EP0512089B1 - Railway vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

In a railway vehicle with a secondary spring arrangement acting between the chassis and the vehicle body which generates a continuously increasing restoring moment at a relative inclination between the two units until the maximum permissible angle of roll is reached, according to the invention a permissible limitation of the angle of roll is achieved without any adverse effect on the derailing limit and ride comfort on straights in a structurally simple and reliable manner, in that the spring arrangement is comparatively soft and there is a passively acting supplementary spring with a limited range of rotation (rotation play coupling) connected in parallel to the spring arrangement, which operates virtually without restoring moment in a partial range of slight roll angle movements, and at greater deviations of the roll angle within the permissible range, generates a steeply increasing restoring moment which is many times greater than that of the spring arrangement at the maximum permissible angle of body roll.

Description

The invention relates to a rail vehicle according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Due to increasing driving speeds and improved driving comfort, high demands are made on the driving behavior of rail vehicles. A high level of driving comfort requires extensive decoupling of the undercarriage and the body so that the undercarriage can follow the track position elastically and as freely as possible when driving in a straight line. This in turn requires a soft roll damping of the car body, for example by means of two air springs arranged laterally between the car body and the undercarriage, which in addition to the roll damping also take over the vertical support of the car body on the undercarriage.

Such a soft secondary suspension, however, leads to large roll angle deflections when exposed to quasi-static accelerations of centrifugal force, for example as a result of fast bend travel, or when standing on an elevated track. On the other hand, strictly specified limit values must be adhered to for the maximum roll angle, and not only because the traveler finds a strong inclination of the car body uncomfortable when traveling through bends, but above all for safety reasons, since this is permissible The boundary profile must not be exceeded under any circumstances.

Controllable air suspensions for soft secondary cushioning of the car body are known which, by corresponding air pressure control of the individual air springs, should also limit the car body inclination in addition to a height level regulation. With such air spring systems, however, only static or quasi-static changes in position between chassis and car body can be compensated, but due to the design-related inertia of the air pressure control, the dynamic roll movements cannot be effectively stabilized, so that, for example, the car body overshoots rapidly when the bend is entered quickly, apart from the fact that a roll angle-dependent air pressure control results in an undesirably high compressed air consumption.

Passively acting roll stabilizers in the form of torsion spring bars are also known in connection with regulated secondary air spring systems. The air springs are interconnected in terms of vibrations, so they are not regulated depending on the roll angle and are only intended to compensate for changes in height level due to different loads, while the roll stabilizers alone take over the limitation of the car body inclination. Their spring characteristic is determined by the maximum permissible roll angle when traveling fast bends and therefore causes a tight coupling of chassis and body, even when driving in a straight line, with the result that driving comfort and the vertical wheel force dynamics are negatively affected. Add to that adjustable suspension or bogie air suspension require the installation of emergency springs which, in the event of a failure in the air supply, take over the car body, which is now much harder due to the construction. The higher stiffness of these emergency springs combined with the high torsional stiffness of the car body means that the vehicle reacts to twisting tracks with noticeable wheel relief. The additional stiffening between the undercarriage and the car body by means of passively acting roll stabilizers to limit the car body inclination when traveling on bends therefore leads to a noticeable impairment of derailment safety when driving on emergency springs.

Also by the secondary spring arrangement known from DE-OS 34 07 574, in which the car body is supported on the bogies by an air suspension controlled by the roll angle and only one of the bogies is connected to the car body via a passively acting roll stabilizer, the disadvantages described cannot be effective Fix, because on the one hand the roll restoring torque is distributed extremely unevenly on both bogies during fast bend travel and essentially has to be compensated for by wheel force differences of only one bogie, which results in a large quasi-static wheel relief on the wheels inside the bow, and on the other hand the roll stabilizer increases the Car body coupled with the bogie so strongly with regard to higher-frequency, dynamic roll movements when driving in a straight line that the driving comfort is thereby impaired, with the additional structural disadvantage that the car body has two different equipment ete bogies are required.

The object of the invention is to design a rail vehicle of the type claimed so that a safe limitation of the body inclination to a predetermined roll angle range is achieved without compromising the safety against derailment and driving comfort in the straight line by the suspension between car body and chassis.

This object is achieved by the rail vehicle characterized in claim 1.

