Vehicle, upper unit and non-transitory storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11673608-B2
Application number	US-202017090354-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2020
Priority date	Nov 6, 2019
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

A vehicle comprises an under unit which is equipped with a driving mechanism configured to rotate wheels of the vehicle, and an upper unit which is mounted on the under unit. The upper unit comprises an extension/contraction mechanism which is configured to extend or contract the upper unit according to a size of the under unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
an under unit comprising a driving mechanism configured to cause wheels to rotate; and
an upper unit being mounted on the under unit and comprising an extension/contraction mechanism configured to extend or contract the upper unit according to a size of the under unit,
wherein the upper unit comprises:
a driving device configured to cause the extension/contraction mechanism to be driven; and,
a controller configured to acquire a size of the under unit and to control the driving device based on the size,
wherein the controller decides a height of the upper unit configured to extend or contract by the extension/contraction mechanism, according to the size of the under unit.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the extension/contraction mechanism is a casing, a plurality of members of the extension/contraction mechanism divided in a length direction, a width direction or a height direction being in a nested structure.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the upper unit comprises an interior part that is foldable according to extension/contraction of the extension/contraction mechanism.

4. An upper unit mounted on an under unit which is equipped with a driving mechanism configured to rotate wheels of a vehicle, the upper unit comprising:
an extension/contraction mechanism configured to extend or contract the upper unit according to a size of the under unit;
a driving device configured to cause the extension/contraction mechanism of the upper unit to be driven; and,
a controller configured to acquire a size of the under unit and control the driving device based on the size,
wherein the controller decides a height of the upper unit configured to extend or contract by the extension/contraction mechanism, according to the size of the under unit.

5. The upper unit according to claim 4 , wherein the extension/contraction mechanism is a casing, a plurality of members of the extension/contraction mechanism divided in a length direction, a width direction or a height direction being in a nested structure.

6. The upper unit according to claim 4 , comprising an interior part that is foldable according to extension/contraction of the extension/contraction mechanism.

7. A non-transitory storage medium stored with a program configured to cause a processor to execute steps of:
acquiring a size of an under unit equipped with a driving mechanism configured to rotate wheels of a vehicle; and
controlling an extension/contraction mechanism based on the size of the under unit, the extension/contraction mechanism being configured to cause an upper unit that is to be mounted on the under unit to extend or contract,
wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to determine whether the upper unit can be attached to the under unit or not based on an extension/contraction range of the upper unit and the size of the upper unit.

8. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 7 , wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to output information about an error when the upper unit cannot be attached to the under unit.

9. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 7 , wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to unfold an interior part provided in the upper unit when causing the upper unit to extend from a stored state to a used state.

10. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 9 , wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to unfold the interior part based on setting information set by a user.

11. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 7 , wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to fold an interior part provided in the upper unit when causing the upper unit to contract from a used state to a stored state.

12. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 7 , wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to decide a height of the upper unit configured to be extended or contracted by the extension/contraction mechanism, according to the size of the under unit.

13. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 12 , wherein the program is configured to cause the processor to decide the height based on attribute information about the vehicle in addition to the size of the under unit.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yabushita Hiroki
• Kondo Keiichi
• Takahashi Kaori
• Xin Jin
• Mizushima Daisuke
• Ando Satoru
• Murakami Takeshi
• Yamanouchi Yuchi
• Miyahara Kenta
• Sawahira So
• Mukai Rina

Classifications

• B62D33/04 Primary

  Enclosed load compartments {; Frameworks for movable panels, tarpaulins or side curtains (side curtains per se B60J5/065; tarpaulins per se B60J7/00, B60P7/04)} · CPC title

• B60N2/3011

  the back-rest being hinged on the cushion, e.g. "portefeuille movement" · CPC title

• B62D39/00

  Vehicle bodies not otherwise provided for {, e.g. safety vehicles (safety equipment B60R21/00)} · CPC title

• B62D47/003

  convertible in order to modify the number of seats (foldable compact cars B62D31/006; convertible from one use to a different one B60P3/42) · CPC title

• B62D25/20

  Floors or bottom sub-units {(sub-frames for mounting engine or suspensions B62D21/11; drip trays F16N31/006)} · CPC title