• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
  • 引用文献
  • 法律状态
  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
    A tractor has a side skirt (6) designed to partially delimit a space (4) below the trailer (2) in a working position housing the tractor. The tractor (1) comprises an elongate element (11) arranged to extend in the longitudinal direction of the tractor along the side skirt and arranged movably relative thereto. The element is movable between at least one active position, in which in the working position of the tractor it partially bridges the distance between an upper edge (13) of the side skirt and a lower edge (14) of a said trailer and thus forms an extension upwards of the side skirt, and an at least partially inactive position, in which its upper limit (15) is at a greater distance from said lower edge of the trailer than in the active position. A unit is designed to control the movement. (Pig. S)
    公开号:SE1350408A1
    申请号:SE1350408
    申请日:2013-04-02
    公开日:2014-10-03
    发明作者:Per Elofsson
    申请人:Scania Cv Ab；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    15 20 25 30 collision on ferry ramps or the like or when the trailer front for some reason approaches the side skirt.
    The side skirt must also not protrude so high at the point of ascent on the sidewalk behind the cab of the tractor that there is a risk that a person in such ascent or descent relative to the sidewalk risks tripping over the side skirt.
    In addition, the side skirt must be designed so that it allows convenient access with a tank nozzle when refueling.
    SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a tractor of an initially defined type which solves the above-mentioned problems in an at least somewhat respect better way than previously known tractors.
    This object is achieved according to the invention by providing a tractor with the features set forth in appended claims 1.
    By arranging an elongate element which can be controlled to move between an active position, in which it extends the side skirt upwards and thereby reduces said gap, and a lower inactive position, the gap can be reduced in situations which allow this while this can be kept large enough in situations that require a larger gap. Consequently, during normal driving with the tractor in working position, i.e. towing a trailer, the elongate element can be in the active position and thereby reduce the crew's air resistance and thus the tractor's fuel consumption, while the element can be in the inactive position at e.g. shunting and driving on ferry ramps without the risk of the lower edge of the trailer colliding with the element. Likewise, the element is advantageously moved to the inactive position to enable tank access and rising on and off the tow truck's treadmill.
    Side skirts hanging from trailers that can be adjusted to hang down different distances from a trailer are previously known by e.g. US 4,611847 and US 7,950,721 B1.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, the tractor comprises means designed to sense the speed of the tractor and send information about it to the unit, and the unit is designed to control said moving means to move said element towards the active position when a predetermined threshold is exceeded. speed of the tractor and move the element from the active position towards the inactive position when this threshold speed is exceeded. This ensures that the element will be in its active position only when it has a real effect on the tractor's air resistance and thereby fuel consumption and in the inactive position during stationary or slower driving, such as when shunting and driving on ferry ramps. In this case, according to an embodiment of the invention, the unit is designed to have a speed in the range 20-50 km / h, 20-40 km / h, 25-35 km / h or 30 km / h as said threshold speed. A threshold speed at this level ensures the requested function of said elements. According to another embodiment of the invention, the tractor comprises means designed to collect or be provided with information about the appearance of roads, such as frequency of occurrence and size of unevenness in roadways, and send information thereon to said unit. , and the unit is configured to control said displacement means to move said element relative to the side skirt depending on such information. Hereby the unit can control the element when driving on an unusually uneven road surface to be in a position with its upper edge at a lower level than in said active position to exclude any risk that the element strikes the lower edge of the trailer and is thus damaged.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, the tractor comprises means designed to sense the distance between the upper edge of the side skirt and the lower edge of a trailer connected to the tractor and send information thereon to the unit, and the unit is designed to control said moving means to move the element depending on the distance so sensed. As a result, when driving the tractor, the element can be in the active position regardless of the driving conditions and in case the lower edge of the trailer for some reason, such as driving on some unevenness, approaches the upper edge of the side skirt the element is moved downwards from the active position. According to a further development of this embodiment of the invention, the unit is designed that when said distance at an element present in active position falls below a predetermined value, the element moves towards the inactive position.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, the towing vehicle further comprises actuators operable by a driver of the towing vehicle for sending orders to said unit to control said moving means to move the element relative to the side skirt according to such given orders. This makes it possible for the driver to manually determine the position of said elements if desired.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, the elongate element is a substantially flattened element with a width intended to point in the active position of the element from the side skirt upwards towards a said trailer of 30-300 mm, 50-250 mm or 100-200 mm.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, said displacing means is designed to move the element by displacing it substantially vertically or vertically relative to the side skirt with respect to a tractor standing on a horizontal surface. In this case, the element is advantageously displaced in the inactive position in order to be at least partially hidden behind and thus protected by the side skirt.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, said displacing means is designed to move the element relative to the side skirt by folding it from said active position about an axis parallel to or substantially parallel to said longitudinal direction with its upper limit directed inwards towards the interior of said space . As a result, the risk of damage to the element in the inactive position is low.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, the element formed by the action of said displacing means is movable to an inactive position in which its upper edge is at the same height as or lower than the upper edge of the side skirt. This makes it possible to hide the element behind the side skirt and protect it from damage in the inactive position, in which it does not fulfill any function. According to another embodiment of the invention, the tractor has a said side skirt with a said elongate element on both its longitudinal sides. In this case, it is possible for the elongate elements for the two longitudinal sides to be of different dimensions or shapes if desired.
