Patent Description:
A rail vehicle such as a railroad vehicle, especially, a high-speed vehicle, has a highly airtight vehicle structure, and therefore, not natural ventilation but forced ventilation is applied generally for ventilation in the vehicle. In such a rail vehicle, a ventilation apparatus including an air supply fan for taking fresh air outside the vehicle into the vehicle and an exhaust fan for exhausting contaminated air in the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle is arranged under the floor of the vehicle. The forced ventilation is implemented by the ventilation apparatus.

Incidentally, the air outside the vehicle is not always clean, and, for example, the vehicle sometimes passes through a dusty section. Therefore, a prefilter formed, for example, from a nonwoven fabric is provided at an opening (fresh air intake port) of the ventilation apparatus for the air supply fan such that dust is collected from the outside air and clean air is supplied to the inside of the vehicle.

According to the prefilter, as the time during which the prefilter is used increases, dust is accumulated and contamination advances, and therefore, it is necessary to clean the prefilter in a fixed cycle. However, if dust sticks to the texture of the prefilter, then fixed labor is required for removal of the dust. Especially, depending upon the degree of contamination, cleaning of the prefilter becomes difficult to such a degree that the prefilter cannot be reused and it is obliged to exchange the prefilter. If the frequency of exchange of the prefilter, which is comparatively expensive, increases, then there is the possibility that the maintenance cost may increase.

Further, since a nonwoven fabric is used, there is a problem that the dust collection performance of the prefilter depends upon the texture of the cloth. For example, if a rough texture nonwoven fabric is used, then although clogging is less likely to occur, the dust collection performance is not sufficient. In contrast, if a fine texture nonwoven fabric is used so as to obtain a high dust collection performance in order to improve the cleanliness of air in the vehicle, then it becomes necessary to increase the blowing performance of the air supply fan in order to overcome high-pressure loss caused by use of the fine texture nonwoven fabric, resulting in the possibility that the cost may increase. Further, where a higher dust collection performance is demanded, clogging of the prefilter becomes severe, and this results in the possibility that the cleaning frequency may increase and the maintenance cost may increase.

From such reasons as described above, it has been proposed to incorporate a dust collector of the cyclone type in place of the prefilter. The cyclone type dust collector acts to generate whirl flows in a cylindrical air passage to apply centrifugal force to dust thereby to separate the dust from clean air. Therefore, the cyclone type dust collector has an advantage that clogging of the air passage is suppressed and cleanliness is enhanced in comparison with those in the case in which the prefilter is provided. Patent Document <NUM> discloses an example in which a cyclone type dust collector is installed under the floor of a vehicle.

Patent Document <NUM>: <CIT> <CIT> discloses a ventilator for a railroad vehicle in line with the preamble of present claim <NUM>.

Where the cyclone type dust collector disclosed in Patent Document <NUM> is provided, it is expected that such problems by the prefilter as described above are solved. However, in the technique of Patent Document <NUM>, since the cyclone type dust collector is placed separately from a ventilation apparatus, it is necessary to secure a large installation space for the entire system. Especially, in recent years, although a vehicle is designed to place equipment under the floor in a high density, it is considered that a conventional cyclone type dust collector is not suitable for such a vehicle design as just described because it is large in size.

Further, while a cylindrical part (cyclone tubular body) for collecting dust in the cyclone type dust collector is attached to a ventilation apparatus through an exhaust pipe that is an introduction pipe, air flows eccentrically in the air supply fan and there is the possibility that the dust collection performance and the blowing performance may be suppressed and increase in the pressure loss may be caused. Further, since the position of the cyclone tubular body is near to an adjacent apparatus, also the air supply port of the cyclone tubular body comes near to the adjacent apparatus. Therefore, there is the possibility that bending or the like of the air supply pipe to the cylindrical part may become so severe that the air intake performance may be degraded. Further, since the cyclone tubular body has a comparatively large diameter, there is also the possibility that centrifugal force at an equal wind speed may decrease to degrade the dust collection performance.

The object of the present invention resides in provision of a VENTILATOR FOR RAILROAD VEHICLE including a dust collector that can suppress pressure loss to secure a high dust collection efficiency and suppress the installation space of the apparatus.

