Abstract:
A recreational vehicle body structure having expandable body defined by two nesting chambers housed within an enclosed rigid body shell with openings on both side walls for the chambers to extend out. One of the chamber is an enclosed box with interior and exterior entry doors. The other chamber is an open box with only exterior entry door. The recreational vehicle body structure may be part of a towable trailer or a motorized recreational vehicle. In the deployed configuration, the chambers are extended laterally and independently, thereby providing additional living space to the recreational vehicle. In the travel configuration, the chambers are retracted with the enclosed box chamber nesting within the larger open box chamber and the outside walls of the chambers are flush with the body shell sidewalls, thereby reducing the body structure to within the maximum allowable exterior dimensions in length, width, and height for highway bound travel.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to recreational vehicles (RV&#39;s), and more particularly, to motor homes and travel trailers that are adapted in size so as to increase the available living space of the vehicle. 
         [0003]    2. Discussion of Prior Art 
         [0004]    Recreational vehicles are very popular with people who wish to retain comforts and conveniences of their homes while spending extended periods of times away from home at remote locations. In particular, most present motorhomes, fifth wheel trailers and travel trailers, try to retain the same configuration of a conventional home. These vehicles typically include a bedroom, a bathroom with sink and flushing toilet, a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, sink, and cabinets for storage. There may be a living area with reclining chairs and entertainment center. Altogether, the total amount of living square footage may necessitate a vehicle with an expandable body. 
         [0005]    In particular, current regulations dictate that the vehicle must not exceed the maximum allowable exterior dimensions in length, width, and height of highway bound travel. Thus, the manufactures of recreational vehicles have developed numerous systems for extending rooms and bodies of recreational vehicles. 
         [0006]    In general, these room extensions operate by allowing additional floor space, when the vehicle is parked, through a slide-out room that extends laterally from the side walls of the vehicle, or from front or back of the vehicle. When the vehicle is in motion, the slide-out is retracted, and secured to the vehicle chassis. In this manner, the recreational vehicle designers have allowed greater living floor space in a vehicle that will remain within the maximum allowable exterior dimensions while in transit on public highways. 
         [0007]    In prior art, the applicant is aware of many ways to extend a slide-out laterally from side walls both full-length and half height. An example of vehicle with slide-out rooms extending from the body walls is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,073 to Raymond Willis Blodgett, Jr. Blodgett&#39;s patent discloses a vehicle having fixed room and a slide-out room which extends and retracts relative to the fixed room. A slide-out extension mechanism extends and retracts the slide-out in cantilevered manner. 
         [0008]    Also in prior art, slide-out can also be extended from the front or rear of the vehicle. An example of rear slide-out extension is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,032 to Stewart Gardner. Gardner&#39;s patent discloses a mean to extend the slide-out room rearward by having a stowed chamber moves from within the structure. For use, the stowed structure moves rearward to an expanded position external of the structure. A pair of cantilevered are deployed to support the chamber in the extended position. 
         [0009]    Another example of expandable structure is disclosed by U.S. Patent No. 2008/0164720 A1 to Johnnie R. Crean. Crean&#39;s patent discloses an extendable room-in-room slide-out room where a half height slide-out room is extended from the side wall of a full height slide-out room. 
         [0010]    In another prior art, the vehicle body expansion can be done vertically with a second floor. An example of multi-level recreational vehicle is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,583 to Randell J. Wishart. Wishart&#39;s patent discloses a multi-level recreational vehicle comprises a lower level having floor and a ceiling, wherein the lower level floor has a walking portion providing access to an upper level comprising a deck for recreational or leisure purposes. 
         [0011]    Common among the prior art is a vehicle having fixed room and a slide-out room which extends and retracts a portion of the room relative to the fixed room. With this approach, the resulting product is an irregular shape room. Whereas, the slide-out may be a part of a bedroom, a kitchen or a bathroom. In the expanded mode, the slide-out room adds to the living space of the fixed room but may severely limit the use of the room in retracted mode. This is perhaps the biggest complaints against slide-out room design when bed room and bath room facilities are needed at a quick stop-over. 
         [0012]    Therefore, what is desired is a method and system that can provide rectangular room shape of a conventional home in the expanded mode and at the same time retain the same shape and access for often needed facilities such as bed room and bath room when in retracted mode. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    In one aspect of the present invention, a vehicle body structure is provided with two chambers which snugly nested into each other&#39;s. In one embodiment, one expansion chamber comprises a chamber having a half-width slanted top wall serving as a roof in the expanded position, two spaced sidewalls, an interior partitioning side wall, a bottom floor, and one outside side wall with a door opening; the first said chamber comprises of often used facilities such as bedroom furniture and bathroom toilet, shower stall and lavatories, however, it can be appreciated that the chamber can also comprise of other living areas without departing from the scope of the invention. The second chamber larger in volume, in the second embodiment, comprises an open sided box having a half-width slanted top wall as a roof in the expanded position, two spaced sidewalls, a bottom floor, and one outside side wall with a door opening; this second chamber comprises of additional living space and kitchen facilities. The living space furniture of the second chamber are of foldable types. The kitchen facility equipment of the second chamber are installed in cantilevered manner as to be elevated from the second chamber&#39;s floor so that the kitchen equipment will occupy some of the unused space of the first chamber in the retracted position. The first said chamber having smaller interior volume its snugly inside the second said chamber having lamer interior volume allowing either chambers to move laterally from each other between a retracted position and the expanded position. 
