JP7574700B2 - Slope support structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a slope support structure for floors to assist with getting on and off.

Conventionally, vehicles are known that are equipped with ramps to make it easier for wheelchair users to get on and off. The ramps are not necessary when the vehicle is moving, and since they get in the way, they are stored somewhere in the vehicle.

Ramps may be set up and stored manually, but there are also known electric ramps that can be deployed and stored electrically. When deploying such a ramp, the floor side of the vehicle is at floor height, and the outside of the vehicle is at road or other height, so the ramp is at an angle. To facilitate the movement of wheelchairs and the like, the boundary (connection) between the floor and the ramp is designed to have as few steps as possible (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-163732 A

There is a demand to ensure that there are no steps at the connection between the floor and the slope, and in this case, it is possible to securely interlock the two parts. However, if an interlocking structure is used, the structure of each part becomes complicated and difficult to manufacture.

The slope support structure of the present invention is a slope support structure for a floor in which a base side of a slope that is deployed in a direction away from a floor is supported by the floor, the slope support structure is made of aluminum material, the cross-sectional shape in the direction in which the slope is deployed is basically the same in the width direction perpendicular to the direction in which the slope is deployed, and includes a floor panel that constitutes the floor, and the tip of the floor panel that supports the slope has a tongue portion that is integrally formed with the floor panel so as to extend toward the slope side, is thinner than the inner part of the floor panel, and supports the tip of the slope on the floor panel side from below , and when the slope is deployed, it is inclined so as to gradually descend in the direction away from the floor panel, and the tongue portion extends horizontally and is located below the bottom surface of the floor panel.

The tip of the tongue portion may be rounded in vertical cross section.

The tongue portion may be cut out at both ends of the width of the floor panel.

According to the present invention, the floor panel has a tongue portion, so it can reliably support the slope. In addition, the floor panel can be formed by aluminum extrusion molding, and the tip of the tongue portion can be easily rounded.

1A and 1B are perspective views showing the configuration around the entrance and exit of a vehicle 1, in which FIG. 1A shows a state in which the ramp is stored, and FIG. A cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the connection between the slope 7 and the floor panel 10 when the slope 7 is deployed. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an example of the configuration of a connection between a floor panel 10 and a slope 7, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa of (a). FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a unit panel 12.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described here.

"Entrance/exit configuration"
1 is a perspective view showing the configuration around the entrance of a vehicle 1, where (a) shows the slope stored and (b) shows the slope deployed. A vehicle body 4 has a sliding door 2 on one side, the left side. An electric slope device 6 is provided below the sliding door 2 of the vehicle body 4.

The sliding door 2 has two doors 2a and 2b (door 2a on the front side and door 2b on the rear side), which slide in opposite directions in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle by a door opening/closing mechanism (not shown) to open and close the boarding/alighting opening (entrance/exit) 8.

In addition, the electric ramp device 6 is normally stored under the floor as shown in FIG. 1(a), and when passengers board or disembark, the ramp is deployed so that it projects outward (diagonally toward the front left in the figure) as shown in FIG. 1(b).

A floor panel 10 is disposed above the portion where the electric ramp device 6 is located. The floor panel 10 is provided as a separate member from the floor panels of other portions of the vehicle 1 and can be removed independently. This allows, for example, the floor panel 10 to be removed while the electric ramp device 6 below is being inspected, repaired, or removed.

"Configuration of the connection between the slope and the floor"
2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the connection between the slope 7 and the floor panel 10 when the slope 7 is deployed. The slope 7 is deployed in a direction away from the floor 9 (a direction away from the boarding/exiting door (entrance) 8 of the vehicle 1). A tip 7a on the base side (vehicle 1 side) of the slope 7 is supported by a tip 10a of the floor panel 10.

The floor panel 10 is plate-shaped, and in the opening and closing direction of the entrance 8 (the direction perpendicular to the unfolding direction of the slope 7), multiple cavities 10b are formed by partition walls 10c. In addition, the top surface 10d of the floor panel 10 slopes downward toward the entrance 8, while the bottom surface 10e is horizontal, so that the thickness gradually decreases toward the entrance 8.

The tip 10a of the floor panel 10 that supports the slope 7 has a tongue portion 100 formed so as to extend toward the slope 7. This tongue portion 100 is formed integrally with the floor panel 10 and is thinner than the inner portion of the floor panel 10 (the portion located inside the vehicle cabin), and supports the tip 7a of the slope 7 on the floor panel 10 side from below.

The tongue portion 100 extends horizontally like the bottom surface 10e of the floor panel 10, and is located below the bottom surface 10e. In this way, by positioning the tongue portion 100 below the floor panel 10, when the tip 7a of the slope 7 is held, it is easy to reduce the step between its upper surface 7b and the upper surface 10d of the floor panel 10. In the illustrated example, the tip 7a of the slope 7 is also made thinner than the main body, but it can also be made relatively thicker.

