EP4636206A1

EP4636206A1 - Enclosure, comprising an enclosure cover

Info

Publication number: EP4636206A1
Application number: EP24170986.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Per Hellberg; Luana Lucidi
Original assignee: Alstom Holdings SA
Current assignee: Alstom Holdings SA
Priority date: 2024-04-18
Filing date: 2024-04-18
Publication date: 2025-10-22

Abstract

An enclosure (2) having the shape of a rectangular cuboid, and comprising rectangular walls including four side walls (4) and a back wall (6) defining an enclosure space within the enclosure (2), for enclosing various equipment, preferably train maintenance equipment, and provided with an enclosure opening (8) for accessing the enclosure space, and a planar rectangular enclosure cover (10) structured to be in a closed position, in which said enclosure cover (10) covers said enclosure opening (8) The enclosure cover (10) is attached to at least one hinge member (12), and being movable about said at least one hinge member (12), from the closed position to an opened position being a position where the enclosure cover (10) is essentially perpendicular to a virtual plane defined by the enclosure opening (8). The at least one hinge member (12) is mounted within said enclosure space, and being structured such that when said enclosure cover (10) is in its opened position said enclosure cover (10) is positioned in a virtual plane being parallel to, and a predetermined distance from, a virtual plane of one of the side walls (4) of the enclosure (2), and being positioned outside said enclosure (2), and that said at least one hinge member (12) being structured such that at least a part of said enclosure cover (10), when in the opened position, is in a position overlapping at least a part of said one of said side walls (4). Each said at least one hinge member (12) comprises a first end (14) to be attached to an inner side of said enclosure cover (10), and a second end (16) to be attached to an inner side of one of said side walls (4), or to an inner wall (18) provided within said enclosure (2), and being parallel to a side wall (4).

Description

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to an enclosure, e.g. a so-called traction box, particularly for enclosing train equipment and being mountable beneath a frame of a train, and provided with an enclosure cover that needs to be opened in order to perform maintenance work.

Background

It is currently necessary to remove the cover beforehand from the enclosure of traction boxes to perform maintenance work. The cover is then put aside to be able to perform the maintenance work. The cover is often a rather long and heavy part, which is why more than one operator might be needed to lift the cover, and to set aside the cover at a position where it would not inconvenience the maintenance work to be performed. Usually, the cover is put on the floor near the enclosure, where it could be damaged from e.g. falling tools or being stepped on for example. Furthermore, this manual operation might cause potential injuries due to the sharp edges of the cover or by tripping on the cover.
An enclosure applied in the field of train equipment has often rectangular walls and in one exemplary size having a width of 1700 mm, a height of 500 mm, and a depth of 500 mm. the enclosure cover may weigh approximately 14 kg. The enclosure is normally made from a material that can withstand rough environment, e.g. a metal, for example steel, or aluminium.
In the following, some documents will be identified and briefly discussed, that disclose related technology.
WO200782824 discloses a device with a door, especially the door of a cooking appliance, e.g. an oven. A guide system is provided by means of which the door can at least partially be lowered and guided into a storage space beneath the oven space.
EP2913592 discloses an oven including an oven door arranged to be stored beneath the oven. Particularly, the oven door is provided with elongated guiding profiles to enable movement of the oven door beneath the oven.
US20060289530A1 discloses an oven having a retractable hideaway door comprising an oven body, and oven door hingedly connected to the oven body, a cavity in the oven body adapted to receive the oven door, and a slide device for moving the oven door into the oven body when it is in the fully opened position.
US2925081A relates to a door structure of an oven which can be slid away. The hinge and slide away structure for the door comprises of a track on the housing and a hinge bracket pivotally secured to the door at one end and having rollers secured to the other end.
As described above, in earlier solutions, the operator has to hold the weight of the enclosure cover because it was not attached to the enclosure. In some occasions it was not possible to remove the enclosure cover alone, but further operators need to help in order to safely remove the enclosure cover. It was also a time-consuming operation to remove and set the cover aside, and it required having a dedicated space to put the enclosure cover that would not inconvenience operators during the maintenance. In addition, the enclosure cover could be damaged from falling tools or being stepped on during the maintenance, and potential injuries could occur by tripping on the cover, and also risks of cuts to hands due to sharp sheet metal edges of the cover.
The object of the present invention is to remove the above-discussed drawbacks, and to thereby provide a solution directed to allow the cover to be easily, safely, and quickly opened, closed, and handled by one operator, without disturbing maintenance work.

