EP3461713A1

EP3461713A1 - Vehicle with retractable stair assembly

Info

Publication number: EP3461713A1
Application number: EP17194229.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jaroslav Antala; Irfan Ali
Original assignee: Siemens Mobility GmbH
Current assignee: Siemens Mobility GmbH
Priority date: 2017-09-29
Filing date: 2017-09-29
Publication date: 2019-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2037-09-29
Also published as: EP3461713B1; ES2847952T3

Abstract

The invention discloses a vehicle (1) comprising a body (2) and a door assembly (20) with a door (21) hingely connected to the body (2) by at least one first hinge (22), a door frame (23), and a first horizontally extending guide unit (24). Further provided is a retractable stair assembly (100) comprising a stairway (110) with steps (112) configured to be horizontally retractable between a first position, in which the stairway (110) is provided inside the body (2) in an inverted upside-down orientation and a second position, in which the stairway (110) is provided outside the body (2) and still in the inverted upside-down position, a hand rail (120) coupled on a first end (122) to the first guide unit (25) and on an opposing second end (124) coupled to the stairway (110), a second hinge (130) provided to rotate the stairway (110) in said second position to the regular orientation.

Description

The invention relates to a vehicle with a retractable stair assembly.
Vehicles, such as rail vehicles, may be operated in narrow tunnels such that the side doors are blocked for evacuation in the event of a fault. Emergency exits on the front or back of the carriage can be required. To reach the track level, ladders or stairs are usually required.
A particular challenge here is a coupler provided in front of the vehicle and protruding from the front of the vehicle, which additionally requires bridging of the horizontal distance for the exit device.
Since the emergency exit may be located on the front of the driver's cabin, which is additionally loaded by aerodynamic loads, there is also a requirement to provide a air and water tightness of the system.
In the case of smaller aircrafts, systems exist with stairs integrated into a flap or directly attached to them have become known as regular passenger doors. In this case, the flaps perform a rotational movement about a horizontal axis, which is located close to the vehicle outer skin.
An application for rail vehicles is limited by the fact that the exit device, which bends downwards, may collide with the coupler protruding from the front of the vehicle. Some state of the art exit device solutions occupy the complete height of the carriage.
The invention is based on the object of proposing an easy-to-operate emergency exit assembly.
According to the invention, a vehicle is provided comprising a body, a door assembly and a retractable stair assembly. The door assembly comprises a hinged door connected to the body by at least one first hinge, a door frame, and a first guide unit which is horizontally extending. The retractable stair assembly comprises a stairway with a plurality of steps, wherein the stairway is configured to be horizontally retractable between a first position, in which the stairway is provided inside the body in an inverted upside-down orientation and a second position, in which the stairway is provided at least partly outside the body in a regular orientation, a hand rail coupled on a first end to the first guide unit and on a second end opposing to the first end coupled to the stairway, and a second hinge provided to rotate the stairway in said second position from the inverted upside-down orientation to a third position in which the stairway is in the regular orientation.
The vehicle may be a vehicle running on rails such as a train or monorail. However, the invention is not limited thereto. The vehicle may be any vehicle with an emergency exit, preferably a front end exit.
The door assembly together with the stair assembly may be called an emergency exit assembly.
The opening of the door assembly as well as the operation of the stair assembly may be fully mechanical. This provides the advantage of a safe operation in an emergency situation where electric power may be cut-off.
Preferably, the door assembly and the stair assembly are provided at the front of a vehicle, even more preferably at a front of a train provided with a front coupler, throughout the invention called coupling unit. The invention allows advantageously to bridge the coupling unit horizontally and to allow people inside the vehicle to leave the vehicle safely in an emergency situation.
Since the stairway moves first horizontally at least partly out of the vehicle before it rotates downward, the design may provide sufficient space between the coupling unit in the middle of the vehicle and below the steps to avoid any collisions when the device is employed as a front emergency exit.
The front coupler may protrude between 0.3-1.2m from the body of the vehicle, preferably between 0.4-1.1m, even more preferably between 0.5-1m. These values correspond to the minimum horizontal distance which needs to be bridged by the stair assembly.
Preferably, the actual horizontal distance bridged by the deployed stair assembly from the body of the vehicle varies between 1.5-2.5m, preferably between 1.8-2.2m, and even more preferably equates to a value of around two meters.
