Case Study
Commercial Truck
Sleeper Bunk
Commercial Vehicle bunk systems
Overview:
Commercial Trucking operators are required to take a rest period of 15 minutes for every 3 hours of driving. On long-haul team sleeper cabin configurations, there can be the option to have a two bunk system, lower and upper.
The upper bunk is not a popular item. In many cases it simply become a storage shelf or even removed because of its unnecessary added weigh to the vehicle. accessory. When it is a desired item whether it's included with the original purchase of the vehicle or bought as an accessory, the overall cost and weight are the determining factors.
Problem:
As standard equipment or an accessory, the cost of upper bunk turned off customers.
Goal: My focus is on the customer point of view coupled with market research, employing new manufacturing techniques and evaluating material choices.
Results:
After several unique design iterations, I focused on re-purposing existing components used elsewhere on the vehicle in order to reduce extra tooling and additional expense, the door frame was the perfect component for this application.
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Minimal tooling costs
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Manufacturing simplified
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Weight reduction of 5 pounds
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Cost reduction of 50%
Bunk system concept
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) evaluation of bunk concepts
Common Parts: Door frame used for bunk frame
3D Cad evaluation
Digital mock up
Full scale functional prototype