TRAIN CONFIGURATION

Abstract: The present invention relates to a train configuration comprising at least one carriage wherein at least one carriage is supported by at least three support frames, at least one of which is coupled to drive means, wherein the ratio of the axle load of the three support frames is adjustable within predetermined limits. The support frames are preferably suspended using air springs and the air springs are adapted together with the associated control device to set the desired axle load distribution.

Description: TRAIN CONFIGURATION The invention relates to a train configuration comprising at least one carriage wherein at least one carriage is supported by at least three support frames, at least one of which is coupled to drive means. The support frames will generally be formed by bogies or by sets of wheels or by a combination thereof. The frames of this assembly are kinematically cou¬ pled in fully autonomous manner, free of mutual play and wear-resisting with the object of obtaining a radial adjustment of the frames in bends. All frames can be embodied as required with sets of wheels, with the inner frames fitted with pairs of wheels and the outer frames with sets of wheels or vice versa. The inner or outer or all frames can be in the form of driven systems. A preferred configuration is one which is supported by three frames. A preferred carriage is one which is supported by three support frames in the form of sets of wheels. The sets of wheels can herein be formed by separately mounted wheels or by axles on which two wheels are fixed. Such a configuration is known from DE-A-19 54 703. Due to the adjustability of the axle load it is possible to adapt the axle load, and therewith the adhe¬ sion conditions, to the situation. The adjustability of the axle load is itself the subject of a separate patent application. This means that during acceleration the axle load of the support frame or support frames coupled to the drive means is made as large as possible in order to make the adhesion factor of such a support frame as great as possible. This enables the number of driven axles to be kept as small as possible so that during acceleration or travel up an incline the optimum adhesion conditions are achieved. The maximum axle load will of course have to fall within the maximum permissible axle load for a section of line. When no or little force must be trans¬ mitted, the axle load can be changed so that the maximum axle load of the driven sets of wheels is reduced. According to a preferred embodiment the train con¬ figurations comprise driven carriages, which are support¬ ed by at least three support frames, and non-driven carriages which are supported by only the driven car¬ riages. This enables the arrangement of a so-called low floor over a large part of the length of the train con¬ figuration, while it is also possible for the "suspended" carriages for passenger transport to be as vibration-free as possible. The carriages are herein not required to conduct longitudinal forces. This is particularly impor- tant in the case of train configurations suitable for high speeds. This moreover provides the option of embodying the suspended carriages in easy manner as so-called tilting carriages so that it is possible to travel through bends at a higher speed than normal. Each of the support frames is preferably formed by a set of wheels or a combination of two separately mounted wheels. This latter is important in respect of low-floor configurations and double-decker configurations. In order to allow variation in the axle pressures use is preferably made of air springs. It is also possi¬ ble however to make use of other spring systems, for instance hydraulically adjustable spring systems. It will be apparent that the axle load distribution is also important during braking in order to obtain an optimum braking characteristic, also in respect of the distribution between mechanical braking and electrical, i.e. preferably regenerative, braking. The present invention will be elucidated hereinbelow with reference to the annexed drawings, in which: figure 1 shows a sectional view of a half of a driven wheel pair of a driven carriage of a train config¬ uration according to the invention,- figure 2 shows a sectional view of a half of a non- driven wheel set with disc brakes,- figure 3 is a top view of the kinematic connections for a total of three sets of wheels, wherein four degrees of freedom are obtained and wherein two of the three "axles" are shown; figure 4 shows a side view of a first embodiment of a train configuration according to the invention,- figure 5 is a side view of a second embodiment of a train configuration according to the invention,- and figure 6 is a side view of a third embodiment of a train configuration according to the invention, wherein the four frames in the middle form a kinematic entity and normal bogies are arranged at the carriage ends. Figure 1 shows a cross section of a half of a first driven wheel pair 10. Motors 11 are herein placed above axles 12 and coupled to axle 12 by means of a drive 13 of the Secheron type. In order to fix the gauge and to transmit the lateral forces between wheel and rail, the drawn individually driven wheels are coupled to a U- shaped middle beam 18 by means of two double leaf springs 14. The primary suspension is formed for instance by a schematically designated air spring 17. The secondary suspension (not shown) supports the carriage of the module by means of an air or hydraulic spring mounted on a seat co-displacing with the traction motor. Figure 2 shows the other half of a similar situation but now with a normal wheel axle which is only suitable for braking,- the brake discs 15 are herein arranged above the wheel axle which is connected by means of a drive mechanism 16 to the relevant set of wheels,- it is possi¬ ble instead to make use of other drive configurations. It is thus possible for instance to drive the middle wheel pairs or middle wheel axles instead of the end wheel pairs or end wheel