Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIEI.D OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a forced draft
cooling system for a diesel-electric locomotive and more
particularly to a cooling system for a dynamic brake
resistor of a diesel~electric locomotive.
DESCRIPTION OF T~E PRIOR ART
In a typical conventional diesel-electric
locomotive, a radiator apparatus for the cooling ~ater for
a diesel engine which comprises a radiator core,
radiator fan and so forth and a dynamic brake apparatus
having a resistor are generally disposed at different
positions spaced in the longitudinal direction of the
locomotive body. Therefore, the body length must be
unfavorably long.
As a means for overcoming the above dis-
advantage, such an arrangement has been proposed in
which the radiator core is disposed on a side surface
of the body, while the radiator fan is disposed in the
center thereof, and the dynamic brake resistor is dis
posed above the radiator fan.
The above arrangement permlts both the radiator
core and the resistor to be cooled by a single radiator
fan as well as eliminates the need for enlarging the
body length.
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1 However, since the res~stor is exposedly
disposed on the upper surface of the body, elements of
the resistor which become high ln temperature and
supporting insulators thereof are undesirably exposed
to rainwater to shorten the life thereof. In order to
overcome thes6 disadvantages, another arrangement has
been proposed by the same appl.icant as above in which the
radiator is disposed on a slde surface of the body,
while the dynamic brake resistor is disposed at the inner
side of the radiator with a proper distance provided
therebetween, and both are forcedly cooled by air moved
by a mutual fanO ~his arrangement, however, still has
the following problems. Namely, since the radiator and
the dynamic brake resistor are simultaneously cooled by
forced draft, there is, as a matter of course, a need
for an air flow la~ger than that for cooing only the
radiator or the resistor. Consequently, the cooling air
passing through the radiator becomes high in wind
velocity, and since the draft area of the resistor is
smaller than that of the radiator, the existence of the
resistor causes the wind velocity distribution within
the draft area of the radiator to be ununifoxm. For
above and other reasons, radia~or core fins vibrate in
portions of the radiator where the wind velocities are
paxticularly high, unfavorably producing vibration
noises. In addition, since the resistor is installed
within a limited space at the inner side of the radia-tor,
it is extremely difficult to demount and remount the
s
1 resistor in maintenance and inspectlon.
SUMM~RY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a primary object of the
invention to provide a forced draf-t cooling system for
a diesel-electric locomotive in which a dynamic brake
resistor is disposed at the inner side of a radlator,
capable of preven~ing the production of vibra-tion noises
of rad:Lator core fins as well as easily performing the
maintenance and inspec~ion of the dynamic brake resistor,
thereby overcomi~g the above mentioned disadvantages of
the prior art~
To this end, according to the invention, there
is provided a forced draft cooling system for a diesel-
electric locomotive having a radiator for a diesel
engine disposed on a side surface of the locomotive
body, a dynamic bra]ce resistor disposed at the inner
side of the radiator, and a fan for sucking in a cooling
air through the radiator and the resistor, characterized
in that the resistor is divided into a plurality of
Imlts, which are arranged so as to be distributed within
the draft area of the radiator.
The above and o~her objects, features and
advantages of the invention will become clear from the
following description of the preferred embodiment taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the whole of a diesel-
electric locomotive employing a cooling system for a
dynamic brake resistor thereof in accordance with a
S preferred embodiment of the lnvention;
Fia. 2 is a side elevational view of the
diesel-electric locomotive shown ln Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a plan view of a radiator part of
the diesel-electric locomotive shown in Fig. l;
Fig~ 4 is a sectional view taken along a line
IV-IV of Fig~ 3;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line
V-V of Fig. 3; and
Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a part F of
Fig. 5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
On a locomotive body 1, a main generator 2,
a diesel engine 3, and a radiator fan 4 driven through
a radiator fan driving device 5 are disposed successivèly
in the longitudinal direction of the body 1~
A dynamic brake resistor 7 (see Fig. 3) is
disposed at the inner side of the corresponding one
of radiators 6 disposed on both side surfaces of the
locomoti.ve body 1, respectively. The resistor 7 is
divided into a plurality of resistor units 7a, which are
arranged so as to be distributed within the draft area
of the corresponding radiator 6.
8~5~
1 As will be apparent frorn Fig. 3, each radiator
6 is constltuted by three radiator units 6a, which are
divided in the widthwise direc1ion and arranged with a
gap b (generally from 10 to 20 mm) for draft provided
between the adjacent ones. Moreover, a gap c (generally
from 50 to 70 mm) for draft is provided also between
the radiator units 6a and a mounting frame 8 secured to
the body 1. Each radiator 6 and the corresponding
dynamic brake resistor 7 are di.sposed in parallel with
each other with a gap H of from 50 to 300 mm provided
therebetween. ~he resistor units 7a constituting the
dynamic brake resistor 7 are arranged with a gap a
for draft provided therebetween, and are fixed to a
lower resistor support 9a and an upper resistvr suppor~
9b, which are fixed to the body 1, through resistor
supporting insulators 10 arranged such that the longitudi-
nal axes of the insulators dispos~d in the upper part of
t~e body 1 are perpendiculax to the plane of the
resistor 7, while the in~ulators disposed in the lower
part of the body 1 are vertical so as to receive the
load of the resistor 7. This mounting struc~ure
facilitates the mounting operation inside the body 1.
