Expansible motor home

A motor home has a rear, extensible room portion that does not require ground support. The extensible room portion comprises a rear wall, roof portion, and a pair of sidewalls having integral top extensions extending over 40% forwardly of the extensible room portion and serving as lever arms. The end of each lever arm has rollers which roll on upper tracks below the roof of the vehicle while the side wall portions roll on tracks at the base of the sidewalls, either of which work in conjunction with fulcrum rollers in shifting and distributing its weight while extending or retracting the extensible unit, whereby the overhanging extensible room portion can be partially extended to a balance point, and will exactly balance, whereby the overhanging weight of the rear portion of the extensible room portion when moved outwardly of the balance point will be resisted solely by the resistance of the tracks on which the upper rollers roll so as to distribute the overhanging weight along two upper tracks and greatly facilitate extending or retracting movements of the extensible room portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to motor home self propelled vehicles and 
recreational vehicles and an improvement in expansible units therein which 
will provide a long rear expansion without the necessity of ground 
support. 
In the past, sidewall expansions, expanding outwardly from within a side 
portion of the vehicle wall have been accepted and are being expanded 
upon. The apparent advantages of applicant's rearwall expansions over 
common sidewall expansions have not yet been perceived, although 
applicable also to sidewall expansions. 
Expansible units, when being larger, installed and expanded upon as a large 
rear overhanging load will better serve, level and balance itself, and 
show less strain on the vehicle frame and its suspension by advantageously 
using the long length and weight of the vehicle body and chassis in 
distributing its expanding weight upon and in line with the equalized 
strength of both frame rails and both rear spring suspensions of the 
vehicle, as opposed to upon and across the short side and only one frame 
rail and one spring suspension of the vehicle. 
The hazards of turning corners and pulling away from gasoline pumps and 
curbs alone justify a means to provide an incentive for limiting long 
overhangs, when notably the lengthy loss of the floor space of the vehicle 
needed mainly when parked, can be recouped by an expansible section 
extended outwardly of and from within the rear wall section of the 
vehicle. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the invention is to construct the operational mechanism and 
the expansible unit rearwardly as to not interfere with the activies of 
the users or the floor plan of the vehicle. The floor of the expansible 
unit is installed as a stationary or as a fold-away floor according to the 
floor plan of the vehicle. The framework of the expansible unit is 
balanced on a fulcrum when in a partly extended position. An operating 
mechanism is used to completely eliminate any rear support or stabilizing 
systems beyond the point of overbalance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIGS. 1 and 4 show a motor homehaving side windows 16, with its rear 
extensible section in the closed position and FIGS. 2 and 5 show it in an 
extended, balanced position and will be explained more fully hereinafter. 
When in the closed position, weather strip aluminum and felt seal 24 will 
seal the extensible unit from rain or snow. 
FIG. 3 shows body 1 having a pair of metallic tracks 6, 6 underneath the 
corner portions of the roof. Rollers 7 attached to the ends of lever arms 
22 roll on tracks 6, 6. Lower rollers 15, 15 roll on flanged metallic 
tracks 21, 21 located above bathtub 23. Lever arms 22 are an integral part 
of sidewalls 22.sup.1. 
FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show the extensible rear portion of the motor home in its 
closed, partly open and balanced position, and fully open position, 
respectively. FIG. 4 shows collapsible floor 19 in its laid position and 
FIG. 5 shows it in the collapsed position held by bracket 30 to make the 
bathtub accessible. 
An important feature of the invention is the framework construction of the 
sidewalls that roll on rollers 7, 7 on tracks 6, 6 and 15, 15 on tracks 
21, 21. Lever arms 22, 22 will extend at least 40% of the length of the 
extensible side panels to provide lever arms that counter-balance the 
weight of the rear extension and its roof portion 18. 
