Electromechanical apparatus for the actuation of a lifter

Abstract

Electromechanical actuation apparatus for a lifter for the movement of people and / or material between a reference plane of a railway platform and an elevated floor of a railway vehicle, the reference plane and elevated floor being separate from each other along a vertical direction, the lifter comprising guide means supported by the railway vehicle and extending parallel to the vertical direction and a load platform movable along guide means and arranged to support people and / or material, the apparatus comprising an electric motor having a rotor drivable with a rotary motion, a translating element movable with a linear motion parallel to the vertical direction and connected to the load platform and motion transmission means arranged to cause a motion transmission from the rotor to the translating element, converting the rotary motion of the rotor in the linear motion of the translating element in order to move the load platform along the guide means, the apparatus also comprising a release device selectively actuatable to act on motion transmission means, allowing or preventing the motion transmission from the rotor to the translating element.

Description

[0001] Electromechanical apparatus for the actuation of a lifter

[0002] The present invention relates to an electromechanical apparatus for the actuation of a lifter, and to a lifter for the movement of people or material between a railway platform and a railway vehicle, such as a railway carriage .

[0003] In railway stations, the problem of enabling passengers with reduced mobility to get on and off trains frequently arises, as it is difficult for them, or often even impossible, to use the steps to overcome the difference in height between the plane of the railway platform and the elevated floor of the carriage.

[0004] With a view to providing an increasingly accessible transport service for disabled passengers, and in particular wheelchair users, railway companies have in recent years developed special lifters to help passengers with reduced mobility both on and off the train. The currently used lifters generally comprise a load platform on which the passenger is allowed to get, and an oleodynamic actuation apparatus configured to move the load platform vertically between the railway platform and the carriage in both ways.

[0005] However, this solution has some drawbacks. Firstly, oleodynamic actuators use oils as working fluids that are potentially very polluting, and can therefore cause serious damage if released into the environment as a result of failures or of the inevitable wear of containment seals. In addition, the use of such actuators is not entirely safe: in the event of a failure causing a sudden drop in pressure of the working fluid, the platform would quickly plummet downwards, endangering the safety of the passenger on the load platform and of those around them.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and in particular to provide an actuation apparatus for a lifter that is safe to use and environmentally friendly.

[0007] This and other results are achieved according to the present invention by providing an apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and a lifter according to claim 8.

[0008] Further features of the apparatus and the lifter are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0009] The present invention will now be described, by way of a non-limiting illustrative example, according to preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the figures in the attached drawings, wherein:

[0010] - Figure 1 is an exploded view of an actuation apparatus according to the invention;

[0011] - Figure 2 is an exploded and enlarged view of a detail of Figure 1;

[0012] - Figure 3 is a perspective view of a lifter according to the invention;

[0013] - Figure 4 is an exploded view of Figure 3, with parts removed for clarity.

[0014] With reference to Figure 1, 1 denotes an electromechanical actuation apparatus for a lifter 100 (visible in Figure 3) .

[0015] With reference to Figure 3, the lifter 100 is configured for the movement of people with reduced mobility between a railway platform, which defines a reference plane, and the elevated floor of a railway vehicle: the reference plane and the elevated floor are in fact separated from each other along the vertical direction X. It is clear, however, that the lifter 100 can also be used for the movement of people without reduced mobility, as well as goods or material of any kind in general.

[0016] The lifter 100 first comprises guide means 101 that extend parallel to the vertical direction X and are supported by the railway vehicle. In particular, the guide means 101 consist of a hollow, square-section supporting column 101 open at least at the lower end, which is supported by the railway vehicle by means of a plurality of brackets 102 that allow the lifter 100 to be positioned outside the railway vehicle through the relevant access door.

[0017] The lifter 100 thus comprises a load platform 103 on which passengers or material to be moved can be placed, and which is movable along the guide means 101. In fact, a sliding column 104 (visible in Figure 4) with a squaresection is rigidly connected to the load platform 103, the sliding column 104 being able to slide along the inner cavity of the supporting column 101 but not to rotate therein, obtaining with it a telescopic coupling mediated by a plurality of bearings 105.

[0018] The load platform 103 can be folded on itself and tilted away from the sliding column 104, so that its footprint can be reduced if necessary to facilitate the passing of the lifter 100 through the entrance door of the railway carriage. For this reason, the load platform 103 may have a plurality of hinges 106.

[0019] Again with reference to Figure 1, the lifter 100 further comprises the apparatus 1, which is configured to move the load platform 103 along the guide means 101.

