Rail Vehicle and Manufacturing Method for Rail Vehicle

A rail vehicle has a return flow path structure formed by a lower tube portion, an upper tube portion, a seat, and an opening or a notch of a seat base. When air flows from the inside of a vehicle cabin to an exhaust port connected to an exhaust air flow path under a floor via the return flow path structure, a direction of a flow passing between an outer periphery of the lower tube portion and an inner periphery of the upper tube portion is opposite to a direction of a flow passing through an inner side of the lower tube portion.

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Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-090579, filed Jun. 1, 2023. The contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a rail vehicle and a manufacturing method for the rail vehicle.

2. Description of Related Art

An air-conditioning ventilator is mounted on a railway vehicle in order to maintain a comfortable temperature, humidity, and pressure in a cabin. Adjusted air whose temperature, humidity, and pressure are adjusted by the air-conditioning ventilator is sent into a vehicle cabin through an adjusted air flow path, and air that remains in the vehicle cabin is sent to the air-conditioning ventilator through an exhaust air flow path. From a viewpoint of lowering the center of gravity, the air-conditioning ventilator is generally mounted under a floor in most high-speed railway vehicles in Japan. In such a case, the adjusted air flow path or the exhaust air flow path is disposed in a space between an outer structure of a floor portion and an interior floor.

When flow paths having such a layout are adopted, from a viewpoint of securing comfort through an air flow in the vehicle cabin, the adjusted air rises between windows and is sent into the vehicle from an outlet port formed below a luggage rack, and exhaust air is discharged from an exhaust port formed in the floor. At this time, a foreign matter that falls on the floor may enter the exhaust port formed in the floor, and the mixed foreign matter may move to the air-conditioning ventilator through the flow paths to damage the air-conditioning ventilator. Since the air-conditioning ventilator is provided with a fan that aspirates and sends out air, noise occurs inside the air-conditioning ventilator due to an operation of the fan. Here, since the exhaust air flow path may also serve as a transmission path of sound generated by the air-conditioning ventilator, it is desirable to prevent transmission of noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator to the inside of the vehicle cabin through the exhaust air flow path from a viewpoint of securing comfort in the vehicle cabin.

In a railway vehicle that adopts an air-conditioning flow path structure in which the exhaust air flow path is provided under the floor as described above, the problem is to reduce a risk of damage to the air-conditioning ventilator due to a foreign matter entering into the exhaust air flow path and to reduce the noise from the air-conditioning ventilator to be transmitted through the flow paths, and techniques disclosed in PTLs 1 and 2 have been proposed as solutions to such problems.

PTL 1 proposes a structure in which, in a vehicle formed with an opening communicating with an air conditioner in an interior floor, a cover supported without coming into contact with a floor is disposed on the opening, a space surrounded by the floor, the cover, and a support member is formed, and then a sound absorbing material is attached to the cover. PTL 1 also proposes a protective plate for preventing an inflow of liquid spilled onto the floor.

PTL 2 proposes a structure in which a positional relationship is adjusted such that an exhaust port formed in an interior floor is not positioned immediately below a joint of two rows or three rows of seats, and then a protection frame extending in a vertical direction from an opening of a floor is provided, and the protection frame is further disposed such that a position where this protection frame is located is not positioned immediately below a joint of parallel seats, thereby preventing a foreign matter entering into a flow path and preventing fluid noise caused by disturbance of a flow by linearly setting the flow path as much as possible.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

    • PTL 1: JP2023-14863A
    • PTL 2: JP2022-99446A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In PTL 1, by providing the cover including the sound absorbing material for an exhaust port formed in the interior floor, noise that is transmitted from an air-conditioning ventilator to the inside of a vehicle cabin through the exhaust port is reduced. However, since low-frequency noise of 500 Hz or less is dominant in the noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator, and the sound absorbing material is required to have a sufficient thickness in order to reduce such low-frequency noise, a conflict over a space in the vehicle cabin is caused. Even if the space in the vehicle cabin is temporarily prioritized with respect to a thickness of the cover, a noise reduction effect obtained by providing the sound absorbing material is limited to high-frequency noise, and thus a large effect may not be obtained.

