GB1573325A - Railways bogies - Google Patents

Description

(54) RAILWAYS BOGIES (71) We, GENERAL STEEL INDUS TRIES INC., a Corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America, of 11 South Meramec, St. Louis, State of Missouri 63105, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to railway bogies.

The present specification is a divisional from our U.K. Patent Specification No. 1573324 (7402/77), to which reference is directed.

Reference is also directed to our U.K.

Patent Specification No. 1573326 (7912446), which is also a divisional from U.K. Patent Specification No. 1573324 (7402/77).

According to the present invention there is provided a railway bogie comprising a pair of wheel and axle assemblies each having a pair of railway flanged wheels rigidly mounted on the ends of an axle and axle bearing means on the end portions of each axle, a rigid bogie frame supported from said wheel and axle assemblies, resilient means supporting said frame from said axle bearing means to permit steering movements of said wheel and axle assemblies with respect to said frame, said wheel and axle assemblies having steering means causing them to pivot in opposite senses on curved track, said resilient means comprising upwardly converging fore and aft surfaces on each said axle bearing means, each of said surfaces being V-shaped in plan and mounting similarly shaped elastomeric pad devices, a yoke element for each axle bearing means, each yoke element having its sides upwardly converging similarly to said bearing means surfaces and correspindingly V-shaped in plan, each pair of elastomeric pad devices being secured to the respective yoke converging surfaces whereby to resiliently support the respective yokes from the respective axle bearing means vertically and being substantially yieldable in shear vertically and transversely to accommodate substantial vertical movement of the respective bearing means with respect to said rigid bogie frame as required for proper distribution of the vertical load from said rigid frame to the respective wheels irrespective of vertical irregularities in the track rails and to provide a transverse component for steering movements of said wheel and axle assemblies, said V-shaped pad devices being stiff longitudinally of the truck whereby to substantially fix said yoke longitudinally with respect to said bearing means, said yoke having upwardly facing horizontal surface means and there being opposing horizontal surface means on said bogie frame, and horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices interposed between and fixed to said opposing horizontal surfaces of said yoke and said bogie frame and being yieldable in shear longitudinally of the bogie whereby to accommodate the longitudinal component of steering movements of the respective wheel and axle assemblies with respect to said bogie frame.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a four wheel railway car bogie embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a generally horizontal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The bogie illustrated in the drawings has a pair of spaced wheel and axle assemblies each comprising railway flanged wheels mounted in gauged pairs on the ends of the respective axles 2 and 3. The effective conicity of the wheel tread profiles is sufficient to effect self-steering of each wheel and axle assembly by means of the differential effect between the wheel diameters of the outer and inner wheels on curved track and is substantially greater than the standard conicity of 1:20 or 0.05, preferably being between 1:10 and 1:5. Inboard of the wheels, each of the axles 2 and 3 mounts, adjacent each wheel, an axle bearing 5 on which is mounted an adapter 7 of generally isosceles trapezoidal shape in elevation, the fore and aft surfaces 9 of each adapter 7 being V-shape in plan with their apices pointing away from the associated bearings.

Correspondingly V-shaped elastomeric pad devices comprising metal plates 11 bonded to similarly shaped elastomeric pads 13 are secured to fore and aft surfaces 9 of adapter member 7 and their outermost plates 11 are secured to inner surfaces 15 of spaced vertical legs 17 connected by horizontal top members 19 to form downwardly open yokes, surfaces 15 being inclined parallel respectively to fore and aft surfaces 9 of the adapters and being of corresponding concave V-shape in plan. Preferably the lower extremities of yoke legs 17 are connected by a binder or tie bolt 21 to oppose any tendencies toward spreading.The top member 19 of each yoke is of convex V-shape with its apex longitudinal of the bogie and mounts a V-section elastomeric sandwich device with its apex somewhat elongated lengthwise of the bogie and comprising a pair of flat elastomeric pads 23 bonded on their respective top and bottom surfaces by flat metal plates 25.

