Road vehicle with side exhaust

Abstract

A road vehicle has a passenger compartment (4); a front engine (10) mounted in front of the passenger compartment (4); two door lower side members (9a) each mounted below a corresponding access door (8) of the passenger compartment (4); a front axle provided with a pair of front wheels (7); a pair of side exhaust pipes (13); each side exhaust pipe (13) extends at least partially between a corresponding door underside member (9a) and a corresponding front wheel (7), is at least partially aligned with the corresponding front wheel (7) in a direction of travel (6) of the road vehicle, and is configured to release exhaust gas generated by the front engine (10) and to limit at least movement of the corresponding front wheel (7) after a frontal collision of the road vehicle. The road vehicle is primarily advantageous in that the use of an auxiliary buffer strut and / or a relatively heavy support frame can be avoided due to the presence of the side exhaust pipe.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of Italian patent application No. 102024000008233, filed on April 11, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to road vehicles. Background Art

[0003] In particular, the invention relates to a road vehicle comprising a supporting frame defining at least a portion of a lower floor of the road vehicle, a passenger compartment projecting upwardly from the lower floor, and a front engine mounted forwardly of the passenger compartment and in a central region of the road vehicle.

[0004] The support frame includes two under-door side members, each of which is mounted below a corresponding access door of the passenger compartment; and a pair of front struts that project from the passenger compartment parallel to the direction of travel of the road vehicle and support a front axle with a pair of front wheels.

[0005] The support frame also includes a pair of elongated struts, each elongated strut extending upwardly from the lower floor and mounted between a corresponding door lower side member and a corresponding front wheel.

[0006] The road vehicle is also provided with an exhaust system for discharging exhaust gases generated by the engine.

[0007] Generally speaking, the exhaust system includes a pair of exhaust pipes connected to the engine, extending below the lower floor of the road vehicle, and having corresponding exhaust nozzles at the rear of the passenger compartment.

[0008] For each front wheel, the support frame has a corresponding buffer strut which projects from the passenger compartment parallel to the associated front pillar and outboard thereof and is aligned with the front wheel parallel to the direction of travel of the road vehicle in order to restrain the front wheel from approaching the passenger compartment in the event of a frontal collision of the road vehicle.

[0009] Alternatively, when the road vehicle lacks a bump strut, the elongate strut is dimensioned to absorb at least a portion of the kinetic energy generated by a frontal impact of the road vehicle.

[0010] Known road vehicles of the above-mentioned type have some disadvantages, mainly due to the presence of the bumper strut or the size of the above-mentioned elongated struts which make the weight of the road vehicle relatively high and may impair the aerodynamic performance of the road vehicle. Summary of the Invention

[0011] The object of the present invention is to provide a road vehicle which does not have the above-discussed disadvantages and which can be manufactured in a simple and economical manner.

[0012] The road vehicle comprises: a support frame defining at least a portion of a lower floor of the road vehicle; a passenger compartment protruding upward from the lower floor; a front engine mounted in front of the passenger compartment; two door lower side members defining a portion of the support frame and each mounted below a corresponding access door of the passenger compartment; a front axle provided with a pair of front wheels; and an exhaust system discharging exhaust gas generated by the front engine; and the exhaust system comprises a pair of side exhaust pipes, each side exhaust pipe extending at least partially between a corresponding door lower side member and a corresponding front wheel, at least partially aligned with a corresponding front wheel parallel to a direction of travel of the road vehicle, and configured to at least limit movement of the corresponding front wheel after a frontal collision of the road vehicle.

[0013] Preferably, the engine is mounted in a longitudinal plane of symmetry of the road vehicle.

[0014] Preferably, the support frame comprises two elongate struts extending upwardly from the lower floor and each mounted between a respective door lower side member and a respective front wheel.

[0015] Preferably, at least a portion of each side exhaust pipe extends between a corresponding elongate strut and a corresponding front wheel.

[0016] Preferably, each side exhaust pipe comprises an inlet section having an inlet mouth connected to the front engine and protruding between the corresponding front wheel and the corresponding door lower side member, in particular between the corresponding front wheel and the corresponding elongated pillar.

[0017] Preferably, the inlet section extends in a substantially horizontal receiving plane.

[0018] Preferably, each side exhaust pipe further comprises an intermediate section extending upwardly from the inlet section; the inlet section is located between the corresponding front and corresponding door lower side members, in particular between the corresponding front wheel and the corresponding elongated pillar.

[0019] Preferably, each side exhaust pipe further includes an outlet section connected to the middle section and extending downward from the middle section.

[0020] Preferably, the outlet section has an outlet mouth, which is located below the receiving plane of the lower base plate.

[0021] Preferably, the support frame further comprises two front struts extending from the passenger compartment between the front wheels and carrying the front wheels connected to the front struts. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show non-limiting embodiments of the invention, in which:

[0023] Figure 1 Schematic plan view of a road vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the invention (parts removed for clarity).

[0024] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Schematic perspective view of a road vehicle (parts removed for clarity).

[0025] Figure 3 for Figure 1 and Figure 2 Schematic side view of a detail of a road vehicle (parts removed for clarity). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] refer to Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3 , numeral 1 denotes a road vehicle as a whole, comprising a supporting frame 2 defining at least a portion of a lower floor 3 of the road vehicle 1 ; and a passenger compartment 4 mounted on the supporting frame 2 and projecting upwardly from the lower floor 3 .

