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Bus module and method

Bus module and method description/claims

This application claims the foreign priority benefits of Australian Patent Application No. 2006906975 filed on Dec. 13, 2006 which is incorporated herein by this reference.

The present invention is directed to bus seats, in particular bus seats with seatbelts for small buses.

In Australia and worldwide it is becoming unacceptable to provide buses, mini-buses and people-movers without seatbelts. In many states and countries, legislation exists or is in the process of being passed which stipulates the use of seatbelts in these vehicles.

Most of the foregoing types of vehicles are manufactured without seatbelts. In order to comply with legislation, and ensure the safety of passengers, it is therefore necessary to either fit seatbelts to existing seats, or retro-fit seats which incorporate seatbelts.

The former option is generally not desirable as the seats provided with the vehicles are not designed to accommodate seatbelts. It is therefore most desirable to retro-fit seats incorporating seatbelts. Most buses and mini-buses have a discrete chassis and it is a relatively simple matter to anchor such seatbelt-incorporating seats to the chassis. However, monocoque buses, such as the Toyota Coaster and Iveco Daily, do not have a chassis. Retro-fitting in these vehicles is therefore not merely a case of attaching a belt-incorporating seat to the base of the vehicle, as it is for buses with a chassis.

The method presently used in monocoque buses is to remove existing seats from the bus, remove the existing flooring, and fit a metal frame into the vehicle, to which frame belt-incorporating seats are attached after a floor panel is fitted. There are a number of disadvantages to this method. The method is lengthy and expensive. More importantly, the metal frame alters the structural integrity of the vehicle, which is designed, as a monocoque vehicle, to be flexible. Introduction of the metal frame significantly increases the rigidity of the base of the vehicle, and thereby the strain to which the vehicle is subjected, particularly under collision conditions. In addition, in Australia, the integrity of monocoque buses retro-fitted in this manner has not been tested for legislative anchorage compliance.

Therefore, there would be an advantage if it were possible to provide a bus/bus seat module and method of incorporating seats with seatbelts into monocoque buses which overcomes or ameliorates one or more of the disadvantages or problems described above, or which at least provides the consumer with a useful choice.

In a first embodiment, the invention provides a module comprising:

a longitudinal member of the wall of a monocoque bus spanning at least two vertical members and at least two lateral floor members, an end of a lateral member being joined to a vertical member;

a metal strip spanning the lateral members and secured thereto;

an angle-iron spanning the vertical members and secured thereto; and

a seatbelt-incorporating seat, wherein the seat is secured at one end to the angle-iron, and at the other end to the metal strip via a leg.

In a second embodiment, the invention provides a method of fitting a seatbelt-incorporating seat comprising a leg and a side portion into a monocoque bus, the method comprising:

removing an existing seat from the bus if present;

securing a metal strip to lateral members under the floor of the bus;

securing an angle-iron to vertical members within a wall of the bus;

attaching the seatbelt-incorporating seat to the metal strip via a leg included in the seat and to the angle-iron via an end of the seat.

In a third embodiment, the invention provides a kit when used in the method of the second embodiment, the kit comprising:

a seatbelt-incorporating seat;

a metal strip and an angle-iron;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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