Railway vehicle insulated window structure

Abstract

A railway vehicle insulated window structure (20) comprising a laminated sheet (21) in which a polycarbonate sheet (25) and a first glass sheet (22) are laminated, and a second glass sheet (23) which forms an intermediate air layer (26) with the laminated sheet (21), wherein the first glass sheet (22) of the laminated sheet (21) is disposed on the outside.

Description

Double-pane window structure for railway vehicles

[0001] This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-114132, filed on July 17, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] For windows of railway vehicles such as Shinkansen, laminated glass with an air layer in the middle has been used from the viewpoint of sound insulation and heat resistance (see Patent Document 1). In some cases, these windows are laminated with polycarbonate plates or acrylic plates from the viewpoint of weight reduction and impact resistance (see Patent Document 2).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-68707 International Publication No. 2012 / 011177

[0004] Conventional railway vehicle windows are made of resin materials such as polycarbonate, which are arranged on the exterior of the vehicle. While these windows offer superior impact resistance compared to glass-based windows, they suffer from problems with fire resistance, chemical resistance, stain resistance, and ease of maintenance. In particular, with regard to fire resistance, multi-pane railway vehicle windows with resin panels arranged on the exterior are susceptible to fire, and exhibit high fire spread, smoke generation, and heat generation upon ignition. Therefore, they are unable to meet the standards for railway vehicle fire safety standards, such as EN45545-2 R1 HL3 (European railway vehicle fire safety standard). Therefore, conventional railway vehicle windows with resin materials arranged on the exterior of the vehicle could not be used in vehicles used in some regions.

[0005] The present invention was developed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a double-pane window for railway vehicles that has fire resistance, chemical resistance, stain resistance, and ease of maintenance without compromising impact resistance.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configurations. (1) A multi-glazing window structure for a railway vehicle, comprising a laminated plate formed by joining a polycarbonate plate and a first glass plate together, and a second glass plate forming an intermediate air layer between the laminated plate and the second glass plate, wherein the first glass plate of the laminated plate is disposed on the outside of the railway vehicle. (2) The multi-glazing window structure for a railway vehicle described in (1), in which the first glass plate of the laminated plate has a thickness greater than 3 mm. (3) The multi-glazing window structure for a railway vehicle described in (1) or (2), in which the polycarbonate plate of the laminated plate has a thickness of 5 mm or less. (4) The multi-glazing window structure for a railway vehicle described in any one of (1) to (3), in which, in a front view of the laminated plate, each side of the polycarbonate plate is 0 to 6 mm shorter than each side of the first glass plate. (5) The laminated plate includes an adhesive layer that bonds the polycarbonate plate and the second glass plate, the adhesive layer having a thickness of 0 to 2 mm, and the adhesive layer is made of an acrylic, urethane, epoxy, EVA resin, PVB resin, or SPG resin. (6) The laminated plate for a railway vehicle according to any one of (1) to (5), the thickness of the intermediate air layer being 10 mm or more. (7) The laminated plate for a railway vehicle according to any one of (1) to (6), the laminated plate including an adhesive layer that bonds the polycarbonate plate and the second glass plate, the adhesive layer having a thickness of 0 to 2 mm, and the adhesive layer is made of an acrylic, urethane, epoxy, EVA resin, PVB resin, or SPG resin.

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a multi-glazed window for railway vehicles that has fire resistance, chemical resistance, stain resistance, and ease of maintenance without compromising impact resistance.

[0008] Fig. 3 is a side view of a railway vehicle equipped with a multi-layer window structure for railway vehicles according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a window frame panel provided with the multi-layer window structure. Fig. 5 is a front view of a laminated plate in the multi-layer window structure. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the cross section of the laminated plate of Fig. 3 taken along line A-A.

[0009] An example of a railway vehicle multi-pane window structure 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention applied to a railway vehicle 1 will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings referred to in the following description may show characteristic portions enlarged for the sake of clarity, and the dimensional proportions of each component may not be the same as in reality. Furthermore, the materials, dimensions, etc. exemplified in the following description are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these and may be modified as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.

[0010] The multi-pane window structure 20 for railway vehicles of this embodiment is applied to, for example, a railway vehicle 1. First, a schematic configuration of the railway vehicle 1 to which the multi-pane window structure 20 for railway vehicles of this embodiment is applied will be described. As shown in Figure 1, the vehicle body structure 2 of the railway vehicle 1 is generally composed of a roof body structure 3, a pair of side bodies 5, an underframe 7, and an end body structure 9. Of these, the underframe 7 forms the floor, and each side body structure 5 is joined to both sides of the underframe 7. An air conditioner and a pantograph for heating and cooling the interior of the vehicle are installed on the roof body structure 3.

