Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – With signal – scale – illuminator – or optical viewer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-19
2001-12-04
Cuda Rosenbaum, I (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
With signal, scale, illuminator, or optical viewer
C029S281500, C029S897200, C434S062000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06324750
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle modeling and design systems and, more particularly, to an architectural system for adjustably recreating a vehicle interior which is particularly useful in assisting automakers in accurately and inexpensively establishing a given set of vehicle interior dimensions for ergonomic testing and without regard to a particular exterior vehicle styling or ornamentation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The relevant prior art is concerned with the creation of vehicle interior designs. Traditionally, the designing of vehicle dimensions, both exterior and interior, was accomplished by a fairly sizeable number of individuals constructing a vehicle model out of a large quantity of clay. Unfortunately, a combination of factors including the number of individuals involved, the material cost of the raw material, and the relatively large number of hours required in constructing the model make it unduly burdensome for automakers to construct such vehicle designs. An additional drawback with clay modeling designs is that they are drawn primarily to illustrating exterior vehicle dimensions and ornamentation and do not do a good job of establishing accurate vehicle interior dimensions.
More recently, vehicle designing, both interior and exterior, has been accomplished through the use of computer aided designing (CAD) techniques. As is known in the art, a fairly powerful computer is loaded with appropriate drafting software which an operator utilizes to create desired vehicle dimensioning. An obvious drawback of CAD designing is that it does not provide any type of life-like replication of vehicle interiors and exteriors and, furthermore, its use renders it largely impossible to achieve any desired dimensioned and ergonomic “feel” of a vehicle interior.
An example of a method of making a unified interior and exterior design verification model drawn for CAD machines is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,749, issued to Hutchison. The method of Hutchison includes the steps of defining a series of separable parts of the interior and exterior designs according to distinct mathematical models. A series of bench mark planes are provided within the interior and exterior surfaces of the design and the interior and exterior portions are separated from each other at the bench mark plane when the interior portion is formed and the interior and exterior portions are assembly together at the bench mark plane. Finally, the separable parts or modules are assembled together at the bench mark plane and the present method provides for the disassembly of the particular modules and their modification in holding fixtures.
Other examples drawn from the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,836, issued to Martin, which teaches a method of making a prototype from concept drawings and which includes building a skeletal body of interlocking and substantially rigid templates on a frame. The frame in turn is constructed of tubing members and panels and is fitted with wheels to facilitate transporting of the prototype. The templates are then traced on polystyrene foam pattern pieces sized to fill the spaces between the templates and pattern pieces are then attached to the frame and shaped to the desired design contour surface.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention is a novel and simplified approach for the creation of a desired architectural design of a vehicle interior. The invention is primarily directed to the ability to quickly and efficiently create a vehicle interior architecture, utilizing generic forms for such interior components as instrument panels, roof headliner, pillars, consoles, floor and door sills, and in addition to stylized exterior components such as doors, hood and roof, which provides actual vehicle perspective to an individual seated within the constructed vehicle architecture, and which provides for quick and easy adjustment of the forms relative to one another and to permit the interior dimensions of the established architecture to be quickly altered for purposes of ergonomic testing. The present invention is also concerned with the provision of a vehicle architectural system which utilizes simplified and inexpensive generic form pieces and which assists in the establishment of the desired interior architecture without other distractions as to an ornamental appearance of either the vehicle interior or exterior.
The architectural system includes a platform constructed of a plurality of planar shaped floor plates which are arrayed in end-to-end and coplanar fashion relative to one another. The floor plates are translatable along first and second established axes along a two dimensional plane so as to establish an overall surface area upon which the vehicle architecture is constructed.
A cage is constructed upon the platform and includes the provision of a first plurality of elongate and vertically extending supports and a second plurality of horizontally extending and interconnecting supports. The vertical supports are secured to mounting apertures located within the floor plates at specified locations along the edges of the plates and the horizontal supports interconnect between top ends of the first plurality of vertical supports. Both the first and second pluralities of supports are further constructed of elongate and tubular members, each having first and second axially telescoping portions, and such that a specified interior volume of the cage is established by adjusting the first and second pluralities of supports to desired positions.
A series of generic forms are provided and which are patterned to correspond to selected interior and exterior components of a vehicle upon which it is desired to recreate its interior architecture. Included among these patterns are such elements as a floor console and door sills which are supported in a desired positioning upon the adjusted platform surface and additional elements including door pillars and attaching strip portions, interior door panels, roof headliners, instrument panel, dashboard and the like. The forms utilized according to the present invention are typically constructed of a foamable material having the requisite characteristics of flexibility and resiliency and which are further covered by a dark fabric, such as gray or black, and so as not to distract from the established objective of evaluating the ergonometry of the interior vehicle architecture by introducing other distracting design features. It is also contemplated that the forms may be constructed of wooden forms or the like without departing from the scope of the invention.
The additional pattern elements are secured at selected locations within the specified volume of the cage through the use of elongate fasteners, each including a shaft which receives a threaded nut to define the shaft into a first threaded end and a second extending and indicia indicating end. Each of the nuts abuts against an exterior facing surface of a selected elongate extending support of the cage (vertically or horizontally extending) and the second shaft portions extend inwardly through apertures in the elongate supports to engage selected locations of the associated forms such as the pillars for interconnecting the door panels and the roof headliner. The indicia on the second extending ends of the shafts further includes dimensional markings which interact with rotational displacement of the nut to permit rapid manual repositioning of the forms relative to one another.
A method for recreating a vehicle interior according to the present invention is also disclosed and includes the steps of obtaining a set of critical dimensions of a desired vehicle interior configuration and obtaining computer aided artwork illustrating a desired shaping of the vehicle interior and exterior. Utilizing the material gathered, the method includes the further steps of establishing a floor height of a the vehicle to be created, assembling a recreated floor of the vehicle upon the platform structure utilizing the f
Rafferty Dennis M.
Saunders William P.
Cuda Rosenbaum I
DMR Investments, LLC
Gifford, Krass, Groh Sprinkle, Anderson & Citkowski, P.C.
Nguyen T.
LandOfFree
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