Floor structure for truck's load-carrying platform

Abstract: A floor structure (1) for a load-carrying platform of a truck. The truck has a pair of parallel side rails (3) extending in a longitudinal direction of the truck. The floor structure (1) includes a floor panel part (2) made from a fiber reinforced plastic (5) and a pair of longitudinal sills (4) extending along the pair of side rails (3) under the floor panel part (2) and made from the fiber reinforced plastic (5). The floor panel part (2) is thicker in a first area (11, T1) (111, T3) between the longitudinal sills (4) than in second and third areas (12, T2) (112, T4) outside the first area.

Description: The present invention relates to a floor structure for a truck's load-carrying platform, and more particularly to a floor structure which is applicable to any type of load-carrying platform such as a van's platform (i.e., closed box-type platform), a platform which opens in three directions (e.g., a pick-up truck's platform), a platform equipped with a single gate which opens in a backward direction and a wing-body type platform which has one or more pairs of swing doors adapted to open like bird's wings in a width direction of a truck, and more particular to a floor structure according to the characteristics of the preamble of independent claim 1. Referring to Figure 19 of the accompanying drawings, a wing body-type platform equipped with a single pair of swing doors or roofs 202 is illustrated as an example of typical truck's load-carrying platforms. This platform has relatively large dimensions and fixed on a frame work of a truck. The platform has gates 201 along lateral edges of the truck and the wing roofs 202 over the gates. At a rear end of the platform, provided is a pair of biparting rear doors 203. A front end of the platform is closed by a front wall 204. It should be noted that a cab (not shown) is situated in front of the front wall 204. The gates 201, wing roofs 202, rear doors 203 and front wall 204 are supported from a conventional floor structure 205 of the truck's platform respectively. Referring to Figure 20 of the accompanying drawings, illustrated is a perspective view of part of the floor structure 205 in an enlarged scale partly in cross section. The floor structure 205 is secured on a pair of side frames 206 (only one of them is depicted) of a ladder-like truck frame via spacers 207 by suitable fastening members such as U-bolts (not shown). The side frames 206 extend in a longitudinal direction of the truck. The floor structure 205 includes longitudinal sills or joists 208 extending along the side rails 206 and secured on the side rails 206, transversal sills 209 extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal sills 208 across the width of the platform and secured on the longitudinal sills 208 and the floor plate 210 placed on the transverse sills 209. The floor plate 210 forms a platform floor. Each of the longitudinal and transversal sills 208 and 209 is a steel member having a U-shaped cross section. The longitudinal and transversal sills 208 and 209 form in combination a frame work to support the floor plate 210 which is situated on the frame work. The rigidity of the floor structure 205 is insured by this frame work. The floor plate 210 is generally made of wood. As understood from Figure 20, the conventional floor structure 205 is made by the longitudinal and transversal sills 208 and 209 assembled like a lattice and the floor plate 210 placed on them. Therefore, the floor structure 205 has a thickness Tz which is relatively large. On the other hand, there is a strong demand for low floor trucks in an automobile industry. Loading and unloading becomes easier as the height of the platform floor from the ground becomes lower. In addition, the lower the floor, the larger a volume of the platform. The conventional floor structure 205 is also heavy in weight since it includes the steel frame members 208 and 209 and the woody floor plate 210. The floor structure 205 itself must have sufficient rigidity or strength since it helps insure or partly determines the truck's overall bending/flexural rigidity as well as torsional rigidity. In general, a typical truck has wheels below the platform floor and outside the side rails of the truck's frame, and the wheels are frequently caused to move up and down due to projections and recesses on and in a road surface and/or cornering (or rolling) movements of the truck. Therefore, if the floor structure of the truck's platform is positioned at a lower height from the ground or road surface, the wheels may collide with the floor panel when the wheels move upward. A floor structure according to the first part of claim 1 is known from EP-A-0 061 919. EP-A-0 635 418 discloses a floor structure for a load-carrying platform of a truck. The floor is formed by two parallel outer layers of glass reinforced plastics spaced apart by an intermediate layer of polyurethane foam and has two straight longitudinal sills which extend on the underside of the floor in parallel transversely spaced positions. A similar structure is known from BE-A-679 917. An object of the present invention is to provide a floor structure for a vehicle's platform which can eliminate the above-described problems which the prior art structure has. This problem is solved by a floor structure according to claim 1. Further embodiments of the invention are described in the