JP4255558B2 - Coupling device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a railway vehicle coupling device in which a coupling device and a shock absorber are combined, and more specifically, a cylinder in which a viscous fluid is accommodated, and a piston provided in the cylinder so as to be movable in an axial direction. And a coupling device in which a cylinder is connected to a component of the coupling, and a piston rod extending from both sides of the piston to the outside of the cylinder is attached to a companion plate.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, a railway vehicle is operated with a plurality of vehicles connected by a connector, but an impact occurs between the vehicles when connected. In addition, when a plurality of vehicles are knitted and run, the knitted vehicles can be regarded as a kind of elastic body connected by a coupler with some play, not a single rigid body. A speed difference occurs between the vehicles during acceleration / deceleration, causing an impact or collision. These impacts cause a buckling load, which not only adversely affects the vehicle, but also reduces the ride comfort. Accordingly, various shock absorbers that absorb these shocks have been proposed, and so-called coupler devices in which the shock absorbers are incorporated in the couplers have also been proposed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-13720. As a buffer material of these coupling devices, a rubber buffer material, a silicon buffer material or the like is applied, and a combination of these buffer materials is also used.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, since the shock absorber is also provided in the conventional connector device, the ride comfort is improved to some extent, and a certain effect is recognized in preventing buckling between vehicles. However, the movement of railway vehicles varies depending on starting / stopping, traveling on a gradient track or curved track, etc., and the movement of the vehicle changes from moment to moment, but the buffer material of the conventional coupling device is only the material characteristics of the buffer material. Since it is not controlled specially, it cannot respond sufficiently to the above changes, and a satisfactory riding comfort cannot be obtained. In particular, when the number of vehicles is increased, impacts, speed differences, etc. are accumulated between the leading vehicle and the following vehicle, and as a result, the riding comfort varies significantly depending on the position of the vehicle. However, it cannot be improved by a coupler apparatus using only the material characteristics of a conventional cushioning material.
[0004]
The present invention seeks to provide a coupling device that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks. Specifically, the collision differs between vehicles every moment during acceleration / deceleration, traveling on a gradient track or curved track. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a coupling device that is comfortable even in the event of an accident, and that is free from the problem of buckling. In other words, even when the number of vehicles is increased, a high level and uniform riding comfort can be obtained between vehicles. It is an object to provide a connector device.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above object of the present invention is achieved by applying a viscous fluid such as silicone oil to the buffer material and controlling the flow resistance of the viscous fluid by the amount of displacement between the vehicles. That is, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a cylinder in which a viscous fluid is accommodated, and a piston provided in the cylinder so as to be movable in the axial direction. A coupling device connected to a component of a coupling and extending to the outside of the cylinder from both sides of the piston and attached to a companion plate, wherein the coupling device is defined by the piston in the cylinder. its chord time that both cylinder chambers, as well are connected by conduit viscous fluid flows, the said pipe rotating the rotation spool side sectional shape as seen in the direction of flow of viscous fluid having a substantially semicircular and that the flow rate control means adapted to the area of the conduit is continuously controlled is interposed, the rotation angle of the rotating spool of the flow control means is braking based on the displacement amount between the vehicle Configured to be. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the connecting device according to the first aspect, the piston is held at a predetermined position of the cylinder by a return spring.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the coupler apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the coupler apparatus according to the present embodiment is roughly a semi-active damper. 1. A flow path 20 through which viscous fluid flows in the first and second cylinder chambers 5 and 6 of the semi-active damper 1, a flow rate control means 25 interposed in the flow path 20, and a flow rate control means 25 It is comprised from the controller 40 etc. which control this.
