CA1063628A

CA1063628A - Vehicle suspension

Info

Publication number: CA1063628A
Application number: CA289,570A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Reginald Harrison
Original assignee: Dunlop Ltd
Current assignee: Dunlop Ltd
Priority date: 1976-10-29
Filing date: 1977-10-26
Publication date: 1979-10-02
Also published as: PL201796A1; GB1586068A; JPS5355808A; SU818472A3; IN147947B; FR2369109A1; PL117792B1; DE2748264A1; HU187742B; FR2369109B1; SE7711899L; JPH028938B2; DE2748264C2; SE433928B; CH619653A5

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
In a vehicle suspension of a kind comprising a side bearer interposed between the body of a vehicle and a wheel carrying frame, the side bearer comprises a tubular body of rubber like material having a waist disposed substantially centrally between the ends of the tubular body, with the ends of the tubular body being of progressively increasing diameter from the waist to the ends and the side bearer being positioned in a suspension such that the weight of the vehicle body causes compression of the tubular body in a direction extending between the ends of the tubular body.

Description

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.~ , This invention relates ~o a vehicle suspension, and in particular, though not exclusively, to a railway vehicle suspebsion by means of which a railway vehicle body may be ~- supported by one or more bogie units.
.- 5 In the Specification of U.K. Patent No. 870,814 there ..
is described a railway vehicle suspension airangement in which the weight of a vehicla body is carried by resilient side - bearers interposed directly between the vehicle body and a . , .
~ wheel-carrying frame, e.g. the rame of a two-wheel or four-,, wheel bogie, The side bearers accommodate vertical movements .~ of the vehicle body relative to ,the wheel frame, and must also - permit a re~tively free horizontal movemen~ of the vehicle ~" body relative to the wheel frame to absorb shock loads or accommodate pivotal movemen~ of the wheel frame about a vertical axis such as when negotiatlng horizontal curves in a track.
The side bearers described in said specifica.tion..each .~ comprise in combination a pair of spring means:one-supporting : , the other, one of said spring.means.being in the form of a rubber block which act mainly in:compression to carry the supported vehicle body load and accommodate relative horizontal ~ .
movements between the body and wheel frame ma.i~ly.b.yd.~hoar,. , ,:
deformation,.the other spring means psrmitting^.the r~equired : :
relative.vertiaal movemént between the body,.,and ~ame. :
In this context it is.to be understood~hat.. the terms "horizontal" and "vertical" are used in relation to a vehicle ,A~ ~ ~tanding on level ground. ~.
Whil~t providing sat.isfactory ope~ating characterist.ics

2.

.`: ', . ` .'. ' ' . . ; " ' ~36~8 the above described suspension does have the disadvantage that, with each side bearer being formed of two spring means, it is relatively expensive to produce and this is particularly , ~ , -- relevant in relation to the preferred suspension where the side bearers comprise rubber bonded to metal spring means.
Furthermore said suspension lacks the desired degree of compactness and it is one object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle suspension.
According to one aspect of the present invention a vehicle suspension comprises a side bearer interposed between ,~ the body of a vehicle and a wheel-carrying frame of the vehicle to support the body relative to the wheel-carrying frame, the sidé bearer comprising a tubular body of rubber or rubber-like material having a waist disposed substantially centrally between the ends of the tubular body, the ends of the tubular body being of progressively increasing diameter , from the waist to each end, and the side bearer being -. :
~ ` po~itioned in the suspension such that the weight `of the j~, vehlcle body causes compression of the tubular body in a direction extending between the ends of the tubular body.
In a preferred construction the portion of the tubular body between the waist and each end of the body is substantially of C-cection.
The inner surface of tho tubular body from the waist to each end may be of pro~ressively increasing diameter and the thickness of the wall of the body may increase progressively .. . .
from the waist to each end of the body.

