NZ213335A - Vehicle canopy - Google Patents

Description

213335 Priority Date(s): o q . <? C Complete Specification Filed: .<v./.. ... Class: $ ££$& £ 8 OCT 1986 Publication Date: P.O. Journal, No: ....!&%$>> Patents Form No. 5 Number PATENTS ACT 1953 Dated COMPLETE SPECIFICATION IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLE CANOPIES HWe PANACHE PRODUCTS PTY. LIMITED of 50 Paisley Drive, Lawnton, Queensland 4051, Australia, a company incorporated in the State of Queensland, Australia do hereby declare the invention for which $we pray that a Patent may be granted to Ate/us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: i 213335 THIS INVENTION relates to improvements in vehicle canopies. In particular the invention relates to canopies for utilities and four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles.

Canopies formed from glass reinforced plastics • (G.R.P.) for such vehicles are produced by laying-up the G.R.P. in a mould, cutting out the holes for the windows and installing the windows. These steps are slow and expensive. In addition, the canopies are expensive to transport as they occupy a large volume.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a canopy which can be more simply and inexpensively manufactured and transported.

It is a preferred object to provide a canopy where a G.R.P. top is fitted to a supporting frame which may include one or more windows above the sides and/or the front.

It is a further preferred object to provide a canopy which can be transported in a completely knocked down (CKD) manner and be readily assembled on site.

Other preferred objects will become apparent from the following description.

In one aspect the present invention resides in a canopy for vehicles including: a base frame, mountable on the load body of a vehicle, having a pair of side frames interconnected at one end by a front frame and at the other end by a tailgate support frame defining a cavity for a tailgate support frame defining a cavity for a tailgate assembly. a tailgate assembly hingedly mounted on the tailgate support frame and movable between a raised, opened position and a lowered, closed position; and a canopy top mountable on the top of the base frame to close the canopy.

Preferably the side and front frames have their top, bottom and end rails formed from interconnected # 213335 lengths of a single aluminium extrusion, the end rails of the adjacent side and front frames being interconnected at the front corners of the canopy by a corner extrusion .

Preferably, at the rear corners, the corner extrusion is spaced from the end rails of the side frames to form air deflectors for the tailgate.

Preferably the tailgate has an extrusion formed integrally with, or attached to, its top rail to provide 10 a hinged connection to the tailgate frame.

Preferably the top, bottom and end rails of the side and front frames are provided with respective slots or channels for fixed and for sliding glass panes received in suitable glazing strips or guides. 15 To enable the invention to be fully understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the canopy (fitted to a vehicle shown in dashed lines) taken from the rear 20 quarter; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the front corner of the canopy taken on line 2-2 on FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the rear corner of the canopy taken on line 3-3 on FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the tailgate assembly taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the relationship of the tailgate to the canopy taken on line 5-5 on FIG. 1; and FIG. 6 is a similar view to FIG. 5 taken on line 6-6 on FIG. 1.

The canopy, generally indicated at 10, is adapted to be fitted to the sides of a utility vehicle or 4WD vehicle 100. The canopy has a pair of side frames 11, 35 a front frame 12, a tailgate assembly 13 and a G.R.P. "" ••• m8AUG 1985 RjBCSTV'* ;SI3335 ;top 14. ;The side and front frames 11, 12 are formed from interconnected lengths of a frame extrusion 15 which are interconnected by a corner extrusion 16 (see FIG.' 2). Each side frame 11 is provided with two fixed panes of glass 17 and two sliding panes of glass 18, the 'latter enabling free access to the interior of the canopy, ;while the front frame 12 is provided with two sliding panes of glass (not shown) allowing access to the canopy from the vehicle cabin. ;An extrusion, to be described, interconnects the rearward ends of the side frames 11 and provides a support for the hinged tailgate 13. ;The G.R.P. top 14 is formed to be fitted to the side and front frames 11, 12 after the frames have been fixed together on the vehicle 100 on site, the top 14 being supplied in a separate package from the completely knocked down (CKD) frames and tailgate. A roof rack (not shown) may be fitted to the front roof portion 20 of the top and an integral wind deflector 21 is provided across the rear of the top. ;Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the frame extrusion 15 has a large channel section 22 which is adapted to receive a flock-covered window guide (not shown) for the sliding glass panes 18 and those in the front frame 12. A narrow channel section 23 in the extrusion receives a glazing strip (also not shown) for the fixed glass panes 17. The faces 24, 25, 26 on the extrusion form the bottom of the side and front frames 11, 12 and bear on the top surfaces 101 of the vehicle body 100 to support the canopy and a sealing strip (not shown) may be received in the channel 26. The frames 11, 12 are fixed to the vehicle body 100 by screws or bolts passing through the web 28 at spaced intervals along the frames. ;At the front corners of the canopy (FIG. 2) the ;-4- ;RBCKIV* 213335 extrusion 15 of the adjacent uprights of the front and side frames are interconnected as shown and the corner extrusion 16 is slid down the uprights, the corner extrusion having fins or webs 29, 30 which 5 engage in the channels 31 formed in the sides of the extrusion 15. (The channels 31 in the top and bottom rails of the front and side frames are fitted with plastic filler strips (not shown) to improve the appearance of the frames ) .

