Patent Description:
The present application relates to the technical field of railway vehicle gauge changing, and in particular, to an axle for a gauge-changing wheelset and a gauge-changing wheelset.

Transnational passenger and cargo transportation has grown rapidly in recent years. However, different rail gauges of various countries have seriously hindered the transnational rail transportation. In order to solve the problem that the different rail gauges of various countries seriously hinder the transnational railway transportation, a gauge-changing train is proposed, when the train runs on the railway of another country, a distance between wheels on an axle is changeable so as to adapt to the gauge of other countries' railways.

However, traditional wheel and axle have complex connection structure, and the gauge-changing operation has low reliability.

<CIT> discloses a gauge conversion assembly applied to a gauge-changing bogie, including slider, retaining member and axle box, the slider is the tube -shape body, axial sliding connection between the lateral wall of the tube -shape body and the axle box, the lateral wall of slider is provided with two row at least locking grooves, the retaining member includes locking lever and locking piece, and the locking piece is located the axle box, connect in the upper portion of locking lever to with locking the groove mutually support, locking lever and axle box sliding connection, and stretch out to the axle box outside the lower part.

The present application is intended to address at least one of the technical problems in the prior art. The present application provides an axle for a gauge-changing wheelset having an ingenious structural design, which provides simple connection structure between the axle and the wheel, and highly reliable gauge-changing operation.

The present application further provides a gauge-changing wheelset.

According to an embodiment of an aspect of the present application, an axle for a gauge-changing wheelset is provided. A central through hole is provided along an axial direction of the axle, an outer circumference of the axle close to a middle portion thereof is provided with a section of an outer spline extending along the axial direction of the axle, an outer circumference of the axle is provided with two sections of first non-self-locking thread having opposite directions of rotation at both axial sides of the outer spline respectively, and an oblong hole radially penetrating through the axle is provided at the outer spline of the axle and the oblong hole has a longitudinal direction coinciding with the axial direction of the axle; and
at least one first raceway circumferentially disposed around the axle is provided at a position between one of the first non-self-locking threads and the outer spline of the axle.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the at least one first raceway comprises two first raceways, and the two first raceways are arranged side by side and disposed close to the outer spline.

According to an embodiment of the present application, each first raceway has a cross section of concave semicircle.

According to an embodiment of the present application, an annular flange is formed at a position of the axle where the first raceway is constructed, and the annular flange has an outer diameter larger than an outer diameter of the remaining part of the axle such that stop end surfaces are formed at both axial ends of the annular flange.

According to an embodiment of the present application, a distance between the outer spline and a first non-self-locking thread adjacent to the outer spline is equal to a distance between the annular flange and a first non-self-locking thread adjacent to the annular flange, and both of the distances are equal to half of the gauge to be changed.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the first non-self-locking thread is a trapezoidal thread.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the axle is configured to be a stepped axle with both ends each having a smaller diameter than that of a middle portion of the stepped axle, and two end portions of the stepped axle are configured to mount an axle-box body.

According to an embodiment of the present application, an intermediate portion of the stepped axle is provided with a sliding section between each first non-self-locking thread and an end of the intermediate portion of the stepped axle.

According to an embodiment of another aspect of the present application, a gauge-changing wheelset is provided, including an axle and a pair of wheels, the axle is the axle for a gauge-changing wheelset mentioned above;.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the gauge-changing wheelset further includes a locking slip ring, a thrust pin, an elastic piece and a thrust rod;.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the gauge-changing wheelset further includes an unlocking mechanism mounted on an end of the axle where the thrust rod is located; and
an axle-box body is mounted at each end of the axle located outside the pair of wheels, and the unlocking mechanism includes a mounting base and a pushing head penetrating axially through the mounting base. The mounting base is fixedly mounted outside the axle-box body and the pushing head is disposed opposite to the thrust rod.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the second non-self-locking thread has a length greater than the length of the first non-self-locking thread is equal to half of the gauge to be changed;.

One or more technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application mentioned above have at least one of the following technical effects.

For the axle for a gauge-changing wheelset according to an embodiment of the present application, a central through hole is provided along the axial direction of the axle, an outer circumference of the axle close to a middle portion thereof is provided with a section of an outer spline extending along an axial direction of the axle, an outer circumference of the axle is provided with two sections of first non-self-locking thread having opposite directions of rotation at both axial sides of the outer spline respectively, and an oblong hole radially penetrating through the axle is provided at the outer spline of the axle and the oblong hole has a longitudinal direction coinciding with the axial direction of the axle; and at least one first raceway circumferentially disposed around the axle is provided a position between one of the first non-self-locking threads and the outer spline of the axle; such that the axle has an ingenious structural design, which ensures simple connection structure between the axle and the wheel, and highly reliable gauge-changing operation.