In order to solve the problems described above, one of representative VENTILATORS FOR RAILROAD VEHICLE of the present invention is achieved by a VENTILATOR FOR RAILROAD VEHICLE, including: a ventilation apparatus for replacing air in a vehicle; and a dust collector annexed to the ventilation apparatus, in which the dust collector includes a housing and a cyclone tubular body provided in an inside of the housing, the ventilation apparatus includes an air supply blower that supplies fresh air outside the vehicle, the fresh air having passed through the cyclone tubular body to the vehicle, the housing includes a metal net through which fresh air is to be taken into the cyclone tubular body and a back plate connecting to the metal net, and the dust collector is connected to the ventilation apparatus such that the back plate is positioned in an inside of the ventilation apparatus.

With the present invention, a VENTILATOR FOR RAILROAD VEHICLE can be provided which includes a dust collector enabling suppression of pressure loss to secure a high dust collection efficiency and suppression of installation space of the apparatus.

Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above are made clear by the description of embodiments hereinafter described.

In the following, a first embodiment is described with reference to <FIG>. First, directions are defined. A direction along a longitudinal (rail) direction of a vehicle <NUM> is determined as X direction; another direction along a widthwise (railroad tie) direction of the vehicle <NUM> is determined as Y direction; and a heightwise direction of the vehicle <NUM> is determined as Z direction. In the following description, the directions are sometimes represented simply as X direction, Y direction and Z direction.

Rail vehicles are vehicles that are driven along a laid track and include a railroad vehicle, a monorail vehicle, a tram, a new transportation vehicle and so forth. Embodiments of the present invention are described taking a railroad vehicle as a representative example of rail vehicles. The present invention can be applied not only to a high-speed rail vehicle but also to all rail vehicles.

<FIG> is a ventilation air system diagram schematically depicting flows of fresh air and exhaust air that are ventilated, together with a state in which the ventilation apparatus according to the present embodiment is attached to a railroad vehicle. If the vehicle <NUM> is driven at a high speed, then the vehicle outside pressure varies significantly when the vehicle <NUM> passes through a tunnel or the like. Even in such a case as just described, in order to prevent the vehicle internal pressure from fluctuating by a large amount so such a degree that passengers and so forth have discomfort in hearing, the vehicle <NUM> is configured from a vehicle structure having high airtightness.

Further, where the vehicle <NUM> has a vehicle structure having high airtightness, since the ventilation in the vehicle is significant, the vehicle <NUM> includes, under the floor thereof, a ventilation apparatus <NUM> for forcibly ventilating the air between the outside and the inside of the vehicle, and an air conditioner <NUM>. The ventilation apparatus <NUM> and the air conditioner <NUM> are provided below a floorboard <NUM>. The ventilation apparatus <NUM> includes an air supply blower for supplying the air (fresh air) outside the vehicle into the inside of the vehicle and an air exhaust blower for discharging exhaust air in the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle. Generally, the vehicle <NUM> that travels at a high speed incorporates the ventilation apparatus <NUM> and the air conditioner <NUM> under the floor of the vehicle <NUM> in order to place the center of gravity to a lower position.

The ventilation apparatus <NUM> supplies fresh air <NUM> taken in from the outside of the vehicle to the air conditioner <NUM> and discharges exhaust air <NUM> in the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle to forcibly ventilate the vehicle <NUM>. The air conditioner <NUM> adjusts the temperature and the humidity of mixed air of the fresh air <NUM> supplied from the ventilation apparatus <NUM> and recirculating air <NUM> from the inside of the vehicle to generate conditioned air <NUM> and supplies the conditioned air <NUM> into the inside of the vehicle.

In the present embodiment, a dust collector <NUM> (refer to <FIG>) is provided at a fresh air intake port of the ventilation apparatus <NUM>. The dust collector <NUM> has a function of removing dust which have been in the atmosphere, fallen leaves which have fallen on the rail, and so forth if they are mixed in the fresh air <NUM> taken in from the outside of the vehicle.

