WO2008036042A1

WO2008036042A1 - Building system and method for securing of equipment in vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2008036042A1
Application number: PCT/SE2007/050888
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rolf Agerberth; Peter Blomdell
Original assignee: Patent Linx Ab
Priority date: 2006-09-21
Filing date: 2007-11-21
Publication date: 2008-03-27
Also published as: EP2222506A4; EP2222506A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a building system for providing a floor in a vehicle for secure mounting of equipment and/or furnishing, characterized in that the system comprises: a frame rail (1) with at least one receiving portion (5); a connector rail (2) arranged to be fitted to a floor panel (4) and arranged with a locking portion (6) fitting with the receiving portion (5) of the frame rail; a locking rail (3) with a protruding part arranged to be fitted in a slot (8) formed between the frame and connector rails when mounted in a vehicle.

Description

Building system and method for securing of equipment in vehicle

TECHNICALFIELD

The present invention relates to a method and device for securing of equipment in a vehicle and a building system for carrying out the method and in particular to a solution for providing a foundation in a vehicle for securing equipment and furnishing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In connection with adaptation of vehicles for special purpose use, there exists a need for creation of fastening means to fasten equipment and furnishing to the floor of the vehicle. The fastening means should not involve any changes of the load-bearing structures of the vehicle and preferably not affect the road manners of the vehicle in any substantial way.

Today, there exist several solutions on the market which are used to provide fastening means for equipment and furnishing in vehicles. Several of these solutions use specially profiled panels which at the same time provide a frame for securing against. These panels are often in the form of standardized sizes and are bulky, difficult to handle, and often expensive to transport to the supplier or fitting workshop/customer. Cutting, fitting, and mounting is often time consuming and give a material waste that need to be dealt with. It is the object of the present invention to provide a solution that at least in part remedies some of the disadvantages of the known technology.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is thus to provide a solution for creating a frame in a vehicle for secure fitting of equipment and furnishing. A second object of the present invention is to provide a solution that is easy to understand and use, and which together with the system according to the present invention gives a short building time.

The present invention also concerns a simple building system with specially profiled rails and panels. The system can easily be adapted to different vehicles in relation to use, dimensions, and available space. The building system does not demand any special panels; it is thus possible to choose suitable panels and material of the panels for different applications and it also to handle the panels locally, i.e. purchase of the panels, storage and so on.

This is provided in a number of aspects in which a first is a building system for creation of a floor in a vehicle for secure mounting of equipment and/or furnishing, characterized in that the system comprises: a frame rail with at least one receiving portion; a connector rail arranged to be fitted to a floor panel and arranged with a locking portion fitting with the receiving portion of the frame rail; a locking rail with a protruding part arranged to be fitted in a slot formed between the frame and connector rails when mounted together.

The rail may be made of metal.

The building system may further comprise a panel to be fitted to at least two connector rails.

The panel may be made of at least one of wood or other cellulose based material, metal, plastic, and composite material.

The frame rail may be arranged with one receiving portion on each side of a mounting slot.

The building system may further comprise a covering profile fitting in the mounting slot covering at least the slot.

Another aspect of the present invention is provided, a method for creating a floor in a vehicle for secure fastening of equipment and/or furnishing, characterized in the following steps: providing a frame rail arranged with at least one receiving portion; fitting a connector rail to a floor panel where the connector rail is arranged with a locking portion fitting with the receiving portion of the frame rail; mounting the connector rail, fitted to the panel, to the frame rail by sliding the locking portion of the connector rail in under the receiving portion of the frame rail; mounting a locking rail arranged with a protruding part by fitting the protruding part into a slot formed between the frame and connector rails when mounted together.

The method may be repeated until a floor is built up covering a base floor of a vehicle.

The step of providing the frame rail may comprise gluing the frame rail to a base floor of a vehicle.

