TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a road vehicle, in particular a delivery truck, equipped with at least one engine adapted to deliver torque to a driveline of the road vehicle, this road vehicle comprising a first driving area and a second driving area.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Road vehicles, such as food and beverage delivery trucks, or parcel and mail delivery trucks, often alternate travel periods with delivery periods during which the driver needs different means to control the truck. For example, in travel periods, it can be desirable for driver to be in a "normal" driving area allowing him to seat comfortably and have a high enough location to oversee the road and the traffic. In delivery periods, the same driver, using the same vehicle, may have to stop and start quite often to make deliveries and to step out of the truck to pick up goods in the container compartment or in the trailer of his truck. Trucks provided with two driving areas are known from US-B- 1 925 893.

The frequent stops of the truck in delivery periods induce fuel or more generally energy overconsumption because of the stop/restart phases. Moreover, the engine set-up of most trucks is not adequate for moving at low speeds between delivery places in urban areas, where a reduced power set-up should be more useful.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the invention is to provide a new road vehicle and in particular a new delivery truck equipped with two driving areas adapted for two main operating modes of the road vehicle and whose engine management is better adapted to the needs of the driver when performing its various missions.

To this end, the invention concerns a road vehicle equipped with at least one power machine adapted to deliver torque to a driveline of the road vehicle, said road vehicle comprising a first driving area and a second driving area. This road vehicle is characterized in that the first driving area is adapted to operate a first power unit operating mode of the road vehicle and that the second driving area is adapted to operate a second power unit operating mode of the road vehicle.

According to the invention: - "road vehicle" means a vehicle used for the on-road transportation of passengers or freight such as goods, foods, beverages, parcels, mails and other equivalent but non-limiting examples.

- "power unit"" refers to a unit comprising a power machine and a power transmission wherein:

o the power machine may be an internal combustion engine or any other machine adapted to deliver a torque to the driveline of the power transmission,

o the power transmission includes the driveline that comprises at least a propeller shaft(s) and a power axle(s), the propeller being able to transmit driving power from the power machine to the power axle(s) and the power axle(s) being able to transmit driving power to the driving wheels of the vehicle ; and, depending on the vehicle, the power transmission may also comprise a clutch(es) and a gearbox(es) (also well known as transmission(s)) that are generally located between the power machine and the driveline.

Thanks to the invention, a driver can drive the road vehicle and in particular a delivery truck from two specific driving areas corresponding to two different driving locations allowing him to control two power unit operating modes of the road vehicle. The driver can adapt its driving and its location to the mission he is performing and to the road he is travelling, this permits to spare energy.

According to further aspects of the invention, which are advantageous but not compulsory, such a road vehicle may incorporate one or several of the following features:

- The first power unit operating mode can be implemented only if the driver is in the first driving area and the second power unit operating mode can be implemented only if the driver is in the second driving area.

- The first power unit operating mode can be implemented only if the driver actuates at least one drive control or an operating mode switch located in the first driving area, and the second power unit operating mode can be implemented only if the driver actuates at least one drive control or an operating mode switch located in the second driving area.

- The second power unit operating mode is a reduced pollutant gases emission power unit operating mode compared with the first power unit operating mode.

- The second power unit operating mode is a power unit operating mode that is less powerful than the first power unit operating mode. - The power machine is a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, whereas in the second power unit operating mode, a determined number of cylinders of said internal combustion engine are deactivated compared with the first power unit operating mode.

- In the second power unit operating mode a gearbox of the road vehicle is set to a determined set of gear changing laws.

- The power machine is an internal combustion engine and in the second power unit operating mode, the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine are driven to a dedicated low pollutant gases emission muffler.

- The road vehicle comprises at least a signal device that can be activated in order to inform the driver about the appropriate power unit operating mode that should be operated. The signal device is automatically activated depending on the vehicle position and/or type of road that the road vehicle is travelling along and/or traffic conditions and/or average speed of the road vehicle.

- The road vehicle is a hybrid road vehicle equipped with at least a first power machine fed by a first energy and with at least a second power machine fed by a second energy, each of the power machines being adapted to deliver torque to a driveline of the road vehicle.

- The first power machine is an internal combustion engine and the second power machine is an electric machine.

