mechanism, see Fig. 1.
First, when the piston rod is extending,
TEST OF DOORS the "Scotch Yoke" mechanism (G) is rotated and the door is
pushed out by a levers H, A and D. When the gear rack (I)
OBSTRUCTION DETECTION engages in the gear wheel (J), the door opens with the help of
the belts L and M.
SENSOR
LUKAS DVORAK, KAMIL FOJTASEK, MIROSLAV KRAJCA,
MIROSLAV BOVA
VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, Department of Hydromechanics and
Hydraulic Equipment, Ostrava, Czech Republic
DOI : 10.17973/MMSJ.2019_06_201881
[email protected]In bus and train transport there are a number of requirements
for the safety of the entrance door. For example there are
requirements to provide obstruction detection within the door
system. This should reverse the movement of the door should a
passenger or some other obstruction restrict the doors
operation. In case the door movement is realized by a
pneumatic cylinder, obstruction detection can be achieved
either by using a sensitive edge or by sensing of the door
actuator pressure. Detection valve providing an electrical or
pneumatic output signal to the door control system to initiate
door opening. The pinching time of the subject or person must
not exceed 1 s. This article describes the main safety
requirements for door systems of intercity traffic trains and,
above all, experimental verification of obstruction detection A - lever mechanism, B - telescopic rails, C - door leaf,
valve behaviour. D, H - lever, E - linear bearing, F - pneumatic cylinder,
KEYWORDS G - "Scotch Yoke" mechanism, I - gear rack, J - pulley and gear
train, entrance door, safety, obstruction detection, pneumatic wheel, K - pulley, L, M - toothed belts
valve Figure 1. Principle operation pneumatic Plug Swing Sliding door [IFE
2018]
1 INTRODUCTION
The doors of vehicles for mass passenger transport are used for 2 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
the passage of people from one area to another. The doors As already mentioned, there is a large number of door system
must meet specific safety requirements of the standards requirements. Here is a list of the most important:
EN14752: 2015, TSI PRM TSI LOC & PAS, UIC 560. - blocking the opening while driving,
In the past the doors were simple and manually operated. With - door lock,
the development of technology, the doors have become more - door closure check,
sophisticated and more automated. For this reason, these - time delay and signaling before closing,
sophisticated components are now called automated door - avoiding start the train when the doors open,
systems. - for independent wagons automatic closing at speeds above
As the name suggests, the automated door systems are 3 km / h
provided with various signalling, sensing and control devices. - protection of passengers or objects against pinching.
This not only allows greater comfort for users, but also to
ensure greater safety. Additional requirements :
There are many types of door systems at this time. We can - control from outside and inside,
divide them, for example, by their way of opening, by location, - automatic closing,
by number of door leafs or by way of control. This article deals - emergency opening.
mainly with doors that are used for intercity passenger train
service. In the framework of the diploma thesis [Krajca 2016] a
Intercity trains are most often equipped with Plug Sliding pneumatic system which fulfilled all these requirements was
Doors. The doors slides to the wagon wall after closing. This designed. One of the thesis objectives was also to verify the
results in good door tightness and better aerodynamic protection against pinching of objects or passengers.
properties than the sliding doors which, when closed, remains Below are the ways of realization of the security functions.
out of the plane of the wall. The door movement may be
provided by an electric motor with a screw gear that converts a Light barrier
rotary movement into a linear movement. The trajectory of the The light barrier detects the presence of objects or persons
door movement is given by the shape groove. The second directly in door space. The disadvantage of this system is that
possibility is to realize the movement by means of the there is no detection in the whole profile of the door. This
pneumatic cylinder. The linear movement of the piston rod is protection is therefore used in combination with other systems.
transmitted to the door by a combined belt and lever
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Motion detector Detection of differential pressure on the piston
This device allows detection of persons or objects in the area in Another possibility of pneumatic protection against permanent
front of the door. The size of the scanned space is optional. This pinching is the detection of pressure difference in the cylinder
protection against pinching is especially suitable for interior chambers. When the piston rod is retracting, the piston rod
doors. chamber is filling with compressed air whilest air from the
Using these two systems the punching is prevented. In case of piston chamber is exhausting. If the obstacle stops the door,
its failure, it is necessary to pinch objects or persons only for a the pressure in the piston rod chamber increases, the piston
short time. If obstructions is detected, the closing force chamber pressure drops.
(maximum permissible force is 400 N) must not affect the This changes the pressure difference and it can be used to
obstacle for more than 1 s [EN 14752]. After this time, the door detect obstruction. This can be done by a differential pressure
must automatically stop and must either: valve with an adjustable differential pressure value. It is
- to fully open again, essentially a single acting pneumatic cylinder with adjustable
- to open at least by 100 mm, spring preload which mechanically switches either a pneumatic
- be free for manual movement. valve or an electric switch. These elements then send a signal
Said protection against long-term pinching can be realized in to open the door. The tested valve [Parker 2012] and schematic
several ways, electrically or pneumatically. symbol are in Fig. 3.
Sensitive edge
It consists of a rubber profile in which two wires are drawn
along the whole length. If there is deformation anywhere along
the length, the wires are pressed against each other. This will
switch circuit and outputting an electrical signal.
Optoelectronic sensitive edge
It is a hollow rubber profile. At one end is an infrared
transmitter, the receiver is at the other end. When the profile is
deformed, the light beam is shaded and the electrical circuit is
disengaged.