[0011] The side structure 5 is configured to include a curtain panel 13 having a double-skin structure using, for example, hollow extruded aluminum alloy members, a window frame panel 15, and a waist panel 19. In the side structure 5, the window frame panel 15 is arranged so as to be sandwiched between the curtain panel 13 and the waist panel 19. The panels (curtain panel 13, window frame panel 15, waist panel 19) are joined to one another. A multi-pane window structure 20 for railway vehicles is attached to the window frame panel 15.

[0012] [Multi-glazed window structure] Next, the multi-glazed window structure 20 for railway vehicles of this embodiment will be described. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the multi-glazed window structure 20 for railway vehicles. Figure 3 shows a front view of the laminated plate 21 in the multi-glazed window structure 20 for railway vehicles. Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view along line A-A. Each of these will be described in detail below.

[0013] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the railcar double-glazed window structure 20 is disposed on the outside of the railcar body structure 2. The railcar double-glazed window structure 20 includes a laminated plate 21 and a second glass plate 23. The laminated plate 21 includes, from the outside of the railcar body structure 2, a first glass plate 22, an adhesive layer 24, and a polycarbonate plate 25. The first glass plate 22 is exposed to the outside of the railcar body structure 2. An intermediate air layer 26 is formed between the laminated plate 21 and the second glass plate 23 by a sealant 28 and a spacer 27. With the above configuration, the polycarbonate plate 25 is located between the first glass plate 22 and the second glass plate 23.

[0014] In the laminated plate 21, the thickness of the first glass plate 22 is preferably 3 mm or more, and more preferably 5 mm or more. The above-mentioned configuration improves the fire resistance of the double-glazed window structure 20 for railway vehicles. The thickness of the polycarbonate plate 25 is preferably 5 mm or less, and more preferably 2 mm or less. Furthermore, the first glass plate 22 is preferably thicker than the polycarbonate plate 25. The above-mentioned configuration reduces the amount of polycarbonate plate 25, which is a flammable material, used, improving the fire resistance of the double-glazed window structure 20 for railway vehicles.

[0015] Furthermore, the thickness of the adhesive layer 24 between the first glass plate 22 and the polycarbonate plate 25 is preferably 0 to 2 mm, and more preferably 0 to 1 mm or less. The adhesive material used for the adhesive layer 24 is preferably one of acrylic, urethane, epoxy, EVA resin, PVB resin, and SPG resin. With the above-mentioned configuration, the first glass plate 22 and the polycarbonate plate 25 are firmly bonded via an adhesive made of a resin-based adhesive that has higher heat resistance and adsorption power than Si gel-based adhesives, thereby improving heat resistance and impact resistance.

[0016] The spacer 27 is positioned between the polycarbonate plate 25 and the second glass plate 23. The material of the spacer 27 is not particularly limited, but it is preferably made of a light metal such as aluminum from the viewpoint of weight reduction. The sealant 28 is preferably made of a modified silicone (dealcoholized) or silicone (dealcoholized).

[0017] The thickness of the intermediate air layer 26 located between the laminated plate 21 and the second glass plate 23 is preferably 6 mm or more, and more preferably 10 mm or more. With the above configuration, an air layer having lower thermal conductivity than solid materials such as glass or polymers is formed in the railroad vehicle double-glazed window structure 20, thereby further improving the thermal insulation properties of the railroad vehicle double-glazed window structure 20. This improves the fire resistance performance of the railroad vehicle double-glazed window structure 20.

[0018] 3, when viewed from the front, laminated plate 21 of railcar multi-glazed window structure 20 is rectangular, and each side of polycarbonate plate 25 is 0 to 6 mm smaller than first glass plate 22. This configuration makes it possible to suppress deformation and breakage of laminated plate 21 caused by differences in the thermal expansion coefficients of glass and polycarbonate.

[0019] According to the above-described multi-pane window structure 20 for railway vehicles, since non-flammable and hard glass is disposed on the exterior, fire resistance is improved compared to the conventional multi-pane window structure described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in which polycarbonate sheets are disposed on the exterior. The multi-pane window structure 20 for railway vehicles satisfies fire resistance standards, such as EN45545-2 R1 HL3. Furthermore, since glass sheets have a higher surface hardness than polycarbonate sheets, dust resistance against dust such as sand and pebbles kicked up during vehicle operation is improved. The chemical stability of glass improves chemical resistance to acids, alkalis, and the like. It also has high stability against cleaning agents such as detergents, improving maintainability.

[0020] In addition, compared to double-pane windows that use two panes of glass, the weight of double-pane windows can be reduced because polycarbonate panels, which have a lower specific gravity than glass, are used. Also, because they are combined with polycarbonate, which has higher elasticity and toughness than glass, impact resistance and penetration resistance are improved.