- The ratio between the torque delivered to the driveline by the first power machine and the torque delivered to the driveline by the second power machine is different depending on the power unit operating mode that is activated.

- In the second power unit operating mode, the speed of the road vehicle is limited compared with the speed of the road vehicle in the first power unit operating mode.

- The first driving area is located in an upper area of the driver's compartment of the road vehicle and is located on the side of the vehicle that is opposite to the roadside regarding travel direction.

- The first driving area comprises a driving seat and equipments adapted to long moving periods.

- The second driving area is located in a bottom area of the driver's compartment of the road vehicle and is located on side of the vehicle nearby the roadside regarding travel direction.

- The height of the floor of the second driving area is substantially equal to the height of a walking surface which extends near the road.

- The walking surface could be a side walk or the upper surface of a truck dock. - The driver's compartment of the road vehicle is equipped with a stairway or a ramp arranged between the first driving area and the second driving area.

- The driver's compartment of the road vehicle is equipped with an easy access door that could be a folding door or a door which opens rearwards on the side of the second driving area such as a sliding door or a plugging door.

- The second driving area comprises a rest bench allowing the driver to take a standing or half-sat position, and simplified control means of the road vehicle.

- The rest bench is pivotable.

- The simplified control means comprise at least a joystick or a control pad.

- The road vehicle is a delivery truck, the driver's compartment is a cabin and the first driving area is dedicated to travel periods whereas the second driving area is dedicated to delivery periods.

- The power machine is an internal combustion engine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be explained in correspondence with the annexed figures, as an illustrative example. In the annexed figures:

- Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a driver's compartment of a road vehicle according to the invention, the door of the cabin being hidden;

- Figure 2 is a schematic transversal cut view, along line ll-ll of driver's compartment of the road vehicle of figure 1 ;

- Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the road vehicle of figures 1 and 2, the door of the driver's compartment being shown in closed position;

- Figure 4 is a schematic top view of the driver's compartment of the road vehicle of figures 1 to 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

The road vehicle T represented on figures 1 to 4 is typically a truck that could be a delivery truck. The following description relates firstly to a truck according to the invention but is also convenient for other road vehicles such as vans or buses.

A road vehicle comprises a driver's compartment C which comprises a front wall 2, which may include a non-shown wind shield, left and right walls 6 and 8, a roof 12, and which may comprise a rear wall 4 in particular when the driver's compartment is the cabin of a truck such as represented on figures 1 to 4. Depending on the side of a road R on which the road vehicle T is moving, at least one of left wall 6 and right wall 8 is equipped with a door 10. Advantageously, the door 10 is a quick access door that allows easy access to the driver's compartment C and that requires only a limited space outside the vehicle T when the door is in an open position so that the door may be opened easily even if the road vehicle is parked near an obstacle such as a wall, a post or another vehicle. A quick access door is preferably a door that can be maintained open at low speed of the road vehicle. This quick access door 10 could be a door which opens rearwards such as a sliding door or a door with a parallelogram opening kinematics that is known as a "plug door" or a "plugging door". In some variations, the quick access door 10 could also be a folding door.

On the figures and in what follows, the road vehicle T is supposed to move on the right side of the road R and therefore, door 10 is arranged in right wall 8 so that it opens nearby a sidewalk SW of the road. A symmetrical arrangement could be provided for a right hand drive truck or bus moving on the left side of the road R.

The driver's compartment C comprises a first driving area, or travel driving area A1 . In the example, this area A1 is located in a front left area of the driver's compartment C just as in a classic left hand drive truck, van or bus. This area A1 is preferably arranged in a somewhat elevated or upper location and it may be equipped with a driving seat 14 mounted nearby left wall 6 corresponding to a first driving location. This driving area A1 is provided with drive controls for controlling at least the steering, the acceleration and the braking of the vehicle. These drive controls can be in the form of a conventional steering wheel 26 and all the conventional drive controls such as an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. The first driving area may also be equipped with auxiliary equipment and comfort features that are required or at least desirable during long travel periods, such as when the road vehicle T travels from one city to another.