<FIG> is a perspective view of the ventilation apparatus that includes the dust collector according to the present embodiment, and <FIG> is a partial sectional view of the dust collector of the ventilation apparatus according to the present embodiment, taken along a vertical plane orthogonal to the vehicle longitudinal direction. <FIG> is a sectional view of the ventilation apparatus including the dust collector according to the present embodiment, taken along a vertical plane extending along the vehicle longitudinal direction.

The ventilation apparatus <NUM> to which the dust collector <NUM> that removes dust and so forth included in the air outside the vehicle is annexed is fixed under the floor of the vehicle <NUM> utilizing a hanging implement <NUM> (<FIG>) provided on a housing of the ventilation apparatus <NUM>. The ventilation apparatus <NUM> includes a fresh air intake port (not depicted) through which fresh air is taken in, a fresh air discharge port <NUM> through which the fresh air taken in is discharged, an exhaust air intake port <NUM> through which exhaust air in the vehicle is taken in, and an exhaust air discharge port (not depicted) through which the exhaust air taken in is discharged.

The fresh air discharge port <NUM> is connected to a fresh air duct provided on the vehicle <NUM> and serves as a start point of a flow passage for supplying fresh air to the air conditioner <NUM>. The exhaust air intake port is connected to an exhaust dust provided on the vehicle <NUM>. The exhaust duct provided on the vehicle <NUM> introduces exhaust air from associated blocks of the vehicle <NUM> to the ventilation apparatus <NUM>.

On the upstream side of the fresh air intake port of the ventilation apparatus <NUM>, the dust collector <NUM> is provided which removes dust, fallen leaves, and so forth included in the fresh air <NUM> to secure fresh air having increased cleanliness. The dust collector <NUM> is installed in a cantilever fashion at one end of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> in the X direction and is fixed integrally to the ventilation apparatus <NUM>.

The dust collector <NUM> includes: a metal net <NUM>; a housing in the form of a parallelepiped configured from a back plate <NUM> (<FIG>) connected to the metal net <NUM>, and so forth; three cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> of a substantially cylindrical shape for changing fresh air taken in into whirling flows; a dust collection box <NUM> provided below the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> and temporarily accumulating dust and so forth collected by the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM>; and a cap-shaped flow passage <NUM> that collects fresh air having been increased in cleanliness by separating dust and so forth above the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM>. It is to be noted that the number of cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> is optional, and here, an example in which three cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> each provided uprightly along the Z direction are provided is depicted as depicted in <FIG>. The dust collection box <NUM> is removably attached to the dust collector <NUM> by bolts, a latch, or the like.

The housing of the dust collector <NUM> includes a metal net <NUM> on each of three faces among four vertical side faces (on one face in the X direction and the opposite faces in the Y direction) thereof, and includes the back plate <NUM> on the remaining one face. Since the metal net <NUM> is provided on the three faces of the housing, the dust collector <NUM> can introduce fresh air having passed through the metal nets <NUM> from the X direction (111a) and the Y direction (111b and 111c) into the inside of the housing.

As depicted in <FIG>, each cyclone tubular body <NUM> includes a cyclone inner tube <NUM> having an axis in the vertical direction and a cyclone outer tube <NUM> having an axis in the vertical direction similarly and including the cyclone inner tube <NUM> therein. A first air supply port <NUM> and a second air supply port <NUM> are connected to a flow passage defined by the cyclone outer tube <NUM> and the cyclone inner tube <NUM>.

Fresh air having passed through the metal net <NUM> and flown into the dust collector <NUM> flows into the inside of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> from the first air supply port <NUM> and the second air supply port <NUM> both provided along the X direction in the cyclone tubular body <NUM>. Since the first air supply port <NUM> and the second air supply port <NUM> introduce the fresh air into tangential directions along the X direction of a horizontal cross section of the cyclone tubular body <NUM> of a cylindrical shape, the fresh air having flowed into the inside of the cyclone tubular body <NUM> forms a whirl flow <NUM> (<FIG>). The dimension of the meshes of the metal net <NUM> is set to be a little smaller than the dimensions of the first air supply port <NUM> and the second air supply port <NUM> such that foreign matters having a comparatively large size such as fallen leaves and feathers are suppressed from being sucked into the cyclone tubular body <NUM>.