The frame rail may be mounted to a base floor of the vehicle using a template.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is provided, a vehicle comprising a floor provided using a building system according to claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following the invention will be described in a non-limiting way and in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the enclosed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically in a view in perspective parts used by the building system according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically in a view in perspective a step of a method according to the present invention, where one panel element is being hooked into a first panel rail; and

Fig. 3 shows the hooking between panel elements according to Fig. 2 to a second panel rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In Fig. 1 reference numeral 1 generally indicate a frame rail profile 1 arranged to connect panels forming the frame flooring in a vehicle according to the building system according to the present invention. This frame flooring may be mounted to the floor of the vehicle, for instance in a small transport vehicle transporting people or goods. The frame flooring is then used for mounting chairs, boxes, or other equipment and furnishing to be used in the vehicle. Furthermore, the system comprises a connector rail profile 2 attachable to floor panels 4. Fig. 2 shows how the panel with the connector rail profile 2 may be fitted to the frame rail profile 1 . Furthermore, the frame rail profile is provided with a receiving bar 5 under which a locking bar 6 of the connector rail profile fits, thus the movement in the vertical direction is hindered when the frame rail profile is fixated to the floor of the vehicle. The panel/connector arrangement cannot be detached from the frame rail profile without bending the panel/connector arrangement slightly upwards as seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 shows two panels mounted consecutively with a first frame rail 1 and first connector rail 2 fitted to a first panel 4. The first panel 4 has a second connector rail 2' which in turn is fitted to a second frame rail 1 '. On the other side of the second frame rail 1 ' a third connector rail 2" fitted to a second panel 4' is mounted.

A locking rail profile 3 may be used for locking the connector rail profile 2 in relation to the frame rail profile 1. This locking rail profile also provides an esthetic function in hiding a slot 8 located between the frame and connector rail profile. The locking rail profile 3 is provided with a protruding portion that fits into the slot 8. The locking rail profile 3 stops movement in the upward direction (as seen in Fig. 2) and thus provides locking of the panel/connector arrangement to the frame rail profile.

Each rail profile may be cut in suitable lengths depending on vehicle dimensions and the floor panels may be cut in suitable lengths and widths depending on type of installation. The frame rail profile may be provided with a mounting slot 7 where mounting details may be fastened.

The rail profiles are preferable manufactured of metal but other material may be used such as wood, graphite composites based material, or plastic material as long as the material has suitable mechanical properties strong enough to hold the panels and conform to regulatory rules concerning the safety in vehicles. For instance the rail profiles may be manufactured using an extrusion process, extruding aluminum into rails with suitable profile.

The parts of the building system may be provided in a ready kit with suitable material necessary for building a floor (optionally the panels may be supplied separately). The material used for the building system may be packaged efficiently and thus transportation of the material to the customer for building the floor, e.g. a workshop contracted to build the floor, may be made cost effective and handling is simplified as compared to large standardized panel modules often used conventionally. As discussed earlier the panels that build up the bulk of the floor may be provided by the customer/builder himself.

Since the panels are not restricted to standardized panel modules, a wide range of panels are available for fitting as floor, as long as they conform to regulatory rules (bearing structures, safety and so on). This provides the opportunity to design an esthetic look and functional property of the floor and provides a wide range of color and material choices for the flooring. The panels may be made of any suitable material, such as wood, metal, plastic, composites, or cellulose based material.

The frame rail profiles may be fastened to the floor of the vehicle using a wide range of fastening means such as gluing or screwing, but advantageously the frame rail profiles are glued to the floor of the vehicle. It is also possible to mount covering panels (not shown) to hide for instance the mounting slot 7 of the frame rail profile. These covering panels provide an esthetic appearance and facilitate cleaning of the vehicle.

It should be appreciated that mounting of equipment and/or furnishing may be done using the mounting slot 7 and/or the panels. A chair may for instance either be mounted using fixating receiving means in the mounting slot or screwed/bolted directly to the panel.

The building system and mounting method provide a quick and safe mounting of equipment and furnishing in the vehicle. Preferably the mounting is provided by an approved work shop, since safety regulations need to be considered for mounting of details in the vehicle. Mounting may be performed by first providing the frame rail 1 and fixating the connecting rail to a panel. The connecting rail (with the panel) may then be fitted to the frame rail by locking the receiving bar 5 and the locking bar 6 to each other; for instance, by sliding the locking bar of the connector rail with panel in under the receiving bar. A connector rail may be provided at the opposite end of the panel in order to fit with a frame rail on the other side and thus being able to repeat the process and building up a floor using a plurality of frame rails, connector rails, and panels.

