A leaf spring and suspension system with long service life

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of bogie primary suspension systems, and specifically relates to a leaf spring and suspension system with long service life, including an end connector connecting two spring leaves arranged opposite to each other up and down, the end connector including a rotating shaft and two relatively rotatable fixing seats sleeved on the rotating shaft and respectively fixing the two spring leaves, the fixing seats including an enclosing portion enclosing the ends of the spring leaves in at least three directions to fix the spring leaves, the present invention has a long service life and low maintenance cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of bogie primary suspension systems, and in particular relates to a leaf spring and a suspension system with long service life. Background Art

[0002] Fiber-reinforced composite materials have the advantages of high specific strength, corrosion resistance and high fatigue life, and are increasingly widely used in lightweight rail vehicles. With the development of rail transportation, the operating speed of rail vehicles continues to increase, requiring smaller axle weights, and there is an urgent need to lightweight train bogies to reduce wheel-rail impact and reduce operating energy consumption. Composite leaf springs have begun to be used in bogie primary suspensions due to their small lateral space and obvious lightweight effect.

[0003] Its application structure is mainly two-piece buckled elliptical leaf springs. When the upper and lower leaf springs of the elliptical leaf spring are subjected to vertical loads, the ends extend outward and the ends rotate around the axis in the width direction of the leaf spring. Its end connection device not only connects the upper and lower leaf springs and transmits vertical force, but also can rotate around the common end axis and extend in the length direction during the vertical loading process. However, in actual application conditions, the stiffness of the upper and lower spring leaves of the leaf spring cannot be exactly the same, so the elongation of the upper and lower spring leaves cannot be completely consistent when loaded.

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the prior art mostly adopts the end connection method of laminated spring or rubber bushing, and the core of its design is how to realize the end connection device to connect the upper and lower spring leaves, which can transmit the vertical bearing force, and can eliminate the longitudinal displacement between the upper and lower spring leaves through the rubber bushing when the leaf spring is under load, and make the upper and lower spring leaves rotate around the two ends. Its connection mostly adopts pin hole matching and bolt connection, which can play a certain role in preventing disengagement, but both pin hole matching and bolt connection require processing holes on the leaf spring body, which will cause continuous fiber breakage and greatly reduce the life of the leaf spring body.

[0005] The bogie is one of the most important components in the rail vehicle structure, and almost determines the dynamic performance of the rail vehicle. The primary suspension device is an elastic device connecting the wheelset and the bogie frame. Its function is to transfer the mass and load of the vehicle to the axle, ease the interaction between the wheel and the rail, improve the comfort and stability of the vehicle operation, and ensure the comfort and safety of passengers. Therefore, the reliability of the primary suspension device is particularly critical. Summary of the invention

[0006] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a leaf spring and a suspension system with a long service life.

[0007] The present invention is a leaf spring with a long service life, comprising an end connecting piece connecting two spring leaves arranged opposite to each other up and down, the end connecting piece comprising a rotating shaft and two relatively rotatable fixing seats sleeved on the rotating shaft and respectively fixing the two spring leaves, the fixing seats comprising an enclosing portion enclosing the ends of the spring leaves in at least three directions to fix the spring leaves.

[0008] The three directions of the present invention include at least the bottom, top and end of the spring sheet, and may also include one or two side portions of the spring sheet. The enclosed portion in at least three directions is used to fix the spring sheet, ensure the longitudinal and lateral positioning of the upper and lower spring sheets, and limit the longitudinal and lateral movement, while preventing the upper and lower spring sheets from vertically disengaging and longitudinally shifting.

[0009] The fixing seat includes a fixing sleeve sleeved on the rotating shaft, a supporting plate fixed on the fixing sleeve and adapted to the spring sheet, an end baffle fixed on the supporting plate and located at the end of the spring sheet, and a side baffle located at the side of the spring sheet. The spring sheet is provided with an end limiting plate, a card slot is provided on the end limiting plate, and a buckle plate adapted to the card slot and used to fix the spring sheet is fixed on the end baffle or the side baffle.

[0010] The bearing plate is adapted to the spring sheet, the end baffle is located at the end of the spring sheet, and the side baffle is located at the side of the spring sheet.

