Railway truck with steered axles and primary suspension
US5131332A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 19, 1990 |
| Grant date | Jul 21, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 19, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB61F5/44
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A railway truck for a railway vehicle which has steerable axles has axle bearings supported by support pedestals. Each support pedestal is located longitudinally by a flexible bar element which aallows the pedestal sufficient vertical movement to accommodate varying load conditions and also allows rotation about a horizontal axis which is not coincident with the axle bearings but restrains horizontal movement fore and aft of the rotational axis. A steering assembly reacting to relative rotational movements between the truck and the vehicle permits pivoting of the support pedestals about the horizontal axis. The tipping of the pedestal moves the axle bearing in the fore and aft direction which effectively rotates the axle about a vertical axis so as to guide the axle of the railway truck into radial alignment with respect to a curved track. The structure has the effect of an "inverted" pendulum, that is a pendulum with negative restoring force. The negative rotational stiffness of the support pedestals arising from the location of their pivotal axes is offset by positive forces exerted by suitably located vehicle support springs against spring supports on the pedestals.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.