For the gauge-changing wheelset according to the embodiment of the present application, by providing the axle for the gauge-changing wheelset mentioned above, no complex gauge-changing mechanisms need to be provided, which simplifies the structure of other matching components outside the axle, so that the gauge-changing wheelset can have simple overall structure, convenient mounting, and reliable gauge-changing operation.

The additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be partially given in the following description, and some thereof will be obvious from the following description, or be understood through the practice of the present application.

In order to more clearly illustrate technical solutions disclosed in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the drawings used in the descriptions of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only certain embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without any creative work for those skilled in the art.

Reference numerals:
<NUM>. axle; <NUM>. outer spline of the axle; <NUM>. oblong hole; <NUM>. first raceway; <NUM>. first non-self-locking thread; <NUM>. central through hole; <NUM>. axle sleeve; <NUM>. second non-self-locking thread; <NUM>. outer spline of axle sleeve; <NUM>. wheel; <NUM>. outer sleeve; <NUM>. second raceway; <NUM>. axle-box body; <NUM>. locking slip ring; <NUM>. locking spring; <NUM>. thrust pin; <NUM>. thrust rod; <NUM>. unlocking mechanism; <NUM>. sliding bearing; <NUM>. gear box; <NUM>. brake disc.

Embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments. The following embodiments are intended to illustrate the present application, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, it is to be noted that the orientation or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are merely for the convenience of describing the embodiments of the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or component stated must have a particular orientation, is constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus is not to be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application. Moreover, the terms "first", "second", "third", and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, it is to be noted that unless explicitly stated and defined otherwise, the terms "connected with", and "connected" shall be understood broadly, for example, it may be either fixedly connected or detachably connected, or can be integrated; it may be mechanically connected, or electrically connected; it may be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. The specific meanings of the terms above in embodiments of the present application can be understood by a person skilled in the art in accordance with specific conditions.

In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise clearly stated and defined, the first feature being located "on" or "under" the second feature means that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature or the first feature is in contact with the second feature by an intervening media. Also, the first feature being located "on", "above" and "on top of" the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly on or above the second feature, or it simply means that the level of the first feature is higher than the second feature. The first feature being located "under", "below" and "on bottom of" the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly under or below the second feature, or it simply means that the level of the first feature is lower than the second feature.

In the description of this specification, descriptions with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "examples", "specific examples", or "some examples" etc. mean that specific features, structure, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the embodiments of the present application. In this specification, the schematic expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Also, the described specific features, structures, materials or characteristics can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may integrate and combine the different embodiments or examples and the features of the different embodiments or examples described in this specification without contradicting each other.

As shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present application provides an axle for a gauge-changing wheelset and a gauge-changing wheelset.

In order to introduce the technical solution of the present application clearly, the axle for a gauge-changing wheelset is described by combining the gauge-changing wheelset.

Referring to <FIG>, the gauge-changing wheelset includes an axle for a gauge-changing wheelset, an outer sleeve <NUM>, a pair of axle sleeves <NUM> and a pair of wheels <NUM>.

Specifically, as shown in <FIG>, the axle <NUM> is provided with a central through hole <NUM> along the axial direction thereof, an outer circumference of the axle <NUM> close to a middle portion thereof is provided with a section of outer spline extending in the axial direction of the axle <NUM>, and both axial sides of the outer spline at the outer circumference thereof are provided with a pair of first non-self-locking threads <NUM> having opposite direction of rotation, that is, the axle <NUM> is further provided with two sections of first non-self-locking thread <NUM> having opposite direction of rotation disposed at both axial sides of the outer spline. In an embodiment, there is a spacing between each section of first non-self-locking thread <NUM> and the outer spline. The outer spline of the axle <NUM> is provided with an oblong hole <NUM> radially extending through the outer spline. That is, the oblong hole <NUM> and the outer spline are overlapped, and the oblong hole <NUM> has a longitudinal direction coinciding with the axial direction of the axle, that is, the oblong hole <NUM> has a longitudinal direction consistent with the extending direction of the outer spline.

In the present embodiment, the oblong hole <NUM> has a length slightly less than the length of the outer spline. In addition, the central through hole <NUM> provided on the axle <NUM> is beneficial to reduce the weight of the axle.