In this manner, in order to actively prevent the noise in which a low-frequency component generated by the air-conditioning ventilator itself is dominant, it is effective to apply the sound absorbing material. However, a countermeasure of mounting the sound absorbing material on the cover of the exhaust port has a problem that a space for providing the sound absorbing material is insufficient.

The protection frame extending in the vertical direction from the opening of the floor described in PTL 2 is expected to have an effect of obtaining the noise reduction effect by gaining a noise transmission path, but an active application of the sound absorbing material is not mentioned. PTL 2 discloses that the flow path is set to be linear as much as possible to prevent generation of the fluid noise. However, dominant in-vehicle noise related to the air-conditioning ventilator and the flow path is not the fluid noise generated by air flowing through the flow path, but the noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator itself is the component transmitted to the inside of the vehicle cabin via the flow path.

The invention has been made in view of such problems in the related art, and an object of the invention is to provide a rail vehicle and a manufacturing method for the rail vehicle, which can prevent a foreign matter from entering into an exhaust air flow path and reduce noise from an air-conditioning ventilator to be transmitted through the flow path with an inexpensive and simple structure.

To solve the above problems, according to a typical aspect, the invention provides a rail vehicle including:

    • a seat base disposed on a floor of a vehicle cabin and having an opening or a notch;
    • a seat disposed facing the opening or the notch of the seat base;
    • an exhaust air flow path disposed under the floor;
    • an exhaust port formed in the floor in a manner of facing the opening or the notch of the seat base, and configured to allow the exhaust air flow path and the inside of the vehicle cabin to communicate with each other;
    • a lower tube portion provided on the floor and including the exhaust port; and
    • an upper tube portion disposed below the seat base and including a part of the lower tube portion, in which
    • a return flow path structure is formed by the lower tube portion, the upper tube portion, the seat, and the opening or the notch of the seat base, and
    • when air flows from the inside of the vehicle cabin to the exhaust port via the return flow path structure, a direction of a flow passing between an outer periphery of the lower tube portion and an inner periphery of the upper tube portion is opposite to a direction of a flow passing through an inner side of the lower tube portion.

According to the invention, it is possible to provide a rail vehicle and a manufacturing method for the rail vehicle, which can prevent a foreign matter from entering into the exhaust air flow path and reduce noise from the air-conditioning ventilator to be transmitted through the flow path with an inexpensive and simple structure.

Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a railway vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “present vehicle”) according to Embodiment 1 of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A in FIG. 1, and is a cross-sectional view of a cross section perpendicular to a rail direction illustrating a positional relationship among an adjusted air flow path, an exhaust air flow path, an outer structure of a floor portion, an interior floor, an exhaust port, a seat, and the like, which form a basic configuration;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line B-B in FIG. 1, and is a cross-sectional view of a cross section perpendicular to the rail direction illustrating the positional relationship among the adjusted air flow path, the exhaust air flow path, the outer structure of the floor portion, the interior floor, the exhaust port, the seat, and the like, which form the basic configuration;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating Embodiment 1 according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line C-C in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A to 6D are views illustrating an assembling method (manufacturing method) according to Embodiment 1 of the invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views illustrating Embodiment 2 of the invention; and

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views illustrating Embodiment 3 of the invention.

 DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a structure as a premise for applying the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A rail vehicle is a general term for vehicles that operate along a laid track, and means a railway vehicle, a streetcar, an automated guideway transit vehicle, a monorail vehicle, or the like. Embodiments of the invention will be described by exemplifying a railway vehicle as a representative example of a rail vehicle.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a present vehicle 1. First, each direction provided for illustrating the embodiments of the invention will be defined. A longitudinal direction of the present vehicle 1 or a rail direction is defined as an x direction. In a horizontal in-plane direction perpendicular to the x direction, a direction generally called a crosstie direction is defined as a y direction. Further, a vertical direction perpendicular to the x direction and the y direction is defined as a z direction.

The present vehicle 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided on a rail 3 via a bogie 5. A floor of the present vehicle 1 has a double configuration including an outer structure 10 of a floor portion, which is a strength member, and an interior floor (also simply referred to as a floor) 11 on which a passenger in the vehicle walks. An underfloor device 20 and an air-conditioning ventilator 21 are suspended below the outer structure 10 of the floor portion. Adjusted air whose temperature, humidity, and pressure are adjusted by the air-conditioning ventilator 21 under the floor passes through an adjusted air flow path 31 provided between the outer structure 10 of the floor portion and the interior floor 11, being a floor structure as the double configuration, and is further sent from an air-conditioning outlet port 41 to the inside of a vehicle cabin via a rising duct provided between a window 50 and the window 50.

