear side wall 9. Is not provided.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 4, a steel right fuel tank 25 and a left fuel tank 26 for storing fuel for driving the bus 1 are disposed below the right center seat 17 and the left center seat 22, respectively. Therefore, the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are arranged at the corners of the vehicle body between the side walls 6 and 7 and the bottom wall 5 of the vehicle body. The fuel tanks 25 and 26 are disposed only on both sides of the vehicle body along the inner wall surfaces of the side walls 6 and 7 of the vehicle body. The fuel tanks 25 and 26 are disposed on the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 5 between the protrusions 14. As shown in FIG. 7, the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are elongated and substantially cylindrical, and both ends thereof are hemispherical. The right fuel tank 25 extends over four seats and the left fuel tank 26 extends over two seats. That is, these fuel tanks 25 and 26 extend from the front to the rear along the longitudinal direction or the traveling direction of the bus 1. The fuel tanks 25 and 26 of the first embodiment are tanks that hold natural gas in a compressed state. However, the fuel tank may be a tank holding other liquid fuel.
[0016]
As described above, the bus in which the fuel tank is arranged in the lower region of the vehicle body has a higher running stability against the falling of the bus and the like because the weight is concentrated downward than the bus in which the fuel tank is arranged in the upper region of the vehicle body. In addition, since the running stability is high, the fuel tank can be made of steel having a density higher than that of resin or the like. For this reason, since the wall thickness of the fuel tank can be reduced, the amount of fuel that can be held per occupied volume of the fuel tank is large. The fuel tank is hemispherical at both ends. Therefore, the amount of fuel that can be held per unit length of the fuel tank is low at both ends. However, the first embodiment uses a relatively long fuel tank that extends across multiple seats. For this reason, the number of fuel tanks required to hold a desired amount of fuel is reduced, and therefore the volume occupied by both ends of the fuel tank is reduced. In this respect as well, the amount of fuel that can be held per occupied volume of the fuel tank is large. Further, since the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are arranged in the lower region of the bus 1, the replacement work of the fuel tanks 25 and 26 is easy.
[0017]
As clearly shown in FIG. 6, the right fuel tank 25 is connected to the frame 12 of the vehicle body via an elastic member 27. The elastic member 27 is substantially cylindrical and has an opening for accommodating the right fuel tank 25. The elastic member 27 is supported by a bracket 28 attached to the bottom wall surface of the right center seat 17 and the inner wall surface of the right wall 6. The bracket 28 is substantially square and has an opening for receiving the bracket 28. A stopper 29 is attached to the right fuel tank 25 to abut against the elastic member 27 and suppress the movement of the right fuel tank 25. Thus, in the first embodiment, since the right fuel tank 25 is supported by the elastic member 27, the right fuel tank 25 is suppressed from vibrating when the bus 1 travels on a rough road and vibrates. Therefore, damage to the right fuel tank 25 is suppressed. That is, the elastic member 27 corresponds to a vibration suppression means for the fuel tank. The left fuel tank 26 disposed below the left central seat 22 is also attached to the vehicle body in the same manner.
[0018]
As described above, in the first embodiment, the steel fuel tanks 25 and 26 are connected to the inner wall surfaces of the bottom wall 5 and the side walls 6 and 7, so that the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are reinforced and the bottom wall 5 and the side wall 6. , 7 is increased in rigidity. That is, the fuel tanks 25 and 26 correspond to reinforcing members that reinforce the rigidity of the vehicle body.
[0019]
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are covered with a cover 30 having air permeability. Therefore, since the bottom wall 5 and the side walls 6 and 7 have heat insulation properties as described above, the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are also maintained at a predetermined temperature if the interior of the vehicle is maintained at a predetermined temperature. For this reason, it is suppressed that the fuel tanks 25 and 26 are overheated, for example, the pressure in the fuel tanks 25 and 26 is increased, and the supply pressure of the natural gas supplied to the internal combustion engine is increased.
[0020]
In the first embodiment, the fuel tank is disposed below the right center seat and the left center seat. However, the fuel tank may be disposed below the rear seat.
[0021]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, the bus 1 of the second embodiment includes two rows of seats 31 facing the front of the bus 1 between the protruding portions 14 along the right side wall 6. As shown in FIG. 9, two fuel tanks 25 are disposed under the two rows of seats 31 along the right side wall 6 of the bus 1. In the second embodiment, since the seats 31 arranged above the fuel tank 25 face the front of the bus 1, the heights of these seats 31 are the same as those of the other seats 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 22. Although higher than the height, in the second embodiment, the fuel tank 25 is disposed at the bottom of the bus 1 and the center of gravity of the bus 1 is low. Therefore, even if the seat 31 is high, the bus 1 is highly stable against rollover. In addition, there are five rear seats 24 in the second embodiment. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, there are two seats 16 disposed on the protrusion 14 and two seats 18 disposed on the rear side of the protrusion 14. Since the configuration other than the above is the same as the configuration of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
[0022]
Therefore, in the second embodiment, when passengers sit on the seat 31 disposed above the fuel tank 25 along the right side wall 6, their legs do not come out to the standing area 32 in the center of the bus 1. For this reason, many passengers can stand in the standing area 32 as compared with the first embodiment.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
According to the invention, the fuel tank is arranged on the bottom wall under the seat. Thus the lower seat for use as arrangement location of the fuel tank, can be as large as possible a space that can be used to put the passenger automobile can be secured more the number of possible ride passengers. Further , since the fuel tank is disposed at a lower position of the four-wheeled vehicle, the traveling stability of the four-wheeled vehicle is high. Furthermore, since the fuel tank is disposed below the position of the four-wheeled vehicle, it is easy to replace the fuel tank.
Further, according to the present invention, since the fuel tank extends below the seats and on the bottom wall over a plurality of seats, a larger amount of fuel can be obtained without reducing the space used for passengers to get on. Can be mounted on four-wheeled vehicles.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a frame of the vehicle body of the bus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional plan view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1;
4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 3;
6 is a detailed view of a circle A in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fuel tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional plan view similar to FIG. 3 and showing the bus of the second embodiment.
9 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Bus 2 ... Front wheel 3 ... Rear wheel 5 ... Bottom wall 6 ... Right side wall 7 ... Left side wall 17 ... Right center seat 22 ... Left center seat 25, 26 ... Fuel tank

Claims (2)

In a four-wheeled vehicle including a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels, a plurality of seats facing inward of the vehicle in the width direction of the vehicle are provided along an inner surface of the side wall of the four-wheeled vehicle. A fuel tank for storing fuel for driving the wheeled vehicle is disposed below the seat and on the bottom wall of the four-wheeled vehicle so as to be accommodated within the width of the seat in the vehicle width direction ; 4. The four-wheeled vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fuel tank extends below the seat and on a bottom wall of the four-wheeled vehicle over a plurality of seats. The four-wheeled vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fuel tank is disposed on the bottom wall via an elastic member.

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