AU2014230813A1

AU2014230813A1 - Safety device for rail vehicles

Info

Publication number: AU2014230813A1
Application number: AU2014230813A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Silvio HOCHREUTENER; Gerald Newesely; Guillermo PEREZ GOMEZ
Original assignee: Bombardier Transportation GmbH
Current assignee: Alstom Transportation Germany GmbH
Priority date: 2013-03-15
Filing date: 2014-03-12
Publication date: 2015-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 2034-03-12
Also published as: CN105008206A; ES2622159T3; EP2969700A1; CA2901878A1; EP2969700B1; CN105008206B; RU2015144102A; AU2014230813B2; CA2901878C; WO2014140074A8; PL2969700T3; RU2643859C2; DE102013204555A1; WO2014140074A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a safety device for protecting persons, said device being arranged below the car body of a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, preferably a low-platform rail vehicle. The device comprises two functional elements which can interact with each other and which are arranged in a horizontal position and transversely to the travel path in the rest position. The invention further relates to a rail vehicle which is equipped with such a safety device and to a method for protecting persons after a vehicle impact.

Description

P13.969WO / TP-02370 1 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH Safety device for rail vehicles The invention relates to a safety device for protecting persons according to the preamble of claim 1, which is arranged below the car body of a vehicle in front of the first wheel set of a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle. The invention furthermore relates to a rail vehicle which is equipped with such a safety device, as well as a method for protecting persons after a vehicle impact. With the safety device according to the invention, it is not only prevented that an already partially run over person ends up underneath the vehicle in the direction of the wheels, but also that a person who is about to be run over is smoothly intercepted before contact with the safety device by using further measures that are connected to the activation of the safety device and, in the best case, is pushed out again from underneath the vehicle. Here, the safety device functions in several stages and is triggered by an independent triggering logic which is, however, not part of the present invention. In related industries, a plurality of safety devices are known from the hitherto existing prior art, which all, however, have the aim of alleviating or even preventing the primary impact the first instance of a pedestrian striking a vehicle - i.e. the pedestrian does not touch the vehicle structure at all. By contrast, the present invention is primarily dedicated to the prevention of further damage to a pedestrian after the secondary impact - the pedestrian coming to lie on the ground and risking being run over after impact with the vehicle and potentially the flight phase. Furthermore, from the hitherto existing prior art in the rail vehicle industry, mechanical deflection devices are known which are triggered by an appropriate mechanism by a pedestrian after a secondary impact. In most cases, these mechanisms are also installed on/underneath the front of the vehicle and trigger the actual deflector with "kinematic delay", i.e. by the distance between both mechanisms, once activation has been carried out. This means that a certain distance between the two mechanisms must necessarily be present in order to enable a useful, complete extension of the actual deflector after activation of the triggering mechanism at any vehicle speed. Such protection devices are already described in publications DE 255173 and DE 166218. This "implanted installation space" is therefore problematical in modern low-floor trams, since there is often not enough "free distance" P13.969WO / TP-02370 2 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH underneath the front. On the other hand, the shapes of modern driver cabins/fronts in the direction of travel are more and more "stylish" or the kinematic structure gauge conditions of the tram are more or less "tapered". This reduces the available installation space in terms of width. If the deflector does not protrude from the vehicle outline, the deflector therefore does not cover the maximum vehicle width. The risk therefore remains that a pedestrian can find himself in the unprotected lateral region underneath the vehicle. Furthermore, deflector mechanisms are known which are installed directly beneath the vehicle front on the vehicle undercarriage and are in permanent active operation. These deflectors may be installed as elastic constructions or may be constructed elastically on the undercarriage, having a "residual gap" to the travel path. However, this remaining residual gap that is crucial for operation represents a lack of safety with respect to small obstacles. Furthermore, airbags are known which are assembled on the vehicle front and, due to the longer stopping distances and stopping times of the tram, have to maintain internal pressure for a longer period of time. To that end, various outlet valve controls are known. Such a device is, for example, disclosed in EP 1172261 Al. In related industries, airbags are known whose activation is to catch the pedestrian in front of the vehicle front before the process of being run over. Here, a plurality of airbags types are known, which are installed on the vehicle front in order to alleviate or prevent a primary impact of the pedestrian with the vehicle front structure. Reference is made in particular here to publications DE 10233593 Al and DE 102006057655 Al. In mechanical deflector mechanisms that are brought from a rest position into an operative position by means of mechanical triggering, the "kinematic" distance of the triggering process from the complete activation is the focus of the design. This must be specifically in tune with the infrastructure. For permanently active and operative deflector mechanisms, the minimum possible "residual gap" to the travel path is to be defined in order to enable all vehicle distances with respect to vertical radii (peak or trough journeys) without overly reducing the planned mode of action as a result of too large a gap.

