Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~L~487~
Thi~ lnvontion relate~ *o railway
equipD~ent~ partlcularly for underground uso.
Such equipment n~y bo ~or carrying conventional,
loco~otive-haulvd rolling 9 tock, or alternatively
may be Or the type ~here rail vehlcleo ~re
clamped to a driv~n~ snd henoe ten~loned,
haulage rop~ locat~d between tho rail~ and
e~ttending ln the dir-~ction ther~o~, wlth a
return run Or th- rope u8u~ located outside
the raila. At varlou- locationo underground,
there i~ a tendoncy Sor th- roll~g ~took or
rail vehlolo3 to b-cooo un~table and consequently
de-rallod. Such locationJ aro for lnstance
~her- t~e vehicl-~l hav~ to n-gotlate ourYe~.
S With rope ~haule~ h~cl~ ~ t~ o occur~ where
there i~ a ~all or dopr~eelon ln the ~in~ floor
becau~0 th- ten-lonln6 in the ropo triee to
llf't tho rop- a,ml h-nce th- v-hlclo.
On~ propo~ or r~llw y equlp~ant th~t
o~eroomo-~ tho proble~ of ve~llcl~ d~-r~ll~ent s'c
loo~tion~ Or pro~Lbl- lnatablllty i- de~crlbed in our
U.K. Patent 1,580,547 published December 3, 1980.
Aocordin4g ~o th~ pre~nt inYontlon r~ilway
equlpmont ooslpri-o- ~ p~lr o~ i~p~ced ~p-rt, f-lat-
bottome~ rall~ay rall-, the ho~de of which ra~l~
'~'
~879Z
are engaged by leading and trailing pairs
of flanged wheels o~ a rail vehicle, the
rail engaging wheels being rotatable about
axes extending transversely of the direction
of movement of the rail vehicle along the
rails, and the vehicle being provided inter-
mediate the leading and trailing pairs of wheels
with a pair of trapping wheels, rotatable about
upwardly extending axes, one trapping wheel
bei~g located at each ~ide of the vehicle and
the circumferential periphery of each trapping
wheel having a circumferential recess or
projection and mating with a trapping beam having
an at least partly complementary profile and
positioned ad~acent each rail at locations of
presumed rail vehicle instability, the beams
being carried on support arms extending upwardly
from a base membar which passes beneath at least
one rail.
Preferably, the trapping wheels present
femal0 profiles to inter-engage with male profile
trapping beams.
In detail, the circumferential recess may
have curved wall portions to define a semi-
circular or generally semi-circular groove; two
planar walls to define a "V"~shaped groove, three
.
~14~3~92
- 3 --
planar walls to define a ~uare "C"-shaped
groove or comblnations of arcuate and planar
walls.
~or a trapping wheel having an arcuate
groove, the trapping beam may have a circular
periphery adjacent the trapping wheels or
may be of circular section. For a trapping
wheel having a "V"-~haped groove, the trapping
beam may be constituted by a length of angle
iron, suitably angularly mounted. Alternativelys
square section tubing may be angularly mounted.
~or a trapping wheel having a square "C"-shaped
groove e.g. proYided by a wheel having a pair
of spaced apart, parallel flanges, the trapping
beam may be constituted by rectangular section
tubing or by the rail head of a length of
conventional railway rail, the rail web bei~g
mounted in a generally horizontal plane.
In a preferred embodiment, however, the
rece~s of each trapping wheel is oversized with
reqpect to the trapping profile presented by the
trapping beam, whereby the trapping wheels may,
within limits, be displaceable in a vertical
plane with respect to the trapping beam. Such
a construction i9 particularly advantageous where
379
-- 4 --
the rall v~hicle i- oprun~.