         [0014]    In another aspect of the invention, first and the second said chambers can be subdivided into two or more rooms. For structure rigidity considerations, one chamber will have two partitioning walls with space in between with sufficient clearance for the other chamber with a single partitioning wall to slide into in the retracted position. 
         [0015]    In another aspect of the invention, the present disclosure&#39;s vehicle structure consists of an enclosed rigid body shell with openings on both side walls and a carriage assembly having plurality of supporting floor structure members for the installation of the said chambers. The supporting floor structure members consist of supporting members having one side slightly raised to accommodate the floor offset between the first and second said room chambers. The carriage assembly includes plurality of control arms either electrically or hydraulically operated in order to move the said chambers laterally relative to the carriage assembly. In this way, the chambers can be moved laterally independently of each other. The carriage assembly will have longitudinally supporting structure which provide sliding surfaces with V-groove channels for the said room chambers to slide laterally from retracted position to expanded position or vice versa. 
         [0016]    This brief summary, rather broadly, has been provided so that the nature of the invention may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of the invention can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof in connection with the attached drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The foregoing features and other features of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings of a preferred embodiment. In the drawings, the same components have the same reference numerals. The illustrated embodiment is intended to illustrate, but not to limit the invention. The drawings include the following figures: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a RV body structure comprise of a rigid enclosed body shell and a carriage assembly with wheels and floor structure support, and with two slide-out chambers in deployed positions; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of an embodiment of a longitudinally supporting structure which provides low friction sliding surfaces with V-groove channels for the slide-out chambers of the RV body assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the two slide-out chambers with the smaller chamber designed to fit inside a larger chamber; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4A  is a cross-sectional view of the RV body assembly of  FIG. 1  with two slide-out chambers in expanded positions; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional view of the RV body assembly of  FIG. 1  with two slide-out chambers in retracted positions; 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a general perspective view of the body chambers of the RV&#39;s body assembly of  FIG. 1 , showing the slide-out chambers&#39; slanted rigid roof details according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 6  is a general perspective view of the body chambers interior floor plan of the RV&#39;s body assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 7  is a general perspective view of the larger body chambers interior floor plan of the RV&#39;s body assembly of  FIG. 1  having subdivided into two or more rooms; having two partitioning walls with space in between in one chamber, having sufficient clearance the other chamber with a single partitioning wall, to slide into in the retracted position for structure rigidity re-enforcement, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but the detailed description is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0027]      FIG. 1  illustrates one embodiment of a RV&#39;s body structure  100  comprising of a rigid body shell  102  and a carriage assembly  110  with two slide-out chambers  104  and  106  in deployed positions. The body structure  100  may be part of a motorized RV or a towable trailers. The carriage assembly  110  attached to a plurality of wheels  112  so as to permit rolling movement of the motorized RV or a towable trailer.  FIG. 1  further illustrates a rigid body shell  102  that is mounted above carriage assembly  110  having the main roof, front and rear walls, with openings on the side walls to accommodate two slide-out chambers  104  and  106 . The slide-out chambers  104  and  106  are supported by the carriage assembly  110 &#39;s plurality of supporting floor structure members  114 . Furthermore, the slide-out chambers  104  and  106  are coupled to the carriage assembly  110  by plurality of either electrically, or hydraulically, or electro-mechanically operated control arms  124  in order to move the said chambers laterally relative to the supporting carriage assembly  110 . In this way, the slide-out chambers  104  and  106  can be extended or retracted independent of each other&#39;s. In the preferred embodiment, the exterior wall of slide-out chambers  104  and  106  having at least one entry door  108  (entry door for slide-out chamber  106  is not shown). In another preferred embodiment, for motorized RV, the front wall of slide-out chambers  104  and  106  having at least one cut out opening  120  and  122  respectively to facilitate slide-out access from the front driving cab area. The slide-out chambers  104  and  106  may either be placed in the extended position independently so as to effectively increase the desired living space of RV body structure  100 . In the extended position, the slide-out chambers  104  and  106  extend laterally in a telescopically manner. In the retracted position, the slide-out chambers  104  and  106  are telescopically received and nested with each other&#39;s. In one embodiment, not intended to be limiting, the slide-out chambers  104  and  106  are also supported by relatively low friction sliding surfaces with V-groove channels  116  and  118 . 
