WO1993016898A1

WO1993016898A1 - Tourist van

Info

Publication number: WO1993016898A1
Application number: PCT/FI1993/000054
Authority: WO
Inventors: Risto Manninen
Original assignee: Risto Manninen
Priority date: 1992-02-19
Filing date: 1993-02-17
Publication date: 1993-09-02
Also published as: AU3501393A; FI245U1; FIU920153U0

Abstract

A tourist van, comprising a chassis (1) resting on wheels, with engine, and a body resting on said chassis and constituting walls (2, 3) and a roof (4), and having in front a driver's cab (5) and to the rear of said cab dwelling and working spaces (6) for miscellaneous activities. The roof (4) of the body has been sunk down, up to a given distance forward from the rear of the body, to form on the roof a dwelling platform (7), a terrace, and the roof comprises an aperture (9) provided with a closable hatch (8), from which a passageway (10) leads into the body.

Description

TOURIST VAN

1

The present invention concerns a tourist van, comprising a chassis, with engine, resting on wheels, and a body resting on said chassis and forming walls and roof, and this body presenting in front a driver's cab and, behind the cab, dwelling and working spaces for miscellaneous activities.

The overhead and roof space of a tourist van has traditionally been considered nothing but space where transient goods can be carried; therefore no fur¬ ther development of its configuration or structure has taken place. In the case of tourist vans, two fundamen¬ tal types can be distinguished regarding structure and configuration of their body and roofs: the so-called fully integrated design and the partially integrated design.

In a fully integrated tourist van the original cab structures of the chassis are altogether absent, or they are concealed in the body structure. In a partly integrated design, the travelling body attaches to the roof and wall structures of the cab which has been opened in the back. In all these instances the body invariably attaches upon the frame structure of the chassis.

The basic solutions regarding use are similar in every case. Behind the cab there are often other seats meant for travelling, and behind these, toilet and cupboard spaces, galley premises, and farthest in the rear, usually, a seat-and-table group, which is also convertible into sleeping space. A second sleeping space is usually provided in a raised part of the roof upon the cab and passenger space.

In tourist vans of prior art, the roof usually descends after said sleeping space, and on this lower part load racks or other kinds of attachments are pro¬ vided, whereby the roof can be used for transient transporting or storage of goods, as long as the goods are securely attached to the structures. Passage up on the roof is invariably by a ladder on the rear wall. This ladder most often comes as ancillary equipment, as do various kinds of goods attachments.

The problem in existing tourist vans is lack of space, in the first place. The external dimensions of tourist vans cannot be significantly increased any more because they would thereby become too heavy and unwieldy, and this would make moving about with them uncomfortable and uneconomical. There have been at¬ tempts to create additional space in connection with tourist vans by means of separate, tent-like extra awnings and terraces built up beside or behind the van, but such structures consume rather much space and can¬ not always be accommodated on the tourist van squares of camping grounds, which are nowadays stintingly di¬ mensioned. Similarly, it is not usually possible to create such extra space in roadside rest areas, where people using a tourist van frequently make a break and would be in need of extra accommodation space.

Problems are also introduced by the practice of storing goods on the roof: anybody has access to the roof by the outside ladder at any time and with rela- tive ease. It follows that the tourist van cannot be left safely on public parking grounds.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks considered in the foregoing. It is par¬ ticularly an object of the invention, to disclose a novel tourist van in which one achieves within the ex¬ ternal dimensions of the traditional tourist van, sig¬ nificant increase of floor squares for living and, at the same time, one enables safe transport and storage of goods, as well as their convenient handling. Regarding the features characterizing the in¬ vention, reference is made to the claims section.

As taught by the invention, the roof of the tourist van's body is lowered up to a distance, forward from the rear of the body, to constitute upon the roof a dwelling platform, or terrace, so that the roof com¬ prises an aperture with closable hatch, through which a passage way leads to the interior of the body. Thus, according to the invention, there is a communication passage to the terrace only through the van's interior, whereby the terrace constitutes a comparatively secure dwelling space as well as storage space for miscellane- ous goods. Of course, it is possible, if desired, to mount, or detachably erect, on the rear of the van a ladder known in itself in the art, by which the terrace can also be reached by climbing the ladder.

The dwelling platform, or terrace, is dis- posed, in the invention, at an elevation lower than the front part of the body's roof, their difference in height being possibly within 30 to 80 cm, advantageous¬ ly 40 to 70 cm, for instance about 50 to 60 cm. The height would thus advantageously correspond to the height of a normal bench. Likewise, in selecting the height attention is advantageously paid to the interior dwelling space under the terrace, which must not become too low: the free height in said space should be held at standing height, on the order of slightly less than 2 m.

Advantageously, the passage way consists of a suitable stairway or ladder, and the aperture is advan¬ tageously positioned in the forward part of the ter¬ race, while a ladder may equally be used elsewhere too, e.g. inside the body, in its very rear.