    The invention also provides a method for changing the air resistance coefficient of a tractor in working position with a trailer connected thereto and on at least one side thereof a side skirt extending from the area behind the tractor wheels longitudinally in the longitudinal direction of the tractor designed to delimit a space formed laterally. under the trailer, which is provided with the features of the characterizing part of the appended independent procedural patent claims. The advantages of such a method as well as with the embodiments of the invention which are the subject of the independent method patent claims appear with all the desired clarity from the discussion above of the tractor according to the invention.
    The invention also relates to a computer program having the features listed in claim 16, a computer program product having the features listed in claim 17 and an electronic control unit having the features listed in claim 18.
    Other advantageous features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 is a side view illustrating a tractor according to the present invention in working position, i.e. with a trailer attached thereto, when driving forward, is a schematic view illustrating how a said element of a tractor according to the invention can be controlled to be moved according to different embodiments of the invention, is a perspective view of a part of a tractor according to the invention with said element in the active position, is a perspective view of the lower part of the tractor shown in Fig. 3 with the element in the inactive position, a Fig. 4 corresponding view illustrating another embodiment of the invention with the element in the inactive position, is a flow chart showing a method according to an embodiment of the invention, and is a schematic diagram of an electronic control unit for implementing a method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In Fig. 1, a tractor 1 according to an embodiment of the invention is schematically illustrated in a working position, i.e. a position in which it fulfills its function of towing a trailer 2, which is connected to the tractor in a conventional manner via a schematically indicated turntable 3. During the front part of the trailer in the direction of travel, a space 4 is formed, which is partly occupied by a part of the towing vehicle and when driving the towing vehicle forward, at the towing vehicle's normal cruising speed, such as 60-90 km / h, the presence of this space will have a noticeable effect on the air resistance of the towing vehicle with trailer then experience in case this space is not covered laterally. For this reason, the tractor is provided in a conventional manner on both sides with a side skirt 6 extending from the area behind the front wheels 5 backwards in the longitudinal direction of the tractor in the said working position of the tractor partially delimiting the space 4 laterally.
    In this case, such a side skirt normally extends downwards as far as possible without there being a risk that it will at some point collide with the ground on which the tractor may be driven. For safety reasons, the lower part of the side skirt may be formed by a rubber strip 7, while the rest of the side skirt is rigid and so strong that it can be provided with an entrance 8 to step on for a driver of the vehicle wishing to get up on the walkway 9 which is arranged behind the cab of the towing vehicle 10. However, the side skirt normally extends upwards no further than to the floor surface of the walkway so as not to run the risk of tripping over it. 10 15 20 25 30 Even if one were to ignore this problem and try to extend the side skirt further upwards, it must be ensured that the lower edge of the trailer cannot collide and damage the side skirt during any type of driving, such as driving up a ferry ramp, and it must also not block access with a tank nozzle when refueling.
    In order to reduce the coefficient of air resistance of the tractor with a trailer and still avoid the problems an elevated side skirt can entail, the tractor according to the invention has an elongate flat element 11 arranged to extend in the longitudinal direction of the tractor along at least one side skirt, but preferably along both, and this element is arranged movably relative to the side skirt. Reference is now also made to Figs. 3 and 4.
    More specifically, the flat-like element is arranged from the side, seen partly behind the side skirt and displaceable in the vertical direction relative to it, assuming that the tractor is on a horizontal surface.
