U.S. patent application number 14/420418 was filed with the patent office on 2015-07-23 for single-shell floor profile for a rail vehicle.
The applicant listed for this patent is SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT. Invention is credited to Wolfgang Langert, Hans Stiedl.
Application Number | 20150203131 14/420418 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48803547 |
Filed Date | 2015-07-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150203131 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Langert; Wolfgang ; et
al. |
July 23, 2015 |
SINGLE-SHELL FLOOR PROFILE FOR A RAIL VEHICLE
Abstract
A single-shell floor profile for a rail vehicle includes a floor
plate and at least one reinforcing element, in which the
reinforcing element runs parallel to the longitudinal axis of the
vehicle and forms a hollow chamber profile with the floor
plate.
Inventors: |
Langert; Wolfgang;
(Hamminkeln, DE) ; Stiedl; Hans; (Rheinberg,
DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT |
MUENCHEN |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
48803547 |
Appl. No.: |
14/420418 |
Filed: |
July 18, 2013 |
PCT Filed: |
July 18, 2013 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2013/065164 |
371 Date: |
February 9, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
105/422 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61D 17/10 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B61D 17/10 20060101
B61D017/10 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 9, 2012 |
DE |
10 2012 214 153.7 |
Claims
1-10. (canceled)
11. A single-shell floor profile for a rail vehicle having a
longitudinal axis, the floor profile comprising: a floor plate; and
at least one reinforcement element extending parallel to the
longitudinal axis of the vehicle and forming a hollow-chamber
profile with said floor plate.
12. The floor profile according to claim 11, wherein said
hollow-chamber profile formed by said floor plate and said at least
one reinforcement element has a rectangular, trapezoidal or
triangular cross-section.
13. The floor profile according to claim 11, wherein said at least
one reinforcement element has a fixing element for directly or
indirectly assembling at least one of units or system components of
the rail vehicle under said floor plate.
14. The floor profile according to claim 13, wherein said fixing
element is configured to fix a cable duct.
15. The floor profile according to claim 11, wherein said floor
plate has a fixing element facing in a direction of a track
bed.
16. The floor profile according to claim 11, wherein said at least
one reinforcement element is at least two reinforcement elements
associated with said floor profile.
17. The floor profile according to claim 16, wherein said floor
plate has reinforcement ribs.
18. The floor profile according to claim 17, wherein said
reinforcement ribs are disposed at least in a region between said
at least two reinforcement elements.
19. The floor profile according to claim 16, which further
comprises a closure plate disposed between said at least two
reinforcement elements and forming a space being suitable for
guiding air between said at least two reinforcement elements.
20. A rail vehicle, comprising: a bogie; and a floor profile
according to claim 11 disposed at least in a region of said bogie.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a single-shell floor
profile for a rail vehicle. In particular, the present invention
relates to a floor profile, which has a floor plate and at least
one reinforcement element, wherein the reinforcement element
extends parallel with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and
forms a hollow-chamber profile with the floor plate.
PRIOR ART
[0002] Rail vehicles form complex multi-component systems whose
material composition and structural configuration are limited by a
large number of very different peripheral conditions. For instance,
particularly the demands which are made in the field of rail
vehicle construction with regard to safety, reliability,
functionality and not least also the economic viability of the
technical implementation constitute a complex challenge, which in
other fields of vehicle construction of this type may not be
encountered at all or may be encountered only in a reduced
form.
[0003] Previously in the construction of floors in rail vehicles,
there were used hollow-chamber profiles which have a significant
construction height over the entire vehicle width of the rail
vehicle shell. In particular in the region of the bogies of rail
vehicles, the entire structural space available was thus occupied
by the structural height of the floor profiles.
[0004] A bogie is a drive mechanism of a rail vehicle in which two
or more sets of wheels are resiliently supported in a frame which
can turn with respect to the carriage chassis on bends. This
so-called dual turntable steering enables the construction of
longer vehicles or line laying of the rails with a tighter radius
of curvature.
