WO2006095211A1

WO2006095211A1 - Separable, twin-type road vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2006095211A1
Application number: PCT/HU2006/000020
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zsolt HEGEDÜS; Géza Hivessy
Original assignee: Hegedues Zsolt; Hivessy Geza
Priority date: 2005-03-11
Filing date: 2006-03-10
Publication date: 2006-09-14
Also published as: HU0500297D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a separable twin-type road vehicle that can be used either as a joined vehicle or as two independent vehicles. The vehicle comprises a driving system, an axle-suspension system, a steering system, a plurality of seats and a coachwork. The joined vehicle is assembled from two smaller vehicles (1, 2) having identical constructions, said smaller vehicles (1, 2) being joined back-to-back in a mirror symmetrical manner.

Description

Separable, twin-type road vehicle

The present invention relates to a separable twin-type road vehicle that can be used as a joined vehicle and as two independent vehicles.

The scale of the road traffic is increasingly growing all over the world. The number of motor vehicles is increasing dramatically and therefore in the cities and in their vicinities, congestions, traffic jams and parking difficulties are experienced more and more frequently in a more and more serious form. Due to the increase in the personal mobility and in the standard of living, the number of families using two or even more cars is also increasing. According to the statistics, one car carries 1,2-1,4 passengers in average, the effects of which come to be rather serious. Such a low utilisation of vehicle capacities, i.e. between 20% and 30%, results in a significant waste of fuel and consequently, in a high emission rate of toxic exhaust gases and other gases causing a greenhouse effect. In addition, it also aggravates the traffic and parking problems. For example, three small cars could fit into the place of two big cars in average, which could yield an increase of at least 33% in the passenger capacity.

hi order to solve the above mentioned problems, various initiations have been started among which only the solutions with technical characteristics may count on a lasting success and a social acceptance in fact. For example, the two-person light car "Smart", which is a 2.5 m long, lightweight, low fuel consumption car and thus it is ideal for urban traffic, may be considered as such an initiation. However, this car has the drawbacks that it is inadequate for transporting two children and because of its short wheelbase limiting its speed, it is hardly suitable for long way runs. The light-weight four-wheel cars of the so-called microcar category have similar drawbacks, although those are increasingly popular, for example, in France and Italy.

A rather flexible solution has been offered by the study car "Chrysler Voyager HI" introduced in 1990. The front section of this vehicle forms a three-person, urban mini car with lowerable rear wheels, wherein said front section can be separated from the multi-person rear section having a double shaft. A disadvantage of this solution is that the rear section, which has an own power source, is unable to run alone therefore it can not be used as an independent vehicle.

The object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle that can be used, depending on the need, either as a bigger vehicle with a higher passenger capacity or, after a minimal re-assembly thereof, as two smaller vehicles both of which can be operated even alone. This capability of the mutual transformation of such a vehicle from a bigger one into two smaller ones and vice versa allows to eliminate, or at least to moderate, the problems known in the prior art, i.e. the problems associated with the economy in space, the fuel consumption, the emission and parking.

To achieve the above objects, the road vehicle according to the present invention comprises a driving system, an axle-suspension system, a steering system, a plurality of seats and a coachwork, wherein the joined vehicle is assembled from two smaller vehicles having identical constructions, said smaller vehicles being joined back-to-back in a mirror symmetrical manner.

Preferably, the smaller vehicles comprise a coachwork element for closing the open end thereof when the vehicle is used as two independent smaller vehicles. These coachwork elements are releasably mounted one above the other on the rear part of the vehicle when it is in a joined state.

It is also preferred that the smaller vehicles are provided with an upper swinging arm on one side and with a lower swinging arm on the other side, wherein said swinging arms are hingedly connected to a sandwich-type floor of the vehicle on both sides and adapted to be slid one above the other for each pair thereof when joining the two smaller vehicles. Furthermore, it is preferred that a support wheel is temporarily mounted on the end portion of the lower swinging arm in order to assist installing the rear wheels of the smaller vehicles.