subclaims. With the inventive solution, the floor plate member, under which the wheels of the vehicle are positioned, is reduced in thickness. Specifically the undersurface of the floor plate member is recessed or cut out. Consequently, collision or contact between the vehicle's wheels and the floor plate member is reliably avoided even if the wheels move up and down while the vehicle is running on a road. The floor plate member may only be reduced in thickness in areas close to the lateral edges of the floor plate member since collision of the wheels against the floor plate member mostly occurs in these areas only. The floor plate member and the longitudinal sills may be simultaneously manufactured as one piece unit or may be separately prepared and jointed later. The hollow FRP floor structure encapsulating foam material reduces the weight of the floor structure but exerts high rigidity. The transversal sills are dispensed with from this floor structure so that the thickness of the floor structure is also reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a platform having a lower floor. The longitudinal sills on which the floor plate member is supported insures sufficient bend-ing/flexural rigidity as well as torsional rigidity of the vehicle. Figure 1 illustrates a fragmentary sectional view of a floor structure according to the second embodiment of the invention, which is a cross section taken along the line A-A in Figure 2; Figure 2 is a bottom view of the floor structure shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross section taken along the line B-B in Figure 2; Figure 4 illustrates a cross sectional view of the floor structure of the invention together with truck's wheels and a differential; Figure 5 illustrates a bottom view of another floor structure according to the invention; Figure 6 is a cross section taken along the line C-C in Figure 5; Figures 7a to 7d show cross sectional views taken along the line D-D in Figure 5 respectively, illustrating various shapes of ribs attached to the floor structure; Figure 8 depicts a bottom view of another floor structure according to the present invention; Figure 9 depicts a cross section taken along the line E-E of Figure 8; Figures 10 and 11 are views similar to Figure 9, illustrating another modifications respectively; Figure 12 is similar to Figure 1, illustrating a further modification of the floor structure shown in Figure 1; Figure 13 is similar to Figure 3, illustrating a further modification; Figure 14 is similar to Figure 6, illustrating a further modification; Figures 15a to 15d are similar to Figures 7a to 7d respectively, illustrating further modifications; Figure 16 is similar to Figure 9, illustrating a further modification; Figure 17 is similar to Figure 10, illustrating a further modification; Figure 18 is similar to Figure 11, illustrating a further modification; Figure 19 illustrates a perspective view of a typical wingbody type platform of a truck; and Figure 20 illustrates partly in cross section a fragmentary perspective view of a conventional floor structure used in the truck shown in Figure 19. A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 through 18. Figure 2 illustrates the bottom view of a floor structure 101 of this embodiment, Figure 1 illustrates the sectional view as taken along the line A-A of Figure 2 and Figure 3 the sectional view as taken along the line B-B. The top of the drawing sheet for Figure 2 corresponds to the front of the truck. The floor structure 101 is employed in, for example, a wing-body type platform. The floor structure 101 includes a floor panel 102 which defines a floor of the platform and a pair of longitudinal sills 104 extending along the side rails 103 of the truck under the floor panel 102. The floor panel 102 is a single thin and hollow element made from a glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) 105. The floor panel 102 therefore has an enclosed construction. The longitudinal sills 4 are also made from GFRP. Each of the longitudinal sills 4 has a generally U-shaped cross section. The floor structure 101 has a hollow box shape having a GFRP outer shell 107 of generally uniform thickness t2. Accordingly, the floor structure 101 is lightweight and possesses high rigidity. The floor structure 101 therefore has a thin wall construction as a whole so that the floor height of the platform from the ground may be lowered. The longitudinal sills 104 add to rigidity of the floor panel 102 against bending and twisting (or torsion) in a pitching direction. Consequently, the floor structure 101 can prevent deformation of a truck frame, which deformation would be otherwise caused while the truck is running on a road, and can raise the rigidity of the truck frame. The interior of the outer shell 107 is filled with a foam 106 such as urethane foam or resin foam. The foam material 106 defines a core 108 of the floor structure 101 to improve compression strength of the floor structure 101. The two side rails 103 of the truck are longitudinal members of a ladder-like frame work of the truck and extend the length of the floor structure 101. The side rails 103 are spaced from each other in the width direction of the truck. A plurality of cross members (not shown) spans the side rails 103. In Figure 1, only the left side rail 103 is depicted. The floor structure 101 is secured on the side rails 103 via spacers 103a by suitable fastening