Abstract:
A holding device holds a coupler adapter which is connectable to a coupler of a railcar. The holding device includes: a holding frame configured to detachably hold the coupler adapter; a holding frame supporting portion provided at a carbody end portion of the railcar to support the holding frame; a fixing member configured to fix the coupler adapter and the holding frame to the holding frame supporting portion; and a lifting and lowering portion connected to the holding frame to lift and lower the holding frame and the coupler adapter.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a holding device configured to hold a coupler adapter used in a railcar. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    When a railcar breaks down on a main line or when power is not applied to the railcar in a car depot, the railcar (hereinafter referred to as a “towed vehicle”) may be coupled to a towing vehicle to be moved by the towing vehicle. At this time, if a coupler of the towing vehicle and a coupler of the towed vehicle are different in type from each other, these couplers cannot be directly coupled to each other. Therefore, these couplers are coupled to each other via a coupler adapter. As such coupler adapter, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2007-83875 (paragraphs 0002 and 0006) discloses a coupling mechanism including a coupling rod and explains that the cost is low and a vehicle tip end portion can be reduced in weight. 
         [0005]    Here, the coupler adapter may be stored in a coupler adapter storing portion provided in the vicinity of the coupler of the towed vehicle. To prevent the coupler adapter from falling off, the coupler adapter is fixed to the coupler adapter storing portion by a fixing member. To use the coupler adapter fixed to the coupler adapter storing portion and put the coupler adapter back to the coupler adapter storing portion, the following operations (i) to (vii) needs to be carried out. 
         [0006]    (i) Detach the fixing member from the coupler adapter. 
         [0007]    (ii) Take out the coupler adapter from the coupler storing portion and put it on the ground. 
         [0008]    (iii) Lift up the coupler adapter and attach it to the coupler of the towed vehicle. 
         [0009]    (iv) Use the coupler adapter (Couple the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle via the coupler adapter and move the towed vehicle). 
         [0010]    (v) Uncouple the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle, detach the coupler adapter from the coupler of the towed vehicle, and put the coupler adapter on the ground. 
         [0011]    (vi) Lift up the coupler adapter and put it back to the coupler adapter storing portion. 
         [0012]    (vii) Fix the coupler adapter to the coupler storing portion by the fixing member. 
         [0013]    Since the coupler adapter requires adequate strength, it is generally heavy (for example, 50 kg). Therefore, among the above operations, the operation of putting the coupler adapter on the ground from the coupler adapter storing portion and the operation of lifting up the coupler adapter to the height of the coupler are burden on an operator and take time. Further, the operations necessary for attaching the coupler adapter need to be carried out by a plurality of operators. Thus, all of the operations require a plurality of operators. 
         [0014]    In the coupling mechanism described in the above publication, CFRP is used as a part of the coupling rod to reduce the weight. However, using the CFRP for the coupler adapter increases the cost and is not realistic. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the weight of the coupler adapter. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    An object of the present invention is to provide a holding device configured to hold a coupler adapter used in a railcar, the holding device allowing to easily and safely carry out operations necessary for attaching the coupler adapter to a coupler. 
         [0016]    A holding device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a holding frame configured to detachably hold a coupler adapter; a holding frame supporting portion provided at a carbody end portion of the railcar to support the holding frame; a fixing member configured to fix the coupler adapter and the holding frame to the holding frame supporting portion; and a lifting and lowering portion connected to the holding frame to lift and lower the holding frame and the coupler adapter. 
         [0017]    In accordance with this configuration, since the operation of lowering the coupler adapter from the holding frame and putting it back to the holding frame can be carried out by using the lifting and lowering portion, the burden of the operator is reduced significantly. Therefore, the operations necessary for attaching the coupler adapter to the coupler can be carried out easily and safely. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1A  is a front view of a railcar according to Embodiment 1. 
           [0019]      FIG. 1B  is a side view of the railcar according to Embodiment 1. 
           [0020]      FIG. 1C  is a plan view of the railcar according to Embodiment 1. 
           [0021]      FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of a coupler adapter in a stored state. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2B  is a front view of the coupler adapter in the stored state. 
           [0023]      FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of the coupler adapter in a hung state. 
           [0024]      FIG. 3B  is a front view of the coupler adapter in the hung state. 
           [0025]      FIG. 4A  is a diagram showing a positional relation among the coupler adapter, a holding frame, a holding frame supporting portion, and a winch. 
           [0026]      FIG. 4B  is an enlarged view of the coupler adapter and the holding frame. 
           [0027]      FIG. 5A  is an explanatory diagram showing an operation procedure of attaching the coupler adapter. 
           [0028]      FIG. 5B  is an explanatory diagram showing the operation procedure of attaching the coupler adapter. 
           [0029]      FIG. 5C  is an explanatory diagram showing the operation procedure of attaching the coupler adapter. 
           [0030]      FIG. 6A  is a front view of the railcar to which a second guide portion according to Embodiment 2 is not attached. 
           [0031]      FIG. 6B  is a perspective view of the second guide portion according to Embodiment 2. 
           [0032]      FIG. 6C  is an explanatory diagram of the second guide portion according to Embodiment 2. 
           [0033]      FIG. 6D  is an explanatory diagram of the second guide portion according to Embodiment 2. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiment 1 
       [0034]    Hereinafter, a holding device  100  configured to hold a coupler adapter according to Embodiment 1 will be explained in reference to  FIGS. 1A to 5C . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIGS. 1A to 1C , the holding device  100  configured to hold the coupler adapter according to the present embodiment is provided at a front end portion (or a rear end portion depending on a travelling direction) of a railcar  1  (towed vehicle) and in the vicinity of a coupler  1 B. As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the holding device  100  according to the present embodiment is a device configured to hold a coupler adapter  11  and includes a holding frame  12 , a first fixing member  13 , a holding frame supporting portion  14 , a second fixing member  15 , and a winch  16  constituting a lifting and lowering portion. Hereinafter, the coupler adapter  11  will be explained at first, and respective components of the holding device  100  will be then explained in order. 
         [0036]    The coupler adapter  11  is a device configured to couple couplers to each other, the couplers being different in type from each other. As shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the coupler adapter  11  includes a first coupling portion  11 A coupled to the coupler of the towing vehicle and a second coupling portion  11 B coupled to the coupler  1 B of the railcar  1  that is the towed vehicle. Each of the first coupling portion  11 A and the second coupling portion  11 B is formed in a columnar shape from a base end portion to a center portion and is formed in a conical shape at a tip end portion. A first through hole  2  and a second through hole  3  are formed on the coupler adapter  11 . The coupler adapter  11  according to the present embodiment is basically the same in configuration as an existing coupler adapter which has been used so far. Therefore, even if the holding device  100  according to the present embodiment is newly adopted, it is unnecessary to change the existing coupler adapter. 
         [0037]    The holding frame  12  is a member configured to directly hold the coupler adapter  11 . As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the holding frame  12  has a rectangular outer edge and is formed in a figure of  8 . As shown in  FIG. 5B  for example, the holding frame  12  includes two holding members  6 . These holding members  6  are provided at positions respectively corresponding to the first coupling portion  11 A and second coupling portion  11 B of the coupler adapter. Each of the holding members  6  is formed in a U shape having a predetermined depth. The depths of the holding members  6  respectively correspond to about half a diameter of the first coupling portion  11 A and about half a diameter of the second coupling portion  11 B. As shown in  FIGS. 5B and 5C , a second screw hole  5  is formed in the vicinity of one upper corner of the holding frame  12 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , a below-described winch wire  16   a  is coupled to a rear surface of the holding frame  12 , and an engaged portion  12   a  is formed at a lower portion of the holding frame  12 . As shown in  FIG. 3B , in a state where the coupler adapter  11  is held by the holding frame  12 , a lower end edge of the holding frame  12  is located higher than a lower end edge of the coupler adapter  11 . A vertical distance between these lower end edges is larger than the depth of the holding member  6 . 
         [0038]    The first fixing member  13  is a member configured to fix the coupler adapter  11  and the holding frame  12  to a carbody  1 A (holding frame supporting portion  14 ). As shown in  FIG. 3A , the first fixing member  13  is a rod-like member having an L shape and includes a holding portion  13   a  held by an operator, a rod-like portion  13   b , and a tip end screw portion, not shown. By inserting the first fixing member  13  through the first through hole  2  of the coupler adapter  11 , the tip end screw portion can be screwed into a first screw hole  4  which is formed on the carbody  1 A and located on a deep side of the first through hole  2 . With this, the coupler adapter  11  and the holding frame  12  are fixed to the carbody  1 A (holding frame supporting portion  14 ). 
         [0039]    The holding frame supporting portion  14  is a rectangular frame-shaped member fixed to the carbody  1 A. As shown in  FIG. 5A  for example, the holding frame supporting portion  14  includes an engaging portion  17  configured to prevent the holding frame  12  from falling off. The engaging portion  17  includes a movable engaging portion  17   a  and a lever  17   b . The movable engaging portion  17   a  is configured to engage with the engaged portion  12   a  of the holding frame  12 . Therefore, the holding frame  12  (coupler adapter  11 ) does not fall off even if pull force by the winch wire  16   a  is lost by the breakdown of the below-described winch  16  or the winch wire  16   a  is cut off. By operating the lever  17   b , the engagement between the movable engaging portion  17   a  and the engaged portion  12   a  can be released. 
         [0040]    The second fixing member  15  is a member configured to fix the coupler adapter  11  to the holding frame  12 . As shown in  FIG. 5C  for example, the second fixing member  15  is substantially the same in configuration as the first fixing member  13 . The coupler adapter  11  can be fixed to the holding frame  12  by inserting the second fixing member  15  through the second through hole  3  of the coupler adapter  11  and screwing the tip end screw portion, not shown, into the second screw hole of the holding frame  12 . 
         [0041]    The winch  16  is a device (lifting and lowering portion) configured to pay out or roll up the winch wire  16   a  to lift and lower the holding frame  12  and the coupler adapter  11 . As shown in  FIG. 5A  for example, paying-out and rolling-up of the winch wire  16   a  are carried out by operating an operating lever  16   b  located at a side portion of the carbody  1 A. A first guide portion  14   a  is formed at an upper portion of the holding frame supporting portion  14 , and the winch wire  16   a  hangs the first guide portion  14   a . With this, the winch wire  16   a  can be guided by the first guide portion  14   a  to stably lift and lower the coupler adapter  11  in a substantially vertical direction. 
         [0042]    Next, a procedure of attaching the coupler adapter  11  to the coupler will be explained in reference to  FIGS. 5A to 5C . 
         [0043]    First, as shown in  FIG. 5A , the first fixing member  13  is taken out from the coupler adapter  11  and the holding frame  12 , and the lever  17   b  is operated to release the engagement between the movable engaging portion  17   a  and the engaged portion  12   a . Next, by operating the winch  16 , the winch wire  16   a  is paid out to put the coupler adapter  11  and the holding frame  12  on the ground. 
         [0044]    Then, as shown in  FIG. 58 , the second fixing member  15  is taken out from the coupler adapter  11  and the holding frame  12 . At this time, the lower end edge of the holding frame  12  does not contact the ground. This is because in a state where the coupler adapter  11  is held by the holding frame  12 , the lower end edge of the holding frame  12  is located higher than the lower end edge of the coupler adapter  11 . Next, only the holding frame  12  is put on the ground by the winch  16 . With this, the first coupling portion  11 A and the second coupling portion  11 B can be detached from the holding members  6  without lifting the coupler adapter  11 . This is because the vertical distance between the lower end edge of the holding frame  12  and the lower end edge of the coupler adapter  11  is larger than the depth of the holding member  6 . Thus, the coupler adapter  11  can be completely detached from the holding frame  12 . 
         [0045]    Then, as shown in  FIG. 5C , the winch wire  16   a  is rolled up to put the holding frame  12  back to an initial position, and the first fixing member  13  and the second fixing member  15  are attached to original positions. With this, the holding frame  12  is again fixed to the holding frame supporting portion  14 . Thus, the first fixing member  13 , the second fixing member  15 , and the holding frame  12  are prevented from being lost. 
