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US 6,598,538 B2Granted
Rail wheel stop mechanism for road/rail vehicle
AssigneeBrandt Industries Ltd.
InventorsJim Semple, Jeff Doka
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBrandt Industries Ltd.
InventorsJim Semple, Jeff Doka
Estimating the term…
For use with a road/rail vehicle that is convertible from a road mode for traveling on a road, to a rail mode for traveling on rails, an apparatus for mounting a rail wheel to the vehicle. The apparatus comprises an air bag bearing against the rail wheel and the vehicle frame such that the vehicle frame is supported on the rail wheel by the air bag and such that the vehicle frame can move up and down with respect to the rail wheel in response to motion of the vehicle along a set of rails. A stop mechanism is attached to the vehicle frame and to the rail wheel and is operative to allow the vehicle frame to move down with respect to the rail wheel only to a stopped position where adjacent road wheels of the vehicle are above the rails. A kit allows installation on existing road/rail vehicles.
For use with a road/rail vehicle, the vehicle convertible from a road mode for traveling on a road, to a rail mode for traveling on a set of rails, an apparatus for mounting a rail wheel to the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
For use with a road/rail vehicle, the vehicle convertible from a road mode for traveling on a road, to a rail mode for traveling on a set of rails, an apparatus for mounting a rail wheel to the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
A kit for use with a road/rail vehicle, the vehicle convertible from a road, mode for traveling on a road, to a rail mode for traveling on a set of rails, the vehicle when in rail mode supported on a rail wheel by an air bag, the vehicle including a source of pressurized fluid operatively connected to the air bag to supply pressurized fluid to the air bag such that the air bag bears against the rail wheel and against a vehicle frame and such that the vehicle frame can move up and down with respect to the rail wheel in response to motion of the vehicle along the set of rails, the vehicle further including a control to release the pressurized fluid from the air bag and an actuator operatively connected to the vehicle frame and to the rail wheel, the actuator operative to selectively move the rail wheel from a raised road mode position to a lowered rail mode position, the kit comprising:
A kit for use with a road/rail vehicle, the vehicle convertible from a road mode for traveling on a road, to a rail mode for traveling on a set of rails, the vehicle when in rail mode supported on a rail wheel by an air bag, the vehicle including a source of pressurized fluid operatively connected to the air bag to supply pressurized fluid to the air bag such that the air bag bears against the rail wheel and against a vehicle frame and such that the vehicle frame can move up and down with respect to the rail wheel in response to motion of the vehicle along the set of rails, the vehicle further including a control to release the pressurized fluid from the air bag and an actuator operatively connected to the vehicle frame and to the rail wheel, the actuator operative to selectively move the rail wheel from a raised road mode position to a lowered rail mode position, the kit comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Guides, e.g. plates, for axle-boxes: the guiding device including swinging arms or the like to ensure the parallelism of the axles
Vehicles for use both on rail and on road; Conversions therefor: with rail and road wheels on different axles
Rail vehicle suspensions
Vehicles for use both on rail and on road
Term ended 4 Oct 2021 (estimated)
This invention is in the field of vehicles for road and rail use and in particular the suspension of such vehicles.
Vehicles adapted for road and rail use are well known. Commonly a truck or highway tractor will include conventional rubber tired wheels for road use, and a set of rail wheels which allow the truck to travel on railway lines. Short-line railways have made such convertible highway tractors, or road/rail power units, popular for economically pulling small numbers of rail cars on low volume rail lines. Conventional railways also use them for shunting, maintenance, and like jobs where large locomotives are not required and are uneconomical. The road/rail power units are more versatile than locomotives as they allow for direct movement between rail lines on roads. Towed vehicles are also known that convert from road to rail modes.
The suspension of such vehicles typically includes some apparatus to raise and lower the rail wheels, and may further include mechanisms for raising at least some road wheels. It is necessary that those wheels of either kind that are not being used are removed from the road or rail so as not to interfere with the operation of the vehicle in the particular mode it is operating in.
While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions hereof, preferred embodiments are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best understood in conjunction with the accompanying diagrams where like parts in each of the several diagrams are labeled with like numbers, and where:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a prior art suspension for a road/rail vehicle in rail mode;
FIG. 2 is a front view of an apparatus of the invention in rail mode;
FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6 illustrate, for use with a road/rail vehicle convertible from a road mode for traveling on a road, to a rail mode for traveling on rails, an apparatus 1 for mounting a rail wheel to the vehicle. The apparatus 1 comprises an air bag 2 and a conventional source of pressurized fluid (not illustrated) is operatively connected to the air bag 2 to supply pressurized air or similar fluid. A control is operative to release pressurized fluid from the air bag 2.
A rail wheel assembly 4 includes a rail wheel 6 rotatably mounted to one end of a pivot member 8. The opposite end of the pivot member 8 is pivotally mounted to the vehicle frame 10 at frame member 11. An actuator, such as the illustrated hydraulic cylinder 12, is operatively connected to the vehicle frame 10 and to the pivot member 8 and is operative to selectively move the rail wheel 6 from a lowered rail mode position as illustrated in FIG. 1 for traveling on a set of rails 16, to a raised road mode position, as illustrated in FIG. 4 for traveling on a road 14. FIGS. 1 and 4 illustrate an example of a prior art suspension, where the air bag 2 is pressurized in FIG. 1, and collapsed in FIG. 4. Other configurations are known in the art as well, and other configurations of the apparatus of the present invention could be readily adapted to such other configurations.
The air bag 2 bears against the rail wheel assembly 4 and against the vehicle frame 10 such that the vehicle frame 10 is supported on the rail wheel 6 by the air bag 2. Once the air bag 2 is pressurized, pressure is released from the hydraulic cylinder 12 so that same can float, allowing the vehicle frame 10 to move up and down with respect to the rail wheel 6 in response to motion of the vehicle along rails 16.