US4151801A — Self-steering railway truck

Claim 1

Independent Claim 332 words

A railway truck having a longitudinal axis in its direction of travel and comprising at least two live wheelsets each having a pair of wheels with profiled treads solidly mounted on an axle, the wheel treads being of a high effective conicity whereby steering forces are generated on curved track by the conical thread independently of the wheel flanges; axle supported bearing means on each wheelset; adapter means on each axle supported bearing means, load-bearing means for distributing truck load forces to each bearing means; elastic constraint means interposed between the load-bearing means and the adaptor means on each axle supported bearing means to provide elastic constraints to lateral and yawing movements of each wheelset relatively to the load-bearing means, the elastic constraints on each wheelset being lower than the steering forces generated by the conical head on curved track so that each wheelset is substantially self steering; and means interconnected the wheelsets to transmit yawing and lateral movements of either wheelset in opposite sense to the other wheelset, whereby hunting of each wheelset is counteracted while the self-steering ability of each wheelset is maintained, the interconnecting means including an extension secured to each adapter means a pair of arms on each side of the longitudinal axis of the truck, the arms on the same side of the truck extending generally towards each other with each arm being solidly secured at one end to the free end of an extension on each wheelset on each side of the truck to transmit moments in a plane parallel to the general plane containing the axes of the wheelsets to that wheelset, and means coupling the other ends of the arms on the same side of the truck together to allow lost motion in the longitudinal direction of the truck between these ends while transmitting movement of each of the arms in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis and in the plane parallel to the general plane containing the axles to the other arm.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 332 words

A railway truck having a longitudinal axis in its direction of travel and comprising at least two live wheelsets each having a pair of wheels with profiled treads solidly mounted on an axle, the wheel treads being of a high effective conicity whereby steering forces are generated on curved track by the conical thread independently of the wheel flanges; axle supported bearing means on each wheelset; adapter means on each axle supported bearing means, load-bearing means for distributing truck load forces to each bearing means; elastic constraint means interposed between the load-bearing means and the adaptor means on each axle supported bearing means to provide elastic constraints to lateral and yawing movements of each wheelset relatively to the load-bearing means, the elastic constraints on each wheelset being lower than the steering forces generated by the conical head on curved track so that each wheelset is substantially self steering; and means interconnected the wheelsets to transmit yawing and lateral movements of either wheelset in opposite sense to the other wheelset, whereby hunting of each wheelset is counteracted while the self-steering ability of each wheelset is maintained, the interconnecting means including an extension secured to each adapter means a pair of arms on each side of the longitudinal axis of the truck, the arms on the same side of the truck extending generally towards each other with each arm being solidly secured at one end to the free end of an extension on each wheelset on each side of the truck to transmit moments in a plane parallel to the general plane containing the axes of the wheelsets to that wheelset, and means coupling the other ends of the arms on the same side of the truck together to allow lost motion in the longitudinal direction of the truck between these ends while transmitting movement of each of the arms in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis and in the plane parallel to the general plane containing the axles to the other arm.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 23 words

A truck as claimed in claim 1 in which the coupling means comprises two elements inter-engaged with and slidable relatively to one another.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 22 words

A truck as claimed in claim 2 in which the interengaging elements are a cylinder and a piston reciprocable within the cylinder.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 51 words

A truck as claimed in claim 2 in which the interengaged elements are arcuate, each of the elements being supported by arcuate arms on a circular path centred on a point on the longitudinal axis of the truck midway between the wheelsets, and each arm is solidly secured to an element.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 60 words

A truck as claimed in claim 2, in which the interengaging elements define between one another at least one variable volume chamber and means is provided to restrict the flow of fluid into and out of the chamber so that the interengaging elements form a fluid damper that resists motion between the ends of the arms which are coupled together.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 14 words

A truck as claimed in claim 5, in which the fluid is a gas.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 15 words

A truck as claimed in claim 5, in which the fluid is a hydraulic fluid.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 37 words

A truck as claimed in claim 2, in which one of the interengaging elements is pivotally connected about a vertical axis to one of the arms and the other element is solidly connected to the other arm.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 37 words

A truck as claimed in claim 8, in which the vertical axis for the pivotal connection passes through the transverse axis of the truck midway between and parallel to the wheelsets when they are parallel and square.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 41 words

A truck as claimed in claim 2, in which the coupling elements are arcuate, each arcuate element being supported by arcuate arms on a circular path centred on a point on the longitudinal axis of the truck midway between the wheelsets.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 27 words

A truck as claimed in claim 10, in which the arcuate arms of a pair of arms that are coupled to each other are of unequal length.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1982-04-30	1982-10-30	1983-05-01	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1986-04-30	1986-10-30	1987-05-01	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1990-04-30	1990-10-30	1991-05-01	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Self-steering railway truck

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