[0021] The present invention will be specifically described below based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0022] In Example 1, a multi-glazing window structure 20 for a railway vehicle having the configuration described in the above embodiment was manufactured. The configuration conditions for the multi-glazing window structure 20 for a railway vehicle were as follows.

[0023] The first glass plate 22 was made of colorless, transparent tempered glass with a thickness of 5 mm. The polycarbonate plate 25 was made of a colorless, transparent polycarbonate sheet with a thickness of 2 mm. The adhesive layer 24 had a thickness of 1 mm. The second glass plate 23 was made of a colorless, transparent tempered glass with a thickness of 5 mm. An intermediate air layer 26 of 11.5 mm was provided between the laminated plate 21 consisting of the first glass plate 22, adhesive layer 24, and polycarbonate plate 25 and the second glass plate 23, via an aluminum spacer 27.

[0024] Using the multi-layer window structure 20 for railway vehicles manufactured under the above conditions, the following tests were carried out for the certification of EN45545-2 R1 HL3: ISO5658-2 (flame spread test), ISO5660-1 (cone calorimeter), ISO5659-2 (smoke generation test), and EN17084 Method 1 (gas toxicity test). The results are shown in Table 1.

[0025]

[0026] As shown in Table 1, the multi-layer window structure 20 for railway vehicles of this embodiment meets the standard of EN45545-2 R1 HL3.

[0027] Furthermore, among the multi-glazed window structure 20 for railway vehicles manufactured under the above conditions, the laminated plate 21 was used to carry out impact resistance tests for railway vehicle safety glass in accordance with JIS standard (JIS R 3213) and British standard (GM / RT2456). The results are shown in Table 2.

[0028]

[0029] As shown in Table 2, the laminated plate 21 of this embodiment satisfied the requirements of both the JIS standard and the British standard. In addition, the polycarbonate plate 25 disposed on the inside was effective in preventing broken glass from entering the interior of the vehicle.

[0030] The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0031] For example, the first glass plate 22 of the laminated plate 21 may have a thickness of 3 mm or less, and the polycarbonate plate 25 may be thicker than 5 mm. The second glass plate 23 may have a thickness of 3 mm or less, and the intermediate air layer 26 may be less than 10 mm. When viewed from the front of the laminated plate 21, each side of the polycarbonate plate 25 does not have to be 0 to 6 mm smaller than each side of the first glass plate 22. The material of the adhesive layer 24 does not have to be any of acrylic, urethane, epoxy, EVA resin, PVB resin, and SPG resin. The railcar multi-glazed window structure 20 does not have to satisfy EN45545-2 R1 HL3.

[0032] In addition, within the scope of the spirit of the present invention, the components in the above-described embodiments may be replaced with well-known components as appropriate, and the above-described modifications may be combined as appropriate.

[0033] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Railway vehicle 2 Vehicle body structure 3 Roof body structure 5 Side body structure 7 Underframe 9 Gable body structure 13 Curtain panel 15 Window frame panel 19 Waist panel 20 Multi-layer window structure for railway vehicle 21 Laminated plate 22 First glass plate 23 Second glass plate 24 Adhesive layer 25 Polycarbonate plate 26 Intermediate air layer 27 Spacer 28 Sealant

Claims

1. A double-glazed window structure for a railway vehicle comprising a laminated plate formed by joining a polycarbonate plate and a first glass plate, and a second glass plate that forms an intermediate air layer between the laminated plate and the second glass plate, wherein the first glass plate of the laminated plate is positioned on the outside of the railway vehicle.

2. The double-glazed window structure for railway vehicles according to claim 1, wherein the first glass sheet of the laminated plate has a thickness of more than 3 mm.

3. The double-glazed window structure for railway vehicles according to claim 1, wherein the polycarbonate plate of the laminated plate has a thickness of 5 mm or less.

4. A double-glazed window structure for railway vehicles according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, when viewed from the front of the laminated plate, each side of the polycarbonate plate is 0 to 6 mm shorter than each side of the first glass plate.

5. A double-glazed window structure for railway vehicles as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the laminated plate has an adhesive layer that bonds the polycarbonate plate and the second glass plate, the adhesive layer has a thickness of 0 to 2 mm, and the adhesive layer is made of one of acrylic, urethane, epoxy, EVA resin, PVB resin, and SPG resin.

6. A double-glazed window structure for railway vehicles according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the thickness of the intermediate air layer is 10 mm or more.

7. A double-glazed window structure for railway vehicles according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which satisfies EN45545-2 R1 HL3.

Images