Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a driving place of a vehicle, in particular a commercial or heavy vehicle. A driving place includes at least the driving seat, the steering wheel and the pedal unit. It may also include the dashboard with instrumentation and various controls and, if the vehicle is equipped with a manual gearbox, a gear lever .

Prior art

Vehicles with a large mass, such as commercial or heavy vehicles, must necessarily provide a further damping system for the driving seat beside the vehicle shock absorbers, i.e. those connecting the wheels to the vehicle chassis. In fact, too soft vehicle shock absorbers would make the vehicle difficult to control, whereas too rigid shock absorbers would improve the vehicle dynamics but would damage the musculoskeletal structure of the driver's torso. Therefore, it is common practice to implement damped seats. In the case of particularly heavy industrial vehicles, the cabin is associated with the vehicle chassis by means of an additional damping system.

Therefore, the body of the driver is protected by the vehicle shock absorbers, by the cabin shock absorbers and by the driving seat damping system.

The combined behaviour of these damping systems is not easily predictable because it depends on the load carried by the vehicle, by the total load in the cabin and ultimately by the weight of the driver.

This can lead to over-extensions of the driving seat damping system, with the consequence that the driver can completely lose contact with the pedal unit, including the brake pedal unit.

What described in the present application only serves for a better understanding of the invention and does not represent a statement of existence of what is described. Summary of the Invention

The object of the present invention is to preserve the driver' s comfort level without however risking situations in which the driver has difficulty reaching and controlling the vehicle controls.

The basic idea object of the present invention is to make at least the driving seat, the steering wheel and the pedal unit, which are rigidly connected to each other and fastened to a single portion of the floor, damped with respect to the vehicle cabin.

The cabin, depending on the vehicle type, may or may not be connected to the chassis by means of additional shock absorbers .

Preferably, only the driving seat and the relative driving controls, and possibly a side console, are fixed to said floor portion. Therefore, any bedding or additional equipment is directly fastened to the vehicle cabin and not to said floor portion.

Preferably, the driving seat is rigidly connected to said damped floor, in the sense that the seat is not damped, thus forming a rigid body.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the floor is connected to the vehicle cabin by means of a hinge so that a steering column is located between said hinge and said driving seat. Moreover, one or more shock absorbers damp the oscillations of said damped floor with respect to said hinge.

Obviously, the hinge axis is horizontal and preferably transverse with respect to a travelling direction of the vehicle .

According to a preferred variant of the invention, which combines with one of the previous variants, at least a double-acting shock absorber is entirely arranged beneath said floor portion with a first end hinged to the damped floor and a second end, opposite to the first, hinged to a fixed point of the cabin.

A further preferred variant of the invention provides a pair of double-acting shock absorbers, in which the two shock absorbers are arranged on the right and on the left with respect to the driving seat, mutually converging towards an ideal axis passing through said horizontal hinge and through a centre of gravity of the driving seat .

According to a further preferred variant of the invention, the floor portion to which the driving seat, the pedal unit and the steering wheel are fastened is entirely suspended by means of shock absorbers, i.e. without the use of hinges .

According to a further preferred variant of the invention, said floor portion is suitably perforated, thus allowing the circulation of suitably pre-conditioned air from the bottom upwards.

According to a further preferred variant of the invention, the physical disconnection between the edge of said floor portion and the remaining cabin floor is used to introduce one or more perimeter air blades, thus limiting the air volume above said damped floor portion.

An object of the present invention is a driving place of a heavy vehicle and of a commercial and/or heavy vehicle comprising said driving place.

A further object of the present invention is a commercial or heavy vehicle comprising said driving place.

The claims describe preferred variants of the invention and form an integral part of the present description.

Brief description of the figures

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention (and of its variants) and from the accompanying drawings given in a purely illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

Figure 1 schematically shows a side view of a vehicle cabin with the driving place of a commercial or heavy vehicle object of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the same driving place with parts shown in phantom;

Figure 3 shows an industrial vehicle comprising the cabin shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The same reference numbers and letters in the figures identify the same elements or components.

