"LOCOMOTIVE WINDOW, DEVICE FOR LOCOMOTIVE WINDOW AND

LOCOMOTIVE WINDOWED DOOR" Technical Field

The present invention relates, in general, to a locomotive window, to a device for locomotive window and to a locomotive windowed door.

In particular, the present invention relates to sliding glass windows to be applied to and installed onto locomotives or locomotive doors of railway lines. Background Art

Windows of sliding type for locomotives and locomotive doors are known in the art.

Such windows are arranged to be opened and closed by moving the glass, for instance in vertical or horizontal direction, by means of suitable hand grips or handles.

The known sliding windows have some problems if used on locomotives that operate on high-speed railway lines (lines) .

As known, a problem that is common to all the locomotives travelling on high-speed lines, but is generally present, though in a less apparent way, is that, when the locomotives and corresponding trains, meet, the air wave pushed by each locomotive causes a respective pressure wave on doors and windows of the met locomotive.

The effect of the pressure wave is that the windows and the windowed doors of known type come into vibration as a result of the pressure wave and generate a corresponding pressure wave inside the locomotive, thus causing serious discomfort to the locomotive operators and possible damages to the windows and to the windowed doors . In order to avoid the discomforts and the problems described above, in the background art it is provided that the locomotive doors, in particular those of locomotives travelling on high-speed lines and those recently manufactured, have no windows, i.e. are blind doors.

Moreover, according to the background art, it is also provided that windows, besides being designed separated from the doors, are made with calliper-type openings; such openings, though uncomfortable, are such to allow the locomotive operators to intercommunicate with the outside, for instance in case of stop in a railway station.

In general, the Applicant has observed that recently manufactured locomotives, in order to avoid problems when they meet other locomotives, provide the use of blind doors and separate windows that, besides being separated from the doors, always have an opening type, namely the calliper-type opening, that is very limited and uncomfortable.

The fact of providing at least two side openings in the locomotive, a door and a window, may involve, obviously, both higher manufacturing costs and greater breakdown risks, because, as easily comprehensible to a technician in the field, the greater the number of openings is, the greater the likelihood of breakdowns is. Moreover, in case of two openings, the window with calliper-type opening results unsatisfactory for an easy intercommunication with the outside and particularly uncomfortable . Disclosure of the Invention Object of the present invention is to solve the above- described problems of the background art as found in recently manufactured locomotives.

According to the present invention, this object is achieved by means of a locomotive window, a device for window and a windowed locomotive door having the features set forth in the claims that follow.

The invention relates also to a method for manufacturing a locomotive window or a locomotive windowed door as claimed.

The claims that follow are an integral part of the teaching according to the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment the locomotive window according to the invention comprises at least a locking device devised so as to maintain the sliding glass of the window pressed on a weather strip conveniently devised.

According to a further feature of the present invention, the locking device comprises locking elements shaped so as to cause a predetermined displacement of the glass in a direction orthogonal to the glass surface and such to press seal the weather strip.

According to another feature of the present invention, the locking device comprises a handle arranged to allow locking the glass or unlocking it so as to allow its movement for opening the window.

Brief Description of Drawings

These and further features and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, provided by way of non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings, in which components designated by same or similar reference numerals indicate components having same or similar functionality and construction and wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a locomotive door having a window according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a lateral view in median cross-section of the door of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a vertical cross-section view of the device according to the invention and details of the same in a first working condition;

Fig. 4 shows a frontal view of details of the device of Fig.

3 in a second working condition; and

Fig. 5 shows a further vertical cross-section view of the device according to the invention in a second working condition.

Best: mode for Carrying Out the Invention With reference to Fig. 1 a door 10 of a locomotive with an associated window, according to the present invention, comprises a door frame 18a, for instance made of aluminium, and a window frame 18b, also made for instance of aluminium, having at least an opening or window and having a set of devices or elements associated or connected thereto and arranged to realise the window.

Obviously, in others embodiments, the frame in its whole can simply correspond to the window frame 18b. For example completeness, a window installed in a locomotive door is taken as reference in the description.

The door 10 comprises, for instance, a handle-type device or door lock (lock) 12, of known type, arranged to allow opening and closing of the door, and a window.

The lock 12 is connected to the door frame 18a in a known way and comprises, for instance, a handle (door handle) 21 and one or more locking elements 23, connected to the door handle 21 and arranged to lock, in a known way, the door on a corresponding locomotive casing, not shown in the figure.

The window comprises a glass 14 and a locking device 15 arranged, as it will be disclosed later on in detail, to lock the glass 14; the glass is associated to a support device 19 (Fig. 1, Fig. 2), arranged to support the glass 14.