The horizontal distance the stairway moves between its initial position and the second position before rotation of the stairway is preferably larger than 0.3m and may vary between 0.3-2m, preferably between 0.5-1.5m.
The provided hand rail allows guiding the passengers safely out of the vehicle.
The vehicle may further comprise a window screen provided vertically above the door assembly and hingely connected to the body to pivot vertically between a closed and an open position. Advantageously, since the door assembly is placed below the window screen, which can be opened vertically, the driver's field of view through the window screen is not affected when the invention is not in use. In this case, the window screen may be part of the emergency exit assembly.
The first hinge may extend vertically, along a z-axis to rotate the door about the z-axis between a closed and an open position. Thus, the door swings open horizontally and out of the way of the people exiting the train.
The first guide unit preferably extends at least partly across the door frame and continues to extend at least partly across the inner surface of the door. Thus, the open door can be employed to support the deployment of the stairway.
The hand rail is foldable, preferably by at least two joints.
The stairway may be foldable, even preferably accordion like.
A joining element may be provided coupled on a first end to an interior of the body and on an opposing second end to the stairway. The joining element may be adapted to extend or move when the stairway is moved from the first position to the second position.
The joining element may be coupled to and adapted to move along a third horizontally extending guide unit provided inside the body, preferably provided inside the door frame.
The joining element may be adapted to lock automatically into a fixed position when the second position is reached such that the steps are not able to move back horizontally from the second position if the lock is not disengaged.
The joining element may be an air cylinder and a piston which appears and disappears automatically from a tubular cylinder main body. The joining element may be a folding joint. The joining element may be a pneumatic or gas spring. Such joining element allows a smooth operation of the rotation in direction of gravity.
The joining element may in another embodiment be a first actuator. The first actuator may be adapted to move the stairway from the first position to the second position and back. The first actuator may be a mechanical and manually driver actuator or an automatic actuator. The first actuator may be coupled to a third horizontally extending guide unit provided inside the body, preferably provided inside the door frame. The first actuator may be further configured to facilitate the rotation of the stairway from the inverted to the regular orientation by exerting a force on the stairway.
Alternatively or additionally, the second hinge may be adapted to lock the stairway horizontally such that the stairway can be rotated about the second hinge but cannot be moved horizontally when the second position is reached.
The vehicle may further comprise a coupling unit and in the third position, the stairway may be provided to extend away from the body across and spaced apart from the coupling unit, preferably horizontally and vertically spaced apart.
The stairway is preferably dimensioned to bridge a height difference between an inner walkway of the vehicle and an exterior ground level. The height difference is usually larger than 1m and may vary up to a value of 1.5m.
The stairway may be coupled to a second guide unit, preferably provided at an inner surface of the door and/or the door frame. This second guide unit may stabilize the horizontal movement of the stairway from the first to the second position. Preferably, the second guide unit is adapted to lock the stairway horizontally when the stairway has moved along the second guide unit to its end position for horizontal movement, which is the second position of the stairway.
The hand rail may be adapted to move along the first guide unit during rotation of the stairway from the inverted upside-down orientation to the regular orientation. At the final position, when the rotation of the stairway is completed, the end of the first guide unit limits the further movement of the hand rail. In a preferred embodiment, the hand rail locks into a fixed position when the end of the first guide unit is reached.
In an alternative solution the stair assembly may be provided with folding stairs or front mask segments openings for passenger areas.
The above-described features and advantages of this invention, as well as the way in which they are achieved, will be more clearly and distinctly understood in conjunction with the following description of the exemplary embodiments illustrated in conjunction with the drawings.

Figure 1: shows a front view of a vehicle according to the invention with a closed door assembly,
Figure 2: shows a front view of a vehicle according to the invention with an opened door and a deployed stair assembly,
Figure 3: shows a front side view of a vehicle according to the invention with an opened door and a deployed stair assembly, and
Figures 4-8: show vertical sectional views along the axis A-A of figure 1 of a vehicle according to the invention in different states of the deployment of the emergency exit assembly.

