Patent Description:
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.

<CIT> 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 this document 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. Other configurations concerning an air conditioner supplying conditioned air to two separate rooms of a railroad vehicle are known from <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>.

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 <NUM> people is provided with a private room with a capacity of <NUM> people and a guest room with a capacity of <NUM> 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 <NUM><NUM>/min of conditioned air at a temperature of <NUM> to the private room and supplies <NUM><NUM>/min of conditioned air at the same temperature of <NUM> 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 <NUM> and the guest room temperature is saturated at <NUM>. 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 <NUM> 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.

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.

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.

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.

<FIG> is an air system diagram of a railroad vehicle including a private room and a guest room. A railroad vehicle <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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) <NUM> provided with a plurality of seats, a private room <NUM> of a small room partitioned for use by a small number of people, and an entrance platform <NUM> 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 <NUM> or more people) will be written as a guest room <NUM>, and the private room of a small room (for example, with a capacity of less than <NUM> people) will be written as a private room <NUM>.

A main duct <NUM> provided along the x direction is arranged at a ceiling part of the structure. The main duct <NUM> has guest room blow-off ports <NUM> discretely provided along the x direction and a branch duct <NUM> communicating with the private room <NUM>.

The air conditioner <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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 <NUM> for controlling each of these machines. The guest room <NUM> is provided with a temperature sensor <NUM> for measuring the temperature of the guest room <NUM>, and the temperature sensor <NUM> is connected to the control device <NUM> controlling the air conditioner <NUM>.

The circulation fan <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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 <NUM> into the housing with the circulation air to generate the conditioned air.

The conditioned air forcedly fed to the main duct <NUM> by the circulation fan <NUM> is supplied from the guest room blow-off ports <NUM> of the main duct <NUM> to the guest room <NUM>, and is also supplied to the private room <NUM> via the branch duct <NUM>.

<FIG> is an enlarged view of the branch duct (the part A of <FIG>) branching from the main duct to the private room. The branch duct <NUM> includes a decompression device (also referred to as a decompression part) <NUM> 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 <NUM> provided at the minimum part of the cross-sectional area in the direction crossing the flow of the conditioned air of the decompression device <NUM>.

<FIG> shows static pressure distribution in the branch duct <NUM>. The static pressure of the conditioned air forcedly fed to the branch duct <NUM> by the static pressure of a branch duct inlet <NUM> 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 <NUM>. Further, the static pressure of the conditioned air flowing in the branch duct <NUM> is minimized at a branch duct intermediate part <NUM> near an outlet 42b of the guest room air introduction port <NUM>. The conditioned air having passed through the outlet 42b of the guest room air introduction port is blown into the private room <NUM> from a branch duct outlet (private room blow-off port) <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, since the static pressure of the branch duct intermediate part <NUM> corresponding to the substantially intermediate point of the branch duct <NUM> is lower than the static pressure <NUM> of the guest room <NUM>, a part of the air of the guest room <NUM> passes through the outlet 42b of the guest room air introduction port from an inlet 42a of the guest room air introduction port <NUM> communicating the guest room <NUM> with the branch duct <NUM>, is attracted (joined) to the conditioned air flowing in the branch duct <NUM>, and is supplied to the private room <NUM>.

According to the embodiment, the temperature of the conditioned air finally supplied to the private room <NUM> can be increased by attracting and mixing the air of the guest room <NUM> with the conditioned air supplied to the private room <NUM> from the main duct <NUM>. Therefore, even when only the guest room <NUM> includes the temperature sensor <NUM> and the control device <NUM> controls the air conditioner <NUM> on the basis of the temperature sensor <NUM>, an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room <NUM> and the temperature of the guest room <NUM> 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.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. <FIG> shows a branch duct including an air amount adjusting damper at the guest room air introduction port, and <FIG> 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 <NUM> is provided with a temperature sensor <NUM> for detecting the temperature of the private room <NUM>, and the guest room air introduction port <NUM> is provided with an introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> opened and closed by a command of the control device <NUM> connected to the temperature sensor <NUM>. In the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM>, 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 <NUM> will be described with reference to <FIG> in accordance with the flowchart shown in <FIG>.

First, after control is started in Step S10, the temperature sensor <NUM> detects the temperature of the guest room <NUM> and the temperature sensor <NUM> detects the temperature of the private room <NUM> to transmit the same to the control device <NUM> in Step S20.

