Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Variable capacity of body
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-27
2004-03-09
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Variable capacity of body
C296S026130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06702353
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of expandable vehicles, and more particularly to an operating mechanism for selectively extending and retracting a slide-out room of a motorized or towable vehicle. The operating mechanism includes a remotely actuated brake.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In order to increase the available interior space of a motorized or towable vehicle such as a motor home or trailer, slide-out rooms can be made integral with the vehicle. When the vehicle is in transit, the slide-out room can be retracted and stored in the vehicle's interior with the exterior wall of the slide-out room approximately flush with the vehicle's exterior. As such, there is typically adequate space within the vehicle's interior to accommodate users in transit and remain within the standard width limitations imposed upon a vehicle. When the vehicle is parked and leveled, the slide-out room is then slid outward through an opening formed in a sidewall of a fixed room, increasing the internal accommodations.
As shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
, a typical slide-out room
20
usually includes a floor section
22
, a roof section
24
, a first sidewall section
26
, a second sidewall section
28
, and a third sidewall section
30
. In the retracted position, the roof section
24
and the first
26
and second sidewall section
28
are concealed from exterior view, and the third sidewall section
30
forms a portion of the vehicle's sidewall. At the same time, the floor section
22
of the slide-out room
20
typically rests above a floor section
32
of a fixed room
34
and may form a portion of the usable interior floor during vehicle transit. Similarly, the roof section
24
of the slide-out room
20
may define the interior ceiling of that part of the vehicle during transit. The proximal ends of the roof section
24
, first sidewall section
26
, and second sidewall section
28
, include stop walls
36
. As used herein, “proximal” refers to the portion towards the vehicle body and “distal” refers to the portion away from the vehicle body. The stop walls
36
form a L-shaped configuration with the respective roof section
24
, first sidewall section
26
, and second sidewall section
28
. The stop walls
36
engage the inner surface
38
of a respective sidewall section
40
of the fixed room
34
when the slide-out room
20
is fully extended, and thereby limit the travel of the slide-out room
20
. Weather sealing material
42
, as in compressible strip form, is located on the abutting surfaces of the stop walls
36
and/or inner surface
38
of the respective sidewall
40
of the fixed room
34
.
A number of slide-out extension mechanisms are currently used to extend and retract the slide-out room. Typically, a slide-out extension mechanism
44
includes a pair of support rails
46
which telescopically extend and retract from a pair of channels
48
. The support rails
46
are attached to the slide-out room
20
and the channels
48
are attached to the fixed portion of the vehicle, such as the fixed room
34
, wherein the slide-out room
20
retracts and extends with the retraction and extension of the support rails
46
. The support rails
46
may be driven hydraulically, pneumatically, electrically or various combinations thereof. In the fully extended position, the support rails
46
extend outwardly in a cantilevered manner and support the slide-out room
20
. The slide-out room
20
is further supported by the stop walls
36
abutting the inner surface
38
of the respective sidewall section
40
of the fixed room
34
.
Since the slide-out room
20
is nested within a portion of the fixed room
34
, it is usually dimensioned smaller than the fixed room
34
. Thus, when the slide-out room
20
is in an extended position, the floor section
22
of the slide-out room
20
is higher than the floor section
32
of the fixed room
34
. Such stepped flooring
50
has frequently been found to be undesirable, inconvenient, and somewhat hazardous. For example, a person may easily overlook the step and trip or stumble if care is not taken. Furthermore, the step limits the positioning of furniture within the room, and the step makes it difficult to create an aesthetically pleasing floor appearance.
In response, slide-out rooms
100
have been developed with flooring having a flush upper surface (see FIGS.
2
A and
2
B). Unfortunately, a slide-out mechanism
102
can be overly complicated, expensive, and relatively heavy. In the vehicular environment, unnecessary weight reduces fuel economy and may lead to an overly cumbersome vehicle. However, if the slide-out extension mechanism
102
is insufficiently rigid, flexing may lead to misalignment of the drive mechanism such that the support rails
104
are no longer extended/retracted in synchronism. As a result, the slide-out extension mechanism
102
may become skewed or bind during the transit sliding action. Another problem arising from an insufficiently rigid structure is that the slide-out room
100
may exhibit “bouncing” when a dynamic load is imposed on a floor section
106
. This can be particularly annoying when an occupant causes the slide-out room
100
to bounce while walking. In severe cases, cantilevering forces acting on the slide-out mechanism
102
may cause the sidewall sections
108
,
110
,
112
of the slide-out room
100
to sag and the floor section
106
to separate at their abutting edges. Furthermore, slide-out rooms using multiple floor panels, either completely removable or foldable on hinges, may buckle, warp, split, and crack and permit air drafts to rise from the floor through the gaps created by the misaligned panels.
Referring to
FIGS. 3A and 3B
, another feature which is growing in popularity is the application of a flush wall system. In the flush wall system, proximal ends of a first sidewall section
150
, second sidewall section
152
and roof section
154
of the slide-out room
156
are flush with an interior surface
158
of a respective sidewall section
160
of a fixed room
162
when the slide-out room
156
is fully extended. Weather sealing material
164
is placed along the edge of an opening
166
formed in the sidewall section
160
of the fixed room
162
to form a seal between the rooms
156
,
162
. By doing away with the stop walls
36
, the interior aesthetics is greatly improved. However, the load which was once supported by the stop walls
36
is now redirected to a slide-out extension mechanism
168
. As shown in
FIG. 3A
, cantilevered support rails
170
flex from the added load, and as a result, the slide-out room
156
extends outwardly at a downward incline relative to the fixed room
162
. In addition to the awkward appearance of the floor section
172
of the slide-out room
156
being inclined relative to a floor section
174
of the fixed room
162
, the proximal end of the floor section
172
of the slide-out room
156
protrudes upwardly and a gap g is formed in the flooring. Furthermore, the seal between the rooms
156
,
162
is ineffective because a gap is formed between the rooms
156
,
162
due to the misalignment of the sidewall sections
150
,
152
and roof section
154
of the slide-out room
156
. Since vehicles of this type are often used during inclement weather, water, snow, and cold/hot air drafts may leak into the interior of the vehicle and create an inhospitable environment. In addition, certain vehicles such as medical and dental trailers require sterile environments.
In order to further increase the available interior space of vehicles, there is a growing trend to provide increasingly larger slide-out rooms. To accommodate larger sized slide-out rooms, the cantilevered support rails are lengthened. As a result of lengthening the cantilevered support rails and the increased weight of the slide-out room, the slide-out extension mechanism is more prone to flexing. In addition to the weight of the larger sized slide-out room, existing slide-out mechanism must support the additional weight resulting fro
Inskeep Intellectual Property Group, Inc.
Pedder Dennis H.
RBW Industries, Inc.
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