Further, a part of the axle <NUM> between one of the first non-self-locking thread <NUM> and the outer spline is provided with at least one first raceway <NUM> circumferentially disposed around the axle <NUM> and the first raceway <NUM> is disposed close to the outer spline.

In the present embodiment, the first raceway <NUM> has a cross section of concave semicircle.

Specifically, the pair of wheels <NUM> are mounted at both axial ends of the axle <NUM> through the axle sleeves <NUM> and fastened outside first ends of the axle sleeves <NUM>. For example, the wheels <NUM> may be press-fitted at the outer circumference of a first end of the axle sleeve <NUM> so that they are in interference fit with each other. The inner circumference of a second end of the axle sleeve <NUM> is provided with a second non-self-locking thread <NUM> that forms a non-self-locking thread pair together with the first non-self-locking thread <NUM>. The second non-self-locking thread <NUM> has a length greater than the length of the first non-self-locking thread <NUM>, and the length difference is equal to half of the gauge to be changed, so that both wheels <NUM> can move half of the gauge to be changed relative to the axle <NUM> during the rotation by following respective axle sleeves <NUM> so that a sum of the distances both wheels <NUM> move is equal to the distance of the desired gauge to be changed.

The outer sleeve <NUM> is sleeved outside the axle <NUM>, an inner circumference of the outer sleeve <NUM> is provided with a second raceway <NUM> corresponding to the first raceway <NUM> having the same size and shape as those of the first raceway <NUM>. The second raceway <NUM> is provided with a rolling element mounting hole and in snap fit with the first raceway <NUM> to form a circular rolling space in which a rolling element is mounted through the rolling element mounting hole. The rolling element, which may be a rolling ball filled with the rolling space, has an outer diameter matched with an inner diameter of the rolling space. By connecting the outer sleeve <NUM> with the axle <NUM> through the rolling element, the outer sleeve <NUM> is rotatably connected outside the axle <NUM>, in other words, the outer sleeve <NUM> has rotational degree of freedom, but is restricted the movement degree of freedom, that is, the outer sleeve <NUM> can rotate relative to the axle <NUM> but cannot move.

The outer circumference of the second end of the axle sleeve <NUM> is provided with outer splines. After being mounted, the second end of the axle sleeve <NUM> is located inside the wheel <NUM> and faces the outer sleeve <NUM>; inner splines matched with the outer splines on the axle sleeve <NUM> are respectively disposed on an inner circumference of the outer sleeve at positions on both axial sides of the second raceway <NUM> and at a predetermined interval from the second raceway <NUM>. The axle sleeve <NUM> and the outer sleeve <NUM> are connected through the inner splines and the outer splines such that the axle sleeve <NUM> can rotate together with the outer sleeve <NUM>, or the axle sleeve <NUM> can move axially relative to the outer sleeve <NUM>.

According to an embodiment of the present application, an annular flange is formed at a position of the axle <NUM> where the first raceway <NUM> is constructed, and the annular flange has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the remaining part of the axle <NUM> such that stop end surfaces are formed at both axial ends of the annular flange.

Specifically, both ends of the axle <NUM> beyond the pair of wheels <NUM> are respectively mounted with axle-box bodies <NUM>.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the gauge-changing wheelset further includes a locking slip ring <NUM>, a thrust pin <NUM>, an elastic piece and a thrust rod <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the locking slip ring <NUM> is slidably sleeved at the outer spline <NUM> of the axle, and the locking slip ring is provided therein with an inner spline matched with the outer spline <NUM> of the axle, and provided externally with an outer spline matched with the inner spline of the outer sleeve <NUM>. An inner wall of the locking slip ring <NUM> is radially provided with a pair of open slots having openings communicated with an end of the locking slip ring <NUM>. The thrust pin <NUM> passes through the oblong hole <NUM>, and both ends of the thrust pin <NUM> protrude from the oblong hole <NUM> and both ends of the thrust pin <NUM> protruding from the oblong hole <NUM> are embedded inside the pair of the open slots by the openings of the open slots. The thrust pin <NUM> has a length same as a distance between the top walls of a pair of open slots, and both ends of the thrust pin <NUM> abut against the top walls of the open slot. In addition, the thrust pin <NUM> has a width consistent with widths of the open slots such that the thrust pin <NUM> and the locking slip ring <NUM> have reliable connection.

In order to facilitate the axial movement of the thrust pin <NUM> along the oblong hole <NUM>, the thrust pin <NUM> has a width smaller than the length of the oblong hole <NUM>, and a thickness less than or equal to the width of the oblong hole <NUM>. In addition, the width of the locking slip ring <NUM> should not be too wide to ensure that the locking slip ring <NUM> can have an amount of movement in the space between the second raceway <NUM> of the outer sleeve <NUM> and the inner spline.