The floor may be built up outside the vehicle and the entire floor positioned into the vehicle when ready or the floor may be built up piece by piece in the vehicle. A template may be used for fitting the frame rail 1 in the vehicle at suitable positions as defined by the equipment and/or furnishing to be mounted on the floor.

The present invention has been realized as a method for creating a ground (frame) in a vehicle for secure fastening of equipment and/or furnishing (i.e. chairs and so on), comprising that specially designed rail profiles, preferably of metal, is fastened on a floor of a vehicle, that to the vehicle adapted panels with to first rail profiles attachable second rail profiles are attached to the first rail profiles and that these also are attached to the floor.

The first rail profiles may be glued to the floor of the vehicle.

The covering panel may be placed with its top side in level with the first rail profiles top side.

The rail profiles location on the vehicle floor may be done using a template.

A covering third rail profile may be placed in a therefore adapted cavity in the first rail profile.

The present invention has also been implemented as a building system for creation of a ground (frame) in a vehicle for secure fastening of equipment and/or furnishing, comprising: a first rail profile, preferably of metal; - to the vehicle adapted panels arranged with to the first rail profile attachable second rail profiles; and

- a third covering rail profile with a protruding portion arranged to be positioned in therefore adapted cavity in the first rail profile in order to cover a junction between the first rail profile and the attached second rail profile.

The building system may comprise cut panel and profile moulding adapted for specific vehicle and specific equipment/furnishing.

It should be noted that the word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed and the words "a" or "an" preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. It should further be noted that any reference signs do not limit the scope of the claims and that several "means" or "units" may be represented by the same item of hardware.

The above mentioned and described embodiments are only given as examples and should not be limiting to the present invention. Other solutions, uses, objectives, and functions within the scope of the invention as claimed in the below described patent claims should be apparent for the person skilled in the art.

Claims

1 . A building system for creation of a floor in a vehicle for secure mounting of equipment and/or furnishing, characterized in that the system comprises:

- a frame rail (1 ) with at least one receiving portion (5); - a connector rail (2) arranged to be fitted to a floor panel (4) and arranged with a locking portion (6) fitting with the receiving portion (5) of the frame rail;

- a locking rail (3) with a protruding part arranged to be fitted in a slot (8) formed between the frame and connector rails when these are mounted together.

2. The building system according to claim 1 , wherein the rail (1 , 2, 3) is made of metal.

3. The building system according to claim 1 , further comprising a panel (4) to be fitted to at least two connector rails (2).

4. The building system according to claim 1 , wherein the panel is made of at least one of wood or other cellulose based material, metal, plastic, and composite material.

5. The building system according to claim 1 , wherein the frame rail is arranged with one receiving portion on each side of a mounting slot (7).

6. The building system according to claim 5, further comprising a covering profile fitting in the mounting slot (7) and covering at least the mounting slot.

7. A method for creating a floor in a vehicle for secure fastening of equipment and/or furnishing, characterized in the following steps: - providing a frame rail (1 ) arranged with at least one receiving portion (5);

- fitting a connector rail (2) to a floor panel (4) where the connector rail is arranged with a locking portion (6) fitting with the receiving portion (5) of the frame rail; mounting the connector rail (2), fitted to the panel (4), to the frame rail (1 ) by sliding the locking portion (6) of the connector rail (2) in under the receiving portion (5) of the frame rail (1 );

- mounting a locking rail (3) arranged with a protruding part by fitting the protruding part into a slot (8) formed between the frame and connector rails when these are mounted together.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the method is repeated until a floor is built up covering a base floor of a vehicle.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of providing the frame rail comprises gluing the frame rail to a base floor of a vehicle.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the frame rail is mounted to a base floor of the vehicle using a template.

1 1. A vehicle comprising a floor provided using a building system according to claim 1.