EP1120325B1

EP1120325B1 - Motive axle system with movable wheels for railway vehicles

Info

Publication number: EP1120325B1
Application number: EP20010500017
Authority: EP
Inventors: José Luis Lopez Gomez; José Borrajo Mora; Julio Frutos Aguado
Original assignee: Patentes Talgo SL
Current assignee: Patentes Talgo SL
Priority date: 2000-01-26
Filing date: 2001-01-16
Publication date: 2010-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 2021-01-16
Also published as: EP1120325A3; ES2192107B1; EP1120325A2; ATE458656T1; ES2341754T3; ES2192107A1; DE60141369D1

Abstract

A motive axle system with movable wheels for railway vehicles comprising a short axle (E) whose journal (1) is mounted on a first bearing (2); a tubular part (4) which has a wheel (R) at one of its ends and has an end area with an outer straight-toothed gearing (5'); a second bearing (7) attached to the tubular part (4), with axial bearings (8) on each side of the same; a box (9) which houses said bearings (7, 8), provided with protuberances (10) for co-operating with the rods of a bolt which immobilises the wheel (R) in positions corresponding to the different track gauges; and a hollow axle floating system (H) to transmit the drive of a traction motor by means of a bevel gear assembly and thus to make the wheel (R) turn.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention refers to a new motive axle system with moveable independent wheels for railway vehicles, which can be used on tracks of different gauges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of railways, wheel set systems are already known which have axially movable wheels which allow a railway vehicle to travel on tracks of different gauges. Particularly, the applicant has developed different systems of this type among which, for example, is that disclosed in patent FR-A-1 558 329 , which refers to a single-axle bogie with variable separation between the wheels.
Moreover, in the art there are various traction arrangements for railway vehicles, of the type called "disseminated traction" or "distributed traction", according to which all or many of the axles of a train made up of several units are motive axles instead of only the axles corresponding to the tractor head or heads being the motive axle. An example of this technique is found in EP-A-O 825 085 , which refers to a tractor bogie provided with a toothed extensible axle which is mounted between each pair of opposite wheels and to which the traction torque generated by a motor is transmitted to make the wheels turn.
A similar bogie is disclosed by EP-A-0 857 636 .
The systems disclosed in the documents mentioned above have a particular application in the case of TALGO® type railway wheel sets in which, as is known, each wheel is attached on a short axle housed at its ends in inner and outer bearing. These wheel sets are incorporated in the connection between two railway vehicles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the system of the present invention is to provide a movable independent wheel axle of the type which forms part of a TALGO® wheel set or the like, which also incorporates the motive axle function of the type belonging to a railway system of disseminated or distributed traction.
Therefore, the system in accordance with the invention is basically comprised by: a short axle whose journal is assembled on a load supporting part with a first interposed bearing; a tubular part assembled on and joined to said axle, on one of whose ends a wheel is attached, said tubular part having an end area opposite to that on which the wheel is mounted, of greater diameter and with an outer straight-toothed gearing; a second bearing attached to the tubular part towards the middle of the total length of the latter, with axial bearings arranged on each side of the same; a bearing box which houses said second bearing and said axial bearings, which is provided, on its front and rear walls, with protuberances which co-operate with the rods of a bolt which immobilises the wheel in positions corresponding to the different track gauges; and a hollow axle floating system which at one of its ends engages with said outer gearing of the first end of said tubular part and which is adapted to communicate to the latter the drive transmitted from a traction motor by means of a bevel gear assembly, whose crown is joined to the outer covering of said hollow axle floating system and whose pinion is mounted on the power shaft of the traction motor for actuating the wheel.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, said load supporting part on which the journal of the axle is assembled and said box which houses said second bearing and said axial bearings form part of a load supporting frame which joins them together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows an elevational view, in partial cross-section, of an axle system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention,
Figure 1A illustrates a cross-sectional view taken through the line A-A of Figure 1, and
Figure 2 shows a plan view, in partial cross-section, of the system in accordance with the invention shown in Figure 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference first to Figure 1 of the drawings, the journal of a short axle E is indicated by 1, attached to a bearing 2 which supports the vertical load transmitted through the frame 3. This bearing is housed in the outer bearing box, which is also provided with a sliding piece 13 whose function will be explained below.
Assembled and joined to the axle E, there is a tubular part 4 to which, at the end which is next to the outer bearing box, a wheel R is attached which is joined to the said tubular part 4. The opposite end of the tubular part 4, indicated by 5 in Figure 1, has an area of enlarged diameter provided, on its outer surface, with a straight-toothed gearing 5', intended to engage with an inner gearing 6' provided in the inner side of the end of a section 6 of a hollow axle floating system generally designated by H.
Attached to said tubular part 4, between the wheel R and the end 5 of greater diameter of the same, there is a central roller bearing 7, on each side of which are arranged axial bearings 8. Said bearings 7, 8 are housed in a bearing box 9 which has on its front and rear sides, according to the direction of travel, protuberances 10 (see Figure 1A) which will move axially in guide channels made for this purpose in the supporting housing 16 of the load supporting frame 3.
The arrangement of the part 4, the wheel R and the bearings 7, 8 is such that the whole assembly can slide axially jointly with the axle E while the teeth of gearings 5', 6' remain constantly in a meshing condition.
The section 6 of the hollow axle floating system H is made to rotate by the conical group made up of the pinion 11, joined to the power shaft of a traction motor (not shown) , and the crown 12, attached to the outer covering HE of said hollow axle floating system H.
Figure 1A shows a cross-section view taken through the line A-A of Figure 1, representing in greater detail the assembly of the bearing box 9, which encloses the bearings 7, 8, by sliding into the housing 16 made for this purpose in the supporting frame 3. By means of said protuberances 10, said bearing box 9 co-operates with a locking bolt 14 on which a part 15 will act, which is provided in the track in order to achieve the change of track gauge of the railway vehicle.
The process whereby the wheels pass from one track gauge to another will be carried out in co-operation with any of the currently existing changers for this type of wheel set and, as is already known in the art, includes the following operations:

