Patent GB-816048-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in wheel carrying structure for monorail vehicles
IPC: B61B13/04
Filed: 1955-09-23
Abstract: 816,048. Single-rail vehicles. ALWEG-FORSCHUNG-G. m. b. H. Sept. 23, 1955 [Sept. 25, 1954(2); Aug. 18, 1955], No. 27229/55, Class 103(4) A wheel-carrying structure for a monorail vehicle has one or more supporting wheels 12 engaging the top surface of a beam-like monorail and side wheels 21, 32 engaging each side face of the monorail, and all the wheels are resiliently held perpendicular to their actual running surfaces by pivotal arms or levers pivotally mounted on a transverse rigid member of the vehicle body. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the wheel assembly comprises a pair of carrier wheels 12 adapted to run along the top surface of a beam-like rail 10, and on each side of the rail two side wheels 21, 32. The wheels 12 are driven by a motor 18 and are supported by arms 14, 15 on a plate 11 of the vehicle, the arms 14, 15 being connected by a stiff member 37. The arms 14, 15 are provided with downwardly-extruding projections 15<SP>1</SP> to which are connected springs 16 provided with damping devices e.g. liquid shock absorbers, the springs being inclined and acting resiliently to take up vertical forces acting on the carrier wheels 12. The side wheels 21, 32 are suspended from the carrier wheels 12 by means 9 connecting rods 19, 33 and members 35. The members 35 are connected to the bifurcated front end of pivoted levers 20, 31 which at their near ends are pivoted about pins 36 extending laterally from a vertical shaft 25. Movement of the levers 20, 31 vertically is resisted by the spring 16. Horizontal movement of the levers about the shaft 25 causes the pivot pins 36 to operate through rods 27 on springs in housings 28 and torsion bar springs 30, 30<SP>1</SP>. Each housing 28. Fig. 7, contains a piston 38 which during normal travel of the vehicle is pressed by a spring 40 against a stop 42. The enlarged end of the connecting rod 27 bears against the end of the piston 38, against the action of a spring 44 which is weaker than the spring 40 and is intended to maintain contact between the side wheel and the rail. When both side wheels on one side of the vehicle are subject to the same forces the springs 40 move in the same way and the torsion bar arrangement 30, 30<SP>1</SP> moves without exerting any resistence. If, however, a tilting force arises then there is relative angular movement between the elements 30, 30<SP>1</SP> producing a force tending to return the vehicle to its stabilized position. This stabilizing action may be increased by interconnecting the wheels at the two sides of the vehicle so that the torsion bar 30 on each side of the vehicle is connected by a tension rod with the hollow tube member 30<SP>1</SP> on the other side of the vehicle. In a modification shown in Figs. 9 and 12, the side wheels 21, 32 are supported by a bifurcated pivoted lever 55 which is pivotally connected to a hollow carrier member 57. The member 57 encloses torsion bar springs 59, 60 which are adjustably fixed at one end and at the other end project through the carrier and are connected by cranks 70, 71 to the side wheels 21, 32. The cranks are also connected by rods 72, 73 to a stabilizer. The stabilizer comprises two torsion tubes 74, 75 rotatably mounted in bearings 76 in a rigid member 11 of the vehicle. The lower connecting rod 73 is connected to the tube 74 by a lever 78 and the upper connecting rod 72 is connected to the tube 75 by a second lever 78. A torsion bar spring 77 is adjustably secured to the lower tube 74 and extends through the tube 75 to be connected to a lever 79 attached by a connecting rod to a lever of the upper stabilizer tube 75 on the other side of the vehicle. In a similar manner the upper tube 75 is connected through a lever 81 and a connecting rod 80 with another lever 79 fixed to the torsion bar spring 77 on the other side of the vehicle, so that the wheels on both sides of the vehicle cooperate to restore the wheels from abnormal to stabilized positions. The carrier wheels 12 are connected by rods 92 and bell cranks 87 to torsion bar springs 84 each supported at its free end in a bearing 85 and at its rear end fixed to the frame of the vehicle, A liquid shock absorber is also provided to damp the movement of the carrier wheels 12.