; The interior of the ~ubular body may be closed in the ~, .
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The waist portion of the tubular body is preferably reinforced to reduce or eliminate rupture of the body in the - 5 region of the wais~0 Thus, a plate of substantially rigid material may extend across the waist (i.e. transversely of the body) and is either partly or completely embedded in the body to act as reinforcement. The plate may extend radially outwards of the body, and be profiled to vary in thickness in the radially outwards direction so that outer surfaces `~ o~ the body contact the plate at a smaller deflection and ~ thereby modify the deflection characteristics. Alternatively, ,................................................... . .
or additionally, a reinforcement piece may extend axially of J. the tubular body. The axial reinforcement may be a rod or a tube and it may be partly or completely embedded in the -tubular body. It may, for instance, extend through ~rom ~ the~hollow interior of one C-portion to the other, the ends - ~ of the axial reinforcement being exposed, and thereby define at least in part a fluid passage extending through the waist region to portions of the tubular body either side o~ the . ~ ,. .
waist region.
The plate and/or the rod or tube rein~orcement are - preferably of metal and may be lntegral if both are provided.
The reinforcements are preerably bonded to the tubular body.
25 - Rigid plates may be bonded to the ends of the tubular body to assist in attachment of the side bearer to a vehicle body and wheel-carrying frame, and the plates may extend wholly acro~s the ends o~ the body to form one or two closed ; chambers within the body or be apertured to permit venting of air from inside the body during change in length of the `' 4.

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6362~3 body under dynamic opera~ing condi~ions.
One embodiment o~ ~hs invention will now be de~cribed, by way o~ example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:-Figure 1 i~ an end view of a part o~ a railwa~
vehicle according to the present invention and showing a pair of side-bearers according to th0 invention;
~igure 2 is a longitudinal ~eational vi~w o~ ~he ~ide-~ear~r ~h~wn in Figure 1, igure 3 i~ an ~nd vi~w o~ the ~ide-b~ar~r ~hown ~ .
ln Figu~ 1 and ~ S
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~i~ur~ 4 i~ ~imll~r to tha~ o ~ig~re 3 ~howing ~he 01d~b~rèr loaded ln oompreosion, .S ~l~u~ ~ ls ~lml~r ~ ~ha~ e~ ~lgure 3 ~howing ld~ d~ ~ n c~ffl~rs~
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~t963628 body while permitting relative vertical, hori~ontal, and pivotal movements between the bogie 11 and vehicle body lO.
Such movements occur~hen the vehicle is negotiating a horizontal curve.
Instead of link 15, a number of alternative devices may be used including mountings with a number of intermediate plate, parallel motion devices, and toggle links to give a -~ progressive rise in transverse stiffness with increasing .i.:: , .
- deflection.
To interconnect the vehicle body and bogie resiliently a pair of side-bearers 16 are interposed therebetween. The side-bearers are provided one each side of the vehicle and attached to the bogie in the region of the junction of the :::
transom 13 with the solebars 12.
Each side-bearer 16 is constructed as illustrated in detail in Figureq 2 and 3 and comprises a tubular body 20 of ~' ~ two integral C-section portions 21 arranged back-to-back.
The inner surface 22 of each portion 21 ic of progressively ~-~ increaslng diameter and the thickness of a wall 23 o~ each portion progressively increases from a waist 24 to the end 25 - of the portion. A metal plate 26 is embedded in the waist `~ region 24 and extends radiall~ outwardly of the body 20 to provide a rigid barrier for contact by the outer surfaces 28 of the portions 21 during compression o~ the side bearer.
The rubber body portions 21 are secyred to the plaite 26 by ' bonding. The cavities 2~ are vented to atmosphere. In this tl particular embodiment the diameter (d) of the waist 24 is ~ slightly less than one-half of the outside diameter D of the .~ .
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~;3621~3 ends 25 of the side-bearer.
The ends 25 of the side-bearer (which are annular) are bonded to end plates 27 for attachment to the vehicle body and bogie, and the side-bearer is loaded axially of the tubular ; 5 body ~in the direction of arrows P) to compress the body between the plates 27.
With this arrangement the outside surfaces 28 of the C-portion roll against the plate 26 as the load increases.
" It is preferred that the length L and maximum diameter D of the tubular body are about equal and for loads of a railway vehicle suspension the diameter D is typically in the order of 400 mm.
Use of this side-bearer design in the bogie suspension affords a large deflection for a relatively small side-bearer diameter - indeed the C-portions may be deformed until they are in the shape of flat discs and there thus re3ults a .. . . .
compact suspension~ Figure 4 shows the side-bearer profile ~- ~ partially loaded in compression without deforming the portions 21 to sub~tantially flat disc shape, and Figure 5 shows the ZO profile when the side-bearer is under shear load in conjunction with said partial compression loading.
In addition to large vertical deflection use of this ~ide-bearer de~ign is found also to allow adequata horizontal flexibility and over the normal operating range the shear . ...... .
j 25 stiffne~s increases with compres~ive load. Furthermore the :, ~'1 . .
rising vertical spring rate o~ the side-bearer gives a ~, substantially constant vertical natural frequency over a :/
~ wide range of loadings and thus the resulting vehicle :, ', '. .

