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US 9,533,716 B2Granted
Floor construction for a vehicle
AssigneeFaroex Ltd.
InventorWilliam H. Stanton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle having a bottom frame including a plurality of rails includes a floor structure defined by a plurality of longitudinally extending flooring planks extending along at least part of the length of the vehicle body and arranged side by side at a coupling rail or overlapping joint so as to collectively span between the side walls. The planks are molded for example by pultrusion or vacuum resin infusion from a composite having an upper skin and a lower skin and an intervening core material layer. The planks can be easily provided at required different lengths including a center and side planks installed while standing on the center plank. The planks can be trimmed to any length for vehicles of varying lengths.
Claims23
A vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body having:
- a roof,
- a first and a second side wall each extending longitudinally of the vehicle on respective sides of the vehicle body, each including a plurality of upstanding posts and a plurality of longitudinally extending members interconnecting the posts;
- and a vehicle floor;
- wherein the vehicle floor comprises:
- a welded frame structure having a plurality of longitudinal rails and a plurality of transverse rails welded thereto;
- a plurality of longitudinally extending flooring planks each extending along at least part of the length of the vehicle body;
- the planks being arranged side by side so as to collectively span between the side walls;
- the planks each being molded from a composite panel having an upper skin and a lower skin each including reinforcing fibers and an intervening core material layer and containing a cured resin material;
- wherein an underside of the planks sits on top of the longitudinal rails and the transverse rails of the frame structure and is attached thereto by adhesive.
7 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body having:
- a roof,
- a first and a second side wall each extending longitudinally of the vehicle on respective sides of the vehicle body, each including a plurality of upstanding posts and a plurality of longitudinally extending members interconnecting the posts;
- and a vehicle floor;
- wherein the vehicle floor comprises:
- a welded frame structure having a plurality of longitudinal rails and a plurality of transverse rails welded thereto;
- a plurality of longitudinally extending flooring planks each extending along at least part of the length of the vehicle body;
- the planks being arranged side by side so as to collectively span between the side walls;
- the planks each being molded from a composite panel having an upper skin and a lower skin each including reinforcing fibers and an intervening core material layer and containing a cured resin material;
- wherein an underside of the planks sits on top of the longitudinal rails and the transverse rails of the frame structure and is attached thereto by adhesive;
- wherein there is provided a first wheel arch at said first side wall for covering a first wheel and a second wheel arch at said second side wall for covering a second wheel;
- and wherein the planks include a center plank of the planks which extends between the wheel arches.
9 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body having:
- a roof,
- a first and a second side wall each extending longitudinally of the vehicle on respective sides of the vehicle body, each including a plurality of upstanding posts and a plurality of longitudinally extending members interconnecting the posts;
- and a vehicle floor;
- wherein the vehicle floor comprises:
- a welded frame structure having a plurality of longitudinal rails and a plurality of transverse rails welded thereto;
- a plurality of longitudinally extending flooring planks each extending along at least part of the length of the vehicle body;
- the planks being arranged side by side so as to collectively span between the side walls;
- the planks each being molded from a composite panel having an upper skin and a lower skin each including reinforcing fibers and an intervening core material layer and containing a cured resin material;
- wherein an underside of the planks sits on top of the longitudinal rails and the transverse rails of the frame structure and is attached thereto by adhesive;
- wherein the floor includes a front lower deck extending from a front of the vehicle to a transverse step and a rear upper deck extending from the transverse step to a rear of the vehicle with the transverse step between the decks;
- and wherein the front deck is formed from a first set of said plurality of longitudinal planks and the rear deck is formed from a second set of said plurality of longitudinal planks with a molded step section forming said transverse step therebetween.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.