Semitrailer tractor dolly active steering vehicle, long consist train and steering control method

Abstract

The application provides a semi-trailer traction trailer table active steering vehicle, a long marshalling train and a steering control method, belongs to the technical field of train steering, and comprises a front steering trailer table and a semi-trailer, the front end of the semi-trailer is arranged on the front steering trailer table, the front steering trailer table is used for being connected with a preceding vehicle, the front steering trailer table comprises a rotary drive device, a front trailer axle and two side wheels, the rotary drive device can drive the front trailer axle to rotate so that the rear vehicle moves along the moving track of the preceding vehicle. The application also provides a long marshalling train and a trailer active steering control method. The application realizes track following of all trailers without limit of the number of trailers through active steering of the front steering trailer table, and simultaneously provides a calculation method of the active steering turning angle, so that the traction vehicle and all the rear vehicles move on the same track, and the track deviation problem is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of train steering technology, and in particular to a semi-trailer traction platform active steering vehicle, a long-formation train, and a steering control method. Background Technology

[0002] A full trailer is a freight vehicle consisting of a trailer and a tractor. It is highly efficient and flexible in transporting large and heavy goods, and is therefore widely used in the logistics industry. Currently, the existing full trailers in China do not have steering capabilities. The steering of the trailer is entirely accomplished by the tractor, which greatly increases the wear and tear on the tires and reduces tire lifespan. Furthermore, it is impossible to guarantee that the trajectory of the full trailer and the tractor will coincide.

[0003] To address the above problems, this patent invention provides a full trailer with active steering capability. This not only enables active steering of the full trailer but also ensures that the tractor and trailer tracks coincide. Furthermore, this full trailer structure supports the articulation of multiple vehicle units to form long-formation truck trains, guaranteeing track overlap. Currently, the following companies possess inventions that are similar to this invention.

[0004] Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. has proposed a steerable full trailer. This trailer includes a main frame and two sets of front and rear wheel mechanisms. Two drawbars are connected to the front and rear ends of their respective main frames. The trailer also includes a steering system located at the front of the main frame. This steering system mainly includes a first bogie, a second bogie, two parallel tie rods, and two connecting rods. The first and second bogies and the two connecting rods coordinate the steering of the front and rear axles. The four-bar linkage between the two connecting rods and the double-row axles coordinates the steering between the front and rear double-row axle groups, thus achieving the steering function of the full trailer. However, this steering structure uses double-row axle groups at both the front and rear, and it is a passive steering system. The presence of connecting rods between the double-row axle groups makes the steering structure complex. During steering, the tires experience greater friction with the ground, reducing tire lifespan.

[0005] China National Heavy Duty Truck Group (CNHTC) has proposed a steering system for full trailers. This system primarily comprises a force transmission device connected to a connecting device, which in turn connects to a suspension system with steering arms. The suspension system with steering arms is then connected to the full trailer. Steering of the full trailer is achieved through the transmission of forces between these structures, rather than steering of the trailer's wheels. While this steering structure is simple, the magnitude of the trailer's active steering angle is determined by the magnitude of the forces between the force transmission devices, making it difficult to control the steering angle and compromising reliability and steering accuracy.

[0006] Shandong Jianyu Special Vehicle Co., Ltd. has proposed a front and rear steering device for a full trailer. This device includes a first mounting plate, a second mounting plate, and a third mounting plate. Through the first mounting plate, hollow plate, gantry connecting rod, gears, first pivot, and sliding housing, it prevents the trailer from excessively rotating during the tractor's steering, thus avoiding fishtailing and affecting stability. It also acts as a shock absorber for the trailer when the tractor is steering. The second pivot, torsion spring, second connecting plate, and third connecting plate improve the stability between the drive unit and the trailer on bumpy roads. This steering device solves the problem of poor connection stability between the tractor and trailer in existing systems, but it cannot achieve true active steering for the entire trailer, and the issue of the trailer following the tractor's trajectory is not improved.

[0007] Therefore, a new solution is urgently needed to address the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-trailer traction platform active steering vehicle, a long-formation train, and a steering control method to solve the problems existing in the prior art and to resolve the problem of existing train trajectory deviation.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following solution:

[0010] The present invention provides a semi-trailer tractor with active steering, comprising a front steering trailer and a semi-trailer, wherein the front end of the semi-trailer is mounted on the front steering trailer, the front steering trailer is used to connect with a vehicle in front, the front steering trailer includes a front slewing drive device, a front trailer axle and two side wheels, the front slewing drive device can drive the front trailer axle to rotate so that the vehicle behind moves along the movement trajectory of the vehicle in front.