[0005] Modern bogies in this instance have dual spring-mounting. On
the one hand, the wheel sets are spring-mounted by means of the
so-called primary spring-mounting with respect to the bogie frame.
On the other hand, the bogie is spring-mounted by means of a cradle
in the region of the bogie pivot which forms the connection between
the carriage body and the bogie with respect to the carriage body
of the rail vehicle by means of the so-called secondary
spring-mounting.
[0006] The spring-mounting of the bogie with respect to the
carriage body by the secondary spring-mounting in this instance
improves the travel comfort of the rail vehicle. At high speed, the
rigidity of the primary spring-mounting and the damping of the
rotary movement by means of so-called rolling dampers becomes
highly significant for the stability of the sine run of the wheel
sets.
[0007] A sine run occurs with wheel/rail systems having conically
profiled and rigidly coupled wheels in which the wheel profile
tapers outward. On bends, the wheel which is outwardly displaced
travels with a larger periphery on the rail than the wheel which is
offset toward the track center. This remains recessed with respect
to the outer wheel so that the axle steers into the bend. A sine
run occurs in the event of a deviation of the rail guide from the
ideal line which is overcompensated by the wheel profiling and thus
leads to a rolling movement. This movement is at small amplitudes
sinusoidal with a constant wavelength, the frequency increasing
with the travel speed. At high speeds, additional dynamic forces
occur and may occur to the extent of zig-zag travel with an
abutment of the wheel flanges of the wheel sets on the rails so
that measures for damping have to be taken in order to prevent
excessive wear and significant impairments of comfort. It is
therefore necessary in the region of the bogies to provide
corresponding damping and spring-mounting components.
[0008] However, these require sufficiently free structural space,
both for the installation thereof and for the maintenance
thereof.
[0009] Furthermore, in the region of the bogies, there are also the
drive motors of modern rail vehicles, which in turn take up a
corresponding amount of structural space.
[0010] The control and supply lines which are intended to be guided
through the region of the bogies are currently either guided
through the hollow-chamber profile or laid in cable ducts which are
mounted separately below the hollow-chamber profile, whereby the
free structural space available is, however, significantly further
reduced. Laying the supply and control lines through the
hollow-chamber profile is in this instance extremely complicated in
terms of assembly and very time-consuming since in this instance
care has to be taken that the hollow-chamber profiles in which the
lines are intended to be laid are free from any occurrences of
contamination, such as, for example, welding defects, in order to
prevent damage to the lines during assembly or during operation of
the rail vehicle.
[0011] An object of the present invention is therefore to provide
sufficient free structural space for assembling modern drive and
spring-mounting systems in the region of bogies of rail
vehicles.
[0012] This object is achieved according to claim 1. Specific
embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent
claims.
[0013] To this end, there is provided according to the invention a
floor profile, which has a floor plate and at least one
reinforcement element, wherein the reinforcement element extends
parallel with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and forms a
hollow-chamber profile with the floor plate.
[0014] In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, consequently,
there is proposed a floor profile which has a substantially reduced
structural height with respect to the previously used
hollow-chamber profiles at least in the region of the bogies of a
rail vehicle, and consequently provides more free structural space
for the components which are intended to be provided in the
underfloor region of the rail vehicle.
[0015] The floor plate has in this instance localized
reinforcements for transmitting the longitudinal forces which
occur. In particular, there may be provision for the hollow-chamber
profile in the region of the cross-section center of the rail
vehicle to have at least one reinforcement element in order to take
up the coupling forces which occur in the rail vehicle and to be
able to reliably discharge them.
[0016] The remaining structural space under the floor plate, in
particular in the edge region of the cross-section of the rail
vehicle, is available as free assembly space, within which supply
and control lines can be guided in cable ducts, without this
leading to an increase in the entire structural height of the
floor.