On the other hand, air that remains in the vehicle cabin returns to the air-conditioning ventilator 21 again from an exhaust port 42 (see FIG. 3) formed in the interior floor 11 through an exhaust air flow path 32. The adjusted air flow path 31 and the exhaust air flow path 32 provided between the outer structure 10 of the floor portion and the interior floor 11, being the floor structure as the double configuration, are collectively referred to as an air-conditioning duct 30.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views illustrating a flow of an air-conditioning air flow in a cross section perpendicular to the x direction. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an A-A cross section which is perpendicular to the x direction and divided between a window and a window in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a B-B cross section which is perpendicular to the x direction and divided at a portion of a window in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the air-conditioning duct 30 is provided in a space between the interior floor 11 and the outer structure 10 of the floor portion not illustrated and located under the interior floor 11, and includes the adjusted air flow path 31 and the exhaust air flow path 32.

A vehicle cabin 80 is surrounded by a side structure 91 and a roof structure 92, and includes a ceiling 52 in which an interior sound absorbing material 94 and an interior panel 93 are disposed on an inner side of the roof structure 92.

From a viewpoint of securing comfort through an air flow in the vehicle cabin, the adjusted air supplied from the adjusted air flow path 31 which is disposed on an outer side of the exhaust air flow path 32 in the y direction passes through a rising duct 33 illustrated in FIG. 2, rises on a vehicle side surface portion along the z direction, and is discharged from the air-conditioning outlet port 41 into the vehicle cabin 80.

On the other hand, as described above, the air that remains in the vehicle cabin returns to the air-conditioning ventilator 21 again from the exhaust port 42 formed in the interior floor 11 illustrated in FIG. 3 through the exhaust air flow path 32 disposed on an inner side of the air-conditioning duct 30 in the y direction. At this time, the exhaust port 42 is disposed under a seat surface portion 74 of a seat 70 in consideration of movements of a passenger in the vehicle cabin, a position where foots are placed when the passenger is seated, and the like. In this manner, the exhaust port 42 does not interfere with movements in the vehicle cabin and is prevented from being blocked by a foot when the passenger is seated, and it is also preferable from a viewpoint of securing an aesthetic appearance in the vehicle cabin. The seat 70 of a general railway vehicle includes a backrest 72 and the seat surface portion 74. A gap between the seat surface portion 74 and a seat base 76 is preferably as small as possible. A rotating structure that can reverse the seat 70 in a front-rear direction with respect to the seat base 76 fixed to the interior floor 11 is disposed on the seat base 76. Since the exhaust port 42 is located below the seat base 76, the exhaust port 42 does not interfere even when the seat 70 is reversed in the front-rear direction.

In this manner, the exhaust port 42 is formed in the interior floor 11, and thus problems may occur. One of the problems is to prevent entering of a foreign matter. When the exhaust port 42 is formed in the interior floor 11 as described above, trash at a foot, accidentally spilled drink, or the like enters the exhaust port 42 and eventually moves through the exhaust air flow path 32 and reaches the air-conditioning ventilator 21, possibly damaging the air-conditioning ventilator 21, and thus a countermeasure against the problem is desired.

Another problem is to prevent noise. Since the exhaust air flow path 32 may be a transmission path of noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator 21, the noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator 21 may be transmitted to the inside of the vehicle cabin 80 via the exhaust air flow path 32 due to an operation of a fan that aspirates and sends out air, and thus a countermeasure against the problem is desired.

The present embodiment provides a structure for preventing entering of a foreign matter as described above and preventing transmission of noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator 21 to the inside of the vehicle cabin 80 via the exhaust air flow path 32. Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

Embodiment 1 which can solve such problems will be described below. FIGS. 4 and 5 are views illustrating a structure in the vicinity of the interior floor 11 below the seat surface portion 74 of the seat 70 in the present vehicle 1 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view seen from a positive side in the x direction, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view seen from a positive side in the y direction. That is, FIG. 5 corresponds to a C-C cross section in FIG. 4, while FIG. 4 corresponds to a D-D cross section in FIG. 5.