Summary

The above-mentioned objects are achieved by the present invention according to the independent claims.
Preferred embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims.
The solution is based on a normal oven door hinges, as they do not take up much space inside the enclosure when closed. However, one important feature of the present invention is to have hinges inside the enclosure that allow the cover to open and also slide easily under the enclosure. Preferably, the enclosure cover does not fully slide in under the enclosure so that the remaining area can be used as, for example, a tool table. By implementing the present invention, it is not required to add any modification or additional parts outside of the enclosure, which is advantageous both from a manufacturing point of view and also because the environment where the enclosure is to be mounted having limited space.
The invention concerns an enclosure comprising walls delimiting an opening and an enclosure cover. The enclosure cover being able to be moved between a closed position, in which the enclosure cover closes the opening, an optional intermediate position in which the enclosure cover extends perpendicularly to the opening, and an opened position, in which the enclosure cover is slid out of sight under one of the walls of the enclosure. The enclosure cover is fixed to one of the side walls of the enclosure, or to an inner wall, by at least one hinge member structured to enable movements between the closed position, the optional intermediate position, and the opened position.
Particularly, the solution according to the present invention does not require any space outside the enclosure, and it entails very few modifications needed on existing products and less complex parts to manufacture and implement. It allows a more flexible design as it can be modified depending on the architecture inside the enclosure.
Furthermore, the invention provides an enclosure provided with an enclosure cover that allows the cover to be easily, safely, and quickly opened, closed, and handled, by only one operator.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a simplified illustration of embodiments according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a side view of a prior art enclosure mounted beneath a frame of a train
Figures 3-9 illustrate various views of a first embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 10-14 illustrate various views of a second embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 15-17 illustrate various views of a third embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description

