Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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636Z8
This invention relates ~o a vehicle suspension, and
in particular, though not exclusively, to a railway vehicle
suspebsion by means of which a railway vehicle body may be
~- supported by one or more bogie units.
.- 5 In the Specification of U.K. Patent No. 870,814 there ..
is described a railway vehicle suspension airangement in which
the weight of a vehicla body is carried by resilient side
- bearers interposed directly between the vehicle body and a
. , .
~ wheel-carrying frame, e.g. the rame of a two-wheel or four-
,, wheel bogie, The side bearers accommodate vertical movements
.~ of the vehicle body relative to ,the wheel frame, and must also
- permit a re~tively free horizontal movemen~ of the vehicle
~" body relative to the wheel frame to absorb shock loads or
accommodate pivotal movemen~ of the wheel frame about a
vertical axis such as when negotiatlng horizontal curves in
a track.
The side bearers described in said specifica.tion..each
.~ comprise in combination a pair of spring means:one-supporting : ,
the other, one of said spring.means.being in the form of a
rubber block which act mainly in:compression to carry the
supported vehicle body load and accommodate relative horizontal ~ .
movements between the body and wheel frame ma.i~ly.b.yd.~hoar,. , ,:
deformation,.the other spring means psrmitting^.the r~equired : :
relative.vertiaal movemént between the body,.,and ~ame. :
In this context it is.to be understood~hat.. the terms
"horizontal" and "vertical" are used in relation to a vehicle
,A~ ~ ~tanding on level ground. ~.
Whil~t providing sat.isfactory ope~ating characterist.ics
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~36~8
the above described suspension does have the disadvantage that,
with each side bearer being formed of two spring means, it
is relatively expensive to produce and this is particularly
, ~ ,
-- relevant in relation to the preferred suspension where the
side bearers comprise rubber bonded to metal spring means.
Furthermore said suspension lacks the desired degree of
compactness and it is one object of the present invention
to provide an improved vehicle suspension.
According to one aspect of the present invention a
vehicle suspension comprises a side bearer interposed between
,~ the body of a vehicle and a wheel-carrying frame of the
vehicle to support the body relative to the wheel-carrying
frame, the sidé bearer comprising a tubular body of rubber
or rubber-like material having a waist disposed substantially
centrally between the ends of the tubular body, the ends of
the tubular body being of progressively increasing diameter
, from the waist to each end, and the side bearer being -
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~ ` po~itioned in the suspension such that the weight `of the
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vehlcle body causes compression of the tubular body in a
direction extending between the ends of the tubular body.
In a preferred construction the portion of the
tubular body between the waist and each end of the body is
substantially of C-cection.
The inner surface of tho tubular body from the waist
to each end may be of pro~ressively increasing diameter and
the thickness of the wall of the body may increase progressively
.. . .
from the waist to each end of the body.
; The interior of the ~ubular body may be closed in the
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1~6;36;~:8
waist region to define two chambers positioned one either side
of the waist region.
The waist portion of the tubular body is preferably
reinforced to reduce or eliminate rupture of the body in the
- 5 region of the wais~0 Thus, a plate of substantially rigid
material may extend across the waist (i.e. transversely of
the body) and is either partly or completely embedded in the
body to act as reinforcement. The plate may extend radially
outwards of the body, and be profiled to vary in thickness
in the radially outwards direction so that outer surfaces
`~ o~ the body contact the plate at a smaller deflection and
~ thereby modify the deflection characteristics. Alternatively,
,................................................... . .
or additionally, a reinforcement piece may extend axially of
J. the tubular body. The axial reinforcement may be a rod or a
tube and it may be partly or completely embedded in the -
tubular body. It may, for instance, extend through ~rom
~ the~hollow interior of one C-portion to the other, the ends
- ~ of the axial reinforcement being exposed, and thereby define
at least in part a fluid passage extending through the waist
region to portions of the tubular body either side o~ the
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waist region.
The plate and/or the rod or tube rein~orcement are
- preferably of metal and may be lntegral if both are provided.
The reinforcements are preerably bonded to the tubular body.
25 - Rigid plates may be bonded to the ends of the tubular
body to assist in attachment of the side bearer to a vehicle
body and wheel-carrying frame, and the plates may extend
wholly acro~s the ends o~ the body to form one or two closed
; chambers within the body or be apertured to permit venting
of air from inside the body during change in length of the
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6362~3
body under dynamic opera~ing condi~ions.