According to Embodiment 1, the exhaust port 42 opens to the interior floor 11 below the seat surface portion 74 of the seat 70 and communicates with the exhaust air flow path 32 provided below the interior floor 11. The exhaust port 42 has, for example, a rectangular cross section. As will be described in detail later, one side of the rectangular cross section is formed by a leg portion 77 of the seat base 76, and the remaining three sides are formed by an on-floor exhaust duct 34. The seat base 76 includes a leg portion (first leg portion) 73, the leg portion (second leg portion) 77, and a top wall supported by upper ends of these leg portions. Leg portions other than these may also be provided. The leg portion 77 has a plate shape extending in the x direction and the z direction. On the other hand, the leg portion 73 has a plurality of beams extending in the z direction, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The on-floor exhaust duct 34 is provided on an upper surface of the interior floor 11. The on-floor exhaust duct 34 has one wall extending in the z direction and the x direction and two walls extending in parallel with the z direction and the y direction, and these walls are formed separately from the leg portion 77 of the seat base 76. These three walls (referred to as lower walls) are bonded in a U-shape to the outside the three sides of the exhaust port 42 when viewed from the z direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, tip ends (ends in the y direction) of the two walls of the on-floor exhaust duct 34 extending in the z direction and the y direction are attached in a manner of abutting against the plate-like leg portion 77 of the seat base 76, so that the on-floor exhaust duct 34 and the leg portion 77 form a tube portion (referred to as a lower tube portion LT) having a rectangular cross section in a direction orthogonal to an axis, and the inside of the tube portion serves as an air flow path communicating with the exhaust port 42. That is, the lower walls and the leg portion 77 form a peripheral wall of the lower tube portion LT. An upper end of the lower tube portion LT and the top wall of the seat base 76 are separated at a predetermined interval. The on-floor exhaust duct 34 may have a square tubular shape having four walls.

Further, a seat sound absorbing member 75 provided on a lower surface of the seat surface portion 74 is disposed in a manner of being exposed downward. It is assumed that the seat 70 is reversed in the front-rear direction, a pair of seat sound absorbing members 75 are formed on both sides of the seat, and the seat sound absorbing members 75 face the exhaust port 42 at any position. The top wall of the seat base 76 has an opening 79 at a position corresponding to the seat sound absorbing member 75 when viewed from the z direction. A notch may be formed instead of the opening 79.

An under-seat exhaust duct 35 is disposed such that an upper end thereof is in contact with the top wall of the seat base 76 (such that a part thereof is positioned in the opening 79), and has one wall extending in the z direction and the x direction and two walls extending in parallel with the z direction and the y direction, and these walls are formed on the seat base 76 separately from the leg portion 77. These three walls (referred to as upper walls) are bonded in a U-shape to the opening 79 and the outside of the lower walls of the on-floor exhaust duct 34 when viewed from the z direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, tip ends (ends in the y direction) of the two walls of the under-seat exhaust duct 35 extending in the z direction and the y direction are attached in a manner of abutting against the plate-like leg portion 77 of the seat base 76, so that the under-seat exhaust duct 35 and the leg portion 77 form a tube portion (referred to as an upper tube portion UT) having a rectangular cross section in the direction orthogonal to the axis. That is, the upper wall and the leg portion 77 form a peripheral wall of the upper tube portion UT. A rectangular cross-sectional area of the upper tube portion UT is larger than a rectangular cross-sectional area of the lower tube portion LT, and the upper tube portion UT includes an upper-end side of the lower tube portion LT. A lower end of the upper tube portion UT and the interior floor 11 are separated at a predetermined interval. The under-seat exhaust duct 35 may have a square tubular shape having four walls.

Since the lower tube portion LT and the upper tube portion UT have such a configuration, the air in the vehicle cabin 80 enters the inside of the upper tube portion UT from the lower end of the upper tube portion UT, is directed upward in the z direction by passing between an outer peripheral surface of the lower tube portion LT and an inner peripheral surface of the upper tube portion UT, comes into contact with the seat sound absorbing member 75 disposed on the lower surface of the seat surface portion 74 through the opening 79 of the seat base 76, and is reversed here. The air reversed by the seat sound absorbing member 75 is directed downward in the z direction through the opening 79 again, enters the inside of the lower tube portion LT from the upper end of the lower tube portion LT, and is discharged from the exhaust port 42 to the exhaust air flow path 32. That is, a direction (upward in the z direction) of an air flow passing between an outer periphery of the lower tube portion LT and an inner periphery of the upper tube portion UT is opposite to a direction (downward in the z direction) of an air flow passing through an inner side of the lower tube portion LT.

