# US 11,994,384 B2 · Method for radially aligning wheelsets of rail vehicles

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- Number: US 11,994,384 B2
- Document ID: US11994384B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/277,068
- Filed: 2019-10-11
- Published: 2021-12-02
- Granted: 2024-05-28
- Earliest claimed: 2018-10-12
- Assignees: Hegenscheidt-MFD GmbH & Co. KG
- Applicants: Hegenscheidt-Mfd GmbH
- Inventors: John Oliver Naumann; Sascha Tholen; Karl Müller
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11994384B2

## CPC

- G01B 21/24: for testing alignment of axes
- B61K 9/12: Measuring or surveying wheel-rims
- G01M 17/10: Suspensions, axles or wheels
- G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
- B61K: AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR RAILWAYS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G01M: TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method for radially aligning wheelsets of rail vehicles relative to a coordinate system of a wheelset diagnosis tool and/or wheelset machine tool, which method can be implemented quickly with sufficient precision and comprises the following steps: a) positioning the wheelset at a working position of the tool; b) defining a tool-side coordinate system in an assumed wheel centre point of each wheel, where an X-axis adopts a vertical extent, a Y-axis adopts a horizontal extent and a Z-axis describes the resulting depth extent of the wheel; c) measuring the distance of the wheel backs with respect to one another and defining the Z-position=0 on each wheel back; d) defining a unique Z-position for each measuring point; e) positioning each measuring sensor at the specified Z-position; f) measuring the X-position of each measuring point; g) aligning the wheelset by vertically displacing one of the wheels in order to match the X-positions of the measuring points of two wheels.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for radially aligning wheelsets of rail vehicles relative to a coordinate system of a wheelset diagnosis tool and/or wheelset machine tool, wherein one wheelset comprises two wheels which are arranged on a common axis with their wheel backs pointing to one another, characterized by the following steps:
a) positioning of the wheelset at a working position of the tool;
b) defining a tool-side coordinate system in an assumed wheel centre point of each wheel, wherein an X-axis adopts a vertical extent, a Y-axis adopts a horizontal extent and a Z-axis describes the resulting depth extent of the wheel;
c) measuring the distance of the wheel backs with respect to one another and defining the Z-position=0 on the respective wheel back;
d) defining a unique Z-position for measuring points Za and Zb of the two wheels at a distance from the Z positions=0, whereby the measuring points Za and Zb are located at the same Z position of the coordinate systems of the two wheels and at respective zero points of the X axis relative to a machine axis as at least a virtual axis in the area of the wheel centre;
e) positioning one measuring sensor at the each specified Z-position of the measuring points Za and Zb;
f) measuring the X-positions for the Z-positions of the measuring points Za and Zb;
g) determining a difference ΔX from the X positions for the Z positions of the measuring points Za and Zb; and
h) aligning the wheelset by vertically displacing one of the wheels in order to align the X-positions of the measuring points Za and Zb of the two wheels, where ΔX=0.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the Z-position defines a measuring circle plane for a measuring point.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein a vertex of a wheel flange dome is being defined as the Z-position.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the higher standing wheel is being lowered in order to synchronize the X-positions of the measuring points of both wheels.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the lower standing wheel is being lifted in order synchronize the X-positions of the measuring points of both wheels.