CA2397859A1

CA2397859A1 - Inflatable sealing system for railway cars

Info

Publication number: CA2397859A1
Application number: CA 2397859
Authority: CA
Inventors: Daniel Vandenberghe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-08-08
Filing date: 2002-08-08
Publication date: 2004-02-08

Description

INFLATABLE S>fALING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS
The present invention relates to a diaphragm assembly for vehicular cars such as railroad cars.
It is known in the art that the spar between adjacent railroad cars be enclosed to prevent movement of passengers and crew fi~om one car to another. In order to do so, it is being proposed in the art to use diaphragms which are attached to the ends of the adjacent cats and the diaphragms are then mated to each other to protect the space between the adjacent railroad cars from weather end noise while permitting the movement of passengers aced crew therethrough. In the past, many fairly large expensive structures have been used as die diaphragms must not only seal and enclose the space, but also must be capable of absorbing the forces encountered by a moving train which includes navigating curves.
One particular type of structure which is known in the art is a system such as shown in U.S. Patent 4,599,947. In this system, each adjacent railroad car is provided with reinfotr.~ molded rubber material which surrounds the door of the railroad car. On one end, the rubber is attached to a plate mounted on the railroad car and at the other end is attached to face plates. The face plates of adjacent cars carry wear plates which abut each other when the cars are coupled. Step plates are provided such that passengers may walls when passing thmugh the diaphragm enclosure from one car to another.
It is also known in the art to provide a diaphragm which can be inflated.
While such an arrangement provides a desired continuity between the two diaphragms, it becomes a rather expensive solution. Thus, the inflation pressure must be controlled depending upon factors such as temperature which, as the temperatures increased, would elevate the pressure within the bellows. Accordingly, one must have relatively sophisticated control mechanisms to ensure suitable mechanical, electrical and pneumatic connections. Generally, the air pressia~e within is computer controlled and compressors must be provided.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a diaphragm assembly suitable for use with vehicular cars which are connected to each other and which diaphragm assembly is relatively inexpensive while providing a weatherproof secure sealing between adjacent cars.
According to the present invention, there is provided an outer diaphragm member extending about the door of a railroad car while there is provided an inner bladder, the inner bladder being inflatable. The inner bladdez is formed of an expandable material and is sized to be smaller in at least one dimension than the dimension of the outer diaphragm. This permits expansion of the bladder as the temperature increases to ensure that there is not too much of a pressure variance in the bladder and hence a relatively small change for the diaphragm.
Having thus gena~aUy described the invention, refe~reenacx will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof, in which:
Figure 1 is a partial sectional view through a diaphragm assembly used in connecting the ends of adjacent vehicles.
Referring to the drawings in gt~eater detail and by reference characters thereto, the diaphragm stricture, which is generally desiby reference numeral 10, includes an outer diaphragm defined by outer walls 12 and inner walls 14. The diaphragm structure is essentially that of a tube such as is known in the prior art and as previously mentioned,

-2-is shown in U.S. Patent 4,599,94?. At the lower end, there is provided a bottom plate generally designated by reference nwneral 22.
Placed intermediate of diaphragm walls 12 and 14 is an inner bladder 16. As may be seen, inner bladder 16 has portions generally designated by reference numeral 18 which are not expanded outwardly at normal operating pressure. However, when the pressure increases due to increased temperattuc, the recessed portions 18 allow for the increased volume of air without increasing the pressure within bladder 16.
Similarly, when fully inflated and under cold conditions, the bladder 16 returns to the position shown in Figure 1 while still maintaining portions inffat~ed to contact an outer diaphragm 10.
In conjunction with the about, or as an alternative thereto, and as may be sees in Figure 1, there may be provided a space 20 at either end of bladder 16, Space 20 allows for the longitudinal expansion of bladder 16 for the reasons mentioned above.
It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and that c6angeg and modifications may be made thereto without dep~arang from the spirit and scope of the invention.

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