In a practical and spatially economic embodiment of the present invention, the single wheels of the axle-suspension system of the smaller vehicles are arranged in duplicate in the joined vehicle, wherein the front wheels are adapted for re-mounting onto the swinging arms of the smaller vehicles projecting over into the other vehicle part.

Ih the preferably sandwich-type floor of each of the smaller vehicles, a cavity is formed for receiving a removable, preferably wedge-shaped floor element, said floor elements being mounted on a connecting rib of the framework of the smaller separate vehicles in a reversed position in a cantilevered manner so as to form an over-projecting floor part of the smaller vehicles.

In another embodiment of the vehicle according to the present invention, each of the wheels is mounted on a respective axle-suspension unit comprising a longitudinal swinging arm, wherein said longitudinal swinging arms are connected to the framework through springy elements providing a springing effect for them. Ih this embodiment, the springy elements of the front axle-suspension units are arranged immediately behind the front part involving the front wheels, whereas the springy elements of the rear axle-suspension units are arranged immediately near the connecting rib of the framework. The springy elements providing the springing effect for the longitudinal swinging arms are preferably formed as torsion springs.

Preferably, the height level adjusting device of said axle-suspension units having the longitudinal swinging arms is an adjusting mechanism interposed between the framework and a respective longitudinal swinging arm. It is preferred that said adjusting mechanism is an electromotor-driven adjusting mechanism, but alternatively it may be operated pneumatically or hydraulically as well. Similarly to the wheel arrangement of the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the axle- suspension units with their respective wheels are arranged in duplicate both in front and ahind when the vehicle is formed of two smaller vehicles in its joined state.

In another preferred embodiment, a series of interlocking wedges protrudes backwards from the connecting rib of the framework of the smaller vehicles, said interlocking wedges being adapted to hold the floor element. The basic function of said interlocking wedges is, however, to allow interconnection of the small vehicles into a joined vehicle in such a way that the interlocking wedges and the complementary recesses formed in the floor are fitted to those of the other smaller vehicle when joining one smaller vehicle to the other smaller vehicle.

Finally, in order to allow lowering of the rear part of the vehicle, i.e. to reduce the rear ground- clearance, and thus to allow a reduced power requirement at high speed due to the reduced front surface, the smaller vehicles are provided with a base plate rising backwards, said base plate being adapted to connect the wedge-shaped floor elements of the rear part thereto. Said floor elements are preferably mounted on the bottom of the vehicle, when the vehicle is in the joined state.

The present invention will be better understood through a description of the preferred embodiments by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a big joined vehicle showing the coachwork elements closing the open rear part of the small vehicles, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of the big joined vehicle shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is the side view of one of the two small separate vehicles adapted to run alone,

Figure 4 is a plan view of the small separate vehicle of Figure 3,

Figure 5 schematically shows an arrangement of the over-projecting floor elements in the joined vehicle, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6 schematically shows the arrangement of the over-projecting floor element in the small separate vehicle, Figure 7 schematically shows the arrangement of the over-projecting floor element relative to the framework of the vehicle and in the floor of the vehicle,

Figure 8 shows an arrangement of the swinging arms relative to the framework of the vehicle and in the floor of the vehicle, Figure 9 is a side view of a small vehicle comprising axle-suspension units with longitudinal swinging arms, according to the second embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 10 is a plan view of the small vehicle shown in Figure 9,

Figure 11 is a side view of the small vehicle of Figure 9, wherein the rear ground-clearance is reduced, Figure 12 is a side view of a big joined vehicle assembled from two small vehicles shown in Figure

9, wherein the big vehicle has double axle-suspension units, according to a further embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 13 is the plan view of the big vehicle shown in Figure 12,

Figure 14 is a side view of a small vehicle having axle-suspension units with longitudinal swinging arms, wherein the wedge-shaped floor and the rear coachwork element are removed, according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 15 is a side view of two small vehicles, both of which have their own axle-suspension units and have an increased ground-clearance, wherein the small vehicles are illustrated in a state before joining them into a big vehicle, but after removing the rear axle-suspension units from them, and Figure 16 is a side view of two small vehicles joined together to form a big vehicle, wherein the small vehicles are illustrated in an overlifted condition before the removal of the rear axle- suspension units remained in the middle.

As illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, the joined vehicle having a high passenger capacity is assembled by joining two small vehicles 1 and 2

(or to be more exact, by joining two vehicle parts) back-to-back in a mirror symmetrical manner, wherein the seats are accommodated accordingly to form two pairs, the seats of both pairs being arranged back-to-back and in some cases, adapted to allow their turn-over for facing forwards. In this embodiment, the front part of the big vehicle is formed by the front part of either small vehicle 1, whereas the rear part of the big vehicle is formed by the front part of the other small vehicle 2 facing backwards. As shown in Figure 3 and 4, after disjoining the big vehicle at the middle, the open end of the two independent small vehicles 1, 2 is closed by a coachwork element 3 and 4, respectively, that are releasably fixed one above the other on the rear part of the big vehicle as illustrated in Figure 1. As Figures 6 and 7 show, both of the independent small vehicles 1, 2 have an over-projecting, preferably wedge-shaped floor element 5. These floor elements 5 may be inserted into cavities 5' in a position illustrated in Figure 5, said cavities 5' being formed in the sandwich- type floor 7 under the ribs 6 of the framework of the two small vehicles 1, 2 forming the big joined vehicle, said ribs 6 being connected to each other and being provided with sealing profiles. After pulling out said floor elements 5 from said cavities 5', they can be fixed to the bottom of the ribs 6 in a reverse position in a cantilevered manner. As well illustrated in Figure 2, according to this embodiment, the wheels 8, 9 of the axle-suspension system are arranged side by side in the big joined vehicle thus they form double wheels. When separating the big vehicle, the outer wheels 8 can be mounted onto the rear swinging arms 10, 11 of the small vehicle 1, 2, said swinging arms 10, 11 projecting beyond the small vehicles 1, 2 on both sides and being embedded in the floor 7 on both sides by bordering the wedge-shaped floor elements 5. Installing the rear wheels 8 in this manner leads to an acceptable long wheelbase even for the small vehicles 1, 2. In an alternative embodiment, wheels of higher load capacity are equally used in both of the big vehicle and the small vehicles, wherein it is not necessary to provide the big vehicle with a duplicate of such wheels, but two ones of such wheels should be stored as auxiliary wheels for both small separate vehicles 1, 2. As shown in Figure 8 in detail, the lower swinging arm 11 on either side is provided with a support wheel 12 that serves as a temporary third wheel for supporting the small separate vehicle to run alone until mounting the wheel 8 on the other side onto the upper swinging arm 10 has been finished. The support wheel 12 further serves as a suspension with adjustable height level for assisting the joining and the separating procedures. Afterwards the support wheel 12 can be mounted off and the other wheel 8 can be installed in the place thereof, thus after the coachwork element 4 and the wedge-shaped floor element 5 have been mounted onto the rib 6, the small vehicles 1, 2 are capable of running alone. In the initial state, the lower swinging arm 11 is oriented horizontally, whereas the upper swinging arm 12 has an inclination allowing the wheels 8 of the small vehicles 1, 2 to be aligned. When joining the small vehicles 1, 2 into a big vehicle, the swinging arm 11 of either small vehicle can be lifted horizontally and then it can be slid above the swinging arm 11 of the other small vehicle on the same side, whereby the swinging arms 10, 11 slid together also serve as a docking-guiding means.

Because of the coexistence of steered and unsteered wheels (different wheelbase), the different breaking properties and other substantially different properties of the big vehicle and the small vehicles, the double drive of the big vehicle, i.e. the combined front and rear wheel drive, is preferably controlled by a completely electronic drive system applying no mechanical connections (drive-by-wire system) that has been developed (and is still under development) in the motor-car industry.

