Patent Application
20080048424
The invention relates to a safety device for the driver's cabin of a truck as per the preeamble of claim 1 and a driver's cabin of a truck as per claim 20.
A safety device for a driver's cabin of a truck, which is intended to improve the protection of a driver in the event of an accident, especially a rollover accident, is known from the type-defining patent GB 2 351 711 A. The safety device comprises a safety net, which is pulled in front of the side window of the driver's door so that there is no possibility of the driver being thrown from the driver's cabin when the side window is open. Without such a safety device, this can happen in particular when the driver is not seatbelted, something which is often the case among truck drivers.
Proceeding herefrom, it is the object of the present invention to create another safety device for the driver's cabin of a truck that will help further improve the safety of the driver and possibly the passenger.
This object is achieved by a safety device having the features of claim 1 and a driver's cabin having the features of claim 20.
When the driver's cabin tips over, it has turned out that the driver is threatened not only by the possibility of being thrown out the open side window, but also of being thrown in the opposite direction, namely into the interior of the driver's cabin. This hazard cannot be completely excluded, even by wearing the usual three-point seatbelt because it could happen that the driver slides out of the shoulder strap. The driver can the, for example, strike the inner structure of the passenger door, where a relatively long distance of fall can appear because of the large width of a driver's cabin.
According to the invention, it is therefore suggested that a safety net be provided on the side of the vehicle seat in question opposite the side window, said seat as a rule being at least the driver's seat. Such a safety net will already catch the driver at an early point in time, before he/she has transpassed a large height of fall, thereby greatly diminishing the risk of injury. Such a safely net will also prevent the driver from striking any passenger who might be present.
As long as the safety net is sufficiently transparent, it is possible to permanently dispose the safety net next to the driver. But in many cases, optimum protection can be achieved only if the safety net essentially extends across the entire cross-section of the driver's cabin and thus divides the driver's cabin in the longitudinal direction. In general, drivers will presumably not accept such a nearly complete division of the driver's cabin.
In a first preferred embodiment, the safety net is therefore at rest in the folded state and is unfolded into its protective position only upon a sensor signal. The corresponding sensor can, in particular, be an inclination sensor that measures lateral inclination of the driver's cabin.
In a second preferred embodiment, the safety net has an essentially triangular shape and runs from a maximum width, which is located essentially at the height of the driver seat, to a top end, which is preferably located above the head of the driver. This feature can already achieve a significant improvement in safety without requiring an expensive unfolding mechanism and without the driver thereby feeling excessively encroached upon.
The safely net is preferably held by a rod which runs essentially vertically, the vertically running rod furthermore preferably being rigidly connected to the cabin floor and the cabin ceiling. This type of fastening has numerous advantages: In the first place, a rod running vertically in this manner can be easily positioned so that it provides ideal protection for the driver. Furthermore, a rod running vertically in this manner can be subsequently built into an already existing cabin, the system thus also being suitable for retrofitting. Finally, such a vertically running rod can also carry other devices, such as steps or a display screen.
Other preferred embodiments are shown in other dependent claims and will now be explained in more detail in example embodiments in reference to the figures. The drawing shows:
FIGS. 2 to 9 depict an embodiment that offers the same degree of safety as the first embodiment but which the driver will not deem as disturbing. The second embodiment of the invention is shown on the basis of a driver's cabin as often found in semitrailer trucks in particular. Here two bunks 12, 14 are disposed behind the driver's seat and passenger seat. The rear wall 19 of the cabin is thus not available for fastening the safety net 20. A vertically running rod 22, which carries the safety net 20, is therefore provided.
