EP4390018A1 - Door system with temporal monitoring of locks - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a door system for a vehicle with a door opening 50, with at least one door leaf 51 which closes the door opening 50 in a closed position, wherein the door leaf 51 comprises at least one lock 57 for locking the door leaf 51 in the closed position. The invention is characterized in that the door system comprises a monitoring unit 63 which is designed to temporally monitor and evaluate an actuation process of the at least one lock 57.

Description

The invention relates to a door system for a vehicle, with a door opening and at least one door leaf which closes the door opening in a closed position, wherein the door leaf comprises at least one lock for locking the door leaf in the closed position. The door system comprises a monitoring unit for monitoring the closing process of the locks of the door leaf over time.

Door systems are often used in public transport vehicles and low-floor vehicles such as buses and trains.

The door systems usually have a portal frame that is firmly connected to the vehicle and in which at least one door leaf, often two door leaves, are guided. The door system is often installed as a separate assembly in a door opening in the outer shell of the vehicle using the portal frame.

To open and close the door opening, the door leaf is moved by a drive and guided by guide elements. The drive includes, for example, a rotating column, which is moved by a hydraulic, electric or pneumatic actuator.

When the door leaf is in the closed position, it is secured using at least one lock. The door leaf usually has two locks, one at the top of the door leaf and one at the bottom of the door leaf. The door leaf is connected to the portal frame via a positive locking of the locks. This can be done, for example, by a bolt that moves from the portal frame into an opening in the door leaf or from the door leaf into an opening in the portal frame.

Such pivoting sliding doors undergo hundreds of thousands or even more than a million opening and closing cycles during operation. Wear and tear on the locks, settling or distortion of individual components of the door system can lead to malfunctions in the operation of the door system, so that the door leaves can no longer be locked in the closed position, or the force required and thus the energy required to move the door leaves into the closed position is increased. This can make it difficult or even impossible for the door system to function, which can lead to the entire vehicle failing.

In order to prevent this or at least detect it early, systems are known that can detect an increased energy requirement of the drive and use this to determine wear or damage to the door system. However, the wear or damage is often already well advanced by this point and the drive has already been subjected to higher loads over a longer period of time.

Therefore, the object of the invention is to provide a door system which provides improved detection of wear and/or damage.

This object is achieved by a door system having the features of claim 1. Further, particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the respective subclaims.

It should be noted at this point that the features listed individually in the claims can be combined with one another in any technically reasonable manner (including across category boundaries, for example between methods and devices) and show further embodiments of the invention. The description characterizes and specifies the invention, particularly in connection with the figures.

The invention relates to a door system for a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, with a door opening, with at least one door leaf that closes the door opening in a closed position, wherein the door leaf comprises at least one lock for locking the door leaf in the closed position. The invention is characterized in that the door system comprises a monitoring unit that is designed to temporally monitor and evaluate an actuation process of the at least one lock.

The door wings are designed to close a door opening of a vehicle in a closed position (locking position) and in an open position Position (open position) to release. The door opening is made in a wall of the vehicle. The wall is formed by an outside of the vehicle and an inside of the vehicle that is spaced apart from the outside, so that the wall has a certain wall thickness due to the distance between the outside and the inside. The outside can also be referred to as the outer shell. The door opening is made as a recess in the wall of the vehicle and extends from the outer shell to the inside. The door opening has a width extending horizontally (in the direction of travel of the vehicle) and a height extending vertically. Due to the wall thickness, the door opening also has a depth extending horizontally from the outer shell to the inside, which is, however, significantly less than the width and height and depends on the wall thickness of the vehicle.

A portal frame is preferably embedded in the door opening, in which the door leaf is movably guided and can be moved by a drive.

The door leaf comprises at least one lock, preferably two locks, more preferably a lock at an upper end of the door leaf and a lock at a lower end of the door leaf. The lock serves to lock the door leaf in the closed position. This gives the door leaf an additional fixation that stabilizes the door leaf and prevents the door leaf from accidentally moving into the open position.

The lock comprises at least two interlocking components, for example a movably mounted bolt and a corresponding opening into which the bolt can engage. The lock is therefore arranged partly on the door leaf and partly on the vehicle or, for example, in a portal frame. It does not matter whether the movably mounted part with the bolt is arranged on the door leaf and the opening in the vehicle or vice versa. The lock is in any case a lock of the door leaf within the meaning of the application.

