Treadplate for a floor of a gangway and gangway

Abstract

A treadplate for a floor of a gangway the treadplate having a basic body of a first material, and a plurality of bones of a second material, wherein the bones are encapsulated by the first material, wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material and/or the stiffness of at least one bone of the several bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body.

Claims

1. A treadplate for a floor of a gangway, comprising: a basic body of a first material; a plurality of bones of a second material, wherein the plurality of bones are encapsulated by the first material, and wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material, and/or a stiffness of at least one bone of the plurality of bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body; wherein a gap exists between each one of the bones and a nearest neighboring bone, and a width of a bone in a width direction is larger than the gap, wherein the gap extends along an entire length of each one of the bones and the nearest neighboring bone.

2. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein a majority of the plurality of bones are elongated elements.

3. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein a majority of the plurality of bones are arranged parallel to each other.

4. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein the treadplate has a first end, and wherein a majority of the plurality of bones have end surfaces proximal to the first end, said end surfaces arranged in one plane or in planes that are arranged in parallel to each other.

5. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of bones are made of metal or of plastic; and/or the basic body is made of rubber.

6. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein a. the basic body has a width direction (B) and a maximum width in the width direction (B); b. the plurality of bones extend along a longitudinal axis (A) that is not directed into the width direction (B) and not directed parallel to the width direction (B); c. the width of a bone in the width direction (B) is at least 0.5% of the maximum width of the basic body.

7. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein: a. the basic body has a width direction (B) and a maximum width in the width direction (B); b. the plurality of bones extend along a longitudinal axis (A) that is not directed into the width direction (B) and not directed parallel to the width direction (B).

8. The treadplate according to claim 1, further comprising a fabric layer.

9. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material.

10. The treadplate according to claim 1, wherein the stiffness of at least one bone of the plurality of bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body.

11. The treadplate of claim 1, wherein the gangway comprises entry openings for entry into the gangway at opposite ends of the gangway, and wherein a majority of said plurality of bones are elongated elements that extend in the direction that points from one end of the gangway to the opposite end of the gangway.

12. A gangway comprising a floor, the floor having a treadplate comprising a basic body of a first material; a plurality of bones of a second material, wherein the plurality of bones are encapsulated by the first material, and wherein a) the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material, and/or b) a stiffness of at least one bone of the plurality of bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body; wherein a gap exists between each one of the bones and a nearest neighboring bone, and a width of a bone in a width direction is larger than the gap, wherein the gap extends along an entire length of each one of the bones and the nearest neighboring bone.

13. The gangway according to claim 12, further comprising entry openings for entry into the gangway at opposite ends of the gangway, wherein a majority of said plurality of bones are elongated elements that extend in the direction that points from one end of the gangway to the opposite end of the gangway.

14. The gangway according to claim 12, wherein said floor includes first and second treadplates, wherein at least the first treadplate includes a basic body of a first material and a plurality of bones of a second material, the plurality of bones encapsulated by the first material, wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material and/or a stiffness of at least one bone of the several bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body.

15. The gangway according to claim 14, wherein the first treadplate rests on the second treadplate.

16. The gangway according to claim 14, wherein the second treadplate rests on the first treadplate.

17. The gangway according to claim 12, wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material.

18. The gangway according to claim 12, wherein the stiffness of at least one bone of the plurality of bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body.