The elastic piece, for example, an elastic spring <NUM>, is sleeved on the axle, and has an end abutted against an outer wall, i.e., a stop end surface of the first raceway <NUM>, and the other end abutted against an end of the locking slip ring <NUM> away from the open slot. When the elastic piece is in a natural state, the outer spline outside the locking slip ring <NUM> are at least partially located in the inner spline of a corresponding side of the outer sleeve <NUM> to lock the rotation of the outer sleeve <NUM> for fixing the outer sleeve relative to the axle <NUM>.

The thrust rod <NUM> has an end penetrating the central through hole <NUM> of the axle <NUM> and abutted against a side of the thrust pin <NUM> where an open slot is located. For example, the thrust pin <NUM> may be provided with a connecting shaft extending to a side, and the thrust rod <NUM> is designed to be hollow and sleeved on the connecting shaft of the thrust pin <NUM> to fix the two. The connecting shaft can also be provided with an outer thread, and an inner hole at an end of the thrust rod <NUM> is provided with an inner thread for forming a threaded connection with the outer thread. The thrust rod <NUM> has the other end extending to the end of the central through hole <NUM>. Preferably, the outer end of the thrust rod <NUM> is substantially flush with the end of the central through hole <NUM>. The axle box body <NUM> may be lifted by an unlocking rail and thus the wheels <NUM> are unloaded, a trust is applied to the thrust pin <NUM> by the thrust rod <NUM> to drive the locking slip ring <NUM> to compress the elastic piece on the axle <NUM> to move away from the inner spline of the outer sleeve <NUM> to disengage from the inner spline of the outer sleeve <NUM> key and thus the rotational degree of freedom of the outer sleeve <NUM> is unlocked. In this case, when the wheels <NUM> are pushed, since the axle sleeve <NUM> is connected with the axle <NUM> through the non-self-locking thread pair, the wheels <NUM> and the axle sleeve <NUM> will rotate together around the axle <NUM>, the second non-self-locking thread <NUM> of the axle sleeve <NUM> moves along the first non-self-locking thread <NUM> of the axle <NUM> during the rotation, so that the wheel <NUM> moves along with the axle sleeve <NUM> during the rotation. When the pair of wheels <NUM> is pushed inward or outward at the same time after the wheels <NUM> are unloaded, due to the non-self-locking thread pair having opposite directions of rotation, the pair of wheels <NUM> may move closer to each other or away from each other when they rotate in the same direction until they move to a set gauge-changing position, so as to change the gauge.

After the gauge is changed, the thrust of the thrust rod <NUM> on the thrust pin <NUM> is removed, and the thrust pin <NUM> will follow the slip ring <NUM> to return to its original position under the elastic reset action of the locking elastic piece, that is, the outer splines of the slip ring <NUM> are re-inserted into the outer splines of the outer sleeve <NUM> to lock the rotational degree of freedom of the outer sleeve <NUM>. In this case, the axle sleeve <NUM> and the outer sleeve <NUM> cannot rotate relative to the axle <NUM>, the axle sleeve <NUM> and the outer sleeve <NUM> can only rotate together with the axle <NUM>, that is, the axle sleeve <NUM> and the outer sleeve <NUM> are locked on the axle <NUM>.

The gauge-changing wheelset according to the embodiment has convenient and reliable gauge-changing operation, and simple overall structure.

In an embodiment, the first non-self-locking thread <NUM> is a trapezoidal thread, and correspondingly, the second non-self-locking thread <NUM> is a trapezoidal thread matching the trapezoidal thread of the first non-self-locking thread <NUM>, resulting in reliable performance.

It should be noted that the elastic piece may also be other elastic sleeves with certain elasticity.

In order to directly apply a thrust to the thrust rod <NUM> by means of an external force when changing gauge, according to an embodiment of the present application, an unlocking mechanism <NUM> is further included, and the unlocking mechanism <NUM> is installed at an end of the axle <NUM> where the thrust rod <NUM> is located, that is, the unlocking mechanism <NUM> only needs to be mounted on an end of the axle <NUM>.