A rigid bogie frame, comprising longitudinally extending transversely spaced side members 27 positioned generally transversely inwardly of wheels 1 and connected by a pair of longitudinally spaced transversely extending transom members 29, symmetrically disposed fore and aft of the transverse centre line of the bogie, is supported at the end portions 31 of slde members 27 on elastomeric sandwich devices 23, 25, the lower surfaces of the end portions of frame side members 27 being correspondingly of concave V-shape and arranged for securement to top plate 25 of the sandwich devices. In order to minimize the overall height of the bogie, the central portion 33 of each of the side members 27 is depressed to a substantially lower level than the end portions 31.

With the bogie structure as thus far described, it will be evident that yokes 17, 19 will be vertically resiliently supported on adapters 7 by reason of the yieldability in vertical shear of elastomeric pad devices 11, 13 but that relative longitudinal and lateral movements of the yokes relative to the axle bearing adapter 7 will be effectively resisted by the resistance of the elastomeric pad devices 11, 13 to compression transversely and longitudinally of the bogie. However, limited movement of the yokes 17, 19 longitudinally of the bogie sufficient to accommodate limited yaw of axles 2 and 3 with respect to bogie frame 27-33 will be accommodated by yielding in shear of elastomeric sandwich devices 23, 25 longitudinally of the bogie and lateral movements opposed by the resistance of pads 23 to compression transversely of the bogie.

For preventing excessive movement of the axles, longitudinally of the bogie, the end portions 31 of bogie frame side members are bent downwardly at 35 longitudinally outboard of the respective yokes 17, 19 and are formed at their lower extremities with vertical safety stop surfaces 37 spaced from outer legs 17 longitudinally of the bogie but engageable with opposed vertical surfaces 39 on the outer legs 17 of the respective yokes. Longitudinally inboard of the bogie from the respective yokes, the bogie frame is formed with brackets 41 having similarly vertical safety stop surfaces 43 in similarly spaced opposing relation with longitudinally inboard vertical surface 39 of inboard yoke legs 17.

Substantially at axle level, inboard legs 17 of the yoke are formed with inwardly extending clevis-like brackets 45 and the diagonally opposed brackets 45 are connected by diagonal links 47, 49, the ends of which are pivotally secured to the respective brackets 45. Diagonal link 49 couple the wheel induced steering movements of the individual wheel and axle assemblies to cause their symmetrical turning movements in opposite directions on curved track and co-operate with the resistance offered by the longitudinally acting pads 23 to oppose hunting movements of the wheel and axle assemblies on tangent track.

For supporting vehicle body underframe U and accommodating swivel movements of the bogie with respect thereto and lateral movements of the underframe with respect to the bogie so as to cushion the body from transverse irregularities in the track structure, depressed central portions 33 of frame side members 27 are extended transversely outboard at 51 to form brackets for supporting upright spring devices generally indicated at 53 constructed to yield vertically and in longitudinal and lateral shear for accommodating vertical cushioning, swivel and lateral cushioning movements of the supported underframe U with respect to the bogie.

For resiliently limiting lateral movements of underframe U on the bogie, laterally inwardly facing elastomeric bumpers 54 are mounted on upstanding brackets 56 on the central portions of the frame side members 27 and oppose, in spaced relation, depending brackets 58 on underframe U.

For transmitting traction and braking forces between the bogie and underframe, a Watts linkage comprising a generally transverse lever 55 fulcrumed at the centre of the bogie on a pin 57 depending from underframe U and connected at its ends by longitudinally extending anchor devices 59 to upstanding brackets 61 on the bogie frame transoms 29 is provided.

For braking the bogie irrespective of axle yaw, the brake rigging at each side comprises a pair of substantially vertical brake levers 61 pivotally depending from outboard brackets 63 on the bogie frame side members 29 and pivotally mounting intermediate their ends brake heads 65 carrying the usual shoes 67 engageable with the adjacent wheel treads. At their lower ends levers 61 are connected respectively to a pair of aligned rods 69 and 71 extending longitudinally of the bogie, rod 69 mounting a hydraulic cylinder 73 and rod 71 being connected to a piston 75 in cylinder 73. The cylinders 73 on opposite sides of the bogie are connected by a transverse hydraulic conduit 77 communicating via a tee connection 79 with a master cylinder 81, the piston 83 of which is actuated by the power brake beams on the car, e.g. air brake cylinder 85.Because of the interconnection by means of conduit 77 of the hydraulic cylinders at each side, the brakes at both sides will be equalized irrespective of yaw of the axles on curved track when the wheel treads on the inside of the curve would be substantially closer to each other than those on the outside of the curves and thus even under such yaw conditions in which the axles are substantially radial of the curve, equal brake pressure would be applied to each wheel tread.

