Patent Publication Number: US-2023150416-A1

Title: Reconfigurable Recreational Vehicle

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to recreational vehicles (“RVs”), such as travel trailers, toy haulers, fifth wheel trailers, motor homes, and the like, having at least living quarters therein, and as otherwise defined by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, information about which can be found on the Internet at www.rvia.org. 
     RVs are typically versatile vehicles which may be used for concurrently or separately hauling equipment, other vehicles, personal property, people, and animals. RVs are often used for camping and/or recreation, or as temporary living quarters for an extended period of time. As such, the removable contents of an RV can include camping equipment, other vehicles (such as gold carts, ATVs, race cars, dune buggies), chairs, tables, tents, bar-b-ques, small boats, ski and snowboard gear, etc. Because the utility of an RV can vary with the season, the hauling needs for the RV can vary annually. Because an RV can have a useful like extending over many years, the hauling needs for the RV can vary from year to year. Because an RV can be easily resold to other owners, the hauling needs for the RV can vary from owner to owner. Accordingly, it has been desirable for an RV to be to change its configuration in order to suit the needs of the user in a given situation. 
     For a variety of reasons, both structural and regulatory, RVs typically have a fixed exterior configuration when being moved along roads and highways. However, once the RV has been moved to the desired location of usage, its configuration can be altered, at least to some extent. Typically, this has been previously done by the use of full wall or partial wall “slide-outs,” a wall portion of the RV which selectively moves outward to expand the useable interior space of the RV. This is a reconfiguration of the RV along the horizontal plane, to expand the useable floor area of the RV. When the RV is prepared for moving to a different location, the slide-out is then contracted back into the RV. 
     However, there are limits, both economic, practical and regulatory, with respect to the use of slide-outs. For example, certain governmental and/or camp site regulations can confine the number and size of slide-outs available for a given RV type by requiring the RV to stay within a given “noon footprint”. Also, when camping, trees or other natural obstructions adjacent to the RV can limit the use of slide-outs as a practical matter. Further, slide-outs typically add substantially to the cost of manufacture and maintenance of an RV, and slide-outs are commonly the root cause of many RV warranty costs (due, for example, to rain leakage, misalignment of operating mechanisms, and the like). Further, slide-outs typically add substantially to the weight of an RV, either directly or indirectly, and thereby increase the fuel costs and vehicular requirements associated with moving the RV from location to location. 
     Other mechanisms have been used to attempt to increase RV versatility by reconfiguring the interior space without altering the noon footprint. For example, some RVs have been built with “pop-up” mechanisms which raise all or part of the roof structure of an RV. This is reconfiguration of the RV along the vertical plane, to expand the interior vertical height or ceiling of the RV. Such structures can, in effect, add a second floor for bunks, or a loft, or render otherwise unusable space useable for standing, seating, and/or sleeping. Pop-ups can, to some degree, improve fuel economy for towing vehicle by lowering the RV drag or wind resistance, particularly during higher speed travel along highways. However, pop-ups do not typically add floor area to the vehicle for hauling or storing equipment. Further, pop-ups typically are expensive to manufacture and maintain, and can be more susceptible a wide range of warranty costs, and can add significantly to the weight of an RV (thus, negating fuel economy gains from drag reduction). 
     It has also been suggested to use “slide-back” mechanisms to reconfigure the RV by altering its floor plan at the site of usage. Examples of these are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,864,206 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/507,528. Such arrangements can be especially helpful in toy hauler design, where the travel trailer or motor home type of RV includes a rearward “garage” for hauling or storing another, secondary vehicle, such as an ATV or sandrail. Once at the desired location, a ramp door on the RV is lowered, and the secondary vehicle is driven out for independent operation. The garage portion of the RV, now being emptied, is not needed for the same purpose and would be “wasted space” within the RV. Accordingly, slide-back RV designs have a moveable wall that slides along a fixed track into the garage, coincident with the longitudinal axis of the RV, to shrink the floor area of the garage, and concurrently expand the floor area of a living room adjacent to the garage. This can be especially suitable where a vapor barrier needs to be established between the garage and the living quarters of the RV, for example, to restrict penetration of fuel fumes from the garage room into the kitchen or sleeping areas of the RV. It can also be helpful to have a rigid wall between the garage room of an RV and the sleeping or living areas of the RV to increase personal security and privacy during RV use, especially where multiple persons are using the RV for different purposes at the same time. However, slide-back mechanisms can be relatively expensive and add to the overall weight of the RV, with at least some of the attendant disadvantages of such. Further, slide-back mechanisms reconfigure the RV floor plan by permitting alternative selections of opposing use along the horizontal plane of the RV. They do not focus on concurrent use alternatives within that plane, and do not address the prospect of translating cross-planar potential functionality (such as, space defined in then vertical plane) into horizontal plane functionality. 
     It has been suggested to provide additional, alternative uses for a RV garage, by forming a portion of the garage ceiling as the bed platform in an adjacent living quarters, and then moving the ceiling upward when the bed is not being used or used to its full extent. This is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 10,046,690. However, that type of RV reconfiguration again focuses on alternative selections of opposing use, rather maintaining a form of concurrent use. Further, elevating the bed platform in that manner can preclude affirmative separation between the two adjacent rooms, leaving no fixed wall in place or vapor barrier. Moreover, since only a portion of the ceiling is moved, the full useable floor area of the garage does not benefit from the reconfiguration of the RV. Further, the operational mechanisms needed for such partial reconfiguration arrangements can be readily apparent by the using and can significantly detract from the aesthetic appeal of the RV. Further, any such exposed lift mechanisms can be a safety concern with respect to user interface. 
     Objectives of the Invention 
     Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide improved floor plans for reconfigurable RVs. These improvements include providing such arrangements which:
         a. are inexpensive to make,   b. increase the floor plan optimization,   c. maintain adequate user safety,   d. minimize component weight,   e. increase storage areas and accessibility thereto,   f. increase feature accessibility and user comfort, and   g. increase the aesthetic appeal of the RV.       

