Land vehicles – Wheeled – Articulated vehicle
Patent
1996-12-12
1999-01-19
Hurley, Kevin
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Articulated vehicle
280426, B60D 130
Patent
active
058606670
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a coupling for controlling the angular offset between two adjacent road transport vehicles pivotably connected to one another by a self-supporting intermediate unit constituting one of the sub-assemblies of an articulated road vehicle.
To perform ideally on turns, articulated roadway vehicles formed of several modules or cars in series require inter-module articulations having an angular law of deviation such that the axles are permanently directed toward the center of the turn.
This is accomplished using vehicles with radiating axles.
This principle is of interest in urban transport vehicles, as it ensures minimal dynamic road traction on curves.
However, this feature is not adequate for a series of articulated vehicles with an intermediate unit interposed between them, as they twist considerably when completing a curve and exhibit pronounced lateral shifting.
The same is true for articulated road vehicles wherein each module is separated from the adjacent module by an intermediate axle-supported module and connected to each of the adjacent modules by a pivoting coupling that has a supplemental kinematic constraint consisting of an oblique rigid coupling connecting the two successive modules directly with a ball-joint connection at each end of each module.
Despite the presence of the rigid oblique coupling, there are various flaws in the performance of such articulated road vehicles which are significant enough to give rise to the present invention.
First, when these articulated road vehicle units are traveling in a straight line above a certain speed, they oscillate to the extent of threatening passenger safety.
Secondly, the purely kinematic performance of the articulated inter-module couplings causes deviation when completing a curve and, in particular, an exterior sweeping motion on turns which may, under certain conditions, exceed the recommended limit The first disadvantage can be overcome by blocking the pivoting action of one of the pivoting articulations, for example, the articulation of the front module, thereby changing the configuration to truck+trailer. Experience has shown that this association is stable up to the maximum allowed speed limit.
The mechanical result of locking the articulation adversely affects the vehicle's traction on wide turns.
However, as explained previously, urban transport conditions currently have minimal vehicle traction on turns.
Because of these accumulated requirements, using only the technique described above, that is, locking one articulation of an articulated urban transport passenger vehicle on curves, is not sufficient since it does not provide the minimal traction required throughout the entire course.
The goal of the present invention is to simultaneously eliminate the two disadvantages described above, instability when traveling above a certain speed in a straight line and lateral deviation when completing a curve, in a vehicle that also performs ideally and conforms to the regulations and requirements of public urban transport systems.
The present invention consists of a generally improved composite articulated coupling between two successive modules of the same articulated roadway vehicle, which are connected to each other by a self-supporting intermediate module that is either motorized or towed.
The general improvement in this type of articulated coupling between two successive modules, the front module and the following module being separated by an intermediate module to which they are each connected by a pivoting coupling, consists of the fact that the articulated coupling through the intermediate module and the pivoting articulations is completed by a coupling which controls angular offset in a desensitized zone in the center and on either side of the straight line direction, thus controlling orientation of the front module separately from that of the following module.
Other technical characteristics and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, given by way of example, and accompanie
REFERENCES:
patent: 1990484 (1935-02-01), Harris
patent: 3062170 (1962-11-01), Verneaux
patent: 3550802 (1970-12-01), Ellerd
patent: 4127202 (1978-11-01), Jennings et al.
patent: 4235451 (1980-11-01), Leriverend
patent: 5531468 (1996-07-01), White
patent: 5700023 (1997-12-01), Picard
Hurley Kevin
Lohr Industrie
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