The enclosure will now be described in detail with references to the appended figures. Throughout the figures the same, or similar, items have the same reference signs. Moreover, the items and the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
When describing the various figures, only parts being relevant for describing and explaining the present invention, and embodiments of the invention, are referred to. Thus, in some of the figures, numerous details are shown not being described.
Figure 1 is a simplified illustration of embodiments according to the present invention. The figure schematically shows an enclosure 2 provided with an enclosure cover 10, which is moved from a closed position (left illustration), via an intermediate position (middle illustration), being an optional position, to an opened position (right illustration).
Figure 2 is a side view of an enclosure mounted beneath a frame of a train, and provided with an enclosure cover attached to the enclosure by applying presently used attachment means. Electrical enclosures that could benefit from the invention are the traction electrical boxes, attached to the underframe 60 of the train. These enclosures are above the train tracks; thus, the space between the train tracks and the enclosure can be limited.
Figures 3-9 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention, figures 10-14 illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention, and figures 15-17 illustrate a third embodiment of the present invention.
With references to these figures, the enclosure according to the invention will now be described.
Thus, the present invention relates to an enclosure 2 having the shape of a rectangular cuboid, and comprising rectangular walls including four side walls 4 and a back wall 6 defining an enclosure space within the enclosure 2, for enclosing various equipment, preferably train maintenance equipment. See e.g. figures 4, 11, and 15.
The enclosure 2 is provided with an enclosure opening 8 for accessing the enclosure space, and a planar rectangular enclosure cover 10 structured to be in a closed position, in which said enclosure cover 10 covers said enclosure opening 8. See e.g. figures 4, 5, 11, and 15.
The enclosure cover 10 is attached to at least one hinge member 12, and being movable about the at least one hinge member 12, from the closed position to an opened position being a position where the enclosure cover 10 is essentially perpendicular to a virtual plane defined by the enclosure opening 8.
The enclosure cover 10 being in the closed position is illustrated e.g. in figures 4, 5, 11, and 15. The enclosure cover 10 being in the opened position is illustrated e.g. in figures 8, 9, 14, 17.
The at least one hinge member 12 is mounted within the enclosure space. This is illustrated e.g. in figures 4, 11, and 15.
Furthermore, the at least one hinge member is structured such that when the enclosure cover 10 is in its opened position the enclosure cover 10 is positioned in a virtual plane being parallel to, and a predetermined distance from, a virtual plane of one of the side walls 4 of the enclosure 2, and being positioned outside the enclosure 2.
The at least one hinge member 12 being structured such that at least a part of the enclosure cover 10, when in the opened position, is in a position overlapping at least a part of said one of said side walls 4. This is illustrated by figures 8, 9, 14, and 17.
Each hinge member 12 comprises a first end 14 to be attached to an inner side of said enclosure cover 10, and a second end 16 to be attached to one of said side walls 4 (applicable to the third embodiment illustrated in figures 15-17) or to an inner wall 18 provided within the enclosure 2, and being parallel to a side wall 4 (applicable to the first embodiment illustrated in figures 3-9, and to the second embodiment illustrated in figures 10-14).
The first embodiment will now be described in detail with references to figures 3-9.
In the first embodiment, only one hinge member is required. This is advantageous as less items need to be mounted within the enclosure space, which makes mounting easier. Figure 3 is a perspective view of the hinge member 12.
The hinge member 12 comprises a main bracket 20 attached to the enclosure cover at the first end 14 of the hinge member via a fixation bracket 22. The fixation bracket 22 is rotatable in relation to the main bracket 20 about a pin axle 24. Partial rotation of the fixation bracket is ensured by a pin 26 movable in a semi-circular slot provided in the fixation bracket 22.
The second end 16 of the hinge member 12, and of the main bracket 20, is connected to an inner wall 18 of the enclosure 2, which inner wall 18 only partially is illustrated in figure 3.
The main bracket 20 has an essentially C-shaped, elongated and planar extension in a plane essentially parallel to the plane of the inner wall. The C-shaped extension opens up in the direction of the enclosure opening 8, when the enclosure cover 10 is in its closed position. The C-shaped extension facilitates the movement of the enclosure cover from the closed position to the opened position by providing a rotational movement about a rotational axis positioned within the enclosure space.