Fig. 1 depicts a front view of a vehicle 1 having a body 2, a window screen 30 and a door assembly 20 with a door 21 in a closed state. A coupling unit 50 is exemplarily provided attached to the body 2 and below the door assembly 20 and extending horizontally from the body 2 of the vehicle 1. In Fig. 2, the door 21 is opened and the stair assembly 100 is deployed from the body 2 of the vehicle 1. Fig. 3 shows the vehicle of Fig. 2 in an angled perspective. Figs. 4-8 show different snapshots of the movement of the stair assembly 100 from its original position, the first position (see Fig. 4) to its final position, the third position (see Fig. 8).
Exemplarily, the vehicle of the drawings is a train or railway carriage. The carriage may be the driver's cabin located in a front of the vehicle. However, the vehicle is not limited to a train. It could be any vehicle which may be provided with an emergency exit assembly.
The shown emergency exit assembly 10 (see Fig. 3) according to the invention is exemplarily a front emergency exit assembly 10. However, the emergency exit assembly may also be provided at a back or a side of a vehicle. Further, another coupling unit 50 may be provided at a back of the vehicle 1. A window screen 30 may not be provided at the back of the vehicle 1 and in such embodiment, the inventive emergency exit assembly 10 provided at a back of a vehicle 1 would not comprise a window screen 30, but only a door assembly 20 and a stair assembly 100.
The body 2 has an outer layer or shell. In a closed state, in order to avoid additional air resistance, the closed door 21 forms part of the outer shell of the body 2 of the vehicle 1. The opening of the door 21 opens the outer shell of the vehicle 1 and allows passengers in the vehicle to disembark the vehicle 1 in an emergency situation using the retractable stair assembly 100.
The door assembly 20 comprises a door 21, a first hinge 22, a door frame 23 and at least a first guide unit 24. Optionally, also a second guide unit 25 may be provided which will be introduced later. The door frame 23 according to the invention is the inner part of the body 2 of the vehicle 1 which is adjacent to the door 21 in a closed state and which surrounds a passageway for passengers exiting the vehicle. Said passageway extends from the interior of the vehicle and is further established by the opened door 21 and the deployed stairway 100. In the shown embodiment, the first hinge 22 extends vertically to rotate the door 21 about a z-axis between a closed and an open position. Thus, the door 21 pivots horizontally to an open position and limits the passageway horizontally. However, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the door 21 may also open vertically and may pivot downwards such that the stair assembly 100 rests on the inner surface of the door 21. In such an embodiment, also the guide units 24, 25 will be provided below the stairway.
The retractable stair assembly 100 comprises a stairway 110 having a plurality of horizontally extending and vertically spaced apart steps 112, a hand rail 120 and a second hinge 130 coupled to the stairway 110. The stairway 110 is on the one side configured to be horizontally retractable between a first position which is shown in Fig. 4, in which the stairway 110 is provided inside the body 2 in an inverted upside-down orientation and a second position, shown in Fig. 6, in which the stairway 110 is provided at least partly outside the body 2 and still in the inverted upside-down position. Preferably, a second step 112 of the stairway 110 is arranged horizontally outside the vehicle 1 or body 2 of the vehicle 1 and laterally spaced apart from the coupling unit 50. Further, by the second hinge 130 the stairway 110 is adapted to rotate around a horizontal axis from an inverted orientation in the second positon to a regular orientation in a third position as shown in Fig. 8.
In the shown embodiment, the window screen 30 is provided vertically above the door assembly 20 and connected to the body 2 by a third hinge 31 to pivot vertically between a closed and an open position. The window screen 30 may comprise supports 32 which support the window screen 30 in an open position and keep the window screen 30 in the open position. Such supports 32 can be folding joints or a pneumatic or a gas pressure spring.
Further, a hand rail 120 is provided coupled on a first end 122 to the first guide unit 24 and on a second end 124 opposing to the first end 122 coupled to the stairway 110, the first end 122 being provided moveable along the first guide unit 25.
The deployment of the stairway assembly 100 from the vehicle 1 is shown in Figs. 4-8. In Fig. 4, the door 21 is closed and the stairway 110 is inside the body 2 of the vehicle 1 oriented upside-down. Thus, Fig. 4 shows the initial or first position of the stairway 110 in an unused state. The upside-down orientation in an unused state advantageously allows saving space inside the vehicle 1. For instance, no storing space below an interior walkway 60 needs to be provided for the stairway 110. In addition, in the upside-down orientation, the stairway 110 is free to move out of the vehicle 1 without interference with the coupling unit 50.
In Fig. 5, the door 21 is now open while the stair assembly 100 remains unmoved. Fig. 5 shows the first guide unit 24 provided at the inside of the door frame 23 and which preferably continues to extend horizontally along the inside of the door 21. The first guide unit 24 is provided to guide the hand rail from its initial retracted position inside the vehicle 1 to its final position when the stairway 110 is in its third position. Also, an optional second guide unit 25 is shown which guides the movement of the stairway 110 from its initial first position to its second position. In Fig. 5, the window screen 30 is opened and supported by supports 32 to remain in the open position. In the embodiment shown, the hand rail 120 is foldable, preferably comprising at least two joints 126 to be foldable. To be specific, the hand rail 120 is foldable and extendable along the x-direction. This allows again saving storing space for the stair assembly 100 in an unused state.
