Scooter type vehicle

Details Scooter type vehicle Scooter type vehicle

2002-04-26

2003-11-11

Hurley, Kevin (Department: 3611)

Land vehicles

Tank or boiler

Service tank

C180S219000, C224S413000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06644693

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scooter type vehicle, and more particularly to a scooter type vehicle including a container disposed under a step floor on which the driver places his/her feet.
2. Description of the Background Art
In vehicles such as scooters, one type of vehicle includes a container accommodated in the space surrounded by the step floor and the undercover. As one of scooter type vehicles in this construction, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 313393/2000 under the title of “VEHICLE BODY FRAME FOR SCOOTER TYPE VEHICLES” (hereinafter, referred to as the “related art”) describes one type of scooter type vehicle of the background art having this configuration. The entire contents of the foregoing patent document of the background art is herein incorporated by reference.
The aforementioned vehicle is, as shown in
FIG. 5
of the same patent publication, characterized in that a vehicle body frame of a scooter type vehicle is constructed of a combination of the front frame
23
(the numerals are excerpted from the publication, hereinafter) and the rear frame
24
. The front frame
23
is constructed of a combination of a pair of left and right floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
extending in the fore-and-aft direction.
As shown in
FIG. 1
,
FIG. 22
, and
FIG. 23
of the above-identified patent publication, this scooter type vehicle is constructed in such a manner that the open-top dough box
133
is disposed between the left and right floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
. The upper portion of the dough box
133
is covered by the step floor
41
a
secured on the floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
by bolts. The undercover
41
c
is covered on the floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
from below and secured with bolts, so that the floor supporting fame portions
271
,
272
, and the dough box
133
are covered by the undercover
41
c
. The dough box
133
is a storage member for storing a battery
143
and a radiator reserve tank
147
.
In the aforementioned configuration of the background art, the step floor
41
a
and the undercover
41
c
are secured separately on the left and right floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
with bolts. Accordingly, fastening members are required for both the step floor
41
a
and the undercover
41
c
. For example, in order to secure a step floor
41
a
on the left and right floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
, screw nuts
124
, screw nut supporting members
125
, and bolts
127
are required. On the other hand, in order to secure the undercover
41
c
on the left and right floor supporting frame portions
271
,
272
, undercover supporting members
126
,
126
, and sets of bolts and screw nuts
131
,
132
are required.
Assembling the step floor
41
a
and the undercover
41
c
separately makes the mounting structure complex, and increases the number of parts to be assembled. The ease of assembly is thereby reduced and the cost of the product is increased. When cost reduction is a requirement for a scooter type vehicle, the aforementioned construction hinders cost reduction and complicates assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings associated with the background art and achieves other advantages not realized by the background art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology whereby the cost of scooter type vehicles may be reduced, particularly by improving the mounting structure of the step floor and the undercover.
These and other objects are accomplished by a scooter type vehicle having a vehicle body, the vehicle comprising an engine having at least one cylinder; a front and a rear wheel; a pair of left and right side frames extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body; a container having an upper side and a lower side and being disposed between the pair of left and right side frames; an undercover having edges, the undercover covering the lower side of the container and being inserted between the left and right side frames from a position above the container, wherein the edges of the undercover are engaged with the left and right side frames; a footrest plate covering the upper side of the container, the left and right side frames supporting the undercover; and an edge of the container engaging the footrest plate, the container being sandwiched between the undercover and the footrest plate.
These and other objects are further accomplished by a vehicle frame for a scooter type vehicle, the vehicle frame comprising a pair of left and right side frames extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle frame; a container having an upper side and a lower side and being disposed between the pair of left and right side frames; an undercover having edges, the undercover covering the lower side of the container and being inserted between the left and right side frames from a position above the container, wherein the edges of the undercover are engaged with the left and right side frames; a footrest plate covering the upper side of the container, the left and right side frames supporting the undercover; and an edge of the container engaging the footrest plate, the container being sandwiched between the undercover and the footrest plate.
The three parts of the undercover, the container, and the step floor may be assembled to the left and right side frames in pile from above, the mounting structure for assembling these three parts may be simplified, the number of the parts to be assembled may be reduced, and the ease of assembling the above-identified configuration may be enhanced. Therefore, the cost of the scooter type vehicle may be reduced.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4721178 (1988-01-01), Ito
patent: 4726439 (1988-02-01), Iwao et al.
patent: 4830134 (1989-05-01), Hashimoto
patent: 5433286 (1995-07-01), Kumamaru et al.
patent: 2001/0028168 (2001-10-01), Nakagawa
patent: 03042389 (1991-02-01), None
patent: 2000-313393 (2000-04-01), None

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