Truck Cab and Sleeper Assembly

This invention relates to cab and sleeper assemblies for trucks, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for coupling a cab to a sleeper.

Currently available truck cab and sleeper assemblies may be categorized as being either "modular" or "integral." Modular assemblies consist of separate cab and sleeper structures that are individually mounted to a truck chassis or a common subframe. Access between the cab and sleeper is provided through an opening in a back wall of the cab and a front wall of the sleeper, the openings being connected and sealed against moisture by a flexible "boot." Although the modular assembly has the advantage of allowing the sleeper to easily be removed or replaced, the connecting tunnel between the cab and sleeper provides relatively restricted access.

Integral assemblies provide a cab and sleeper in a single structure, thereby providing unrestricted access between the cab and sleeper. However, because the cab and sleeper are provided in a single structure, it is impossible to remove or replace the sleeper.

Applicant therefore believes that it would be possible and beneficial to provide an improved cab and sleeper assembly.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved truck cab and sleeper assembly.

It is another object of this invention to provide a truck cab and sleeper assembly that allows unlimited access between the cab and sleeper, while allowing the sleeper to be easily removed or replaced.

These and other objects of the invention, as will be apparent herein, are accomplished by providing an improved truck cab and sleeper assembly wherein a truck cab having no rear wall is coupled to a sleeper having no front wall. Access between the cab and sleeper is therefore substantially unrestricted. In a preferred embodiment, a gasket such as foam rubber is provided between the cab and sleeper, and the cab and sleeper are bolted together, thereby creating a compression seal between the two members. An adhesive sealant is provided to an exterior surface of the gasket, thereby further sealing an interface between the cab and sleeper against moisture. The sleeper may therefore easily be removed by cutting the adhesive and unbolting the sleeper from the cab. If the cab is to be used by itself, a rear cab closure assembly may be coupled to the rear of the cab in place of the sleeper.

To further prevent moisture from entering the cab or sleeper, a leading edge of the sleeper is curved to form an internal gutter below an internal surface of the gasket such that any moisture that leaks past the adhesive seal and gasket will be caught and channeled away from the interface between the cab and the sleeper by the gutter.

In a preferred embodiment, both the cab and the sleeper roof slope upward in a rearward direction, thereby providing sufficient head room to allow a passenger or a driver to comfortably transition from a seating position in the cab to a standing position in the sleeper, and vice versa.

FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of a cab and sleeper assembly illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear isometric view of the cab structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front isometric view of the sleeper structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevational view of an interface between the cab and sleeper structures of FIG. 1, taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 5 is a rear isometric view of the cab structure of FIG. 1 coupled to a cab closure assembly.

FIG. 6 is a right side elevational view of the cab and sleeper assembly of FIG. 1, in a joined position.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the steps of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of a cab and sleeper assembly 10 provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A cab 12 having no rear wall and a sleeper 14 having no front wall are coupled together such that access between the cab 12 and the sleeper 14 is substantially unrestricted, and the sleeper 14 may be easily removed and reattached to the cab 12. In a preferred embodiment, cab 12 and sleeper 14 are mounted on the vehicle main chassis frame (not shown), and an air suspension is provided at the rear of the sleeper. If cab 12 is used without sleeper 14, as will be discussed in greater detail below, the suspension is moved forward to be positioned under cab 12.

More particularly, the cab 12 is provided with a floor 11 and with two sidewalls 16 that extend longitudinally rearward, the trailing edges of the sidewalls forming pillars 18. The pillars 18 are reinforced and coupled to each other by cab upper cross-member 26 provided under cab roof 60, as best seen in FIG. 2. Reinforced pillars 18 and cab upper cross-member 26, together with cab floor 11, thereby hold a rear region 28 of the cab 12 square, thereby eliminating a need for a rear wall. A rear opening 25 in cab 12 is therefore defined by the trailing edges of the sidewalls 16, cab floor 11 and cab roof 60.