P13.969WO / TP-02370 3 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH The object of the present invention consists in developing a safety device which is particularly applicable for modern rail vehicles and with which it can not only be prevented that a person who has already been partially run over ends up further underneath the vehicle in the direction of the wheels, but also that the person who is about to be run over is smoothly intercepted before contact with the safety device by using further measures that are connected to the activation of the safety device and is potentially able to be pushed out again from underneath the vehicle. A further object consists in providing a rail vehicle having such a device, as well as a method for the protection of persons after a vehicle impact. The object is solved according to the invention by the features of claims 1, 9 and 10. Advantageous developments of the invention are contained in the associated dependent claims. According to this, the invention contains a safety device for the protection of persons, said device being arranged below the car body of a vehicle in front of the first wheel set of a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle. Here, the safety device comprises, according to the invention, two functional elements that are connected to each other and interact with each other, wherein a first functional element is designed as a deflector device which is arranged, in the rest position, underneath the car body in a horizontal position and transversely to the direction of travel and, after an activation, is able to be brought from the horizontal position to a vertical position, and is separated in this position from the travel path by a gap. The second functional element is fastened to the first functional element and acts as a braking device, wherein the braking device comprises a mechanical structure or airbag technology that is able to be activated for movement or propagation in the direction of travel. Provision is advantageously made for the functional element that is designed as a deflector device to be able to be folded, rotated or displaced into a horizontal position and to be installed firmly against the direction of travel on the undercarriage of the car body. According to a further feature, provision is made for the functional element that is designed as a deflector device to be able to be reset into the rest position after activation by mechanical resetting. Provision is particularly advantageously made for the mechanical structure comprising the second functional element to comprise translational mechanical technology and to be able to be brought into an end position located in the direction of the front of the vehicle by pretension, preferably by spring force, hydraulic force, pneumatic force, pyrotechnic force, electrical/electronic force or a combination of the aforementioned forces. Here, provision is furthermore made for the mechanical structure comprising the second functional element to be able to be reset from the end position to the starting position by mechanical resetting.