Operation of the bogie is as follows: While moving along tangent track, all tendencies of the individual axles to oscillate about vertical axes or to move lengthwise with respect to the bogie frame, are resisted by the resistance of elastomeric pads 23 to shear longitudinally of the bogie and are limited by stops 37 and 43 in co-operation with the outer vertical surfaces of yoke legs 17, and diagonal links 47 and 49 co-operate with the resistance offered by elastomeric pads 23 to oppose any such oscillation or hunting movements of the individual axles.

In the absence of such movements by the individual axles, the bogie frame is similarly insulated against such oscillations or hunting movements, making unnecessary the provision of damping means between the bogie frame and the supported car body underframe, thus facilitating the use of the bolsterless construction of the type disclosed, in which the underframe is supported on the bogie frame by combination pneumatic and elastomeric spring devices yieldable vertically, laterally and longitudinally to accommodate relative cushioning and swiveled movements of the body and the draft connection between the body and the bogie frame can consist of a device such as the disclosed Watts linkage which offers complete freedom of movement vertically and laterally and in swivel, but not longitudinally so as to form a substantially unyielding draft connection between the bogie and body.As the truck moves along curved track, the conically profiled wheel treads, by reason of the engagement of different diameters of the inner and outer wheel treads with the respective track rails, induce selfsteering swiveled movements in the individual wheel and axle assemblies, which are thereby positioned substantially radially with respect to the track curvature.The coupling of the wheel and axle assemblies to each other accommodates symmetrical swiveled movements in opposite senses of the individual wheel and axle assemblies and thus avoids interference with the selfsteering capability of the respective wheel and axle assemblies on curved track, but damps hunting tendencies and counteracts hunting of the wheel and axle assemblies by causing swiveled movements of either wheel and axle assembly to produce opposite swiveled movements of the other wheel and axle assembly as the bogie moves along tangent track. As the bogie moves from curved to tangent track, the interconnecting links assist the self-steering capacity of the axles and elastomeric pad devices 23, 25 to restore the axles to their normal tangent track positions and maintain them therein.

By reason of the inboard location of the longitudinally acting axle restraint devices, i.e., elastomeric pad devices 23, 25, the resistance they offer to movement of the axles purely longitudinally of the bogie frame is just as great as if pads of equal stiffness were positioned laterally outboard of the wheels but the resistance that the elastomeric pad devices at opposite sides of the bogie offer to steering yaw movements of the axles is advantageously minimized by virtue of their close spacing transversely of the bogie and the consequent shortening of the transverse arm through which they act as a couple to oppose yaw.

When the brakes are actuated, for exam ple by applying air to the air or cylinder 85 and thereby actuating piston 83 of hydraulic master cylinder 81 due to the interconnection between the brake cylinders at opposite sides of the bogie, the pressure in each cylinder will be equalized causing the brake shoes 67 to be applied with equal force to the wheel treads irrespective of differences in the longitudinal spacing of the wheels at the opposite sides of the bogie when the bogie is operating on curved track.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A railway bogie comprising a pair of wheel and axle assemblies each having a pair of railway flanged wheels rigidly mounted on the ends of an axle and axle bearing means on the end portions of each axle, a rigid bogie frame supported from said wheel and axle assemblies, resilient means supporting said frame from said axle bearing means to permit steering movements of said wheel and axle assemblies with respect to said frame, said wheel and axle assemblies having steering means causing them to pivot in opposite senses on curved track, said resilient means comprising upwardly converging fore and aft surfaces on each said axle bearing means, each of said surfaces being V-shaped in plan and mounting similarly shaped elastomeric pad devices, a yoke element for each axle bearing means, each yoke element having its sides upwardly converging similarly to said bearing means surfaces and correspondingly V-shaped in plan, each pair of elastomeric pad devices being secured to the respective yoke converging surfaces whereby to resiliently support the respective yokes from the respective axle bearing means vertically and being substantially yieldable in shear vertically and transversely to accommodate substantial vertical movement of the respective bearing means with respect to said rigid bogie frame as required for proper distribution of the vertical load from said rigid frame to the respective wheels irrespective of vertical irregularities in the track rails and to provide a transverse component for steering movements of said wheel and axle assemblies, said V-shaped pad devices being stiff longitudinally of the truck whereby to substantially fix said yoke longitudinally with respect to said bearing means, said yoke having upwardly facing horizontal surface means and there being opposing horizontal surface means on said bogie frame, and horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices interposed between and fixed to said opposing horizontal surfaces of said yoke and said bogie frame and being yieldable in shear longitudinally of the bogie whereby to accommodate the longitudinal component of steering movements of the respective wheel and axle assemblies with respect to said bogie frame.