In Fig. 6, the stairway 110 has moved horizontally, for instance by a force applied by a passenger to the stairway 110, preferably the top of the stairway 110 in the inverted position, to the second position, in which the stairway 110 is still in an inverted upside-down orientation, but moved at least partly outside the body 2 of the vehicle 1. Thus, the stairway 110 is moveable by respective mechanical elements, like extending joints, wheels, gears etc. The term "inverted orientation" throughout the disclosure refers to the situation that the orientation is inverted with respect to its final and regular orientation, in which the stairway 110 can be used by a passenger to exit the vehicle 1. In the inverted position, the top step 112 of Fig. 4 is the bottom step 112 of the regular orientation in Fig. 8. In the inverted orientation, the stairway extends along the positive z-axis, in the regular orientation it extends along the negative z-axis to bridge a height difference between the interior walkway 60 of the vehicle and the ground level 70 (see Fig. 8). The stairway 110 as shown is preferably guided horizontally along the second guide unit 25 from its first position to the second position. The first and second positions of the stairway 110 correspond to the respective ends of the second guide unit 25. In the second position as shown in Fig. 6, the stairway 110 is not able to move any further horizontally outside the vehicle 1, but is only able to rotate around the second hinge 130 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 to finally reach its end or third position. Thus, if further force is applied to the stairway 110, preferably the top of the stairway 110 in the inverted position, e.g. by a passenger of the vehicle 1, the stairway 110 begins to rotate to its final third position. In the third position the stairway 110 is in its regular orientation adapted to allow a passenger to disembark the vehicle 1 by using the stairs 112 of the stairway 110 in a usual manner. By the initial horizontal movement of the stairway 110, the coupling unit 50 can be horizontally and vertically bridged such that the stairway 110 is in any position horizontally and/or vertically spaced apart from the coupling unit 50. By the final rotation of the stairway 110, the stairway rotates from its initial upside-down orientation to its regular orientation. A passenger can now disembark the vehicle 1 without interference with the coupling unit 50 in order to walk from the interior walkway 60 of the vehicle 1 downstairs to the exterior ground level 70, which may be a track level in case the vehicle 1 is a train. The second guide unit 25 may be provided at an inner surface of the door 21 and/or the door frame 23, as already described in respect of the first guide unit 24.
Figs. 7 and 8 also show the horizontal movement of the hand rail 120. While in Figs. 4-6, the stairway moved horizontally from its first to its second position, now, after finishing the horizontal movement of the stairway 110 and during rotation of the stairway 110 about the second hinge 130, the hand rail 120 starts to move horizontally along the first guide unit 24 from its initial position (left of Fig. 6) to an intermediate position as shown in Fig. 7 to its final position of Fig. 8. A first end 122 of the hand rail 120 remains attached to the first guide unit 24, the second end 124 remains attached to the stairway 110. In Fig. 8, the first end 122 of the hand rail 120 has reached the end of the first guide unit 24 and the hand rail 120 is finally unfolded to its final state or formation. In the unfolded state, the hand rail 120 supports a passenger during his exit from the vehicle 1. Preferably, the hand rail 120 becomes fixed when it reaches the end of the second guide unit 24. This can be done by employing locking elements in the joints 126 of the hand rail 120 or by fixing the first end 122 of the hand rail 120 to a lock provided in the first guide unit 24. Such fixture of the hand rail 120 provided safety during use of the hand rail 120.
In the embodiments shown, a second guide unit 25 is provided to guide the horizontal movement of the stairway and to limit the horizontal movement of the stairway 110. When the end of the second guide unit 25 is reached, the stairway may lock such that it not able to move the stairway 110 back and forth without releasing the lock. In this position, if further horizontal force is applied to the stairway 110, the stairway is only able to rotate from its inverted upside-down orientation to its final regular orientation. However, a second guide unit 25 may only optionally be provided. The stairway 110 may freely translate horizontally without using a second guide unit 25. The construction of the stairway 110 may allow and limit the horizontal movement of the stairway 110 in a similar manner as the second guide unit 25.
In the embodiments shown, the stairway 110 is not only horizontally moveable and rotatable around a second hinge 130, but also foldable, preferably accordion like. This allows saving storing space of the stair assembly 100 in an unused state. However, the foldable embodiment of the stairway 110 is only an option and the stairway 110 may not be foldable but rigid.
Furthermore, a joining or support element 40 may be provided coupled on a first end to an interior of the body 2 and on an opposing second end to the stairway 110. The joining or support element 40 may be provided to stabilize the movement of the stairway 110 between the first position and the second position. For instance, while the stairway 110 may be fixed on one side to a second guide unit 25, it may be fixed on the opposing side to the joining element 40 to increase stability of the stairway 110. The joining element 40 may be an air cylinder with a piston which appears and disappears from a tubular cylinder main body. The joining element 40 may be coupled to a third guide unit 42 provided inside the body 2 of the vehicle 1.
In a preferred embodiment, the joining or support element 40 may be a pneumatic spring or a gas pressure spring. This would advantageously allow to support and dampen the rotation of the stairway 110 from its inverted upside-down to its regular orientation. Without such a joining or support element 40, the steps would simply fall down in direction of gravitation during rotation, which may damage the stairway 110.
In another embodiment, the joining element 40 may be an actuator. The actuator may facilitate the horizontal movement of the stairway 110 as well as its rotation. This can be done automatically or mechanically. When done automatically and in order to secure the operation of the stairway 110 in an emergency situation, the actuator may comprise its own battery to provide energy used for fulfilling the movements.
In the same manner as shown in Figs. 4-8, the stairway 110 can be moved backwards into the vehicle 1 for a further use of the emergency exit system.
Although the invention has been illustrated and described in more detail by way of preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited by the examples disclosed, and other variations can be derived therefrom without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

