The present invention relates to a bus with chassis and a structure, fastened thereto, enclosing the passenger area; the sidewalls of this structure above the vehicle bottom have a longitudinal carrier section, interrupted only by door cutouts, which connects to columns.
For some time, in bus construction a skeleton construction welded from columns and beams has been used. This skeleton construction is then covered on both sides, i.e., inside and outside, using sheet metal, and also light weight sheet metal which is riveted or bonded to the skeleton structure. With this type of construction, it is important that the skeleton be made to close tolerance, since it is the supporting element. The space between the outer skin and the inner skin is frequently filled with rock wool or other insulating means. If such busses of skeleton construction are involved in traffic accidents, frequently not only the outer shell is bent and distorted, but also the skeleton structure. The repair of such a bus is extremely time consuming and expensive because even with relatively light accidents, the affected skeleton portions must be replaced and restored with close tolerance. In addition, at least the outer shell must be reinstalled.
There also is known a bus construction where the skeleton structure is only used partially. The rigidity is determined by a large-size pressed aluminum box section in the form of a longitudinal girder which is interrupted only by the door cutouts, has double walls and is reinforced like a framework structure (truss). The roof columns and the door frames are welded into this longitudinal girder. At the lower end region of this large-scale longitudinal girder, via rubber hinges, hinged lids are located which are below the girth line of the bus, identified by a ram strip, and can be replaced with relative ease after accidents. With accidents where damage occurs above the ram strip in the area of the large-scale lengthwise girder section, repair of the bus is possible only with considerable effort and with relatively large expense since here--as with skeleton construction--also the supporting parts may be distorted and must be replaced. Because of this defect, the girth line with this known bus construction can only be set relatively high.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a bus whose construction is easily repaired and still has sufficient rigidity of structure. Also, the assembly time required for a structure is to be shortened by suitable design of the individual parts; this also applies to repairs and traffic accidents.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a bus construction of the foregoing character which may be produced at substantially low cost and which has a relatively long service life.