[0017] This simplifies the assembly of control and supply lines in
this region since these no longer have to be laid through the
chambers of the hollow-chamber profile in order to be able to
dispense with the assembly of cable ducts which are mounted below
the hollow-chamber profile to the benefit of the assembly space. A
time-consuming and costly endoscopic examination of the
hollow-chamber profiles is thereby prevented. Cables and pipes may
be prefabricated and laid in cable ducts which are secured in the
region of the tapered hollow-chamber profile. This enables pipe and
cable guiding within the structural space height of the originally
used hollow-chamber profiles with at the same time easy
accessibility and thereby a high level of ease of assembly.
[0018] The hollow-chamber profile formed by the floor plate and the
reinforcement element may have a rectangular, trapezoidal or
triangular cross-section. It is particularly preferable for the
floor plate and the reinforcement element to form a hollow-chamber
profile having a rectangular cross-section.
[0019] The reinforcement element is preferably connected to the
floor plate in a materially engaging manner. To this end, there may
be provision for the floor plate and the reinforcement element to
be provided as separate components which are then joined together
by means of suitable joining methods, such as, for example,
welding, before the floor plate is inserted into the shell of the
rail vehicle.
[0020] There may also be provision for the reinforcement element to
be joined directly to the floor plate or a part-segment of the
floor plate, for example, by the floor plate profile being provided
as an extruded profile.
[0021] In an embodiment of the invention, the floor plate profile
may comprise at least two segments which are connected to each
other in a materially engaging manner or positive-locking manner.
For positive-locking connection, there may be provision for the
individual segments to have in the joining region, for example,
tongue and groove profiles, by means of which the segments can be
connected to each other.
[0022] According to an embodiment of the floor profile according to
the invention, there is provision for the reinforcement element to
have a fixing element for directly or indirectly assembling units
and/or system components of the rail vehicle under the floor.
[0023] The term "directly assembling" is intended to be understood
in the context of the invention to mean that the unit or the system
component is not fixed directly to the fixing element but instead
retention and/or carrier elements are fixed to the fixing element,
to which elements the units or system components can in turn be
fixed.
[0024] The term "units" is intended to be understood in the context
of the invention to be operationally technical devices of the rail
system, such as, for example, components of the compressed air
system, heating system, drive system and/or braking system, and
components of the sanitary supply and disposal systems. The term
"system components" is intended to be understood in the context of
the invention to be, for example, control lines, signal lines,
compressed air lines and supply/disposal lines.
[0025] According to another embodiment of the invention, there is
provision for the floor plate to have a fixing element in the
direction of the track bed. That fixing element may also be used
for directly or indirectly assembling units and/or system
components of the rail vehicle under the floor.
[0026] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is
provision for a cable duct to be able to be fixed under the floor
plate by means of a fixing element of a reinforcement element and a
fixing element of the floor plate, by means of which cable duct
control lines, signal lines, compressed air lines and/or
supply/disposal lines can readily be laid along the longitudinal
axis of the rail vehicle.
[0027] In another embodiment of the invention, there is provision
for the floor profile to have at least two reinforcement elements.
In this instance, the reinforcement elements may in particular be
arranged so as to be symmetrically spaced apart from the
longitudinal center axis of the rail vehicle body. This has the
advantage that, in the region of the highest action of force,
sufficient capacity is provided to absorb the tensile and pressure
forces which occur and the forces can be redirected into the
remaining shell structure.
[0028] In another embodiment of the invention, there is provision
for the floor profile to be positioned on longitudinal carriers of
the rail vehicle shell and to be able to be connected thereto in a
materially engaging or non-positive-locking/positive-locking
manner. In this instance, a releasable
non-positive-locking/positive-locking connection of the profile to
the longitudinal carriers is particularly preferred since improved
accessibility to the underfloor region, in particular to the
bogies, can thus be achieved in the event of maintenance.