    How the element 11 according to the invention can be controlled is illustrated in Fig. 2. Means 12, such as an electric motor, are designed to move the element between at least one active position (the position according to Fig. 1 and Fig. 3), in which it the working position of the tractor partially bridges the distance between an upper edge 13 of the side skirt and a lower edge 14 of a said trailer and thus forms an extension upwards of the side skirt, and an at least partially inactive position (the position according to Fig. 4), in which its upper limit 15 is at a greater distance from said lower edge of the trailer than in the active position. In this case, the element can typically have a width intended in the active position of the element to point from the side skirt upwards by about 200 mm, while a side skirt typically has a width in the corresponding direction of 500-800 mm.
    The tractor has a unit 16, such as an electronic control unit, designed to control the moving means 12. The unit 16 receives information from various components of the tractor to control the moving means 12 in dependence on this information. Means 17 sense the speed of the tractor and send information about it to the unit 16, which is designed to control the moving means 12 to move the element 11 towards the active position when a predetermined threshold speed, for example 30 km / h, is exceeded by the tractor and move the element from the active position towards the inactive position when this threshold speed is exceeded. This ensures that the element is not in the active position at a stationary tractor or at such low speeds that its position still has no appreciable effect on the crew's air resistance. l / part 18 are designed to collect, e.g. via the Internet, or be provided with information on the appearance of roads, such as the frequency of occurrence and size of irregularities in roadways, and send this information to the unit 16, which is designed to take this information into account when controlling the moving means 12.
    Thus, should a road section for some reason be uneven so that when driving significant relative movements can occur between the trailer and the tractor, then the unit 16 can control the moving means to move the element 11 towards the inactive position to reach this or possibly be located between the active and the inactive position 10 15 20 25 30 11 The tractor could also have means 19 designed to sense the distance between the upper edge 13 of the side skirt and the lower edge 14 of a trailer connected to the tractor and send information about this distance to the unit, which is then designed controlling the moving means 12 to move the element depending on the distance so sensed, so that when suddenly driving on an unevenness and movement of the lower edge 14 of the trailer towards the side skirt the element would move towards the inactive position and hitting its upper limit 15 of the trailer thereby can be avoided.
    The presence of such a means 19 would make it possible to have the upper limit 15 of the element 11 in the active position located very close to a lower edge of a trailer and thereby achieve optimized influence of the air resistance coefficient and thus the fuel consumption of the tractor.
    It is further illustrated that there are actuators 20 actuated by a driver of the tractor for sending orders to the unit 16 to control the displacement means 12 to move the element 11 relative to the side skirt according to such given orders. Thus, the driver can manually ensure that the element is brought into the position he desires, and thereby such manual control can e.g. be superior to the control that the information from the means 17 and the means 18, 19 cause in terms of control towards the inactive position, but not towards the active position.
    Fig. 5 illustrates a possible alternative to the movable arrangement of the element 11 relative to the side skirt 6 to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Here, instead, the element is movable relative to the side skirt by being folded down from the active position about an axis parallel to or substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the tractor with its upper limit 15 directed inwards towards the interior of the space 4. In the position shown in Fig. 10, the element is consequently in the lowered inactive position and is pivotable about said axis to an active position substantially corresponding to the position shown in Fig. 3.
    Fig. 6 shows a flow chart illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the invention for changing the coefficient of air resistance of a tractor in working position with a trailer connected thereto of the type illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3-5. . In a first step S1 the speed of the tractor is measured, and in a second step S2 the speed so measured is compared with a threshold speed. In step S3, the question is asked whether the measured speed is higher than the threshold speed, and if the answer to this question is Yes, the process proceeds to step S4 and the element is moved to or maintained in the active position. However, if the answer to this question is No, it proceeds to step S5 and the element is controlled to be moved to or retained in the inactive position. This procedure is repeated continuously or at appropriate time intervals. In parallel, in a step S6, the gap G is measured in the form of the distance between the lower edge 14 of the trailer and the upper edge 13 of the side skirt, and in step S7 this gap is compared with a threshold gap and in step S8 a question is asked whether the measured gap is larger than the threshold gap and in the case of a positive answer to this question go to step S4 and in the case of a negative answer to step S5. This part of the procedure is also repeated continuously or intermittently.