To monitor the lock, the door system comprises a monitoring unit which is designed to monitor and evaluate at least one actuation process of the at least one lock. The invention is based on the idea that wear on the door system becomes noticeable relatively early on the locks of the door leaves. The door leaves are When the vehicle is delivered, it is fitted and adjusted very precisely into the door opening so that the locks extend or snap into place without resistance and at defined times during the closing process of the door leaf.

Use of the door system can lead to wear and tear and damage, such as warping of components in the guide of the door leaf or in the drive, so that the locks extend or snap into place later or at different times, or only extend partially. If the application states that the lock extends or retracts, this can also mean that part of the lock, for example a bolt or a cylinder, extends or retracts.

If the locks do not extend at all or the door leaves no longer reach the fully closed position, this can be detected by using end position sensors. However, the door system is then no longer operational, so a failure can no longer be prevented. It is also conceivable that the lock itself functions as an end position sensor. For example, by detecting that the lock is not fully extended or retracted.

The monitoring unit therefore monitors the operation of the lock over time and evaluates the data obtained. An operation can be an opening and/or closing operation of the lock. If a lock closes or opens later or earlier than expected, the monitoring unit can be used to identify wear and tear or an impending defect in the door system at an early stage. The operation processes and operation times of different locks on one or more door leaves can also be compared. If, for example, the upper lock of a door leaf snaps into place earlier or later than the lower lock, the door leaf could be warped or incorrectly aligned.

The monitoring unit can be part of an existing control system, such as the door system or the vehicle, or it can be a stand-alone module.

Advantageous embodiments and variants of the invention emerge from the subclaims and the following description. The features listed individually in the subclaims can be combined with each other in any technically reasonable manner and with the features explained in more detail in the following description and represent other advantageous embodiments of the invention.

In a preferred embodiment of the door system, the at least one lock comprises an extendable bolt. The monitoring unit monitors the extension and/or retraction of the bolt over time and evaluates the data obtained from the monitoring.

The lock comprises two main components. Firstly, a mechanism with an extendable bolt and an opening into which the bolt engages when extended. The bolt can perform a translational movement and/or a rotary movement and/or a pivoting movement when extending or retracting.

The monitoring unit can, for example, record the time that the bolt needs to retract and/or extend, but the monitoring unit can also record the absolute times at which the bolt in the lock reaches an extended position (locking position) and/or a retracted position (opening position). Therefore, in a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit records the time at which the bolt reaches a fully retracted position and/or a fully extended position. The fully extended position is the position of the bolt in which the bolt is maximally extended when the door leaf is closed. The fully retracted position is the position of the bolt in which the bolt is maximally retracted.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit records the time of extending and/or retracting the bolt. This means the time that the bolt needs to move from the retracted position to the extended position or vice versa. It is also It is conceivable that the time at which the bar reaches certain positions is recorded.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit is set up to take a time target value and/or a time limit into account in the evaluation. The aforementioned times or points in time are compared with a target value and/or a limit value. Ranges for the target value with upper and lower limits can also be provided. During the comparison, the deviations from the target value or limit value are determined so that if the deviations are too large or the set limit values are exceeded or not reached, wear or an impending defect can be concluded. The target values or limit values can be selected in such a way that wear or an impending defect is detected early, but the door system can still be operated without problems.