In an advantageous embodiment of the inven¬ tion, the aperture is placed in the connecting part be¬ tween the dwelling platform and the front part of the body's roof which is at higher elevation, either obliquely or on a substantially vertical wall, and in this case the aperture will extend past this wall to a distance in the front part of the roof. By this ar- rangement, the terrace platform on lower elevation becomes useful in its entirety and the passage aperture will be safely outside the terrace platform area.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the ladder or stairway is a fixed structure, i.e., an essential fixed part of the body's frame, whereby it will rigidly brace the front edge of the terrace plat¬ form against the body frame. The dwelling platform, or te^'rrace, will thus rest firmly on all edges on the body of the tourist van and on the frame thereof, implying that space-consuming upright braces in the centre of the dwelling space are not absolutely necessary.

In the tourist van of the invention the dwell¬ ing platform may be provided with fixed sides as well as tailboard. Advantageously, however, at least the tailboard is detachable, or e.g. turnable to one side or down on pivots; this will significantly facilitate the loading and unloading of bulky goods.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention one or several repository boxes, fitted with lid and lockable, have been provided on the dwelling platform and which serve as benches to sit on when the dwelling space is being used. In that case the boxes are advan¬ tageously provided with double lids, the upper lid, when turned up, constituting a back rest for the bench and the lower lid, in its lowered position, constitut¬ ing the bench seat. The box is thus opened by lifting both lids into vertical position.

Advantageously, the repository boxes are de- tachably affixed, whereby the boxes can be dismounted when required and a spacious, unbroken and level dwell¬ ing area or transport space is formed, whichever may be neede .

The tourist van of the invention affords sev- eral advantages over the state of art:-

- the most significant advantage of the invention is clearly more exhaustive utilization of the tourist van; - the roof terrace affords additional, sought-for dwel¬ ling area without any increase of the van's size: this is important since in traffic the van should be as small and nimble as possible, yet as spacious as pos- sible when it is parked for camping;

- the firm and easily managed passage way is also safe for children and aged persons;

- goods and loose items can be carried on the roof, in the repository boxes, where they are easy to pick up for use:

- the goods are safe on the roof because there is no outside access to the roof:

- the roof terrace also affords intimacy for sun-bath¬ ing, not quite often attainable on camping grounds; - The roof terrace affords good visibility of the whole surrounding area, over all the other caravans, whereby it becomes easy to follow all kinds of events;

- one may also have meals on the roof terrace in per¬ fect peace and protected from dust raised by traffic, as it is simple enough to serve the food through the hatch;

- the roof terrace may furthermore, if desired, be pro¬ vided with a suitable overhead cover, e.g. an awning, and with extra railings as well as additional detach- able ladders;

- the terrace structure of the invention will not ex¬ cessively reduce the free height of the dwelling space below, inside the car body, normal standing height being preserved there. In practice, the design solutions of the in¬ vention are best implemented by applying composite techniques. Using composites, one achieves a strong and light structure. The technique enables the principle of the self-supporting body construction to be applied, in partial integration as well as full integration. When constructed on a chassis with front wheel drive, the design of the invention will produce a body with ex- ceedingly low centre of gravity and with the floor no higher than on axle level. However, a chassis design with rear wheel drive is not excluded by the technique. Advantageously, the length of the roof terrace is ap- proximately one-half of the overall length of the van. In the following, the invention is described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 presents, partly cut open, a tourist van accord- ing to the invention, in elevational view,

Fig. 2 presents another tourist van according to the invention, viewed obliquely from the rear, and Fig. 3 presents a third van according to the invention, partly cut open and in elevational view. Fig. 1 depicts, partly cut open, a fully in¬ tegrated tourist van model, in which on the frame 1 rest: side walls 2, rear wall 3, over the walls a roof 4, and a driver's cab 5. In the interior space defined by the body are provided: dwelling spaces 6 with bench- es and tables, a galley space 18 and a toilet 19.

The roof 4 of the van consists of the forward part 11 of the roof on higher elevation and extending rearward from above the cab 5, the dwelling platform 7 on lower elevation than the forward part 11 and extend- ing forward from the rear of the vehicle, and a slant¬ ing connecting part 12 connecting the two. On the whole height of said connecting part, and also onward, on part of the forward roof part 11, belongs an aperture 9 (the dark part in the drawing) , which can be closed in water-tight fashion with a hatch 8. In the drawing the hatch 8 is depicted in its open position, and* it is located upon the forward roof part 11. In this way a spacious dwelling platform 7, a terrace, is formed which has a rear border 17 and side boards 13, in con- tinuation of the tourist van's side walls 2.

To the lower margin of the aperture 9 a down¬ ward extending, oblique flight of stairs 10 has been secured, its lower end resting on the floor level of the interior spaces, on the van's chassis 1. Thus, while forming a firm and safe passage way up to the terrace, the stairs at the same time rigidly brace the front margin of the terrace platform against the van's chassis.

In Fig. 2 is presented a partly integrated tourist van design conforming to the invention. In this embodiment, the body of the driver's cab 5 is separate from the rest of the body, although a direct passage way exists on the inside, leading to the rest of the tourist van's spaces.

