Motor vehicles – Vehicle trains
Patent
1994-01-27
1995-08-29
Culbreth, Eric D.
Motor vehicles
Vehicle trains
180 12, 180209, 280403, 280 432, 280 4323, 280 4318, B62D 5304, B62D 6112
Patent
active
054452368
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention is directed to a vehicle as specified in the opening part of claim 1.
A vehicle of the mentioned species has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,244 in order to eliminate the physical operating drawbacks of a combination composed of a traction vehicle and a trailer universally coupled thereto through a drawbar, while the disadvantages of a large-volume vehicle need not be put up with, such disadvantages resulting mainly from poor maneuverability and considerable parking space requirements during short-range drives. With the known vehicle the rear wheels of the traction vehicle must be lifted by separate lifting means. Also, driving of the rear axle of the traction vehicle while uncoupled from the trailer is impossible.
The fundamental problem on which the proposals known from the prior art publications are based can be observed, for instance, in the case of caravans. For practical use, two different basic types of such vehicles have become widely accepted. The one basic type is the known combination comprising a traction vehicle which is generally a passenger car, and a camper. Such a combination offers the advantage that the camper may be disconnected when it is not required so that the passenger car may be utilized without limitations for instance at the vacation place. The drawback of combinations resides in their comparatively poor handling performance. Due to the additional degree of freedom about the vertical axis which extends through the drawbar coupling, so-called bending angle vibrations are made possible which promote jackknifing of the camper etc. Consequently, in most countries camper combinations are generally subject to speed limitations.
Another common type of vehicle are the so-called camping cars. Such camping cars can be driven more easily and stably than combinations and also offer the advantage that the persons in the traction vehicle may go to the living area even while travelling, which is impossible with combinations already for statutory reasons. Of course, the drawbacks of a camping car reside in the considerable space requirements, the large weight, the consequent lack of parking space, high fuel costs etc., such drawbacks indeed prevailing when a smaller vehicle would be quite sufficient.
German Utility Model Specification 8,703,519 proposes a vehicle assembly in which, by way of an extension and compression-proof connecting means rigidly mounted on the body end of a passenger car used as traction vehicle, a trailer can be rigidly coupled with said passenger car. One of the drawbacks of this vehicle assembly resides in that the rear axle of the traction vehicle and the single axle of the trailer must be closely adjacent each other in the coupled state because by fiction of law only axles with a centre distance of not more than 1 m are considered as a single axle. However, only a design which satisfies this restriction will result in a marketable vehicle unit, because a vehicle unit provided with a total of three independent axles (with centre distances of more than 1 m) must not be driven with a normal driver's licence for passenger cars. Larger vehicle units cannot be realized in accordance with this structural principle, because heavier vehicles require greater centre distances of the axles.
Similarly, DE-OS 3,129,203 proposes to couple a single-axle trailer with a conventional traction vehicle in such a way that the rear axle of the traction vehicle and the axle of the trailer are disposed at a centre distance of less than 1 m.
In British Patent Specification 2,006,130 the specified drawbacks have been avoided. With this construction a single-axle trailer is connected by way of an elongated rigid drawbar with a front wheel-driven traction vehicle, wherein on the one hand the drawbar is rigidly connected with the body platform and on the other hand roof portions of trailer and traction vehicle are rigidly connected in such a way that the rearward structure of the traction vehicle inclusive of rear axle and rear wheels is elevated. In this way there resul
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de Gruyter, Walter, Herausgegeben von Gustav Goldbeck, Automobiltechnisches Handbuch, pp. 577-578, Berlin, New York, 1979.
Culbreth Eric D.
Hotzel Bernhard
Kuhn Sieghart
Zeender F.
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