[0007]
The semi-active damper 1 includes a cylinder 2. The cylinder 2 is sealed with first and second lids 3 and 4, and a viscous fluid such as silicon oil is accommodated therein. A piston 7 is provided in the cylinder 2 so as to be movable in the axial direction in a known manner. The piston 7 is movable in the axial direction. In this embodiment, the piston 7 is moved to a predetermined position, for example, an intermediate position or a reference position by a return spring 10 interposed between the second lid 4 and one side surface of the piston 7. It comes back to the position. The first and second piston rods 8 and 9 are integrally fixed to both side surfaces of the piston 7 thus configured. These first and second piston rods 8 and 9 pass through the first and second lids 3 and 4 of the cylinder 2 and exit to the outside, respectively. ing. The companion plates 11 and 12 are locked to the companion plate guard as is well known in the art, and a connecting member 14 is fixed to the end of the cylinder 2 by welding or the like. Reference numeral 15 denotes a connecting pin.
[0008]
As described above, the inside of the cylinder 2 is divided into the first and second cylinder chambers 5 and 6 by the piston 7, and the first and second cylinder chambers 5 and 6 are connected by the pipe line 21. Yes. A flow rate control means 25 is interposed in the pipe line 21. Accordingly, the amount of the viscous fluid in the first and second cylinder chambers 5 and 6 is controlled by the flow rate control means 25 through the pipe 21 from one cylinder chamber 5 (6) to the other cylinder chamber 6 ( It will flow to 5).
[0009]
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the flow rate control means 25 includes an orifice casing 26 interposed in the pipe 21 and a rotating spool provided in the orifice casing 26. 30. The orifice casing 26 is formed in a cylindrical shape from end plates 27 and 28 whose side shapes are circular, and the pipe line 21 is liquid-tightly connected to the orifice casing 26 so as to open to the end plates 27 and 28. Yes. In the present embodiment, the rotary spool 30 has a half-moon shape on the side surface. And it is being fixed to the rotating shaft 32 in the center part of the string 31. FIG. The rotary shaft 32 exits from the end plates 27 and 28, and is provided with a motor 36 on one side and a rotation angle detector 37 on the other side. The motor 36 and the controller 40 are connected by a signal line a, and the rotation angle detector 37 is connected by a signal line b. Therefore, as will be described later, when the controller 40 calculates the rotation amount or rotation angle θ of the rotary spool 30 based on the displacement amount between the vehicles, it is applied to the motor 36 by the signal line a, and the rotary spool 30 is driven to rotate. If it does so, the string 31 will come to close the pipe line 21, and the amount of closure, ie, the flow rate of viscous fluid, will be controlled. Therefore, in this embodiment, the variable orifice is constituted by the pipe line 21 and the rotary spool 30. The rotation angle θ of the rotary spool 30 at this time is detected by the rotation angle detector 37 and input to the controller 40, and is controlled by feedback control, for example, so that the rotation angle θ of the rotary spool 30 matches the calculated value.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, the connecting component 14 is attached to, for example, the preceding vehicle, and the accompanying plates 11 and 12 are attached to the following vehicle. Therefore, the displacement amount between the vehicles is determined by the interval between the connecting component 14 and the accompanying plate 11. Although it can be measured, in the present embodiment, the relative positional relationship between the cylinder 2 and the piston 7 is detected or measured. For this purpose, a position detector 45 made of, for example, a linear sensor or the like that measures the position of the piston 7 in the vicinity of the cylinder 2 is provided. And the displacement amount between the vehicles detected by this position detector 45 is input into the controller 40 by the signal line c.
[0011]
Next, the operation will be described. When the acceleration / deceleration does not act particularly between the vehicles and the displacement amount between the vehicles detected by the position detector 45 is small, the amount of attenuation can be small. For example, a signal for opening the passage 21 is output, and the viscous fluid freely flows between the first and second cylinder chambers 5 and 6 via the conduit 21. At this time, it is attenuated simply by the flow resistance of the pipe 21. In FIG. 1, for example, it is assumed that a large pulling force is applied to the structural member 14 of the coupler during rapid acceleration. Then, the cylinder 2 is pulled leftward in FIG. 1, and the first cylinder chamber 5 is narrowed. That is, the amount of displacement between vehicles increases. This displacement amount is detected by the position detector 45 and input to the controller 40. In the controller 40, the rotation angle θ of the rotary spool 30 is calculated based on the detected displacement amount and is input to the motor 36. The rotary spool 30 is rotated by a predetermined amount by feedback control, and the string 31 closes the pipe line 21 by a predetermined amount. As a result, the flow resistance of the viscous fluid increases, and the amount of attenuation increases.