[0011] Preferably, the front steering trailer includes a front main frame, a front subframe, a saddle, the front slewing drive device, and the front trailer axle; the front subframe is disposed below the front main frame, the front trailer axle is fixedly disposed on the front subframe, the front slewing drive device is disposed between the front subframe and the front main frame and is used to drive the front subframe to rotate the front trailer axle relative to the front main frame; the saddle is disposed on the front main frame, and the front end of the semi-trailer is mounted on the saddle and can rotate relative to the saddle about a vertical axis.

[0012] Preferably, the front steering trailer is connected to the rear end of the vehicle in front via a tow bar.

[0013] Preferably, the front slewing drive device includes a drive motor, a turbine, and a worm gear, wherein the drive motor drives the front trolley axle to rotate via the turbine and the worm gear.

[0014] Preferably, the semi-trailer includes a vehicle body and a rear steering trailer. The rear steering trailer includes a rear main frame, a rear subframe, a rear trailer axle, a rear slewing drive device, and two side wheels. The rear subframe is located below the rear main frame, the rear trailer axle is fixedly mounted on the rear subframe, and the rear slewing drive device is located between the rear subframe and the rear main frame and is used to drive the rear subframe to rotate the rear trailer axle relative to the rear main frame.

[0015] The present invention also provides a long train, comprising: a lead car and a plurality of semi-trailer traction trailers with active steering as described above, wherein the lead car has traction power and the plurality of semi-trailer traction trailers with active steering are sequentially coupled to the lead car.

[0016] Preferably, the lead vehicle includes a tractor and a head semi-trailer.

[0017] The present invention also provides a method for active steering control of a trailer, comprising:

[0018] Step 1: The control system calculates the angle δ that the front trailer axle needs to rotate when the following vehicle moves along the trajectory of the preceding vehicle, based on the real-time positional relationship between the drawbar, the tractor, the front trailer axle, and the semi-trailer.

[0019] Step 2: The control system controls the rotation angle δ of the front trailer axle.

[0020] Preferably, δ is calculated using the following mathematical model:

[0021]

[0022] The R calculation model is as follows:

[0023]

[0024] The length of the drawbar is l, the semi-trailer axle distance L, and the distance d from the rear axle of the preceding vehicle to the drawbar hinge point are known and pre-input into the control system; the angle θ between the drawbar and the semi-trailer is obtained through real-time measurement.

[0025] The present invention achieves the following technical effects compared to the prior art:

[0026] This invention enables the trajectory following of a full trailer with an unlimited number of sections through the active steering of the front steering platform. It also provides a method for calculating the active steering angle, ensuring that the tractor and all vehicles behind it travel on the same trajectory, thus solving the trajectory deviation problem. Attached Figure Description

[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0028] Figure 1 This is a front view of the semi-trailer tractor with active steering provided in Embodiment 1;

[0029] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Top view;

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing the rotation of two vehicles when they are connected (the structure of the front steering trailer has been simplified for clarity of the drawing);

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram for calculating the active rotation angle of the front trailer axle;

[0032] In the diagram: 1 - Front main frame; 2 - Turbine; 3 - Saddle; 4 - Vehicle body; 5 - Front subframe; 6 - Tow bar; 7 - Drive motor; 9 - Rear trailer drive motor; 10 - Rear trailer turbine; 11 - Rear subframe; 12 - Rear main frame. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] The purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-trailer tractor with active steering, a long-formation train, and a steering control method to solve the problems existing in the prior art. By actively steering the front steering platform, the trajectory following of a full trailer with an unlimited number of sections is achieved. At the same time, a method for calculating the active steering angle is given to ensure that the tractor and all vehicles behind it travel on the same trajectory, thus solving the trajectory deviation problem.

[0035] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0036] Example 1

[0037] This embodiment provides a semi-trailer tractor with active steering, such as... Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, it includes a front steering trailer and a semi-trailer. The front end of the semi-trailer is mounted on the front steering trailer. The front steering trailer is connected to the vehicle in front via a drawbar 6. The drawbar 6 is hinged to the vehicle in front. The front steering trailer includes a front slewing drive, a front trailer axle, and wheels on both sides. The front slewing drive can drive the front trailer axle to rotate so that the vehicle behind moves along the movement trajectory of the vehicle in front.