In the process when the fresh air having flowed into the cyclone tubular body <NUM> and whirling along the inner side face of the cyclone outer tube <NUM> passes through the flow passage between the cyclone outer tube <NUM> and the cyclone inner tube <NUM>, foreign matters such as dust and fallen leaves included in the fresh air are pressed against the inner wall face of the cyclone outer tube <NUM> by the centrifugal force and are separated as foreign matters from the fresh air. The separated foreign matters drop downwardly along the inner side face of the cyclone outer tube <NUM> and are accumulated into the dust collection box <NUM> provided below the cyclone tubular body <NUM>.

The fresh air having been increased in cleanliness with the foreign matters removed is led down to a lower end portion of the cyclone outer tube <NUM> while being whirled and then moved up in the Z direction passing through the inner side of the cyclone inner tube <NUM>. The fresh air coming to an upper end portion of the cyclone inner tube <NUM> is aggregated in the cap-shaped flow passage <NUM> that is shared by the upper end portions of the plurality of cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> through openings <NUM>, passes through an air supply blower front chamber <NUM> configured in the inside of the housing of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> and is sucked from an air supply blower suction port <NUM> into an air supply blower <NUM>.

Thereafter, the fresh air whose static pressure is raised by the air supply blower <NUM> is supplied from the fresh air discharge port <NUM> to the air conditioner <NUM> via a fresh air duct (not depicted). The air supply blower <NUM> and an exhaust blower <NUM> are driven by a common electric motor <NUM>.

Since the first air supply port <NUM> and the second air supply port <NUM> are provided at two places on the cyclone tubular body <NUM>, the air supply area can be increased in comparison with a case in which fresh air is taken in from an air supply port at one place. Further, since fresh air having a low flow speed is taken in from the plurality of air supply ports, the air supply efficiency can be increased thereby to reduce the inflow loss (resistance) to the cyclone tubular body <NUM>. Further, since the inflow loss to the cyclone tubular body <NUM> can be reduced, fluid noise generated at the first air supply port <NUM> (second air supply port <NUM>) of the cyclone tubular body <NUM> can be suppressed.

The dust collection box <NUM> has compartments <NUM> partitioned by partition plates <NUM> according to the number of cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> as depicted in <FIG>. Although the whirl flow <NUM> including much dust whirls in the inside of the dust collection box <NUM>, by providing the plurality of compartments <NUM>, the flow speed of the whirl flow <NUM> passing through corner portions (angle portions) of the compartments <NUM> can be lowered. Therefore, since a larger amount of dust can be caught into the compartments <NUM> from within the whirl flows <NUM> having the lowered flow speed, the dust collection efficiency can be increased. Furthermore, since the flow speed of the whirl flows <NUM> at corner portions (angle portions) of the compartments <NUM> is low, the dust and so forth caught once can be suppressed from being taken back into the whirl flows <NUM> to be sent to the ventilation apparatus <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, if the dimension of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> along the X direction is represented by A, and similarly, the projection dimension of the dust collector <NUM> annexed to the ventilation apparatus <NUM> and projected in the X direction is represented by B, then by setting the dimension A to <NUM> to <NUM> times the dimension B, while a high dust collection performance of the dust collector <NUM> is secured, reduction in size of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> to which the dust collector <NUM> is annexed can be achieved. Therefore, the ventilation apparatus <NUM> can be installed under the floor of the vehicle <NUM>.

If the widthwise dimension of the dust collector <NUM> in the Y direction is represented by E (<FIG>), then by setting the dimension E to <NUM> to <NUM> times the dimension B, an installation space for cyclone tubular bodies required to maintain a high dust collection efficiency can be secured.

As depicted in <FIG>, the dust collector <NUM> is fixed to the ventilation apparatus <NUM> in such a manner that it enters the ventilation apparatus <NUM> such that the back plate <NUM> that forms part of the housing of the dust collector <NUM> comes near to the air supply blower <NUM> from an end face of the ventilation apparatus <NUM>. The back plate <NUM> is placed at a position spaced by a dimension D in the X direction from the air supply blower suction port <NUM> and configures part of a wall of the air supply blower front chamber <NUM>, which extends from the exit of the cap-shaped flow passage <NUM> provided in the dust collector <NUM> to the air supply blower suction port <NUM>. By this configuration, the dimension (A + B) in the X direction of the whole in which the dust collector <NUM> is fixed to the ventilation apparatus <NUM> can be reduced, and therefore, the installation space for various equipment under the floor of the vehicle <NUM> can be reduced.

