Joint for a composite vehicle body
AssigneeFaroex Ltd.
InventorsWilliam H. Stanton, Kevin Lusk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle primarily a mass transit vehicle is formed primarily of composite materials which define a roof section and a floor section of two fiber reinforced sheets connected by an integral core and two rigid side wall sections each formed from welded steel or optionally bolted aluminum defining a series of window openings in a row along the side wall section in a ladder shape. Releasable joints of adhesive are provided between the metal rails and the edges of the composite panels where a web of the panel and the web of the rail extend across the panel at an angle to the first and second surfaces different from 90 degrees so that the web of the panel meets the flange of the panel at an angle greater than 90 degrees.
Claims14
A vehicle comprising:
- at least one section comprising a generally horizontal floor portion having two side edges and two generally upstanding wall portions each arranged along a respective side edge of the floor portion;
- each of said floor portion and said wall portions being formed from a first sheet, a second sheet and a core material between the sheets;
- each of the first and second sheets being formed of a fiber reinforced material so as to provide strength against tension in both longitudinal and transverse directions;
- the core material having a thickness so as to hold the first and second sheets spaced by a distance to provide a resistance of the panel to bending;
- and a resin permeated through the sheets;
- the floor portion terminating at each of its two side edges at a respective edge portion which lies in a common plane with the floor portion;
- and a first and a second metal rail each having a first channel portion thereof adhesively connected to the edge portion of the floor portion at the respective side edge thereof and having a second channel portion thereof adhesively connected to an edge portion portion of the respective wall portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.