Movable or removable closures – Closures interconnected for concurrent movement – Opposed similar movement
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-28
2003-12-16
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Closures interconnected for concurrent movement
Opposed similar movement
Reexamination Certificate
active
06662500
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a door apparatus for opening and closing side doors of a train.
A mechanism for opening and closing a door of a train is an essential part for the safety of passengers on the train. Once the door of the train is closed, the door should not be opened accidentally regardless of moving or stationary. Further, the doors must always be held closed with a specific force to prevent rain or wind from entering, and to suppress vibrations. However, when an emergency such as a power failure happens to stop the train and the passengers need to evacuate from the train, it must be possible for a passenger to manually open the door relatively easily. Thus, a train door apparatus must be able to work very reliably. The inventor has already developed a train door apparatus that meets these requirements and applied for a patent (see Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2000-142392).
FIGS. 14
to
17
show a train door apparatus according to Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2000-142392. This apparatus is briefly described below.
FIG. 14
is a front view showing an entire train door apparatus.
FIG. 15
is an enlarged view of an essential part of the train door apparatus. In
FIGS. 14 and 15
, two doors
1
and
2
are movably suspended from and supported by a door rail
3
horizontally mounted along a side of a train. The two doors move in opposite directions (left and right in the figure) to open or close the train doorways. The door
1
, shown at left in the figure, is driven by a linear motor
5
as an actuator connected to a moving member
4
of the door
1
.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, a moving unit
5
a
of the linear motor
5
engages the moving member
4
to be able to slide for a predetermined distance ‘x’ in an opening or closing direction (to the right or left in the figure). A compression spring
6
is interposed between the moving unit
5
a
and the moving member
4
, as shown in the figure. Thus, the linear motor
5
is connected to the door
1
so that the door can move by the distance ‘x’ in the opening direction thereof.
The right door
2
moves in cooperation with the door
1
via a direction conversion mechanism
7
. As shown in
FIG. 15
, the direction conversion mechanism
7
is composed of a lower rack
9
connected to the moving member
4
of the door
1
via a connection rod
8
, an upper rack
11
connected to the moving member
4
of the door
2
via a connection plate
10
, and a pinion
12
that simultaneously engages these racks
9
and
11
. The lower rack
9
and the upper rack
11
are guided to be able to slide within a unit case
7
a
fixed to the train in the opening or closing direction, and the pinion
12
is supported by a shaft fixed to the unit case
7
a
. The opening or closing movement of the door
1
driven by the linear motor
5
is transferred to the door
2
by changing the direction by the direction conversion mechanism
7
.
FIGS. 16 and 17
are detailed views showing a locking mechanism
13
(in
FIG. 14
) attached to the direction conversion mechanism
7
and pushing/pulling attachments (members)
14
and
15
for locking and unlocking the locking mechanism
13
.
FIG. 16
shows a locked state, while
FIG. 17
shows an unlocked state. In
FIGS. 16 and 17
, the pushing attachment
14
and the pulling attachment
15
are attached to a tip of the moving unit of the actuator
5
.
The pushing attachment
14
has a rod-like shape and one end horizontally fixed to the actuator
5
. The pulling attachment
15
with a key-shaped tip is placed on a top surface of the pushing attachment
14
, and has one end joined to the actuator
5
by a pin to rotate and move along the vertical axis. The pulling attachment
15
is urged upward by a compression spring
16
interposed between the pulling attachment
15
and the pushing attachment
14
. A pin
17
with a head is screwed into the pulling attachment
15
while loosely passing through the pushing attachment
14
, and limits an upward rotational range of the pulling attachment. A guide fixture
18
contacts a top surface of the pulling attachment
15
and is attached to a tip of a fixed portion of the linear motor
5
to stop the pulling attachment from rotating upwardly.
The locking mechanism
13
has a slider
19
guided to be able to slide in the directions in which the doors
1
and
2
move; a back spring
20
composed of a compression spring to urge the slider
19
toward the door
2
; a latch
21
guided to be able to slide vertically; and a locking spring
22
composed of a tension spring to urge the latch
21
downward. The slider
19
has a cam surface
19
a
disposed on a top surface thereof having an oblique stage surface, and an engaging protruding portion
19
b
provided at a tip thereof. Although not shown in detail, the latch
21
is composed of a vertical latch rod
24
guided to be able to move up or down inside a guide cylinder
23
fixed to a unit case
7
a
, and a frame
25
integrated with the latch rod
24
. A roller
26
is rotatably attached to the frame
25
to contact the cam surface
19
a
of the slider
19
. The locking spring
22
for urging the latch
21
downward is provided between the frame
25
and the unit case
6
a
. As described later, the latch
21
advances or retracts in concert with the opening and closing operations of the doors.
In the door apparatus described above,
FIG. 16
shows a state in which the doors
1
and
2
are closed and locked. In this state, a tip of the latch rod
24
advances into an engaging hole
27
in the upper rack
11
, which constitutes an engaging portion of the direction conversion mechanism
7
, thereby locking the sliding motion of the upper rack
11
. Thus, the doors
1
and
2
, linked to the upper rack
11
, will not move.
In this state, the pushing attachment
14
abuts against the engaging protruding portion
19
b
of the slider
19
, and the key-shaped portion of the pulling attachment
15
engages the engaging protruding portion
19
b
. When a signal is sent to open the door, the moving unit
5
a
of the linear motor
5
moves to the left. With the door
1
staying at its closed position, the moving unit
5
a
initially moves to the left by a predetermined distance ‘x’ while pushing the compression spring
6
. The pulling attachment
15
pulls the slider
19
via the engaging protruding portion
19
b
. At this time, the pulling attachment
15
tries to move upwardly, but it can not open, as it is pressed by the guide attachment
18
.
When the slider
19
is pulled and moved to the left, the roller
26
is pushed onto an upper surface of the cam surface
19
a
via the inclined surface thereof as shown in FIG.
17
. Thus, the latch
21
is lifted to withdraw the latch rod
24
from the engaging hole
27
to unlock the upper rack
11
, thereby unlocking the doors
1
and
2
. Once the moving unit
5
a
moves by the distance ‘x’, the guide attachment
18
stops pushing the pulling attachment
15
. As a result, the pulling attachment
15
rotates upward by the compression spring
16
and is released from the engaging protruding portion
19
b
of the slider
19
. Although the pulling attachment
15
is released, the slider
19
remains at its forward position due to a spring force of the back spring
20
, thereby keeping the roller
26
pushed up.
Subsequently, the moving unit
5
a
moves the door
1
leftward to its predetermined open position. Correspondingly, the door
2
linked to the door
1
via the direction conversion mechanism
7
moves to the right to open the doors
1
and
2
. Thereafter, a signal is sent to move the door
1
to the right, and the door
1
moves to its closed position, shown in FIG.
16
. Then, the moving unit
5
a
pushes the slider
19
via the pushing attachment
14
. As a result, the roller
26
falls from the upper surface of the cam surface
19
a
, and the latch rod
24
advances through the engaging hole
27
in the upper rack
11
to lock the doors again. When the doors need to be opened in an emergency, a han
Fuji Electric & Co., Ltd.
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Redman Jerry
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