This invention relates to a flat-bed mount for all terrain vehicles employed in both civilian and military use, wherein a an all terrain vehicle can be provided with a rear flat bed platform for rapid and facile field conversion of the vehicle to accommodate a variety of utilities, such as a temporary ambulance for transportation of casualties, provision of rear-facing seating, and provision of rails for mounting weaponry.
The art is replete with examples of medical evacuation systems for field use in military and civilian applications. Many examples are directed to airlift situations, where systems are devised for transporting patients in stretchers or NATO-style litters in helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. These examples include the following patent citations:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,032 to Hone, which discloses a litter carrying apparatus for use in air ambulances or helicopters; U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,432 to Resetar, wherein an adjustable litter support assembly for aircraft is disclosed, using stanchions fittings with litter support arms that can be moved up or down to accommodate patients on litters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,025 to Moffett, which discloses movable pallet for movably supporting a patient in an emergency medical setup in a helicopter. U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,629 to Morgan discloses a mufti-tiered litter rack system designed for disposition on walls in a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft; U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,306 to Moss et al., disclosing a tiltable litter receiving table loading and transporting patients in helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, while at the same time providing a table for emergency patient care.
For ground and/or air vehicles, examples of litter mounting and carrying apparatuses are disclosed in the following citations:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,923,606 to Fehrle et al., disclosing a reconfigurable patient support pallet system for transporting patients on NATO-style litters and/or airline-style or other seats, in response to the problems of existing patient evacuation systems, and to meet the need for a patient evacuation system for use in a variety of modes of transportation. The pallet system includes a pallet mounted to the floor of a vehicle. The pallet comprises a plurality of track rails and attachment points for attaching a litter stanchion set, and/or attaching seats to the pallet. U.S. Pat. No. 7,328,926 to Myers et al., disclosing a litter support system adapted for attachment to the chassis of a vehicle with a cargo bed, such as found in an ambulance. The apparatus is designed to receive and lock NATO-style litters on a rack system, and allow lateral movement of the secured litter from the wall of the cargo area towards the middle of the cargo area to facilitate loading of the litters onto the racks, and emergency patient care en-route by an attendant; U.S. Pat. No. 7,883,133 to Chinn, disclosing a wall-attachable litter rack system holding upper and lower litter supports for vehicles for loading and transporting NATO-style litters, where litter supports are rotatable for storage and deployment, and horizontally movable for patient treatment.
In recent years, Special Operations units of the U.S. Army have adapted the use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) for tactical deployment of soldiers over open terrain. ATVs that are adapted for military operations are referred to a lightweight tactical all terrain vehicles (LTATVs). An example of a current commercial LTATV is the Ranger RZR SW built by Polaris Defense, a subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inc. LTATV, and the Strike Razor LTATV built jointly by RP Advanced Mobile Systems and Polaris Defense. Early generations of LTATVs have been designed for rapid and agile deployment in open terrain, with minimal attention given to surperfluous or auxiliary functions such as transporting cargo and evacuating casualties. As the versatility of the LTATV is expanded, the latter consideration has been given elevated status. Presently the LTATV can accept a stretcher or emergency litter, such as a NATO-style litter on a specially adapted litter rack mounted on the rear cargo deck only by placing the litter sideways, that is, with the long axis of the litter perpendicular to that of the vehicle. This configuration forces the ends of the litter hold the patient's head and feet to protrude from the sides of the LTATV. Such a configuration clearly is disadvantageous and poses unwarranted dangers for both the patient and to both the personnel attending to the patient, and to those driving and defending the vehicles and its riders.
Similar considerations apply to civilian patient evacuation applications, such as for search and rescue operations. ATVs are frequently used in such operations, and transportation of litters out of a wilderness area using an ATV requires use of unsatisfactory litter racks that produce the same conditions as described above.
To this end, improvement in the current attributes related to patient evacuation have been developed by the instant inventors, resulting in a highly practical and efficient design of a ATV flatbed system for transformation of the rear cargo deck of the ATV or LTATV into a multifunctional patient evacuation system, personnel and cargo transporting extension of the ATV/LTATV.
The invention comprises a multifunctional flatbed mount for modification of a standard LTATV or ATV, but can also be used on other small utility vehicles. The invention will hereafter be referred to as the inventive flatbed system. In all of the embodiments described herein, the inventive flatbed system is designed to fit over the rear engine bay of standard ATVs and LTATVs in order to provide a mounting platform fulfilling several functions. In a first aspect of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the inventive flatbed is equipped with a track rail and slideable bracket mounting system to mount and secure NATO-style stretchers or litters in the field for transportation of casualties. The inventive flatbed system is configured so that the litters are oriented with their long axis is parallel with that of the vehicle, an improvement over previous litter racks whereby the litters are oriented perpendicular to the direction of travel, forcing the head and feet of the patient to protrude out of the sides of the vehicle. In a second aspect of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the inventive flatbed system comprises hitch mounts for rapid attachment of one or two rear-facing quick mount/dismount seats for carrying a medical attendant or additional personnel. In a third aspect of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the inventive flatbed comprises tie-down rails for securing cargo or objects using various means. The inventive flatbed comprises several articulating members.
The preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed further comprises a hinged tailgate fence that can fold down from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position in order to accommodate litters or oversized cargo, in addition to extending from the aft portion of the flatbed platform while in the open position to provide extra length and support. The tailgate provides an aft mounting means for accommodating a track rail litter mount. In the horizontal position, the aft track rail is collocated vertically with the forward track rail mounted on the front of the inventive flatbed, so that mounted litters will be substantially parallel with the flatbed.
The preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed platform provides hitch posts or studs for accepting quick mount/dismount rear-facing seats for accommodating additional personnel, namely an attendant to sit at the side of a transported patient, additional rearward-facing defenders. Up to two sears can be accommodated at a time, with three seat posts available for hitching or mounting the seats.
The preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed platform provides slots disposed at strategic locations for insertion of tie-down rails for anchoring stud-rings and the like, providing anchor points for strapping in cargo. Said slots are disposed over sunken tracks or grooves machined into the sub-frame cross-rails wherein threaded bolt holes are provided to fit and secure the tie-down rails in such a way that the top of the tie-down rails are flush with the surface of the flatbed platform.
The preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed comprises a backend plate that is integral with the flatbed platform, wherein cutouts are provided to fit over the tail light housings so that the tail light can be seen. Tail light caps having the same shape as the tail light housings are provided that are affixed to the aft side rail of the flatbed frame, and fit over the tail light housings, whereby the tail lights are recessed within the caps, in this way the caps protect same from potential damage due to use of the flatbed.
The preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed further comprises a heat cover that bolts to the underside of the flatbed sub-frame, for the purpose of deflecting heat emanating from the engine, as the latter is mounted in the rear of a typical ATV.
a. Exploded view of components of the inventive flatbed system
b. Assembled view of the inventive flatbed system, without rear heat pads.
c. Assembled view of the inventive flatbed system, showing rear seat pads.
a. Trimetric view of the base frame from the front.
b. Rear-view of the base frame showing taillight wells.
c. Underside view of the aft frame of the vehicle supporting the base frame of the inventive flatbed system, showing the non-rectangular nature of the vehicle frame and portions of the base frame not supported.
a. Isometric view of the ATV frame including the inventive flatbed system, with NATO litters mounted on the flatbed.
b. View of inventive flatbed system with litters lifted up and away to expose the litter mounting assembly.
c. Side view of the inventive flatbed system showing that the horizontal orientation of a mounted NATO litter is ensured due to the design of the tailgate.
d. Elaboration of view in
a. Detailed view of tailgate, showing mounting plates for track rail component of the litter mounting assembly.
b. Same view as in
a. Details of litter mounting assembly, showing individual components in exploded view.
b. View of assembled components shown in
The invention will now be described in detail. The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a mountable multifunctional flatbed designed to fit over the engine bay on the rear end of small all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that are not so equipped. This is shown in
The inventive flatbed system for ATVs comprises several sections. These, along with their spatial relationship to one another, are shown in
A view of the fully assembled preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed system is shown in
When tailgate 205 is in the open position, the flatbed system will accommodate medical litters or stretchers for carrying casualties. A litter kit assembly comprising two track rails 206 and at least four litter catches 207 that are slideably carried on track rails 206, can be mounted on the bed portion 201 and the tailgate portion 205 of flatbed system 200. The litter kit assembly is configured so that the mounted litters are oriented with their long axis parallel to the direction of travel.
The inventive flatbed further comprises a means to provide additional rear seating in the personnel compartment of the ATV. To this end, a plate 211 is hingeably attached to the front portion of bed 201. As shown in
Referring now to
To reinforce the frame without significantly increasing weight, and to add additional structural support of docking or articulating components necessitating location within the interior of the frame, beams 403 are disposed within the open space of the frame interior, said beams running parallel to front and rear rails, and perpendicular to the left and right side rails, whereby the beams span the space between parallel rail pairs, forming bridges between parallel rails pairs, a first pair comprising the front and rear rails and a second pair comprising the left and right side rails. The bridging beams terminate and are integrally affixed to opposite members of the parallel rail pairs comprising the outer frame. Spring-loaded pins 404 are provided to hold hitch post brackets 405 against the center beam, manipulated by handles 404a. Hitch posts 406 thereby can readily be removed and attached as desired in the field. Hitch posts 406 and support bars 407 provide docking structures that mate with and secure removable seats (not shown). Countersunk rectangular regions 408 provide seats for placing tie-down rails, which are bolted to the frame via the threaded holes within the regions. Tie-down rails 409 are shown attached to the side rails.
In another aspect of the preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed system shown in
c shows base frame 400 is bolted to points on the rear frame 411 of the ATV. The rear portion of ATV frames commonly have members that extend diagonally forming a triangular or A-frame structure, whereby the frame rails converge to a single point. Such a vehicular frame configuration forces the rear outward portions 412 of the inventive flatbed system to cantilever when significant loads are applied, such as when the inventive flatbed is employed to carry emergency litters.
Referring to
The preferred embodiment of the inventive flatbed system mounted on the LTATV frame superstructure 600 is designed to accommodate up to two emergency litters 601, shown in
When tailgate 601 is in the open, folded down position, track rail 602 is collocated vertically with track rail 603, allowing litters 601 to be substantially horizontal with respect to the bed surface when their stirrups 606 have engaged litter catches 604 for mounting. This detail is shown in
Seats can be mounted on the inventive flatbed as well, where mounting hitch posts 608 (
a shows more detail of the litter mount assembly on the tailgate 700. Mounting plates 701 are provided between the tailgate cross rails and welded thereto for the purpose of mounting track rail 702, as shown in
While NATO-style litters are widely used in by military medevac units, the inventive flatbed system is designed to accommodate non-standard stretchers and search-and-rescue litters as well. To this end, the litter mount assembly is adapted to readily adjust to the width of any type of litter, by the use of brackets sliding along a track. Referring to
The embodiment described herein is meant to be exemplary, and not intended to limit the scope and spirit of this invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that equivalent structures fall within the scope and spirit of this invention, as described in the following claims.
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/532,626 filed on Sep. 9, 2011.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61532626 | Sep 2011 | US |