On the roof 4 of the tourist van a dwelling platform 7 has been formed, its floor level about a knee height lower than the forward part 11 of the roof. The forward roof part 11 and the terrace level are con¬ nected by a slanting connecting part 17, in which an aperture 9 has been provided, which also extends up to a distance into the forward roof part 11. The aperture 9 is provided with a hatch cover

8, in the present embodiment of transparent material, by which the aperture can be closed with a tight seal and which, when opened, is lifted upon the forward roof part 11. To the lower margin of the aperture 9 a lad- der, or a flight of stairs, is secured along which the passengers can safely access the terrace from the in¬ terior of the van.

Both side walls 2 of the tourist van continue to a height above the terrace level, thus forming the sides 13 of the terrace. Abutting on the side boards, on the terrace, repository boxes 14 extending the whole length of the terrace have been provided, these boxes having a lid 15 which in its closed position serves as a seat and which can be opened into vertical position, whereby goods can be placed in the box or removed therefrom. Advantageously, the repository boxes are detachable, in which case the uses of the terrace space become more versatile.

The rear confine 17 of the terrace is in this embodiment formed by the sides of the repository boxes

14, while the central part of the rear confine is com- paratively open: it is merely fitted with a light wall element (indicated with dotted lines in the drawing) .

In Fig. 3 is depicted a third, fully integrat¬ ed tourist van design according to the invention, in this figure various persons having been sketched in various accommodation spaces and in various activities, the intention being to illustrate the versatile use of this van and'its spacious accommodations. The van com¬ prises substantially the same basic structural compo¬ nents as the tourist vans of Figs 1 and 2, but owing to its greater length this van can hold more dwelling and working spaces in its interior. Sleeping berths 20 have been disposed, typically, also on top of the cab 5.

Differing from the designs of Figs 1 and 2, the dwelling platform 7 of the tourist van of Fig. 3 comprises a repository box 14 with double lid. The first lid 15, when raised up,_ constitutes the back for the seat which the box forms, and the second lid 16, in its lowered position, constitutes the seat part. The box can then be opened by lifting both lids into their upper position.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, on the roof terrace 7 has been fixed a light-weight awning 21, for instance a structure composed of tubes and fabric, and which is rapidly taken out from the repository box 14 and erected on the terrace to become a protective screen.

As can be seen in the figure, the terrace 7 which has been sunk down from the rest of the roof sur¬ face 11 causes no significant reduction of the height of the dwelling spaces therebelow, the free standing height of 195 cm being easy to achieve in said spaces. It is thus understood that the terrace built on the roof will not in any way detract from the interior spaces of a traditional tourist van, nor impair their usability: it merely presents a remarkable amount of useful extra space, without in any way increasing the external dimensions of the vehicle or substantially increasing its weight.

In the foregoing the invention has been de¬ scribed by means of examples with the aid of the draw¬ ings, while different embodiments of the invention are conceivable within the scope of the inventive idea de¬ limited by the claims.

Claims

1. A tourist van, comprising a chassis (1) resting on wheels, with engine, and a body resting on said chassis and constituting walls (2,3) and a roof (4), and having in front a driver's cab (5) and to the rear of said cab dwelling and working spaces (6) for miscellaneous activities, characterized in that the roof (4) has been sunk down up to a given distance for- ward from the rear of the body, to form on the roof a dwelling platform (7), a terrace, and that the roof comprises an aperture (9) provided with a closable hatch (8) from which a passage way (10) leads into the body.

2. Tourist van according to claim 1, charac¬ terized in that the passage way (10) consists of a flight of stairs or a ladder.

3. Tourist van according to claim 1, charac¬ terized in that the aperture (9) is located in the for- ward part of the terrace (7).

4. Tourist van according to claim 3, charac¬ terized in that the aperture (9) is located in a con¬ necting part (12) between the dwelling platform (7) and the forward part (11) of the roof of the body located at greater height, extending up to a distance into the forward part of the roof.

5. Tourist van according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the passage way (10) rests upon the lower margin of said aperture (9) and on the floor of the dwelling space (6) therebeneath.

6. Tourist van according to claim 5, charac¬ terized in that the passage way (10) is a fixed struc¬ ture which braces the dwelling platform (7) against the chassis (1) of the tourist van.

7. Tourist van according to any one of claims

1-6, characterized in that the side walls (2) of the body extend substantially up to the height of the for- ward part (11) of the roof, constituting the sides (13) of the dwelling platform (7).

8. Tourist van according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the dwelling platform (7) comprises repository boxes (14) provided with lids, usable as seats.

9. Tourist van according to claim 8, charac^¬ terized in that the repository box (14) is detachably fixed on the dwelling platform (7).

10. Tourist van according to claim 8, charac¬ terized in that the repository box (14) comprises a first lid (15) which in raised position forms the back of a seat, and a second lid (16) which in its lower position forms the seat part of the seat.

11. Tourist van according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that in the rear part of the dwelling platform (7) belongs a detachable, or turnable-aside, rear board (17) for facilitating the work of loading or unloading the dwelling platform.