JPH02199336A - Anisotropic air spring - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily obtain desired anisotropy against horizontal deformation of a cylinder shaped deflectable film by changing at least one of the number of reinforcing plies or an extended direction of cords constituting the reinforcing plies at a specific position on the circumferential direction of the cylinder shaped deflectable film. CONSTITUTION:A rubber bellows 3 is provided in increased number over the entire length direction and has a reinforcing ply 5 wound around a bead wire 4, which are provided in increased number at both the ends. The upper end part of the bellows 3 is in the almost circular state, and an upper bead seat 1b is fastened to the lower surface of an upper surface plate body 1a to be air-tightly sandwiched with the bead wire 4, while the lower end part is in the circular state as a whole, and a lower bead seat 2b is fastened and fixed to the upper surface of a lower surface plate body 2a to be air-tightly sandwiched. A rubber elastic body 6 in which an upper auxiliary air chamber 11 is divided is constituted by a laminated structured body alternating of rigid rings 6a, rubber and the other rigid rings 6b, and it functions as a lower limit stopper and so forth, when the bellows 3 goes flat, and it also absorbs horizontal displacement.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is capable of functioning as a spring not only for relative displacement in the vertical direction but also for relative displacement in the horizontal direction of the upper and lower face plates. The present invention relates to an anisotropic air spring whose spring constant for relative displacement in the horizontal direction can be changed as required depending on the direction of displacement in the horizontal plane.

(Prior art) A conventionally known anisotropic air spring is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 53-17.
There are some air springs disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-2806, etc., and these air springs each have an outer cylinder or face plate and an inner cylinder airtightly attached to the upper and lower ends of a cylindrical rubber membrane. It is constructed by attaching restricting members to the outer cylinder or the inner cylinder to restrict the horizontal deformation of the cylindrical rubber membrane at two diametrically opposed locations.

Such air springs are used, for example, in bolster-less railway vehicles, and act to provide a small spring constant for horizontal displacement in the front-rear direction, and a large spring constant for horizontal displacement in the left-right direction. They act to bring about this, respectively, sufficiently eliminating the risk of derailment or other dangers of the vehicle when passing through a curved portion of the track, and improving the riding comfort of the vehicle.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in all of these conventional techniques, a limiting member having a predetermined structure and shape is attached to either the outer cylinder or the inner cylinder, so the cost of the air spring is reduced. In addition to the problem of increased height, it is extremely difficult to provide a predetermined spring constant ratio, and furthermore, there is a problem that the air spring becomes large.

This invention was made from a completely different standpoint from the prior art, and allows the desired anisotropy to be extremely easily achieved without attaching any special members to the upper and lower face plates. The present invention provides a small and inexpensive anisotropic air spring that can be used.

(Means for Solving the Problems) An anisotropic air spring of the present invention includes an upper plate and a lower plate,
In an air spring that includes a cylindrical flexible membrane whose upper and lower end portions are airtightly connected to each of these face plates, and a reinforcing layer embedded in this cylindrical flexible membrane, the circumferential direction of the cylindrical flexible membrane is At least one of the number of plies of the reinforcing layer and the extending direction of the cords constituting the reinforcing layer is changed at specific locations, for example, two locations opposing each other in the diametrical direction.

(Function) In this anisotropic air spring, the number of plies of the reinforcing layer is increased at specific points in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical flexible membrane over the entire length of the flexible membrane, and the increased number of reinforcing layers is also By firmly fixing it to the upper and lower face plates together with other reinforcing layers, when the cylindrical flexible membrane deforms in the horizontal direction, the spring constant can be maintained against the deformation in the normal direction at the central part of the specific point mentioned above. The spring constant can be increased by an amount corresponding to the increase in the number of plies only for tangential deformation without changing the spring constant.

Conversely, if the number of plies of the reinforcing layer is reduced at a specific location in the circumferential direction, the spring constant can be reduced against deformation in the tangential direction at the central portion of the specific location.

Note that this also applies when the extending direction of the reinforcing layer cord is changed at a specific location in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical flexible membrane. The spring constant increases as the direction of extension of the reinforcing layer cord approaches the circumferential direction of the flexible cylindrical membrane, and the spring constant decreases as the direction of extension of the reinforcing layer cord approaches the length direction.

By the way, the circumferential length of the above-mentioned specific portion of the cylindrical flexible membrane can be changed as required within the range of 174 or less of the total circumferential length. That is, the circumference is 17
If the value exceeds 4, the deformation in the normal direction at the central portion of a specific location will also be affected by an increase or decrease in the spring constant.