[0038] When the vehicle in front is moving, it can drive the front steering platform to rotate relative to the semi-trailer through the tow bar 6. However, this rotation angle is not enough to make the vehicle behind move along the movement trajectory of the vehicle in front. Therefore, the front slewing drive device is used to correct the direction of the front wheels of the vehicle behind, so that the vehicle behind can move along the movement trajectory of the vehicle in front.

[0039] This invention treats each vehicle as a whole with active steering function, and the control system automatically measures or calculates the steering angle of the following vehicle to achieve the purpose of following the vehicle along the same trajectory.

[0040] Specifically, the front steering trailer includes a front main frame 1, a front subframe 5, a saddle 3, a front slewing drive device, and a front trailer axle. The front subframe 5 is located below the front main frame 1, and the front trailer axle is fixedly mounted on the front subframe 5. The front slewing drive device is located between the front subframe 5 and the front main frame 1 and is used to drive the front subframe 5 to rotate the front trailer axle relative to the front main frame 1. The saddle 3 is mounted on the front main frame 1, and the front end of the semi-trailer is mounted on the saddle 3 and can rotate relative to the saddle 3 around a vertical axis. The connection relationship between the drawbar 6, the saddle 3, the front main frame 1, and the semi-trailer can all adopt the structure in the prior art, and this invention does not improve this structure.

[0041] In some embodiments, the front slewing drive includes a drive motor 7, a turbine 2, and a worm gear, wherein the drive motor 7 drives the front trolley axle to rotate via the turbine 2 and the worm gear.

[0042] Specifically, the motor shaft of the drive motor 7 is connected to the worm gear transmission. The worm gear 2 and the drive motor 7 are fixed on the front main frame 1 and the front subframe 5 respectively, and their positions can be interchanged, as long as the drive motor 7 can drive the front trailer axle to rotate relative to the front main frame 1.

[0043] Of course, in other embodiments, other structures that enable the front towing trolley axle to rotate may also be used.

[0044] In the above embodiment, the rear trailer axle and the vehicle body 4 are relatively fixed in position, that is, the center line of the rear trailer axle coincides with or is parallel to the center line of the vehicle body 4.

[0045] In some embodiments, the semi-trailer includes a vehicle body 4 and a rear steering trailer. The rear steering trailer includes a rear main frame 12, a rear subframe 11, a rear slewing drive, a rear trailer axle, and wheels on both sides. The rear subframe 11 is disposed below the rear main frame 12. The rear trailer axle is fixedly disposed on the rear subframe 11. The rear slewing drive is disposed between the rear subframe 11 and the rear main frame 12 and is used to drive the rear subframe 11 to rotate the rear trailer axle relative to the rear main frame 12.

[0046] The rear slewing drive unit includes a rear slewing drive motor 9, a rear slewing turbine 10, and a rear slewing worm gear.

[0047] The drive mechanism of the rear trailer axle of the semi-trailer is the same as that of the front trailer axle in the front steering trailer.

[0048] In this embodiment, the full trailer consists of a vehicle body 4, a front steering trailer, and a rear steering trailer. In other embodiments, a traditional semi-trailer and a front steering trailer can also be used to form a full trailer to achieve the purpose of trajectory following.

[0049] Example 2

[0050] This embodiment provides a long train, including: a lead car and multiple semi-trailer traction trailer vehicles with active steering as described in Embodiment 1. The lead car has traction power, and the multiple semi-trailer traction trailer vehicles with active steering are sequentially attached to the lead car.

[0051] The lead vehicle consists of a tractor unit and a semi-trailer unit. The lead vehicle is the vehicle at the very front, and the subsequent vehicles follow in sequence.

[0052] Example 3

[0053] This embodiment provides a method for active steering control of trailers, such as... Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, it includes:

[0054] Step 1: The control system calculates the angle δ that the front trailer axle needs to rotate when the following vehicle moves along the trajectory of the preceding vehicle, based on the real-time positional relationship between the tow bar 6, the tractor, the front trailer axle, and the semi-trailer.

[0055] Step 2: The control system controls the rotation angle δ of the front trailer axle.

[0056] In some embodiments, δ is calculated using the following mathematical model:

[0057]

[0058] The R calculation model is as follows:

[0059]

[0060] The length of the drawbar is l, the semi-trailer axle distance L, and the distance d from the rear axle of the preceding vehicle to the drawbar hinge point are known and pre-input into the control system; the angle θ between the drawbar and the semi-trailer is obtained through real-time measurement.

