Abstract: A light duty vehicle includes a vehicle frame, including a pair of vehicle longitudinal beams connected to each other by a plurality of cross-members and a cabin frame, having a pair of cabin longitudinal beams rigidly connected to front ends of the vehicle longitudinal beams. A supporting structure for auxiliary units, such as gaseous fuel tanks or electric batteries, which is carried by the vehicle frame, and includes an auxiliary frame extending between the vehicle longitudinal beams and having connection plates arranged in vertical planes parallel to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle frame and which are in contact with mutually facing inner lateral walls of the vehicle longitudinal beams and are rigidly connected to these longitudinal beams. The auxiliary frame fulfills a structural function equivalent to the structural function of one or more cross-members at an area of the vehicle frame where the cross-members are omitted.

Abstract: A motor-vehicle structure includes an underbody portion of sheet-metal defining an aperture with within there is mounted a floor portion of plastic material or composite material, for housing a spare wheel or other component of a vehicle, such as an electric or electronic component and/or for example a unit for accumulating electric energy. To said floor portion of plastic material or composite material there is associated a holding element having at least a first part anchored to the underbody portion of sheet-metal and at least a second part which can be anchored to said spare wheel or said other component, so that in case of an accident, said holding element prevents said spare wheel or said other component from being projected far away from the underbody structure, by constraining it instead to remain within a distance corresponding to one dimension of said holding element.

Abstract: A motor-vehicle structure includes an underbody portion of sheet-metal defining an aperture with within there is mounted a floor portion of plastic material or composite material, for housing a spare wheel or other component of a vehicle, such as an electric or electronic component and/or for example a unit for accumulating electric energy. To said floor portion of plastic material or composite material there is associated a holding element having at least a first part anchored to the underbody portion of sheet-metal and at least a second part which can be anchored to said spare wheel or said other component, so that in case of an accident, said holding element prevents said spare wheel or said other component from being projected far away from the underbody structure, by constraining it instead to remain within a distance corresponding to one dimension of said holding element.

Abstract: An industrial vehicle, in particular a trailer or semi-trailer, comprises on its two sides two side-impact guard devices each comprising at least one bar extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and connected to the frame of the vehicle. Set between the bars of the two side-impact guard devices is a housing structure for one or more spare wheels, in such a way that said housing structure and the spare wheel or wheels housed therein contribute, together with the aforesaid bars, to absorbing the energy of a lateral impact.

Abstract: An industrial vehicle, in particular a trailer or semi-trailer, comprises on its two sides two side-impact guard devices each comprising at least one bar extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and connected to the frame of the vehicle. Set between the bars of the two side-impact guard devices is a housing structure for one or more spare wheels, in such a way that said housing structure and the spare wheel or wheels housed therein contribute, together with the aforesaid bars, to absorbing the energy of a lateral impact.

Abstract: A safety barrier for road use comprises a barrier element (5) which can be displaced between an operative position, above the road surface, and an inoperative position, in which it does not substantially project above the road surface. Preferably provided is a number of sets of aligned barrier elements, rigidly connected to one another, the adjacent sets being connected together by articulated connecting structures (18) which enable one set of barrier elements (5) to be displaced between its inoperative position and its operative position without modifying the positions of the adjacent sets. In this way, one or more stretches of the barrier can be brought into the inoperative condition, leaving the adjacent stretches of barrier in the normal operative condition. The invention is particularly, although not exclusively, suited for the construction of traffic-divider barriers in road tunnels where it is necessary to eliminate the barrier rapidly in the event of an accident occurring.

Abstract: A safety barrier for road use comprises a barrier element which can be displaced between an operative position, above the road surface, and an inoperative position, in which it does not substantially project above the road surface. Preferably provided is a number of sets of aligned barrier elements, rigidly connected to one another, the adjacent sets being connected together by articulated connecting structures which enable one set of barrier elements to be displaced between its inoperative position and its operative position without modifying the positions of the adjacent sets. In this way, one or more stretches of the barrier can be brought into the inoperative condition, leaving the adjacent stretches of barrier in the normal operative condition.