Rail Vehicle Sliding Door Retraction Within the Side Wall
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sliding doors in rail vehicles, such as trams and subways, reduce the usable space in the passenger compartment due to their design, either by increasing the outer contour or requiring reinforced door pillars, and are often complex and unreliable.
Innovation Solution
A sliding door system with one or two door parts connected to horizontal crossbars that move parallel to the vehicle's longitudinal axis, allowing for stable and reliable operation without significantly altering the car body's dimensions, using vertically extending supports for added stability and a retraction mechanism that minimizes space requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If external sliding doors are used, then the door can slide along the outer contour, but the outer contour must be offset inwards by the thickness of the door leaf, reducing the passenger compartment width
Solution Approach 1:
The door leaf is nested within the door pillar cavity when retracted, allowing the door to be stored inside the body structure rather than extending outward, thus maintaining the outer contour while enabling door operation
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the door sliding outward along the contour, the door is pushed inward into the door pillar, inverting the conventional sliding direction to preserve passenger compartment space
2Ease of operation
If pocket sliding doors are used, then the door retracts into the side wall, but the door pillar must be considerably reinforced and the side wall must be thicker, reducing the passenger compartment volume
Solution Approach 1:
The door leaf nests within the door pillar cavity during retraction, utilizing the existing structural space rather than requiring additional thickness in the side wall, thus preserving passenger compartment volume
Solution Approach 2:
The door pillar serves multiple functions: it provides structural support and simultaneously houses the retracted door leaf, eliminating the need for separate reinforcement structures that would reduce interior space
3Shape
If outward-swinging sliding doors are used, then the door is flush with the outside when closed, but the door mechanism becomes very complex and unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The complex kinematic mechanism of outward-swinging doors is extracted and replaced with a simple linear push-in motion, where the door leaf is directly pushed into the door pillar cavity without intermediate swinging or guiding mechanisms, thereby improving reliability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the door swinging outward and then sliding, the door is directly pushed inward into the pillar, inverting the sequence and simplifying the motion path to a single linear action that is more reliable and easier to control
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a car body of a rail vehicle and a rail vehicle with a car body. The car body of a rail vehicle according to the invention, having an outer contour, comprises at least one sliding door, wherein the sliding door consists of one or two door parts, each of which is connected to at least one horizontal crossbar, wherein when the sliding door is opened, the respective door part is guided in front of the outer surface of the side wall of the car body and the at least one crossbar is guided in the side wall of the car body.