Railway rolling stock – Trucks – Bogie
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-30
2001-04-10
Avila, Stephen (Department: 3617)
Railway rolling stock
Trucks
Bogie
C105S199100, C105S200000, C105S226000, C105S230000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213027
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bogie for railway vehicle and to a process for manufacturing such a bogie.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
It is known to produce a railway vehicle bogie in the form of massive parts made of steel or of welded structures. These massive parts and welded structures are rigid and heavy. In particular, they be must be equipped with suspension and vibration-damping systems.
European Patent Application 0 031 008 discloses a railway vehicle bogie comprising H-shaped cross-pieces made of composite material. These cross-pieces do not allow the assembly of accessory or safety elements such as a motor, a braking system or a control system.
In the case of a bogie made of composite material, it may be envisaged, for fastening the sub-systems mentioned hereinabove, generically called “functional elements” of the bogie, to use metallic inserts fixed with respect to the bogie. Such inserts must be positioned in the bogie as a function of its future use or of the functional elements that it has to support. In other words, no adaptation of the bogie to the functional elements that it supports can be envisaged after these inserts have been positioned. This results in a complex management of the process of concept and manufacture of the bogies of which the structure is fixed as far as the subsequent fixation of functional elements is concerned, from the beginning of manufacture thereof. This lack of modularity is detrimental from the economical, and also from the technical standpoint, as it is detrimental to the interchangeability of the structures of the bogies.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a bogie made of composite material and a process of manufacturing such a bogie which make it possible to attain a satisfactory modularity for fixing the functional elements of the bogie.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To that end, the invention relates to a railway vehicle bogie made of composite material, characterized in that it comprises at least one elongated rigid support secured in a structure made of composite material, this support being adapted to removably receive means for fastening functional elements of the bogie, at a plurality of locations distributed over its length.
Thanks to the invention, the functional elements of the bogie may be fixed at different spots, which makes it possible to use the modular nature of the bogie by adapting the configuration of these functional elements when designing and finally assembling the bogie, and even when subsequently adding a functional element. The invention also makes it possible to reduce the time for development of a new bogie, concerning the positioniong of the functional elements, while this aspect generally takes a long time in view of the dimensions of these elements.
According to a first advantageous aspect of the invention, the support is formed by a hollow rail inside which at least one retaining member provided with at least one means for cooperation with a member for fixing and/or supporting a functional element of the bogie, is adapted to move. This retaining member may be constituted by a slide block provided with at least one tapping for receiving a locking screw. The displacement of the slide block inside the rail allows a fine adjustment of the position of a functional element, while the tightening of a fastening screw in the tapping of the slide block has the effect of immobilizing this slide block with respect to the rail. When a plurality of functional elements are provided, it suffices to house a plurality of slide blocks in the rail.
According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, the support is formed by a metal rail with a cross-section in the form of a C or double C. This geometry of the rail makes it possible to define a volume inside which a slide block may be disposed. The rail advantageously comprises two flanges provided with a flattened free edge on which the slide block may move in abutment.
According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, the bogie comprises a chassis extending transversely with respect to the normal direction of movement of the vehicle and in which the elongated rigid support is immobilized. In that case, the chassis may be provided to be of substantially parallelepipedic shape and provided with a recess defining two beams which also extend perpendicularly to this direction of movement and are each provided with at least one elongated rigid support. These two beams may thus serve for fastening the functional elements of the bogies.
The invention also relates to a process for manufacturing a bogie as described hereinabove and, more specifically, to a process which consists in disposing, in a mold for manufacturing the bogie before said bogie is cast, an elongated rigid support adapted to removably receive, at a plurality of locations distributed over its length, means for fastening functional elements of the bogie. Thanks to the process of the invention, the elongated rigid support is integrated in the bogie right from the start of its manufacture, while it may be immobilized with respect thereto by any appropriate means and, in particular, by moulding, screwing or gluing.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3903811 (1975-09-01), Sinclair
patent: 4773334 (1988-09-01), Nowak et al.
patent: 5085151 (1992-02-01), Wako et al.
patent: 0568044 (1993-11-01), None
Alstom Holdings
Avila Stephen
Dowell & Dowell , P.C.
Olson Lars
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