elements such as bolts and nuts. The floor structure 101 is therefore supported from the side rails 103 upon fixing of the longitudinal sills 104 to the spacers 103a. The floor panel 102 and the longitudinal sills 104 are separately prepared and joined later. One method of manufacturing the floor panel 102 is to first prepare the foam 106 and then attach the GFRP 105 on the surface of the foam 106 to surround or enclose the foam 106. After that, a pair of foam materials 106, which is the basic material for the longitudinal sills 104, is attached to the under face of the floor panel 102 and the GFRP 105 is attached over the foam materials 106 to form the longitudinal sills 104. As a result, the floor panel 102 and longitudinal sills 104 are united to a single unit. In this particular embodiment, an additional material 110 made from CFRP 109 is attached to the whole upper surface of the floor panel 102 and a similar material 115 made from CFRP 109 is attached to an inner wall of a lower portion of each sill 104. CFRP 109 is a material having a high longitudinal elasticity. These additional layers 110 and 115 significantly improve torsional and flexural rigidity of the floor panel 102 and longitudinal sills 104. The laminated layer 110 on the upper surface of the floor panel 102 provides a smooth and planar floor surface of the platform. The floor panel 102 extends the length and width of the platform and has a thickness T3 in most part thereof and a thickness T4 in those parts which face truck's wheels. Referring to Figure 2, positions of the truck's wheels under the platform are designated by C1, C21, C22, C31 and C32. As best illustrated in this drawing, the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102 are made only thinner (thickness T4 in Figure 1) in areas above the axles C1, C21, C22, C31 and C32. Other portions of the floor panel 102 have the same thickness T3 (Figure 1) as the center portion 111 of the floor panel 102. In Figure 1, which illustrates the cross section taken along the line A-A of Figure 2, the floor panel 102 has the larger thickness T3 between the longitudinal sills 4 (or in a center portion 111 of the floor panel 102) and the smaller,thickness T4 in the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102. As described above, the floor panel 102 includes the thicker portion 141 having the thickness T3 and the thinner portions 142 having the thickness T4, but the thicker portion 141 and thinner portions 142 form in combination a planar upper surface of the floor panel 102. As a result, the lower surface of the thinner portions 142 is higher than the thicker portion 141 by delta H. As described above, the floor panel 102 is recessed in its lower surface above the truck's wheels. When the floor structure 101 is assembled in the truck, the truck's wheels are positioned under the recessed portions of the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102. The floor structure 101 is applicable to various types of truck having different wheel bases. Specifically, if the truck is a four-axle vehicle, then an axle extending transversely below a cab of the truck (not shown) is a front front axle or first front axle which determines the steering of the truck, the axle C1 represents a front rear axle or second front axle which also determines the steering, the axle C22 represents a rear front axle or first rear axle and the axle C32 represents a rear rear axle or second rear axle. If the truck is a three-axle vehicle, then the truck includes the first front axle under the cab (not shown), the first rear axle C21 and the second rear axle C31. As understood from the above, even if the length of the floor structure 101 is equal, the four- and three-axle trucks may have rear axles at different positions. Further, the three-axle trucks may have different rear axle positions depending upon specifications of the truck, load balance, weight of the cab and the like to realize an appropriate truck design. To cope with these variations of the trucks, the floor structure 101 has the following construction. The thinner portions 142 are formed in certain areas above the second front axle C1, the first rear axles C21 and C22 and the second rear axles C31 and C32 respectively and each recessed portion 142 has a width equal to that of the associated outer portion 112 of the floor panel 102. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, each outer portion 112 of the floor panel 102 has a support 143 for a gate (not shown) along a lateral edge thereof. The gate support 143 has greater rigidity than other portions to bear the weight of the gate. Specifically, the gate support 143 has a generally rectangular cross section along the thicker portions 141 of the floor panel 102 as illustrated in Figure 3 and has a generally inverted L-shaped cross section along the thinner portions 142 as illustrated in Figure 1. An inverted L-shaped core material 144 made from for example aluminum is embedded in the gate support 143 extending from the thinner portion 142. The gate is pivotably mounted on the associated gate support 143 using hinges or the like such that the gate can stand vertically in an upright position and pivot downwardly clockwise or counterclockwise. In the upright position, the gate stands on a stepwise portion 113 of the gate support 143. Referring to Figure 4, since the floor panel 102 has the thinner portions 142 above the wheels 145 of