Here, the floor panel 10 has the same shape in its cross section in the width direction at any position. In other words, the floor panel 10 has an end face that is basically straight in the direction perpendicular to the paper, i.e., in the width direction perpendicular to the direction in which the slope 7 is deployed, and has a shape that can be extruded. In this embodiment, the floor panel 10 is made of aluminum material and is formed by aluminum extrusion molding. As will be described later, both end portions of the tongue portion 100 are cut later to provide a notch portion 100a (see Figure 3), and a shape that has been subjected to such simple post-processing is included in shapes that can be extruded.

The tip of the tongue portion 100 is rounded, as shown in the figure as a semicircle in the vertical cross section. With aluminum extrusion molding, it is easy to produce such a rounded shape, and no chamfering work is required to create such a shape. Furthermore, by making the tip of the tongue portion 100 round, it becomes easier to handle during various operations.

The slope 7 can also be formed by extruding aluminum, just like the floor panel 10. Therefore, the tip of the slope 7 on the floor panel 10 side can easily be rounded as shown in the figure, and it can also be easily made thin and have a complementary shape that can securely engage with the tongue portion 100.

"link"
A link 20 is attached to the floor panel 10 side of the slope 7. This link 20 is a triangular member that engages with the fulcrums of the slope 7, the fixed member 22, and the tip end (near the boarding/alighting entrance 8) of the movable member 24, and as the movable member 24 moves in the direction of the arrow, it rotates about the fulcrum P of the fixed member 22, and the tip end 7a of the slope 7 on the floor panel 10 side pivots and moves up and down. The figure shows the movable member 24 having moved to the end point on the left side (toward the outside of the vehicle) in the figure, whereby the tip end 7a of the slope 7 engages with the tongue portion 100 of the floor panel 10 and is stopped.

When the movable member 24 moves in the opposite direction (towards the inside of the vehicle compartment), the tip 7a of the slope 7 rotates downward around the fulcrum P and moves to the bottom of the fixed member 22. In this state, the slope 7 can be retracted towards the vehicle. Any known mechanism can be used as the moving mechanism for such an electric slope, and so a description of it will be omitted here.

"Cutout section"
3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining an example of the configuration of the connection between the floor panel 10 and the slope 7, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line a-a of (a). Note that FIG. 3 shows a state in which the slope 7 is housed under the floor panel 10.

In this way, at the tip 10a of the floor panel 10, the tongue portion 100 has cutout portions 100a at both ends, and there is no tongue portion 100. This makes the space below the tip 10a of the floor panel 10 wider. By positioning the mechanical portion 6a, which is the movement mechanism of the slope 7, below the cutout portion 100a, the space above it becomes wider, making it easier to position and operate the mechanical portion 6a.

"Floor panel"
4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the unit panel 12. The floor panel 10 may be formed by joining the unit panels 12 together.

In this case, the unit panels 12 may be extruded from aluminum, and the unit panel 12 located at the entrance 8 may be formed with a tongue portion 100 and configured as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 shows a unit panel 12 for the interior of the vehicle that does not have a tongue portion 100 formed.

The unit panel 12 is elongated, open at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and is a hollow plate with a thin (wider than thick) rectangular closed cross section. It also has ribs that extend longitudinally inside and connect the front and back of the closed cross section. In this example, the unit panel 12 is formed by aluminum extrusion in the extrusion direction shown by the arrow in Figure 4. Aluminum extrusion is performed by pressing aluminum material against a mold and extruding it from the mold. Therefore, it is easy to form ribs in the extrusion direction and rounded shapes, and it is also easy to increase strength against bending in the extrusion direction.

In addition, the sides of such unit panels 12 can be formed with hook-shaped portions that can engage with adjacent unit panels 12, and these can be interlocked to form the floor panel 10.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle, 2 sliding door, 4 vehicle body, 6 electric ramp device, 6a mechanical part, 7 ramp, 7a tip portion, 7b upper surface, 8 boarding/alighting entrance, 9 floor, 10 floor panel, 10a tip portion, 10b hollow portion, 10c partition wall, 10d upper surface, 10e bottom surface, 12 unit panel, 20 link, 22 fixed material, 24 movable material, 100 tongue portion, 100a cutout portion.

Claims (3)

A slope support structure for a floor, the base side of a slope deployed in a direction away from the floor being supported by the floor,
The floor panel is made of aluminum, and the cross-sectional shape in the direction in which the slope is deployed is basically the same in the width direction perpendicular to the direction in which the slope is deployed.
a tongue portion that is integrally formed with the floor panel at a tip end portion of the floor panel that supports the slope so as to extend toward the slope, has a thickness thinner than an inner portion of the floor panel, and supports the tip end portion of the slope on the floor panel side from below;
The slope is inclined so as to gradually descend in a direction away from the floor panel when the slope is deployed,
The tongue portion extends horizontally and is located below the bottom surface of the floor panel.
Slope support structure. 2. The slope support structure according to claim 1 ,
The tip of the tongue portion is rounded in a vertical cross section.
Slope support structure. 3. The slope support structure according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The tongue portion is cut out at both ends in the width direction of the floor panel.
Slope support structure.