     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These and other objectives of the present invention are achieved by the provision of a reconfigurable RV having a multi-section wall separating a living quarters and a garage, that wall being vertically adjustable by elevation of the living quarters floor to selectively move between multiple modes of use, including full down, loft, and full up. The vertical adjustment of the wall permits changes in the usable area of the garage floor, according to the ceiling height needed in the garage and living quarters concurrently. 
     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following drawings and detailed description of certain preferred and alternative embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a right side schematic view of a RV according to the teachings of the present invention, with the living quarters floor just lifted from the full down position. 
         FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional, right side plan view of the interior of a RV according to the teachings of the present invention, with the living quarters floor in the full down position. 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-section end view along line  2 - 2  of  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional, right side plan view of the interior of the RV of  FIG.  2   , with the living quarters floor lifted to the loft mode 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional view along line  4 - 4  of  FIG.  4   . 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional, right side plan view of the interior of the RV of  FIG.  2   , with the living quarters lifted to the full up position. 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional view along line  6 - 6  of  FIG.  6   . 
         FIG.  8    is a cross-sectional, left side solid body view of a RV according to the teachings of the present invention, with the living quarters floor in the full down position. 
         FIG.  9    is a cross-sectional, left side solid body view of the RV of  FIG.  8   , with the living quarters floor lifted to the loft position. 
         FIG.  10    is a cross-sectional, left side solid body view of the RV of  FIG.  8   , with the living quarters in the full up position. 
         FIG.  11    is a photographic view from the left rear of the garage looking forward to the right side of the RV, of a RV incorporating the present invention, with the living quarters in the full down position. 
         FIG.  12    is an enlarged photographic of a portion of  FIG.  11   , showing the sliding track used by the middle section of the multi-section wall. 
         FIG.  13    is a photographic view from the right side of the living quarters looking rearward to the left side of the RV, of the RV of  FIG.  11   , with the living quarters in the full down position and the sofa/bed frame in the raised, sofa position. 
         FIG.  14    is a photographic view corresponding to  FIG.  13   , with the sofa/bed frame in the lowered, bed position. 
         FIG.  15    is a photographic view corresponding to  FIG.  13   , with the living quarters floor raised to the loft position. 
         FIG.  16    is a photographic view corresponding to  FIG.  13   , with the living quarters raised to the full up position. 
         FIG.  17    is a photographic view from the left rear of the garage looking forward to the right side of the RV, with the living quarters floor in the position of  FIG.  16   , and the forward curtain removed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The figures show schematically, and in a best mode version, embodiments of the present invention, as applied to a toy hauler RV, both generically and specifically. The drawings are not to precisely scale from one view to the next. 
     The following features are illustrated in the drawings by these numerals:
           10 . toy hauler type RV     12 . RV wheel     14 . RV towing hitch     16 . Ramp door for opening and closing the garage entrance     18 . Ramp door hinge connection     20 . Garage area or room of the RV     22 . Living quarters, such as a bedroom, adjacent to the garage area     24 . Additional living quarters, such as a bathroom, living room, kitchen     26 . Storage area under the living quarters     28 . Additional storage area under the additional living quarters     30 . Storage cabinet     32 . Bedroom cabinet     34 . Partition with access door     40 . Multi-section wall, preferably with each section being rigid     42 . Floor of the garage     44 . Floor of the living quarters, elevated above the floor of the garage     46 . Floor of the additional living quarters     48 . Subfloor under the living quarters     50 . Subfloor under the additional living quarters     52 . Wall between the living quarters and the additional living quarters     54 . Lifting apparatus for moving the living quarters floor up and down, preferably conventional in construction, such as from a pop-up tent camper roof lift apparatus     56 . Control mechanism for lifting apparatus (preferably user actuatable), having conventional mechanism for sensing if the sofa/bed arrangement  74  is not fully down, and preventing operation of lifting apparatus  54  if that condition is sensed     58 . Lower section of wall  40 , preferably fixed to floor  44       60 . Middle section of wall  40       62 . Upper section of wall  40 , preferably fixed with respect to ceiling  64       64 . Ceiling  64       66 . Ledge for engaging middle section  60  when lifting     68 . Ledge for engaging middle section  60  to stop downward movement of that section under influence of gravity     70 . Stop ledge for resting on ledge  68  to support middle section  60  against downward movement     72 . Sliding track for retaining middle section  60  in proper placement during movement     74 . Selectively moveable sofa/bed arrangement, including frame     76 . Self-rolling curtain (preferably roller shade type, and being selectively removable by the user), extending across the floor width, for separating the living quarters from the additional living quarters when the living quarters is raised above the full down position.       

     Although the present invention has been shown and described herein with respect to certain preferred embodiments and alternative configurations, those were by way of illustration and example only. For example, while only three positions are shown for floor  44 , the control mechanism  56  can allow the user to position the floor at any desired intermediate position, to allow as little or as much headroom in the loft mode as the user prefers. Further, while in the preferred embodiments, gravity will exert sufficient biasing force to allows section  60  to slide down into place, in other preferred embodiments, a spring biasing element can be mounted into sliding track  72  to urge section  60  downward. Also, while the wall  40  has been illustrated with only three sections, in other embodiments, additional or less sections can be used. In addition, while a forward access door has been described as part of partition  34 , exterior access doors on each side of the RV can be disposed to give access to subfloor  48  at all times. 
     Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is intended to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims.