US2882835A - Compartment enclosure structure - Google Patents

Description

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 21, 1959 D. L. BUCHANAN COMPARTMEN': ENcLosURE Filed Jan. 5, 1955 David LBLLchcmdm April 2l, 1959 D. l.. BUCHANAN COMPARTMENT ENcLosURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 3, 1955 YUnited States Patent O COMPARTMENT EN CLOSURE STRUCTURE David L. Buchanan, Whitemarsh, Pa., assigner to The Budd Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of. Pennsylvania Application January 3, 1955, Serial'No. 479,548

[12 Claims. (Cl. 10S-314) This invention relates to compartment enclosure walls and has for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

In certain elds, such lfor example asr vehicler compartments, `there are a number of partitions which separate the compartments and which in many casesV are very irregular in shape. Forexample, the compartments shown in the copending application yof Goodrich K. Murphy, Serial No. 343,870, tiled March 23, 1953, now Patent 2,808,787, Oct. 8, 1957, have very irregular partition walls resulting from the provision of high passenger capacity within small cubic space within a car.

The walls of these compartments are formed to provide rounded edges and corners at all places Where an occupant would be likely to strike, both for safety and for attractive appearance.

Such enclosure walls are now made. of steel. This is very difficult and expensive to fabricate, particularly in smalllots, and there isnot often enough quantity demand to justify the great expense which would be required to.

provide production .dieszof this very large size.

According to the-present invention it. is possible to form plastic partitions at relativelysmall expense. Once a mold or matrix is formed with all of the irregularities and rounded corners that are required, -it is easy to make as many units on it as may be desired.

When steel is used the walls between` compartments are commonly made of one thickness. Partitions thus made allow sounds to pass through easily unless a design can be worked out to place closets and other hollow appurtenances on the partition wall, and this is almost un feasible because of the very severe space limitations-which prevail with high-capacity accommodations.

According to the present invention it is feasible to have double thickness walls with insulation betweenthicknesses in cost competition with. single thickness steel walls even on a quantity production basis and withk little. more thickness than single steel walls.

Smooth interior surfaces are desirable for all compartments. Steel provides this in either single or double walls but in double walls the inner smooth surface is an unavoidable though unused item of. expense.

According to the present invention the inner surfaces are. rough, the better to hold insulation between them and to, aid in dissipating sound through the partition.,

Furthermore, steel walls, even when coated thickly with paint, are cold and uncomfortable in allunheated regions andV attimes overly hot in heated regions. The walls provided by thepresent invention are more comfortable to the touch than steel walls.

Accordingly, vit is anY object of. the invention to provide double plastic wallsV capable of easily assuming very irregular shapeswith rounded corners.

Another objectis toprov-ide double thickness walls .with insulation ybetween layers.

Another object is to `providecompartment,walls wherein a single part provides an entire end or partition wall element and part of the side or enclosing wall elements.

- ICC vAnother object is to provide formed plastic walls which substantially completely enclose a compartment and only need securement to the basic structure of the vehicle in order to .form a number of complete compartments.

Another object is to provide vplastic compartment walls which carry various appurtenances and iixtures together with Wiring, .piping and other connections sopas tofgreatly reduce the cost of linishing the interior ,of the compartment'after the Walls have been assembled. v

The-above and other objects and'advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, reference being made to the'accompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

Fig. l isran interior perspective view of a group of compartments formed by enclosure means of thepresent Vinvention, all appurtenances being shown installed;

Fig.Y 2 is an interior perspective view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the compartments without the appurtenances;

Fig. 3 is a. ver-tical longitudinal section taken near the aisle or inner side of the compartments shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a` vertical longitudinal section taken near the window or-outer side of, thecOmpartmentS; l

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the units forming 'one partition wall and part of the adjacent longitudinal walls;

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the units forming another partition wall and part of the adjacent longitudinal walls; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of parts showny in broken lines in Fig.. 4 to show one method of applying heat and sound insulating and rigidifying material Abetween the spaced walls at a partition.

The-enclosure walls provided by the present invention are adapted to be used in forming ycompartments A and B of a railway sleeping car 10. The compartments are separated by longitudinally spaced transverse partitions 25 and 26, each of very irregular shape. The car includes the usual strength structure, as of steel, comprised of floor beams 11, side Wall 12, roof 13, and floor 14. Av longitudinal floorrail plate 15 is provided where the aisle Wall 16 is later to be located and a longitudinal roof rail 17 is providedabove the rail plate y15 for anchoring the upper end of the aisle wall. Windows 18 and pipes with a base guard 19 can be installed before the present partitions are installed. The inside window trim is not installed until later. An aisle ceiling 20 having recesses 20a at the upper compartment doors is installed later.

Within each compartment there is later installed a folding seat S, atoilet T, a washbasin W, a baggage rack BR,l and folding bed frame parts FB. The seats and bed parts are on the window side and the toilet and basin are on the aisle side. The bed parts of a lower compartment A are hinged on the partition Walls to swing out and together form a full-length bed at a lower level, and the bed parts of an upper compar-tment B are hinged on the partition walls to swing` out. and form a full-length bed at an upper level. There will be light xtures and other equipment but it is not necessary to show all such equipmenty to illustrate the principles of the present invention.

`The bed parts require alcoves at each end of a compartment and these alcoves produce projections or boots in the adjacent compartment space. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, there are bed alcoves BA-l and BA-Z in the lower compartment or room A and bed alcoves BA-3 and BA-4 inthe upper compartment or room B. As showninV Fig. 3, there are other recesses andcorresponding projections inthe partition walls, one of these being a, baggage alcove BA5 for room B. The corresponding projections. or boots` will be referred to as P1', P2', P3, P4, P5, etc. It is to be noted that all projections have smooth rounded edges and corners for good appearance and safety. It is the provision of these irregular shapes with smooth rounded outlines which makes the fabrication of these parts from sheet metal so expensive. In automobile manufacture where unit parts are much smaller, of lighter gauge sheet, and made in great numbers, it isfeasible to produce such parts by die stamping presses, but the present situation is dilerent in all the enumerated and other respects.

As shown in Figs. and 6, the enclosure means needed to form the illustrated two compartments in continuous series of groups comprise four basic parts or forms F-l, F-Z, F-3 and F-4 which include transverse irregular partition wall portions or elements F-la, F-Za, etc. and longitudinal side wall portions or elements F-lb, F-Zb, etc. The longitudinal elements may be said to be similar to a peripheral ilange formed on the transverse portion. The parts F-l and F4 define much of the interior of a lower compartment A while the parts F2 and F-3 define much of the interior of an upper compartment B. The transverse portions a of parts F--l` and F-Z nest together to form the transverse partition wall 25 between the rear of a compartment A and the front of a compartment B; and the transverse portions of parts F-Z and F-3 nest together to form the transverse partition 26 between the rear of a compartment B and the front of a compartment A.

The enclosure forms or shells Fk-1, F-2, F-3 and F-4 are preferably made of plastic material, such for example as liber glass sheeting and a plastic bonding agent laid up on molds and allowed to harden. All desired reinforcements, anchorages, wiring, piping, ttings and the like are introduced as the material is being laid up on the molds. The interior portions of the forms which engage the smooth surfaces of the molds are left smooth, making smooth interior surfaces for the compartments, and the rear surfaces of the forms are left rough.

The outer portions of the lianges b are sufficiently long to meet or almost meet in a room, and Where they meet they may be telescoped as shown at bl in Figs. 3 and 4. At the aisle side the ange portions are shorter to leave an opening for a sliding door unit. The cut-out portions for the door units are designated as d. A cut-v out e is provided for a basin and a` cut-out f provides piping access for the toilet.

Reinforced ledges g are provided for the baggage rack BR and reinforced ledges h are provided for the iioor 27 of the upper compartments B. Intermediately, if desired, the oor may be supported on the floor beams.

At the bottom the forms are provided with flanges k for supporting the iioor 28 of the lower compartments A. At the outer side a bottom ange m is provided. The lower edges of the forms rest on the car structure at various points and the oor 28 is secured to floor supports as well as being partly carried by the anges k. g

In assembling, the forms on each side of the aisle are placed in succession starting from one end; and since the forms are too large to pass through the final door, one end of the car is left open suflciently to allow the forms to be brought in.

The forms lit in a certain relationship to the windows and body of the car and have enough latitude to t to provide for accurate location where they are fastened.

They are fastened at a number of places, as required. The meeting intermediate joint is covered by a decorative strip 24, as of stainless steel, chrome-plated metal, plastic, or the like. This strip, with a gap at the window, reaches from the heater guard, over the ceiling, and down to the top of the aisle door, as shown in Fig. 1. On the aisle side the adjacent nested forms are connected by strips 29.

The adjacent nested portions are spaced apart by a sufficient distance to take sound and heat insulation 31, as shown especially in Figs. 3 and 4. This insulation may be applied as the parts are being assembled or may be introduced after they have been assembled.

According to the first method, a layer of compressible material, such for example as glass wool, is adherently secured to one form or shell and then the other form or shell is pushed up toward the rst to compress the insulation. The second form or shell is coated with adhesive before it is pushed into position to hold the insulation rmly in place.

According to the second method, as shown by Fig. 7, the parts are first provided with a peripheral retainer or dam 32 and are assembled and secured. Then insulation is blown into the confined space through openings which are incidentally present. One very successful method is to blow a foaming plastic mixture in by a pressure gun G. This plastic rmly adheres to the inner wall surfaces and is relatively rigid when cured so that it greatly rigidiiies the walls. The outer and aisle wall spaces may likewise be filled with insulating material, if desired.

In any case, the rough texture of the inside faces of the plastic forms aids greatly in retaining the insulation.

As shown at the right of Fig. 1, a step assembly 33, which likewise is made as a molded plastic unit, is installed for each upper compartment after the wall forming units have been installed. It supports the front edge of the .upper floor 27.

The forms or shells F-l, F-Z, etc. are quite light, but with their irregular shape and numerous flanges and reinforcements they are very rigid. When secured to the heavycar structure and insulated they are considerably more rigid than single-thickness metal walls would be. If in any manner a break should develop at any place in a shell, it is' easy to patch the place with fresh plastic without removing the shell.

It is to be noted that the shells are supported only at fairly widely spaced points on the car strength structure, hence any car weave, of which there is but little, is allowed to spread for a considerable distance before reaching another point of rigid attachment which might have relative weave with respect to other points of securement, and consequently the danger of cracking the shells lin service is practically eliminated. The shells are relatively exible unless bent sharply and are resistant to breakage except for heavy sudden blows over a small area, hence they are not subject to injury by any normal usage.

The forms or shells are generally cup-shaped in that they comprise a bottom or base portion, which forms one end or transverse wall of a compartment, and peripheral sides extending in one direction from the bottom and in general parallelism to form the sides of a compartment. The compartment space is thus defined by the smoothsurfaced interior portions of two facing cup-shaped shells. An adjacent compartment is similarly formed of two facing cupshaped shells. Intermediately the shells mate back-to-back or bottom-to-bottom, with space. between and with roughened surfaces to hold insulation, to form the transverse partition Walls. While the shells here shown are of very irregular shape, to illustrate their versatility in forming irregular compartment spaces, it is to be understood that the principles are equally applicable where the compartment shape is more regular.

It is thus seen that the invention provides an improved enclosure construction and an improved method of forming it. While one embodiment of the invention has been described by way of illustration, it is to be understood that there may be various embodiments and modiications within the general scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A compartment enclosure structure of a railway car having a floor, side walls, roof, and center aisle, comprising in combination, two facing integral open-ended generally cup-shaped shell units forming between them a compartment enclosure, each shell unit comprising a bottom portion which forms a transverse end wall of the compartment enclosure and side portions extending in one direction in general parallelism around the periphery of the bottom portion to form side walls for the enclosure,

structural means of the car side wall outside said shell units for supporting them in assembled position, and means for securing said shall units to said supporting structural means in position to define the compartment enclosure between them, at least some of the side portions of the shell units extending into closely abutting relationship at their adjacent end edges, and the inner and outer side portions defining a door and a window respectively between them.

2. A compartment enclosure structure of a railway car having a oor, side walls, roof, and center aisle for forming a series of compartments in a line, comprising a plurality of integral open-ended generally cup-shaped shell units each comprising a bottom which forms a transverse end wall of a compartment enclosure and sides extending in general parallelism in one direction around the periphery from said bottom, supporting structure outside said shells and comprising the car side walls, said shell units being assembled alternately open-end-to-openend and back-to-back to dene successive compartments and double partition walls therebetween, and means for securing said shell units as thus assembled to said supporting structure, at least some of the side portions of facing shell units extending into closely abutting relaouter side portions defining a door and a window respectively between them.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,116,351 Evans Nov. 3, 1914 1,554,180 Trader Sept. 15, 1925 2,200,713 Ericson et al May 14, 1940 2,220,482 Fuller Nov. 5, 1940 2,245,318 Blank June 10, 1941 2,247,893 Sieber July l, 1941 2,287,229 Carpenter June 23, 1942 2,551,207 Ensor May l, 1951 2,583,960 Murphy Ian. 29, 1952 2,590,045 Schilf Mar. 18, 1952 2,698,973 Zeckendorf et a1 J an. 11, 1955 2,706,313 Radman Apr. 19, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES Reinforced Plastics Concepts, pp. 112 et seq. of Modern Plastics magazine for March 1952, published by Modern Plastics, Inc., N.Y., N.Y. (Copy in Scientiic Library.)

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