Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Ihi6 invention r~lates to railway
equipment~ partirularly for underground ~se.
Such equ~pment may bc for carrying conventional,
locomotive-hauled rolling stock, or alternatively
may be of the type where rail vehicles are
clamped to a ~riven and hence tensioned haulage
rope located between the rails and extending
in the direction thereof, with a re~urn run ¦
of the rope usually located outside the rails.
At various locations underground, there is a
tendency for the rolling stock or rail vehicles
to beco~e unstable and consequently de-railed. ¦~
Such locations are for instance where the ¦
vehicles have to negotiate curves. With rope
hauled vehicles, this also occurs where there is
a fall or depression in the mine floor becau~e l
the tensio~ing in the rope tries to lirt the l ;
rope and hence the vehicle.
According to the present invention, l
railway equ~^p~ent comprises a pair of spaced I
apart, flat-bottomed railway rails, the heads
of which ra;ls are engaged by leading and trailing l l
pairs Or flanged wheels of a rail vehicle, the !¦
rail engaging wheels being rotatable about axes l 'l
extending transversely of the direction of move~ent ~ ! ¦
Or the rail vehicle along the rails, and the
vehicle being provided intermediate the leading ' I¦
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and trailing p,a~rs of whael~ with a pair
of trapping wheel~, rotatable about upwardly
extending axes, one trapping wheel being
located at each side of the vehicle and a
periphery of each trapping wheel engageable
with a trapping beam of in~erted "L"-section
or square rC'i-section positioned âdJacent
each rail at location5 of presumed rail vehicle
instability, the 'beams being carried on support
arms extending upwardly from a common base
member which passes beneath the pair cf rails.
Thus, the engagement of the trapplng
bea~ by the side wheels of the rail vehicle
, ensureg maintenance of engagement of,the rail
wheels with the rail heads'even at location~
,where there is the tendency for one or more rail
wheels to be lifted from the rail head(s).
The vehicle may be a rail car or ~ bogie.
Preferably one of the two trapping beams
i9 posi'tioned adjacent the outerside of each
rail. Another preferred feature is to locate
the upper flange of the trappin~ beam in a plane
which pasges through the a~is of rotation of
the rail wheels of the vehicle,
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witll this flange extended into close proximity
with the rail wheels, such that the upper flange
aids the rails in steering the railwheels e.g.
of a bogie~ around a corner. In this respect
each rail wheel may be provided with a cast
iron outer cap intended to engage the upper
flange at the outside of a curve.
At a curve, the base me~bers may
be segmental in pianL of appropriate segment
angle to radius of curvature to the curve involved.
The rail equipment is further improved,
where the vehicle is a bogie by comprising power
means to adjust the position of the axes of
rotation of the wheels with respect to their
bogie~ brake pads carried by each bogie and
adapted to engage/disengage an associated rail
head upon activation of the power means to
cause lowerlng/raising of the bogies with respect;
to the rail heads, and a stub shaft proJecting
from each wheel hub into an elongate aperture
of a beam, the beam extending in the direction
of the railway rails and such beams being
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provided at lo~ations along the rails where it
is desired to brake a vehicle.
Thus, the vehicle is braked by
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actuating the power means to lower the bogie
to bring the brake pads into engagement with
the rail head~ so that the bogies engage the
rail heads via the pads rather than via the
wheels, while continued activation of the power
means raises the wheels from the rail heads
until such time as the stub shafts abut ~n
upper portion of the aperture of the beam,
whereby a powered braking effect is attained by
the pads acting downwardly on the rail head
and the stub shaPts acting upwardly on the beam.
Preferably, a pcwer means is provided
at each side of each bogie, and conveniently,
this may be in the form of a piston cylinder
device, preferably hydraulic.
Thus, apart from employing the
beam for trapping purposes, in accordance with
the first aspect of the invention, the beam
may be aclditionally employed for braking purposes
2~ so that the beam, at locations where the double
function of trapping and braking iq required,
simultaneously serves the two purposes.
I`he invention will now be described
in greater detail, by ~ay of example, with reference
to the accompanying drawings, in wh~h :-
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~ig~re 1 is a side elevation of
a first embodiment Or railway equipment in
accordance with the present invention;
~igure 2 is an enlarged view
of a bogie of one vehicle of ~igure 1;
~igure 3 is an end elevation
of the bogie of ~igure 2;
Figure 4 shows a curve in the
rails of railway equipment of ~igures 1 to 3;
Figure S shows an end elevation
of second embodiment of bogie location on
line V - V of Figure 4; and
. , Figure 6 corresponds to ~igure 5
but shows that bogie on the line VI - VI of
Figure 4.
