GB1223009A - Improvements in or relating to four-wheeled railway vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

1,223,009. Railway vehicle suspensions. BRITISH RAILWAYS BOARD. 7 May, 1969 [13 May, 1968; 17 Jan., 1969], Nos. 22569/68 and 2874/69. Heading B7L. In a railway vehicle having two wheel-sets mounted on the vehicle frame 4, each wheel-set is mounted on the body through a suspension comprising multistage vertical springing having different spring rates for different loadings, swing-links 8 having low lateral stiffness, longitudinal traction rods 17 and hydraulic dampers 24, 25 damping vertical, lateral, and roll motions. Each wheel 1 of the wheel-set is mounted on a line axle rotatably mounted in axle boxes 3. In one embodiment (Figs. 2 and 4) the vertical spring comprises, on each side of the vehicle, nests of coil springs 13, 14 supported on base members 12 in turn supported on knife edge members 10 slidably mounted on the swing links 8. The swing links 8 are suspended, by way of knife edge members 6 and rubber pads 7, from a longitudinal beam 5 secured to the axle box 3, the knife edge members 6 supporting T-shaped upper ends 9 of the links 8 to permit longitudinal movement between the wheel-set and the frame 4. The knife edge members 10 are adjustable, longitudinally of the links 8, by way of nuts 15 for equalization of wheel loads. Each spring 13 engages at its upper end a bracket 16 on the frame 4, but each spring 14, which is shorter, does not engage this bracket 16 until the vehicle is part loaded. Each traction rod 17 is attached to an axle box 3 via spherical mounting including a spherical rubber bush (20, Fig. 3, not shown) of low torsional and conical stiffness and high radial stiffness, and extends towards the transverse centre line of the vehicle for attachment to a bracket 19 via a differential rubber spring 23 of low conical stiffness and the required axial stiffness. In a second embodiment (Fig. 7) the vertical spring comprises, on each side of the vehicle, tapered leaf springs 40 and coil springs 48. The leaf springs are mounted on the axle box 3 and support at their free ends knife edge members 6, 7 at right angles to one another. The swing links 8 hang from the knife edge members 6 and slidably support knife edge members 10 supporting base members 12. Each base member 12 supports a rubber unit 46 mounting a plate 47 which supports the coil spring 48. The upper end of the coil spring 48 abuts a platform 49 at the lower end of frame-brackets 50, a spigot 51 depending from the platform 49, so that on partial loading of the vehicle this spigot 51 abuts the plate 47 to render the coil spring 48 ineffective. The traction rods 17 are again attached to the axle boxes via spherical mountings, and the other ends of the rods 17 are attached to a plate 54 connected to the frame via a member 55 and a bracket 50. The plate 54 is sandwiched between a series of rubber dies 53 compressed between end plates 56 secured to the rod 17, the compression of the discs 53 being adjustable by a nut 17.