The driver's compartment C also comprises a second driving area or quick access driving area A2. Driving area A2 is located in a different area of the truck than the first driving area. Thereby, the two driving areas correspond to two driving locations of the driver in the compartment. Preferably, these driving areas are each equipped with their respective drive controls. Preferably, when the driver is in the first driving position corresponding to the first driving area, he cannot conveniently use the drive controls of the second area, and vice-versa. In the shown example, the second driving area is located on a front right area of the driver's compartment C, and offers to the driver a second driving location that is on the side of the easy access door 10. The floor 16 of quick access area A2 is preferably at a lower level than the floor 24 of travel driving area A1 .

In the example, quick access area A2 is located nearby right wall 8, to permit the driver to step out of the road vehicle T, by opening the easy access door 10, directly on sidewalk SW. This avoids the driver to step down from travel driving area A1 on the left side of the driver's compartment C, with potentially dangerous traffic going on around him. This also avoids him having to walk around the front side of the vehicle and therefore allows him time to spend more time on deliveries.

As an optional aspect, the height of floor 16 of the quick access driving area A2 substantially equals the height of a walking surface that extends near the road such as a sidewalk SW or the upper surface of a truck dock, with respect to the plane of road R. This permits the driver to directly get on the sidewalk without leaping from the floor 16 of quick access driving area A2.

Second driving area may be also different from the first one because the quick access area A2 can be equipped with a hip-high rest bench 18 or an equivalent rest- bench, which permits the driver to be in a substantially standing position or half sat position represented on figure 1 with a schematic driver, while driving the road vehicle between two closely located places in order, for example in case of a delivery truck, to deliver goods. To permit a quick access to driving area A2 and a quick access outside of the road vehicle, quick access area A2 can be equipped with simplified drive controls of truck T such as, for example, an acceleration pedal or acceleration hand lever, a brake pedal or brake hand lever, a steering wheel 28.

According to an optional aspect, the steering wheel 28 and/or the acceleration and/or brake pedals of the quick access driving area A2 could be replaced by an electronic control device such as at least a joystick and/or a control pad.

According to another optional feature, rest bench 18 may be pivotable around a vertical axis so that it can be rotated from a first position, where it faces the windshield of the truck, to a second position, where it faces the door 10. This permits the driver to leave the driver's compartment in a more comfortable manner.

The location of quick access area A2 allows the driver to quickly reach out of road vehicle T and access, for example in case of delivery truck, to goods located in a trailer or to a container compartment door located on the right side of a delivery truck T. The easy access door 10 allows, for example, the driver to perform a delivery at one place, then to step back into quick access area A2, and to move to the next delivery place without closing slide door 10, if the next delivery place is not too far from the preceding delivery place.

In order to easily access travel driving area A1 from quick access driving area A2, the driver's compartment C may be equipped with a stairway 20 or a ramp arranged between the floor 16 of quick access area A2 to the floor 24 of travel driving area A1 . This permits the driver to go directly from travel area A1 to quick access area A2 without having to step out of the driver's compartment C from the left side of the driver's compartment C to the right side of the driver's compartment C. This stairway 20 also avoids the use of a door on left wall 6 of the driver's compartment C.

Each of first A1 and second A2 driving area corresponds to a specific power unit operating mode. Each power unit operating mode is typically adapted depending on the roads that could be traveled by the road vehicle and depending on the driver's missions.

A first power unit operating mode could be used for long and high speed trips such as travels by highway whereas a second power unit operating mode could be used for low speed trips for instance in heavy urban traffic. Because long trips require high average speed and power to maintain speed in case of long and steeply climbs, a powerful first power unit operating mode is required.

To the contrary, in urban traffic the average speed is generally slower than on long trips or on highway, the road vehicle has to stop and go frequently and low pollutant gases emission power unit operating mode can be required due to the pollution reduction standards in urban areas. In addition, when the driver is in quick access driving area A2, the driver needs a power unit operating mode with reduced power which allows him to easily drive the road vehicle T at low speed. He must be able to place precisely his road vehicle, for instance a delivery truck, with respect to a delivery space and therefore needs adapted gear sets and engine powers.