the truck, the height of the floor panel 102 from the ground is raised at the thinner portions 142 only. Accordingly, the floor structure 101 is generally a low floor structure while maintaining sufficient rigidity. Even if the wheels 145 are forced upward, top portions 146 of the wheels 145 still do not collide with the floor panel 102 since a relatively large clearance is formed between the floor panel 102 and the wheel top 146. Referring to Figure 2, it should be noted that the length of the thinner portions 142 in the longitudinal direction of the truck for the rear front wheels (C21, C22) and the rear rear wheels (C31, C32) is unnecessarily long such that the illustrated floor structure 101 can be used for any of trucks having various types of wheel base. If the truck has the axles C1, C21 and C31 in addition to the axle under,the cab, which may be referred to as a short wheel base truck, it is not necessary to consider interference or collision between the wheel top portions 146 and the floor panel 102 above the positions of the axles C22 and C32 since the truck does not have the axles C22 and C32. These portions are designated at 147. In other words, the portions 147 are unnecessarily thin and has low rigidity. Accordingly, reinforcing ribs 148 are attached to the lower surfaces of the thinner portions 147 after the floor structure 101 is manufactured. Each rib 148 extends transversally. Therefore, the thinner portions 147 are raised in rigidity and undesired low rigidity portions are eliminated. A detailed structure about the rib 148 will be described later. If the truck has axles C1, C22 and C32 in addition to the axle under the cab, which may be referred to as a long wheel base truck, on the other hand, the thinner portions 142 above the axles C21 and C31 may be able to have the same thickness T3 as the thicker portions 141. These portions are designated at 149 in Figure 2. Similar reinforcing ribs 150 are attached to the lower surfaces of the portions 149 in this case. If the truck is a three-axle type having no second front axle C1, the reinforcing ribs 150 may be attached to the lower surfaces of the thinner portions 142 above the second front axle C1. Since most of the floor panel 102 is made from the thicker portion 141 having the constant thickness, the floor structure 101 can be manufactured at lower cost and easily. Various modifications will be described with reference to Figures 5 through 18. Similar reference numerals are used to designate similar components in the different drawings and their descriptions will be omitted. Figure 5 illustrates the bottom view of a floor structure 101 according to a first modification and Figure 6 illustrates the cross section taken along the line C-C of Figure 5. The floor panel 102 has a center portion 111 of thickness T3 and outer portions 112 of thickness T4. This floor panel 102 also has the thicker portion 141 and the thinner portions 142. A number of ribs 151 is attached to the lower surface of each outer portion 112. Each rib 151 extends in the width direction of the truck. The ribs 151 are provided at predetermined intervals in the length direction of the. truck. As best illustrated in Figure 5, the outer portions 112 have the thickness T4 across their length and width entirely. In Figure 2, on the contrary, the outer portions 112 have the thickness T4 only in the axle areas and other portions have the larger thickness T3. Therefore, this modification provides a thinner floor panel 102 as a whole than that shown in Figure 2. Those parts of the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102 which are positioned above the axles C1, C21, C22, C31 and C32 of course have the smaller thickness T4. The ribs 152 may be attached to the lower surfaces of the floor panel 102 above the C21, C22, C31 and C32 as desired, like attachment of the ribs 148 and 150. The various possible cross sections of the rib 151/152 are depicted in Figures 7a to 7d. Figure 7a illustrates an example having a rectangular cross section. Each rib 151/152 is made from combination of the outer GFRP layer 107 and the inner foam 106. The ribs are provided on the lower surface of the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102 in the same manner as utilized for provision of the longitudinal sills 104 onto the floor panel 102. It should be noted here that the outer layer 107 may be made from CFRP 109. In addition, the outer layer 107 may be formed from combination of GFRP layer 105 and CFRP layer 109. Figure 7b illustrates an example of T-shaped one, Figure 7c illustrates an example of I-shaped one and Figure 7d illustrates an inverted L-shaped one. The ribs 151/152 are made from GFRP 105 and attached to the lower surface of the floor panel 102. It should be noted here that the material 105 may be replaced with CFRP 109 or the rib may be formed from combination of GFRP layer 105 and CFRP layer 109. It is of course that other particular shapes and materials may be equally employed for the ribs 151/152. As seen in Figure 5, the ribs 151 and 152 connect the associated longitudinal sill 104 with the associated gate support 143 and bear a vertical load applied to the gate support 143 from the mounted gate and related parts. In short, the ribs 151 and 152 significantly raise flexural rigidity of the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102. It should be noted that the construction of the ribs 148 and 150 are