According to the invention, the combination of a relatively soft secondary spring arrangement, for example in the form of a multi-point air spring support regulated depending on the roll angle, with an essentially ineffective additional spring which engages in the lower part of the permissible roll movement and only then intervenes, but then generates a steeply increasing restoring torque, ensures that The dynamic roll movements of the car body when driving in a straight line and the roll angle deflections of the undercarriage when driving on twisted tracks and when driving slowly on a ramp are almost completely absorbed by the spring arrangement, while the additional spring does not respond, so that even when using a relatively stiff primary suspension, the one for high level of driving comfort required, vibration-related decoupling of chassis and car body is achieved without affecting the dynamics of the wheel force, and yet in particular with a fast curve or ramp n the permitted roll angle limit value due to the then automatically effective restoring torque of the additional spring regardless of the response speed of an air spring control reliably and without a wheel relief critical for derailment uncertainty.

In view of a further improvement in driving behavior, the characteristic curve of the additional spring expediently runs essentially on the restoring torque zero line in the mentioned working range of small roll angle deflections.

For reasons of a structurally simple, robust and fail-safe design of the additional spring, in a further advantageous embodiment of the invention according to claim 3, it is designed as a torsion bar effective between the chassis and the car body with a limited rotational play, in such a way that the ends of the torsion bars arranged at a relative inclination of car body and chassis in opposite directions actuating lever according to claim 4 are expediently connected to the torsion bar via a claw-driver coupling with rotational play. So that the actuating levers can be installed in the rotational position correct with respect to the torsion bar when installing the additional spring, centering springs are advantageously provided for centering the claw driver coupling on the rotational play center position, which is, however, a compared to that between the car body and Chassis effective spring arrangement have negligible spring hardness.

With regard to a smooth rotation between the torsion bar and actuating levers, the levers are expediently limited in each case with little friction at the associated end of the torsion bar pivoted, preferably according to claim 7 by a maintenance-free plain bearing.

The roll angle range in which the torsion bar is disengaged generally extends only over a fraction of the maximum permitted roll angle deflections, but is highly dependent on the external boundary conditions of the respective installation case and can therefore be adjusted in a particularly preferred manner according to claim 8.

Another important aspect of the invention results in connection with a regulated air spring arrangement with associated emergency suspension, which takes over the body support and roll stabilization in the event of a failure of the air supply with a design-related often higher spring hardness. In this case, the problems described at the outset in connection with a passive emergency suspension and an additional roll stabilizer with regard to derailment safety are eliminated in an extremely simple and effective manner in that all roll movements occurring when traveling on an emergency spring are within the limited rotational play or within the Range of negligibly small spring hardness of the additional spring.

Fig. 1

die Seitenansicht eines Drehgestell-Schienenfahrzeuges im Bereich eines der Fahrzeugenden;

Fig. 2

eine teilweise geschnittene Darstellung der Luft-, Zusatz- und Notfedern des Schienenfahrzeugs gemäß Fig. 1;

Fig. 3

eine als Torsionsstab ausgebildete Zusatzfeder in perspektivischer Darstellung;

Fig. 4

eine teilweise geschnittene Ansicht einer drehspielbehafteten Klauen-Mitnehmerkupplung zwischen einem Betätigungshebel und dem Torsionsstab gemäß Fig. 3;

Fig. 5

die teilweise geschnittene Aufsicht der Klauen-Mitnehmerkupplung gemäß Fig. 4; und

Fig. 6

ein Diagramm zur Darstellung der einzelnen Federkennlinien.

An embodiment of the invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show in a highly schematic representation:

Fig. 1

the side view of a bogie rail vehicle in the area of one of the vehicle ends;

Fig. 2

a partially sectioned view of the air, auxiliary and emergency springs of the rail vehicle according to FIG. 1;

Fig. 3

an additional spring designed as a torsion bar in a perspective view;

Fig. 4

a partially sectioned view of a claw-driving clutch with rotational play between an actuating lever and the torsion bar according to FIG. 3;

Fig. 5

the partially sectioned top view of the claw driver clutch according to FIG. 4; and

Fig. 6

a diagram to show the individual spring characteristics.

In the rail vehicle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two identical bogies 4 (of which only one is shown), which are arranged in the region of the ends of the body, are provided as undercarriage for supporting the body 2, each of which has an H-shaped, rigidly connected to one another Longitudinal and cross members 6, 8 contain existing bogie frame 10, on which the two rigid wheel sets 12, 14 of the bogie 4 are each guided via wheel set bearing housings 16 and a primary suspension 18 elastic in all three coordinate directions with a relatively high spring hardness in the vertical direction .