According to the present embodiment, the lower tube portion LT, the upper tube portion UT, the seat 70, and the opening 79 of the seat base 76 form a return flow path structure in which the seat sound absorbing member 75 is set as a return point, and a final air intake surface is further directed vertically downward. The return flow path structure refers to a structure in which an air flow toward a positive side in one direction flows toward a negative side in one direction with the return point as a boundary, in other words, a structure in which the air flow causes a U-turn at least once between the positive side and the negative side in one direction. Here, since an air intake portion (the lower end of the upper tube portion UT) is directed vertically downward, it is possible to prevent the transmission of the noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator 21 to the inside of the vehicle cabin 80 due to a return flow path in which the seat sound absorbing member 75 is set as the return point, at the same time as preventing the entering of the foreign matter, which is one of the problems.

For an effect of preventing noise transmission, the present embodiment is compared with the related art. For example, in the sound absorbing material contained in the cover of the exhaust port disclosed in PTL 1, when a relatively thick sound absorbing material is not attached in order to prioritize a space in the vehicle cabin, a sound absorbing effect may be limited for low-frequency sound generated by the air-conditioning ventilator. When the flow path is linearly set in order to avoid the generation of the fluid noise as in PTL 2, it may be difficult to prevent propagation of noise, which is generated by the air-conditioning ventilator itself and is more dominant than the fluid noise. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the return flow path in which the seat sound absorbing member 75 provided on the lower surface of the seat surface portion 74 is set as the return point is formed, the noise entering the inside of the vehicle cabin 80 via the exhaust air flow path 32 and the exhaust port 42 is absorbed by the seat sound absorbing member 75 on a lower surface of the seat 70 in front of the exhaust port 42. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator 21 itself as compared with the related art.

FIGS. 6A to 6D are views illustrating a manufacturing method of the structure in the present embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Here, two assembling methods will be described, but in either assembling method, first, the on-floor exhaust duct 34 (three lower walls) is attached in advance to the interior floor 11 to which the exhaust port 42 opens. At this time, the lower walls are open in the y direction at a portion where the leg portion 77 is positioned.

In the first assembling method, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, the seat base 76 is assembled in advance, and then the lower tube portion LT is formed. Specifically, the seat base 76 is formed by attaching the leg portions 73 and 77 to the top wall, and the under-seat exhaust duct 35 is attached to the leg portion 77, so that a seat assembly AS1 including the upper tube portion UT is formed.

Thereafter, the seat assembly AS1 is brought close to the on-floor exhaust duct 34 from above, and a y-direction open portion of the lower walls of the on-floor exhaust duct 34 is shielded by the leg portion 77, so that the peripheral wall of the lower tube portion LT is formed over an entire periphery. The lower tube portion LT formed with the peripheral wall is disposed in a manner of being accommodated in the upper tube portion UT, and lower ends of the leg portions 73 and 77 are fixed to the interior floor 11 (FIG. 6C).

On the other hand, the second assembling method is based on the premise that the top wall to which the leg portion 73 is attached and the leg portion 77 can be separated and bonded, and that the structure of the seat base 76 obtained by bonding the top wall and the leg portion 77 can sufficiently bear a load of a passenger. In this case, the lower tube portion LT is assembled in advance, and then the upper tube portion UT is formed. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the leg portion 77 is erected and fixed to the interior floor 11 in a manner of shielding the y-direction open portion of the lower walls of the on-floor exhaust duct 34. Accordingly, the peripheral wall of the lower tube portion LT is formed over the entire periphery.

Thereafter, the under-seat exhaust duct 35 (upper walls) is attached to the top wall to which only the leg portion 73 is attached, so that a seat base assembly AS2 in which the upper walls are open in the y direction is formed. The seat assembly AS2 is brought close to the lower tube portion LT from above, the lower end of the leg portion 73 is fixed onto the interior floor 11, and the top wall of the seat assembly AS2 is fixed to the upper end of the leg portion 77. At this time, the y-direction open portion of the lower walls of the under-seat exhaust duct 35 is shielded by the leg portion 77, so that the peripheral wall of the upper tube portion UT accommodating the lower tube portion LT is formed over the entire periphery (FIG. 6C).