One embodiment o~ ~hs invention will now be
de~cribed, by way o~ example, with reference to the
accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:-
Figure 1 i~ an end view of a part o~ a railwa~
vehicle according to the present invention
and showing a pair of side-bearers
according to th0 invention;
~igure 2 is a longitudinal ~eational vi~w o~ ~he
~ide-~ear~r ~h~wn in Figure 1,
igure 3 i~ an ~nd vi~w o~ the ~ide-b~ar~r ~hown
~ .
ln Figu~ 1 and ~ S
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~i~ur~ 4 i~ ~imll~r to tha~ o ~ig~re 3 ~howing
~he 01d~b~rèr loaded ln oompreosion,
.S ~l~u~ ~ ls ~lml~r ~ ~ha~ e~ ~lgure 3 ~howing
ld~ d~ ~ n c~ffl~rs~
: ~nd ~h~r 1
~4~ph ~ wln~ ~h~ a~
tl~n ~h~d~ ti~ o~ th~
2~ be~e~ ~h~wn ln ~lg~a~ 1~3, ~n~
7 l~ ~ ~P~ ph ~h~ ha ~h~ n~
. ~ ~le~le~ti~n ~h~ rl~bl~ f~ th~ le~ :
ba~ar ~h~wn l~ u~a~
g tff ~ è 1 ~ rallw~y v~hl~ mp~i~e~ a
y 1~ wh~ a~ylh~ fflê 11 ~ h
3affl l ~l ~s ~i v~h~ b~y 1~ n~S~
~h~ b~a by ~ 14 ~h~ lo~gl~dlflal llfl~ knaw~ : -
. ffl~ lv~ ~fl~ slfl~S ~d~ a~ æ~ h~
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~t963628
body while permitting relative vertical, hori~ontal, and
pivotal movements between the bogie 11 and vehicle body lO.
Such movements occur~hen the vehicle is negotiating a
horizontal curve.
Instead of link 15, a number of alternative devices
may be used including mountings with a number of intermediate
plate, parallel motion devices, and toggle links to give a
-~ progressive rise in transverse stiffness with increasing
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- deflection.
To interconnect the vehicle body and bogie resiliently
a pair of side-bearers 16 are interposed therebetween. The
side-bearers are provided one each side of the vehicle and
attached to the bogie in the region of the junction of the
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transom 13 with the solebars 12.
Each side-bearer 16 is constructed as illustrated in
detail in Figureq 2 and 3 and comprises a tubular body 20 of
~' ~ two integral C-section portions 21 arranged back-to-back.
The inner surface 22 of each portion 21 ic of progressively
~-~ increaslng diameter and the thickness of a wall 23 o~ each
portion progressively increases from a waist 24 to the end 25
- of the portion. A metal plate 26 is embedded in the waist
`~ region 24 and extends radiall~ outwardly of the body 20 to
provide a rigid barrier for contact by the outer surfaces
28 of the portions 21 during compression o~ the side bearer.
The rubber body portions 21 are secyred to the plaite 26 by
' bonding. The cavities 2~ are vented to atmosphere. In this
tl particular embodiment the diameter (d) of the waist 24 is
~ slightly less than one-half of the outside diameter D of the
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~;3621~3
ends 25 of the side-bearer.
The ends 25 of the side-bearer (which are annular)
are bonded to end plates 27 for attachment to the vehicle body
and bogie, and the side-bearer is loaded axially of the tubular
; 5 body ~in the direction of arrows P) to compress the body
between the plates 27.
With this arrangement the outside surfaces 28 of the
C-portion roll against the plate 26 as the load increases.
" It is preferred that the length L and maximum
diameter D of the tubular body are about equal and for loads
of a railway vehicle suspension the diameter D is typically
in the order of 400 mm.
Use of this side-bearer design in the bogie suspension
affords a large deflection for a relatively small side-bearer
diameter - indeed the C-portions may be deformed until they
are in the shape of flat discs and there thus re3ults a
.. . . .
compact suspension~ Figure 4 shows the side-bearer profile
~- ~ partially loaded in compression without deforming the portions
21 to sub~tantially flat disc shape, and Figure 5 shows the
ZO profile when the side-bearer is under shear load in conjunction
with said partial compression loading.
In addition to large vertical deflection use of this
~ide-bearer de~ign is found also to allow adequata horizontal
flexibility and over the normal operating range the shear
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j 25 stiffne~s increases with compres~ive load. Furthermore the
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rising vertical spring rate o~ the side-bearer gives a
~, substantially constant vertical natural frequency over a
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~ wide range of loadings and thus the resulting vehicle
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i36Z8
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suspension characteristic is of substantially constant
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periodicity and not unduly dependent on the load being
.-
carried by the vehicle. Figures 6 and 7 respectively show
the compression load-deflections and shear stiffness - - -
compression deflection characteristics of the side-bearer.
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A particularly significant feature which has
; unexpectedly been found to be achieved by the use of a
~- waisted tubular body for the side-bearer is that unlike
` conventional rubber springs, compression of the bearer
..,
~ lo increases not only the vertical or axial stiffness of the
,; b arer but also the horizontal or transverse stiffness. In
consequence the resulting vehicle suspension exhibits good
horizontal stability even when subject to a relatively high
degree of vertical loading.
~` 15 The side-bearer comprises relatively few metal
-~ components in comparison to a conventional interleaved
i~; rubber-bonded to metal type side-bearer and thus is
~,, .
comparatively economical to manufacture.
, ~ In Figure 1 the side-bearers 16 have been shown
,~ 20 mounted vertically but in alternative constructions the
side-bearers may be mounted inclined relative to the
.
i vertical.
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