Freight Vehicle Cab Vertical Adjustment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing freight vehicles with driver's cabs experience discomfort due to vertical accelerations during load transport, especially with solid tires, and require costly and time-consuming adjustments to raise the support surface, affecting driving comfort and operational conditions.
Innovation Solution
A freight vehicle with a driver's cab featuring a crank drive unit and actuating means that allows vertical movement between extreme positions, providing a cushioned intermediate position for enhanced comfort without altering the support structures or suspension configuration, using hydraulic adjustment cylinders and motorized articulated quadrilateral transmissions with damping members.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cab is configured to be arranged completely beneath the support surface with very low height, then the frame can be arranged in its lowered loading position, but the driver experiences high vertical accelerations and discomfort during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The cab is made movable relative to the support surface through a coupling mechanism that allows vertical displacement. The cab can be positioned in different vertical locations: beneath the support surface during loading and at a higher position during transport to improve driving comfort while maintaining operational functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
A coupling mechanism acts as an intermediary between the cab and the support surface, enabling controlled vertical movement. This intermediary system allows the cab to be decoupled from the fixed low-position constraint while maintaining connection to the vehicle structure.
2Ease of operation
If cushioned seats are provided to mitigate vertical stress on the driver, then driving comfort is improved, but the seat height increases requiring the cab height to be increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing cab height to accommodate higher seats, the solution makes the cab itself movable vertically. The cab can be positioned at optimal heights for different operational phases, eliminating the need to permanently increase cab dimensions.
3Ease of operation
If the cab height is increased to accommodate cushioned seats, then driving comfort is improved, but the support surface must be raised requiring costly adjustments to portal frame structures
Solution Approach 1:
The cab's vertical position is made adjustable through a coupling mechanism rather than being fixed by permanent structural changes. This allows comfort optimization without requiring expensive modifications to the portal frame support structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle system is segmented into independently controllable components: the cab can be vertically positioned independently from the support surface height. This segmentation allows optimization of cab position for comfort without affecting the support structure configuration.
4Ease of operation
If the support surface is raised to accommodate higher cab positions, then driving comfort is improved, but the useful travel of suspensions is reduced and center of gravity shifts upwards
Solution Approach 1:
The cab position is made dynamically adjustable independent of the support surface height. This allows the cab to be positioned for comfort during transport while the support surface remains at its original height, preserving suspension travel characteristics.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration effectively reduces vertical accelerations, maintains driving comfort across different wheel conditions, and allows for easy retrofitting of existing vehicles, ensuring compliance with comfort regulations while preserving the integrity of support structures and suspension functionality.
Implementation Method 1
damping elastic means placed between said frame and said cab
Implementation Method 2
the hinge device may comprise blocks of elastomeric material, of the type known by the commercial term 'silent blocks'
Data Source
AI summary
A freight vehicle has a frame defining a support surface for the goods to be transported, a plurality of rubberized wheel assemblies with suspensions, the height of which can be adjusted to shift the support surface between a lowered loading position and a raised transport position, and a driver's cab arranged beneath said support surface; the cab being coupled to, and overhanging, the frame by means of an articulated quadrilateral transmission unit and being shifted by pneumatic actuators configured to vertically move the whole cab in relation to the support surface between two extreme end positions, one approaching the support surface and one spaced apart from said support surface, and to arrange the cab in a cushioned intermediate position for the transport of the goods.