Title: Development of joint technology of bus body structures

Authors: T. Mogi, K. Sugiura

Addresses: Manager, First Design Section, Design Department, Isesaki Manufacturing Division, Fuji Heavy Industries Limited, Isesaki-shi, Japan. ' R & D Section, Design Department, Isesaki Manufacturing Division, Fuji Heavy Industries Limited, Isesaki-shi, Japan

Abstract: The body styling of Japanese buses is changing significantly these days. As one background factor of this change, the fact that the demand for cleaner bus body exteriors has increased, with the development of joint technology. Sightseeing buses/coaches are becoming more spacious, safer, easier to maintain, and above all, more luxurious year by year. City/intercity buses were forced to change their bodies to more pleasing designs to catch up in the race with passenger cars and to regain the passengers they had lost. Recently there have been some changes in the methods by which elements of bus body structures are joined together. One such change has been to hide or remove connecting rivet heads from the body surfaces in step with developments in the welding and bonding fields. The result is bodies that look cleaner and more attractive. In this article we present an outline of the methods of joining and their development paths in Japanese and foreign bus bodies with some examples.

Keywords: bus body structures; frameless structures; joint technology; modular construction; rivet bonding; rivetless construction; vehicle design; buses.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.1984.061117

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 1984 Vol.5 No.6, pp.672 - 692

Published online: 25 May 2014 *

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