Therefore, here, by simply changing at least one of the extending direction of the reinforcing layer cord and the number of reinforcing layer plies between a specific location in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical flexible membrane and other parts, the center part of the specific location can be changed. It is possible to easily realize the desired spring constant and spring constant ratio for deformation in the normal and tangential directions.

Thus, according to this air spring, the desired anisotropy can be achieved by only slightly locally changing the configuration of the cylindrical flexible membrane, without adding any special members to the upper and lower face plates. can be provided very easily, and the air spring itself can be made sufficiently small and inexpensive, and such an air spring can be applied to a railway vehicle, for example, to improve the vehicle's performance. The required spring characteristics can be provided for each horizontal displacement in the front-rear and left-right directions.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an anisotropic air spring, where FIG. 1(a) is a plan view, and FIG. 1(b) is a
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line b.

In the figure, 1 indicates an upper plate, 2 indicates a lower plate located opposite the upper plate, and 3 indicates a rubber bellows as an example of a cylindrical flexible membrane.

Here, this rubber bellows 3 is buried therein over its entire length, and reinforcing layers 5 are wrapped around respective bead wires 4 buried at both ends of the rubber bellows 3.
By tightening and fixing the upper bead seam Hb to the lower surface of the upper surface plate main body 1a, which has a substantially annular shape as a whole, the upper end portion of the bellows 3 is airtightly connected to the bead wire 4 between them. The bottom plate body 2a is sandwiched between the bottom plate body 2a, and the bottom end portion thereof is also substantially annular as a whole.
By tightening and fixing the lower bead seam 2b to the upper surface of the lower bead seam, the lower bead seam 2b is held airtightly between them.

Further, in the figure, 6 indicates a rubber elastic body attached to the lower surface of the bottom plate 2, 7 indicates an end plate attached to the lower surface of the rubber elastic body 6, and 8, 9, and 10 indicate the upper Face plate 1
, shows an air supply passage, a throttle passage, and a communication passage to a lower auxiliary air chamber (not shown) provided in each of the lower surface plate 2 and the end plate 7.

Here, the rubber elastic body 6 that partitions the upper auxiliary air chamber 11 therein is made of a laminated structure in which rigid rings 6a and elastic rings 6b made of rubber, plastic, or other materials are alternately laminated, and has a lower limit when the rubber bellows is punctured. In addition to functioning as a stopper, when the upper and lower surface plates 1.2 are horizontally displaced, they also function to absorb the horizontal displacement along with the deformation of the rubber bellows.

By the way, in this embodiment, in the place shown in FIG. 1(a), the direction indicated by arrow A is the front-back direction, and the direction indicated by arrow B is
When the direction indicated by is the left-right direction, normally 2
For example, a one-ply reinforcing layer 12 is placed at each position in the front-rear direction as a specific location in the circumferential direction of the rubber bellows 3 which is reinforced with a ply or four-ply reinforcing layer 5. 174, and the upper and lower end portions of the reinforcement N12 are wound around the bead wire 4 in the same manner as each of the other reinforcement layers 5.

Here, the location of the additional reinforcement N12 is as shown in the figure.
In addition to being outside both reinforcing layers 5.5, it can also be between them or inside them.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a reinforcing structure when the reinforcing layer 12 is added as described above. According to this reinforcing structure, the rubber bellows 3 can be prevented from deforming in the front-back direction. As in the case where the additional reinforcing layer 12 is not provided, the spring constant is determined by the two-ply reinforcing layers 5, 5, but the deformation in the left-right direction must be restrained (the acting three-ply The spring constant is determined by the reinforcing layers 5, 5, 12, and the spring constant during horizontal deformation in this direction is naturally larger than that during longitudinal deformation.

In addition, in such a reinforcing structure, further adjustment of the spring constant during deformation in the left-right direction can be performed by changing the extending direction of the cord forming the additional reinforcing layer 12. The spring constant increases as the direction of movement approaches the circumferential direction of the rubber bellows 3, and decreases as the direction approaches the axial direction of the rubber bellows 3.