[0011] In one embodiment, the fixing seat includes two support seats for fixing one spring sheet and two outer sleeve seats for fixing another spring sheet, and the two support seats are located on both sides of the two outer sleeve seats. The present invention has two end connectors, and each end connector contains four fixing seats, and the four fixing seats are independent of each other. Two fixing seats are in the middle, which are outer sleeve seats, and two fixing seats are at both ends, which are support seats. Preferably, the outer sleeve seat is used to fix the lower spring sheet, and the support seat is used to fix the upper spring sheet, which can avoid water or debris accumulation in the cavity formed between the middle of the outer sleeve seat and the support seat for easy rotation, causing damage to the end connector; the outer sleeve seat is located in the middle, which can better bear the pressure. The present application has two end connectors, which are respectively arranged at the two ends of the spring sheet, and the spring sheet includes an upper spring sheet and a lower spring sheet. The bearing plate of the support seat of the present application is adapted and fitted with the upper part of the upper spring sheet, and the bearing plate of the outer sleeve seat of the present application is adapted and fitted with the upper part of the lower spring sheet. Specifically, for the lower spring leaf, the end of the lower spring leaf abuts against the end baffle, the side of the lower spring leaf abuts against the side baffle, and the lower part of the lower spring leaf abuts against the buckle plate, so the five directions of the end of the lower spring leaf are restricted by the end connector, and similarly, the two ends of the upper spring leaf are also restricted. In addition, there are no slots on the spring leaf to prevent the continuous fibers of the spring leaf from being cut, thereby ensuring the structural strength of the spring leaf and effectively extending the service life of the leaf spring.

[0012] In order to further limit the relative displacement between the end connector and the spring sheet, the present application provides an end limit plate on the spring sheet, and the end limit plate is provided with a card slot. The card slot and the buckle plate cooperate to further limit the possibility of displacement of the spring sheet and the end connector, and prevent the spring sheet from shifting with the end connector under complex working conditions, causing the spring sheet to fall out of the end connector and damage the spring sheet and the end connector.

[0013] In one embodiment, a buckle plate adapted to the card slot is fixed on the side baffle for fixing the spring sheet. The buckle plate is arranged on the side baffle. On the one hand, it is closer to the center of the torque, and on the other hand, it has better wrapping properties, which can better prevent the spring sheet from falling out of the end connector and damage the spring sheet and the end connector.

[0014] In one embodiment, the end limit plate is a glass fiber plate, which can be made of the same material as the spring sheet, so as to achieve better integration and avoid damage to the main body of the spring sheet.

[0015] In one embodiment, a through hole is provided in the rotating shaft, and a bolt passing through the through hole for hingedly connecting the two fixing seats is also provided. The ends of the bolt are fixed by nuts, and the structure is simple.

[0016] In one embodiment, a bushing (preferably a rubber bushing) is provided on the rotating shaft, the outer sleeve seat is sleeved on the bushing, and the support seat is sleeved on the rotating shaft. The bushing of the present invention is not located in the entire rotating shaft, but only in the middle part, that is, the position of the outer sleeve seat. At this time, different apertures are required between the outer sleeve seat and the support seat to adapt to the different rotating shaft diameters in the middle part. Therefore, the outer sleeve seat and the support seat will be isolated to a certain extent by the rubber bushing to prevent the two from squeezing and colliding with each other and damaging each other during rotation. In addition, the bushing can also prevent damage to the rotating shaft and the fixed seat during rotation.

[0017] In one embodiment, a pad is provided in the middle of the spring sheet, and the pad is preferably a non-metal pad.

[0018] In one embodiment, the spring leaf includes a middle connecting section, a middle equal stress section and an end connecting section which are connected in sequence from the middle to the end. The thickness of the middle equal stress section changes in a parabolic manner, which can reduce the shear stress between the leaf spring layers.

[0019] The invention provides a suspension system, comprising the leaf spring.

[0020] The beneficial effect of the present invention is that the present invention realizes the function of end connection, has an anti-slip structure, does not destroy the continuity of the leaf spring reinforcing fibers, effectively reduces maintenance costs, and prolongs the service life of the leaf spring.