Similarly, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the sleeper 14 is provided with a floor 13, a sleeper upper front cross-member 34, and with two sleeper sidewalls 27 having leading edges that form front outer panels 30 that extend longitudinally forward to engage an outer surface 20 of pillars 18, respectively. The sleeper 14 is further provided with two front inner panels 32 that engage an inner surface 22 of pillars 18, respectively. In a preferred. embodiment, pillars 18 taper in a rearward direction such that the front outer panels 30 engage pillars 18 to form integral width transition fairings. Reinforcing gussets 38 couple the front inner panels 32 to a sleeper front floor sill 40 and serve to transmit body twist forces into the floor structure. Sleeper sidewalls 27 and sleeper upper cross-member 34, together with sleeper floor 13, thereby hold a forward region of the sleeper 14 square, thereby eliminating the need for a front wall. A forward opening 33 in sleeper 14 is thereby defined by the leading edges of the sleeper sidewalls 27, the sleeper roof 62 and the sleeper floor 13. The upper end of inner panels 32 are coupled to sleeper upper side sills; 36 by reinforced sill bushing brackets 42 which also serve to interconnect the cab 12 and sleeper 14, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

The cab and sleeper are coupled together by providing a gasket, for example, of foam rubber or the like, to the rear 24 of the cab 12. Specifically, a sponge rubber gasket having a backing of pressure-sensitive adhesive is positioned along cab rear floor sill 28, and a bulb seal or tubular sponge seal having a u-shaped cross section to engage a flange is provided along that rear surface of pillars 18 and along a flange 17 provided at a rear surface of the cab roof 60. It will be understood that the gasket could be provided on the sleeper as an alternative to providing it on the cab. The cab 12 and sleeper 14 are then bolted together through flanges 19 and through the cab rear floor sill 28 and sleeper front floor sill 40 at the locations illustrated at reference numerals 46. A bolt 46 is further provided on either side of the cab and sleeper assembly 10 between the sleeper front inner panels 32 and pillars 18 of cab 12. By coupling the cab and sleeper in this manner, a compression seal is created at an interface 48 between the cab and sleeper. The interface 48 between the cab and sleeper is further sealed against moisture by applying a polyurethane or similar adhesive sealant 50 to an exterior surface 52 of gasket 44, extending along the sides and top of the interface 48 between the cab and sleeper. The adhesive sealant further serves to distribute stresses throughout the joint or interface area.

As best seen in FIG. 4, a leading edge 58 of sleeper 14 is formed to provide a gutter 56 below an internal surface 54 of gasket 44. In a preferred embodiment, the leading edge 58 has a "J" cross section, that is reinforced by sleeper upper front cross-member 34. If any moisture penetrates adhesive sealant 50 and gasket 54, it will be collected by gutter 56 and channeled to the sides of interface 48 where it will drain down and be discharged through evacuator valves 15 located in the floor of the cab. A seal 55 is provided to close off an open region 59 of gutter 56, thereby trapping any collected moisture. If desired, a trim piece 57 may be provided along the adhesive sealant 50.

By providing a cab and sleeper assembly 10 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sleeper may be easily removed by cutting the adhesive sealant 50 and unbolting the sleeper from the cab. The ease with which the sleeper may be removed may be beneficial in several circumstances, for example, if the sleeper is damaged, it may be removed for repair and a replacement sleeper may be attached to the cab in its place. It may also be desirable to use the cab 12 without a sleeper, which may be accomplished by removing sleeper 14 and coupling a cab closure assembly 68 to the rear of cab 12, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Cab closure assembly 68 may be bolted to cab 12, similar to the manner in which sleeper 14 may be bolted to cab 12.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the cab roof 60 and sleeper roof 62 both slope upward in a rearward direction, thereby allowing sufficient head room such that a person may transition comfortably from a seated position in the cab to a standing position in the sleeper as illustrated by head sweep path 66, and vice versa. The ease of access between the cab and sleeper is further enhanced by the elimination of walls between cab 12 and sleeper 14, and by providing the sleeper floor 13 slightly lower than cab floor 11, for example 5 inches lower. Furthermore, the region between the front outer panels 30 and front inner panels 32 of sleeper 14 may be used for storage space, thereby allowing the seats of the truck to fully recline without suffering a loss of storage space.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, a cab 12 and sleeper 14 may be coupled together in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention by bonding a gasket 44 to cab 12 or sleeper 14, step 70; aligning the cab 12 and sleeper 14, step 72; bolting cab 12 and sleeper 14 together, step 74; and applying an adhesive sealant 50 to an exterior surface 52 of gasket 54, step 76.

An improved truck cab and sleeper assembly has been shown and described. From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that, although embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein,, but rather as defined by the claims which follow.