2. A railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein said horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices are elongate longitudinally of the bogie, whereby to oppose tilting movements of said yokes longitudinally of the bogie.

3. A railway bogie as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices and the cooperating yoke and bogie frame horizontal surfaces are similarly V-shaped transversely of the bogie to oppose relative transverse movements of said yokes with respect to said bogie frame.

4. A railway bogie as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said yokes is downwardly open to facilitate positioning of said axle bearing means therein, there being a removable binder connecting the sides of each of said yokes below said axle bearings to prevent spreading of said yoke sides responsive to the longitudinal loads imposed thereon by said upwardly converging V-shaped pad devices.

5. 5. A railway bogie substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (5)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. bogie is operating on curved track. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A railway bogie comprising a pair of wheel and axle assemblies each having a pair of railway flanged wheels rigidly mounted on the ends of an axle and axle bearing means on the end portions of each axle, a rigid bogie frame supported from said wheel and axle assemblies, resilient means supporting said frame from said axle bearing means to permit steering movements of said wheel and axle assemblies with respect to said frame, said wheel and axle assemblies having steering means causing them to pivot in opposite senses on curved track, said resilient means comprising upwardly converging fore and aft surfaces on each said axle bearing means, each of said surfaces being V-shaped in plan and mounting similarly shaped elastomeric pad devices, a yoke element for each axle bearing means, each yoke element having its sides upwardly converging similarly to said bearing means surfaces and correspondingly V-shaped in plan, each pair of elastomeric pad devices being secured to the respective yoke converging surfaces whereby to resiliently support the respective yokes from the respective axle bearing means vertically and being substantially yieldable in shear vertically and transversely to accommodate substantial vertical movement of the respective bearing means with respect to said rigid bogie frame as required for proper distribution of the vertical load from said rigid frame to the respective wheels irrespective of vertical irregularities in the track rails and to provide a transverse component for steering movements of said wheel and axle assemblies, said V-shaped pad devices being stiff longitudinally of the truck whereby to substantially fix said yoke longitudinally with respect to said bearing means, said yoke having upwardly facing horizontal surface means and there being opposing horizontal surface means on said bogie frame, and horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices interposed between and fixed to said opposing horizontal surfaces of said yoke and said bogie frame and being yieldable in shear longitudinally of the bogie whereby to accommodate the longitudinal component of steering movements of the respective wheel and axle assemblies with respect to said bogie frame.

2. A railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein said horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices are elongate longitudinally of the bogie, whereby to oppose tilting movements of said yokes longitudinally of the bogie.

3. A railway bogie as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said horizontally oriented elastomeric pad devices and the cooperating yoke and bogie frame horizontal surfaces are similarly V-shaped transversely of the bogie to oppose relative transverse movements of said yokes with respect to said bogie frame.

4. A railway bogie as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said yokes is downwardly open to facilitate positioning of said axle bearing means therein, there being a removable binder connecting the sides of each of said yokes below said axle bearings to prevent spreading of said yoke sides responsive to the longitudinal loads imposed thereon by said upwardly converging V-shaped pad devices.

5. 5. A railway bogie substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.