Glass 14, for instance a multi-layer safety glass having a front face external to the locomotive (external face) 43a (Fig. 1, Fig. 3) , a front face internal to the locomotive

(internal face) 43b and two lateral faces 45, per se known, comprises, for instance, a handle (glass handle) 41, fixedly secured, in a known way, to the glass 14 and arranged to be used by an operator in order to move or slide the glass 14 in

a direction, for instance, substantially vertical so as to open or close the opening of the door 10 or window.

The support device 19, of known type, is arranged to support the glass 14 in several possible positions when it moves in vertical direction and is realised, for instance, by means of a gas device, including a cylinder and a rod, as for example a Stabilus gas spring, connected to the door frame 18a. Obviously, in others embodiments, the gas device can be replaced by support devices having equivalent functions or it may not be present.

In the preferred embodiment, the window frame 18b comprises, for instance, in correspondence of the opening or window, a pair of front slides 81, a pair of lateral slides 83 and a weather strip 85.

Front slides 81 are secured, in a known way, to respective cavities formed in the frame 18b at the sides of the opening, and, in the preferred embodiment, extend substantially along the entire height of the opening in the frame 18b; front slides 81 comprise a sliding element 183, for instance made of Nylon, in contact with the external face 43a of glass 14 and arranged to facilitate the sliding of the glass 14 when this moves in vertical direction; front slides 81 comprise also respective resilient elements 185, for instance a plurality of leaf springs located in each cavity at determined intervals and arranged to allow a displacement of glass 14 from the inside towards the outside of the locomotive and vice versa, for instance a horizontal displacement during, respectively, the steps of locking and unlocking of glass 14, as it will be disclosed later on in detail .

Lateral slides 83, for instance, are secured, in a known way, to respective cavities obtained in the frame 18b at the sides of the opening in correspondence of lateral faces 45 of

the glass 14, and extend, in the preferred embodiment, substantially along all the height of the opening in the frame 18b; the lateral slides are made, for instance, of Nylon. Lateral slides 83 are arranged to facilitate sliding of glass 14 in its vertical direction movement.

The weather strip 85, in the preferred embodiment, extends along the entire perimeter of the opening in the door 10 or in the window, and is connected, in a known way, to the frame 18b; the weather strip is made of a material such as rubber or of a material having characteristics equivalent to those of rubber and able to exert sealing if put in contact with the glass.

The weather strip (strip) 85, in the preferred embodiment, has also a shape such to allow a high-pressure seal when glass 14 is pressed, as it will be disclosed later on in detail, onto the weather strip 85 itself.

The weather strip 85, in the preferred embodiment, is located close to the external face 43a of the glass 14 but is not in contact with the external face 43a of the glass 14 during sliding of the glass 14 itself, because resilient elements 185 associated to the sliding element 183 of front slides 81 are arranged so as to keep the glass at a distance from the weather strip 85.

The locking device 15 comprises, in the preferred embodiment, a handle 51 rigidly associated to a cam (handle cam) 53, having for instance circular shape, a pair of levers, respectively a first lever 55 and a second lever 65, having first ends pivoted at diametrically opposite positions on the cam 53 and second ends connected to respective spindles, a first spindle 155 and a second spindle 165; the spindles 155 and 165 are arranged to slide into respective sleeve collars 59 and 69 in a known way, following rotation, for instance a 90° rotation, of handle 51; the sleeve collars

are, for instance, SKF ball sleeve collars, secured to the frame 18b.

The locking device 15 further comprises a pair of connecting- rods, a first connecting-rod 151 and second connecting-rod 161, preferably having a perfectly symmetrical structure, wherein each connecting-rod comprises a first cam, 151a or 161a respectively, connected by means of a respective pivot of known type, to the respective spindle, 155 or 165, and a second cam, 157a or 167a respectively, connected, by means of a respective rotation element, 57 or 67, preferably semicircularly shaped, to the frame 18b.

The second cam (locking cam) , 157a or 167a, of each connecting-rod, respectively 151 or 161, is made for instance of aluminium, is coated with plastic material, for instance Nylon, and is shaped so as to realise a swell or projection. In particular, each locking cam, 157a or 167a, is settable, during the rotation of the locking cam itself, 157a or 167a, inside the respective rotation element, 57 or 67, in the direction of the internal face 43b of the glass 14. Each locking cam, 157a and 167a, of each connecting-rod, 151 and 161, preferably, extends substantially along the entire height of the opening or of the front slides 81. In the preferred embodiment, each locking cam, 157a and 167a, is associated to a respective resilient element or spring, 157b (Fig. 1, Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5) and 167b, for instance a spiral spring of known type, arranged to co-operate with the respective rotation element, 57 and 67, in order to lock the glass 14, as it is disclosed hereunder in detail.

The locking device 15, following rotation of the handle 51, is arranged to exert a determined pressure, for instance a pressure of some Kg, on the glass 14 by means of the respective swells of the locking cams, 157a and 167a, so as to move the glass 14 itself towards the outside and to press

the weather strip 85 onto the external face 43a of the glass 14.