Time relay
Protection against permanent pinching can also be
implemented using a time relay, electrical or pneumatic. In Figure 3. Obstruction detection sensor
both cases, if the doors are blocked and they do not reach the
closed position for a specified time period, the doors will The Fig. 4 shows a simplified circuit scheme with an obstaction
automatically open again. This protection is suitable for internal detection valve. The complete circuit, which meets all the
doors that are not closed with such great force as the entrance above mentioned safety features, consists of about 30
doors. Simplified pneumatic circuit is in Fig.2. Extension of pneumatic elements. The pressure difference sensor is marked
piston rod and the door opening is realized by a signal from the 1.10. If the sensor detects a higher differential pressure value,
button-operated valve 1.2. Closing of the door is realized by the it sends a signal to open the door. Because the sensor would
help the signal from valve 1.3. In this case, the piston rod react in the end position, the signal from the differential
chamber is filled and a pressure signal is transmitted to the pressure sensor is blocked by a valve 1.8 which is located 30
time relay 1.10. If the piston rod is not retracted for a preset mm before the end position. This is in accordance with the
time, the time relay sends the re-opening signal via valves 1.8 standards. Deactivation of pinching protection also applies to
and 1.4. When the door closes, the valve 1.8 blocks the signal electric sensitive edge.
from the time relay.
Figure 4. Protection against permanent pinching by differential valve
Figure 2. Time protection against permanent pinching
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3 TEST OF OBSTRUCTION DETECTION VALVE
In the Laboratory of Pneumatic Mechanisms at VSB-TU Ostrava,
a testing equipment for verifying the accuracy of the circuit
design and mainly for verification of the obstruction detection
valve function was assembled. The opening and closing of
the door was simulated by a pneumatic cylinder with
a diameter of 50 mm and a stroke of 650 mm. The cylinder load
was realized by means of a second cylinder and a pulleys and
rope system. The required load was set by the pressure value
by a proportional pressure valve. First, the check the function
of the control circuit has been performed. Then the setting and
verification of the obstruction detection valve function
Figure 6. Connection of pressure sensors
followed. In Fig. 5 you can see the entire test equipment.
The Fig 6 shows detail of the connection of pressure sensors In Figures 8 and 9, you can see the curve of the piston rod
and differential pressure valve.
position (green curve) and the blue curve of piston rod velocity
During the valve tests, the pressure in the piston chamber p1 (positive values - piston rod retraction i.e. door closing). In the
and piston rod chamber p2 was measured using Hydrotechnik
figures, there are also curves of pressure in the piston chamber
PR 15 pressure sensors with a measuring range of -1 to 6 bar. p1 (yellow curve), the pressure in the piston rod chamber p2
Then the pressure difference was calculated from the pressure.
(gray curve) and the pressure difference Δp (red curve).
In addition, the position of the piston rod and the force on the The measurement results are now used for verification of
piston rod were measured. The velocity of piston rod mathematical model of pneumatic system.
movement was simultaneosly calculated from the position by
the help of Hydrotchnik M5050 measuring device.
After setting the load, the deferential valve was experimentally
set up. The pressure difference of 300 kPa was determined as
optimal for the given cylinder, load and velocity of movement.
For verifying the valve function, a series of measurements were
first performed during normal operation, when the door was
not obstructed. Then there was a series of measurement of the
state when the door was obstructed. Two situations were
simulated. The first of them was the impact of the door to a
hard obstacle, such as a suitcase. This was simulated by
stopping using a plate as shown in the Fig. 7. The second
situation was the simulation of a soft obstruction such as a Figure 7. Simulation of hard obstruction
backpack. The selected measurement results are shown in the
Fig. 8 - hard obstruction and Fig. 9 - soft obstruction.
Figure 5. Test equipment
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Figure 8. Measuring results - a hard obstruction
Figure 9. Measuring results - a soft obstruction
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4 CONCLUSIONS Mechatronic Systems project, project number
CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000867 within the Operational
From the measurement results, it is clear that the obstruction
Programme Research, Development and Education.
detection valve works correctly. As noted above, the time when
the person or object is pinching by door may not exceed 1 s.
As shown in Fig. 8, in the event of the impact on a hard REFERENCES
obstacle, the movement is reversed in 0.4 seconds. From [EN 14752] CSN EN 14752. Zeleznicni aplikace – bocni vstupni
the differential pressure curve (red curve) it is obvious that system vozidel. Praha: Urad pro technickou
the valve responds for about 0.2 s. Another 0.2 s takes system normalizaci, metrologii a statni zkusebnictvi, 2015.
response. 88 s.
The Fig. 9 show the measured results of the impact on the soft [IFE 2018] IFE Tebel technologies. Products [online]. © 2018
obstruction. This has led to a reduction in the speed [cit. 2018-5-22]. Available from: <http://www.ife-
of movement. Also in this case, after a pressure differential tebel.nl/en/products/products_1.jsp>
increase above 300 kPa, motion reversal occurred. [Krajca 2016] KRAJCA, M. Design of a Pneumatic Actuator for
The response of the whole system in this case lasted 0.7 s. Door Opening of Railway Passenger Wagon:
Master Thesis. Ostrava: VSB – Technical University
From the above results it is clear that the obstruction detection of Ostrava, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
sensor meets the requirements prescribed by the standard. Department of Hydrodynamics and Hydraulic
It should be noted that it is advisable to supplement this Equipment, 2016, 87 p. Thesis head: Dvorak, L.
detection sensor with other safety feature in order to avoid [Parker 2012] PARKER HANNIFIN. Bus/Coach door obstruction
injury of passengers as much as possible. detection [online]. 11-2012. [cit. 2018-5-22].
Available from: <http://www.parker.com/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS literature/Rail/PDFs/BulObstacleDetection-
SingleSheets_11-27-12.pdf>
This work was supported by the European Regional
Development Fund in the Research Centre of Advanced
CONTACTS:
Ing. Lukas Dvorak, Ph.D.
VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Hydromechanics and Hydraulic Equipment
17. listopadu 2172/15, CZ- 708 00 Ostrava
+420 597 324 314, [email protected]
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