Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Camper
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-01
2003-05-20
Gordon, Stephen (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Camper
C296S156000, C296S172000, C296S176000, C296S024430, C296S026040, C296S026060
Reexamination Certificate
active
06565143
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a camping car based on a small vehicle.
Specifically, the present invention relates to a highly usable and diversely available vehicle which can be utilized as a normal private car for commutation approximately in a size of a small one-box car or a two-box car, i.e., so-called 5-number or 3-number car, and readily converted to a full-scale camping car which is equipped with shower, toilet, kitchen, lavatory and so on, when used for leisure such as camping on weekend or the like, by extending upward the space within the car.
BACKGROUND ART
It appears to be Japanese's true character to want opportunities of staying in the nature. Outdoor activities such as camping are a good custom for urban persons who have few opportunities of staying in the nature to refresh mind and body, maintain the health, and so on. Outdoor lovers are increasing, and this tendency seems to be growing in the future as well.
However, since camping cars have historically been developed mainly in the rich United States and Europe where the countries are large, roads are wide, fuel is inexpensive, large and dedicated camping cars, like buses, adapted to the circumstance are dominating. They are not at all suited for the conditions of Japan where the fuel is expensive, the country is small, and roads are narrow. Specifically, owning a plurality of vehicles, i.e., a camping car dedicated to leisure such as camping and a vehicle for commutation, shopping and so on encounters difficulties even in ensuring a parking area therefor in an urban small space. Once in camping, the camping cars cannot run narrow and dirt roads and so on for accessing a camping field.
Moreover, such a large camping car can run merely 3 to 7 km per liter and is also wasteful in terms of fuel cost. It is therefore impossible to own it for average employees and so on with small disposable income, who are estimated to create most of the demand. On the other hand, full-scale small camping cars equipped with toilet, shower, kitchen and so on, suitable for the condition of the country, have been placed on the market recently in Japan as well.
FIG. 1
shows an example. However, the prior art example shown in
FIG. 1
is designed to realize an outdoor life within the vehicle. Thus, it is worth as a dedicated camping car, but it is still excessively large as a versatile vehicle which can be used also for commutation, shopping and so on, and impractical in terms of fuel economy, running performance and so on. At present, the large camping cars are not satisfied by a large number of persons and cannot respond to the high potential demand.
Also, a camping car having a fixed roof, on which a tent can be set up, as shown in
FIG. 2
, for example, as represented by Frendy manufactured by Matsuda, is beginning to be placed on the market.
The prior art shown in
FIG. 2
is derived from a concept of manufacturing an RV car which is compact and can be used commonly for play, work, shopping and so on.
While the size of the vehicle is certainly reduced, the design shown in
FIG. 2
is made to have an outdoor life with the roof used as a floor. Therefore, in a functional aspect, it is rudimental and merely increases a bit of beds, which have conventionally been provided. There is not any concept of providing a full-scale camping car which has shower, toilet, kitchen, lavatory and so on, so that there are still a lot of discontented persons.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 09-123826 discloses a camping car which has a tent unit pivotally attached to a rear portion of a back door opening of a vehicle body, extending outward therefrom. However, the aforementioned tent on the roof is merely moved to the back of the vehicle, so that this is insufficient in a functional aspect similarly to the foregoing.
Moreover, since the camping car shown in the foregoing publication sets up a tent outside the vehicle, it is inconvenient in use due to time consuming set-up and storage, requirements for outside operations in wind and rain for setting up or storing the tent, and so on.
Furthermore, generally, camping cars are required to have a motive force because a refuge must be made immediately due to flooding caused by a sudden weather change in the nature, and so on. The camping car shown in the aforementioned publication, however, takes time for storing the tent extending outward, and has a problem in the motive force.
In view of the situation of the prior art as described above, the present invention has its challenge to provide a structure of a camping car which has the size of an ordinary small car up to approximately a one-box car of three numbers, can be normally used also for shipping, commutation and so on, can be fully utilized as a camping car, and can be extremely readily converted into a fullscale camping car which has independent rooms suitable in use for shower, toilet, cooking and so on.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the above object, the structure of the present invention comprises, in a vehicle of a size such as a one-box car, a camping car which is based on the ability of setting up a portion or entirety of a roof portion of a vehicle higher than a normal running state for ensuring a living space within the vehicle, and that a diaphragm
6
is provided for separating the inside of the vehicle into front and rear spaces, wherein the rear side of the diaphragm
6
can be set up as an independent room
7
in use for shower, toilet and cooking, characterized in that when a front portion of the roof portion is set up above, front and rear spaces of the upper portion are separated by an upper diaphragm
8
coupled to the upper side of the diaphragm
6
.
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Dormobile in Whales: Weekend with Martin Walter's Four-Berth Caravan, Blandon, The Autocar, Nov. 6, 1959.*
What you should know about Driving in the Wilderness, Popular Mechanics, 1968.
Engle Patricia
Goldberg Richard M.
Gordon Stephen
LandOfFree
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