         [0028]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , not to be taken in a limiting sense, a detailed plan of the low friction sliding surface with V-groove channel guides providing support for the slide-out chambers. In  FIG. 2 , the low friction support member  200  having a low friction material  202  installed on the top surface where the contact between the support member  200  and the slide-out chamber  104  or  106  of  FIG. 1  is made while in extending or retracting operations. The bottom surface of chambers  104  and  106  of  FIG. 1  may include V-shape extrusion channels  204 . These channels will have mating indented V-groove channels or V-groove caster wheels support  206  on the low friction support member  200 . These mating V-groove channel guides will help to provide low friction sliding of slide-out chamber and will also help to prevent the slide-out chambers from extending and retracting in a lopsided manner. It will be appreciated that the low friction surfaces with V-groove channels illustrated herein is simply illustrative of one of a number of possible low friction surface layouts and that a number of variations of these low friction surfaces with channel guides can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The V-groove caster depicted in  FIG. 2  is a commercial product readily available for purchase in the U.S market place. 
         [0029]    We now refer to  FIG. 3  depicting the two slide-out chambers  104  and  106  of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  depicts the perspective view of each of the slide-out chambers  104  and  106  of  FIG. 1  separately. In  FIG. 3 , the slide-out chamber  104  is a smaller chamber having a half-width slanted roof  318 , floor  320 , one rear side wall  302 , one forward side wall  304 , one outside sidewall  332  having at least one entry door  306  and step ladder  328 , and at least one inside entry door  310  on a partitioning wall  330 . In one embodiment, slide-out chamber  104  may have at least one wall cutout  308  in order to provide access to front driving cab area of a motorized RV. In another embodiment, the slide-out chamber  104  rests on a longitudinally installed low friction sliding surface  116  of  FIG. 1 . In the extended mode, slide-out chamber  104  will only extend telescopically as much as the half-width slanted roof  318  can still provide cover. It can be appreciated that since the slide-out chamber  104  will only extend about half the width of the slide-out chamber, the remaining half of the chamber  104  will act as counter-weight to the extruded half of the slide-out chamber  104 . In the retracted mode, slide-out chamber  104  will retract until the outside sidewall  322  is flush with the sidewall of the RV&#39;s body  102  of  FIG. 1 . The floor  320  of slide-out chamber  104  will glide on top of the floor  322  of slide-out chamber  106  in the retracted position. 
         [0030]    As also in  FIG. 3 , the slide-out chamber  106  is a larger volume chamber having a half-width slanted rigid roof  316 , floor  322 , one rear side wall  300 , one forward side wall  326 , and one outside sidewall  334  having at least one entry door  314  with step ladder not shown. In one embodiment, slide-out chamber  106  may have at least one wall cutout  312  in order to provide access to front driving cab area of a motorized RV. In one embodiment, the slide-out chamber  106  rests on a longitudinally installed low friction sliding surface  118  of  FIG. 1 . In the extended mode, slide-out chamber  106  will only extend telescopically as much as half-width slanted roof  316  can still provide cover. It can be appreciated that since the slide-out chamber  106  will only extend about half the width of the slide-out chamber, the remaining half of the chamber  106  will act as counter-weight to the extruded half of the slide-out chamber  106 . In the retracted mode, slide-out chamber  106  will retract until the outside sidewall  334  is flush with the sidewall of the RV&#39;s body  102  of FIG.  1 . The floor  322  of slide-out chamber  106  will slide underneath of the floor  320  of slide-out chamber  104  in the retracted position. 
         [0031]    As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , it will be appreciated that even when both slide-out chambers  104  and  106  are in fully retracted positions, the slide-out chamber  104  will only occupy most of the floor space of slide-out chamber  106  leaving a space gap  324  which will be used to provide raised floor space to install kitchen appliances in a cantilevered manner or to be used for foldable living room furniture storage. 
         [0032]    Reference will now be made to  FIGS. 4A and 4B  which provide a detailed cross sectional view of a RV&#39;s body assembly  100  of  FIG. 1  in expanded mode and retracted mode, respectively. In particular,  FIG. 4A  illustrates the RV body assembly  100  with slide-out chambers  104  and  106  fully extended. As illustrated in  FIG. 4A , the raised platform  400   a  is used to install kitchen appliances off the floor so that not to interfere with floor  320  in the fully retracted position as illustrated in  FIG. 4B . Moreover, as illustrated in  FIG. 4A , the furniture  402   a , overhead cabinets  406   a , and kitchen appliances  404   a  are strategically positioned along the outer vertical walls of slide-out chamber  104  and  106  so that they will not interfere with each other as illustrated in  FIG. 4B  while in fully retracted position. Furthermore, as illustrated in  FIG. 4B , when slide-out chamber  104  and  106  are in fully retracted mode, the cantilevered kitchen appliances  404   a  are allowed to occupy unused living space of slide-out chamber  104 . As illustrated in  FIG. 4A , it can be appreciated that when slide-out chamber  106  is fully extended, the floor member  408   a  can be optionally raised electrically or hydraulically to provide a flat floor throughout the RV. 