In det~il, ehe trappin~ beam~ m~y be
of clrcular ~oction and an over~ized ~roove
may compri~e upper and lower wall~ that are
inclined wi th ro~pect to the axi~ Or rotation
of each trapping wheel, the upper and lower
walls leadlng to ~ co on bottom ~all parallel
to the asi~ o~ rot tlon o~ tha tr~pplng wheel,
and the upper and louer vall~ belng ~paced
apart by a dist~nce oxceeding tho diometer Or
the trapplng boa~ e.g. by up to t~ice lt0
dia~eter.
E~o'n bano o~l~bor may carry ono or a pa$r
of trappln~ b~a -t ~nd ~y al~o carry the railN,
while the trappl~ bo~- ~y bo loc~tod in~lide
or outJ~ide th- r ll- .
T~e r~il vohg ole ~y i~ fact bo elther
a ral.l oar or a bo~l-. In th- lattor ca~o, the
bo~ie may be Or ths f'orm de~crlbod ln our above-noted
U . K . Pa tent l, 580, 547 .
The inventlo~ ~ill now be f`urther de~cribed,
by way Or ess~pl--, ~lth referen¢e to the acco~pallylne
drawingl~, in ~Ihl oh t -
~iæure ~ ectional view~ at B curve,
2S through one half Or ~ flr0t el-bodlment of railway
~8792
equipment in accordance with the invention,
the other half corresponding;
Figure 2 i 9 a similar ~ectional view
to ~igure 1 but illu~trates a second embodiment;
and
~igure 3 is also a similar sectional
view to Figure 1 but illustrate~ a third
embodiment.
The railway equipment can be seen to comprise
a pair of spaced apart, conventional flat-bottomed
railway rails 1 (one only shown), each rail 1
having a head 2 and being mounted on a sleeper
3. Seated on the rails 1 is a vehicle 4
comprising four flanged wheels 5, ~one only
shown) these being leading and trailing pair~ of
wheels. Each wheel 5 comprising a flange 6 and
a frusto-conical, railhead engaging periphery 7,
the wheels 5 being suspended on arms 8 from a frame
9 of the vehicle 4 for rotation about an axis 10
extending laterally with respect to the direction
of travel of the vehicle 4 along the rails 1.
Between the leading and trailing wheels 5 at
each side of the vehicle is a trapping wheel 11
rotatable about an upwardly extending axis 12,
each trapping wheel having a circumferential recess
~87~3
-- 6
13 to mate with a trapping beam 14
having a complementary profile 15 adjacent
the rece~s 13, the beam 14 being carried on
support arms 16 extending upwardly from a
base member in the form of a sleeper 3 which
passes beneath at least one rail 1. The
vehicle 4 illustrated is of a rope hauled
kind, the rope tnot shown) being guided by
conventional pullies 17 located between the
rails 1.
In the embodiment of Figure 1, the
recess 13 comprises a pair of upper and lower
curved portions 18 separated by a common,
planar portion 19 to define generally a "C"-shaped
recess, while the profile 15 is provided by the
trapping beam 14 cQmprising a curved length of
circ~l:~r section tubing 20, the "C"-shaped recess
being oversized with respect to the diameter of
the trapping beam 14 to provide play.
In the embodiment of ~igure 2 the recess
13 comprises three planar portions, these being
upper and lower portions 21 inclined with respect
to the axis 12, and separated by a common portion
22 parallel to the axis 12 of the trapping wheel, f
to define a half hexagonal groove. In this embodiment
~1~879Z
-- 7 ~
the profile 15 of the trapping beam 14 is
"V"-shaped and is provided by angularly mount-
ing a curved length of square section tubing 23,
and the recess 13 is oversized with respect to
the tubing 23.
In the embodiment of Figure 3 the
recess 13 again comprises three planar portions
these being upper and lower portions 24
extending laterally with respect to the axis 12
and again separated by a common portion 25
parallel to the axis 12, to define a square,
"C"-shaped recess. In this embodiment the
profile 15 is prismatic and is provided by the
square mounting of a curved length of square
section tubing 26, and the recess 13 is
oversized with respect to the tubing 26.
