Patent GB-951783-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in vehicles with monorail guidance
IPC: B61B13/06
Filed: 1960-07-15
Abstract: 951,783. Railway vehicle undercarriages; elevated railways; electric locomotives. S. H. BINGHAM. July 15, 1960, No. 24782/60. Headings B7H and B7L. A railway vehicle for operating on spaced tracks 12, 14, Fig. 4, provided with central guide rail 16, all carried by a base frame 10, comprises a body B having a peripheral floor frame 18 supported at each end by a truck comprising a frame 22, Fig. 2, connected to the frame 18 by four pairs of rubber mounts 24, 26; a pair of main driven wheels 38, 40 provided with tyres to engage the tracks 12, 14; an axle formed from an arched member 28, Fig. 5, and gear housings 30 carrying the wheels 38, 40; the axle being pivotally connected at 50 to a wishbone 52 pivoted at 54 to the frame 22 and pivotally connected to the body B through drag rods 56, Fig. 6, pivoted to the housings 30 and to bell-cranks 58a pivoted in supports 62 carried by the body and connected by an equalizer rod 60; and torsion bar spring suspension means 96, 98, 100 and 104, Fig. 2, for supporting the frame 22 and thus the body B from the axle 28. Referring to Fig. 6, the ends of the arch 28 have fore and aft extensions 42 mounting pairs of tyred wheels 44, 46 and smaller pairs of safety wheels 48, 49 to engage the guide rail 16, the wheels 48, 49 only engaging the rail in the event of the tyres of the wheels 44, 46 deflating. The housings 30 also have fore and aft extension 138 having pivoted at their ends bell-cranks 140, 140, each carrying a pair of wheels 144, 146, Fig. 4. The wheels 146 are safety wheels to engage the tracks 12, 14 in the event of the tyres of the wheels 38, 40 deflating whilst the wheels 144 are used in switching operations by engaging steel rails (not shown) at a level slightly raised above the level of the tracks 12, 14. The bell-cranks are interconnected by a rod 148. The wheels 38, 40 are connected through bevel pinions within the housings 30 as described with reference to Fig. 7 (not shown) and the input shafts 120, Fig. 3, to the housings 30 are each connected by a universal joint 122 to a shaft 124 in turn connected through a universal joint 126 with a driving motor 128 or 130. The latter are supplied with current from conductors 11, 13, Fig. 4. Referring to Figs. 2 and 6, the housings 30 are connected by vertical rods 76, 80 to lever arms 78, 85 secured to a transverse torsion bar 80 rotatably supported at its ends to the frame 22. Moreover, the housings 30 are connected by vertical rods 64, 66 to lever arms 68, 70, secured on shafts 72, 74 carried by the frame 22. The shafts 72, 74 carry levers 84, 86. The lever 84 is connected by link rods 87, 88 and lever arms 91, 92 to aligned longitudinal torsion bars 96, 100, the bar 96 being rotatable in the frame 22 at 94 and the bar 100 being connected to the lever 92 through a universal joint 102 and by a similar joint 108 to a power driven levelling device 110. Similarly, the lever 86 is connected to aligned torsion bars 98, 104, the latter being connected to a power driven levelling device 114. The levers 92, 84 and the corresponding levers 94, 86 at the opposite side of the truck are of equal length but the lever 91 and the corresponding lever 93 are shorter than the levers 84, 86. The axes of the mounts 24, 26, Fig. 5, meet at Y above the C.G. of the sustained load and the arrangement is such that the body leans inwards when negotiating curves. The planes of the wishbone 52, Fig. 6, and the closing rods 56 meet in a transverse line Z and this tends to prevent pitching motion of the vehicle during application of tractive and braking force. Reference has been directed by the Comptroller to Specification 829,368.