EP0465427B1 - Body structure for railway vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The coach body construction comprises an upper structure having extruded profiles, which are connected detachably to one another by corner connectors and are made of an aluminum alloy, and a lower structure. The lower structure is composed of longitudinal and transverse supports which are made of an extruded aluminum alloy and are detachably connected to one another and to the upper structure by corner connectors. In interaction with the upper structure, it is of inherently sturdy construction. The corner connectors are, in particular, screw-on corner connectors.

Description

The invention relates to a body structure for rail vehicles, which comprise a superstructure with extruded profiles made of an aluminum alloy that are detachably connected to one another by mechanical means, and a substructure.

It is known and customary to design the substructure of a car body for rail vehicles as a welded steel structure with longitudinal and cross members and to fasten it to a superstructure made of posts, upper straps and, if necessary, roof bows with screw connections. Although the substructure made of a welded steel structure is self-supporting, part of the stability of the body structure can be taken over by a rigid superstructure. Such a body structure for road and rail vehicles can be found, for example, in EP-A-0031306.

EP-A-0186625 describes a chassis for road vehicles, in particular made of an aluminum alloy, with longitudinal and cross-members extending through them and an outer frame for receiving floor planks running in the longitudinal direction. The profiles are screwed together with elbows. The chassis must be self-supporting as such, otherwise it could not be used as a loading bridge for road vehicles. However, this solution, which was designed for a chassis for road vehicles, cannot be transferred to the construction of rail vehicles because there are different conditions and different requirements.

The present invention has for its object to provide a car body structure for rail vehicles of the type mentioned, which achieves the stability required for rail vehicles with little effort has a low weight and is easy to repair.

The object is achieved according to the invention in that the substructure consists of longitudinal and cross members detachably connected to one another and to the superstructure by mechanical means, made of an extruded aluminum alloy, which substructure is inherently stable in cooperation with the superstructure. Special embodiments and further training are the subject of dependent claims.

The mechanical means for the profile connection are preferably screwable corner connectors with screw holes in both legs. With regard to further details of the corner connectors with clamping plates known per se, reference is made to DE-PS 2751753 and the Swiss patent applications No. 01246/90 and 02014/90.

With regard to the desired, as high as possible rigidity of the body structure with low profile cross sections, it has proven to be advantageous that the longitudinal members and at least partially the cross members of the substructure as well as the posts and upper chords of the superstructure have at least one undercut longitudinal groove on one side for receiving screw nuts , preferably rotatable clamping plates, or clamping clips with crossbars.

The above-mentioned, preferably spaced-apart longitudinal grooves are essentially formed by C-shaped profile approaches. According to a preferred variant, the corner pieces with clamping plates positioned in the longitudinal direction of the two legs can be inserted into the undercut grooves of the profiles to be connected and the screws screwed into the clamping plates can be tightened with a screwdriver, wrench or the like. The clamping plates rotate 45 ° and ensure a secure, stable connection after tightening the screws (DE-PS 2751753).

For the transmission of larger bending moments via the corner pieces with rotatable clamping plates, corner connectors consist of two mutually movable angle pieces, each of which has a groove on the side facing away from the complementary angle piece and a wedge surface on the opposite side. Both profiles have a second web parallel to the first web on both profile legs. These engage positively in the grooves of the elbows. The angle pieces are spread apart from each other by at least one wedge rail, which lies against the wedge surfaces and is tightened against the associated profile by screws (Swiss patent application No. 01246/90).

According to a second preferred variant, the corner connectors are fixed with clamping clips in the longitudinal grooves formed by C-profile approaches. The clamping brackets are inserted into the longitudinal groove using the screws. The strips of the C-profile lugs that delimit the opening of the longitudinal grooves each have a thickening on the inside. The clamping bracket has on both sides a longitudinal bulge which engages behind the thickenings and on both sides of the screw at least one cross bar which presses into the thickening of the relevant strip when the screw is tightened. This enables a large application of force in the longitudinal direction of the profile (Swiss patent application No. 02014/90).

With a car body structure for rail vehicles, which has a basic structure made of screwed aluminum profiles, not only the costs can be reduced, the flexibility is also higher because the modular design can be used and all mechanical connections can be released. The substructure only has to form a stable car body in cooperation with the superstructure.

With the body structure according to the invention, material and labor costs can be saved and - what because of the long Lifespan is particularly important - the operating costs are significantly reduced because a lower unladen weight can significantly reduce the drive power to be achieved when starting off.

The posts of the side walls and possibly also the bow of the roof are preferably formed in two parts and consist of extruded profiles made of an aluminum alloy which are connected to one another via at least two webs. The width of the connecting webs is matched to the lateral offset of the two relevant longitudinal grooves in the side longitudinal member and in the top flange.