The target values or limits can have several levels, so that different warning levels can be issued. For example, level 1 if limit 1 is exceeded: low wear, no action required - level 2 if limit 2 is exceeded: medium wear, maintenance at the next routine inspection of the vehicle - level 3 if limit 3 is exceeded: high wear, maintenance as soon as possible - level 4 if limit 4 is exceeded: defect, further use not possible.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit is set up to issue an error message if the time target value and/or the time limit is exceeded or undershot. So that the operator of the vehicle or the door system is informed about the status of the door system, it can be provided that the monitoring unit issues an error message if wear or a defect is detected during the evaluation. This can be done optically, for example, via a lamp or a display on the door system or on the vehicle. It is also possible to issue an acoustic warning.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the at least one door leaf comprises at least two locks. The monitoring unit compares the timing of the actuation of the first lock with the actuation of the second lock. The door leaves of door systems usually have several locks, for example one lock at the top of the door leaf and one at the bottom of the door leaf. It is therefore advisable to compare the actuations of the two locks with each other in order to be able to draw conclusions about wear or an impending defect. For example, the lower lock comes into contact with significantly more dirt and can therefore wear out faster than the upper lock. The resulting temporal deviation of the actuations of the two locks can thus be recorded by the monitoring unit. A distortion of the door leaf or the actuation mechanism of the door leaf can also be determined in this way, since the actuations of the locks then no longer run synchronously. A deviation of the actuations from a normal, unhindered actuation process can also indicate this.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the door system comprises at least two door leaves. The monitoring unit is designed to compare the timing of an actuation process of a lock on the first door leaf with the timing of an actuation process of a lock on the second door leaf. Deviations in the timing of the actuation processes of locks on different door leaves can also be used to identify wear or impending defects at an early stage.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the two door leaves are essentially constructed mirror-symmetrically to one another and are arranged mirror-symmetrically to one another in the door system. Door systems are often constructed mirror-symmetrically to the left and right of a plane that usually runs through the main closing edge and perpendicular to the direction of travel of the vehicle. This means that the left door leaf is constructed and arranged mirror-symmetrically to the right door leaf. The locks on the left door leaf are arranged in the same place as the locks on the right door leaf due to the mirror symmetry, so that the actuation processes of the locks behave the same in normal operation. The monitoring unit can therefore compare the actuation processes of two locks arranged mirror-symmetrically to one another in time. If temporal deviations are detected, This could again indicate wear and tear or an impending defect.

The main closing edge of a door is the vertical edge that runs at the front in the closing direction of the door. When using two door leaves, these are the edges that lie next to each other when the door leaves are closed. When only one door leaf is used, the main closing edge lies next to the vertically extending door opening edge when the door is closed.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, each door leaf comprises a first lock and a second lock arranged opposite the first lock, for example a first lock arranged at the upper end of the door leaf and a second lock arranged opposite this at the lower end of the door leaf. The monitoring unit can compare the actuation process of the first (upper) lock of one door leaf with the actuation process of the second (lower) lock of the second door leaf in terms of time. In this way, the actuation processes of the locks which are arranged crosswise in the door system can be compared with one another.

In order to monitor and evaluate the actuation processes of different locks among each other, in a further preferred embodiment of the door system the monitoring unit is set up to monitor and evaluate the time difference between a respective reaching of a locking position and/or an opening position of the locks. The locking position is the position in which, for example, a bolt of the lock is in a fully extended position, while the bolt is fully retracted in the opening position.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit is designed to output an error message if a maximum time deviation between the actuation processes to be compared is exceeded.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit comprises an optical and/or acoustic display for displaying a monitoring status. This can be, for example, various warning tones, single or multi-colored lights, or displays to display more complex information.

In a further preferred embodiment of the door system, the monitoring unit comprises an interface for transmitting a monitoring status. Such an interface can be implemented, for example, wirelessly, via a USB port, or a permanent cable connection to another control unit, for example in the vehicle or a display in the vehicle. In this way, the status of the door system can be read out via a laptop or tablet, or can be displayed directly in the vehicle.

Figur 1

ein Türsystem mit zwei spiegelsymmetrisch ausgeführten und angeordneten Türflügeln,

Figur 2

ein Schloss aus Fig. 1 mit einem Riegel in geschlossener Position,

Figur 3

ein Schloss mit dem Riegel aus Fig. 2 in geöffneter Position.

The present invention is explained in detail below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. They show:

Figure 1

a door system with two mirror-symmetrically designed and arranged door leaves,

Figure 2

a castle made of Fig.1 with a latch in the closed position,

Figure 3

a lock with the bolt made of Fig.2 in open position.

In the figures, unless otherwise stated, identical reference symbols designate identical or corresponding components with identical functions.

Fig.1 shows a door opening 50 in a vehicle, which is closed by a door system according to the invention with two mirror-symmetrically designed and arranged door leaves 51. The door opening 50 is made as a substantially rectangular cutout in the outer shell 52 of the vehicle. Starting from the outer shell 52, the vehicle has a wall with a thickness 53, the thickness 53 being negligibly small relative to a vertical height 54 and a horizontal width 55 of the door opening 50. The wall of the vehicle separates an interior of the vehicle from the surroundings.

