LED Strip Illumination for Rail Vehicle Doors
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Solution Overview
Problem
In modern rail vehicles, pivoting sliding doors are difficult to recognize due to a smooth and uniform outer surface, leading to safety issues as passengers struggle to identify the doors, especially in poorly lit areas, and existing lighting solutions are either ineffective, complex, or prone to vandalism and damage.
Innovation Solution
Integration of LED strips or chains within the door frame, protected from vandalism and easy to install, providing non-dazzling lighting that is maintenance-free and energy-efficient, which illuminates the door area without protruding beyond the vehicle's contours, and can indicate door status through color changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the outer surface of the vehicle side wall is made smooth and uniform, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the door area becomes difficult to recognize and safety is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses light sources that emit different colors to indicate door status (e.g., red for closing, green for open). This allows the smooth outer surface to maintain its aesthetic appearance while providing clear visual signals about door positions and safety conditions through color changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces light sources as an intermediary element between the smooth outer surface and the door function. These lights are integrated into the door frame or adjacent structures, providing door status information without disrupting the smooth appearance of the vehicle exterior.
2Loss of information
If lights are mounted on the door leaf to indicate door movement, then door status is visible, but the lights dazzle passengers and require complex installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the light sources from the door leaf itself and relocates them to the door frame or adjacent fixed structures. This prevents the lights from moving with the door, eliminating the blinding effect on passengers while still providing door status indication through strategic positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting lights on the moving door leaf as in prior art, the patent inverts the approach by mounting lights on the stationary door frame or adjacent structures. This reversal eliminates the harmful blinding effect while maintaining the information function.
3Illumination intensity
If lights are installed in the floor door area to indicate passage area, then visibility is improved, but installation is time-consuming and lights are exposed to contamination and vandalism
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the light sources from the horizontal floor plane to the vertical door frame or adjacent structure plane. This dimensional change provides better illumination of the door area while protecting the lights from floor-level contamination and vandalism, and simplifies installation by using existing structural elements.
4Loss of information
If lights are mounted on the handrail to draw attention, then visibility is improved, but the location is mechanically problematic and clearance profile is affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the light sources from the handrail assembly and relocates them to the door frame or adjacent fixed structures. This eliminates the mechanical problems associated with mounting lights on the handrail while maintaining the visibility function through alternative positioning.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances passenger safety by clearly indicating door positions and status without obstructing the smooth outer wall, reducing glare, and being resistant to damage and contamination, while being easy to install and maintain.
Implementation Method 1
Each door, to a lesser extent this also applies to so-called pocket doors, covers parts of the door frame when closed and releases them when open, preferably from the beginning of the opening movement and until the end of the closing movement. According to the invention, the light source is installed in these areas; according to the invention, these are an LED strip or LED chain
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to the illumination of doors of vehicles, in particular of pivot and slide doors of rail vehicles, having a door frame (5), having at least one door leaf (3), and having at least one lighting means (4) in the door region. In order to improve the lighting and to protect the lighting means there is provision that the lighting means (4) is arranged on the door frame (5) at a location which is at least essentially covered by the door leaf (3) in the closed state of the door. The lighting means is preferably an LED, particularly preferably an LED strip or LED chain (6) which is arranged in a groove in the door frame (5). The lighting means (4) is advantageously activated by means of the door controller and/or the light controller of the vehicle.