FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a three-wheeled vehicle and more
particularly to a three-wheeled vehicle equipped with a passenger door.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] The four wheelers have a better-reinforced side panels for safety reasons,
due to which it is possible to provide strong doors with hinge without requirement of any strength enhancement of the side panel. On the other hand, the side panel in a three-wheeled vehicle is not reinforced mainly due to two reasons, first being the cost and second is requirement. Since a three wheeled, vehicle does not attain a high speed as achieved by a four-wheeler and three-wheeler is used mainly for short commuting distances, such costly process of side panel reinforcement is avoided. Hence, the side panels in a typical three-wheeled vehicle are manufactured using only a thin sheet metal. Due to the above reasons, providing a passenger door in a three-wheeled vehicle becomes more challenging.
[0003] At present, there is no side door for passenger compartment in any of the
three-wheeled vehicles. Due to absence of a door and an empty space exposed on the vehicle chassis, there is always a risk of mud and water splashing inside the passenger compartment. In addition, the present three wheeled vehicles where passenger doors are absent are not safe as there is risk of persons or their belongings falling out of the vehicle. Hence, there is a need to provide a passenger door in a three-wheeled vehicle for safety of the passengers and their belongings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention proposes to obviate the problems and the limitations
associated with the existing three wheeled vehicles, namely to avoid the splashing of mud and water inside the passenger cabin, and to eliminate the risk of any passenger or their belongings falling out of the vehicle, when the vehicle is running, by providing a sliding door in the passenger cabin in the three wheeled vehicle. The passenger door as described herein can be installed in the passenger cabin using the vehicle frame by using different methods. The different methods of installing a passenger door in the passenger cabin include a single rail mechanism, a double rail mechanism and a single supported sliding mechanism.
[0005] In a single rail mechanism, a rolling member is fastened to bottom portion
of passenger door. The rolling member is further inserted inside a rail mechanism. The rolling member can slide as well as roll inside grooves of the rail. When the rolling member rolls and slides inside grooves along the length of the rail, it carries, the passenger door with it and the passenger door can be closed or opened. The sliding passenger door as described in the current invention is will not hinder the passenger ingress and egress. In addition to that, a sliding door allows the three-wheeled vehicle to be parked in a lesser space during the passenger ingress and egress as the doors slide in the vehicle longitudinal direction and in open condition do not increase the vehicle width.
[0006] In a double rail mechanism, two rolling member are fastened to a
passenger door, one at top and the other at the bottom. Both the rolling members are further inserted inside two different rail mechanisms. The rolling member can slide as

well as roll inside grooves of the rail. When the rolling member rolls and slides inside grooves along the length of the rail, it carries, the passenger door with it and the passenger door can be closed or opened. The sliding passenger door as described herein provides a simple and cost effective method to protect the passengers and their belongings from falling out of the vehicle and to inhibit the problem like outside mud splash. The sliding passenger door as disclosed in the current invention is designed in such a way that, it will not hinder the passenger ingress and egress.
[0007] A single supported double rail mechanism involves an additional
supporting bracket on one of the lower or upper rails that helps in guiding the passenger door rolling and sliding within the rail grooves. This supporting bracket provides an additional support to keep the passenger doors up straight during rolling inside the rail grooves.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0008] Figure 1 illustrates a typical three-wheeler.
[0009] Figure 2 illustrates the passenger door mechanism for a three-wheeler
according to the first embodiment.
[00010] Figure 3 illustrates the exploded view of passenger door mechanism for a
three-wheeler according to the first embodiment.
[00011] Figure 4 illustrates the wheel runner.
[00012] Figure 5 illustrates the rail of the passenger door sliding mechanism.

[00013] Figure 6 illustrates the wheel runner on rail of the passenger door sliding
mechanism.
[00014] Figure 7 illustrates the passenger door mechanism with single supported
rail for a three-wheeler according to the first embodiment.
[00015] Figure 8 illustrates the exploded view of passenger door mechanism with
single supported rail for a three-wheeler according to the first embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[00016] The passenger door for a three-wheeled vehicle becomes necessary not
only to avoid the splashing of mud and water inside the passenger cabin but also to eliminate the risk of any passenger falling out of the vehicle. The current invention proposes a door for a three wheeled to avoid mud splash entering the passenger cabin and to avoid any passenger or their belongings falling out. The invention describes a sliding passenger door that will not hinder the passenger ingress and egress. The described sliding door can be installed in the passenger cabin using the vehicle frame by different methods. The different methods of installing the sliding door in the three wheeled vehicle described herein include a single rail mechanism, a double rail mechanism and single supported sliding mechanism.
[00017] In a single rail mechanism, a rolling member is fastened to bottom portion
of passenger door. The rolling member is further inserted inside a rail mechanism. The rolling member can slide as well as roll inside grooves of the rail. .When the rolling member rolls and slides inside, grooves along the length of the rail, it carries, the

