Sliding Step Guide Grooves for Vehicle Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing boarding arrangements for vehicles, particularly rail vehicles, face challenges in bridging horizontal and vertical gaps between the vehicle and platforms without weakening the vehicle structure, and often require complex mechanisms that are prone to failure and require extensive maintenance, while also needing significant space and being less accessible for passengers with reduced mobility.
Innovation Solution
A compact and robust boarding arrangement featuring a sliding running board with a cassette and guide device, utilizing guide grooves and guide elements, which allows for horizontal and vertical movement without sudden changes in direction, minimizing force and noise, and is designed for easy installation and maintenance, using materials like aluminum and low-wear steel for durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sliding steps are arranged in cassettes to bridge the gap between vehicle and platform, then passenger safety is improved, but the longitudinal beam must be weakened which compromises structural integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The guide grooves are designed to guide the sliding step board through a three-dimensional path that includes vertical movement, allowing the step to pass beneath the longitudinal beam without requiring the beam to be weakened. The guide grooves create a spatial pathway that resolves the conflict between needing to position the sliding step and maintaining beam strength.
2Strength
If sliding steps are designed to move vertically and horizontally without weakening beams, then structural integrity is maintained, but the mechanism becomes complex and requires considerable installation space
Solution Approach 1:
The guide device is segmented into multiple guide grooves (first, second, and third guide grooves) that work together to control the sliding step board's movement. Each groove handles a specific aspect of the movement path, dividing the complex guiding function into manageable segments that simplify the overall mechanism while maintaining beam strength.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex mechanisms are used to enable vertical and horizontal movement of sliding steps, then positioning flexibility is improved, but maintenance requirements increase and malfunctions become more likely
Solution Approach 1:
The complex drive mechanism is extracted and replaced with a simpler cable-driven system. The cable mechanism reduces the number of moving parts and eliminates the need for complex mechanical linkages, thereby maintaining positioning flexibility while significantly reducing maintenance requirements and improving reliability.
4Volume of moving object
If sliding steps are designed for compact installation in low-floor vehicles, then space utilization is improved, but the horizontal reach and vertical positioning become more limited
Solution Approach 1:
The guide grooves are designed with dynamic characteristics that allow the sliding step board to move smoothly through different positions. The grooves' geometry enables the step to achieve both compact storage and extended reach positions, providing adaptability across different operational requirements within the limited space of low-floor vehicles.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a boarding arrangement (1) for boarding a vehicle (25), in particular for boarding a rail vehicle. The boarding arrangement (1) comprises a sliding step (2) and a cassette (5) which has an exit side (6) for the sliding step (2) and a connecting side (7). Furthermore, the boarding arrangement (1) comprises a guide device, which includes two guide grooves (8), and guide elements (9) which are connected to the sliding step (2) and guided in the guide grooves (8). The boarding arrangement (1) has a travel position in which the sliding step (2) is located in the cassette (5). The boarding arrangement (1) also has a use position in which the sliding step (2) is located at least partially outside the cassette (5).The guide grooves (8) each have a first section (10), a second section (11), and a third section (12), with the first section (10) being located closer to the exit side (6) for the sliding step (2) than the second section (11) and the third section (12). The first section (10) and the third section (12) run substantially parallel to the connecting side (7). The second section (11) connects the first section (10) to the third section (12), and the first section (10) is located further away from the connecting side (7) than the third section (12).