[0027] The supporting frame 2 is provided with two front struts 5 projecting in front of the passenger compartment 4 , extending substantially parallel to the direction of travel 6 of the road vehicle 1 and supporting a front axle provided with two front wheels 7 mounted outside the front struts 5 .

[0028] The passenger compartment 4 is provided with two access doors 8 , each of which extends above a door lower side member 9 a having an elongated shape defining a portion of the support frame 2 .

[0029] Each access door 8 is connected to a corresponding elongated pillar 9 b extending upwardly from the lower floor 3 and mounted between a corresponding door lower side member 9 a and a corresponding front wheel 7 .

[0030] The road vehicle 1 further comprises a known front engine 10 which, in the case of an internal combustion engine, is mounted in a front region 11 of the supporting frame 2 in front of the passenger compartment 4 and in a symmetry plane of the road vehicle 1 , in particular parallel to the direction of travel 6 .

[0031] The front engine 10 is connected to the front wheels 7 in a known manner and is connected to an exhaust system 12 for discharging exhaust gases generated by the front engine 10 .

[0032] The exhaust system 12 includes a pair of side exhaust pipes 13, each side exhaust pipe 13 extending at least partially between the corresponding door lower side member 9a and the corresponding wheel 7, at least partially aligned with the corresponding wheel 7 parallel to the travel direction 6, and configured to absorb at least a portion of the kinetic energy generated by a frontal collision of the vehicle 1.

[0033] Each side exhaust pipe 13 comprises an inlet section 14 having an inlet mouth 15 connected to the front engine 10 , extending in a substantially horizontal containing plane, and protruding between the corresponding front wheel 7 and the corresponding door lower member 9 a .

[0034] The side exhaust duct 13 further includes a middle section 16 that extends upward from the inlet section 14 between the corresponding front wheel 7 and the corresponding door lower member 9a.

[0035] Finally, the side exhaust pipe 13 comprises an outlet section 17 connected to the intermediate section 16 , extending downwards from the outlet section 16 and having an outlet mouth 18 situated below the receiving plane of the lower base plate 3 .

[0036] In this case, the intermediate section 16 and the outlet section 17 extend between the respective front wheel 7 and the respective elongated strut 9b.

[0037] The position of the side exhaust pipe 13 (in particular the middle section 16 and the outlet section 17) allows the side exhaust pipe 13 to discharge the exhaust gases generated by the front engine 10 and, in the event of a frontal collision of the road vehicle 1, to limit the proximity of the front wheels 7 to the passenger compartment 4 and to absorb at least part of the kinetic energy generated by such a frontal collision.

[0038] The advantage of the road vehicle 1 is therefore mainly due to the fact that the presence of the side exhaust pipes 13 makes it possible to avoid the use of auxiliary buffer struts and / or relatively heavy supporting frames.

Claims

1. A road vehicle comprising: a support frame (2) defining at least a portion of a lower floor (3) of the road vehicle; A passenger compartment (4) protruding upward from the lower floor (3); a front engine (10) mounted in front of the passenger compartment (4); two door lower side members (9a) defining a portion of the support frame (2) and both mounted below a corresponding access door (8) of the passenger compartment (4); a front axle provided with a pair of front wheels (7); and an exhaust system (12) for discharging exhaust gas generated by the front engine (10); and characterized in that the exhaust system (12) includes a pair of side exhaust pipes (13), each side exhaust pipe (13) extending at least partially between a corresponding door lower side member (9a) and a corresponding front wheel (7), at least partially aligned with the corresponding front wheel (7) parallel to the direction of travel (6) of the road vehicle, and configured to at least limit the movement of the corresponding front wheel (7) after a frontal collision of the road vehicle.

2. A road vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: The front engine (10) is mounted on a longitudinal plane of symmetry of the road vehicle.

3. A road vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The support frame (2) comprises two elongated pillars (9b) extending upward from the lower base plate (3) and each of which is mounted between a corresponding door lower side member (9a) and a corresponding front wheel (7).

4. A road vehicle according to claim 3, wherein: At least a portion of each side exhaust pipe (13) extends between a corresponding elongated strut (9b) and a corresponding front wheel (7).

5. A road vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein Each side exhaust pipe (13) comprises an inlet section (14) having an inlet mouth (15) connected to the front engine (10) and protruding between the corresponding front wheel (7) and the corresponding door lower side member (9a), in particular between the corresponding front wheel (7) and the corresponding elongated pillar (9b).

6. A road vehicle according to claim 5, wherein: The inlet section (14) extends in a substantially horizontal receiving plane.

7. A road vehicle according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: Each side exhaust pipe (13) further comprises an intermediate section (16) extending upward from the inlet section (14); the inlet section (14) is located between the corresponding front wheel (7) and the corresponding door lower side member (9a), in particular between the corresponding front wheel (7) and the corresponding elongated pillar (9b).

8. A road vehicle according to claim 7, wherein: Each side exhaust pipe (13) further comprises an outlet section (17) connected to the middle section (16) and extending downward from the middle section (16).

9. A road vehicle according to claim 8, wherein: The outlet section (17) has an outlet mouth (18), which is located below the receiving plane of the lower base plate (3).

10. A road vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The support frame (2) further comprises two front struts (5) extending from the passenger compartment (4) between the front wheels (7) and carrying the front wheels (7) connected to the front struts (5).

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