In the subsequent Step S30, the control device <NUM> calculates a difference between the temperature of the guest room <NUM> and the temperature of the private room <NUM> detected in Step S20, and determines whether or not the difference is within the range of allowable values. If the control device <NUM> determines that the difference between the temperature of the guest room <NUM> and the temperature of the private room <NUM> is within the range of the allowable values, the flow proceeds to Step S80. On the other hand, if the control device <NUM> determines that the difference between the temperature of the guest room <NUM> and the temperature of the private room <NUM> is not (out of range) within the range of the allowable values, the flow proceeds to Step S50.

When the flow proceeds to Step S80, the control device <NUM> determines whether or not the operation is terminated. If it is determined that the operation is terminated, the control device <NUM> terminates the control operation of the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> in Step S90. If it is determined that the operation is not terminated, the control device <NUM> returns the flow to Step S20.

On the other hand, when the flow proceeds to Step S50, the control device <NUM> further determines whether or not the temperature of the private room <NUM> is lower than the temperature of the guest room <NUM>. If it is determined that the temperature of the private room <NUM> is lower than the temperature of the guest room <NUM>, the control device <NUM> opens the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> to introduce the air of the guest room <NUM> into the private room <NUM> in Step S60. On the other hand, if it is determined that the temperature of the private room <NUM> is not lower (higher) than the temperature of the guest room <NUM>, the control device <NUM> closes the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> to suppress the attraction of the air of the guest room <NUM> to the private room <NUM> in Step S70. Thereafter, the control device <NUM> returns the flow to Step S20.

According to the embodiment, the temperature sensor <NUM> is added to the private room <NUM>, and the guest room air introduction port <NUM> connected to the branch duct <NUM> is provided with the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> opened and closed by a command of the control device <NUM> connected to the temperature sensor <NUM> Therefore, the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> can be opened and closed to adjust the amount of air of the guest room <NUM> supplied to the private room <NUM> by the detected temperature difference between the guest room <NUM> and the private room <NUM>, and thus an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room <NUM> and the temperature of the guest room <NUM> 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.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. <FIG> 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 <NUM> is provided with the temperature sensor <NUM> for detecting the temperature of the private room <NUM>, a conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> is provided at the inlet of the branch duct <NUM> connecting the main duct <NUM> to the private room <NUM>, and the guest room air introduction port <NUM> in the middle of the branch duct <NUM> is provided with the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM>. Although not shown in the drawing, both the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> open and close according to a command from the control device <NUM>. The control operations of the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> will be described by using the flowchart shown in <FIG>.

If it is determined in Step S50 of <FIG> that the private room temperature is lower than the guest room temperature, it is desirable to positively introduce the air of the guest room <NUM> into the private room <NUM>. Here, the amount of air attracted from the guest room <NUM> to the private room <NUM> via the guest room air introduction port <NUM> is determined by the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper44 and the degree of pressure drop at the outlet 42b of the guest room air introduction port <NUM> caused by the amount of conditioned air adjusted by the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM>.

Therefore, when it is determined in Step S50 of <FIG> 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 <NUM> from the guest room <NUM>, the control device <NUM> 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 <NUM> and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM>.

In addition, when it is determined in Step S50 of <FIG> 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 <NUM> from the guest room <NUM>, the control device <NUM> 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 <NUM> and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM>.

In advance, the temperature of the guest room <NUM>, the temperature of the private room <NUM>, the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM>, and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> can be tabulated and stored in a memory (not shown). The control device <NUM> may control the opening degree of the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> and the opening degree of the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> on the basis of this table.

According to the embodiment, the guest room <NUM> is provided with the temperature sensor <NUM>, the private room <NUM> is provided with the temperature sensor <NUM>, and the branch duct <NUM> is provided with the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> simultaneously opened and closed by a command of the control device <NUM> to which these temperature sensors are connected. Accordingly, the amount of air of the guest room <NUM> supplied to the private room <NUM> can be adjusted by controlling the opening degrees of the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> and the conditioned air amount adjusting damper <NUM> by the detected temperature difference between the guest room <NUM> and the private room <NUM>, so that an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room <NUM> and the temperature of the guest room <NUM> 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.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. <FIG> 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> 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> 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>, the first embodiment to the third embodiment are examples on the assumption that the static pressure <NUM> of the private room <NUM> is higher than the static pressure <NUM> of the guest room <NUM>. On the contrary, the fourth embodiment is an example in which the static pressure of the private room <NUM> is maintained lower than the static pressure of the guest room <NUM> to guide the air of the guest room <NUM> to the private room <NUM>.