[0061] The rear wheel assembly of the front vehicle and the rear wheel assembly of the rear vehicle are guaranteed to have the same trajectory radius, which is set as R.

[0062] The angle θ between the tow bar 6 and the semi-trailer is obtained through real-time measurement, specifically through an angle sensor.

[0063] The calculation principle of the active steering angle of the front steering trailer during the steering process of a full trailer is as follows: Figure 4 As shown.

[0064] Depend on Figure 4 It can be seen that each parameter satisfies the following calculation formula.

[0065]

[0066]

[0067]

[0068] sinδ=cosε (4)

[0069] sinδ=sin(θ-ε) (5)

[0070] By combining formulas (3), (4), and (5), we can obtain:

[0071]

[0072] Therefore, the active steering angle of the front steering trailer can be obtained from formulas (4) and (3):

[0073]

[0074] From the above calculations, we can see that the length l of the tow bar 6 and the semi-trailer pin distance L are known. The angle θ between the tow bar 6 and the vehicle in front can be obtained by real-time measurement. The distance d from the rear axle of the vehicle in front to the hinge point can be estimated, or obtained by measurement and input to the control system when connecting the vehicle behind. Then, the turning radius R and the active steering angle δ of the trailer can be calculated in real time according to formulas (6) and (7).

[0075] Depend on Figure 4 It can be seen that the same trajectory for the front and rear vehicles means that the trajectory of the center line of the front vehicle is the same as that of the rear vehicle. It can also be understood as the trajectory of the center line of the rear axle of the rear vehicle is the same as that of the center line of the front vehicle's axle.

[0076] Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this invention. The descriptions of the above embodiments are only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this invention. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that, based on the ideas of this invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this invention.

Claims

1. A semi-trailer tractor with active steering, characterized in that: The vehicle includes a front steering trailer and a semi-trailer. The front end of the semi-trailer is mounted on the front steering trailer. The front steering trailer is used to connect to a vehicle in front. The front steering trailer includes a front slewing drive, a front trailer axle, and wheels on both sides. The front slewing drive can drive the front trailer axle to rotate so that the vehicle behind moves along the trajectory of the vehicle in front. The front steering trailer includes a front main frame, a front subframe, a saddle, the front slewing drive, and the front trailer axle. The front subframe is mounted on the front... Below the main frame, the front trailer axle is fixedly mounted on the front subframe. The front slewing drive device is located between the front subframe and the front main frame and is used to drive the front subframe to rotate the front trailer axle relative to the front main frame. The saddle is mounted on the front main frame, and the front end of the semi-trailer is mounted on the saddle and can rotate relative to the saddle around a vertical axis. The front steering trailer is connected to the rear end of the vehicle in front via a drawbar. The trailer active steering control method includes the following steps: Step 1: The control system calculates in real time the angle that the front trailer axle needs to rotate when the following vehicle moves along the trajectory of the preceding vehicle, based on the real-time positional relationship between the drawbar, tractor, front trailer axle, and semi-trailer. ; Step 2: The control system controls the rotation angle of the front trailer axle. , The calculation is performed using the following mathematical model: in, R The calculation model is as follows: Given that the length of the traction rod is l Semi-trailer wheelbase L The distance from the rear axle of the preceding vehicle to the hinge point of the drawbar. d； And pre-entered into the control system; the angle between the drawbar and the semi-trailer. Acquired through real-time measurement.

2. The semi-trailer tractor with active steering as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The front slewing drive device includes a drive motor, a turbine, and a worm gear. The drive motor drives the front trolley axle to rotate through the turbine and the worm gear.

3. The semi-trailer tractor with active steering as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The semi-trailer includes a vehicle body and a rear steering trailer. The rear steering trailer includes a rear main frame, a rear subframe, a rear slewing drive device, a rear trailer axle, and wheels on both sides. The rear main frame is fixedly connected to the rear end of the vehicle body. The rear subframe is located below the rear main frame. The rear trailer axle is fixedly mounted on the rear subframe. The rear slewing drive device is located between the rear subframe and the rear main frame and is used to drive the rear subframe to rotate the rear trailer axle relative to the rear main frame.

4. A long-formation train, characterized in that: It includes a lead vehicle and multiple semi-trailer tractor-trailer vehicles with active steering as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lead vehicle has traction power and multiple semi-trailer tractor-trailer vehicles with active steering are sequentially attached to the lead vehicle.

5. The long-formation train according to claim 4, characterized in that: The lead vehicle includes a tractor and a semi-trailer.

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