[0029] According to another embodiment of the invention, there is
provision for the floor plate to have reinforcement ribs. The
reinforcement ribs may extend both in the longitudinal direction
and in the transverse direction of the rail vehicle body and
increase the torsional rigidity of the floor profile in the
direction of extent thereof, respectively. The reinforcement ribs
may be joined to the floor plate by means of, for example, welding,
or already be produced as a shaped element in the case of extruded
floor plates during production of a floor plate segment.
[0030] In another embodiment of a floor profile according to the
invention, there is provision for a closure plate to be arranged
between at least two reinforcement elements in such a manner that
there is formed between the reinforcement elements a space which is
suitable for guiding air. That air-guiding space can advantageously
be used to supply cooling air to the drive motors which are mounted
in the bogies. In this instance, there may be provision for the
closure plate to have a support element, with which it can be
supported with respect to the floor plate in the region between the
reinforcement elements in order to reduce or eliminate the
occurrence of vibrations of the closure plate during running
operation.
[0031] Furthermore, the invention proposes a rail vehicle which has
a floor profile according to the invention as described above at
least in the region of a bogie.
[0032] The invention is explained in greater detail below with
reference to Figures, in which:
[0033] FIG. 1 shows the embodiment of a vehicle floor according to
the prior art;
[0034] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a floor profile according to
the invention for a rail vehicle; and
[0035] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a floor profile according
to the invention for a rail vehicle.
[0036] FIG. 1 shows the embodiment of a vehicle floor 800 above a
bogie according to the current prior art. The floor is constructed
as a hollow-chamber profile 801. The hollow chambers 802 have to be
endoscopically examined prior to the introduction of the lines in
order to identify and where applicable to remove from within the
hollow chambers 802 any occurrences of contamination which could
during operation of the rail vehicle lead to damage to lines guided
inside the hollow-chamber profile 801. Alternatively, any control
and supply lines are guided through cable ducts 803, which have to
be assembled below the hollow-chamber profile 801. This
significantly limits the free structural space in particular in the
region of the bogies.
[0037] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment according to the invention of a
floor profile 100 for a rail vehicle. The single-shell floor
profile 100 for a rail vehicle has a floor plate 110 and at least
one reinforcement element 120. The reinforcement element 120
extends parallel with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and
forms with the floor plate 120 a hollow-chamber profile 130. In the
embodiment shown, the floor plate 110 has reinforcement ribs 111.
The reinforcement ribs 111 may extend both in the direction of the
longitudinal axis of the vehicle and transversely relative to the
longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The floor profile preferably has
at least two reinforcement elements 120, 121, the reinforcement
ribs 111 being arranged at least in the region between the at least
two reinforcement elements 120, 121. The reinforcement element 120
has a fixing element 140 for directly or indirectly assembling
units and/or system components of the rail vehicle under the floor.
The floor plate 110 also has in the direction of the track bed a
fixing element 150 which may be used for directly or indirectly
assembling units and/or system components of the rail vehicle under
the floor. The floor profile 100 is positioned on longitudinal
carriers 700 of the vehicle shell and is connected thereto in such
a manner that the longitudinal forces produced can be dissipated
adequately into the longitudinal carriers 700.
[0038] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a floor profile 100
according to the invention for a rail vehicle. Curved retention
members 201, 202 are fixed to the fixing elements 140, 150 by means
of suitable securing screws/bolts 151, 151. The curved retention
members 201, 202 retain a cable duct 200, through which system
components, such as, for example, control lines, signal lines,
compressed air lines or supply/disposal lines can be directed. A
closure plate 220 is arranged between the two reinforcement
elements 120, 121 in such a manner that a space 210 suitable for
guiding air is formed between the reinforcement elements. The
closure plate 220 has a support element 221, via which the closure
plate 220 is supported with respect to the floor plate 110 in order
to damp oscillations and vibrations of the closure plate 220 during
running operation.
* * * * *