Patent Application
20080289888
This invention relates to an automobile design that takes on the challenge of producing an automobile that consumes less fuel but also meets the need for a car that will transport a large family or optionally have a capacity to haul materials as with a truck bed.
Automobile manufacturers are designing and producing smaller and smaller cars with ambitions to achieve cars that can get 100 miles per gallon. Small cars have many advantages over big ones. They are more fun to drive and can handle like sports cars and parking is much easier but higher miles per gallon is the main advantage these days with such expensive gasoline. However, to get high mileage, the cars have to be light in weight and that means smaller; it means more two passenger cars. The majority of workers commute to their work place by themselves but auto dealers tell us that their customers often buy large cars just for the few times a year they will need a large car.
The first object of this invention is to make available a vehicle that is large enough to transport a large family with enough motor power to perform well. The second object is to be able to disconnect the lightest weight of the two cars and be able operate it with its small motor independently of the second larger car.
In describing these tandem cars, the front car will be referred to as the Cab and the rear car will be referred to as the Caboose. The Cab has a small motor, perhaps a turbo diesel and the Caboose may have one or more electric motors and battery or an air motor. When the Cab and Caboose are connected together, their combined power provides high powered performance. When the Cab with its small motor is disconnected from the Caboose, it provides high miles per gallon performance. The owner can leave the larger electric car in his garage most of the time and drive the small car to work.
Having a quick plug-in car when a larger car is needed would be a great advantage. Different types of plug-in cars could be available to rent for special trips. The car dealerships or rental agencies could have Caboose cars for rent furnished in a variety of ways; some for maximum passenger seating, some furnished like camping travel trailers, some with maximum sleeping beds, some as an office or even a limousine.
There can be several weight classes of this two car tandem vehicle. For instance, the tandem cars built for Europe may be small and narrow for their narrow streets, and cars built for American cities may be larger and cars built for Rocky Mountain States may be even larger heavy duty cars. Many people should be attracted to a car that has so many possibilities.
Notice that the drawings in
The disconnection of the tandem connection is accomplished by the driver and these easy steps.
1st Before the Caboose is disconnected there needs to be a means of supporting its frame in a position that is parallel to the ground. This is accomplished by a support leg being installed on the bottom front end of the of the Caboose support frame. The support leg 32 has a flat plate 34 on its upper end and it has a wheel 36 on its bottom end. A receptacle 28 for the flat plate is attached to the bottom of the Caboose support frame 11. It has a pair of grooves opposite each other that allow the plate on the support leg to slide into the grooves (from the side only) like a tongue and groove male to female connection. This takes about three seconds.
Next there are two jacks 26 that are on the back end of the support frames of the Cab. These are common jacks that are used on recreation vehicles. They can be hydraulic or electric or hand crank 26 operated. Extending the jacks down will lift the support frames and the rear wheels of the Cab which removes the friction between the interlocking support frames that are telescopically interconnected. An electric switch is operated that retracts the locking shafts 14 that keep the two frames 10 and 11 from sliding apart. A keyed power switch on the side of the Caboose is turned to cause the electric motors in the Caboose to very slowly inch backwards which pulls its support frame out of engagement with the frame of the Cab. The Caboose carries one or more electric motors, possibly one for each wheel and battery at 32. Next the jacks 26 under the Cab are retracted and the rear wheels on the Cab are lowered into engagement with the ground so the Cab is ready for independent operation.
The reconnection of the two cars is just the reverse. The Cab is backed up close to the support frame of the Caboose where the support leg 36 on the front of the Caboose is holding it in level position. The jacks on the Cab are extended down so that the Cab is jacked up so that the support frames are aligned with each other. The keyed power switch on the side of the Caboose is turned to cause the electric motors in the Caboose to very slowly inch foreword pushing the support frames into telescopic interconnection with each other. There are stops 30 on the support frame 11 to stop and position the two frames so that the holes in the frames line up accurately. The electric locking shafts 12, 14 on the support frames and the door frames 22 are actuated. Then the jacks on the Cab are retracted and the two cars are ready for their tandem operation.