         [0033]    We now refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  illustrates one aspect of the present invention of a rigid slanted roof design instead of a flat roof requiring roll-able canvas awning to be attached on the outside of the RV body above of the slide-out unit which is typical of slide-out design on today&#39;s many RV&#39;s.  FIG. 5  illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention of a trailer RV having body structure  100  and body shell  102  mounted on a carriage assembly  110 . The trailer RV body structure has two slide-out chambers  104  and  106  with a half-width rigid slanted roof  318  and  316  respectively. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the roof  316  and  318  are slanting downward having plurality of raised channels  506  and  504 , respectively, to facilitate rapid and uniform water run-off properties along the longitudinal edges of the slide-out chambers&#39; roofs  316  and  318 . Attached to the body shell  102  above the roof  316  and  318  are spring loaded flaps  502  (mostly hidden from view) and flap  500  respectively. In the extended mode of slide-out chamber  104 , the roof  318  will push against the flap  500  causing the flap to rest above the roof as to prevent rain water from blowing into to top spacing between the slide-out chambers&#39; roofs and the RV&#39;s top side wall opening. As the slide-out chamber  104  retracts, the spring loaded action of the flap  500  causes the flap  500  to close down as the slide-out room chamber  104  retracts. At the fully retracted mode of slide-out room chamber  104 , the flap  500  is fully closed flush with the side wall of RV body  102 . Similar actions happen as with slide-out chamber  106 , roof  316 , and flap  502 . 
         [0034]    With reference to  FIG. 6 , not to be taken in a limiting sense, a detailed plan of the interior living spaces for slide-out chambers  104  and  106  are provided. As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the interior living space of slide-out chamber  104  consists of often needed facilities such as bedroom and bathroom facilities. Slide-out chamber  104  retains its original rectangular shape even in a fully retracted mode. It has bedroom furniture such as bed  600 , drawer cabinets  602 , and bathroom facilities such as a toilet (not shown), a wash basin (not shown), shower stall  604 , etc. . . . . Slide-out chamber  104  has its own entry door  306  to facilitate entry and exit from the outside, and make use of wall partition  608  with sliding door for personal privacy while the bathroom is being occupied. It will be appreciated that in many instances, it would be highly desirable to have the bedroom and bathroom facilities available for a quick stopover even when the RV is configured for travelling mode. 
         [0035]    As is further shown in  FIG. 6 , the interior living space of slide-out chamber  106  consists of additional living space and a kitchen facility for cooking with cooking appliances  610 , installed in cantilevered manner, and range hood  612  installed above. Also illustrated in  FIG. 6 , slide-out chamber  106  make use of permanently installed folding furniture  614  that can be easily opened for use and be folded in-place prior to retracting slide-out chamber  106 . Furthermore, while slide-out chamber  106  is in the extended mode, kitchen furniture  606  consisting of pantry cabinets, kitchen sink and faucet, microwave oven, refrigerator, etc. . . . will be available for use. It will be appreciated that because slide-out chamber  106  can be extended and retracted independently of slide-out chamber  104 , slide-out chamber  106  can be extended by itself just enough so that quick access to kitchen appliances such as microwave and refrigerator can be accomplished with ease. When slide-out chamber  106  is in retracted mode, folding furniture  614  will occupy yet remaining open space  324  of slide-out chamber  106 . With the door of bedroom wall  616  having a sliding door stowed away (opened), the cantilevered kitchen appliance  610  will occupy the empty space next to kitchen furniture  606 . 
         [0036]    In yet another embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 7  illustrates a much larger RV body where slide-out chamber  104  and  106  of  FIG. 1  can be divided into multiple rooms. As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , for structure rigidity considerations, slide-out chamber  104  will have two partitioning walls  700  and  702  with space in between with enough clearance for the slide-out chamber  106  having a single partitioning wall  704 . The partitioning wall  704  may have entry door  706  to facilitate access between rooms. When the slide-out  104  and  106  are in the retracted mode, the sing partitioning wall  704  of slide-out chamber  106  slides in between partitioning wall  700  and  702  of slide-out chamber  104 . It will be appreciated that the arrangement of double partitioning wall in slide-out chamber  104  and single partitioning wall in slide-out chamber  106  illustrated herein is simply illustrative of one of a number of possible arrangements and that a number of variations of these arrangements can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. 
         [0037]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, these embodiments are illustrative only and not limiting. Many other applications and embodiments of the present invention will be apparent in light of this disclosure and the following claims.