axles. As standard method the end and middle wheel axles are all embodied as rigid wheel axle or the outer or inner wheel axle is embodied as separated wheel pair. It is further pointed out that the preferably ap¬ plied three support frames are mutually connected by means of kinematic connections so that they adapt to the bend radius, which reduces friction and wear on wheels and track. Such a kinematic connection forms the subject- matter of the Netherlands patent application 9500315. Figure 3 shows such a construction. Connections 22 can herein be seen between the pairs of wheels and the central girders, between the other pairs of wheels and the central girders 18, and wherein a control boom con¬ nects one of the outer wheel pairs to the control boom 19 on the other side 2. These latter control booms 19 are mutually connected by connecting pieces 20. Figure 4 shows a side view of a single-decker train configuration with three modules,- an end module 1, a passenger module 2 and a drive module 3. The raised suspension of passenger module 2 is clearly shown to be located inside two of the other modules. In addition, the drive modules are connected mutually and the drive mod- ules are connected to one of the end modules by a boom 4 extending under the passenger module. In figure 5 is shown a corresponding double-decker configuration. Here the drive modules are always three- axled, wherein it is possible that the drive is formed by both outer axles or by the single inner lying axle. This is of course a matter of dimensioning. It will be appar¬ ent that large numbers of such modules can be mutually connected to form multiple unit-like configurations. Finally, figure 6 shows a configuration more closely resembling a currently typical multiple unit, wherein each of the carriages 6 is supported on one side by a bogie 7 and on the other side by a single axle 8. At roughly one-third distance from the single axle 8 is placed a separate drive shaft 9. The ratio of the axle loads of the diverse shafts 7,8,9 is herein adjustable so that herewith the advantages of the invention are also obtained. The described and illustrated modular arrangement of a train configuration also allows of the realization of a simple coupling between multiple units. Starting from an end module of limited length and a coupling mounted on the end wall and having only a limited freedom of move¬ ment in lengthwise direction, there results after cou¬ pling with a similar train configuration a new rigid module consisting of both end modules of the coupled trains. The frames under the thus coupled modules must of course have sufficient lateral play to enable travel through a bend with small bend radius. By rotating an end door away to the inside, on which door the control panel is also mounted, a passageway option can also be realized in simple manner. Due to the absence of relative move- ments of the end modules relative to each other the sealing elements are of a very simple design.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Train configuration comprising at least one carriage wherein at least one carriage is supported by at least three support frames, at least one of which is coupled to drive means, characterized in that the ratio of the axle load of the three support frames is adjust¬ able within predetermined limits. 2. Train configuration as claimed in claim l, char¬ acterized in that the support frames are suspended using air springs and that the air springs are adapted together with the associated control device to set the desired axle load distribution. 3. Train configuration as claimed in claim l or 2, characterized in that the configuration comprises more than one driven carriage. 4. Train configuration as claimed in claim 3, char¬ acterized in that the configuration comprises non-driven carriages placed between driven carriages. 5. Train configuration as claimed in claim 4, char¬ acterized in that the non-driven carriages are suspended from the driven carriages and that the driven' carriages are mutually connected by connecting means which extend in the lengthwise direction and which are adapted to absorb tensile and pressure forces. 6. Train configuration as claimed in claim 5, char¬ acterized in that the non-driven carriages are adapted to tilt on their longitudinal axis subject to the radius of the bend for travelling through. 7. Train configuration as claimed in any of the claims 1-6, characterized in that the whole traction installation is accommodated in the driven carriages. 8. Train configuration as claimed in claim 7, char- acterized in that at least the greater part of the auxil¬ iary devices are accommodated in the driven carriages. 9. Train configuration as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the train config¬ uration is at least partially a double-decker. 10. Train configuration as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the train configuration is double- decker over practically the whole length. 11. Train configuration as claimed in any of the claims 5-10, characterized in that the seats of the train configuration are accommodated in the non-driven car¬ riages. 12. Train configuration as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that at least one of the carriages placed at an end of the train configuration is provided on its free end with coupling means for coupling the associated carriage to a carriage placed at the end of another configuration, and that the support frames of the relevant carriage are adapted to allow the rigidly coupled carriages to travel through bends. 13. Train configuration as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that the carriages placed on the end are provided with means with which people can walk from the one carriage to the other.

Inventors: ZEEVENHOOVEN NIKOLAAS HUIBERT, ZEEVENHOOVEN, NIKOLAAS, HUIBERT, CORNELIS, EGBERTU
Applicants: ZEEVENHOOVEN NIKOLAAS HUIBERT, ZEEVENHOOVEN, NIKOLAAS, HUIBERT, CORNELIS, EGBERTU
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B61F5
IPC codes: B61C15, B61D3, B61F5