JPH0436909B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for enclosing a space between the joining ends of two rail cars to be joined so as to provide a passage between the two rail cars. Concerning flexible diaphragms.

[Conventional technology]

In the past, it has been recognized that there is a need to enclose the spaces between adjacent rail cars to facilitate passenger movement between these cars. Prior art methods for meeting such needs are described in Deen, US Pat. No. 3,399,632 and Cripp, US Pat. No. 3,410,226. According to such prior art disclosures, each diaphragm is attached to a respective end of an adjacent vehicle, and the diaphragms are then interconnected to connect adjacent tracks while passengers are freely passing therethrough. This ensures that the space between vehicles is not affected by weather or noise. Such prior art methods have traditionally required the use of large and expensive structures with walls of hard elastic material coated with a hermetic elastomer, and have also been subject to expansion, contraction and mutual torsional movement and train movement. It has been attempted to create a profile that allows for torsional movement relative to a moving vehicle. Such methods are neither sufficiently effective nor economical for their intended purpose.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Prior art approaches to this problem, such as those described above, are characterized by high initial manufacturing costs as well as high retrofit costs. Service times for retrofits have consistently been too long, and replacing such diaphragms has been associated with excessive expense and effort. Furthermore, prior art structures required the entire diaphragm to be replaced in the event that a portion of the diaphragm suffered significant damage.

[Means for solving problems]

A rail vehicle diaphragm constructed in accordance with the present invention overcomes the deficiencies described above in the prior art. This diaphragm is characterized by a thin rubber sheet with an arched shape. The seat is arranged to connect an inner mounting plate attachable to one train car and an outer face plate that connects to a diaphragm on an adjacent train car. A wear plate is placed on the outer surface of each face plate. A removable portion of resilient material is provided across the top of the arch of the diaphragm and inside the section of sheet material and mounting plate to promote the resilient properties of the diaphragm during operation. The wear plate of each diaphragm is joined to the wear plate of the next adjacent diaphragm to complete the path between the vehicles. A tread is also provided on which a pedestrian can walk as they pass through the diaphragm from vehicle to vehicle.

The diaphragm is configured such that its mounting plate is attached to a vertical end wall of the rail vehicle and surrounds an access point to the vehicle. This diaphragm extends axially towards the corresponding coupling inlet/outlet of the adjacent mating vehicle. Within its axial limits, the body is configured to join axially with a corresponding diaphragm of the mating vehicle with some compression and pressure on the diaphragm when the vehicle is normally coupled. These combined diaphragms thus cooperate to provide a path between the mating vehicles above the normal vehicle hitch.

The construction of this diaphragm is such that its body provides a tread or walkway between mating vehicles without requiring the use of other separate plates or structures at the doorway base.

This diaphragm also provides resistance to vertical and horizontal movement of the diaphragm caused by people walking on the floor of the diaphragm or by adjacent track vehicles moving uphill, downhill, or sideways. It includes a resilient shear mount type spring cushion to provide support for.

OPERATION AND EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The materials and structures utilized herein also act as excellent sound absorbers and thermal insulators, thereby providing protection for passengers within the diaphragm or at the end of the railcar to which it is attached. This will reduce the likelihood of particularly annoying and unpleasant noises and external weather conditions.

The axial compression properties of these diaphragms allow the bonded wear plates to maintain their contact under many conditions, including stages such as when a train is rounding a sharp turn, thereby allowing the bonding surface of the diaphragm to ensure that wind and rain leakage and airborne noise are prevented.

Vertical rubber supports in the diaphragm provide high resistance to vertical excursions without reducing the axial flexibility of the diaphragm. These vertical supports also provide flexibility to the diaphragm walls as the train rounds curves.

Additionally, these diaphragms provide a smooth, contoured appearance that can be applied both to the inside of the diaphragm passageway and to the outside of the diaphragm. This external appearance feature of the diaphragm provides compatibility with the external streamlined construction of modern trains.

Perhaps most importantly, the particular concept and structure of the present invention incorporates modularization of various components to minimize construction, installation, repair and refurbishment functions in terms of time, cost, labor and parts. The aim is to prepare for the production of products by assembling standardized parts.
Initial construction and installation costs are reduced, and modularization of the diaphragm allows the customer to repair worn or damaged parts without replacing the entire assembly.

Ultimately, it is an object of the present invention to provide a modular diaphragm for articulated rail vehicles that is more efficient and more economical than prior art structures.

〔Example〕

The following description and drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a pair of rail vehicles 10 and 1 attached and coupled together by conventional coupling means 14.
2 is shown. These vehicles are mounted on wheels for further movement along tracks in a conventional manner.

Each track vehicle terminates in a path 18 for pedestrians to travel therethrough. This passage is surrounded by an associated reinforced perforated end wall 20. A diaphragm 24 is attached to this end wall via a mounting plate 26. The mounting plate is located at the outer end of each rail vehicle forming the inner end of each diaphragm. Each mounting plate and the vehicle end wall have coupling bolt holes to enable the diaphragm mounting plate to be attached to each vehicle end wall via appropriate bolts 28. The end walls and mounting plates are made of a suitable hard-wearing, hard metal material.

The mounting plate is made up of sections having vertical side sections 38 and 40 welded together with an upper arched section 36.

There is a rubber diaphragm section of sheet material on the outside next to the mounting plate. The rubber diaphragm sheet 42 is a flexible neoprene composite approximately 1/4 inch thick. Its structure is reinforced in the middle with high-tensile nylon fibers. This neoprene composite has good flammability properties and has been approved by the Rohr Specifi S 80000 Group for inter-vehicle closures.
-cation S 80000 Group) sheet materials.

The main portion of the diaphragm body is made of this flexible sheet material. These flexible sections connect the inner mounting plate to the outer face plate and a section of polyethylene sponge is inserted across the top of the arched diaphragm in a manner described below. The body is specifically constructed to accommodate high degrees of axial compression. The inner and outer sides of the diaphragm body are capable of total axial deformation, for example by substantially more than 50%, without substantial torsion of the inner and outer wall surfaces. The upper corners of the sheet are grooved 34 to facilitate bending operations.

Extending parallel to and in the same area as the mounting plate is an aluminum flange 44 for securing the seat to the mounting plate. This flange is riveted to the mounting plate. Perforated retainer band 46, 4
8, 50, 51 and 126 accept bolts 52 for attaching the seat to the flange. Only three retaining strips are shown in FIG. 2, and three are shown in FIG. 5, but a total of 10
A number of strips are used. These bands include two inner bands along the vertical region of the sheet material and two
It consists of two outer bands, one inner band and one outer band along the top horizontal region, and four bands along the lower horizontal portion.

A facing 56 is placed on the outside next to the sheet.
This face plate is made in two parts, consisting of an upper arched channel 58 and a lower channel 60, which are secured together by bolts 86 to facilitate its assembly and replacement of damaged parts. has been done.

Each flexible diaphragm portion 24 is a U-shaped structure having two side portions and a connecting portion connecting the side portions, the side portions being connected to a mounting plate 26 and said connecting portion being a face plate. 56
(See Figure 6).

Below the joint area of the channel of the face plate,
Positioned horizontally is a lower straight diaphragm sheet portion 32 that connects to the lower end of the vertical portion 42 of the arched diaphragm of sheet material.

FIG. 8 shows a U-shaped lower horizontal straight channel sheet 32 which is connected to the lower portion 42 of the upper sheet material by bolts passing through appropriate bolt holes 62.

The upper portion of FIG. 8 is the lower portion of the vertical portion of the sheet material and constitutes a vertical U-shaped channel with a horizontal surface 76 for joining to the upper portion of the lowest horizontal portion of the sheet material. ing. The fingers 78 extend horizontally inwardly and attach to the central portion of the U-shaped lower seat member via bolts. This view therefore shows one corner of the attachment of the lower sheet material to the upper sheet material. A similar structure is seen in the opposite lower corner of the sheet material section in FIG.

A wear plate 74 covers the outer surface of the face plate and is comprised of portions 64, 66, 68 and 70 which conform to the surface shape of the face plate to which it is glued and bolted. There is. Bolt holes 72 are provided to connect the wear plate to the face plate. The diaphragm mating with the wear plate is held in a highly compressed state when coupled to reduce the transmission of external noise between the mating ends of the mating diaphragm.

The wear plate is constructed of a suitable smooth plastic material to contact and slide over the wear plate of the next adjacent diaphragm to complete the passageway between the vehicles.

Resilience is imparted to each diaphragm by the use of resilient sponge material within the diaphragm across the top portion of the diaphragm. This sponge portion 82 is removed during repairs and renovations,
It is preferably constructed of polyethylene sponge grade UU-44 fire retardant type material. This sponge is not sprayed or adhered to rubber or metal materials. This sponge section is completely covered and surrounded by the mounting plate and neoprene rubber diaphragm sheet structure. Its purpose is to provide elasticity to the upper diaphragm corner.

A footplate 84 is also located within each diaphragm. Each tread is constructed of a hard material such as stainless steel and welded to the lower faceplate. The outer end of this tread is tapered so as not to disturb the vehicle structure as the diaphragm moves relative to the train during operation.

