MATERIEL FERROVIAIRE

RAILWAY EQUIPMENT

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT
"RAILWAY EQUIPMENT"
Railway equipment comprises a pair of
spaced apart, flat-bottomed railway rails 1,
the heads 2 of which rails are engaged by leading
and trailing pairs of flanged wheels 5 of a
rail vehicle 4, the rail engaging wheels 5 being
rotatable about axes 10 extending transversely of
the direction of movement of the rail vehicle 4
along the rails 1, and the vehicle 4 being provided
intermediate the leading and trailing pairs of
wheels 5 with a pair of trapping wheels 11,
rotatable about upwardly extending axes 12, one
trapping wheel 11 being located at each side of the
vehicle 4 and the circumferential periphery of each
trapping wheel 11 having a circumferential recess
13 and mating with a trapping beam 14 having an at
least partly complementary profile 15 and positioned
adjacent each rail 1 at locations of presumed rail
vehicle instability, the beams 14 being carried on
support arms 16 extending upwardly from a base member
3 which passes beneath at least one rail 1.

Revendications

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The embodiments of the invention in which an
exclusive property or privilege is claimed are
defined as follows:
1. Railway equipment comprising a
pair of spaced apart, flat-bottomed railway rails
and a rail vehicle, heads of said rails being
engaged by leading and trailing pairs of flanged
wheels of said rail vehicle, said rail engaging
wheels being rotatable about axes extending trans-
versely of the direction of movement of said rail
vehicle along said rails and said vehicle being
provided intermediate said leading and trailing
pairs of wheels with a pair of trapping wheels,
rotatable about upwardly extending axes, one of
said trapping wheels being located at each side of
said vehicle and the circumferential periphery of
each said trapping wheel having a circumferential
recess or projection to mate with a trapping beam
having an at least partly complementary profile
and positioned adjacent one of said rails at locations
of presumed rail vehicle instability, a base member
passing beneath at least one of said rails and
said beams being carried on support arms extending
upwardly from said base member.

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2. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 1, wherein said trapping wheels present
female profiles to be engaged by male profile
trapping beams.
3. Railway equipment as claimed in Claim
2, wherein each trapping wheel has a circumferential
recess with curved wall portions.
4. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 2, wherein each trapping wheel has a
circumferential recess with planar wall portions.
5. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 2, wherein each trapping wheel has a
circumferential recess with both curved and planar
wall portions.
6. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 3, wherein said wall portions define a
semi-circular groove and said trapping beams have
a circular periphery adjacent said trapping wheels.
7. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 6, wherein said trapping beams are of circular
section.
8. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 4, wherein two wall portions define a "V"-
shaped groove, and said trapping beams have a "V"-
shaped periphery adjacent said trapping wheels.

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9. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 8, wherein an angularly mounted angle iron
section provides said "V"-shaped periphery of
said trapping beam.
10. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 8, wherein an angularly mounted trapping
beam of square section tubing provides said
"V"-shaped periphery.
11. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 4, wherein three wall portions define a
square "C"-shaped groove and said trapping beams
have a prismatic periphery.
12. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 11, wherein said prismatic periphery is
provided by squarely mounting a trapping beam of
square section tubing.
13. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 11, wherein said prismatic periphery is
provided by a rail head of a length of conventional
railway rail, a web of said length being mounted
in a generally horizontal plane.
14. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 4, wherein three wall portions define a
half hexagonal groove and said trapping beams
have a V-shaped periphery adjacent said trapping
wheels.

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15. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 14, wherein an angularly mounted angle
iron section trapping beam provides said "V"-shaped
periphery.
16. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 15, wherein an angularly mounted trapping
beam of square section tubing provides said "V"-
shaped periphery.
17. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 2, wherein the recess of each of said
trapping wheels is oversized with respect to said
profile presented by said trapping beam, whereby
said trapping wheels may, within limits, be
displaceable in a vertical plane with respect
to said trapping beam.
18. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 17, comprising trapping beams of circular
section and an oversized recess in each of said
trapping wheels, said recess comprising upper and
lower walls that are inclined with respect to said
axis of rotation of each of said trapping wheels,
said upper and lower walls leading to a common
bottom wall parallel to said axis of rotation of
said trapping wheel, and said upper and lower walls
being spaced apart by a distance exceeding the
diameter of said circular section trapping beams.

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19. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 18, wherein said spacing apart is up to
twice said diameter of said trapping beam.
20. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 1, wherein each of said base members carries
a pair of trapping beams.
21. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 20, wherein each of said base members also
carries said pair of rails.
22. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim l, wherein said trapping beams are located
inside said rails.
23. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 1, wherein said trapping beams are located
outside said rails.
24. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 1, wherein said rail vehicle is a rail car.
25. Railway equipment as claimed in
Claim 1, wherein said rail vehicle is a bogie.

Description

~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
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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
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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.