TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a cabin, in particular a cabin for industrial vehicles for goods transportation.

BACKGROUND ART

Changes to EC laws, which are currently being approved, allow derogations on the maximum sizes of engine vehicles, in order to obtain a greater (aerodynamic) energy efficiency and to improve safety, though without compromising load capacity.

Therefore, manufacturers are allowed to elongate the cabin front of B-trains and trailer trucks, compared to the dimensions currently used, provided that the vehicle is capable of moving inside a circular crown having predetermined inner and outer diameters.

Furthermore, the presence of manufacturers of industrial vehicles all over the world leads to the need of producing different types of cabin in order to meet the commercial needs and to comply with the rules enforced in the different markets.

For example, in the American or Australian market people use the so-called "conventional" cabins, in which the engine is located in front of the driver compartment and the cabin has the typical long "face", whereas in Europe people use the so-called "cab over" cabins, in which the engine is housed under the driver compartment and the cabin has a substantially flat "face".

Therefore, there is the need to manufacture different types of cabins in a simple and economic fashion.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the invention is to solve the technical problem described above.

In order to do so, the invention provides a modular frame according to claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, which is provided by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :

figure 1 is a side view of an industrial vehicle comprising a conventional "cab-over" cabin;

figure 2 is a side view of a cabin according to the invention;

figures 3A - 3B are perspective views of respective bodies of the cabins of figure 1 and of figure 2 ;

figure 4 is a perspective view of a detail of the cabin of figure 2 ;

figures 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views, along lines IV-VI, V-V and VI-VI, of the detail of figure 4 ;

figure 8 is a perspective view from the bottom of a detail of figure 4 ;

figures 9 and 10 are schematic side views of possible configurations of the cabin according to the invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows an industrial vehicle 1, in particular a trailer truck having a tractor unit 2 and a semi-trailer 3. The tractor unit 2 comprises a conventional "cab-over" cabin 4 and is attached to the semi-trailer in a known manner, which is not shown herein.

Figure 3A shows a known body 5 of the cabin 4 comprising a front windshield frame 10 delimiting an opening 11 and consisting of an upper crosspiece 12, a lower crosspiece 13 and a pair of lateral uprights (14) .

The body 5 comprises, furthermore, a pair of lateral walls 16 defining respective door compartments 17 adjacent to the lateral uprights 14, a rear wall 18 and a front wall 15 extending below the lower crosspiece 13. In conventional cabins, the windshield 19 is directly applied to the windshield frame 10 and is made up a single flat glass.

Figure 2 shows a tractor unit 20 comprising a cabin 21 according to the invention.

The cabin 21 is different from the cabin 4 described above in that it comprises a long "face" 22 in the front direction, so as to improve the aerodynamic features of the vehicle .

More in particular, the cabin 21 has a windshield 23 with an embracing shape and with a grater inclination than the conventional windshield 19 of the cabin 4.

The windshield 23 is supported by an auxiliary frame 25, which is pre-assembled and applied to the windshield frame 10 as described more in detail hereinafter.

The auxiliary frame 25 (figure 4) basically comprises an upper crosspiece 27, which is suited to be welded to the upper crosspiece 12 of the windshield frame 10, a pair of lateral uprights 28, which are suited to be welded to the respective lateral uprights 14 of the windshield frame 10, and a lower curved crosspiece, which projects forward relative to the lower crosspiece 13 of the windshield frame 10.

In particular (figure 6), the upper crosspiece 27 and the lateral uprights 28 consist of a section bar, which is made of sheet metal, is shaped by means of longitudinal bends and comprises an outer wing 30, which is configured to match respective inner flanges 31 of the respective portions of the windshield frame 10. The sheet metal section bar comprises, furthermore, an inner wing 33, on which the windshield 23 can be fixed by means of layer of adhesive putty 35.

The lower crosspiece 29 comprises (figure 3B) two end portions 36 fixed to the respective lateral uprights 28 of the auxiliary frame 25 and extending forward with respect to the latter, and an intermediate portion 37 extending transversely in front of the lower crosspiece 13 of the windshield frame 10.

Preferably, the intermediate portion 37 has a curved shape and it is joined to the end portions 36 so as to obtain a "C" shape with the concavity facing the windshield frame 10.

Preferably (figure 7), the lower crosspiece has a box ^¬ like section 40, which is sized so as to allow the auxiliary frame 25 to have an adequate stiffness and comprises an inclined upper flange 41, to which the windshield 23 can be fixed by means of the layer of adhesive putty 35, and a lower flange 42, which is suited to support a front radiator grille 43 of the cabin 4 and lateral bodywork elements (figure 2) . The auxiliary frame 25 comprises, furthermore, a pair of front uprights 45 each having a top end fixed to the respective end of the upper crosspiece 27, and a lower end fixed to the respective end of the intermediate portion 37 of the lower crosspiece 29.

Preferably (figure 5), the front uprights 45 have a "C" section that opens up towards the inside of the cabin 4.

The windshield 23 comprises a front glass 50, which is fixed to the upper crosspiece 27, to the intermediate portion 37 of the lower crosspiece 29 and to the front uprights 45 by means of the layer of putty 35, and two lateral glasses 51, which are substantially triangular and are fixed to to the end portions 36 of the lower crosspiece 29 and, on the side, to the lateral uprights 28 and to the front uprights 45 of the auxiliary frame 25.

As you can see in figure 8, the auxiliary frame 25 comprises a pair of reinforcement elements 55, preferably made of shaped sheet metal, which are welded to the end portions 36 and to the lateral uprights 28 of the auxiliary frame 25, so as to allow the auxiliary frame to have a greater stiffness.

The reinforcement elements 55 are provided with flanges 56 making up further fixing elements for the auxiliary frame 25 on the windshield frame 10. Figures 9 and 10 show two variants of the cabin 21.

The first variant (figure 9) is different from what described above because of the presence of a bodywork module 60 instead of the rear wall 18, so as to increase the inner space of the cabin 21.

The second variant (figure 10) is different from the previous one because of the addition of a further bodywork module 61 fixed to the module 60 on the rear side, so as to further increase the inner volume of the cabin 21 and because of the presence of a front module 62, which is fixed below the auxiliary frame 25 and is designed to house the engine of the vehicle in a so-called "conventional" configuration .

The method for producing the cabin 21 is the following:

- the body 5 is formed in a conventional manner and constitutes a base module for the creation of the cabin 21;

- the auxiliary frame 25 is formed as a pre-assembled unit;

- the auxiliary frame 25 is assembled on the windshield frame 10 of the body 5; and

- the parts of the windshield 23 are mounted in the auxiliary frame 25.

Optionally, the method comprises the further steps of: - assembling one or more rear modules 60 instead of the rear wall 18 of the body 5;

- assembling a front module 62 below the auxiliary frame 25.

The modular cabin according to the invention leads to evident advantages that can be obtained using it.

The modular technique described above allows you to obtain, in a simple and economic fashion, different versions of the cabin starting from a base body 5 of the type currently used in "cab-over" cabins, both for creating new "elongated" versions and for obtaining "conventional" versions for extra-European markets.

Finally, the modular cabin described above can be subjected to changes and variants, which do not go beyond the scope of protection set forth in the appended claims.

In particular, it is possible to change the number of elements, the shape and the modes of connection of the auxiliary frame 25.