The connecting webs consist of a material with high mechanical strength, in particular a plastic, such as Polyethylene or polypropylene. If no insulation properties are to be fulfilled, the connecting webs can also consist of an aluminum alloy.

The cavities of the extruded profiles, in particular the side posts, can be foamed, e.g. with a polystyrene foam. This can considerably reduce the annoying roar in railroad cars.

• Fig. 1 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Wagenkastens,
• Fig. 2 einen Teilquerschnitt entlang eines Pfostens durch den Wagenkasten von Fig. 1,
• Fig. 3 eine Ansicht in Richtung III von Fig. 2,
• Fig. 4 einen Querschnitt durch einen Pfosten längs der Linie IV-IV von Fig. 3, und
• Fig. 5 eine Ansicht und eine Seitenansicht eines Klemmplättchens des Eckverbinders.

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing. They show schematically:

• 1 is a perspective view of a car body,
• 2 shows a partial cross section along a post through the body of FIG. 1,
• 3 is a view in the direction III of FIG. 2,
• Fig. 4 shows a cross section through a post along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3, and
• Fig. 5 is a view and a side view of a clamping plate of the corner connector.

The car body structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is designed for the transport of people in local rail traffic. It essentially consists of a substructure 1 and a superstructure 2 made of extruded aluminum profiles which are screwed to corner connectors 13, 24, 25. This results in an at least partially modular construction, so that a construction can be transferred to vehicles of different length, width or height with little effort using the same basic elements.

The substructure 1 comprises two inner longitudinal members 3 and two outer longitudinal members 4, which are continuous extruded profiles, and cross members 5. The superstructure comprises posts 6, an upper chord 7 on both sides and a roof 8.

The inner side members 3 also serve to transfer the buffer forces and are relatively solid. They essentially consist of a rectangular hollow profile with two undercut grooves 12 formed on both sides with respect to the cross-section of C-shaped profile approaches. On both sides, two grooves 12 each have a common central web 11.

A corner connector 13 rests on each undercut longitudinal groove. The contact surface of two adjacent longitudinal grooves 12 lie on a common plane E. The screws 14 with clamping plates 34 shown in FIG. 5 are only indicated.

The narrow long sides of the longitudinal beam 3, which have no grooves, are reinforced, which increases the bending rigidity.

The crossbeams 5, which are designed as rectangular tubes, are arranged at a distance from one another, running parallel. They are fastened with corner connectors 13 to two adjacent longitudinal profiles 3, 4 or 3, 3.

The corner connectors 13, which are known per se and which are not shown in further detail, are, for example, solid sheet metal pieces bent at right angles or corresponding drop-forged shaped pieces.

The stability and operational safety can be increased by arranging two undercut longitudinal grooves 12 lying next to one another.

The outer longitudinal member 4, which forms the transition from the substructure 1 to the superstructure 2, has, in addition to the two longitudinal grooves 12 for fixing the cross member 5, two further upwardly opening longitudinal grooves 15. These correspond to the longitudinal grooves 12, but the wall thickness can be made smaller . Furthermore, the laterally and vertically offset longitudinal grooves 15 have a connecting web 20. The outer longitudinal groove 15 is deeper than the inner one. This is not only conducive to increased rigidity, but also makes it easier to attach a protective outer shell.

The posts 6 screwed to the outer side member 4 via corner connections 24 comprise two essentially rectangular, extruded hollow profiles 16, 17 which are connected by poorly heat-conducting webs 18 made of polyethylene (FIG. 4). The connecting webs 18 are inserted and caulked in appropriately shaped longitudinal grooves 19 of both profiles. The arrangement of the connecting webs 18 in the outer region also allows the gap between the profiles 16, 17 to be closed.

Both the inner and the outer profile 16, 17 of the post 6 have undercut longitudinal grooves 15 arranged on both narrow sides at the same distance as the longitudinal beams 4 on their upper side.

At the top chord 7, the inner profile 16 projects above the outer profile 17 of the post 6. The levels are marked with E ′ designated for the inner profile and E˝ for the outer profile. The corner connectors 24 rest on the corresponding undercut longitudinal groove 15 on these two height-shifted levels. The planes E 'and E˝ shown in the upper chord 7 are shown in dashed lines in the outer longitudinal member 4.

The post 6 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is a door-window post 22. On the door side T, the two longitudinal grooves 15 are arranged such that the corner connectors 25 can be created on the same plane E. On the opposite window side F, however, the outer profile 17 projects beyond the inner 16 in the longitudinal direction of the carriage. The corner connectors 24 that are created are thus screwed on different levels E 'and E˝. The height offset of the corner connector 24 on the upper flange 7 promotes stability, the lateral offset of the corner connector 24 on the window side F of the door-window post 22 facilitates the interior work without contributing significantly to better stability.

In the case of posts 23 (FIG. 1) which delimit windows on both sides, the outer profile 17 projects beyond the inner profile 16 on both sides.