Specifically, the unlocking mechanism <NUM> includes a mounting base and a pushing head penetrating axially through the mounting base, the mounting base is fixedly mounted outside the axle box body <NUM>, the pushing head and the thrust rod <NUM> are disposed opposite to each other, or may be arranged coaxially, and a gap can be reserved between the pushing head and the thrust rod <NUM>. When an axial thrust is applied from the side wall of the ground gauge-changing facility to the pushing head, the pushing head pushes the thrust rod <NUM> for unlocking, that is, pushes the thrust pin <NUM> to drive the locking slip ring <NUM> to move such that outer splines outside the locking slip ring <NUM> are disengaged from the inner splines of the outer sleeve <NUM>, and the unlocking is completed.

After the gauge is changed, the thrust pin <NUM> recovers and pushes out the thrust rod <NUM> under the action of the restoring force of the locking spring <NUM>, and pushes out of the pushing head by the thrust rod <NUM>, then the gauge-changing process ends, the wheelset is completely locked, and the normal operation state is re-entered.

According to an embodiment of the present application, an inner circumference of the outer sleeve <NUM> is provided with an annular boss at the second raceway <NUM>. After the outer sleeve <NUM> and the axle <NUM> are connected by a rolling ball, a pair of mounting spaces for the axle sleeves <NUM> are formed between the outer sleeve <NUM> and the axle <NUM> at both axial sides of the rolling space. The axle sleeve <NUM> firstly slides from each end of the axle <NUM> respectively and sleeved on the axle <NUM> and then is inserted into the outer sleeve <NUM>; the outer spline <NUM> of the axle sleeve moves axially relative to the inner spline of the outer sleeve <NUM> until the second non-self-locking thread <NUM> of the axle <NUM> is in contact with the first non-self-locking thread <NUM> of the axle <NUM>, the axle <NUM> is rotated such that the second non-self-locking thread <NUM> is screwed into the first non-self-locking thread <NUM>.

For a gauge-changing wheelset for motor vehicle, a gearbox <NUM> is mounted outside the outer sleeve <NUM>, and for a gauge-changing wheelset for trailer, a plurality of brake discs <NUM> are mounted outside the outer sleeve <NUM>.

In order to improve the reliability of the connection between the outer sleeve <NUM> and the axle <NUM>, according to an embodiment of the present application, there are two first raceways <NUM> arranged side by side.

Further, the axle <NUM> is divided into a main half shaft and an auxiliary half shaft by each first raceway <NUM>, and the axle <NUM> provided with the outer splines and the oblong hole <NUM> is the main half shaft. The locking slip ring <NUM> is mounted on the main half shaft, and the open slot of the locking slip ring <NUM> faces towards the free end of the main half shaft, and the locking spring <NUM> is mounted between the stop end surface of the annular flange and the locking slip ring <NUM>.

For optimizing the structure, the first raceway <NUM> is disposed close to the outer spline <NUM> of the axle <NUM>.

According to an embodiment of the present application, a distance between the outer splines <NUM> of the axle and the adjacent first non-self-locking threads <NUM> is equal to a distance between the annular flange and the adjacent first non-self-locking threads <NUM>, and both of the distances are equal to half of the changing gauge and the distance is a movement space of the second non-self-locking thread <NUM> of the axle sleeve <NUM>.

According to an embodiment of the present application, the axle <NUM> is configured to be a stepped axle with both ends each having a smaller diameter than that of a middle portion of the stepped axle, so that both end portions of the stepped axle are used to be provided with the axle-box body <NUM>.

According to an embodiment of the present application, an intermediate portion of the stepped axle is provided with a sliding section between each first non-self-locking thread <NUM> and an end of the intermediate portion of the stepped axle, so that the sliding bearings <NUM> of the axle sleeve <NUM> slides relative to the axle <NUM> through a sliding bearing <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An axle for a gauge-changing wheelset, wherein a central through hole (<NUM>) is provided along an axial direction of the axle (<NUM>), an outer circumference of the axle (<NUM>) close to a middle portion thereof is provided with a section of an outer spline (<NUM>) extending along the axial direction of the axle (<NUM>),
characterized in that,
an outer circumference of the axle (<NUM>) is provided with two sections of first non-self-locking thread (<NUM>) having opposite directions of rotation at both axial sides of the outer spline (<NUM>) respectively, and an oblong hole (<NUM>) radially penetrating through the axle (<NUM>) is provided at the outer spline (<NUM>) of the axle (<NUM>) and the oblong hole (<NUM>) has a longitudinal direction coinciding with the axial direction of the axle (<NUM>); and
at least one first raceway (<NUM>) circumferentially disposed around the axle (<NUM>) is provided at a position between one of the first non-self-locking threads (<NUM>) and the outer spline of the axle (<NUM>).