The main bracket 20 is connected to the inner wall 18 by a first pin axle 28, and a second pin axle 30. The first pin axle 28 is movable along a horizontal slot 32, and the second pin axle 30 is also movable along the horizontal slot 32. Figure 3, and also figure 4, illustrates the hinge member 12 when the enclosure cover 10 is in its closed position. When an operator starts pulling out, i.e. opening, the enclosure cover 10, essentially in a horizontal direction, the first and second pins are moved along the horizontal slot 32 until the first pin reaches the end of the slot, to the right in figure. When the first pin axle 28 is at the end of the slot it will become a center of rotation for rotating the main bracket 20 which is facilitated by allowing the second pin axle 30 to move along a curved slot 34 made through the inner wall 18. The curved slot has a curved shape of a part of a circle defining an essentially semi-circular path where the second pin axle 30 is moved, which enables moving the enclosure cover 10 from the position shown in figure 6, to the opened position shown in figures 8 and 9.
The hinge member 12 may also include a sliding plate 36 provided with a vertical slot 38 where the second pin axle 30 is movably arranged. The sliding plate is attached to a dampening cylinder 40, e.g. including a gas spring, or a hydraulically damped cylinder, and provided to hold the weight of the enclosure cover during the movements from the closed position to the opened position. The sliding plate 36, and the dampening cylinder 40 are optional features.
The second embodiment will now be described in detail with references to figures 10-14.
In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, only one hinge member is required. This is advantageous as less items need to be mounted within the enclosure space, which makes mounting easier.
First with references to the side view shown in figure 10, where a part of an inner wall 18 and the hinge member 12 is shown. According to this embodiment, the hinge member 12 comprises a single bracket 42 provided, at its first end 14, with a fixation arrangement, e.g. a hole for attaching the single bracket 42 to the inner side of the enclosure cover by e.g. one or many screws, or similar attachment means. The second end 16 of the single bracket 42 is rotationally attached to the inner wall 18 by means of an attachment pin axle 44. The single bracket 42 has an essentially L-shaped, elongated and planar extension in a plane essentially parallel to the plane of the inner wall. When the enclosure cover is in its closed position, as illustrated in figures 10 and 11, the L-shaped single bracket 42 has a horizontally oriented part and a vertically oriented part.
The attachment pin axle 44 is movably arranged in a second horizontal slot 46, and enables rotation of the single bracket 42 once the enclosure cover 10 is pulled out, which is shown in figure 12. The rotation of the single bracket 42 is approximately 90 degrees until it is stopped by a blocking pin 46.
Once the single bracket 42 has been rotated 90 degrees, then being in an intermediate position, the enclosure cover 10 may be pushed into the opened position by allowing the attachment pin axle 44 to move along the second horizontal slot 46 to its inner end position, to the right in figure 14. The enclosure cover is then partly underneath the enclosure.
The third embodiment will now be described in detail with references to figures 15-17.
In the third embodiment at least two hinge members are used.
Figure 15 is a simplified illustration showing only one of the side walls, and the enclosure cover 10 attached to the side wall 4 via two hinge members 12.
Each of the two hinge members comprises a two-piece bracket arranged within the enclosure space, and the two-piece bracket comprises a first bracket 50 and a second bracket 52. The first bracket 50 is fixedly mounted to one of the side walls, and has a flat extension being perpendicular to the wall, and provided with a curved slot 54 (see figure 16) having an essentially circular trajectory extending essentially from the side wall to an end of the first bracket positioned approximately 100-135 degrees from the plane of the wall.
The second bracket 52 comprises a first end that is structured to be mounted to an inner side of the enclosure cover, wherein the inner side being the side facing the enclosure space when the enclosure cover is in its closed position. The second bracket 52 comprises a second end being opposite to the first end.
The second bracket has a flat extension being perpendicular to the plane of the inner side of the enclosure cover, and being parallel to the extension of the first bracket, and has a curved extension running along an essentially circular trajectory essentially similar to the circular trajectory of the curved slot of the first bracket.
At least one rod-like guiding member 56 (see figure 15) is/are attached to said second bracket 52 close to the second end and extending perpendicular to the plane of the second bracket, and wherein the at least one rod-like guiding member is arranged to be able to slide along the curved slot of the first bracket.
Figure 16 illustrates the enclosure cover 10 in an intermediate position.
The enclosure cover is provided, at its inner side, with two elongated essentially straight rails/slots 58 on/in which each of a first end of each respective hinge members are movably mounted to the enclosure cover 10. Thereby, the enclosure cover is structured to be moved in a same plane from the intermediate position to the opened position (see figure 17), by moving the first end along the elongated rails/slots.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, and modifications may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appending claims.