[0020] The apparatus 1 comprises an electric motor 11 having a rotor drivable with a rotary motion about a secondary rotation axis B, and a pinion 12 fitted on the rotor so that it can rotate about the secondary axis B. The apparatus 1 further comprises a first coupling element 14 which is rotationally drivable by the rotor around a main axis A, parallel to the vertical direction X, by means of a drive belt 13 extending between the pinion 12 and the first coupling element 14; the first coupling element 14 is drilled along the main axis A. Referring to Figure 2, the first coupling element 14 comprises a wheel 140 drilled along the main axis A which meshes with the belt 13, and a coupling bush 141, also drilled along the main axis A, fixed on the wheel 140: the coupling bush 140 has a plurality of first seats 142 around the central hole, in which a plurality of balls 143 are housed so that each of them projects from the respective seat with a respective projecting portion.

[0021] The apparatus 1 further comprises a shaft 16 which extends along the main axis A through the hole of the first coupling element 14 and is freely rotatable with respect thereto. The shaft 16 has a first end and a second end opposite to each other along the main axis A, the first coupling element 14 being thus interposed between the first end and the second end. A second coupling element 22 is fitted on the second end of the shaft 16 and has two slots adapted to house two protrusions 32 of the shaft 16 in a slidable way along the main axis A, so that the second coupling element 22 is rotationally coupled around the main axis A to the shaft 16, but can slide freely along the second end thereof. The second coupling element 22 has a plurality of second seats 222, each of them being shaped to house the projecting portion of a respective ball 143. The second coupling element 22 may, for example, consist of an end bush. The second coupling element 22 also has a mesh seat 221, preferably shaped as a loop groove carved out of the outer surface of the second coupling element 22.

[0022] Both the first coupling element 14 and the shaft 16 are held in position along the main axis A by a support bush 15, which is fixed relative to the motor 11 and the guide means 101. The first coupling element 14 and the shaft 16 are freely rotatable relative to the support bush 15 thanks to the interposition of bearings 27.

[0023] At the first end, the shaft 16 has a first threaded portion 19, which may consist of a screw rigidly connected to the shaft 16 by means of a second fastening bush 28.

[0024] The apparatus 1 further comprises a translating element 18 which is rigidly connected to the load platform 103 and is movable along the main axis A. The translating element 18 has a second threaded portion which is complementary to the first threaded portion 19 and meshes and cooperates with it to convert a rotary motion of the shaft 16 about the main axis A into a linear motion of the translating element 18 along the main axis A. In case the first threaded portion 19 consists of a screw, the second threaded portion consists of a nut-screw, i.e. a threaded hole made in the translating element 18 and extending along the main axis A. The translating element 18 may also comprise two separate elements, and in particular a nut-screw 181 and a pin 182 to which the platform 103 is fixed, rigidly connected to each other by a cylindrical sleeve not shown in the figures. As a whole, the pinion 12, the belt 13, the first coupling element 14, the second coupling element 22 and the shaft 16, form motion transmission means configured to transmit the motion of the rotor to the translating element 18, in particular by converting the rotary motion of the rotor around the secondary axis B into the linear motion of the translating element 18 along the main axis A.

[0025] The apparatus 1 further comprises a release device 5 selectively actuatable to act on the motion transmission means and allow or prevent the actual transmission of motion from the rotor to the translating element 18 by means of the motion transmission means. In fact, it was observed that, with a lifter 100 provided with an electromechanical apparatus 1 for the movement of the load platform 103 along the guide means 101, in case of failure of the power supply of the motor 11, there would be an immediate blockage of the movement of the platform 103. While this ensures the intrinsic safety of the system, as the load platform 103 does not plummet downwards in the event of a failure, it was considered that it is not always possible to wait for the power supply to be restored in order to return the passenger positioned on the load platform 103 to the railway platform, as this restoration, in the event of a major failure, could take several minutes or even hours. For this reason, it was devised to provide the apparatus 1 with a release device 5 capable of decoupling the load platform 103 from the motor 11 when the latter is in a blocked state, enabling the independent movement of the load platform 103.

[0026] The release device 5 comprises a fork-shaped mesh element 50 adapted to engage the mesh seat 221 formed on the second coupling element 22. The mesh element 50 is hinged to a yoke 51 so that it can rotate about a tilt axis perpendicular to the main axis A between a lowered position and an elevated position, and this rotation may be controlled by manually acting on a first control member 52, which may consist in a control lever supported by the yoke 51.