More specifically, rollers 14, 14 mounted on rear wall 8 serve as fulcrums 
for the extensible framework. FIG. 5 shows the balanced position wherein 
the weight of the extensible unit to the right of fulcrum rollers 14, 14 
equals the weight thereof to the left of the extensible unit so that no 
weight is borne by rollers 15, 15, or 7, 7. In short, the moment arm 
provided by lever arms 22 provides a resistive force on rollers 7, 7 
exerted on tracks 6, 6 and the roof which will exactly counterbalance the 
weight of the extensible unit to the left of fulcrum rollers 14, 14 and 
beyond the space 9 above the lower rear wall 8 of the vehicle. From the 
balanced position, very little resistance is provided by rollers 7, 7 in 
extending the extensible unit and very little force is exerted on rollers 
15, 15 in retracting it from the balanced position. Thus the extensible 
unit can be easily pushed rearwardly from inside or outside the motorhome 
from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the fully open position shown in FIG. 
6 and stabilized without the necessity of support on the ground. Of 
course, the longer the lever arms 22, 22, the greater will be the 
resistive force exerted by rollers 7, 7 on the tracks 6, 6 to accommodate 
greater loads of the extensible unit. Rollers 14 serve as limit stops to 
outward movement of rollers 15. 
Expansible units, when being built larger, installed and expanded upon as a 
large rear overhanging load will better serve, level and balance itself, 
and show less strain on the vehicle frame and its suspension by 
advantageously using the long length and weight of the vehicle body and 
chassis in distributing its expanding weight upon and in line with the 
equalized strength of both frame rails and both rear spring suspensions of 
the vehicle, as opposed to upon and across the short side and only one 
frame rail and one spring suspension of the vehicle. Optimum benefits have 
thus been obtained by rear wall expansion. 
FIGS. 7 and 8 more clearly show the collapsible floor 19 with hinges 20 and 
the manner roof 1 with its stop portion 1a limits rearward movement of the 
top portion 18a of the extensible roof portion 18. Also it more clearly 
shows fulcrum roller 14 and seals 24. FIG. 8 shows fulcrum roller 14 
mounting for supporting track 21a holding floor 19 adjacent outer wall 12 
of the motorhome. 
FIG. 9 more clearly shows the lower rollers 15 and how they support the 
inner walls 22.sup.1 and how they are mounted on outer wall 12 reinforced 
by channel 4. 
FIG. 10 more clearly shows the upper rollers 7 rolling on track 6 supported 
by angle irons 5 mounted on outer wall 12. 
FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of lower roller 15 and its mounting 
on track 21 supporting vertical angle iron 26 through which a threaded 
portion of rod 3 extends and is held by wingnut 2, which rod 3 is welded 
at the other end to an angle iron which is fastened to inner wall 
22.sup.1, providing a secure lock. 
FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper roller 7 showing how 
it is mounted and held by rod 3, by wing nut 2, on bracket 29, providing a 
secure end lock. 
A bed, chest or other item may be substituted for the bath tub 23 (FIG. 3). 
FIG. 13 shows a modification for providing more floor and walking space 
when the expansible unit is completely retracted, by the omission of the 
bathtub 23. This enables the sidewalls 22' to be of greater height and the 
use of a permanent floor 19a instead of a foldable floor and the 
positioning of tracks 21 secured directly on the floor 25 of the motor 
home. The level of floor 19a is above that of the floor of the motor home 
(as shown). This construction permits a shorter length motor home, which 
is less costly and more maneuverable, as well as more walking space and 
room in the motor home. 
FIG. 14 shows a modification of the expansible unit to make it mechanically 
motor operated in either direction. This is done by substituting, for the 
smooth fulcrum rollers 14, rollers 14a which are splined gears permanently 
mounted on the ends of shaft 30 driven by pulley 31 having a belt 32 which 
drives pulley 33 driven by reversible motor 34. 
Splined racks 35, matching the teeth of the fulcrum gears 14a, are mounted 
beneath the floor of the expansible unit. The fulcrum gears 14a, pulley 33 
and shaft 30 all rotate on the same mounting brackets used for mounting 
the flat track rollers 14 of FIG. 13. The expansible unit is motor driven 
to extend it or retract it by advantageously using the free floating 
weight of the expansible unit, holding constant pressure against and 
meshing the splined rack 35 against splined fulcrum gear 14a. 
While the reversible motor drive shown in FIG. 14 is shown applicable to 
the modification shown in FIG. 13, it is equally applicable to the 
construction shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 inclusive. 
While I have illustrated and described several embodiments of my invention, 
it will be understood that these are by way of illustration only and that 
various changes and modifications are contemplated in my invention within 
the scope of the following claims: