Patent Publication Number: US-2023159065-A1

Title: Railroad Car

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a railroad vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     A railroad vehicle has a type of vehicle including only a private room in the same vehicle, a type of vehicle including only a general guest room provided with a plurality of seats in the same vehicle, and a type of vehicle including both the private room and the general guest room in the same vehicle. In general, the number of passengers of the private room largely differs from the number of passengers of the general guest room, and thus the heat load removed from the private room by supplying conditioned air generated by an air conditioner largely differs from the heat load removed from the general guest room. Therefore, in order for all the passengers to have a comfortable time, it is necessary to properly design a duct that guides the conditioned air to the private room and the general guest room from the air conditioner installed in the railroad vehicle. 
     Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique relating to arrangement of an air conditioning duct when a cooking room and a general guest room are provided in the same vehicle. The railroad vehicle disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a duct configuration in which even when any one of air conditioners supplying conditioned air to the cooking room and the general guest room that are largely different in heat load breaks down, redundancy at the time of the breakdown of the air conditioner is enhanced so as to maintain a comfortable in-vehicle environment. 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
     [Patent Literature 1] WO2016/051580 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     A general railroad vehicle includes one air conditioner for each car, and the air conditioner controls the temperature and air volume of conditioned air supplied to the inside of the vehicle so that the in-vehicle temperature observed by a temperature sensor at a representative point inside the railroad vehicle comes close to the target temperature (set temperature). 
     Here, for example, a case in which a railroad vehicle (one car) with a capacity of  82  people is provided with a private room with a capacity of  2  people and a guest room with a capacity of  80  people and the private room and the guest room are cooled by one air conditioner installed in the railroad vehicle will be examined. When the air conditioner supplies 3 m 3 /min of conditioned air at a temperature of 17° C. to the private room and supplies 76 m 3 /min of conditioned air at the same temperature of 17° C. to the guest room on the basis of the temperature observed by a temperature sensor provided in the guest room, since the heat loads of the private room and the guest room are different from each other, the private room temperature is saturated at 21° C. and the guest room temperature is saturated at 25° C. That is, when the air conditioner is controlled on the basis of the guest room temperature, the guest room temperature can be maintained at a predetermined temperature, but the private room temperature becomes much lower than the predetermined temperature, and the temperature environment of the private room tends to deteriorate. 
     On the contrary, if the flow rate of the conditioned air at the temperature of 17° C. is reduced so that the private room temperature does not become too low, there is a risk that the ventilation amount prescribed per passenger cannot be satisfied, and thus it is difficult to extremely reduce the flow rate of the conditioned air. In addition, if an air conditioner for a private room that detects the temperature of the private room and generates only conditioned air suitable for the private room is newly added, there is a risk that the number of manufacturing steps of the air conditioning system is increased and the air conditioning control becomes complicated. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a railroad vehicle that includes a private room and a guest room and can control a private room temperature and a guest room temperature with a simple configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps and without requiring complicated control. 
     Solution to Problem 
     In order to solve the above-described problems, one of representative railroad vehicles of the present invention is a railroad vehicle including a private room, a guest room, an air conditioner, and a main duct for supplying conditioned air conditioned by the air conditioner to the guest room. In the railroad vehicle, a branch duct for connecting the main duct to the private room is provided in order to supply the conditioned air, and the branch duct includes an introduced air port for introducing the air of the guest room to the branch duct in accordance with a difference between the pressure in the guest room and the pressure in the branch duct or the private room. 
     Advantageous Effects of Invention 
     According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a railroad vehicle that includes a private room and a guest room and can control a private room temperature and a guest room temperature with a simple configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps and without requiring complicated control. 
     Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is an air system diagram of a railroad vehicle including a private room and a guest room. 
         FIG.  2    is an enlarged schematic view of a branch duct (the part A of  FIG.  1   ) branching from a main duct to the private room. 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram for showing static pressure distribution in the branch duct. 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic view for showing the branch duct including an air amount adjusting damper at a guest room air introduction port. 
         FIG.  5    is a flowchart for controlling the air amount adjusting damper at the guest room air introduction port. 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic view for showing the branch duct including a conditioned air amount adjusting damper and an introduced air amount adjusting damper. 
         FIG.  7    is an air system diagram of the railroad vehicle including an exhaust fan for exhausting the air inside the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle in the structure. 
         FIG.  8    is an air system diagram of the railroad vehicle including the exhaust fan for exhausting the air of the private room to the guest room in the private room. 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic view for showing another branch duct connecting the main duct to the private room. 
         FIG.  10    is a schematic view for showing the branch duct including a heater for heating conditioned air. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, each direction is defined. The longitudinal direction (rail direction) of a railroad vehicle is an x direction, the width direction (sleeper direction) of the railroad vehicle is a y direction, the height direction of the railroad vehicle is a z direction, and hereinafter, they will be simply referred to as the x direction, the y direction, and the z direction in some cases. 
     First Embodiment 
       FIG.  1    is an air system diagram of a railroad vehicle including a private room and a guest room. A railroad vehicle  10  includes a box-like structure in which both ends in the x direction are supported by a pair of carts rolling on a track. An air conditioner  20  is provided on a roof forming an upper part of the structure. The structure includes a general guest room (also simply referred to as a guest room)  11  provided with a plurality of seats, a private room  12  of a small room partitioned for use by a small number of people, and an entrance platform  13  provided with a door used for passengers and the like to get on or off. Hereinafter, the general guest room (for example, with a capacity of 10 or more people) will be written as a guest room  11 , and the private room of a small room (for example, with a capacity of less than 10 people) will be written as a private room  12 . 
     A main duct  30  provided along the x direction is arranged at a ceiling part of the structure. The main duct  30  has guest room blow-off ports  31  discretely provided along the x direction and a branch duct  40  communicating with the private room  12 . 
     The air conditioner  20  has a refrigeration cycle system in which a sealed refrigerant circulates and an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger are arranged, a circulation (indoor) fan  24  installed side by side with the indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor air blower (not shown) installed side by side with the outdoor heat exchanger, and a control device  21  for controlling each of these machines. The guest room  11  is provided with a temperature sensor  22  for measuring the temperature of the guest room  11 , and the temperature sensor  22  is connected to the control device  21  controlling the air conditioner  20 . 
     The circulation fan  24  of the air conditioner generates conditioned air by conditioning the temperature and humidity in the process of allowing the circulation air taken into the air conditioner  20  from the inside of the vehicle to pass through the indoor heat exchanger. At this time, there is a case in which the circulation fan  24  mixes a predetermined amount of outside air (fresh air) taken from a fresh air introduction port (not shown) provided in a housing of the air conditioner  20  into the housing with the circulation air to generate the conditioned air. 
     The conditioned air forcedly fed to the main duct  30  by the circulation fan  24  is supplied from the guest room blow-off ports  31  of the main duct  30  to the guest room  11 , and is also supplied to the private room  12  via the branch duct  40 . 
       FIG.  2    is an enlarged view of the branch duct (the part A of  FIG.  1   ) branching from the main duct to the private room. The branch duct  40  includes a decompression device (also referred to as a decompression part)  43  having a cylindrical shape whose cross-sectional area in the direction crossing the flow of the conditioned air is gradually reduced and then is gradually enlarged, and a guest room air introduction port  42  provided at the minimum part of the cross-sectional area in the direction crossing the flow of the conditioned air of the decompression device  43 . 
       FIG.  3    shows static pressure distribution in the branch duct  40 . The static pressure of the conditioned air forcedly fed to the branch duct  40  by the static pressure of a branch duct inlet  100  is reduced because the flow velocity of the conditioned air increases in accordance with a decrease in the cross-sectional area in the process of passing through the decompression device  43 . Further, the static pressure of the conditioned air flowing in the branch duct  40  is minimized at a branch duct intermediate part  101  near an outlet  42   b  of the guest room air introduction port  42 . The conditioned air having passed through the outlet  42   b  of the guest room air introduction port is blown into the private room  12  from a branch duct outlet (private room blow-off port)  102 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , since the static pressure of the branch duct intermediate part  101  corresponding to the substantially intermediate point of the branch duct  40  is lower than the static pressure  103  of the guest room  11 , a part of the air of the guest room  11  passes through the outlet  42   b  of the guest room air introduction port from an inlet  42   a  of the guest room air introduction port  42  communicating the guest room  11  with the branch duct  40 , is attracted (joined) to the conditioned air flowing in the branch duct  40 , and is supplied to the private room  12 . 
     According to the embodiment, the temperature of the conditioned air finally supplied to the private room  12  can be increased by attracting and mixing the air of the guest room  11  with the conditioned air supplied to the private room  12  from the main duct  30 . Therefore, even when only the guest room  11  includes the temperature sensor  22  and the control device  21  controls the air conditioner  20  on the basis of the temperature sensor  22 , an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room  12  and the temperature of the guest room  11  can be suppressed. Therefore, in the railroad vehicle including the private room and the guest room, it is possible to provide the railroad vehicle capable of controlling the private room temperature and the guest room temperature with a simple configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps and without requiring complicated control. 
     Second Embodiment 
     Next, a second embodiment will be described.  FIG.  4    shows a branch duct including an air amount adjusting damper at the guest room air introduction port, and  FIG.  5    is a flowchart for controlling the air amount adjusting damper at the guest room air introduction port. The description of the common parts with the first embodiment will be omitted, and the configuration and the like characterizing the second embodiment will be mainly described. 
     In the embodiment, the private room  12  is provided with a temperature sensor  23  for detecting the temperature of the private room  12 , and the guest room air introduction port  42  is provided with an introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  opened and closed by a command of the control device  21  connected to the temperature sensor  23 . In the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44 , the cross section through which the air passes is increased by the open operation and the cross section through which the air passes is decreased by the close operation. A control operation of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  will be described with reference to  FIG.  4    in accordance with the flowchart shown in  FIG.  5   . 
     First, after control is started in Step S 10 , the temperature sensor  22  detects the temperature of the guest room  11  and the temperature sensor  23  detects the temperature of the private room  12  to transmit the same to the control device  21  in Step S 20 . 
     In the subsequent Step S 30 , the control device  21  calculates a difference between the temperature of the guest room  11  and the temperature of the private room  12  detected in Step S 20 , and determines whether or not the difference is within the range of allowable values. If the control device  21  determines that the difference between the temperature of the guest room  11  and the temperature of the private room  12  is within the range of the allowable values, the flow proceeds to Step S 80 . On the other hand, if the control device  21  determines that the difference between the temperature of the guest room  11  and the temperature of the private room  12  is not (out of range) within the range of the allowable values, the flow proceeds to Step S 50 . 
     When the flow proceeds to Step S 80 , the control device  21  determines whether or not the operation is terminated. If it is determined that the operation is terminated, the control device  21  terminates the control operation of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  in Step S 90 . If it is determined that the operation is not terminated, the control device  21  returns the flow to Step S 20 . 
     On the other hand, when the flow proceeds to Step S 50 , the control device  21  further determines whether or not the temperature of the private room  12  is lower than the temperature of the guest room  11 . If it is determined that the temperature of the private room  12  is lower than the temperature of the guest room  11 , the control device  21  opens the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  to introduce the air of the guest room  11  into the private room  12  in Step S 60 . On the other hand, if it is determined that the temperature of the private room  12  is not lower (higher) than the temperature of the guest room  11 , the control device  21  closes the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  to suppress the attraction of the air of the guest room  11  to the private room  12  in Step S 70 . Thereafter, the control device  21  returns the flow to Step S 20 . 
     According to the embodiment, the temperature sensor  23  is added to the private room  12 , and the guest room air introduction port  42  connected to the branch duct  40  is provided with the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  opened and closed by a command of the control device  21  connected to the temperature sensor  23 . Therefore, the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  can be opened and closed to adjust the amount of air of the guest room  11  supplied to the private room  12  by the detected temperature difference between the guest room  11  and the private room  12 , and thus an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room  12  and the temperature of the guest room  11  can be suppressed. Therefore, in the railroad vehicle including the private room and the guest room, it is possible to provide the railroad vehicle capable of controlling the private room temperature and the guest room temperature with a simple configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps and without requiring complicated control. 
     Third Embodiment 
     Next, a third embodiment will be described.  FIG.  6    shows a branch duct including a conditioned air amount adjusting damper and an introduced air amount adjusting damper. The description of the common parts with the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be omitted, and the configuration and the like characterizing the third embodiment will be mainly described. 
     In the embodiment, the private room  12  is provided with the temperature sensor  23  for detecting the temperature of the private room  12 , a conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  is provided at the inlet of the branch duct  40  connecting the main duct  30  to the private room  12 , and the guest room air introduction port  42  in the middle of the branch duct  40  is provided with the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44 . Although not shown in the drawing, both the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  open and close according to a command from the control device  21 . The control operations of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  will be described by using the flowchart shown in  FIG.  5   . 
     If it is determined in Step S 50  of  FIG.  5    that the private room temperature is lower than the guest room temperature, it is desirable to positively introduce the air of the guest room  11  into the private room  12 . Here, the amount of air attracted from the guest room  11  to the private room  12  via the guest room air introduction port  42  is determined by the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper 44  and the degree of pressure drop at the outlet  42   b  of the guest room air introduction port  42  caused by the amount of conditioned air adjusted by the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45 . 
     Therefore, when it is determined in Step S 50  of  FIG.  5    that the private room temperature is slightly lower than the guest room temperature and when it is desired to reduce the amount of air introduced into the private room  12  from the guest room  11 , the control device  21  may perform interlocking control so as to reduce the degree of pressure drop by reducing the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45 . 
     In addition, when it is determined in Step S 50  of  FIG.  5    that the private room temperature is much lower than the guest room temperature and when it is desired to increase the amount of air introduced into the private room  12  from the guest room  11 , the control device  21  may perform interlocking control so as to increase the degree of pressure drop by increasing the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45 . 
     In advance, the temperature of the guest room  11 , the temperature of the private room  12 , the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44 , and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  can be tabulated and stored in a memory (not shown). The control device  21  may control the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  on the basis of this table. 
     According to the embodiment, the guest room  11  is provided with the temperature sensor  22 , the private room  12  is provided with the temperature sensor  23 , and the branch duct  40  is provided with the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  simultaneously opened and closed by a command of the control device  21  to which these temperature sensors are connected. Accordingly, the amount of air of the guest room  11  supplied to the private room  12  can be adjusted by controlling the opening degrees of the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper  45  by the detected temperature difference between the guest room  11  and the private room  12 , so that an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room  12  and the temperature of the guest room  11  can be suppressed. Therefore, in the railroad vehicle including the private room and the guest room, it is possible to provide the railroad vehicle capable of controlling the private room temperature and the guest room temperature with a mechanical configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps by sharing the air conditioner and without requiring complicated control of the air conditioner. 
     Fourth Embodiment 
     Next, a fourth embodiment will be described.  FIG.  7    is an air system diagram of a railroad vehicle including an exhaust fan for exhausting the air inside the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle in the structure, and  FIG.  8    is an air system diagram of a railroad vehicle including an exhaust fan for exhausting the air of a private room to a guest room in the private room.  FIG.  9    shows another branch duct connecting a main duct to a private room. 
     The description of the common parts with the first embodiment to the third embodiment will be omitted, and the configuration and the like characterizing the fourth embodiment will be mainly described. As shown in  FIG.  3   , the first embodiment to the third embodiment are examples on the assumption that the static pressure  104  of the private room  12  is higher than the static pressure  103  of the guest room  11 . On the contrary, the fourth embodiment is an example in which the static pressure of the private room  12  is maintained lower than the static pressure of the guest room  11  to guide the air of the guest room  11  to the private room  12 . 
     There is a plurality of kinds of examples (methods) in which the static pressure  104  of the private room  12  is maintained lower than the static pressure  103  of the guest room  11 . As an example, as shown in  FIG.  7   , there is an example including a private room duct  50  for communicating a section (in the case of  FIG.  7   , for example, the entrance platform  13 ) in which the static pressure of exhausting the air in the vehicle by an exhaust device  25  provided in the railroad vehicle  10  and the private room  12 . As another example, as shown in  FIG.  8   , a private room exhaust device  26  is provided in a manner communicating the private room  12  to the guest room  11 . However, the present invention is not limited to the above examples. 