[0021] The present invention adopts an end connector to connect the upper and lower spring leaves without damaging the continuity of the fibers at the end of the leaf spring, so as to transmit the vertical bearing force. The upper and lower spring leaves of the leaf spring can be made of fiber-reinforced composite materials, and the leaf spring can eliminate the longitudinal displacement between the upper and lower spring leaves when bearing loads and can rotate around the two ends. It has an anti-slip structure, which effectively improves the service life of the composite leaf spring body and the safety and reliability of the assembly. The leaf spring structure adopted by the present invention has uniform stress distribution and uses the least material, which can reduce the interlaminar shear stress, and adopts a non-metallic pad with high reliability, which can improve the reliability of the composite leaf spring body and reduce the production and maintenance costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 The figure is a schematic side view of a spring sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of an exploded view of an end connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 The figure is a schematic diagram of the outer sleeve seat structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 5 The figure is a schematic diagram of the support base structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] In the figure, 1 is a spring sheet, 11 is a middle connecting section, 12 is a middle equal stress section, 13 is an end connecting section, 14 is an end limit plate, 2 is an end connecting piece, 2 is a left support seat, 22 is a left outer sleeve seat, 23 is a right outer sleeve seat, 24 is a right support seat, 25 is a bushing, 26 is a bolt, 27 is a gasket, 28 is a nut, 29 is a rotating shaft; 211 is a side baffle of a support seat, 212 is a bearing plate of a support seat, 213 is an end baffle of a support seat, 214 is a mounting hole of a support seat, 215 is a buckle plate of a support seat; 221 is a side baffle of an outer sleeve seat, 222 is a bearing plate of an outer sleeve seat, 223 is an end baffle of an outer sleeve seat, 224 is a mounting hole of an outer sleeve seat, 225 is a buckle plate of an outer sleeve seat, and 3 is a pad. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] like Figure 1-5As shown, a leaf spring with a long service life includes an end connector 2 connecting two spring leaves 1 arranged opposite to each other in an upper and lower direction, the end connector 2 includes a rotating shaft 29 and two fixing seats sleeved on the rotating shaft 29 for fixing the two spring leaves, the fixing seat includes a fixing sleeve sleeved on the rotating shaft 29, a bearing plate fixed on the fixing sleeve and adapted to the spring leaf 1, an end baffle fixed on the bearing plate and located at the end of the spring leaf 1, and a side baffle located on the side of the spring leaf, the spring leaf 1 is provided with an end limiting plate 14, the end limiting plate 14 is provided with a card slot, and a buckle plate adapted to the card slot and used to fix the spring leaf is fixed on the end baffle or the side baffle.

[0029] The spring sheet is in an arch shape, and two spring sheets are arranged up and down to form an elliptical leaf spring through an end connector 2. The arch leaf spring adopts a single-piece structure, and the material is epoxy resin reinforced fiber prepreg, and the reinforced fiber is continuous fiber such as glass fiber and carbon fiber.

[0030] A buckle plate adapted to the slot and used to fix the spring sheet is fixed on the side baffle.

[0031] The end limiting plate 14 is a glass fiber board.

[0032] The rotating shaft 29 is provided with a through hole therein, and also includes a bolt 26 passing through the through hole for hingedly connecting the two fixing seats.

[0033] The fixing seat comprises two supporting seats for fixing one spring sheet and two outer sleeve seats for fixing another spring sheet, and the two supporting seats are located on both sides of the two outer sleeve seats.

[0034] The rotating shaft 29 is provided with a bushing 25 , the outer sleeve seat is sleeved on the bushing 25 , and the supporting seat is sleeved on the rotating shaft 29 .

[0035] The bushing 25 is a rubber bushing.

[0036] like Figure 3-5 As shown, the outer sleeve seat includes a left outer sleeve seat 22 and a right outer sleeve seat 23, each of which includes a fixing sleeve, an outer sleeve seat bearing plate 222, an outer sleeve seat end baffle 223, and an outer sleeve seat side baffle 221. The fixing sleeve is provided with an outer sleeve seat mounting hole 224 for matching with the bushing 25. The left and right outer sleeve seats are also provided with an outer sleeve seat buckle plate 225 for matching with the card slot, which has the functions of press-fit positioning and anti-rotation, and can prevent the end of the leaf spring from falling out of the end outer sleeve seat.

[0037] The support seat includes a left support seat 21 and a right support seat 24, each support seat includes a fixed sleeve, a support seat side baffle 211, a support seat bearing plate 212 and a support seat end baffle 213. The fixed sleeve is provided with a support seat mounting hole 214 for cooperating with the rotating shaft, and the support seat side baffle 211 is provided with a support seat buckle plate 215 for cooperating with the card slot. It has press-fit positioning and anti-rotation functions, which can prevent the end of the leaf spring from falling out of the end sleeve seat.

