Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-21
2003-02-11
Rice, Kenneth R. (Department: 3627)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C180S311000, C296S102000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06517111
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a four-wheeled utility vehicle suitable for carrying goods in outdoor spaces or in wide indoor spaces and provided with a cabin frame (also called as a cab frame) surrounding an operators seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 8A and 8B
showing a general four-wheeled utility vehicle disclosed in Japanese utility model Publication No. Shou 63-202579, the four-wheeled utility vehicle has a body frame
10
of a metal, four wheels, i.e., two front wheels
2
and two rear wheels
3
, suspended from the body frame
10
, a driving unit, such as an engine, mounted on the body frame
10
, a driver's seat
4
and a load-carrying platform
5
. The four-wheeled utility vehicle is often provided with wide tires suitable for traveling on rough roads.
A cabin frame
20
′ is disposed in front of the load-carrying platform
5
so as to cover the front, rear, right and left sides of the driver's seat
4
. The cabin frame
20
′ protects the driver. A roof or a hood, not shown, can be attached to the cabin frame
20
′ to screen the driver's seat
4
from rain and sunshine, and lighting devices
7
can be attached to the cabin frame
20
′ for illumination to facilitate work at night.
As shown in
FIGS. 8A and 8B
, a front portion of the cabin frame
20
′ has a rectangular frame having front pillars
21
′ and a cross bar
21
h
′ extended between the front pillars
21
′. Lower end portions of the front pillars
21
′ of the cabin frame
20
′ are held on a front part of the body frame
10
by joints
23
′. The joints
23
′ have substantially horizontal joining surfaces that are fastened to front right and front left portions of the body frame
10
with bolts having their axes substantially vertical.
This known four-wheeled utility vehicle has the following problems.
a) The interval between the right and left joints
23
′ holding the lower end portions of the front pillars
21
′ ′must be accurately determined so that the right and left joints
23
′ coincide with joining portions of the boy frame
10
, respectively. Holes, not shown, for passing the bolts must be formed in the right and left joints
23
′ at an interval accurately corresponding to an interval between holes for bolts on the body frame
10
. If the interval between the holes formed in the body frame
10
(distance p in
FIG. 8A
) and the interval between the holes formed in the joints
23
′ holding the lower end portions of the front pillars
21
′ of the cabin frame
20
′ are different, the bolts cans be passed through the holes toned in the joints
23
′ and the corresponding holes formed in the body frame
10
. As a result, the joints
23
′ cannot be fastened to the body frame
10
. When the cross bat
21
h
′ is extended between the lower end portions of the front pillars
21
′ of the cabin frame
20
′ as shown in
FIG. 8
a
to increase the rigidity of the cabin frame
20
′ and the holes of the joints
23
′ and the holes of the body frame
10
do not coincide with each other, additional holes must be formed again in the joints
23
′ or the body frame
10
. Since the distance between the lower end portions of the front pillars
21
′ of the cabin frame
20
′ is subject to be changed during welding or the like, it is very difficult to form the cabin frame
20
′ accurately in desired dimensions. Forming the cabin frame
20
′ accurately in desired dimensions increases the manufacturing cost of the utility vehicle. The foregoing problem is true of a case where holes for bolts are formed in the joints
23
′ (or the body frame
10
) and bolts are attached to the body frame
10
(or the joints
23
′).
b) It is difficult to dispose a hood in front of and adjacent to the driver's compartment under the cabin frame
20
′ so as to be opened easily. If the hood is disposed so as to cover a front portion of the body frame
10
, when the joints
23
′ of the pillars
21
′ are placed on and fastened to the body frame
10
, the hood cannot be opened unless the cabin frame
20
′ is removed from the body frame
10
. If the hood is formed between the joints
23
′ of the cabin frame
20
′ so that it can be opened, the width of the hood is inevitably excessively small. If the cabin frame
20
′ is provided with the cross bar
21
h
′ extended between the lower portions of the front pillars
21
′ as shown in
FIG. 8A
, the cross bar
21
h
′ restrains the hood from wide opening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems a) and b) and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a four-wheeled utility vehicle provided with a cabin frame capable of being easily formed and permitting disposing a large hood in front of a driver's compartment under the cabin frame.
According to the present invention, a four-wheeled utility vehicle has: a body frame; a driver's seat disposed on the body frame; and a cabin frame having a front portion and surrounding the driver's seat, the front portion having a pair of lower end portions with vertical joining surfaces, the lower end portions being joined to right and left side surfaces of the body frame via the vertical joining surfaces with bolts having horizontal axes.
Unless otherwise specified, the words “front”, “rear”, “right” and “left” are used herein to signify position or direction with respect to the direction of forward travel of the fourwheeled utility vehicle. The words “lateral”, “back-and-forth”, “vertical” and “horizontal” are not used in strict sense and is used to signify being substantially lateral, being substantially back-and-forth, being substantially vertical and being substantially horizontal.
In this four-wheeled utility vehicle, respective portions of the body frame and the cabin frame relating to the connection of the body frame and the cabin frame can be formed in dimensional accuracy lower than that in which the body frame and the cabin frame of the conventional four-wheeled utility vehicle are formed. Since the lower end portions of the front portion of the cabin frame are joined to the right and left side surfaces of the body frame via the vertical joining surfaces of the lower end portions and fastened to the right and left side surfaces of the body frame with the bolts having axes in a horizontal direction, the distance between the vertical joining surfaces of the lower end portions does not need to coincide precisely with the distance been the right and the left side surface of the body frame. When those distances do not coincide with each other, the lower end portions of the front portion of the cabin frame can be warped elastically so that the distance between the vertical joining surfaces coincides with the distance between the right and the left side surfaces of the body frame. If the lower end portions of the front portion of the cabin frame are difficult to warp elastically, the lower end portions of the cabin frame are formed so that the distance between the vertical joining surfaces of the lower end portions is slightly greater than the distance between the right and the left side surfaces of the body frame. In this case, shims may be inserted in gaps between the right and the left side surfaces of the body frame and the corresponding vertical joining surfaces of the lower end portion of the cabin frame when fastening the lower end portions to the body frame with the horizontal bolts. Therefore, the distance between the vertical joining surfaces of the lower end portions of the cabin frame does not need to be highly accurate. The cabin frame that can be formed in a low dimensional accuracy reduces the manufacturing cost of the four-wheeled utility vehicle and facilitates work for attaching the cabin frame to the body frame.
Prefe
Buchanan Christopher
Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Rice Kenneth R.
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