FIG. 3 shows a reinforcing structure in which a two-ply additional reinforcing layer 12 is provided over a angular range of 841 with respect to the center O of the rubber bellows 3 at a position opposite to the two-ply reinforcing layer 5 in the longitudinal direction. 3(a), each additional reinforcing layer 12 is a cross-sectional view, and each additional reinforcing layer 12 is a reinforcing layer 5 as shown in FIG.
, 5, as well as the arrangement shown in FIGS.
It is also possible to arrange it between both reinforcing layers 5, 50, to sandwich both reinforcing layers 5.5, or to arrange it for every ply of reinforcing layer 5, as shown in FIG.

According to such a reinforcing structure, each additional reinforcing layer 1
2, the cord 12 constituting the reinforcing layer 12
It has been confirmed that the spring constant ratio in the left-right direction/back-and-forth direction can be appropriately selected within the range of about 1.5 to 2.5 times by changing the rigidity or the extending direction of a.

Further, FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example in which one ply of reinforcing layer 12 is added to four-ply reinforcing layer 5, and FIG.
), as shown in FIG. 4(b), an additional reinforcing layer 12 can be placed on the outside or inside of the four-ply reinforcing layer 5, respectively, and as shown in FIG.
The additional reinforcing layer 12 can also be arranged between the reinforcing layers 5 of each ply.

In such a reinforcing structure, the spring constant ratio in the left-right direction/front-back direction can be selected within a range of approximately 1.1 to 1.5 times.

As described above, the reinforcing layer 5 originally included in the rubber bellows 3 extends over a required circumferential length of 174 or less of the circumferential length of the rubber bellows 3 at the longitudinal position of the rubber bellows 30.
By providing the additional reinforcing layer 12 with an appropriate number of plies, the spring constants and the ratio of these spring constants when the rubber bellows 3 is deformed in the horizontal front-rear direction and the horizontal left-right direction can be very easily adjusted to the desired ratio. It can be the same as the street.

Therefore, the air spring equipped with such a rubber bellows 3 can provide the desired anisotropy with respect to horizontal deformation without providing any special deformation restraining means to the upper and lower face plates 1.2. The air spring itself can be
It can be made sufficiently small and inexpensive.

By the way, the same effect as described above can be obtained by adding rubber bellows 3 without changing the number of plies of the reinforcing layer.
This can also be achieved by locally changing the extending direction of the cords constituting the reinforcing layer at specific points in the circumferential direction of the reinforcing layer. In other words, the cord of at least one ply of the reinforcing layer 5 which the rubber bellows 3 originally has is connected to the circumference of the rubber bellows 3 in a required area in the front-rear direction of the rubber bellows 3. By extending the cords of the reinforcing layer 5 closer to the axial direction of the rubber bellows 3 in other regions, the spring constant is small in the front-rear direction, and the elasticity is reduced in the left-right direction. An air spring with a large spring constant can be produced.

Here, each spring constant and the ratio of those spring constants can be changed as appropriate by changing the extending direction of the cord in each region of the rubber bellows 3.

In addition to locally changing the extending direction of the cords of the reinforcing layer 5, it is also possible to change the number of plies of the reinforcing layer, which allows the spring constant in the left-right direction/front-back direction to be changed. The degree of freedom in selecting the ratio can be further increased.

Further, according to the present invention, the position of a specific point in the circumferential direction of the rubber bellows 3, the number of plies to be increased or decreased in the reinforcing layer at that specific point, the range of increase or decrease, etc. can be arbitrarily changed as required. It is also possible that the specific location in the direction is only one location.

In addition, this invention can be applied not only to bellows type air springs but also to diaphragm type air springs, and the air spring of this invention can be applied to vehicles other than railway vehicles, vibrating sieve devices, It can also be applied to other industrial machines.

(Effects of the Invention) Thus, according to the present invention, at least one of the number of plies of the reinforcing layer and the extending direction of the cords constituting the reinforcing layer is changed at a specific location in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical flexible membrane. By doing so, the desired anisotropy can be extremely easily brought about with respect to the horizontal deformation of the cylindrical flexible membrane, and the air spring can be made sufficiently small and inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views illustrating a reinforced structure, and FIG. 4 is a diagram. 1...Top plate 1b...Top bead sheet 2a...Bottom plate main body 3...Partial cross section showing the main parts of the reinforcing structure including rubber bellows

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A top plate and a bottom plate, a cylindrical flexible membrane whose upper and lower end portions are airtightly connected to each of these face plates, and a reinforcing layer embedded in the cylindrical flexible membrane. An anisotropic air spring comprising: an anisotropic air spring in which at least one of the number of plies of the reinforcing layer and the extending direction of the cords constituting the reinforcing layer is changed at a specific location in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical flexible membrane; .