Vehicle (1) comprising:
- a body (2),

- a door assembly (20) comprising
a door (21) hingely connected to the body (2) by at least one first hinge (22),

a door frame (23), and

a horizontally extending first guide unit (24); and

- a retractable stair assembly (100) comprising:
a stairway (110) comprising a plurality of steps (112), wherein the stairway (110) is configured to be horizontally retractable between a first position, in which the stairway (110) is provided inside the body (2) in an inverted upside-down orientation and a second position, in which the stairway (110) is provided at least partly outside the body (2) in a regular orientation,

a hand rail (120) coupled on a first end (122) to the first guide unit (24) and on a second end (124) opposing to the first end (122) coupled to the stairway (110), the first end (122) being provided moveable along the first guide unit (24),

a second hinge (130) provided to rotate the stairway (110) in said second position from the inverted upside-down orientation to a third position in which the stairway is in the regular orientation.
Vehicle (1) according to claim 1, further comprising a window screen (30) provided vertically above the door assembly (20) and hingely connected to the body (2) to pivot vertically between a closed and an open position.
Vehicle (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first hinge (22) extends vertically to rotate the door (21) about a z-axis between a closed and an open position.
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the first guide unit (24) extends at least partly across the door frame (23) and continues to extend at least partly across the inner surface of the door (21).
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the hand rail (120) is foldable, preferably comprising at least two joints.
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the stairway (110) is foldable, preferably accordion like.
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein a joining element (40) is provided coupled on a first end to an interior of the body (2) and on an opposing second end to the stairway (110) and being provided to allow movement of the stairway (110) between the first position and the second position.
Vehicle (1) according to claim 7, wherein the joining element (40) may be an automatic actuator.
Vehicle (1) according to claim 7, wherein the joining element (40) is an air cylinder with a piston which appears and disappears from a tubular cylinder main body.
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the vehicle comprises a coupling unit (50) and in the third position, the stairway (110) is provided to extend away from the body (2) across and spaced apart from the coupling unit (50), preferably horizontally and vertically spaced apart.
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the stairway (110) is dimensioned to bridge a height difference between an inner walkway (60) of the vehicle (1) and an exterior ground level (70).
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the stairway (110) is coupled to a second guide unit (25), preferably provided at an inner surface of the door (21) and/or the door frame (23).
Vehicle (1) according to at least one of the previous claims, wherein the hand rail (120) is adapted to move along the first guide unit (24) during rotation of the stairway from the inverted upside-down orientation to the regular orientation.