unloading of the wheels R, each frame 3 being supported on its sliding pieces 13 against parts provided on the track for this purpose;
lowering of each bolt 14 by means of which the axial unblocking of the bearing box 9 is achieved and, therefore, of the whole unit made up of said bearing box 9 with its bearings 7, 8, the tubular part 4 and the wheel R;
axial movement of said whole assembly 4, 7, 8, 9 and R to bring it nearer to or separate it from the outer bearing box in which the journal 1 is housed, according to whether one respectively wishes to increase or reduce the track gauge;
axial blockage of said assembly 4, 7, 8, 9 and R due to the raising of the bolts, which are applied against the protuberances 10 in the new axial position of the bearing box 9 with respect to the housing 16 of the supporting frame 3, when the sliding pieces 13 leave said parts provided on the track; and
supporting of the wheels R on the rails of the track of new gauge.

In the light of the sequence of operations which has just been described, it will be obvious that the axial movement of the assembly 4, 7, 8, 9 and R is carried out without the straight toothed gearing 5' of the tubular part 4 being disengaged from the corresponding inner gearing 6' of section 6 of the hollow axle floating system H at any time, so that at all times the traction motor of the axle in accordance with the invention will continue to make the wheel R rotate due to the arrangement which has just been described.
Persons skilled in the art will understand that in the foregoing description of the currently preferred embodiment of the invention, given solely by way of illustration, modifications may be carried out which will not go beyond the scope of the present invention, as it is defined by the content of the attached claims.

Claims

A motive axle system with movable wheels for railway vehicles, characterised in that it comprises a short axle (E) whose journal (1) is assembled on a load supporting part with a first interposed bearing (2); a tubular part (4) assembled on and joined to said axle (E), on one of whose ends a wheel (R) is attached, said tubular part (4) having an end area (5), opposite to that on which the wheel (R) is mounted, of greater diameter and with an outer straight-toothed gearing (5'); a second bearing (7) attached to the tubular part (4), towards the middle of the total length of the latter, with axial bearings (8) arranged on each side of the same; a bearing box (9) which houses said second bearing (7) and said axial bearings (8), which is provided, on its front and rear walls, with protuberances (10) which co-operate with the rods of a bolt which immobilises the wheel (R) in positions corresponding to the different track gauges; and a hollow axle floating system (H) which, at one of its ends, engages with said outer gearing (5') of the first end of said tubular part (4) and which is adapted to communicate to the latter the drive transmitted from a traction motor by means of a bevel gear assembly (11, 12), whose crown (12) is joined to the outer covering (HE) of said hollow axle floating system (H) and whose pinion (11) is mounted on the power shaft of the traction motor for actuating the wheel (R).
A motive axle system in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that said load supporting part upon which the journal (1) of the short axle (E) is assembled and said bearing box (9) which houses said second bearing (7) and said axial bearings (8), form part of a load supporting frame (3) which joins them together.