[0012]
Since the pipe line 21 is symmetrically attached to the end plates 27 and 28 of the orifice casing 26, that is, the flow rate control means 25 is configured symmetrically, a compressive force acts, for example, during deceleration. Sometimes it is similarly attenuated. Similarly, when the movement of the vehicle changes from moment to moment, the position detector 45 detects the amount of displacement between the vehicles, and the rotation angle θ of the rotary spool 30 is controlled. This makes it possible to control the collision speed between vehicles when the vehicle starts and stops, travels on a gradient track or a curved track, and can also prevent buckling when the vehicle stops suddenly.
[0012]
According to the present embodiment, the side surface of the rotary spool 30 has a half-moon shape. Therefore, by changing the distance D between the center of the pipe line 21 and the center of rotation of the rotary spool 30, FIG. As shown in (c), the angle α when the string 31 of the rotary spool 30 closes the conduit 21 can be changed. That is, when the distance D is decreased, the angle α is increased. Thereby, control of the rotary spool 30 becomes easy.
[0013]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, coupling device according to the present invention, in the cylinder, both cylinder chambers partitioned by the piston, with which is connected by conduit viscous fluid flows, in the conduit fluid When the rotary spool whose side cross-sectional shape exhibits a substantially half-moon shape as viewed in the flow direction of the rotation rotates, the flow rate control means is configured to continuously control the area of the pipe line by the string , Since the rotation angle of the rotary spool of the flow rate control means is controlled based on the amount of displacement between the vehicles, different collisions occur between the vehicles every moment during acceleration / deceleration, traveling on a gradient track or curved track, etc. You can control this even if it exists. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect peculiar to the present invention that the ride comfort is good and there is no problem of buckling. Further, since the viscous fluid that is the buffer material is controlled by the displacement amount between the vehicles, there is no difference in riding comfort between the vehicles even if the number of vehicles is increased. At this time, the rotary spool has a substantially half-moon shape, and when the rotary spool rotates, the area of the flow path is controlled by the string, so that the control accuracy of the rotary spool can be changed. Is further obtained. According to the invention described in claim 2, since the piston is held at a predetermined position of the cylinder by the return spring, the displacement amount between the vehicles can be measured at the position of the piston.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of the present invention with a partial cross section.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a flow rate control means according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) is a front sectional view, (B) is a side sectional view, and (C) is an action. It is a sectional side view shown.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Cylinder 7 Pistons 8 and 9 Piston rod 10 Return springs 11 and 12 Companion plate 14 Constituent member 20 Pipe line 25 Flow rate control means 30 Rotating spool 31 String θ Rotating angle of spool

Claims (2)

It consists of a cylinder (2) in which a viscous fluid is accommodated and a piston (7) provided in the cylinder (2) so as to be movable in the axial direction. ), And a piston rod (8, 9) extending from both sides of the piston (7) to the outside of the cylinder (2) is attached to the companion plate (11, 12). And
Wherein in the cylinder (2), both cylinder chambers partitioned by the piston (7) (5, 6), the viscous fluid is connected in line to flow (21), said conduit (21) When the rotating spool (30) having a substantially half-moon shape in cross section when viewed in the flow direction of the viscous fluid rotates , the area of the pipe (21) is continuously controlled by the string (31). The flow rate control means (25) is interposed, and the rotation angle (θ) of the rotary spool (30) of the flow rate control means (25) is controlled based on the displacement amount between the vehicles. A connecting device for a railway vehicle provided between vehicles . 2. A connecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the piston (7) is held between predetermined positions of the cylinder (2) by a return spring (10). Equipment.

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