P13.969WO / TP-02370 4 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH According to a preferred feature of the invention, provision is made for deflector technology to be used, arranged laterally and transversely over the entire width of this functional element, whereby a lateral and frontal braking of intruding persons is able to be implemented. Here, both functional elements are advantageously able to be activated mechanically and/or electronically. Provision is particularly preferably made here for the first functional element to be able to be activated rotary-mechanically or translationally and for the activation of the mechanical structure of the second functional element to take place translationally/mechanically. According to a further preferred feature of the invention, provision is made for several airbag technologies to be used as second functional elements, which are arranged laterally and transversely over the entire width of the functional element. The invention furthermore includes a rail vehicle, in particular a low-floor vehicle, having a safety device for the protection of persons, wherein the safety device is arranged underneath the car body in front of the first wheel set of the rail vehicle and is designed in accordance with the features described above. To avoid repetition, reference is therefore made to the embodiments above. A method for the protection of persons after an impact with a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, also belongs to the scope of the invention, wherein a safety device according to the features cited above is triggered in two stages underneath the car body of the vehicle and, in a first stage, a deflector device and, in a second stage, a braking device, is activated. The invention is illustrated in greater detail below in an exemplary embodiment and the associated drawings. The following are shown: Fig. 1 a schematic depiction of the front section of a rail vehicle with a schematic depiction of the safety device in the rest position; Fig. 2 a schematic depiction of the front section of a rail vehicle with a schematic depiction of the safety device in the vertical position; Fig. 3 a schematic depiction of the front section of a rail vehicle with a schematic depiction of the safety device after its complete activation; Fig. 4a - c a perspective view of the front section of a rail vehicle having a safety device, which comprises a mechanical structure, in the individual activation stages; Fig. 5a - c a perspective view of the front section of a rail vehicle having a safety device P13.969WO / TP-02370 5 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH with airbag technology in the individual activation stages. The front section of a rail vehicle 10 having an indicated safety device 1 located in the rest position is shown in a schematic depiction in Figure 1, said device being arranged below the car body in front of the first wheel set of the rail vehicle 10. The front section of a rail vehicle with a schematic depiction of the safety device in the vertical position (activated functional element 2) is depicted in Figure 2, wherein it is clear that the safety device 1 comprises two functional elements 2, 3 that are connected to each other and interact with each other, wherein the first functional element 2 is designed as a deflector device which is arranged underneath the car body in the rest position in the horizontal position and transversely to the direction of travel and, after an activation, is able to be brought from the horizontal position to a vertical position and is spaced apart from the travel path in this position. Both functional elements 2, 3 do not physically form one unit, but rather are able to be activated independently from each other. However, they interact with each other in such a way that the second stage (functional element 3) is mechanically connected to the first stage (functional element 2), wherein the second stage is only able to be activated after an activation of the first stage. A schematic depiction of the front section of a rail vehicle with a schematic depiction of the safety device after its complete activation of both functional elements 2 and 3 is shown in Figure 3. Figures 4a - 4c and Figures 5a - 5c each show different embodiment variants of the invention, wherein, in Figures 4a - 4c, a functional element 3 is used which comprises a mechanical structure and, in Figures 5a - 5c, a functional element 3 is used which comprises airbag technology. Here, Figure 4a and Figure 5a show the rest position of the safety device. Figure 4b and Figure 5b show the activation of the functional element 2 in a first stage and Figure 4c and Figure 5c each show the complete activation of the safety device. In a first step after the triggering, the first part of the safety device 1, i.e. the first functional element 2 which is designed as a deflector device and is arranged below the car body of a rail vehicle 10 transversely to the direction of travel, is activated, i.e. is brought from its horizontal rest position into a vertical end position. This first activation can take place rotary- P13.969WO / TP-02370 6 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH mechanically or translationally. In a second step, the second functional element 3, which acts as a braking device and is fastened to the first functional element 2, is activated, wherein a mechanical structure 4 located in the vertical end position is extended in the direction of travel. This translational/mechanical measure can be implemented by several known, alternative measures. After activation of both functional elements 2, 3 of the safety device 1 ("complete activation") has been carried out, the safety device - depending on the composition of the second step - can be mechanically reset. The first part (functional element 2) of the safety device 1 is thus implemented by a measure which enters a horizontal rest position and a vertical operative position. It is located underneath the driver cabin of the rail vehicle 10, clearly before the first set of wheels, and is installed on the undercarriage. This first part may be a similar part to hitherto-known "pilots", said first part, however, being installed in the end position/"operative position" as perpendicularly to the travel path as possible, therefore is to be tuned in its height to the "gap" between the travel path and the vehicle undercarriage, and acts firmly against the direction of travel. The second part of the safety device 1 (functional element 3) is implemented by a second measure which begins to unfold in the direction of travel from the first measure with the operative position or even begins to move away "pushing forwards". The aim of this unfolding or movement is to stop or save a pedestrian who is about to be run over from contact with the first stage of the device. Said pedestrian can potentially even be pushed out from underneath the vehicle, which represents a side effect of the invention. A further advantage of the invention consists in at least the functional element 2 coming into effect if the functional element 3 fails. One potential function of the activation of the first functional element 2 can be a rotatory opening of a mechanical deflector which is brought from a horizontal rest position into a vertical end position. A further function can be a displacement from a rest position into the vertical end position. In this instance, a "residual gap" between the part to be opened or moved can arise in the end position relative to the travel path, since the main purpose of this measure does not primarily serve for the "positive fit" of the deflector with the travel path, but rather primarily the purpose of functioning as a carrier for a second stage or for a second element, as well as saving a pedestrian who has ended up underneath the vehicle from arriving underneath the bogie of the train. Ideally, the "residual gap" relative to the travel path can, however, be minimised in order to maximise the "deflection function". A second stage implements a measure operating in a horizontal plane, which serves the P13.969WO / TP-02370 7 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH purpose of not only smoothly intercepting a pedestrian who is about to be run over from the first stage, but also ideally preventing the pedestrian from being run over at all or arriving underneath the vehicle head of a rail vehicle. This second stage may be implemented by various technologies. Two technologies are emphasised below, but are only representative of various technologies. One potential design of the second stage (functional element 3) is a mechanical/translational technology in the form of a mechanical structure 4 which is installed on the first stage and is brought from the rest position into an end position by pre-tension, e.g. with spring force, hydraulic force, pneumatic force, pyrotechnic force, electrical/electronic force or a combination of all cited forces. A further design is implemented by using airbag technology 5. In this instance, this is to be triggered underneath the vehicle and it is to be triggered in the direction of travel with the aim of operating in the direction of travel and smoothly intercepting pedestrians before contact with the first stage of the safety device 1. Ideally, pedestrians who have already been partially dragged under the vehicle or are about to be run over can be pushed out again from underneath the vehicle. After complete activation, the safety device 1 can be mechanically reset to the starting position: - the first stage by mechanical resetting to the starting position; - the second stage depending on the technology used. When using a mechanical/translational system, resetting to the starting position must take place or, with airbag technology, a removal of the slackened airbag and the installation of a replacement system must take place. What are to be emphasised as further advantages of the described invention are, in particular, the simple, robust functionality of a rotary mechanical or translational mechanical functional element 2 (1st stage), as well as a reliable function of the braking mechanisms (2nd stage, functional element 3) as a result of the protected installation space on the functional element 2 in the rest position. In the event of a mechanical structure 4 being used as the 2nd stage, the braking is achieved by purely mechanical means, e.g. by means of spring force, hydraulic force, pneumatic force, pyrotechnic force, electrical/electronic force or a combination thereof. This design is not only to be considered as being particularly simple, but also reversible and therefore easy to reset. In the event of airbag technology 5 being used as the 2nd stage, due to the specific P13.969WO / TP-02370 8 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH arrangement of the airbag to the left and right of the functional element 2 (1 st stage), the airbag inflates in the horizontal direction and thus prevents the frontal or potential lateral intrusion of a pedestrian. The triggering of both stages can take place both mechanically and electronically. In the event of electronic activation, an airbag could also assume the function of the opening mechanism and would, in this function, be an additional first upstream braking mechanism.