[0038] First, install the bushing 25 on the shaft 29, and put the left outer sleeve 22 and the right outer sleeve 23 on the bushing 25, then install the left support seat 21 and the right support seat 24 on the shaft, install the end of the spring sheet in the space formed by the bearing plate, the end baffle, the side baffle and the gusset plate, insert the bolt 26 and the gasket 27, and tighten the nut 28 to fix it. At this time, the upper and lower spring sheets can make a certain degree of relative movement in the direction of the shaft to form a leaf spring.

[0039] The bushing 25 of the present invention is pressed into the left outer sleeve seat 22 and the right outer sleeve seat 23 by interference, and the rotating shaft 29 is pressed into the left support seat 21, the right support seat 24 and the bushing 25 by interference. The interference connection part between the bushing 25 and the rotating shaft 29 is a circle of thin rubber layer.

[0040] A pad 3 is arranged in the middle of the spring sheet 1. The pad 3 is a non-metallic pad. The non-metallic pad is made of multiple layers of impregnated cord fabric or impregnated canvas. The impregnated cord fabric and the impregnated canvas can be vulcanized first and then bonded to the bow leaf spring, or they can be directly laid on the bow leaf spring and cured together with the leaf spring, thereby improving the reliability of the non-metallic pad and effectively protecting the composite leaf spring.

[0041] The spring leaf 1 includes a middle connecting section 11, a middle iso-stress section 12 and an end connecting section 13 which are connected in sequence from the middle to the end. The thickness of the middle iso-stress section 12 changes in a parabolic manner. The middle iso-stress section adopts a parabolic variable thickness design to achieve equal stress along the length direction of the leaf spring and the least material; the middle connecting section and the end connecting section adopt an increased thickness design, with the thickness increased by 2mm to 10mm, which can reduce the interlaminar shear stress of the leaf spring.

[0042] A suspension system comprises the leaf spring.

[0043] A person skilled in the art should understand that the discussion of any of the above embodiments is merely illustrative and is not intended to imply that the scope of protection of the present application is limited to these examples. In line with the concept of the present application, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments may be combined, the steps may be implemented in any order, and there are many other variations of different aspects of one or more embodiments of the present application as described above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of simplicity.

[0044] One or more embodiments of the present application are intended to cover all such substitutions, modifications and variations that fall within the broad scope of the present application. Therefore, any omissions, modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of one or more embodiments of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A leaf spring with a long service life, characterized in that: The invention comprises an end connecting member (2) for connecting two spring sheets (1) arranged opposite to each other in an upper and lower direction, the end connecting member (2) comprising a rotating shaft (29) and two relatively rotatable fixing seats sleeved on the rotating shaft (29) for fixing the two spring sheets (1) respectively, the fixing seats comprising an enclosing portion enclosing the end of the spring sheet (1) in at least three directions so as to fix the spring sheet (1); The fixing seat comprises a fixing sleeve sleeved on the rotating shaft (29), a bearing plate fixed on the fixing sleeve and adapted to the spring sheet (1), an end baffle fixed on the bearing plate and located at the end of the spring sheet (1), and a side baffle located at the side of the spring sheet, the spring sheet (1) is provided with an end limit plate (14), the end limit plate (14) is provided with a slot, and a buckle plate adapted to the slot and used to fix the spring sheet is fixed on the end baffle or the side baffle.

2. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: A buckle plate adapted to the slot and used to fix the spring sheet is fixed on the side baffle.

3. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The rotating shaft (29) is provided with a through hole and also includes a bolt (26) passing through the through hole and used for hingedly connecting the two fixing seats.

4. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The fixing seat comprises two supporting seats for fixing one spring sheet and two outer sleeve seats for fixing another spring sheet, and the two supporting seats are located on both sides of the two outer sleeve seats.

5. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The rotating shaft (29) is provided with a bushing (25), the outer sleeve seat is sleeved on the bushing (25), and the support seat is sleeved on the rotating shaft (29).

6. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The bushing (25) is a rubber bushing.

7. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: A backing plate (3) is provided in the middle of the spring sheet (1).

8. The leaf spring with a long service life as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The spring sheet (1) comprises a middle connecting section (11), a middle iso-stress section (12) and an end connecting section (13) which are connected in sequence from the middle to the end, and the thickness of the middle iso-stress section (12) changes in a parabolic manner.

9. A suspension system, characterized in that: Comprising a leaf spring as described in any one of claims 1-8.

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