Vehicle

Details Vehicle Vehicle

1999-06-25

2002-05-28

Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)

Land vehicles: bodies and tops

Bodies

Dashboards

C296S037120

Reexamination Certificate

active

06394526

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle which, in a quick and easy manner, can be provided with a number of different accessories in the passenger compartment, such as a child seat, a hi-fi system, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Traditionally, the equipment in the passenger compartment in vehicles, and particularly passenger cars, essentially constitutes a dashboard which is situated in the front part of the passenger compartment, and which is provided with control devices and switches. A driver's seat and a passenger seat are thus situated behind the dashboard. Furthermore, the passenger compartment also includes a back seat for passengers, which is located in the rear part of the compartment.
Increasingly, extensive demands are being made on today's cars to provide for all-around and safe utilization of the available space in the car. The car must therefore be capable of readily adapting to different utility requirements, such as the transportation of small children or of a bulky load. In order to be so adaptable, the utilization of different accessories is often required, such as, for example, a safety-tested child seat. According to known techniques, the child seat is either placed in the back seat, where the child seat is turned forwards or backwards, in the front passenger seat, or in the dashboard, where the child seat is placed immediately in front of the passenger seat in the front of the vehicle. A disadvantage with these child seat arrangements is that the driver, when he/she is travelling alone with the child, has an insufficient opportunity to watch over the child during driving. Also, under these circumstances there is no possibility for the driver to reach the child, at least not without the driver having to stretch him-/herself, and accordingly lose concentration as regards movement of the vehicle. A further disadvantage is that no passenger (apart from the child itself) can use the passenger seat in the front, since the child seat is situated in the passenger seat or in the dashboard immediately in front of the passenger seat.
Furthermore, rapid progress in the field of information technology has made it possible to use advanced office equipment in vehicles, such as a fax machine, a computer with a word processor, a telephone modem, etc. Another example of advantageous accessories for use in a vehicle is equipment for the cold storage and heating of foodstuffs. At the present time, however, there is however no available area in the car which is easily accessible from the driver's seat and which is intended for such accessories, particularly since such accessories are generally too bulky to be accommodated in, for example, the space which is normally intended for a normal-sized car stereo system.
Present day car dashboards are in most cases provided with a so-called central bracket which, as the term implies, is situated in the central part of the dashboard. Traditionally, the central bracket contains a hi-fi system, control devices, exhaust nozzles for the car air-conditioning system, an outlet for a cigarette lighter, and smaller storage compartments. Accordingly, the space that is occupied by the central bracket is to a great extent traditionally intended for exactly these functions, which is partly due to the fact that the bracket is situated within the driver's (peripheral) field of view and reach during driving.
Thus, as a result of the above-described, strong traditional manner of equipping the passenger compartment in the today's vehicles, especially passenger cars, the possibilities for all-round utilization of the accessible areas in the car are limited. Instead of using the passenger compartment to the greatest possible extent for those individuals and objects that the user wishes to transport in the car, there is thus a tendency towards retaining, in a routine way, an out-of-date approach, such as arranging the hi-fi system, the controls, and the exhaust nozzles for the car air-conditioning system in the central part of the dashboard, even though this is neither technically nor ergonomically necessary.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, these and other objects have now been realized by the invention of a vehicle comprising a vehicle floor, a driver's seat, a passenger's seat adjacent to the driver's seat, and a dashboard facing the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, the dashboard including an upper edge comprising the lower limit of the field of vision of a driver sitting in the driver's seat, the dashboard including a cassette compartment comprising a depression in the dashboard at a location between the driver's seat and the passenger seat whereby the cassette compartment is within the driver's full field of view and reach while the driver is driving the vehicle, the cassette compartment having a predetermined height comprising at least about 30% of the distance from the vehicle floor to the upper edge of the dashboard and being adapted to accommodate a removable cassette unit. In a preferred embodiment, the cassette compartment includes connection means for connecting the cassette compartment to a control function for the vehicle. Preferably, the control function can be a power supply, ventilation means, climate control means, antenna means, and a sensor signal for an airbag in the vehicle.
In accordance with one embodiment of the vehicle of the present invention, the cassette
In accordance with one embodiment of the vehicle of the present invention, the cassette compartment is adapted to be used as a storage space when not accommodating a removable cassette unit.
In accordance with another embodiment of the vehicle of the present invention, the predetermined height of the cassette compartment comprises at least about 50% of the distance from the vehicle floor to the upper edge of the dashboard. In a preferred embodiment, the predetermined height of the cassette compartment comprises the distance from the vehicle floor to the upper edge of the dashboard.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle is combined with a removable cassette unit comprising a child seat. In another embodiment, the vehicle is combined with a removable cassette unit comprising a hi-fi system. The removable cassette unit can also comprise office equipment, such as a fax machine or a document compartment, a food processing unit, such as a cold storage means or heating means, a dog basket, or a storage compartment for carrying a load, including securing means for securing the load.
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by replacing the traditional positioning of control devices in the central part of the dashboard with a large cassette compartment and a number of replaceable cassette units which fit within the cassette compartment, the cassette units having different functions between them, such as a child seat, a dog basket, office equipment, a hi-fi system, a refrigerator, a microwave oven, or storage space. In this manner, better utilization of the valuable space in the car that is situated within the driver's field of view and reach during driving is achieved, and a very safe positioning of children or a load is effected from a collision-safety point of view. According to the present invention, this area is utilized for functions relating to transport and accessories which are essential for the individual, instead of this area, as is traditional, being occupied by bulky control and ventilation nozzles, which can be advantageously rearranged to a safer control environment around the steering wheel and main instrumentation.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle which comprises a driver's seat, a passenger seat which is situated at the side of the driver's seat, and a dashboard which is situated in front of the driver's seat and the passenger seat, wherein the upper edge of the dashboard c

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