In Figures 9 to 16, a second embodiment of the separable, twin-type vehicle according to the present invention, is illustrated. The basic difference between the first and the second embodiment is that in the latter one, the wheels 8, 9 are mounted on respective axle-suspension units 13, 13', each of said units 13, 13' comprising a longitudinal swinging arm (so-called a-arm) 14 and adapted to control the height level of the vehicle. These axle-suspension units 13, 13' allow independent driving and steering for each of the wheels by using electric wheel hub motors and electric steering units built in the wheels (steer-by-wire). In the axle-suspension units 13, 13' with the longitudinal swinging arms, the wheels 8, 9 are mounted on one end of the longitudinal swinging arms 14, wherein each of said longitudinal swinging arms 14 is connected to the framework through a springy element which is preferably a torsion spring 15. In the small vehicles 1, 2, the torsion springs 15 of the front axle- suspension units 13 are preferably arranged immediately behind the front part involving the front wheels, whereas the torsion springs 15 of the rear axle-suspension unit 13' are arranged immediately near the connecting rib 6 of the framework. The height level may be set by means of adjusting mechanisms not shown in the schematic views, said adjusting mechanisms being interposed between the framework and the longitudinal swinging arms 14, and being capable of adjusting the ground-clearance of the vehicle, in certain cases by changing their length. The adjusting devices used to adjust the size of the ground-clearance may be, for example, electromotor-driven adjusting mechanisms or, in a particular case, they may be operated pneumatically or hydraulically. Another special feature of the embodiment shown in Figures 9 to 16 is that a series of interlocking wedges 16 protrudes backwards from the connecting rib 6 of the framework of the small vehicles 1, 2, said interlocking wedges 16 also being adapted to support the wedge-shaped floor element 5. When joining the small vehicles 1, 2 into a big vehicle, these interlocking wedges 16 may be slid, in a toothed fashion, into complementary recesses formed in the floor 7 of the other small vehicle 2, 1 between corresponding interlocking wedges 16 thereof.

In the second embodiment, at the transformation of the small vehicles 1, 2 into a big vehicle and vice versa, the whole axle-suspension units 13' are to be relocated, as it can be seen when comparing Figure 10 with Figure 13. When two small vehicles 1, 2 are to be joined into a big vehicle, first the coachwork elements 3, 4 and the wedge-shaped floor elements 5 are removed in a manner shown in Figure 14, and a rear axle-suspension unit 13' together with a respective wheel 9 is mounted off from both of the small vehicles 1, 2. Subsequently, the size of the ground-clearance of the so formed three-wheeled vehicles are increased both in front and ahind in a manner shown in Figure 15 by means of the height level adjusting devices, i.e. by means of the adjusting mechanisms, and said small vehicles 1, 2 are joined by means of the interlocking wedges 16 engaging with each other in a toothed manner. A further increase of the ground-clearance of the joined vehicle allows to mount off the two rear axle-suspension units 13' remained in the middle, as well as the wheels 9 that have been used as support wheels so far. These axle-suspension units 13' as well as the two rear axle- suspension units 13' previously mounted off are then built in near the front axle-suspension units 13, thus the big joined vehicle has double axle-suspension units 13, 13' and double wheels 8, 9 both in front and ahind. Finally, the ground-clearance of the big joined vehicle may be adjusted to the desired size by means of the height level adjusting devices, depending on the actual traffic situation. In urban traffic, it is preferred to set an increased ground-clearance, whereas in the case of travelling at high speed, for example on a motorway, a reduced ground-clearance is recommended in order to improve stability. A further lowering of the rear parts of the small vehicles 1, 2 results in a reduced front surface, thus allowing a reduction of the power required. For this reason, in this embodiment it is preferred that the wedge-shaped floor elements 5 are mounted on the bottom of the vehicle as shown in Figure 12, instead of being accommodated within the cavities 5' formed in the floor 7.

Transformation of the big vehicle into two independent small vehicles 1, 2 is carried out in the reverse order described above.