Claims

An enclosure (2) having the shape of a rectangular cuboid, and comprising rectangular walls including four side walls (4) and a back wall (6) defining an enclosure space within the enclosure (2), for enclosing various equipment, preferably train maintenance equipment, and provided with an enclosure opening (8) for accessing the enclosure space, and a planar rectangular enclosure cover (10) structured to be in a closed position, in which said enclosure cover (10) covers said enclosure opening (8), the enclosure cover (10) is attached to at least one hinge member (12), and being movable about said at least one hinge member (12), from the closed position to an opened position being a position where the enclosure cover (10) is essentially perpendicular to a virtual plane defined by the enclosure opening (8), characterized in that said at least one hinge member (12) is mounted within said enclosure space, and being structured such that when said enclosure cover (10) is in its opened position said enclosure cover (10) is positioned in a virtual plane being parallel to, and a predetermined distance from, a virtual plane of one of the side walls (4) of the enclosure (2), and being positioned outside said enclosure (2), and that said at least one hinge member (12) being structured such that at least a part of said enclosure cover (10), when in the opened position, is in a position overlapping at least a part of said one of said side walls (4), wherein each said at least one hinge member (12) comprises a first end (14) to be attached to an inner side of said enclosure cover (10), and a second end (16) to be attached to an inner side of one of said side walls (4), or to an inner wall (18) provided within said enclosure (2), and being parallel to a side wall (4).
The enclosure (2) according to claim 1, comprising one hinge member (12), that comprises a main bracket (20) attached to the enclosure cover at the first end (14) of the hinge member via a fixation bracket (22), the fixation bracket (22) is rotatable in relation to the main bracket (20) about a pin axle (24), wherein partial rotation of the fixation bracket is ensured by a pin (26) movable in a semi-circular slot provided in the fixation bracket 22, and wherein the second end hinge member (12), and of the main bracket (20), is connected to an inner wall (18) of the enclosure (2)
The enclosure (2) according to claim 2, wherein said main bracket (20) has an essentially C-shaped, elongated and planar extension in a plane essentially parallel to the plane of the inner wall, and that the C-shaped extension opens up in the direction of the enclosure opening (8,) when the enclosure cover (10) is in its closed position, wherein the C-shaped extension facilitates movement of the enclosure cover from the closed position to the opened position by providing a rotational movement about a rotational axis positioned within the enclosure space.
The enclosure (2) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one hinge member (12) is structured such that movement between the closed position to the opened position is via an intermediate position being a position where the enclosure cover (10) is essentially perpendicular to a virtual plane defined by the enclosure opening (8), and that the movement from the intermediate position to the opened position is a movement in a same plane.
The enclosure (2) according to claim 4, comprising one hinge member (12) that comprises a single bracket (42) provided, at its first end (14), with a fixation arrangement, e.g. a hole, for attaching the single bracket (42) to the inner side of the enclosure cover (10) by e.g. one or many screws, or similar attachment means, wherein the second end (16) of the single bracket (42) is rotationally attached to an inner wall (18) of the enclosure (2) by an attachment pin axle 44, and wherein the single bracket (42) has an essentially L-shaped, elongated and planar extension in a plane essentially parallel to the plane of the inner wall, and that when the enclosure cover is in its closed position, the L-shaped single bracket (42) has a horizontally oriented part and a vertically oriented part.
The enclosure according to claim 4, wherein the enclosure cover (10) is provided at its inner side, with two elongated essentially straight rails/slots (58) on/in which each of a first end (14) of each respective hinge members (12) are movably mounted to the enclosure cover, and wherein the enclosure cover (10) is structured to be moved in a same plane from the intermediate position to the opened position, by moving said first end (14) along said elongated rails/slots (58).
The enclosure according to claim 6, comprising two hinge members (12),
wherein each said hinge member comprises a two-piece bracket arranged within said enclosure space, the two-piece bracket comprises a first bracket (50) and a second bracket (52),

said first bracket (50) is fixedly mounted to one of said side walls (4), and has a flat extension being perpendicular to the wall, and provided with a curved slot (54) having an essentially circular trajectory extending essentially from the wall to an end of the first bracket,

said second bracket (52) comprises a first end that is structured to be mounted to an inner side of said enclosure cover (10), wherein said inner side being the side facing the enclosure space when the enclosure cover is in its closed position, and a second end being opposite to said first end, the second bracket (52) has a flat extension being perpendicular to the plane of the inner side of the enclosure cover (10), and being parallel to the extension of the first bracket, and has a curved extension running along an essentially circular trajectory essentially similar to the circular trajectory of said curved slot of the first bracket, wherein at least one rod-like guiding member (56) is/are attached to said second bracket close to said second end and extending perpendicular to the plane of the second bracket, and wherein said at least one rod-like guiding member is arranged to be able to slide along said curve slot of said first bracket.
The enclosure (2) according to any preceding claim, having a height of at least 0.3 meter, a depth of at least 0.3 meter, and a width of at least 0.5 meter, preferably at least 1.0 meter, and having a weight of at least 10 kg.
The enclosure (2) according to any preceding claim, wherein said enclosure is structured to be mounted underneath a train structure of a train, particularly attached underneath the underframe of the train and above the train tracks, and wherein the enclosure is mounted such that the enclosure cover is vertically arranged, and that the opened position is beneath the enclosure.