At the rear of the canopy (see FIG. 3), a support frame (of substantially inverted U-shape) interconnects the rear uprights of the side frames 11 and the support frame is formed from an extrusion 32 which has an extension flange 33 engaging the faces 24 in the extrusions 15 15 of the uprights. A substantially Z-shaped flange 34 on the extrusion 32 engages the inner side faces of the uprights. Screws (not shown) fix the extrusion together.

A pair of steel or aluminium strips 35 are fixed 20 in the channels 36 in the rear of each upright and a length of the corner extrusion 16 is fixed to the strips to form an air deflector 37- The extrusion 32 has an inwardly directed flange 38 and web 39 which form the fixed frame for the tail-25 gate opening in the rear of the canopy.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear wall 40 of the G.R.P. top 14 is clamped between the extension flange 33 and a locking strip 41 which is fixed to the Z-shaped flange 34 by screws (not shown) received in the serrated 30 socket 42 in the flange 34 .

The extrusion 32 has a hooked flange 43 with a rounded nose 44 which forms one part of a hinge assembly 45 for the tailgate 13.

The side rails 46 and top rail 47 of the tailgate 35 13 are formed from a common extrusion which has a central 213335 web 48 with side flanges 49, 50, and a central flange 51 and a face flange 52. The bottom rail 53 is formed from a substantially inverted U-shaped extrusion with 56 having a socket 57. The glass 58 in the tailgate 13 is fitted in a glazing strip 58a seated in the socket 59 between the flanges 49, 51 in the side and top rails 46 and 47 and in the socket 57. A sealing strip 60 seals the bottom rail 53 to the vehicle while a sealing strip 61 received in a socket in the flange 38 in the frame seals the side and top rails of the tailgate to the frame.

To complete the hinge assembly 45, a substantially L-shaped extrusion 62 has its f-oot 63 fixed to the central web 48 of the top rail 47 and its leg 64 fixed to the face flange 52 of the top rail and a hooked top flange 6 5 engaged in the hooked flange 4 3 of the frame, the tailgate being releasable from the frame when raised to the position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 4.

Bumper strips 66, 67 (see FIG. 5) on the frame and tailgate 13 ensure the correct closed relationship between the tailgate and the canopy, while the telescopic struts or stays, such as the telescopic gas struts 68 (see FIG. 6) are normally concealed between the support frame and the tailgate frame, and can hold the tailgate 13 open and/or control its rate of closure.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the canopy can be shipped in completely knocked down form (for minimum transport volume) and then quickly and easily assembled by the user on site.

Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. inner and outer flanges 54, 55 interconnected by a web 2 I 333£

Claims (6)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS :

1. A canopy for a vehicle including: a base frame, mountable on the load body of a vehicle, having a pair of side frames interconnected at one end by a front frame and at the other end by a tailgate support frame defining a cavity for a tailgate assembly; a tailgate assembly hingedly mounted on the tailgate support frame and movable between a raised, opened position and a lowered closed position; and a canopy top mountable on the top of the base frame to close the canopy.

2. A canopy as claimed in Claim 1 wherein: the side and front frames have their top, and bottom rails and, end rails formed from interconnected lengths of a single aluminium extrusion, the end rails of the adjacent side and front frames being interconnected by a corner extrusion.

3. A canopy as claimed in Claim 2 wherein: portions of the corner extrusion are fixed to, but spaced from, the tailgate support frame to form air deflectors for the tailgate assembly.

4. A canopy as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein: the tailgate assembly has at least one pane of glass fitted in a peripheral frame having a top rail, bottom rail and a pair of side rails; and an extrusion is formed integrally with, or is attached to, the top rail to provide a hinged connection to the tailgate support frame.

5. A canopy as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein: the top, bottom and end rails of the side and front panels are provided with respective slots or channels for fixed and/or sliding glass panes received in glazing strips or guides. -7- 213335

6. A canopy as claimed in Claim 4 wherein: at least one telescopic strut or stay is provided to interconnect the tailgate assembly to the tailgate support frame to releasably support the tailgate assembly in its raised, opened position,, the strut or stay being enclosed by the tailgate support frame and the peripheral frame when the tailgate assembly is in its lowered, closed position. WEST-WAL1CER, McCABE per: ATTORNEYS FOR THE APPLICANT -8-