Sectional support

The present invention refers to a sectional support for applications on a railway transport vehicle on which at least one operational device can be disposed to communicate an emergency braking action, in particular to a drive compartment.

Generally, an emergency braking on trains is performed by means of mechanical actuators which generate a vacuum inside the conduits of the braking system.

Actually, trains braking has been, since the origin of the modern system, of pneumatic pressure-operated type. Such braking system consists of a main conduit which is kept at a pressure of 5 bar with the aid of a main reservoir.

Normally, it is the engine driver who, by the brake control, starts a breather action with consequent vacuum, as necessary for the braking, within the main conduit.

Under exceptional circumstances, the braking can be started by a passenger by pulling the handle of the "emergency brake".

Both operating members cause such a vacuum in the main conduit as to be able to actuate all the braking facilities (usually including the combination of shoes/drum or pads/disk) of the individual vehicles.

These solutions are greatly reliable inasmuch as, in an emergency case, when the passenger pulls the handle of the emergency brake, a vacuum is immediately produced within the main conduit along with an instantaneous intervention of the individual braking facilities.

It is also known that, onboard of trains, there is the need of installing devices of various nature which allow the control of the train by the personnel in charge, or the communication between the latter and the users.

As a consequence, an audio-visual communication is to be established as necessary between the personnel in charge of the train and the passengers.

The known solutions exhibit, however, some drawbacks.

A first drawback is due to the fact that - especially on last generation high-speed trains - an undue braking is likely to cause serious injuries to the passengers, as well as damages to the train's mechanical equipment and railway infrastructure.

A second drawback is that the emergency brake control, which is directly connected to the main conduit, does not allow any preventive check by the personnel in charge of the train.

In fact, regardless of the actual, more or less emergency situation, once the emergency lever brake has been acted upon, it not possible, not even by the train personnel, to interrupt the braking.

The object of the present invention is therefore to eliminate these drawbacks by providing a sectional support for train braking, which allows a preventive audio-visual control by the train personnel of the actual emergency condition.

The technical characteristics of the invention, according to the above objects, are clearly disclosed in the claims herein attached, and the advantages of same invention will result more evident by a reading of the detailed description that follows with reference to the accompanying drawings which show one exemplary and not limiting embodiment thereof, wherein:

• Fig. 1 shows a sectional support according to the present invention;
• Fig. 2 shows the sectional support of Fig. 1 mounted on a railway vehicle;
• Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a handle for activating an emergency braking;
• Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of a handle for operating the opening/closing of the doors of a railway vehicle; and
• Fig. 5 shows a wall of a railway vehicle provided with a sectional support according to the invention.

Described here below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, is a sectional support 1 for housing at least one safety and/or communication device 2 onboard of a railway vehicle.

The sectional support 1 comprises, in its more essential form, a modular seat 3, disposed in a first compartment 6 of the railway vehicle and provided with a plurality of fastening means 4, preferably equally spaced apart, for receiving at least one device 2.

Advantageously, the seat 3 is a modular column made up of a straight bar having a hollow, substantially C-shaped cross-section.

The devices 2 are fixed on the seat 3 by means 4 such as, for example, screws, bands, rivets or any other type of removable connection means.

The support 1 also comprises at least one interface 8 for connecting the devices 2 to a control unit 9 disposed, preferably, in a second, drive compartment 7 of the railway vehicle.

The interface 8 fulfils the purpose of transmitting signals relevant to the safety or to the communication between the first compartment 6 and the second drive compartment 7.

Advantageously, the first compartment 6 is inside the vestibule of a passenger coach 10, whereas the second compartment 7 is inside the cabin for driving the locomotive 11.

The devices 2 can fulfil different functions.

A first application of these devices 2 may be the activation of the emergency braking by means of the handle 12 operatively associated with a signalling device 16, of acoustic or optical type for example, advantageously located inside the second drive compartment 7 or, anyway, of a type which is audible/visible by the train personnel.

In operation, any actuation of the handle activates the interface 8 which, in turn, transmits the signal to the second compartment (e.g., within the cabin), thereby allowing the operator to intervene.

Similarly, a second type of application of devices 2 may be the emergency opening of doors by using a handle 15 being connected, again via the interface 8, to the mechanism for the opening/closing of same doors.

A further application of the devices 2 can be the establishment of an audio-visual communication between the first compartment 6 and second compartment 7, in order to put in direct contact the passengers with the train personnel.

To this end, the devices 2 shall comprise at least one microphone 13, a video camera 14 and a call button 17.

The interface 8 connecting the devices 2 with the control unit 9 may be the one of support 1, with which all the individual devices 2 are connected or, any device 2 may include an interface of its own which is independent of the others.

Preferably, the connection interface 8 may radio frequency or cable operated.

In the first case, it is understood that the technology being used will be of bluetooth, wi-fi or other wireless type, which are well known and, thus, not to be further described herein.

The sectional support 1 may be of metal or plastics material depending on the type of application.

Advantageously, the devices 2 may comprise beadworks allowing to smoothly joining the same devices 2 to a vertical wall of the railway vehicle where the sectional support 1 is installed.

Described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 is a further aspect of the present invention, that is, a handle 12, 15 able to be associated with the sectional support 1 above described.

In particular, Fig. 3 shows a handle 12, for activating the emergency braking, which comprises a hold element 18 fixed to a concave portion 19 able to be operatively associated with the concavity of the seat 3 of sectional support 1.

With reference to Fig. 4 there is described instead a possible embodiment of a handle 15 for the emergency opening of the doors of a railway vehicle.

This type of handle also comprises a hold element 21 and a concave portion 20 able to be associated with the concavity of the seat 3 of support 1.

Both the above handles 12, 15 share the same type of concave portion 19, 21 which provides for an empty space that facilitates the hold of the same handle by the passengers.

The invention achieves major advantages.

A first advantage lies in the fact that the use of a sectional support 1, according to the present invention, makes it possible to have a preventive control over the actions carried out in an emergency case by the train personnel.

In fact, the devices 2 and, in particular, those suited for audio-visual communication, allow the train personnel to be informed about the actual emergency situation possibly to occur, for example, inside a passenger coach.

A second advantage stems from the modularity of the above described support 1 which makes it possible to dispose the various type of devices 2 where necessary for the individual applications.

For example, it could be useful to locate the emergency brake-activating handle 12 in a low position allowing also disabled persons moving on wheel chair to have it at easy reach.

A further advantage is that the modularity of support 1 allows installing the latter on different types of trains in which the devices 2 required from individual applications can be installed or modified or updated according, for example, to different safety regulations in force.

Still another advantage lies in the fact that the modularity of the devices and their capacity of being assembled in the support of the invention, especially in its vertical column shape, are consistent and efficient characteristics meeting the requirements for the standardization of onboard facilities and public-interfaces presently enforced in the European community.

By way of example, the support's modules made up of devices having different functions could have different coulors, corresponding to notices or messages for the public, and made uniform in order to make the message's immediate perception equal for all the users without the need of written notes.

The invention thus conceived is evidently suited for industrial application; the same invention can also be subjected to several modifications and changes falling within the scope of the inventive idea; moreover, all the parts may be replaced by other elements technically equivalent.