         [0046]    Then, the coupler adapter  11  is attached to the coupler  1 B of the towed vehicle to couple the towed vehicle and the towing vehicle. After using the coupler adapter  11 , a procedure opposite the above procedure is carried out to fix the coupler adapter  11  to the holding frame supporting portion  14 . To be specific, after the coupler adapter  11  is put on the ground once, the coupler adapter  11  is mounted on the holding frame  12  to be fixed by the second fixing member  15 . Next, the holding frame  12  (coupler adapter  11 ) is lifted by the winch  16  up to the holding frame supporting portion  14 . Lastly, the holding frame  12  (coupler adapter  11 ) is fixed to the holding frame supporting portion  14  by the first fixing member  13 . 
         [0047]    As above, in accordance with the holding device  100  of the present embodiment, the operator does not have to lift the coupler adapter  11  with his/her hands in the operations of putting down the coupler adapter  11  from the holding frame supporting portion  14  and fixing the coupler adapter  11  to the holding frame supporting portion  14 . Therefore, the burden of the operator in the entire operations necessary for attaching the coupler adapter  11  to the coupler can be reduced. In addition, the operating time can be reduced significantly, and the operations can be carried out by fewer operators. 
       Embodiment 2 
       [0048]    Next, a holding device  200  configured to hold the coupler adapter according to Embodiment 2 will be explained in reference to  FIGS. 6A to 6C . The holding device  200  of the present embodiment is substantially the same in configuration as the holding device  100  according to Embodiment 1 but further includes a second guide portion  22 . The second guide portion  22  is attached to a guide attaching portion  21  formed on a front surface of the carbody  1 A shown in  FIG. 6A . To be specific, the second guide portion  22  is located between the coupler  1 B and the coupler adapter  11  and above the coupler  1 B and the coupler adapter  11 . 
         [0049]    As shown in  FIG. 6B , the second guide portion  22  includes a first member  22 A, a second member  22 B, and a wire guide portion  22   a.    
         [0050]    The first member  22 A fits in the guide attaching portion  21  which is formed on the carbody  1 A to have a concave shape. A through hole portion  22   b  is formed on the first member  22 A. When in use, a fixing pin  23  is inserted through the through hole portion  22   b  and a pin receiving portion  24  formed on the carbody  1 A. Therefore, the first member  22 A is prevented from being taken out from the guide attaching portion  21 . 
         [0051]    As shown in  FIGS. 6C and 6D , the second member  22 B is pivotally attached to a tip end of the first member  22 A. Therefore, the second guide portion  22  can be folded when not in use and can be stored in a small space. 
         [0052]    The wire guide portion  22   a  is located at a tip end of the second member  22 B, and the winch wire  16   a  is inserted through the wire guide portion  22   a . To be specific, in the present embodiment, the winch wire  16   a  extending from the winch  16  is coupled to the rear surface of the holding frame  12  through the wire guide portion  22   a.    
         [0053]    Since the holding device  200  according to the present embodiment is configured as above, the holding frame  12  and the coupler adapter  11  can be hung upwardly by rolling up the winch wire  16   a  by the winch  16 , and the coupler adapter  11  can be coupled to the coupler without putting the coupler adapter  11  on the ground. 
         [0054]    The following will focus on the second member  22 B. First, an angular position of the second member  22 B is appropriately adjusted to hang the holding frame  12  and the coupler adapter  11  up to the vicinity of the holding frame supporting portion  14 . Next, the second member  22 B is rotated in this state to move the holding frame  12  and the coupler adapter  11  to the vicinity of the coupler  1 B. Then, the coupler adapter  11  is attached to the coupler  1 B. As above, in accordance with the holding device  200  of the present embodiment, it is unnecessary to lift the coupler adapter  11 . Similarly, in the operations of detaching the coupler adapter  11  from the coupler  1 B and fixing the coupler adapter  11  to the holding frame supporting portion  14 , it is unnecessary to lift the coupler adapter  11 . Therefore, the burden of the operator is reduced significantly. 
         [0055]    In Embodiments 1 and 2, the first fixing member  13  fixes the holding frame  12  and the coupler adapter  11  to the holding frame supporting portion  14 . However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first fixing member  13  may fix only the holding frame  12  to the holding frame supporting portion  14 . 
         [0056]    In Embodiments 1 and 2, the lifting and lowering portion is the winch  16 . However, the present invention is not limited to this. The lifting and lowering portion may be any device as long as it can lift and lower a heavy object. For example, the lifting and lowering portion may be a chain block, a lever block, a hoist, an electric hoist, or an electric winch.