GB975430A - Improvements in or relating to tandem axle road vehicle bogies - Google Patents

Abstract

975,430. Road vehicle suspensions. METALASTIK Ltd. Jan. 7, 1963 [Jan. 29, 1962], No. 3355/62. Heading B7D. A pair of tandem axles 10, 11, which may be fixed axles or axle casings which may enclose driving gear, are connected on each side by hemispherical pivot bearings 19 to a longitudinal balance beam 15 or leaf spring assembly which, in the laden condition, extends horizontally. Centrally disposed control links 29 are pivotally connected to brackets attached to a transverse member 30 of the vehicle frame and to brackets 27 extending from the axle casing, or to the casing itself in the case of a driven axle. Each hemispherical bearing 19 comprises partspherical elements 20 and 21 attached to brackets 18 depending from the axle casings, and to the balance beam, respectively, and an interposed resilient member 22. The balance beams 15, or spring assemblies, are connected by brackets 37 to a pair of links 32, 33, which are connected to brackets 39 depending from the chassis frame 12. The connections of the links 32 and 33 to the brackets 37 and 39 may include resilient bushes 40, 38, Fig. 2, the upper of which 40 is long enough to withstand transverse forces, or may be replaced by a pair of spaced apart shorter bushes or by a single short bush in which case Panhard rods or triangular rods are connected between the axle casings and the chassis frame. In modifications, Figs. 2 and 3, the upper mountings of the links 32 and 33 include conical and spherical bearings 50 and 52 respectively, each of which include resilient members. Alternatively, the links 32 and 33 may be pin jointed. The links 32 and 33 are inclined so that lines through the centres of their pivots intersect the vertical transverse plane through the centre of the suspension T at a point C in, or slightly offset from, a horizontal plane H containing the centres of the bearings 19 and which is the virtual pivot centre of the beam 15 or spring assembly. The bearings of the rods 29 may include resilient bushes.