Claims

Claims:

1. A separable twin-type road vehicle that can be used as a joined vehicle and as two independent vehicles, said vehicle comprising a driving system, an axle-suspension system, a steering system, a plurality of seats and a coachwork, characterised in that the joined vehicle is assembled from two smaller vehicles (1, 2) having identical constructions, said smaller vehicles (1, 2) being joined back-to-back in a mirror symmetrical manner.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, characterised in that both of said smaller vehicles (1, 2) comprise a coachwork element (3, 4) for closing the open end thereof when separating the joined vehicle, wherein said coachwork elements (3, 4) are formed so as to be releasably mounted one above the other on the rear part of the joined vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said smaller vehicles (1, 2) are provided with an upper swinging arm (10) on one side and with a lower swinging arm (11) on the other side, wherein said swinging arms (10, 11) are hingedly connected to a sandwich-type floor (7) of the vehicle on both sides and are adapted to be slid one above the other in pairs when joining said two smaller vehicles (1, 2).

4. The vehicle of any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that a support wheel (12) is temporarily mounted on an end portion of the lower swinging arm (11) in order to assist installing a rear wheel (8) of said smaller vehicles (1, 2).

5. The vehicle of any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the single wheels (8, 9) of the axle- suspension system of said smaller vehicles (1, 2) are arranged in duplicate in the joined vehicle, wherein the front wheels (8) are adapted for re-mounting onto the swinging arms (10, 11) of said smaller vehicles (1, 2), said swinging arms (10, 11) projecting over into the other vehicle part.

6. The vehicle of any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that in the sandwich-type floor (7) of said smaller vehicles (1, 2), a cavity (5¹) is formed for receiving a removable, preferably wedge- shaped floor element (5), said floor elements (5) being mounted on a connecting rib (6) of the framework of the separated vehicle in a reversed position in a cantilevered manner so as to form an over-projecting floor part of said smaller vehicles (1, 2).

7. The vehicle of claim 1 or 2, characterised in that each of said wheels (8, 9) are mounted on respective axle-suspension units (13, 13% each of said units (13, 13') comprising a longitudinal swinging arm (14) and being adapted to control a height level, wherein said longitudinal swinging arms (14) are connected to the framework through springy elements providing a springing effect for said longitudinal swinging arms (14).

8. The vehicle of claim 7, characterised in that in said small vehicles (1, 2), the springy elements of the front axle-suspension units (13) are arranged immediately behind the front part involving the front wheels, whereas the springy elements of the rear axle-suspension units (13') are arranged immediately near the connecting rib (6) of the framework.

9. The vehicle of claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the springy elements providing said springing effect for the longitudinal swinging arms (14) are torsion springs (15).

10. The vehicle of any one of claims 7 to 9, characterised in that the height level adjusting device of an axle-suspension unit (13, 13') with a longitudinal swinging arm (14) is an adjusting mechanism interposed between the framework and the longitudinal swinging arm (14).

11. The vehicle of claim 10, characterised in that said adjusting mechanism used as a height level adjusting device for the axle-suspension unit (13, 13') with a longitudinal swinging arm (14) is an electromotor-driven adjusting mechanism.

12. The vehicle of claim 10, characterised in that said adjusting mechanism used as a height level adjusting device for the axle-suspension unit (13, 13') with a longitudinal swinging arm (14) is a pneumatically or hydraulically operated adjusting mechanism.

13. The vehicle of any one of claims 7 to 12, characterised in that in the joined vehicle formed of said two smaller vehicles (1, 2), the axle-suspension units (13, 13') comprising the longitudinal swinging arms (14) and the wheels (8, 9) are arranged in duplicate both in front and ahind.

14. The vehicle of any one of claims 7 to 13, characterised in that a series of interlocking wedges (16) protrudes backwards from connecting rib (6) of the framework of said smaller vehicles (1, 2), said interlocking wedges (16) being adapted to support the wedge-shaped floor element (5) and to fit, in a toothed fashion, into complementary recesses formed in the floor of the other smaller vehicle (2, 1) between corresponding interlocking wedges (16) thereof when assembling the smaller vehicles (1, 2) into a joined vehicle.

15. The vehicle of any one of claims 1 to 14, characterised in that said smaller vehicles (1, 2) have a base plate rising backwards, said base plate being adapted to connect the wedge-shaped floor elements (5) of the rear part of said smaller vehicles (1, 2) thereto, and wherein said wedge-shaped floor elements (5) are mounted on the bottom of the vehicle when said vehicle is in the joined state.