Within the scope of this description, the term "second" does not imply the presence of a "first" component. In fact, these terms are only used for clarity's sake and should not be used in a restrictive way.

Detailed description of the embodiments

The driving place according to Figures 1 and 2 is especially designed to be implemented in a commercial or heavy vehicle.

It includes a driving seat S, a steering wheel SW and a pedal unit PD . According to the present invention, at least three of these elements are rigidly connected to each other and are fastened to a single floor portion PF, which, in turn, is connected to a vehicle cabin in a damped manner to react to road surface irregularities.

Evidently, said floor portion defines a rigid body.

Preferably, said floor portion PF is connected only to said driving seat S, said steering wheel SW and said pedal unit. Optionally, to a side console CS as well.

The purpose is limiting the weight of the seat so as to make the dynamic behaviour more comfortable.

The steering wheel is fixed to the movable floor portion by means of a relative column and can be either mechanical, i.e. comprise a transmission shaft, or "by wire", i.e. where the movement of the steering wheel is detected by an angular sensor controlling an electric or hydraulic actuator that drives the steering wheels.

As shown in the figures, the steering column also houses the instrumentation, preferably digital, which sums up in a small space and weight the main functions of the vehicle.

The side console, in turn, may include additional controls to operate those functions that are most closely related to the driver's comfort, such as air conditioning, radio, etc. Therefore, thanks to the present invention, the driving seat defines a rigid body rigidly connected to said floor portion .

It can include common seat settings, namely height, backrest inclination and longitudinal adjustment that involves approaching/moving away from the steering column. According to a preferred variant of the invention, the floor portion PF has a edge hinged by means of a hinge CN to said cabin C and one or more shock absorbers BP, BP1, BP2 having a first end hinged to said floor portion and a second end, opposite to the first, hinged to a fixed point of the cabin to damp the oscillations of said floor portion, floating with respect to said hinge CN.

In order to oscillate the driving place to react to road surface irregularities, the hinge CN obviously has a horizontal axis, preferably transverse with respect to a vehicle travelling direction.

Preferably, this hinge is arranged before the steering wheel following the vehicle travelling direction, schematized by the arrow V, so that the steering wheel is in an intermediate position between the hinge and the driving seat. Obviously, also the pedal unit is arranged between the hinge and the driving seat .

Depending on the possible configurations, the pedal unit can be closer to the hinge than the column, and vice versa, the pedal unit may be in the intermediate position between the steering column and the driving seat. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the steering wheel is of the type known as "by wire", the steering column can be absent and the steering wheel is supported by the same side console CS so that it is operatively in front of the driving seat.

Preferably, said one or more shock absorbers BP or BP1, BP2 are double-acting and are entirely arranged under the floor portion PF .

According to Figure 2, the oscillations of said floor portion PF are damped by a pair of double-acting shock absorbers BP1, BP2, wherein the two shock absorbers are arranged on the right and on the left with respect to the driving seat, mutually converging towards an axis X ideally passing through said hinge CN and through the centre of gravity of the driving seat.

Said axis X is substantially parallel to the longitudinal development of the vehicle or, equivalently, to the vehicle travelling direction.

Preferably, the ends of the shock absorbers hinged to the cabin are facing forward with respect to the vehicle travelling direction, whereas the ends hinged to the floor portion are facing backward, thus converging on said axis X.

Figure 3 shows an industrial vehicle LV, in particular a road tractor for towing a semi-trailer, comprising the aforesaid cabin C.

The cabin may or may not be connected to the vehicle chassis by means of additional shock absorbers, not shown. Variants of the embodiments of the described non-limiting example are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention, including all equivalent embodiments for a person skilled in the art.

From the above description, the person skilled in the art is able to manufacture the object of the invention without introducing further constructive details. Moreover, unless specifically described in the detailed description, what described in the state of the art is to be considered as an integral part of the detailed description.