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suspension characteristic is of substantially constant , periodicity and not unduly dependent on the load being .-carried by the vehicle. Figures 6 and 7 respectively show the compression load-deflections and shear stiffness - - -compression deflection characteristics of the side-bearer.
. . , A particularly significant feature which has ; unexpectedly been found to be achieved by the use of a ~- waisted tubular body for the side-bearer is that unlike ` conventional rubber springs, compression of the bearer .., ~ lo increases not only the vertical or axial stiffness of the ,; b arer but also the horizontal or transverse stiffness. In consequence the resulting vehicle suspension exhibits good horizontal stability even when subject to a relatively high degree of vertical loading.
~` 15 The side-bearer comprises relatively few metal -~ components in comparison to a conventional interleaved i~; rubber-bonded to metal type side-bearer and thus is ~,, .
comparatively economical to manufacture.

, ~ In Figure 1 the side-bearers 16 have been shown ,~ 20 mounted vertically but in alternative constructions the side-bearers may be mounted inclined relative to the .
i vertical.
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Claims

HAVING NOW DESCRIBED MY INVENTION - WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A vehicle suspension comprising a side bearer interposed between the body of a vehicle and a wheel carrying frame of the vehicle to support the body relative to the wheel carrying frame, the side bearer comprising a tubular body of rubber or rubber-like material having a waist disposed substantially centrally between the ends of the tubular body, the ends of the tubular body being of progressively increasing diameter from the waist to the ends and the side bearer being positioned in the suspension such that the weight of the vehicle body causes compression of the tubular body in a direction extending between the end of the tubular body.

2. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein the portion of the tubular body between the waist and an end of the body is substantially C-shaped in cross-section.

3. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1.
wherein the inner surface of the tubular body is of progressively increasing diameter from the waist to each end of the body.

4. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein the thickness of the wall of the tubular body increases progressively from the waist to each end of the body.

5. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein a reinforcement is embedded in the waist region of the body.

6. A vehicle suspension according to claim 5 wherein a plate of substantially rigid material is provided in the waist region to act as a reinforcement.

7. A vehicle suspension according to claim 6 wherein.
the plate extends radially outwards of the tubular body and is profiled to vary in thickness at positions radially outwards of the tubular body.

8. A vehicle suspension according to claim 5 wherein the waist region of the tubular body is provided with a reinforcement member extending axially of the tubular body.

9. A vehicle suspension according to claim 8 wherein the axially extending reinforcement defines at least in part a fluid passage extending through the waist region.

10. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein the interior of the tubular body is closed in the waist region to define two chambers positioned one either side of the waist region.

11. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein a rigid plate is bonded to an end of the tubular body to assist in attachment of the side bearer to a vehicle body or wheel-carrying frame.

12. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein increase in axial loading of the tubular body increases the horizontal stiffness of the tubular body.

13. A vehicle suspension according to claim 1 wherein the vertical spring rate of the suspension is substantially constant over the normal range of suspension loadings.