GB1110571A - Improvements in or relating to rail vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

1,110,571. Railway vehicle undercarriages; mounting axles; arrangement of wheels; preventing derailing; changing gauge of wheels. BONAR, LONG & CO. Ltd. 9 Nov., 1964, No. 35782/63. Heading B7L. A rail vehicle incorporates a chassis 1, Figs. 1 and 2, which may be formed as part of the frame of a transformer of the type used in mines, axles 2A, 2B, attached to the chassis, one axle at least being non-rotatable, and two wheels 3 on each axle, each of the wheels on the non-rotatable axle being rotatable about a bearing block 4, Fig. 2, formed with a hole of rectangular cross-section, the hole being penetrated by a journal portion 5 of the axle also of rectangular cross-section, the vertical clearance between the block 4 and the portion 5 being constant throughout and the horizontal clearance between the block and portion varying linearly from a maximum dimension at each end 6 of the block to a minimum dimension at the centre 7 of the block. The axle at each end has a series of holes 10 for receiving a looking pin 9 of a clamp 8 at each end of the block 4, whereby the wheel track may be varied to suit different rail gauges. The wheel 3 can thus swing on the axle end about a vertical axis to allow the wheel flange to remain substantially tangential to a curved rail and thus avoid derailment. As shown, the axle 2A is pivoted to the chassis 1 about a horizontal pivot 12, offset vertically from the axis of the wheels 3. In the construction shown in Fig. 1, the bearing points of the wheels of the axle 2B and the pivot 12 provide a three-point suspension whereby all four wheels remain in contact with an irregular track.