The effective secondary suspension between car body 2 and bogie 4 consists of a pressure-controlled Air spring assembly 20 in the form of laterally arranged on the bogie frame 10 between the underside of the car body and the bogie side members 6 air springs 22.1 and 22.2 of relatively low spring hardness, which support the car body 2 on the bogie frame 10 and are regulated so that they control the floor level regardless of the load keep the car body 2 at a constant height and generate a restoring torque counteracting the rolling movement in the event of a relative inclination of the car body 2 and the bogie frame 10. The spring travel x of the air springs 22.1 and 22.2 with respect to the zero inclination position of the car body is predetermined by the maximum permissible roll angle at which the car body 2 is inclined to the right or left up to the boundary profile shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2. The air springs 22.1 and 22.2 are designed so that they do not hinder the unscrewing movements of the bogie 4, for example around a pivot bearing (not shown) located in the center of the frame.

The spring arrangement 20 is assigned an emergency suspension, which consists of passive-acting emergency springs 24.1 and 24.2, each integrated in the air springs 22.1 and 22.2, for example in the form of sleeve rubber elements, on which the car body 2 rests if the air springs 22.1, 22.2 or the compressed air supply fail is supported for roll angle movement. Due to the construction, the emergency springs 24.1 and 24.2 have a significantly smaller spring travel y and a much higher spring hardness than the air springs 22.1, 22.2. Accordingly, the roll movements occurring when traveling on the emergency springs 24.1, 24.2 are also significantly less than the permissible roll angle deflections corresponding to the spring travel x of the air suspension 20.

In addition to the spring arrangement 20 and the emergency suspension, a passive additional spring 26 is installed between the car body 2 and the bogie frame 10, which only responds to rolling movements, but not to changes in the height of the car body 2, and whose special feature is a non-linear spring characteristic curve that runs in such a way that the additional spring 26 is essentially ineffective in the driving dynamically optimal range of small roll angle movements and only in the upper part of the permissible roll angle deflections produces a restoring torque which counteracts the roll tendency of the body 2, but then increases steeply.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 in detail, the additional spring 26 consists of a torsion spring rod 28, which is rotatably supported about its longitudinal axis on the underside of the car body by means of bearing blocks 30 transversely to the direction of travel. At each end of the torsion bar 28 there is an actuating lever 32, the free lever end of which is connected in an articulated manner to the bogie longitudinal member 6 via a control rod 34 and a pivot pin 36.

So that the restoring effect of the roll stabilizer formed by the additional spring 26 only starts at higher roll angle deflections within the spring travel x of the air suspension 20, a claw-driving clutch 38, which is subject to rotational play, is provided between the actuating levers 32 and the respective torsion bar end. 4 and 5 show in detail, the coupling 38 contains a serration 40 non-rotatably connected to the torsion bar bearing sleeve 42 and one in an end recess of the bearing sleeve 42nd backlash-free and form-locking engagement, double-armed driver 44, which are fastened interchangeably to the head end of the torsion bar 28 by screw connections 46 and a holding plate 48. The center hub 50 of the actuating lever 32 is axially immovable on the bearing sleeve 42, but can be rotated smoothly via a slide bearing 52.

For torque coupling, the lever hub 50 is provided on the end face with coupling claws 54 which have a backlash corresponding to the desired rotational play with respect to the driver 44.

The rotational or flank play between the driver 44 and the clutch claws 54 is limited by pressure surges 56 which can be moved in a transversely displaceable manner on the driver 44 and are each held in a spherical abutment on the claw flanks of the lever hub 50 by rubber springs 58 of very low spring hardness. In this way, the actuating lever 32 is centered on the rotational play center position shown in the upper part of FIG. 4. When the actuating lever 32 is rotated with respect to the torsion bar 28, the pressure surges 56 shift in the associated guide bore of the driver 44 until, depending on the direction of rotation, one or the other pair of diametrically opposite pressure tappets 56 strikes with its rear side 60 on the bottom of the bore of the driver guide bore and the actuating lever 32 is now non-rotatably coupled to the end of the torsion bar in the respective direction of rotation. The rotational play end position is shown in the lower half of FIG. 4. The size of the rotational play determines - apart from the low restoring force of the rubber springs 58 - restoring torque-free working range of the additional spring 26 and can either be predetermined or as a result are designed to be adjustable so that the effective length of each pressure plunger 56 between the front, spherical contact surface and the rear 60 is adjustable according to FIG. 4. By installing the claw driver coupling 38 described, a conventional torsion bar roll stabilizer that is free of rotational play can be converted in a simple manner retrospectively to one with rotational play, ie with a non-linear spring characteristic.