If the dimension in the X direction between the second air supply port <NUM> and the back plate <NUM> is represented by C and the dimension in the X direction between the back plate <NUM> and the air supply blower suction port <NUM> is represented by D, then by setting the dimension C to two to four times the dimension D, increase in intake loss by the second air supply port <NUM> and pressure loss by the air supply blower front chamber <NUM> can be suppressed.

<FIG> is a view schematically depicting a procedure for recovering dust separated by the dust collector annexed to the ventilation apparatus of the present embodiment. Dust and so froth accumulated in the dust collection box <NUM> are taken out from the dust collection box <NUM> and discharged at the time of periodic inspection of the vehicle <NUM>.

In the following, a procedure for discarding dust and so forth collected by the dust collector <NUM> is described. First, a lower closing plate <NUM> positioned below the dust collector <NUM> is removed from under the floor of the vehicle <NUM> that stops at an inspection and repair warehouse or the like. The lower closing plate <NUM> is laid across the ventilation apparatus <NUM> and equipment adjacent to the ventilation apparatus <NUM> (for example, a main converter <NUM>).

In a specific procedure for removing the lower closing plate <NUM>, bolts (not depicted) for fixing the lower closing plate <NUM> to receiving portions <NUM> at a lower end portion of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> and the main converter <NUM> are removed first, and an end portion of the lower closing plate <NUM> in the X direction is repelled upwardly once and then the lower closing plate <NUM> is slidably drawn out obliquely downwardly. Consequently, the dust collection box <NUM> is exposed through an opening OP formed as a result of the drawing out of the lower closing plate <NUM>. Therefore, bolts, a latch, or the like for fixation to the dust collector <NUM> is removed and the dust collection box <NUM> is taken out downwardly of the vehicle <NUM> from the opening OP. Then, the dust and so forth are discarded from the dust collection box <NUM> to a predetermined place. Since the removal of the dust collection box <NUM> allows the lower ends of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> (<FIG>) built in the dust collector <NUM> to be exposed, cleaning of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> may be performed from here.

<FIG> is an exploded view depicting part of the dust collector annexed to the ventilation apparatus of the present embodiment. The cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> built in the dust collector <NUM> are supported by an upper plate <NUM> to which upper end portions of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> are fixed along the Y direction and which has three through-holes <NUM> through which fresh air to be introduced from the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> into the cap-shaped flow passage <NUM> passes, and by a lower plate <NUM> to which circumferential edge portions of dust collection ports <NUM> at lower end portions of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> are fixed along the Y axis direction and which has three through-holes <NUM> through which dust and so forth separated by the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> pass.

The inner diameter of an upper end of the cyclone inner tube <NUM> and the inner diameter of the through-holes <NUM> of the upper plate <NUM> have a substantially same dimension. Upper end portions of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> and the upper plate <NUM> are fastened together through a removable mechanical fastening portion <NUM> (for example, by a fastening screw). Similarly, lower end portions of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> and the lower plate <NUM> are fastened together through a removable mechanical fastening portion <NUM> (for example, by a fastening screw).

The widthwise dimension Y1 and the heightwise dimension Z1 of a cyclone unit configured from a plurality of cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> and the upper plate <NUM> and lower plate <NUM> are set smaller than the Y direction dimension and the Z direction dimension of the metal net <NUM> (refer to <FIG>) arranged in an opposing relation to the back plate <NUM>. Therefore, if the metal net <NUM> opposing to the back plate <NUM> is removed in the state in which the dust collector <NUM> is fixed to the ventilation apparatus <NUM> (refer to <FIG>), then the complete set of the cyclone unit can be drawn out downwardly of the vehicle <NUM> after it is pulled out in the X direction.

Consequently, it is possible to disassemble and clean the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> individually and perform visual inspection and so forth of them. Therefore, it is also possible to exchange only the cyclone tubular body <NUM> in which some abnormality is found. Further, if the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> (three cyclone tubular bodies <NUM>) are formed in the same shape, then common parts can be used for them, and therefore, the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> can be obtained and exchanged at a low cost.