    Computer program code for implementing a method according to the invention is suitably included in a computer program which can be read into the internal memory of a computer, such as the internal memory of an electronic control unit of a tractor. Such a computer program is suitably provided via a computer program product 13 comprising a data storage medium readable by an electronic control unit, which data storage medium has the computer program stored thereon. Said data storage medium is, for example, an optical data storage medium in the form of a CD-ROM, a DVD disc, etc., a magnetic data storage medium in the form of a hard disk, a floppy disk, a cassette tape, etc., or a flash memory or a memory of type ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROM.
    Fig. 7 very schematically illustrates an electronic control unit 16 comprising an execution means 21, such as a central processing unit (CPU), for executing computer software. The execution means 21 communicates with a memory 22, for example of the RAM type, via a data bus 23. The control unit 16 also comprises data storage medium 24, for example in the form of a Flash memory or a memory of the type ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROM.
    The execution means 21 communicates with the data storage medium 24 via the data bus 23. A computer program comprising computer program code for implementing a method according to the invention, for example in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6, is stored on the data storage medium 24.
    The invention is of course not in any way limited to the embodiments described above, but a number of possibilities for modifications thereof should be obvious to a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
    For example, it would be possible to arrange the element movably to several fixed active positions or to arrange the element steplessly adjustable to different positions relative to the side skirt in question.
    权利要求:
    Claims (1)
    [1]
    1. 0 15 20 25 30 14 Patent claims. Tractor with on at least one side thereof a side skirt (6) extending from the area behind the front wheels (5) backwards in the longitudinal direction of the tractor designed to partially delimit laterally in a working position of the tractor a space (4) formed under a trailer (2) at trailer connected to the tractor, characterized in that it comprises o an elongate element (11) arranged to extend in said longitudinal direction along at least said side skirt (6) and arranged movably relative to the side skirt, o means (12) designed to move the element between at least stone an active position, in which, in the working position of the tractor, it partly bridges the distance between an upper edge (13) of the side skirt and a lower edge (14) of a said trailer and thereby forms an extension upwards of the side skirt, and an at least partially inactive position, in which its upper limit (15) is at a greater distance from said lower edge of the trailer than in the active position, and a unit (16) designed to control said vehicle delivery means. . Tractor according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means (17) designed to sense the speed of the tractor and send information about it to the unit (16), and that the unit is designed to control said moving means (12) to move said element (11) towards the active position when a predetermined threshold speed is exceeded by the tractor and move the element from the active position towards the inactive position when this threshold speed is exceeded. Tractor according to claim 2, characterized in that the unit (16) is designed to have a speed in the range 20-50 km / h, 20-40 km / h, 25-35 km / h or 30 km / h as the said threshold speed. Tractor according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (18) designed to collect or be provided with information on the appearance of roads, such as the frequency of occurrence and size of irregularities in roadways, and send information thereon to said unit (16), and that the unit is designed to control said displacement means (12) to move said element (11) relative to the side skirt in dependence on such information. . Tractor according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (19) designed to sense the distance between the upper edge (13) of the side skirt and the lower edge (14) of a trailer connected to the tractor and send information thereon to the unit. (16), and that the unit is designed to control said displacing means (12) to move the element (11) in dependence on the distance so sensed. . Tractor according to claim 5, characterized in that the unit is designed that when said distance at an element (11) present in active position falls below a predetermined value, the element moves towards the inactive position. . Tractor according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises operating means (20) actuatable by a driver of the tractor for sending orders to said unit 10, 10. 