Claims

1. Safety device (1) for protecting persons, which is arranged below the car body in front of the first wheel set of a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle (10), characterised in that this comprises two functional elements (2, 3) that are connected to each other and interact with each other, wherein - the first functional element (2) is designed as a deflector device which is arranged underneath the car body in the rest position in a horizontal position and transversely to the direction of travel, and, after an activation, is able to be brought from the horizontal position into a vertical position and is separated from the travel path in this position, - the second functional element (3) is fastened to the first functional element (2) and acts as a braking device, wherein the braking device comprises a mechanical structure (4) or at least one airbag technology (5), which are able to be activated for movement or propagation in the direction of travel.

2. Safety device (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the functional element (2) that is designed as a deflector device is able to be folded, rotated or displaced from the horizontal position into a vertical position and is actively installed firmly against the direction of travel on the undercarriage of the car body.

3. Safety device (1) according to claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the functional element (2) that is designed as a deflector device is able to be reset to the rest position after activation by mechanical resetting.

4. Safety device (1) according to claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the mechanical structure (4) comprising the second functional element (3) comprises translational mechanical technology and is able to be brought into an end position located in the direction of the front of the vehicle by pretension, preferably by spring force, hydraulic force, pneumatic force, pyrotechnic force, electrical/electronic force or a combination of the aforementioned forces. P1 3.969WO / TP-02370 10 12. March 2014 Bombardier Transportation GmbH

5. Safety device (1) according to claim 4, characterised in that the mechanical structure (4) comprising the second functional element (3) is able to be reset from the end position to the starting position by mechanical resetting.

6. Safety device (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one airbag technology (5) is arranged laterally and transversely over the entire width of the functional element (2), whereby a lateral and frontal braking of intruding persons is able to be implemented.

7. Safety device (1) according to one of the aforementioned claims, characterised in that both functional elements (2, 3) are mechanically and/or electronically activatable.

8. Safety device (1) according to claim 7, characterised in that the functional element (2) is able to be activated rotary-mechanically or translationally and the activation of the mechanical structure (4) of the functional element (3) takes place translational ly/mechanical ly.

9. Rail vehicle, in particular a low-floor vehicle, having a safety device (1) for protecting persons, wherein the safety device (1) is arranged below the car body before the first wheel set of the rail vehicle (10), characterised in that the safety device (1) is designed according to the features of claims 1 to 8.

10. Method for the protection of persons after an impact with a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, characterised in that a safety device (1) according to the features of claims 1 to 8 is provided below the car body of the vehicle, said device being triggered in two stages, wherein, in a first stage, a deflector device and, in a second stage, a braking device, is activated.