19. A method for producing a treadplate comprising: providing a basic body of a first material; providing a plurality of bones of a second material; and vulcanizing the basic body onto the plurality of bones; wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material, and/or a stiffness of at least one bone of the plurality of bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body; wherein a gap exists between each one of the bones and a nearest neighboring bone, and a width of a bone in a width direction is larger than the gap; wherein the gap extends along an entire length of each one of the bones and the nearest neighboring bone.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the second material has a higher elastic modulus than the first material, and wherein the plurality of bones are encapsulated by the first material.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the stiffness of at least one bone of the plurality of bones is higher than the stiffness of the basic body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be described with reference to the figures that show embodiments of the invention below. The figures show:

(2) FIG. 1 a schematic front view onto a first car and a second car of a multicar vehicle, to which the gangway according to the invention can be applied that shows the roll angle;

(3) FIG. 2 a schematic, perspective view onto a gangway according to the invention according to a first embodiment;

(4) FIG. 3 a schematic, perspective view onto a gangway according to the invention according to a first embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4 a schematic, perspective view onto a gangway according to the invention according to a first embodiment;

(6) FIG. 5 a schematic, perspective view onto the detail A of FIG. 2;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a schematic top view onto a treadplate according to the invention;

(8) FIG. 7 a partial cross section through a treadplate according to the invention;

(9) FIG. 8 a schematic top view of a part of the treadplate according to the invention;

(10) FIG. 9 a side view onto a treadplate according to the invention;

(11) FIG. 10 a sectional view of the treadplate of FIG. 9 along the line B-B in FIG. 9;

(12) FIG. 11 a sectional view of the treadplate of FIG. 9 along the line C-C in FIG. 10 and

(13) FIG. 12 the detail E of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(14) FIG. 1 shows a first car 1 and a second car 2 of a multicar vehicle. Shown in FIG. 1 is axis 3 with wheels 4 of the first car and an axis 5 with wheels 6 of the second car 2. A gangway (not shown especially) is arranged between the first car 1 and the second car 2. The gangway has a first entry opening 7 at the first and a second entry opening 8 at the second car 2. FIG. 1 highlights that driving conditions are possible, where the first car 1 has rolled relative to the second car 2 to come into the position shown in FIG. 1. In the normal driving condition, where the multicar vehicle would be driven along a straight line on level ground, the first car 1 and the second car 2 would be in perfect alignment. The role about the role angle can result from super elevation or cant deficiency or can be imposed by wind dynamics or can result from poor tracks or can result from loading and suspension differences between the first car 1 and the second car 2 or can be combined with vertical displacements to give a stable cyclic movement of one car and relative to the other car end.

(15) The gangways 100 shown in FIG. 2, 3, 4, 5 have at least one bellows 101 made up of several convolutes 102. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the gangway 100 is made up of two gangway-halves 103 that are connected to each other in a center 104 of the gangway 100. Each gangway half 103 has a center-frame 104 that is connected to the center-frame 104 of the other gangway half 103. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 the gangway-halves 103 each have a vehicle mounting plate 105 arranged at the respective opposite end of the respective center-frame 104. The vehicle mounting plates 105 are used to connect the gangway 100 to a car.

(16) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the gangway 100 has two vehicle mounting plates 105.

(17) One treadplate 10 ordepending on the embodimenttwo treadplates 10 according to the invention are arranged in the gangways in the embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 5. The respective treadplate has a connection bar 15. The connection bar 15 in the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 is connected to a vehicle mounting plate 105. The connection bar 15 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 is connected to the center-frame 104.

(18) The gangways 100 each have at least one further treadplate 106, which might be a treadplate according to the invention, but preferably is a different treadplate, preferably a stiff treadplate that is made from metal. The treadplate 10 according to the invention rests on the treadplate 106 and is supported by the treadplate 106.

(19) The treadplate 10 according to the invention is suitable to be used as part of a floor of a gangway according to the invention. The treadplate 10 has a basic body 11. The basic body is made of a first material, which in the embodiment shown here is a composite material (see FIG. 7). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 the treadplate 10 has ten bones 12. The bones 12 are encapsulated by the first material. All surfaces of the bones 12 are covered with the first material.

(20) The bones 12 are made of a second material.