By either the first assembling method or the second assembling method, a configuration illustrated in FIG. 6C is obtained. Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 6D, the seat 70 with the seat sound absorbing member 75 provided on the lower surface thereof is attached to the seat base 76, so that the configuration of the present embodiment is completed illustrated in FIG. 6D.

Embodiment 2

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views illustrating a structure according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 7A is a view similar to FIG. 4, and FIG. 7B is a view similar to FIG. 5. The same configurations as those in the above-described embodiment will not be repeatedly described. In the present embodiment, in addition to the configuration in Embodiment 1, a sound absorbing material 78 is provided in the opening 79 of a top wall, which faces the seat surface portion 74, of the seat base 76 in a manner of facing the seat sound absorbing member 75. According to this embodiment, as compared with the case where only the seat sound absorbing member 75 is used as in Embodiment 1, sound absorption is further enhanced, and in particular, an apparent thickness of the sound absorbing material is increased, so that it is possible to absorb lower-frequency noise. When a sound absorbing effect is sufficient only by the sound absorbing material 78, the seat sound absorbing member 75 may be omitted.

Embodiment 3

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views illustrating a structure according to Embodiment 3. FIG. 8A is a view similar to FIG. 4, and FIG. 8B is a view similar to FIG. 5. The same configurations as those in the above-described embodiments will not be repeatedly described. In the present embodiment, in addition to the configuration in Embodiment 1, the sound absorbing material 78 is provided in a range of not affecting an air flow on an exhaust air flow path among an inner periphery of the under-seat exhaust duct 35 and an inner periphery of the on-floor exhaust duct 34.

According to the present embodiment, as compared with the case where only the seat sound absorbing member 75 is used as in Embodiment 1, sound absorption is further enhanced, and in particular, an apparent thickness of the sound absorbing material is increased, so that it is possible to absorb lower-frequency noise.

Formation of the return flow path structure is described above according to Embodiment 1, but in the return flow path structure, portions not relating to an exhaust air flow and becoming dead spaces of the air flow are also actually present, and most of the portions are corner portions on an inner side of the flow path. That is, it is not necessary to provide the sound absorbing material 78 on an entire inner periphery of the under-seat exhaust duct 35 or an entire inner periphery of the on-floor exhaust duct 34, and the sound absorbing material 78 can be provided, for example, only at a corner at which adjacent walls intersect each other and which is at least a part of an inner peripheral surface of the upper tube portion UT or the lower tube portion LT. By providing the sound absorbing material at a portion which is a dead space of the air flow, it is possible to prevent propagation of noise generated by the air-conditioning ventilator 21 itself.

Embodiment 2 and Embodiment 3 may be combined.

The present specification includes the following disclosure of the invention.

First Aspect

A rail vehicle including:

    • a seat base disposed on a floor of a vehicle cabin and having an opening or a notch;
    • a seat disposed facing the opening or the notch of the seat base;
    • an exhaust air flow path disposed under the floor;
    • an exhaust port formed in the floor in a manner of facing the opening or the notch of the seat base, and configured to allow the exhaust air flow path and the inside of the vehicle cabin to communicate with each other;
    • a lower tube portion provided on the floor and including the exhaust port; and
    • an upper tube portion disposed below the seat base and including a part of the lower tube portion, in which
    • a return flow path structure is formed by the lower tube portion, the upper tube portion, the seat, and the opening or the notch of the seat base, and
    • when air flows from the inside of the vehicle cabin to the exhaust port via the return flow path structure, a direction of a flow passing between an outer periphery of the lower tube portion and an inner periphery of the upper tube portion is opposite to a direction of a flow passing through an inner side of the lower tube portion.

Second Aspect

The rail vehicle according to the first aspect, in which

    • the seat includes a seat sound absorbing member on a surface facing the opening or the notch.

Third Aspect

The rail vehicle according to the first or second aspect, in which

    • a sound absorbing material is disposed in the opening or the notch.

Fourth Aspect

The rail vehicle according to any one of the first to third aspects, in which

    • a sound absorbing material is disposed on at least a part of an inner peripheral surface of one of the lower tube portion and the upper tube portion.