Table <NUM> indicates a result of an experiment for verification of the dust collection performance of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> according to the present embodiment. The dust collection performance was verified using four different foreign matters supposed to be caught by the dust collector <NUM> when the vehicle <NUM> travels along a business route, by referring to foreign matters and so forth that were caught by a prefilter provided at the fresh air intake port of the ventilation apparatus used in the business route.

Here, in the ventilation apparatus <NUM>, the number of rotations of the electric motor <NUM> for driving the air supply blower <NUM> and the exhaust blower <NUM> is increased to obtain a large air amount and a high static pressure such that the difference between the supply air amount of the air supply blower <NUM> and the exhaust air amount of the exhaust blower <NUM> of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> due to the vehicle outside pressure fluctuation when the vehicle is driven at a high speed is reduced. On the other hand, when driving of the vehicle at a low speed including when stopping of the vehicle, in order to reduce the power consumption, the number of rotations of the electric motor <NUM> is reduced to obtain a small air amount. Therefore, the air amount of the dust collector <NUM> was evaluated at the two levels of the large air amount and the small air amount.

Further, as the foreign matters, four types including quartz sand, iron powder (powder of several tens to several hundreds um), feather, and dead leaves (cut to several mm) were applied, and the dust collection performance of the dust collector <NUM> for the individual foreign matters was evaluated by defining the dust collection efficiency as the ratio between the weight of the foreign matters before suction by the dust collector <NUM> and the weight of the foreign matters separated by the dust collector <NUM> and recovered by the dust collection box <NUM>. Specifically, the dust collection efficiency <NUM>% in Table <NUM> signifies that foreign matters are collected by <NUM>% in weight ratio while foreign matters are mixed by the remaining <NUM>% in the gas. As indicated by Table <NUM>, a high dust collection efficiency was confirmed for all foreign matters, and it was confirmed that the dust collector <NUM> has a sufficiently high dust collection performance.

<FIG> is a perspective view depicting another example of the dust collector annexed to the ventilation apparatus of the present embodiment and is depicted in a state in which the metal net is removed. Depending upon the environment of a line section in which the vehicle <NUM> travels, dust including much quartz sand therein is sometimes recovered. In this manner, it is possible to change the number of cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> according to the environment of the line section to adjust the dust collection performance of the dust collector <NUM> in response to the composition of the dust. For example, where it is desired to obtain a higher dust collection performance while permitting increase in the pressure loss of the dust collector <NUM> (in such a case that very small powder down to less than several um is to be collected or in a like case), it is possible to reduce the outer diameter of the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> to adjust the wind amount such that high turning force (separation force) is generated at the time of the same wind amount.

In such a case as just described, although the dust collector <NUM> somewhat increases in volume and weight in order to secure a higher dust collection performance and to maintain a predetermined ventilation air amount, increasing the number of cyclone tubular bodies to <NUM>, for example, copes with the case. In this example, two rows each including five cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> of a small diameter arranged in the Y direction are arranged in the X direction as depicted in <FIG>. Even if the number of cyclone tubular bodies increases or decreases, if a configuration of a corresponding cap-shaped flow passage <NUM> and dust collection box <NUM> is used, then the dust collector <NUM> can be configured which maintains a predetermined ventilation volume and has a higher dust collection performance while securing high maintainability and suppressing retaking in of dust and so forth.

<FIG> is a sectional view depicting another embodiment of the ventilation apparatus according to the present embodiment in a state in which the ventilation apparatus is arranged under the floor of the vehicle. In the embodiment described above, the ventilation apparatus is configured such that the dust collection box <NUM> can be drawn out downwardly of the vehicle <NUM> as depicted in <FIG>. In the present embodiment, the dust collection box <NUM> can be drawn out in the Y direction. A procedure of this is described below.