(21) FIG. 6 shows that all bones used in the treadplate 10 in this embodiment are elongated elements, which have their lengthwise direction extent parallel to the arrow A in FIG. 6. The widthwise direction of the bones in FIG. 6 is the direction of the arrow B. The heightwise direction of the bones is the direction perpendicular to the arrow A and perpendicular to the arrow B and hence the direction out of or into the paper of FIG. 6. The heightwise direction of the bones is also indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 7.

(22) The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 shows an embodiment, where all bones of the treadplate are arranged parallel to each other.

(23) The treadplate in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 has a first end 13. The first end extends along a straight line parallel to the direction B. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, all bones 12 have end surfaces 14, which are arranged close to the first end 13 and in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 are arranged at the same distance to the first end 13. The end surfaces 14 of the bones 12 are arranged in one plane in the embodiment in FIG. 6. This one plane is arranged perpendicular to the direction A.

(24) The first end 13 has a connection bar 15 that can be used to fix the treadplate 10 to the frame or a vehicle mounting plate of a gangway.

(25) The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 shows that the end surfaces 16 of the individual bones 12 that are arranged opposite to the end surfaces of 14 of the bones 12 that are arranged close to the first end 13 are not arranged in one plane and are not arranged in planes that are parallel to each other. The shape of the end surface 16 of the bones on the end of the treadplate opposite the first end 13 has been chosen and adapted to the general shape of the treadplate 10.

(26) The embodiment shown in FIG. 6, 9, 10, 11 shows the basic body 11 to have a rim 17 that runs around the basic body. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6, 10 shows the treadplate to generally have the shape of a trapezium.

(27) FIG. 6 shows the basic body 11 to have a width direction, which is in the direction of or parallel to the arrow B. The basic body 11 has a maximum width in the widthwise direction. The maximum width is the distance between the point 18 and 19 in FIG. 6. As can be seen, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 has its maximum width closer to the first end 13 than to the end of the treadplate opposite the first end 13. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the bones 12 extend along a longitudinal axis, which is the axis parallel to the arrow A, which is not directed into the width direction of the basic body and not directed parallel to the width direction of the basic body, but directed perpendicular to it. The width of the individual bones 12 in the width direction of the basic body 11 is at least 1% of the maximum width of the basic body 11. In the purely schematic drawing of FIG. 6 the width of the individual bone 12 is about 6% of the maximum width of the basic body.

(28) As can also be seen from FIG. 6, the width of all of the individual bone in the width direction of the basic body 11 is larger than the gap 20 between the respective bone 12 and its neighbouring bone 12.

(29) As seen in FIG. 7, 12 the first material is a composite material that consists of several layers. The first material has a first layer 21 that is a thin rubber layer that encapsulates the bones 12 and covers the space between the bones 12. Arranged on the top of the first layer is a second layer 22, which is a fabric layer. Arranged below the first layer 21 is a third layer 23, which is a fabric layer. Arranged on top of the second layer 22 is a further, fourth layer 24, which is a thick rubber layer.

(30) As can be seen in FIG. 7, 11, the treadplate 10 in the area where the bones 12 are arranged, which can be considered to be the core area 25 of the treadplate, the basic body has a constant thickness. Between the core area 25 and the rim 17 is arranged a rim area 26. In the rim area 26, the width of the basic body 11 changes.

(31) As can be seen from FIG. 7 10, 11, 12, the treadplate 10 according to the invention also can have wear pads 27 arranged at the underside of the treadplate 10.

(32) When compared to FIG. 6, which shows an embodiment, where the end surfaces 16 of the bones 12 are not arranged in one plane or in planes parallel to each other, FIG. 8 shows an alternative design of the end surfaces 16 of some of the bones 12 of the treadplate. As can be seen from FIG. 8, four bones 12 (the four bones 12 arranged to the left of the rightmost bone 12) have end surfaces 16 that each are arranged in planes that are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction A . Such a design can be used to reduce the costs of producing a treadplate 10 according to the invention. The bones can be produced by simply cutting them off from a longitudinal bar without the need to provide the bones with champers or folds.