In the drawings, like components
of both embodiments have been accoræed like
reference numerals.
In the drawings, the railway equipment
can be seen to comprise a pair of spaced apart,
conventional flat bottomed railway rails 1 having
a head 2 and mounted on sleepers 3. Seated on
the rails 1, as indicated in ~igure 1 is a train
of rail vehicles comprising a leading vehicle 4
mounted on identical leading and trailing bogies 5.
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wh~ succeeding vehicles 6 are constituted
by conventional, shortwheelbased rail cars,
with conventional couplings 7 between respective
vehicles. In Figure 1, the vehicle 4 is
indicated as connected to a conventional haulage
rope 8, but alternatively, the vehicle can
incorporate elements of a linear motor, with
the reaction member of the motor carried between
the rails 1. ¦
As indicated in Figures 2 to 4, some
sleepers carry at each end thereof and at a
location of presumed vehicle instability e.g.
the curve shown in Figure 4, an upwardly
- extending support arm 9r which arm in turn
carries an inverted "L"-section trapping beam 10.
As can also be seen in Figures 2
and 3, each bogie 5 comprises a frame 11 and,
at each side of the bogie, leadlng and trailing
uheels 12, each wheel having a flange 13 and a
frusto-conical rail engaging periphery 14.
Each wheel 12 has an axis of rotation 15, extending
laterally with respect to the direction of travel
of the bogie along the rails 1, and each is :
mounted on a support arm 16 pivotally attached
25 ~ about the suspension axis 17 to the frame ~1.
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The arms 16 at e~ch side of the bogie are
pivotally co~nected about axes 18 to a common
po~er means constituted by a hydraulic piston
and cylinder unit 19,-operation of which
displaces the arms 16 about the axes 17
and hence displaces the wheel rotation axes
15, with respect to the bogie 4.
~t each side of the frame 11 and
between the leading-anitrailing wheels 12,
is carried a ~ake pad 20 engageable with the
rail head 2 to act as a track brake for
parking or emergency purposes, upon exhaustion
of fluid from the hydraulic unit 19. ~urthermore,
~ ~ - ~he wheels 12 are each provided with a stub shaft
21, adapted to lie in close proximity to the
trapping beam 10 as indicated in Fig~re 3.
Also, between the leading and trailing wheels
12 and at each side of the bogie is a trapping :-
wheel 22 (~igure 1) rotatable about vertical axis,
the periphery of which trapping wheel 22 engages
. a portion of the trapping beam 10 to effect bogie guidance around a curve for axample. The sleepers
3 also carry, where appropriate, guides 23 and
traps 24 for the rope 8.
In the embodiment of Figures 5 and 6,
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the bogie is of a kind without stub shafts 21
but it is provided with trapping wheels-22,
as indicated.
With the embodiment of Figures 1 to
3, the bogie 4 is in a running-conditi~ in its
positions shown in Figures 1 and 3 with the
hydraulic units 19 partially extended to suspend
the vehicle 4 at the desired height and to lift
the brake pads 20 from the rail heads 2. When
the rail vehicles approach a location of presumed
or potential instability e.g. a curve, then
trapping beams 10 are provided along this location,
thereby ensuring that any tendency for the rail
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wheels 12 to lift from the rails 1 is counted
by the trapping wheel 22, at one or both sides
of the vehicle9 engaging the adjacent trapping
beam 10. Furthermore, when it is desired to apply
- the brake pads 20, fluid is exhausted from the
units 19 and initially the brake pads contact the
rail heads so that the weight of the vehicle 3 is
transmitted to the rails 1, via the brake pads.
However, continued retraction of the units 19 has
the effect of lifting the wheels 12 clear of the
rails 1 until their stub shafts 21 engage the
adjacent trappine beam 10~ thereby producing e ~nl~nced
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braking e~fect powered by t~e unit~ 19.
In the embodiment of ~igures 5
and 6, the feat~re of trappin~ wheels 22 being
enga~eable with trapping rails 10 is again
present but with the absence of stub shafts
21 no enhanced braking effect is possible.
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