       FIG.  9    is an example of a branch duct  40   a  connecting the main duct  30  used in the railroad vehicle of the fourth embodiment shown in  FIG.  7    or  FIG.  8    and the private room  12 . Since the static pressure  104  of the private room  12  is maintained lower than the static pressure  103  of the guest room  11  by the exhaust device  25  or the private room exhaust device  26 , the air of the guest room  11  flows from the guest room air introduction port  42  into the branch duct  40   a  and then is naturally supplied to the private room  12 . 
     For this reason, the branch duct  40   a  shown in  FIG.  9    is not provided with the decompression device  43  (see  FIG.  2   ) included in the branch duct  40  of the first embodiment to the third embodiment. With this configuration, since the velocity of the conditioned air flowing in the branch duct  40   a  is not increased by being contracted by the decompression device  43 , the fluid noise accompanying the increase in velocity can be suppressed. 
     The branch duct  40   a  includes the introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  at the guest room air introduction port  42 . The introduced air amount adjusting damper  44  is opened and closed in accordance with the temperature difference between the private room  12  and the guest room  11  by the control device  21  to which the temperature sensor  23  provided in the private room  12  and the temperature sensor  22  provided in the guest room  11  are connected. Therefore, an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room  12  and the temperature of the guest room  11  can be suppressed. Therefore, in the railroad vehicle including the private room and the guest room, it is possible to provide the railroad vehicle capable of controlling the private room temperature and the guest room temperature with a simple configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps and without requiring complicated control. 
     Additional Embodiment 
     Next, an additional embodiment will be described. The embodiment can be combined with the first to fourth embodiments.  FIG.  10    shows a branch duct including a heater for heating the conditioned air. Among the heat loads of an air conditioner in winter, the human load generated by passengers includes sensible heat and latent heat, and thus becomes a large heat load as compared to other heat transfer loads and solar radiation loads including only sensible heat. Therefore, when a large number of passengers get on the guest room  11  and a small number of passengers get on the private room  12  in winter, the temperature of the private room  12  may be low even if the guest room  11  is maintained at a comfortable temperature. 
     As shown in  FIG.  10   , if a branch duct  40   b  is provided with a heater  46 , when the control device  21  detects the temperature sensor  23  of the private room  12  and the temperature sensor  22  of the guest room  11  and determines that it is necessary to heat the conditioned air supplied to the private room  12 , the temperature environment of the private room  12  can be more comfortably maintained by controlling the heater  46  to heat. 
     It should be noted that the example in which the air conditioner  20  is mounted on the roof of the railroad vehicle  10  and the main duct  30  is arranged at the ceiling of the railroad vehicle  10  has been described in the above-described embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and the air conditioner  20  may be provided under the floor of the railroad vehicle  10  and the main duct  30  may be provided in the floor (immediately below the upper floor) of the railroad vehicle  10 . 
     With the above configuration, in the railroad vehicle including the private room and the guest room, it is possible to provide the railroad vehicle capable of controlling the private room temperature and the guest room temperature with a simple configuration without increasing the number of manufacturing steps and without requiring complicated control. 
     It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modified examples other than the above-described embodiments. For example, the embodiments have been described in detail to easily understand the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all the configurations described above. In addition, some configurations of an embodiment can be replaced by a configuration of another embodiment, and a configuration of an embodiment can be added to a configuration of another embodiment. In addition, some configurations of each embodiment can be added to, deleted from, and replaced by other configurations. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS 
     x longitudinal (rail) direction 
     y width (sleeper) direction 
     z height direction 
       10  railroad vehicle 
       11  guest room 
       12  private room 
       13  entrance platform 
       20  air conditioner 
       21  control device 
       22  temperature sensor of guest room 
       23  temperature sensor of private room 
       24  circulation fan 
       25  exhaust device 
       26  private room exhaust device 
       30  main duct 
       31  guest room blow-off port 
       40 ,  40   a  branch duct 
       41  private room blow-off port 
       42   a  inlet of guest room air introduction port 
       42   b  outlet of guest room air introduction port 
       43  decompression device 
       44  introduced air amount adjusting damper 
       45  conditioned air amount adjusting damper 
       46  heater 
       50  private room duct 
       100  static pressure of branch duct inlet 
       101  static pressure of branch duct intermediate part 
       102  static pressure of branch duct outlet 
       103  static pressure of guest room 
       104  static pressure of private room