The upper flange 7, which is designed as an angled hollow profile, has to take over a substantial part of the bending moments of the body structure. The two upper belts 7 are connected to one another via the bow 27, which also function as a ceiling beam.

According to the embodiment according to FIG. 2, the upper chord 7 has only an undercut groove 15, which is used for screwing to a bow 27. The clamping plates, not shown, of a corner connector 24 engage in the groove 15 of the upper chord 7 and a longitudinal groove in the bow 27.

The connection between the upper chord 7 and the roof brackets 15 can be designed to be substantially more rigid in that, analogous to the outer longitudinal profile 4, two adjacent longitudinal grooves 15 are formed and the roof 8 comprises two brackets 27, one above the other, possibly connected with webs.

A roof skin 28 covering the bow 27 and part of the upper chord 7 from a corrugated tape is glued to the base.

As shown in Fig. 3, the corner connectors 24 in the window area F are drop-forged angles, e.g. according to DE-PS-2751753. In the door area T, the corner connectors 25 are L-shaped molded parts, which take up as little space as possible.

In the area below the windows 6 middle straps 32 are inserted between the posts. These each have an undercut longitudinal groove 15 at the top and bottom and are screwed to the outer profile 17 by means of corner connectors 24. A further undercut groove 15 protrudes from the center belt 32 against the interior of the car and can be used, for example, to fasten seat backrests.

The parallelogram-like clamping plate 34 shown in FIG. 5 has angles of 45 and 135 °. After insertion into a longitudinal groove, the plates are pivoted through 90 ° when the screws 14 (FIG. 2) screwed into the bore 35 with an internal thread are tightened, they strike the side walls of the longitudinal groove 12, 15 and can be clamped in place. The anchoring is improved by the convex design of the side of the clamping plate 34 drawn against the profile, which causes a toothing.

The design of the body structure according to the invention is structurally extremely adaptable and versatile. It allows a variety of variations with just a few standard profiles of the bodywork. Thanks to the double design of the undercut longitudinal grooves, the frame is very torsion-resistant. The displacement of the corner connectors 24 on the posts 6 and possibly the bow 27 in two directions also makes a significant contribution to this, because as a result, the pair of forces formed under bending stress has a much greater distance and therefore significantly lower forces occur at the same moment.

The body structure is self-supporting due to the interaction of substructure 1 and superstructure 2 and, if at all, only requires special reinforcements in the area of a height offset 33 for the installation of a bogie.

Due to the high bending strength of the connection points, the car bodies can be designed as tubes that are open on both sides, without stiffening at the front ends being necessary. Due to the absorption of the bending moment by the top chords 7, the longitudinal, 3, 4 and cross members 5 of the substructure 1 require only a small overall height, so that the floor above can be arranged very low. This makes it much easier to get started.

Claims (10)

1. Coach body construction for rail vehicles which comprise an upper structure (2) having extruded profiles, which are connected detachably to one another by mechanical means and are made of an aluminium alloy, and a lower structure (1), characterised in that the lower structure (1) is composed of longitudinal (3, 4) and transverse supports (5) which are made of an extruded aluminium alloy and are detachably connected to one another and to the upper structure (2) by mechanical means, which lower structure (1) in interaction with the upper structure (2) is of inherently sturdy construction.
2. Coach body construction according to Claim 1, characterised in that the mechanical means for the profile connection are screw-on corner connectors (13, 24, 25) having screw holes in both limbs.
3. Coach body construction according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the longitudinal supports (3, 4) and at least some of the transverse supports (5) of the lower structure (1) and at least the posts (6) and upper flanges (7) of the upper structure (2) have on at least one side two undercut longitudinal grooves (12, 15) for receiving nuts, preferably constructed as parallelogram-type clamping plates (34) or clamping straps.
4. Coach body construction according to Claim 3, characterised in that the longitudinal grooves (12, 15) are formed by cross-sectionally C-shaped profile fittings.
5. Coach body construction according to Claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the two longitudinal grooves (12, 15) of one side of an aluminium profile lie adjacently with resting surfaces for the corner connectors (13, 14, 25) lying on a common plane E and preferably have a common central web (11).
6. Coach body construction according to one of Claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the two longitudinal grooves (12, 15) lie on at least one side of an extruded profile displaced laterally on different planes (E', E'').
7. Coach body construction according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the posts (6) or the posts (6) and arches (27) are each composed of two extruded profiles (16, 17) which are connected to each other via webs (18).
8. Coach body construction according to Claim 7, characterised in that the webs (18) are composed of a heat-insulating material, preferably of plastic.
9. Coach body construction according to Claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the webs (18) are inserted and braced in longitudinal grooves (19) of the extruded profiles (16, 17).
10. Coach body construction according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the hollow spaces in the extruded profiles, in particular the post profiles (16, 17), are filled with foam.

Images