Fifth Aspect

The rail vehicle according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, in which

    • the seat base has a first leg portion, a second leg portion, and a top wall supported by the first leg portion and the second leg portion, and the opening or the notch is formed in the top wall,
    • the lower tube portion has a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of upper walls and the second leg portion connected to the upper walls, and
    • the upper tube portion has a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of lower walls and the second leg portion connected to the lower walls.

Sixth Aspect

A manufacturing method for the rail vehicle according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the manufacturing method including:

    • joining the first leg portion, the second leg portion, and the top wall and connecting the plurality of upper walls to the second leg portion to form a seat assembly including the upper tube portion;
    • erecting the plurality of lower walls on the floor adjacent to the exhaust port; and
    • connecting the second leg portion of the seat assembly to the plurality of lower walls to form the lower tube portion.

Seventh Aspect

A manufacturing method for the rail vehicle according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the manufacturing method including:

    • erecting the plurality of lower walls and the second leg portion on the floor adjacent to the exhaust port to form the lower tube portion;
    • joining the first leg portion and the top wall to form a seat assembly including the plurality of upper walls; and
    • connecting the second leg portion to the top wall of the seat assembly and connecting the plurality of upper walls to the second leg portion to form the upper tube portion.

Claims

1. A rail vehicle comprising:

a seat base disposed on a floor of a vehicle cabin and having an opening or a notch;
a seat disposed facing the opening or the notch of the seat base;
an exhaust air flow path disposed under the floor;
an exhaust port formed in the floor in a manner of facing the opening or the notch of the seat base, and configured to allow the exhaust air flow path and the inside of the vehicle cabin to communicate with each other;
a lower tube portion provided on the floor and including the exhaust port; and
an upper tube portion disposed below the seat base and including a part of the lower tube portion, wherein
a return flow path structure is formed by the lower tube portion, the upper tube portion, the seat, and the opening or the notch of the seat base, and
when air flows from the inside of the vehicle cabin to the exhaust port via the return flow path structure, a direction of a flow passing between an outer periphery of the lower tube portion and an inner periphery of the upper tube portion is opposite to a direction of a flow passing through an inner side of the lower tube portion.

2. The rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

the seat includes a seat sound absorbing member on a surface facing the opening or the notch.

3. The rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

a sound absorbing material is disposed in the opening or the notch.

4. The rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

a sound absorbing material is disposed on at least a part of an inner peripheral surface of one of the lower tube portion and the upper tube portion.

5. The rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

the seat base has a first leg portion, a second leg portion, and a top wall supported by the first leg portion and the second leg portion, and the opening or the notch is formed in the top wall,
the lower tube portion has a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of upper walls and the second leg portion connected to the upper walls, and
the upper tube portion has a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of lower walls and the second leg portion connected to the lower walls.

6. A manufacturing method for the rail vehicle according to claim 5, the manufacturing method comprising:

joining the first leg portion, the second leg portion, and the top wall and connecting the plurality of upper walls to the second leg portion to form a seat assembly including the upper tube portion;
erecting the plurality of lower walls on the floor adjacent to the exhaust port; and
connecting the second leg portion of the seat assembly to the plurality of lower walls to form the lower tube portion.

7. A manufacturing method for the rail vehicle according to claim 5, the manufacturing method comprising:

erecting the plurality of lower walls and the second leg portion on the floor adjacent to the exhaust port to form the lower tube portion;
joining the first leg portion and the top wall to form a seat assembly including the plurality of upper walls; and
connecting the second leg portion to the top wall of the seat assembly and connecting the plurality of upper walls to the second leg portion to form the upper tube portion.
Patent History
Publication number: 20240400118
Type: Application
Filed: May 29, 2024
Publication Date: Dec 5, 2024
Inventors: Daisuke MUTO (Tokyo), Yuki OHSHIMA (Tokyo), Narihiro TOMITA (Tokyo), Takashi YOSHIZAWA (Tokyo), Akitoshi MATSUI (Tokyo), Koki NANKAI (Tokyo), Shintaro YABE (Tokyo), Yuki ICHIKI (Tokyo)
Application Number: 18/677,109
Classifications
International Classification: B61D 27/00 (20060101); B61D 1/04 (20060101);