similar to the ribs 151 and 152. Ribs designated at 151a may be used as the ribs 151 and brackets for mounting of accessory parts such as side bumpers, splash boards and mudguards. Figure 8 illustrates a bottom view of a floor structure 101 according to a second modification and Figure 9 illustrates a cross sectional view taken along the line E-E. The floor structure 101 includes a floor panel 102 having a center portion 111 and outer portions 112. The thickness of the center portion 111 is T3 entirely and the thickness of the outer portions 112 is mostly T3. As understood from Figure 9, part 142 of the outer portions 112 has a smaller thickness T4. In other words, a majority of the floor panel 102 is made from a thicker panel portion 141, and the remainder of the floor panel is made from the thinner panel portions 142. The thinner panel portions 142 are provided at positions corresponding to a second set of front wheels (axle C1), a first set of rear wheels (axle C21/C22) and a second set of rear wheels (axle C31/C33) as illustrated in Figure 8. It should be-noted that the thinner portion 142 do not extend the width of the associated outer portion 112 from the lateral edge of the floor panel 102: it rather terminates before reaching the longitudinal sill 104. In short, the width of the thinner portions 142 of this modification is smaller than that of the thinner portions 142 shown in Figures 2 and 5 (i.e., reduced to approximately half). As understood from Figure 9, the width of the thinner or recessed portions 142 is determined to be sufficiently large such that the truck's wheels (not shown) do not collide with the lower surface of the floor panel 102. Referring back to Figure 4, specifically, the collision between the wheel top portions 146 and the overextending recessed portion 142 only occurs under about an outer quarter of the recessed portion 142. In the modification shown in Figure 8, therefore, the floor panel 102 is only reduced in thickness in such an area. Since other part of the floor panel 102 is made from the thicker portion 141, the rigidity of the floor panel 102 is improved. As depicted in Figure 8, the thinner portions 142 above the second front wheels supported on the axle C1 are wider than those above the first and second rear wheels supported on the axles C21 to C33 since the second front wheels are caused to turn right and left upon a steering operation by a driver of the truck and the interference between the floor panel 102 and the second front wheels should be avoided during such a steering operation. On the under surface of the outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102, provided is a number of ribs 153 for mounting of accessory parts such as side bumpers. The ribs 153 are attached to the thicker portion 141 having relatively high rigidity so that the number of the ribs 153 can be reduced to as small as possible, as far as the ribs 153 can support the side bumpers safely thereon. It should be noted that the above described ribs 148, 150 and 152 may be provided on the thinner portions 142. Referring to Figure 9, a vertically extending sharp connection 154 is formed between the thinner portion 142 and the thicker portion 141 in this modification. However, the thinner and thicker portions 142 and 141 may be connected by a gentle transition 155 as illustrated in Figure 10. The manufacturing of the floor panel 102 is easier in Figure 10 than in Figure 9. The outer portions 112 of the floor panel 102 may be reduced in thickness gradually linearly toward the lateral edges of the floor panel to form the thinner portion 142 as illustrated in Figure 11. Further modifications are illustrated in Figures 12 to 18. Figures 12 to 18 correspond to Figures 1, 3, 6, 7 and 9 to 11 respectively. In Figures 12 to 18, the floor panel portion 102 and the longitudinal sill portions 104 are made simultaneously as a one piece element whereas in Figures 1, 3, 6, 7 and 9 to 11, these portions are separately manufactured and jointed later. Specifically, the foam 106 is first prepared to have a shape of combined floor panel portion 102 and longitudinal sill portions 104. Then, the GFRP 105 is applied over the whole outer surface of the foam 106 such that the floor panel portion 102 and longitudinal sill portions 104 are enclosed by a single outer shell 107 made from the GFRP 105. The floor panel portion 102 and longitudinal sill portions 104 also share a mutual core 108 made from the foam 106. In Figures 12 to 18, the laminated layer 110 made from the CFRP 109 covers not only the upper surface of the floor panel portion 102 but also the gate supports 143 and the lower surface of the outer portions 112 of the floor panel portions 102, thereby defining additional layers 156 and 157 continuously. In addition, the lower surface of the center portion 111 of the floor panel portion 111 is also covered with a layer 158 made from the CFRP 109. Since the layers 156, 157 and 158 are added to the floor structure 101, the rigidity of the floor structure 101 is further improved. Other modifications and changes may be made by those having an ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. Further, any combination of the foregoing constructions may be possible as needed. In addition, teaching of the present invention can be equally applied to other types of truck such as those having three axles without the second front axle or without one of the rear axles.