That's why the first power unit operating mode, that could be a conventional power unit operating mode, is not appropriate for urban traffic or equivalent low speed trips or trips requiring to stop and go frequently. For low speed trips, a second power unit operating mode that is less powerful than the first one and that may be able to deliver to the driveline a different torque can be preferred. To this end, the first and second power unit operating modes can both operate the same internal combustion engine but in this case, the second power unit operating mode may operate with speed and/or power limitations.

In the case of a hybrid vehicle, each power unit operating mode can involve together an internal combustion engine with a secondary power machine. For example in the case of a hybrid delivery truck T comprising an electric machine as a secondary power machine, the ratio between the torque delivered by the internal combustion engine and the torque delivered by the electric machine to the driveline may be different depending on the power unit operating mode that is operated. This means that the ratio may be modified so as to reduce pollutant gases emissions in urban traffic, to make easier the driver's missions who has to stop and go frequently or to deliver more power in case of high speed trips.

In another embodiment, the first power unit operating mode operates with an internal combustion engine whereas the second power unit operating mode operates with a secondary power machine fed by a second energy. In this case, the power and the torque delivered by the internal combustion engine and the power and the torque delivered by the secondary power machine to the driveline may be different and be adapted depending on the type of road that the road vehicle is traveling along, traffic conditions and/or driver's missions.

When the driver reaches quick access area A2, the second power unit operating mode of the road vehicle T may be activated, for example, by the driver actuating a non- shown power unit operating mode switch or may be automatically activated when the driver uses a drive control, such as a brake pedal or a brake hand lever, located in the quick access area. In other words, the power unit operating mode which is operated may be dependent on which drive controls are actuated by a driver. If a driver uses the drive controls of the first driving area, then the first power unit operating mode is operated. If a driver uses the drive controls of the second driving area, then the second power unit operating mode is operated. The second power unit operating mode can also be activated by detecting in which area A1 , A2 the driver is standing or in which driving location he is, for example by using sensors mounted within driving seat 14 and rest bench 18.

To help the driver to choose what is the most appropriate power unit operating mode, and therefore what is the most appropriate driving area to be used, each driving area, or at least one of them, may comprise a non-shown dashboard signal device that is automatically activated or deactivated in order to inform the driver of the optimal power unit operating mode that should be operated. The activation or deactivation of the dashboard signal may depend on the vehicle position and/or type of road that the road vehicle is travelling along and/or traffic conditions and/or average speed of the road vehicle.

For example, the dashboard signal can be activated or deactivated by a processor unit that receives for example GPS data relative to the position of the vehicle inside or outside urban traffic areas. The operating mode allowing to reduce pollutant gases emission engine and power delivered by the engine can be implemented by deactivating a determined number of cylinders of a multicylinder internal combustion engine of the road vehicle T.

The reduced pollutant gases emission can also be obtained by setting up an automated gearbox of road vehicle T to a determined set of gear changing laws, different than a set of gear changing laws used in the first power unit operating mode, for example a set of laws favoring a low engine regime. One can also use a speed limiting device in this operating mode.

The pollutant gases emission can also be reduced by driving the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine to a dedicated low pollutant gases emission muffler, which can include specific particulates filtering means or specific catalytic means, when the second power unit operating mode is activated.

The second power unit operating mode can also correspond to a full electric mode of a hybrid electric vehicle, all the torque being delivered to the driveline coming from the electric machine. In such a case, a speed limiting device can be used to reduce the speed of road vehicle T to a value adapted to delivery operations. In the first power unit operating mode, the hybrid vehicle could be operated in a pure thermal engine mode, using only the internal combustion engine as a source of torque, or be operated in a hybrid mode, using a combination of both engines.

It should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described are illustrative and not limiting.

It should be also understood that, within the scope of the present invention, the second power unit operating mode may differ from the first one in different ways, for example the difference may result from:

• the configuration of the power unit operated in the second operating mode which may be different from the configuration of the power unit operated in the first operating mode, for instance a different power machine and/or a different gearbox and/or a different driveline can be operated in the second operating mode,

• the management of the power unit which may be different between each operating mode whereas the power unit configuration between each operating mode may remain the same, for instance the road vehicle can comprise only one internal combustion engine with the same power transmission configuration between each operating mode however the fuel injection management in the internal combustion engine might be different between each operating mode, or

configuration and management of the power unit that may be both different between first and second operating mode.