Insulator covers 11 are provided above the supporting
insulators 10~ respectively, for protection of the
latter in case rain or the like enters from the upper
part of the body 1. Partition walls 12 for allowing
the radiator room to be an independent room are disposed
at the frontwa:rd and rearward portions of the body 1,
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1 respectlvely, and are inclined so as to -taper toward the
cen-ter of -the racllator room in order -to allow air to
circulate excellently. A reference numeral 14 denotes
each of baffle plates for guidlng the air passing through
the radiator towaxd the resistor units 7a, while a
numeral 15 designates each of holes formed in each
baffle plate 15 in order to regulate air flow.
A fan 4 for draft is disposed in the central
upper part of the body 1 and adapted to suck in a cooling
air through the radiators 6 mounted on the body side
surfaces and the dynamic brake resistors 7 and dis-
charge the cooling air heated there from the body upper
surface. The fan 4 is driven by the diesel engine 2
through a propeller shaft 20, a gear box 21 and a vertical
shaft 22. The fan 4 may, as a matter of course, be
driven by means of an independent drive motor. Vent
holes 13 for taking in a cooling air for lowering the
temperature of the gear box 21 are formed in the parti-
tion wall 12 remoter from the diesel engine 3.
According to the above arrangement, since the
units 7a constituting the dynamic brake resistor 7 are
arranged so as to be distributed within the draft area
of the radiator 6, the wind velocities within the draft
area of the radiator 6 become relatively uniform, so
that there will be no portion having a locallv high
wind velocity. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent
production of vibration noises of the radiator core fins.
Moreover, in t:he a~ove embodiment, the gap b is provided
L55
1 be-tween the adjacent racliator units 6a, and each resistor
unit 7a is disposed so as to correspond to the gap b.
Therefore, the cooling alr passing through the gap b,
i.e., the cooling air not heated by the radiator units
6a~ is made to directly blow against the corresponding
resistor unit 7a, thereby allowing the reslstor units 7a
to be improved in cooling efficiency. Furthermore, since
the dynamic brake resistor 7 is divided into a plurality
of units, each resistor unit 7a is compact and lightweight,
so that it ~ecomes extremely easy to demount and remount
the resis-tor units 7a in a narrow space in maintenance
and inspecti.on. In addition, since elemen~s 19 shown
in Fig. 6 becorne short in span, the sag of the elements
19 due to thermal expansion becomes small, so that there
I5 will be no short circuit accident of the elements 19
due to sagging.
It is to be noted that although the dynamic
brake resistor on each side is divided into two in the
above-described embodlment, it is possible to divide
the resistor into three or more.
Moreover, if the gap c is provided also between
each radiator 6 and the corresponding mounting frame 8,
a cooling air easily flows in also through the gap c,
thereby allowing a more appropriate air flow to be
obtain~d
Furthermore, the air flowing in through the
radiators 6 and the resistors 7 has a high temperature,
since it is heated by both of them.
5~
1 Therafore, there is a possibility that -the
heated alr may have adverse effects on such peripheral
devices as -the radiator fan driving device 5, the radia-tor
fan 4 and so forth. Provided in order to eliminate such
a possibility are the vent holes 13 formed in the
partition wall 13 remoter from the dlesel engine 3. The
vent holes 13 are adapted to allow the cooling air for
cooling a compressor in a compressor room ~not shown)
to flow in there~hrough. There~by, t~he radiator room
is cooled, and the above~mentioned problem can be solved.
As has been described, according to the inven~
tion, since the dynamic brake resistor ls divided into
a plurality of units and arranged so as to be distributed
within the draft area of the radiator, the wind velocities
of the cooling air passing through the radiator are
uniformed, so that there will be no portion having an
extramely high wind velocity. Accordingly, it is pos-
sible to prevent productlon of vibration noises of the
radiator core fins. In addition t since the dynamic
brake resistor is divided into a plurality of units,
e~ch unit is compact and lightweight. Therefore, it
becomes easy to demount and remount the resistor units
in maintenance and inspection and moreover, it is pos-
sible to prevent a short-circuit accident of the elements
due to the sagging thereof.
Although the invention has been described
through specific terms, it is to be noted here that the
described embodiment is only illustrative and not
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1 exclusive, and the invention covexs all possible changes
and modifications imparted to the described embodimen-t
within the scope of spirit of the inventi.on which is
limited solely by the appended claims.
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