passenger door with it and the passenger door can be closed or opened. The sliding passenger door as described in the current invention is will not hinder the passenger ingress and egress. In addition to that, a sliding door allows the three-wheeled vehicle to be parked in a lesser space during the passenger ingress and egress as the doors slide in the vehicle longitudinal direction and in open condition do not increase the vehicle width.
[00018] In a double rail mechanism, two rolling'-member are fastened to a
passenger door, one at top and the other at the bottom. Both the rolling members are further inserted inside two different rail mechanisms. The rolling member can slide as well as roll inside grooves of the rail. When the rolling member rolls and slides inside grooves along the length of the rail, it carries, the passenger door with it and the passenger door can be closed or opened. The sliding passenger door as described herein provides a simple and cost effective method to protect the passengers and their belongings from falling out of the vehicle and to inhibit the problem like outside mud splash. The sliding passenger door as disclosed in the current invention is designed in such a way that, it will not hinder the passenger ingress and egress.
[00019] A single supported double rail mechanism involves an additional
supporting bracket on one of the lower or upper rails that helps in guiding the passenger door rolling and sliding within the rail grooves. This supporting bracket provides an additional support to keep the passenger doors up straight during rolling inside the rail grooves.
[00020] Figure 1 illustrates front wheel 1, rear wheel 2, driver seat 3, chassis 4, b pillar 5, passenger cabin space side panel 6, and passenger seat 8. The doors proposed in

the current invention.are located in-between the B pillar 5 and passenger cabin space side panel 6. The door as disclosed in the current invention can be a sliding door, with sliding ability on a single rail or a pair of rails. The side panel 6 is made up of a sheet metal. B pillar 5 is rigidly joined to the chassis 4 and is spread across the transversal width of the vehicle. Furthermore, in doors with sliding capability on two rails, one rail is external rail and other rail is internal rail. In such sliding doors, the second rail can be mounted either to lower portion or to the upper portion of the passenger cabin space side panel 6. The B pillar 5 separates the driver side and the passenger side.
[00021] According to the first embodiment of the current invention, Figure 2
illustrates the B pillar 5, passenger cabin space, side panel 6 and passenger door 20. The passenger door 20 is installed between the B pillar 5 and an edge of the side panel adjacent to the passenger seat.
[00022] Figure 3 illustrates the exploded view of installed passenger door 20.
Figure 3 further shows the B pillar 5, passenger cabin space side panel 6, and passenger door 20, support bracket for door 31, first wheel runner 32, second wheel runner 33, rail 34 with lower rail 34A and upper rail 34B and wheel runner supporting bracket 35. The rail 34 (A, B) as further shown in Figure 5 has a groove 51 in which the roller 33 can slide and roll. The roller 33 is equipped with two roller slots 43 to which the passenger door 20 is fastened. The setup of roller 33 and the passenger door 20 allows the roller wheels 36 to be inside the rail groove 51 and the passenger door 20 rests on a flat portion 45. In this embodiment, the passenger door 20 rests in-between the lower rail 34A and upper rail 34B on the first wheel runner 32 and wheel runner 33. The first wheel runner

