US 4,346,659 AGranted

Bi-modal mechanically trackable road vehicle with automatic axle latching mechanism

AssigneeDaimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft

InventorHellmuth Binder

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Abstract

A bi-modal mechanically trackable vehicle adapted to be rail driven with or without a guide track, the vehicle including at least one non-steerable axle having non-steerable wheels mounted thereon, a plurality of tracking transverse guide rollers are provided for guiding the vehicle along the track. The transverse guide rollers are at least indirectly mounted at the non-steerable axle in an area of the respective wheels so as to be transversely displaceable. The non-steerable axle is mounted on the vehicle so as to be freely pivotable about a vertical axis. An arrangement is provided for automatically selectively locking the at least one non-steerable axle in an exact transverse position for driving without a guide track and for unlocking the at least one non-steerable axle from the exact transverse position. The locking and unlocking arrangement includes a latch longitudinally displaceably mounted on the non-steerable axle and a retainer mounted on the frame of the vehicle so as to be immovable at least in a transverse direction. The retainer includes a latch retainer adapted to engage the latch in a substantially shape-fitting fashion when the at least one non-rotatable steering axle is in the exact transverse position.

Claims37

Dependent claims

A bi-modal mechanically trackable vehicle adapted to be driven with or without a guide track, the vehicle including at least one non-steerable axle having non-steerable wheels mounted thereon, at least one tracking transverse guide roller means on each side of the vehicle for guiding the vehicle along a guide track, means for mounting the at least one non-steerable axle on the vehicle so as to be freely pivotable about a vertical axis, means for at least indirectly mounting the at least one transverse guide roller means at the at least one non-steerable axle in an area of the wheels so as to be displaceable transversely of the vehicle within pre-set limits and for participation in the pivotable movement of the non-steerable axle, and means for automatically selectively locking the at least one non-steerable axle in an exact transverse position for driving of the vehicle without a guide track and for unlocking the at least one non-steerable axle from the exact transverse position for driving of the vehicle with a guide track, characterized in that the locking means includes a latch means longitudinally displaceable mounted on the non-steerable axle means, a latch retaining means for engaging the latch means in a substantially shape-mating fashion when the at least one non-steerable axle is in the exact transverse position, means for mounting the latch retaining means on a frame of the vehicle so as to be immovably retainable at least with respect to a transverse direction of the vehicle, and in that means are provided for coupling the latch means to the transverse guide roller means so as to enable the latch means to be longitudinally displaced by the transverse guide roller means to unlock the at least one non-steerable axle for driving on the guide track in response to transverse displacement of one of the at least one guide roller means between said pre-set limits by engagement with a guide track.

A bi-modal mechanically trackable vehicle adapted to be driven with or without a guide track, the vehicle including at least one non-steerable axle having non-steerable wheels mounted thereon, at least one tracking transverse guide roller means for guiding the vehicle along a guide track, means for at least indirectly mounting the at least one transverse guide roller means at the at least one non-steerable axle in an area of the wheels so as to be displaceable transversely of the vehicle, means for mounting the at least one non-steerable axle on the vehicle so as to be freely pivotable about a vertical axis, and means for automatically selectively locking the at least one non-steerable axle in an exact transverse position for driving of the vehicle without a guide track and for unlocking the at least one non-steerable axle from the exact transverse position for driving of the vehicle with a guide track, characterized in that the locking means includes a latch means longitudinally displaceable mounted on the non-steerable axle means, a latch retaining means for engaging the latch means in a substantially shape-mating fashion when the at least one non-steerable axle is in the exact transverse position, means for mounting the latch retaining means on a frame of the vehicle so as to be immovably retainable at least with respect to a transverse direction of the vehicle, in that means are provided for coupling the latch means to the transverse guide roller means so as to enable the latch means to be longitudinally displaced by the transverse guide roller means to unlock the at least one non-steerable axle for driving on the guide track, and in that the means for mounting the latch retaining means on the frame of the vehicle includes a transverse control arm means for articulatingly connecting the latch retaining means to the vehicle frame, and in that means are provided for enabling the latch retaining means to be longitudinally displaceable with respect to the supporting arm.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.