Claims: A floor structure (101) for a load-carrying platform of a truck, the truck having a pair of parallel side rails (103) extending in a longitudinal direction of the truck and having a plurality of wheels (145), the floor structure (101) comprising a floor panel part (102) made from a fiber reinforced plastic (105) and encapsulating a foam material, the floor panel part having an upper wall, lower wall and lateral edge portions connecting the upper and lower walls with each other, a thickness of the floor panel part (102) being defined by a distance between the upper and lower walls, and a pair of longitudinal sills (104) extending along the pair of side rails (103) under the floor panel part (102), each longitudinal sill made from the fiber reinforced plastic (105) and encapsulating a foam material, characterized in that the thickness of the floor panel part (102) is reduced in a plurality of first areas (142, 147, 149) above the plurality of wheels (145) and is also reduced in a plurality of second areas (149, 147) in the vicinity of the first areas (147, 149) in the longitudinal direction of the truck, first ribs (148, 150) being attached to the lower wall of the floor panel part (102) in the second areas (149, 147), each of the first ribs extending in the width direction of the truck. The floor structure of claim 1, characterized in that the floor panel part (102) is reduced in thickness in substantially all of areas (112) outside the longitudinal sills (104) and a plurality of second ribs (151, 151a) is attached to the lower wall of the floor panel part in the thickness reduced areas (142), the second ribs being spaced in the longitudinal direction of the truck and each second rib extending in the width direction of the truck. The floor structure of claim 1, characterized in that the floor panel part (102) is reduced in thickness in predetermined areas (157) close to the lateral edge portions. The floor structure of any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a first laminated layer material (110) is placed on the upper wall of the floor panel part (102). The floor structure of any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a second laminated material (115) is attached to an outer and/or inner surface of each longitudinal sill. The floor structure of claim 5, characterized in that each longitudinal sill (104) has U-shaped cross section and is defined by first to third walls extending in the longitudinal direction of the truck respectively, the first wall being directed horizontally outward in the width direction of the truck, the second wall being directed horizontally inward in the width direction of the truck and the third wall being directed vertically downward and connecting the first and second walls with each other at their lower ends to define the U-shaped cross section, and the second laminated layer material (115) is attached to an outer and/or inner surface of the third wall of each longitudinal sill (104). The floor structure of claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the second laminated layer material (115) is also attached to the second wall of each longitudinal sill. The floor structure of any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a third laminated layer material (158) is attached on the lower wall of the floor panel part (102) between the longitudinal sills (104). The floor structure of any one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that each of the first to third laminated layer material (115, 158) is made from a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (109). The floor structure of any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each of the longitudinal sills (4; 104) is made from a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (109). The floor structure of claim 10, characterized in that the lower wall of the floor panel part (102) between the longitudinal sills (104) is made from a carbon fiber reinforced plastic and is continuous to the longitudinal sills (104).

Inventors: KUWAHARA TOHRU, KUWAHARA, TOHRU, KUWAHARA, TOHRU, C/O ISUZU MOTORS LTD.
Applicants: ISUZU MOTORS LTD, TORAY INDUSTRIES, ISUZU MOTORS LIMITED, TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B62D29
IPC codes: B62D25, B62D29