[0027] The apparatus 1 further comprises a braking device 6 configured to brake the rotary motion of the rotor. The braking device 6 comprises a skid 60 preferably supported by the yoke 51 and movable perpendicularly to the main axis A to selectively contact the wheel 140 to brake it. The movement of the skid 60 can be controlled by manually acting on a second control member 62, which may consist in a pin supported by the yoke 51 that can be rotated using a key. Furthermore, preferably, the actuation of the second control member 62 also enables the actuation of the first control member 52 by the rotation of a cam (not shown in the figures) , which would otherwise not be actuatable: preferably, in fact, a non-actuat ion of the second control member 62 prevents the actuation of said release device 5.

[0028] The braking device 6 further comprises a switch 63 configured to cut off the power supply to the motor 11 when the second control device 62 is actuated.

[0029] Referring to Figure 4, the lifter 100 further comprises cushioning means 107 configured to brake a movement of the load platform 103 along the guide means 101, in particular a movement towards the railway platform: the cushioning means 107 may consist of a pneumatic shock absorber . The lifter 100 further comprises elastic restoration means 108 configured to force a movement of the load platform 103 along the guide means 101 in the direction of the elevated floor: the elastic restoration means 108 may consist of a gas spring under traction.

[0030] In ordinary use of the lifter 100, i.e. in the absence of failures, the motor 11, through the kinematic chain of the motion transmission means, generates the linear motion of the translating element 18 along the main axis A: since the translating element 18 is fixed to the load platform 103, the motor 11 actually actuates the movement of the load platform 103 along the guide means, i.e. along the vertical direction X.

[0031] More specifically, the motor 11 actuates the pinion 12 directly into rotation, which rotates the first coupling element 14 around the main axis A by means of the belt 13. During ordinary use, the first control element 50 is in the lowered position and thus holds the second coupling element 22 in an mesh position, i.e. in which it is adjacent to the coupling bush 141 and each ball 143 is partially received in the respective first seat 142 and partially received in the respective second seat 222: thus the second coupling element 22 and the shaft 16 are rotationally coupled to the first coupling element 14 and rotate integral with it. The interaction between the first threaded portion 19 and the second threaded portion of the translating element 18 converts the rotary motion of the shaft 16 about the main axis A into a linear motion of the translating element 18 along the main axis A: indeed, the fact that the translating element 18 is integral with the load platform 103, which in turn is integral with the sliding column 104 which slides without rotating along the supporting column 101 i.e. along the vertical direction X, means that the translating element 18 cannot be dragged to rotate by the shaft 16, but can only move parallel to the vertical direction X.

[0032] It therefore appears that the positioning of the second coupling element 22 in the mesh position enables the transmission of motion from the rotor of the motor 11 to the translating element 18.

[0033] The rotation of the rotor in one direction causes the load platform 103 to move in one way of the vertical direction X, while the rotation of the rotor in the opposite direction causes the load platform 103 to move in the opposite way of the vertical direction X.

[0034] In the event of a failure of the motor 11, such as a power supply failure, the load platform 103 can be moved back towards the railway platform by operating the release device 5.

[0035] In particular, the second control element 62 is first actuated, i.e. the pin is rotated using a key, so that the power supply of the motor 11 is interrupted, with certainty, by the switch 63, and the skid 61 comes into contact with the wheel 140, braking and stopping, with certainty, the rotation of the coupling element 14. The actuation of the second control member 62 also makes it possible to actuate the first control member 52, which was previously blocked: manually turning the control lever causes the mesh element 50 to rotate around the tilt axis from the lowered position to the elevated position. Since the mesh element 50 meshes with the mesh seat 221 of the second coupling element 22, the displacement of the mesh element 50 to the elevated position causes the displacement of the second coupling element 22 along the main axis A to a release position, wherein the second coupling element 22 is spatially separated from the first coupling element 14: thereby the projecting portion of each ball 143 is no longer received in the corresponding second seat 222, and thus the second coupling element 22 and the shaft 16 are uncoupled from the first coupling element 14. This therefore means that the load platform 103 is decoupled from the motor 11, and is therefore free to move even if the motor 11 is blocked.

[0036] It therefore appears that maintaining the mesh element 50 in that elevated position causes the second coupling element 22 to be held in that release position, and that the positioning of the second coupling element 22 in the release position prevents the transmission of motion from the rotor of the motor 11 to the translating element 18.

[0037] Once uncoupled from the motor 11, the load platform 103 moves towards the railway platform under the effect of gravity: this movement is braked by the cushioning means

[0038] 107, which limit the descent speed of the load platform 103 to a maximum of 10 centimetres per second.

[0039] The upward movement of the load platform 103 towards the elevated floor, when the release device 5 has been actuated, is enabled by the elastic restoration means

[0040] 108, which force the movement of the load platform 103 along the guide means 101 towards the elevated floor. Both the cushioning means 107 and the elastic restoration means 108 only perform their function when the release device 5 is actuated, i.e. when the release device 5 prevents the transmission of motion from the rotor of the motor 11 to the translating element 18.