There is a plurality of kinds of examples (methods) in which the static pressure <NUM> of the private room <NUM> is maintained lower than the static pressure <NUM> of the guest room <NUM>. As an example, as shown in <FIG>, there is an example including a private room duct <NUM> for communicating a section (in the case of <FIG>, for example, the entrance platform <NUM>) in which the static pressure of exhausting the air in the vehicle by an exhaust device <NUM> provided in the railroad vehicle <NUM> and the private room <NUM>. As another example, as shown in <FIG>, a private room exhaust device <NUM> is provided in a manner communicating the private room <NUM> to the guest room <NUM>. However, the present invention is not limited to the above examples.

<FIG> is an example of a branch duct 40a connecting the main duct <NUM> used in the railroad vehicle of the fourth embodiment shown in <FIG> or <FIG> and the private room <NUM>. Since the static pressure <NUM> of the private room <NUM> is maintained lower than the static pressure <NUM> of the guest room <NUM> by the exhaust device <NUM> or the private room exhaust device <NUM>, the air of the guest room <NUM> flows from the guest room air introduction port <NUM> into the branch duct 40a and then is naturally supplied to the private room <NUM>.

For this reason, the branch duct 40a shown in <FIG> is not provided with the decompression device <NUM> (see <FIG>) included in the branch duct <NUM> of the first embodiment to the third embodiment. With this configuration, since the velocity of the conditioned air flowing in the branch duct 40a is not increased by being contracted by the decompression device <NUM>, the fluid noise accompanying the increase in velocity can be suppressed.

The branch duct 40a includes the introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> at the guest room air introduction port <NUM>. The introduced air amount adjusting damper <NUM> is opened and closed in accordance with the temperature difference between the private room <NUM> and the guest room <NUM> by the control device <NUM> to which the temperature sensor <NUM> provided in the private room <NUM> and the temperature sensor <NUM> provided in the guest room <NUM> are connected. Therefore, an increase in the difference between the temperature of the private room <NUM> and the temperature of the guest room <NUM> 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.

Next, an additional embodiment will be described. The embodiment can be combined with the first to fourth embodiments. <FIG> 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 <NUM> and a small number of passengers get on the private room <NUM> in winter, the temperature of the private room <NUM> may be low even if the guest room <NUM> is maintained at a comfortable temperature.

As shown in <FIG>, if a branch duct 40b is provided with a heater <NUM>, when the control device <NUM> detects the temperature sensor <NUM> of the private room <NUM> and the temperature sensor <NUM> of the guest room <NUM> and determines that it is necessary to heat the conditioned air supplied to the private room <NUM>, the temperature environment of the private room <NUM> can be more comfortably maintained by controlling the heater <NUM> to heat.

It should be noted that the example in which the air conditioner <NUM> is mounted on the roof of the railroad vehicle <NUM> and the main duct <NUM> is arranged at the ceiling of the railroad vehicle <NUM> has been described in the above-described embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and the air conditioner <NUM> may be provided under the floor of the railroad vehicle <NUM> and the main duct <NUM> may be provided in the floor (immediately below the upper floor) of the railroad vehicle <NUM>.

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.

Claim 1:
A railroad vehicle (<NUM>) comprising a private room (<NUM>), a guest room (<NUM>), an air conditioner (<NUM>), and a main duct (<NUM>) for supplying
conditioned air conditioned by the air conditioner (<NUM>) to the guest room (<NUM>), wherein a branch duct (<NUM>) for connecting the main duct (<NUM>) to the private room (<NUM>) is provided in order to supply the conditioned air to the private room (<NUM>), characterised in that the branch duct (<NUM>) includes an introduced air port (<NUM>) for introducing the air of the guest room (<NUM>) to the branch duct (<NUM>) in accordance with a difference between the pressure in the guest room (<NUM>) and the pressure in the branch duct (<NUM>) or the private room (<NUM>).