In particular, following rotation of the handle 51, for instance starting from a rest position in which the glass can slide, the handle cam 53 sets the first and second spindle, 155 and 165, in axial motion so as to cause:

- the movement of the first cams 151a and 161a, not linked to the frame 18b, along an arc and the rotation of the locking cams 157a and 167a, linked to the frame 18b; - the alignment of the swells of the second cams 157a and 167a in direction of the internal face 43b of the glass 14; and

- the movement, in substantially orthogonal direction to the faces 43a and 43b of the glass 14, in particular, in the given example, towards the outside of the locomotive door (or of the locomotive window) , for instance with a displacement of some millimetres.

Obviously, the displacement is facilitated by the presence of resilient elements 185 in front slides 81. The operation of the window arranged for a locomotive or a locomotive door, as described above, is the following. Taking as reference a starting position of the glass 14 wherein the glass is free to move in vertical direction, in such a condition, according to the preferred embodiment, the handle 51 of the locking device 15 is located so that, for instance, the first and second lever 55 and 65 are aligned, the locking cams 157a and 167a (linked to levers 55 and 65 through spindles 155 and 165 and first cams 151a and 161a) are located so as to not exert any contact or pressure on the internal face 43b of the glass 14.

In such a condition or step, the glass 14 is held at a distance from the weather strip 85 and can freely slide onto sliding elements 183 of front 81 and lateral slides 83 having

as contrast element the locking cams, 157a and 167a, respectively on the internal face 43b of the glass 14. During movement, the support device 19 operates so as to maintain the glass 14 stable in the several possible positions between the maximum opening of the window, i.e. glass completely lowered, and the closing, i.e. glass completely raised.

Facing the need to lock the glass 14, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the glass 14 is raised in order to be closed and the handle 51 is rotated by 90° degrees so as to activate the first and second lever, 55 and 65, and to operate the axial movement of the spindles, 155 and 165, and the rotation of the locking cams, 157a and 167a, so as to set the swells of the locking cams in the direction of the inner surface 43b of the glass 14.

As a result of such operation, the glass 14 is moved towards the outside of the locomotive so that the weather strip 85 is consequently pressed against the glass for exerting a high pressure over the whole perimeter of the external face 43a of the glass 14.

In such a way the locking of the glass 14 is obtained, as the glass is pressed between the swells of the locking cams, 157a and 167a, and the weather strip 85. In such a locking situation, the provision of resilient elements 185 in the front slides 81 is useful, for instance, in order not to hinder the displacement of the glass 14 towards the outside.

The locking position, as described, also corresponds, preferably, to a maximum stability condition of the locking device 15 because the opposed pressure generated by the glass, as easily comprehensible to a technician in the field, is such that it does not generate force components that may rotate the locking cams, 157a and 167a, towards the unlocking position.

Obviously, in order to pass from the locking position to the unlocking position of the glass, it is sufficient, for instance, to rotate the handle 51 in a direction opposite to the one used for locking the glass. Thanks to the described solution, it is therefore possible, during locomotive stops, to hold the glass unlocked and to freely move it.

In the same way, during the journey, for instance, at high-speed or on railway lines where it is possible to meet locomotive and trains operating at high-speed, it is possible to hold the glass and consequently the window locked in a closed position and avoid the problems indicated above in the preamble.

The invention has been so far described by taking as reference, in particular in the drawings, an exemplifying application for locomotive door, but, as already disclosed, the described construction and the architecture are applicable, as easily comprehensible to a technician in the field, independently so as to allow to realise windows directly applicable to walls of locomotives.

In the description reference has been made to embodiments wherein the movement of the glass in the window is of vertical type, i.e. along the vertical direction, but, as easily comprehensible to a technician in the field, the same type of construction and architecture is applicable to windows in which the movement of the glass is along the horizontal direction, by suitably rotating the locking elements of the window itself.

In the above-described embodiment possible emergency devices have not been taken into consideration. However, as easily comprehensible to a technician in the field, it is possible to provide, applied for instance to the handle of the locking device, emergency devices or switches arranged so as to transmit suitable signals in order to avoid, for

instance, that during the journey of the locomotive the glass remains unintentionally unlocked.

In the description, reference has always been made to glass as the material used for opening or closing the opening or window in the locomotive or in the locomotive door; as a matter of fact, according to the objects of the invention, it is to be understood that in this description and in the claims the term glass is used as a generic term aimed at indicating any flat material, preferably transparent, usable for opening or closing openings or windows on a locomotive.

Obvious changes and variations to the above disclosure are possible, as regards dimensions, shapes, materials, components and connections, as well as regards details of the described construction and operation method without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims that follow.