10 (16) to control said moving means (12) to move the element (11) relative to the side skirt (6) according to the given orders. Tractor due to the fact that the elongate element (11) is a substantially according to any one of the preceding claims, a flattened element with a width intended in the active position of the element to point from the side skirt upwards towards a said trailer of 30-300 mm, 50-250 mm or 100-200 mm. Tractor of the said moving means (12) being designed to move the element (11) according to any of the preceding claims, by displacing it substantially vertically or vertically relative to the side skirt (6) with respect to a tractor standing on a horizontal surface. Tractor according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that said displacing means (12) are designed to move the element (11) relative to the side skirt (6) by folding it from said active position about an axis parallel to or substantially parallel to said longitudinal direction with its upper limit (15) directed inwards towards the interior of said space. Tractor thereof, according to any one of the preceding claims, (11) movably moving said means (12) to an inactive position in that the element is formed by the action of which its upper limit (15) is at the same height as or lower than the upper edge (13) of the side skirt ). characterized characterized characterized characterized in that it has a said side skirt (6) with an elongate element (11) on both of its longitudinal sides according to any one of the preceding claims. Method for changing the air resistance coefficient of a tractor (11) in working position with a trailer (2) connected thereto and on at least one side thereof a side skirt (6) extending from the area behind the tractor's front wheel (5) backwards in the tractor's longitudinal direction designed to partially delimit laterally a space (4) formed under the trailer, characterized in that it comprises the step of a) moving an elongate element (11) arranged to extend in said longitudinal direction along at least said side skirt relative to the side skirt between at least one ak active position, in which the element partially bridges the distance between an upper edge (13) of the side skirt and a lower edge (14) of said trailer and thus forms an extension upwards of the side skirt, and an at least partially inactive position, in which the upper limitation (15) is at a greater distance said lower edge of the trailer than in the active position. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that it comprises the steps of b) sensing the speed of the tractor, and c) comparing the value of the sensed speed with the value of a predetermined threshold speed, and that the movement in step a) is performed towards the active the position when exceeding said threshold speed of the tractor and characterized 10 from the active position towards the inactive position when exceeding the threshold speed. Method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that it comprises the step of d) sensing the distance between the upper edge (13) of the side skirt and the lower edge (14) of a trailer connected to the tractor, and that the movement in step a) is performed in depending on the distance known. Computer program that is loadable directly into the internal memory of a computer, which computer program includes computer program code for bringing the computer, for a tractor (1) in working position with a trailer (2) connected thereto and on at least one side thereof one from the area behind the tractor's front wheels ( 5) extending rearwardly in the longitudinal direction of the tractor (6) designed to laterally partially delimit a space (4) formed under the trailer: - to control a movement of an elongate element (11) arranged to extend in said longitudinal direction along at least one said side skirt (6) relative to the side skirt between at least one active position, in which it partially bridges the distance between an upper edge (13) of the side skirt and a lower edge (14) of a said trailer and thus forms an extension upward side of the side skirt, and an at least partially inactive position, in which its upper limit (15) is at a greater distance from said lower edge of the trailer than in the active position 19 17. Computer program amproduct comprising a data storage medium readable by a computer, the computer program code of a computer program according to claim 16 being stored on the data storage medium. An electronic control unit of a tractor comprising an execution means (21), a memory (22) connected to the execution means and a data storage medium (24) connected to the execution means, the computer program code of a computer program according to claim 16 being stored on said data storage medium. .
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    WO2014163555A1|2014-10-09|
    EP2981452A4|2016-12-07|
    EP2981452B1|2018-05-30|
    EP2981452A1|2016-02-10|
    SE537041C2|2014-12-16|
    引用文献:
    公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题
    US4611847A|1985-10-18|1986-09-16|Navistar International Corporation|Inflatable and extendable vehicle skirt|
    SE527084C2|2004-05-11|2005-12-20|Scania Cv Ab|Motor vehicles with cover|
    SE527825C2|2004-05-27|2006-06-13|Volvo Lastvagnar Ab|Device for a side cover for vehicles, and a vehicle fitted with such a side cover|
    US7093889B2|2004-10-04|2006-08-22|Freight Wing Inc.|Device for reducing vehicle aerodynamic resistance|
    US7950721B1|2008-12-12|2011-05-31|Larry William Peterson|Truck skirting|DE102015005849A1|2015-05-06|2016-11-10|Wabco Europe Bvba|Vehicle combination of towing vehicle and trailer vehicle, in particular semi-trailer|
    SE539349C2|2015-11-05|2017-07-25|Scania Cv Ab|Towing vehicles|
    法律状态:
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    SE1350408A|SE537041C2|2013-04-02|2013-04-02|Tractor with side skirt and procedure performed on such|SE1350408A| SE537041C2|2013-04-02|2013-04-02|Tractor with side skirt and procedure performed on such|
    PCT/SE2014/050374| WO2014163555A1|2013-04-02|2014-03-27|Tractor vehicle provided with a side skirt and method implemented on such a tractor vehicle|
    EP14780395.1A| EP2981452B1|2013-04-02|2014-03-27|Tractor vehicle provided with a side skirt and method implemented on such a tractor vehicle|
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