FIG. 5 shows the attachment between the end plate of the vehicle and the lower horizontal outer portion of the face plate. The end plate of the vehicle includes an outwardly extending stainless steel truncated support assembly 94 located adjacent to an inwardly extending stainless steel truncated support assembly 94 secured by welding or the like to the lower horizontal portion of the diaphragm face plate. Stainless steel truncated support assembly 9
0 and 92 are provided. These assemblies are connected one to the other via highly hardened rubber shear mounts 96 and 98 to effectively provide horizontal support for the face plate and therefore the entire diaphragm with respect to the vehicle. connected to. To securely couple the rail vehicle to the diaphragm, a baffle plate is shown secured to the truncated support assembly by bolts 100 at each end thereof. The elastic shear mount therefore supports most of the weight of the diaphragm when it is installed on a vehicle, and further supports passenger movement between vehicles as the passenger moves through the diaphragm over the footboard. Gives safety.

Mounting plate 104, 106, 108, 110, 11
2, 114, 116, 118 and 120 are used inside the sheet material for support as shown in FIG. These plates are glued to the inside of the rubber sheet and are bolted together with the sheet material to the face plate and wear plate to provide support to the sheet material when in the operating position. Upper corner plates 104 and 1
06 also spans between the parts of the wear plate. The lower plates 116 and 118 are the lower horizontal portions 3 of the sheet material.
It serves as a support for 2.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to preferred embodiments, it will be apparent from such disclosure that modifications may be made to the preferred construction within the spirit and scope of the claims.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of adjacent rail cars illustrating interconnected track cars using diaphragms constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of the diaphragm assembly with a portion removed to show its internal structure; FIG. The figure is a side view of the diaphragm taken along line 4-4 in Figure 3, with a portion removed to show its internal structure, and Figure 5 is a side view of the diaphragm shown at 5-5 in Figure 3.
A cross-sectional view of the lower part of the face plate taken along the line and partially removed to show its internal structure, No. 6
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view through the top of the diaphragm taken along line 6-6; Figure 7 is a detailed view of the bolt assembly taken along line 7-7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a lower horizontal sheet material. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the lower portion of the vertical sheet material showing the connections with the pieces; 10, 12... Track vehicle, 14... Connection means,
18... Passageway, 20... Vehicle end wall, 24... Diaphragm, 26... Mounting plate, 42... Diaphragm sheet, 56... Surface plate, 58... Arch-shaped channel member, 60... Lower channel shape material, 74...wear plate,
82...Sponge, 84...Treadboard, 96,98
...Shear mount.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A mounting plate fixed to an end face of a rail vehicle, and a U-shaped structure mounted on the mounting plate in continuous alignment, each having two side parts and a connecting part therebetween. , a plurality of flexible diaphragm portions, a flange and a retaining plate connecting the side portions to the mounting plate, and a separate diaphragm portion secured to the connecting portion of the flexible diaphragm and adapted to be attached to the diaphragm portion. a face plate disposed within the flexible diaphragm between the mounting plate and the face plate along an upper portion of the diaphragm; A track comprising elastic sponge means imparting resiliency, a rubber shear attachment connecting the lower portion of the faceplate to the track vehicle, and a wear plate covering the face of the faceplate and contacting an adjacent vehicle. Diaphragm for vehicles. 2. A mounting plate fixed to an end face of a rail vehicle and defining a passage into the vehicle and consisting of a plurality of parts, a plurality of flexible diaphragm parts being connected to the mounting plate and forming a passageway into the railcar. Extending from the plate, the flexible diaphragm portion has a pair of spaced apart lateral portions defining a U-shaped cross-sectional structure and a connecting portion therebetween, wherein the lateral portion of the flexible diaphragm portion has a the flexible diaphragm portion has an upper arcuate portion and the resilient sponge portion is connected to the mounting plate by a set of flanges and a retaining strip to facilitate attachment to other portions of the diaphragm; mounted across said upper arcuate portion of a diaphragm to abut said mounting plate, said connecting portion of said diaphragm being coupled to at least one pair of flat rigid faceplates, and a plurality of wear plates being available to said faceplates; A diaphragm for a track vehicle that is fixed to and contacts an adjacent diaphragm of an adjacent track vehicle. 3. A diaphragm for a rail vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said face plate has a substantially U-shaped structure. 4. The lowermost portion of the flexible diaphragm is a horizontally disposed portion having one of its lateral portions and a connecting portion connected to a vertically extending spaced apart extension of the diaphragm portion. A diaphragm for a rail vehicle according to claim 3. 5. A diaphragm for a rail vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein said wear plate is made of a smooth plastic material and is in sliding contact with an adjacent wear plate on an adjacent diaphragm of an adjacent rail vehicle.