The two door leaves 51 are constructed in mirror symmetry and are arranged in mirror symmetry to a mirror symmetry plane 56. The main closing edge 60 is located between the two door leaves 51. The mirror symmetry plane 56 runs through the main closing edge 60 and is aligned perpendicular to a direction of travel 62 of the vehicle, wherein the direction of travel 62 of the vehicle is directed in the direction of the horizontal width 55 of the door opening 50.

Each of the two door leaves 51 comprises two locks 57. One lock 57 is arranged at an upper end of the door leaf, while the other lock 57 is arranged at a lower end of the door leaf 51. Each lock 57 comprises a movably mounted bolt 58 which is arranged on the door leaf 51. In the vehicle or in the portal frame there is an opening 59 of the lock 57 into which the bolt 58 can be inserted. The opening 59 and the lock 57 or bolt 58 can also be swapped.

For the temporal monitoring of the locks 57, the door system comprises a monitoring unit 63 which temporally monitors and evaluates the actuation processes of the locks 57.

The Figures 2 and 3 show the operation of a lock 57. Fig.2 shows one of the locks 57 from Fig.1 with the latch 58 in a fully extended position (locking position), while Fig.3 the castle 57 from Fig.2 with the bolt 58 in a fully retracted position (opening position). The monitoring unit 63 can record the times at which the bolt 58 reaches the locking position and the opening position and determine the time period in between. The data determined from the various locks 57 are compared by the monitoring unit 63 and a conclusion can be drawn as to possible wear or an impending defect.

List of reference symbols

50

Door opening

51

Door leaf

52

Outer shell

53

thickness

54

Height

55

Width

56

Mirror symmetry plane

57

Castles

58

bars

59

opening

60

Main closing edge

62

Direction of travel

63

Monitoring unit

Claims (14)

Door system for a vehicle with a door opening (50), with at least one door leaf (51) which closes the door opening (50) in a closed position, wherein the door leaf (51) comprises at least one lock (57) for locking the door leaf (51) in the closed position,
characterized in that
the door system comprises a monitoring unit (63) which is designed to temporally monitor and evaluate an actuation process of the at least one lock (57). Door system according to the preceding claim,
characterized in that
the at least one lock (57) comprises an extendable bolt (58), and the monitoring unit (63) temporally monitors and evaluates an extension and/or a retraction of the bolt (58). Door system according to the preceding claim,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) detects a time at which the bolt (58) reaches a retracted position and/or an extended position. Door system according to one of claims 2 to 3,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) records the time of extension and/or retraction. Door system according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) is designed to take into account a temporal target value and/or a temporal limit value in the evaluation. Door system according to the preceding claim,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) is designed to output an error message if the time setpoint and/or the time limit is exceeded or undershot. Door system according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the at least one door leaf (51) comprises at least two locks (57), and the monitoring unit (63) compares the actuation process of the first lock (57) with the actuation process of the second lock (57) in terms of time. Door system according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the door system comprises at least two door leaves (57), and the monitoring unit (63) is designed to compare in time an actuation process of a lock (57) of the first door leaf (51) with an actuation process of a lock (57) of the second door leaf (51). Door system according to the preceding claim,
characterized in that
the two door leaves (51) are constructed essentially mirror-symmetrically to each other and are arranged in the door system, and the actuation processes of two locks (57) arranged mirror-symmetrically to each other are compared in time. Door system according to one of the two preceding claims,
characterized in that
the two door leaves (51) are constructed essentially mirror-symmetrically to one another and are arranged in the door system, wherein each door leaf (51) comprises a first lock (57) and a second lock (57) arranged opposite the first lock (57), and the actuation process of the first lock (57) of one door leaf (51) coincides with the actuation process of the second lock (57) of the second door leaf (51) is compared. Door system according to one of claims 6 to 9,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) is designed to monitor and evaluate the temporal deviation between a respective reaching of a locking position and/or an opening position of the locks (57). Door system according to one of claims 6 to 10,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) is arranged to output an error message if a maximum time deviation between the actuation processes to be compared is exceeded. Door system according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) comprises an optical and/or acoustic display for displaying a monitoring state. Door system according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the monitoring unit (63) comprises an interface for transmitting a monitoring status.

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