GB1385579A - Railway vehicle and railway system incorporating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

1385579 Railway vehicle guide wheels; railway system MESSERSCHMITT - BOLKOW-BLOHM GmbH 22 Dec 1972 [23 Dec 1971] 59413/72 Heading B7L A railway vehicle having supporting wheels 3 and guide wheels 4, also has a left and righthand pair of displaceable guide wheels 9 carried on a support member 10 which is movable about a vertical axis through a pivot pin 12 into either of two end positions to present either guide wheel 9 for engagement with a guide rail (e.g. rail 33 on Fig. 3), and an operating mechanism 13, 14, 15 which can be set to bias the member 10 into a selected one of its end positions from which member 10 may be displaced against the bias into the other end postion without causing resetting of the operating mechanism. This mechanism comprises a lever 13 pivotable about the pin 12, an arm 14 which is slidable in an end piece 21 of the lever 13 and is pivotally connected to the member 10 at a pin 23, and a spring 15 between the pin 23 and the end piece 21. Pin 23 is guided in a slot 24 in the top wall 16 of body 1 housing the mechanism, and side walls 31 of the body 1 act as stops for limiting movement of the lever 13. As shown in Fig. 3, guide rails 33 and 34 are provided at points in a railway system for alternative engagement by the appropriate wheel 9 to guide the vehicle at 32 into the track preselected by setting of the operating mechanism. When a vehicle approaches the points from the opposite side thereof, e.g. at 36, a control rail 37 contacts a wheel 9 and displaces the member 10 so that the other wheel 9 is positioned to engage the relevant guide rail 34 (or 33). This displacement is achieved regardless of the setting of the mechanism 13, 14,15, and this setting may be changed even while approaching or passing through the points if so desired in preparation for subsequent points, since when the vehicle has passed the points, the bias of spring 15 returns the mechanism to the chosen setting. The railway system may be ground based, or it may be of overhead type as shown in Fig. 5, where the wheels 3, 4 and 9 all run within a slotted conduit but additional guide wheels 43 are provided to help support the vehicle during a gap in a support surface 5 at points. The vehicle may be driven by a linear motor having stators fixed to side walls 8 of the conduit.