The qualitative characteristic curve of the individual spring systems can be seen in FIG. 6.

While the air suspension 20 has a spring curve a which is relatively weakly inclined in the entire permissible roll angle range Z between + α _Z and -α _Z , that is to say causes a smooth coupling between the car body 2 and the bogie frame 10 with respect to the roll movements, the non-linear spring curve b of the torsion Additional spring 26 in the lower part S small roll angle deflections between + α _S and -α _S corresponding to the rotational play of the claw driver coupling 38 almost without restoring torque, in the upper part larger roll angle movements between α _S and α _Z, however, rising steeply, such that the additional spring 26 when approaching at the maximum permissible roll angle ± α _Z produces a much higher restoring torque R than the air suspension 20. The emergency springs 24 have an even higher spring hardness, but do not come into engagement when driving on air suspension, as is indicated in FIG. 6 by the emergency spring characteristic curve c.

In the lower roll angle range S are the dynamic roll movements of the car body 2 when driving in a straight line, the roll movements of the bogie 4 when driving on twisted track and the bogie inclination when driving slowly on a ramp. In this area S, the restoring moments R counteracting the rolling movements are generated almost exclusively by the relatively soft air spring arrangement 20.

The area of engagement of the additional spring 26 between S and Z is reached in the case of rapid arc and ramp travel on air suspension. The roll angle α is effectively limited to the maximum permissible value α _Z by the common restoring effect of air suspension 20 and much harder additional spring 26, the response time of the air spring control irrelevant and the air consumption being minimal.

In the event of an air spring failure, the emergency springs 24 are used in accordance with the spring characteristic curve c 'and limit the roll angle movements of the car body 2 to an area N which lies within the essentially restoring-torque-free partial area S of the additional spring characteristic curve b, so that the torsion spring rod 28 is in motion Emergency springs provide no additional restoring torque R and therefore the safety against derailment is not impaired.

Claims (9)

1. A railway vehicle with a spring arrangement (20) acting between the chassis (4) and the vehicle body (2) which generates a continuously increasing restoring moment at a relative inclination between the two units until the maximum permissible angle of roll is reached, characterised in that a passively acting supplementary spring (26) is provided, connected in parallel to the spring arrangement (20), with a non-linear spring characteristic line (b) within the permissible roll angle range (Z), said characteristic line (b) following a course below the characteristic line (a) of the spring arrangement in the partial range (S) of slight roll angle movements, and, in the partial range of greater roll angle movements, steeply increasing and following a course above it.
2. A railway vehicle according to claim 1, characterised in that the characteristic line (b) of the supplementary spring (26) follows a course essentially without restoring moment in the partial range (S) of slight roll angle movements.
3. A railway vehicle according to claim 2, characterised in that, as a supplementary spring (26), a torsion bar (28) is provided, with a limited range of rotation and acting between chassis (pivot mounting 4) and vehicle body (2).
4. A railway vehicle according to claim 3, characterised in that the torsion bar (28) is provided with end-mounted activating levers (32) which are turned in the opposite direction at any relative tilt of the vehicle body (2) and chassis (4) and which are connected to the torsion bar respectively by means of a rotation-dependent jaw drive coupling (38).
5. A railway vehicle according to claim 4, characterised in that the levers (32) are flexibly centred respectively on the mid-position of the rotational movement by means of springs of very slight spring power (springs 58) compared to the restoring moment generated by the spring arrangement (20).
6. A railway vehicle according to claims 4 or 5, characterised in that the levers (32) are mounted to be capable of low friction rotation respectively on the associated torsion bar end.
7. A railway vehicle according to claim 6, characterised in that the low friction mounting consists of a maintenance-free sliding bearing (52).
8. A railway vehicle according to one of the claims 3 to 7, characterised in that the rotation play can be variably adjusted.
9. A railway vehicle according to one of the preceding claims, with an emergency suspension (24.1, 24.2) which takes over the roll stabilisation at any failure of the spring arrangement (20), characterised in that the operating range (N) of the emergency suspension (24.1, 24.2) lies within the limited range of rotation or, otherwise, range of angle (S) of the low degree of spring hardness of the supplementary spring (26).

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