Motor vehicles – Motor-carrying attachments
Patent
1998-06-09
2000-10-31
Dickson, Paul N.
Motor vehicles
Motor-carrying attachments
180299, 296 2608, B62M 714
Patent
active
061387835
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Drive unit that can be coupled to a rolling body, and resulting vehicle.
The subject of the present invention is a drive unit capable of being coupled directly, by coupling/uncoupling means, to at least one body provided with rolling gear, known as a "rolling body", to form a vehicle, and to the resulting vehicle.
More specifically, the invention relates to a drive unit which comprises drive means and which is fitted with its own rolling gear, it being understood that in the present description and in the claims, the term "rolling" must not necessarily be taken literally, as will be seen later.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The term "coupling/uncoupling means" is understood here to mean both means of mechanical connection (attaching the rolling body to the drive unit) and means of electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic connection for transmitting orders, information or signalling.
As far as the applicants are aware, no vehicles of the aforementioned type exist for public transport, as far as road transport is concerned. As far as the road transport of goods is concerned, lorries with semitrailers are, however, of the aforementioned type.
Trains, whether designed for transporting individuals or goods also belong to the aforementioned type.
In the case of the road transport of individuals (public transport), the drive unit is integral with the rolling body, with the exception of trailer coaches connected to certain buses via a bellows.
In the aforementioned cases where the drive unit is separate from the rolling body, the drive unit consists of the tractor and the rolling body of the trailer (road transport of goods) or the drive unit consists of the locomotive and the rolling body of at least one wagon or carriage (rail transport). In both cases, the drive unit, capable of autonomous movement, comprises at least two axles, while the rolling body also has at least one. Such an arrangement dictates the providing of an articulated system for linking together the drive unit and the rolling body, and this linking system, in the case of road vehicles, must have a wide scope for manoeuvres. Furthermore, the drive unit also forms the driver's position and therefore constitutes a complicated, expensive and bulky assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks by providing a drive unit which can be distinguished from the aforementioned ones in that it does not simultaneously form a driver's position, from which it follows that it may constitute an intermediate region or the tail of the vehicle, the driver's position being provide in the or one of the rolling transport bodies to which the drive unit is coupled, or being a special-purpose module in itself.
More specifically, the drive unit according to the invention consists of a structure formed, on the one hand, of a chassis having two opposite edges generally parallel to the direction of rolling, which chassis supports a source of motive power and is itself supported, along the said opposite edges, by a pair of side walls which in turn are each supported by at least one set of rolling gear and form housings for the passage of transmission means from the said source of motive power towards the said rolling gear, which is capable of converting the said motive power into work.
A drive unit of this type is described in the prior art as acting as a connector between two carriages of a rail vehicle. Thus, EP-A-0,633,173 discloses a self-propelled train in several parts, comprising a module, provided with rolling gear, and in the roof of which there are a diesel engine and a generator, and two carriages articulated one on each side of the said module and each of which is supported by a driving bogey. In the same vein, WO-A-87/05873 relates to a bogeyless vehicle comprising a gantry-type propulsion member which, in its top, comprises a power supply unit and, at each of its ends, has driven or non-driven rolling gear. The propulsion member disclosed is intended to take a cell for passengers
REFERENCES:
patent: 3392857 (1968-07-01), Tantlinger
patent: 4368793 (1983-01-01), Igarashi
patent: 4413692 (1983-11-01), Clifft
patent: 4469369 (1984-09-01), Belik et al.
patent: 4475611 (1984-10-01), Fisher
Chene Richard C.
Delamour Dominique V.
Rodi Olivier J.
Compagnie Generale d'Enterprises Automobiles "C.G.E.A."
Dickson Paul N.
Lerner Avraham H.
R&D Industries
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