[0041] It is therefore clear that the present invention is perfectly capable of overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art that have been described above. In particular, the apparatus 1 is safe to use and environmentally friendly, and in particular does not comprise any oleodynamic actuators.

[0042] The present invention has been described by way of a non-limiting illustrative example according to preferred embodiments thereof, however, it is understood that variations and / or modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, without thereby departing from the relative scope of protection, as defined in the attached claims .

Claims

CLAIMS1) Electromechanical actuation apparatus (1) for a lifter (100) for the movement of people and / or material between a reference plane of a railway platform and an elevated floor of a railway vehicle, said reference plane and elevated floor being separate along a vertical direction (X) , the lifter (100) comprising guide means (101) supported by said railway vehicle and extending parallel to said vertical direction (X) and a load platform (103) movable along said guide means (101) and arranged to support said people and / or material, the apparatus (1) comprising an electric motor (11) having a rotor drivable with a rotary motion, a translating element (18) movable with a linear motion parallel to said vertical direction (X) and connected to said load platform (103) and motion transmission means arranged to cause a motion transmission from said rotor to said translating element (18) , converting said rotary motion of said rotor in said linear motion of said translating element (18) in order to move said load platform (103) along said guide means (101) , the apparatus (1) comprising also a release device (5) selectively actuatable to act on said motion transmission means, allowing or preventing said motion transmission from said rotor to said translating element (18) .2) Apparatus (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said motion transmission means comprise a first coupling element (14) rotationally drivable by said rotor around a main axis (A) which is substantially parallel to said vertical direction (X) , a shaft (16) which is rotatable around said main axis (A) and has at a first end a first threaded portion (19) arranged tocooperate with a complementary second threaded portion of said translating element (18) in order to convert a rotary motion of said shaft (16) in said linear motion of said translating element (18) , and a second coupling element (22) rotationally coupled to said shaft (16) and movable along a second end, which is opposite to said first end along said main axis (A) , of said shaft (16) between a mesh position, in which it is rotationally coupled to said first coupling element (14) , and a release position, in which it is uncoupled with respect to said first coupling element (14) , said release device (5) being arranged to selectively move said second coupling element (22) between said mesh position and said release position.3) Apparatus (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that said first coupling element (14) comprises a coupling bush (141) having a plurality of first seats (142) , and a plurality of balls (143) housed in said first seats (142) in such a way to project at least partially from them with respective projecting portions, said second coupling element (22) having a plurality of second seats (222) arranged to, when said second coupling element (22) is in said mesh position, house said projecting portions of said balls rotationally coupling said second coupling element (22) and said first coupling element (14) .4) Apparatus (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said rotor has a secondary axis (B) of rotation which is separate from said main axis (A) , said first coupling member (14) being holed along said main axis (A) and said shaft (16) passing through said first coupling element (14) so that said first coupling element(14) is located between said first end and second end of said shaft (16) along said main axis (A) .5) Apparatus (1) according to any of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that said release device (5) comprises a mesh element (50) that fits in a corresponding mesh seat (221) made in said second coupling element (22) , and a first control member (52) selectively actuatable to move said mesh element (50) between a lower position, in which it keeps said second coupling element (22) in said mesh position, and an upper position, in which it keeps said second coupling element (22) in said release position .6) Apparatus (1) according to any of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that it comprises a braking element (61) which is movable to contact said first coupling element (14) to restrain a rotary motion thereof, and a second control member (62) selectively actuatable to move said braking element (61) , wherein an actuation of said second control member (62) also allows an actuation of said release device (5) and a non-actuat ion of said second control member (62) impedes an actuation of said release device (5) .7) Apparatus (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises a switch (63) arranged to cut off an electric supply of said motor (11) when said second control member (62) is actuated.8) Lifter (100) for the movement of people and / or material between a reference plane of a railway platform and an elevated floor of a railway vehicle, said reference plane and elevated floor being separate along a vertical direction (X) , comprising guide means (101) supported by said railway vehicle and extending parallelto said vertical direction (X) , a load platform (103) movable along said guide means (101) and arranged to support said people and / or material, characterized in that it comprises an electromechanical actuation apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims in order to move said load platform (103) along said guide means (101) .9) Lifter (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises cushioning means (107) arranged to restrain a movement of said load platform (103) along said guide means (101) when said release device (5) prevents said motion transmission from said rotor to said translating element (18) .10) Lifter (100) according to any of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that it comprises elastic restoration means (108) arranged to force a movement of said load platform (103) along said guide means (101) towards said elevated floor.

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