FIGS. 2,3,5 and 7 depict the safety device in its state of rest. In this state of rest, there is no unfolded safety net 20 located on the second side of the driver's seat 10. In the state of rest, one arm 24 extends parallel to the vertically running rod 22 upon which it is locked by a locking device 25. A pivot joint 27 disposed in a lower region of the rod 22 serves for the connection between arm 24 and rod 22. Signal lines 29 connect the locking device 25 to the body electronics or to a seperate inclination sensor (not illustrated). This inclination sensor can, for example, be embodied as an inclination sensor like those currently used for the blocking devices of belt retractors. If the lateral inclination of the driver's cabin exceeds a predefined critical angle and/or a predefined acceleration limit is exceeded, then a signal is sent to the locking device 25, which thereupon unlocks the arm 24. The arm 24 then swings into its horizontal position due to gravitational force. Locking means that lock the arm in this final position can be provided. The arm 24 could also be prestressed against the rod 22 by a spring (not illustrated) so that the arm 24 will more rapidly swing into the horizontal position depicted in
A guide rail 26 comprising a slide element 28 si disposed on the cabin ceiling 18. In the state of rest (see
In the unfolded state of protection, the safety net 20 essentially covers the same cross section as the safety net of the first embodiment so that the protective effect is equally good. Since essentially the entire cross section of the driver's cabin is covered in this case, an unseatbelted driver is also well protected in these two embodiments.
In the second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 9, sensor unit which checks, at least prior to the release of the locking, whether an object (such as the driver's arm or leg) is located in the plane of motion of the arm 24, is preferably present. If such an object is sensed, then the locking is preferably not released. Such a sensor unit can comprise a photoelectric barrier for example.
Here the safety net 20 is embodied triangular, the hypotenuse of this triangle extending diagonally from the end of the arm 24 to the vertically running rod 22. The dimension of the safety net is chosen in such a manner that it does not impair sight of the driver to the right outside rearview mirror. A confined feeling for the driver, as can occur in the first embodiment, therefore does not arise. In this embodiment, the protective effect is smaller, however, than in the two first embodiments because the same cross section of the driver's cabin is not covered. It does, however, result in significantly improved safety compared to the prior art, at least when the driver is seatbelted.
In the second and third embodiment presented here, transparency of the safety net is dispensable. Here it therefore does not have to be embodied as a knotted net, but can also be embodied as a cloth run or the like. Knotted nets are nevertheless also preferred here as safety net because of the good ratio between weight and load-bearing capacity.
It is self-understood that a safety device described here can also be assigned to the passenger seat 16 (see
A pressure pipe 44 flows into a lower section of the cylinder 40. This pressure pipe 44 is connected to the compressed-air system of the brake system of the truck. When the engine of the truck is running, an overpressure, which pressed the piston 42 upwards, thus prevails in the lower part of the cylinder 40. In the normal operating state, the piston 42 is held by the locking device 25. This locking device 25, as also described above in the second embodiment, is connected to a sensor, an inclination sensor for example, and releases the piston 42 when the lateral inclination of the driver's cabin exceeds a predefined value. In this case, the piston 42 moves upwards and pulls on the pull ropes 49, which pull on the safety net 20 in turn and unwind it from the spindle 46, so that the safety net arrives into position next to the driver or next to the passenger, respectively.
The spindle 46 is connected to flat spiral springs whose force counteracts the unwinding of the safety net 20. The flat spiral springs are of course embodied so weak that they do not prevent the unwinding of the safety net 20 but only become tensioned from the unwinding. The safety net 20 remains taught as long as the compressed-air system is under pressure. The piston 42 is released after the compressed-air system is shut off, and the safety net 20 is automatically again wound up on the spindle 46 because of the prestressed flat spiral springs. The system thus works in a completely reversible manner. This is particularly advantageous when the driver's cabin does not tip over at all after the release of the locking device and the spreading of the safety net thus likewise only occurred as a precaution. No stop in the workshop is necessary to put the safety device described here back into its normal at-rest position. Instead of providing a separate locking device, it is also possible to connect the sensor to a valve and then impinge the lower section of the cylinder with pressure only when the sensor detects a critical inclination.
Spindle 46 and cylinder 40 of the fourth embodiment described above can be disposed in a rod 22, wherein the rod 22 here comprises a longitudinal slot through which the safety net 20 exits.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2006 032 558.3 | Jul 2006 | DE | national |
