Process and apparatus for testing the axles and/or springs and/or adjacent components of commercial vehicles

Abstract

The invention provides a process and an apparatus for testing commercial icle axles and/or springs and/or components adjacent thereto under load conditions resembling those occurring in practice. An entire commercial vehicle axle with two commercial vehicle springs and original attachment parts are tested by the introduction of low frequency deformations of vertical forces into a supporting assembly and of lateral forces, longitudinal forces and high frequency vertical wheel forces in each case into a wheel substitute or wheel or a brake force transmitting lever. In the course of this test, the supporting assembly is tilted about a pivot shaft or pivot axis which is displaceable in the vertical direction so that the axle of the commercial vehicle remains parallel to the horizontal. Vertical spring excursions and tilting of the supporting assembly are brought about by two vertical force generators which act on the supporting assembly and produce forces of reaction at the point of contact of the wheel tread with the vertical support. For testing the springs of the commercial vehicle alone, only one lateral force generator is used instead of two; and for the introduction of braking and driving forces and/or longitudinal forces, only one braking and driving force generator is used instead of two and, respectively, only one longitudinal force generator instead of two. The single force generator then acts at the center of the axle by way of a force transmitting means which is fixed to the right and the left wheel substitute or the right and left brake force transmitting lever.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.