Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B61—RAILWAYS
  • B61F—RAIL VEHICLE SUSPENSIONS, e.g. UNDERFRAMES, BOGIES OR ARRANGEMENTS OF WHEEL AXLES; RAIL VEHICLES FOR USE ON TRACKS OF DIFFERENT WIDTH; PREVENTING DERAILING OF RAIL VEHICLES; WHEEL GUARDS, OBSTRUCTION REMOVERS OR THE LIKE FOR RAIL VEHICLES
  • B61F5/00—Constructional details of bogies; Connections between bogies and vehicle underframes; Arrangements or devices for adjusting or allowing self-adjustment of wheel axles or bogies when rounding curves
  • B61F5/02—Arrangements permitting limited transverse relative movements between vehicle underframe or bolster and bogie; Connections between underframes and bogies
  • B61F5/22—Guiding of the vehicle underframes with respect to the bogies
  • B61F5/24—Means for damping or minimising the canting, skewing, pitching, or plunging movements of the underframes
  • B61F5/245—Means for damping or minimising the canting, skewing, pitching, or plunging movements of the underframes by active damping, i.e. with means to vary the damping characteristics in accordance with track or vehicle induced reactions, especially in high speed mode

Definitions

• This invention relates to apparatus for use in controlling relative movement of interconnected bodies, and is particularly concerned with the control of the lateral suspension of a vehicle body on its chassis.
• bump stops have been provided on the bogie for engagement by a body part when the body moves laterally to a respective side of the bogie.
• Such bump stops are generally formed of a resilient flexible material such as rubber on a metal mounting. Initial lateral movement of the body is accommodated by secondary suspension members but once the body engages against a bump stop. the dynamic stiffness of the rubber increases progressively with increased m o v e m e n t of the body until eventually there is little flexibility. Normally the body moves laterally through a nominal air gap before engaging the rubber, and subsequently the metal, of the bump stop.
• the increasing dynamic stiffness of the rubber of the bump stop increasingly transmits vibrations from the bogie to the body, to the discomfort of passengers, while it is the shock of the engagement with the metal which is most uncomfortably felt by passengers in the vehicle body.
• apparatus for use in controlling relative movement of interconnected bodies, the apparatus comprising actuator means providing a movable abutment externally thereof, means for mounting the actuator means on one of the bodies whereby the abutment is movable between an in-use first position in engagement with a part of the other of the bodies, and an out-of-use second position removed from the body part, means for accumulating fluid and moving fluid to and from the actuator means, and means for monitoring relative movement of the bodies and controlling the movement of fluid to and from the accumulator means and the actuator means, to thereby selectively move the abutment to said first position engaging the body part, and also provide for continuous adjustment of the resistance to relative movement of the bodies when the latter are operatively connected by the engagement of the abutment.
• the actuator means is a piston and cylinder arrangement, a piston rod of which mounts the abutment on an outer end thereof.
• the abutment mayprovide a low friction surface and may be formed of a resiliently flexible material such as rubber.
• the accumulator means comprises a first accumulator providing hydraulic fluid to one side of the piston, and a second accumulator providing hydraulic fluid to the other side of the piston.
• the monitoring means may be a control valve, the characteristics of which may be designed to limit movement of fluid within certain parameters when further relative movement occurs after the abutment engages with the body part.
• the present invention also provides a vehicle having interconnected bodies, one of which comprises at least one frame assembly with wheels, and the other of which is mounted on the frame assembly, and apparatus according to any of the four preceding paragraphs for use in controlling lateral movement of said other body relative to the frame assembly.
• the present invention further provides a method of controlling relative movement of interconnected bodies, the method comprising monitoring relative movement of the bodies and moving fluid to and from fluid accumulator means and actuator means, the latter providing a movable abutment externally thereof, selectively moving the abutment by way of the fluid relative to one of the bodies, towards and away from a part of the other of the bodies to be engageable therewith, and adjusting the
• each of the cylinders 24, to the side of the piston 22 remote from the piston rod 20, is in communication with a respective hydraulic fluid accumulator 28, while the other interior space of each of the cylinders 24 is in communication with an
• the cylinder 24 and the accumulators 28, 30 are suitably positioned on the vehicle body 10.
• valve controller 32 which is mounted on the vehicle body 10 and is designed to monitor lateral movement of the latter.
• the controller 32 is operatively connected withthe accumulators 28 in any suitable way .
• the accurulator 30 provides the piston 22 with an hydraulic reaction spring force.
• the bump stop arrangements may be provided on the bogie frame for engagement with respective parts on the body.
• control of movement of the hydraulic fluid in the circuit may be effected by other than a mechanically controlled valve, for example by way of a microcomputer and acceleration measurement, or other predictive methods.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Vehicle Body Suspensions (AREA)
• Handcart (AREA)
• Fluid-Damping Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10695364

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (12)

Cited By (5)

Citations (4)

• 1991
  • 1991-05-21 GB GB919110978A patent/GB9110978D0/en active Pending
• 1992
  • 1992-05-21 CA CA002109607A patent/CA2109607A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1992-05-21 JP JP4510507A patent/JPH06510718A/ja active Pending
  • 1992-05-21 CZ CS932498A patent/CZ249893A3/cs unknown
  • 1992-05-21 WO PCT/GB1992/000926 patent/WO1992020559A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1992-05-21 EP EP92910538A patent/EP0584182B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1992-05-21 DE DE69205826T patent/DE69205826T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1992-05-21 AT AT92910538T patent/ATE129673T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1992-05-21 HU HU9303292A patent/HUT66338A/hu unknown
  • 1992-05-21 AU AU17870/92A patent/AU1787092A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1992-05-21 ES ES92910538T patent/ES2081109T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1992-05-21 SK SK1297-93A patent/SK129793A3/sk unknown

Patent Citations (4)

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