32 rests inside groove of lower rail 34A. Similarly, the second wheel runner 33 rests inside groove of upper rail 34B. The mechanism of rollers to accommodate the passenger door 20 is explained further in Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6.
[00023] Figure 4 illustrates wheel runner 33, roller wheels 36, door pan 41, roller
spacer 42 and roller slots 43. The passenger door 20 is. rigidly fastened to the door-supporting bracket (31, 80) which is further fastened to the wheel runner 33 through roller slots 43. The roller wheels 36 runs on the rails 34. Since, the passenger door 20 is coupled to the wheel runner 33 through door supporting bracket (31, 80); the passenger door 20 also runs along with the roller wheels 36. The spacer 42 in wheel runner 33 functions to keep the door vertical and balance the passenger door 20 while sliding during door opening and door closing. For enhanced balancing of the passenger door during the opening and closing, a spacer 42 may be provided on both the sides of the roller 33.
[00024] Figure 5 illustrates rail 34 and rail groove 51. The roller wheels 36 of the
wheel runner 33 reside and rolls on the flat portion 51 of the rail groove. The rail groove 51 is mounted substantially horizontal on the side panel, which also helps in auto removal of dust or mud, which is trapped inside the rail groove 51. The ends of the rail groove 51 are further provided with stopper mechanism (preferably a restriction) which brings the rollers and finally the passenger door to stop once the door has slid to the farthest end during the door opening.
[00025] Figure 6 illustrates the wheel runner 33, rail 34, rail groove 51 and door pan 41 with the wheel runner 33 installed inside the rail 34. The exploded view of this wheel runner 33 and rail 44 assemblies on the B pillar of the three-wheeled vehicle has

been clearly illustrated in Figure 3. The wheel runner-supporting bracket 35 supports the wheel runner 33 to remain inside the rail 34 when the wheel runner reaches to the extreme of the rail 34 during the sliding of the passenger door 20. In this disclosed first embodiment of the current invention, two rail members support the passenger door 20, one rail member on the lower portion of the passenger door 20 and another rail member at the upper portion of the passenger door 20.
[00026] In yet another, second embodiment of the current invention, Figure 7
illustrates a B pillar 5, passenger cabin space side panel 6, passenger door 20 and rail 70. In this second embodiment, the lower portion of the passenger door 20 is supported on a pair of rails 82, 83. The upper portion of the passenger door 20 is left free to be gripped by the user to apply force to slide the door.
[00027] Figure 8 illustrates passenger door 5, door supporting bracket 80, hinge
runners 80, wheel runners 81, outer rail 82 and inner rail 83. In this second embodiment of the current invention, the passenger door 20 is maintained vertical with respect to the rail member's inner rail 83 and outer rail 82 by the door-supporting bracket 80. In this embodiment, the wheel runner 81 supports the passenger door 20, which runs on the outer rail 82. The inner rail 83 acts as a door guide while the passenger door 20 is sliding in-between the B pillar (5) and passenger cabin space side panel (6).

We claim:
1. A passenger door for a three wheeled vehicle; the three wheeled vehicle . comprising comprising :
a B pillar (5) spread across vehicle width direction to separate the driver seat and passenger side area and to provide a vertical support for the covering member (7);
a passenger cabin space side panel (6) which covers the passenger from both the sides of the vehicle;
a wheel runner (33) with wheels (36) and roller slots 43 wherein the wheels 36 are capable of sliding and rolling;;
a door supporting bracket (31,80) with a top end portion and a bottom end portion wherein the top end portion is rigidly joined to the passenger door and the bottom end portion is rigidly joined to the wheel runner;
a door guide (83) to align the passenger door (20) while the passenger door (20) is opened or closed;
a lower rail member (34A), an upper rail member (34B) rigidly joined to a chassis (4) of the three wheeled vehicle substantially in-between the B pillar(5) and the passenger cabin space side panel (6);
a passenger door (20) supported vertically by the door supporting bracket (31,80);
wherein lower portion of the passenger door.(20) is rigidly joined to atleast one door supporting bracket (31, 80); and the door supporting bracket (31, 80) rigidly fastened to roller slots (43) of atleast one wheel runner (33) which further slides on atleast one of said rail member (34A, 34B) so that one end of the passenger door (20) slides in-between the B pillar (5) and the passenger cabin space side panel (6).

The passenger door (20) for three-wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein a rail groove (51) in the rail member (34A, 34B) is provided with stopper mechanism at the ends in form of restriction to stop the runner (33) beyond the rail grooves (51).
The passenger door (20) for three-wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein passenger door (20) is further provided a latch to hold the passenger door (20 in open or closed position.
The passenger door (20) with wheel runner (33) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the wheel runner (33) is further provided with a spacer (42) on either side of a door pan (41) to balance the passenger door (20).
The passenger door (20) with rail member (34A, 34B) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rail member (34A, 3B) are located substantially between the B pillar (5) and the side panel (6).