Below the floorboard <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM>, underfloor equipment <NUM> such as the ventilation apparatus <NUM> having the dust collector <NUM>, the air conditioner <NUM> (refer to <FIG>), an auxiliary power supply apparatus or the like is provided. The vehicle <NUM> includes side skirts <NUM> extending downwardly from the opposite end portions of the floorboard <NUM> in the Y direction. The lower closing plate <NUM> is provided so as to extend from a lower end portion of one of the side skirts <NUM> to a lower end portion of the other side skirt <NUM>. The side skirt <NUM> provided at a position from which a dust collection tray <NUM>, hereinafter described, is drawn out includes a lid part <NUM> capable of being opened and closed (removable) by a latch or the like.

The ventilation apparatus <NUM> includes a dust collection box part 220a provided below the cyclone tubular bodies <NUM> (refer to <FIG>), the dust collection tray <NUM> into which collected dust is to be accumulated, and a bottom plate <NUM> that supports the dust collection tray <NUM>. The bottom plate <NUM> is fixed at one end portion thereof in the Y direction (at a portion rather near to the center of the vehicle <NUM> in the Y direction) by a hinge <NUM> and includes a latch <NUM> removably mounted at the other end portion thereof in the Y direction. If the latch <NUM> is unlatched, then since the bottom plate <NUM> can be pivoted around the hinge <NUM> in the Y-Z plane, the dust collection tray <NUM> placed on the bottom plate <NUM> can be drawn out in the Y direction.

In the following, a procedure for discarding collected dust and so forth is described. When the vehicle <NUM> enters an inspection and repair warehouse or the like to perform inspection and so forth, the latch of the lid part <NUM> provided on the side skirt <NUM> is unlatched and the lid part <NUM> is opened. Thereafter, the latch <NUM> at a lower portion of the dust collector <NUM> is unlatched and the bottom plate <NUM> is pivoted downwardly around the hinge <NUM> as indicated by a broken line. Thereafter, the dust collection tray <NUM> supported on the bottom plate <NUM> is taken out from the lid part <NUM> to the outside of the vehicle <NUM> to discard the collected dust and so forth.

According to the configuration described, there is no necessity to remove the lower closing plate <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM> in order to discard dust and so forth. Therefore, the man-hours for the discarding work of collected dust can be reduced, and consequently, the maintenance cost can be suppressed.

<FIG> is a view depicting an example of a conventional ventilation apparatus for reference. The conventional ventilation apparatus <NUM> includes, on one face of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> in the X direction (on a ventilation apparatus front face <NUM>), an air supply port through which fresh air is take in, and includes, at the air supply port, a prefilter <NUM> made of a nonwoven fabric or the like in place of the dust collector <NUM> of the present embodiment. The configuration of the other part of the ventilation apparatus <NUM> is similar to that in the present embodiment.

In the ventilation apparatus of <FIG>, as the amount of dust and so forth that are caught by the prefilter <NUM> increases, the area of the air supply port decreases, and there is the possibility that this may result in decrease in the air supply amount. Therefore, depending upon the season, it is necessary to increase the frequency of check and replacement of the prefilter <NUM>.

In contrast, according to the present embodiment described hereinabove, the ventilation apparatus <NUM> having the dust collector <NUM> suppresses rise of the maintenance cost, suppresses the pressure loss, and secures a high dust collection efficiency. Thus, a VENTILATOR FOR RAILROAD VEHICLE can be provided which can suppress the installation space of the apparatus.

Claim 1:
A ventilator for railroad vehicle, comprising:
a ventilation apparatus (<NUM>) for replacing air in a vehicle (<NUM>); and
a dust collector (<NUM>) annexed to the ventilation apparatus (<NUM>), wherein
the dust collector (<NUM>) includes a housing, and a cyclone tubular body (<NUM>) provided in an inside of the housing,
the ventilation apparatus (<NUM>) includes an air supply blower (<NUM>) that supplies fresh air (<NUM>) from outside the vehicle (<NUM>), the fresh air (<NUM>) having passed through the cyclone tubular body (<NUM>), to the vehicle (<NUM>),
characterised in that
the housing includes a metal net (<NUM>) through which fresh air (<NUM>) is to be taken into the cyclone tubular body (<NUM>) and a back plate (<NUM>) connecting to the metal net (<NUM>), and
the dust collector (<NUM>) is connected to the ventilation apparatus (<NUM>) such that the back plate (<NUM>) is positioned in an inside of the ventilation apparatus (<NUM>).