Rail Air Spring Tilting Joint for Transverse Load Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Air suspension bellows in rail vehicles experience high mechanical stresses due to large transverse movements, leading to reduced service life and inadequate relief mechanisms in existing spring arrangements.
Innovation Solution
An air spring arrangement featuring a tilting joint with a resilient restoring element and an elastomeric metal spring, which tilts in the opposite direction of transverse movements to reduce mechanical stress, allowing for adjustable tilting stiffness and counter-tilting effects, and can function as an emergency spring when the air spring is inactive.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If air spring bellows are subjected to large transverse movements, then the air spring can accommodate vehicle dynamics, but high mechanical stresses are generated in the cord fabrics reducing service life
Solution Approach 1:
A tilting element is introduced as an intermediary component between the air spring bellows and the vehicle chassis. This tilting element acts as a mediator that converts transverse movements into tilting movements, thereby protecting the air spring bellows from direct mechanical stress while maintaining the system's adaptability to vehicle dynamics
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of allowing the air spring bellows to directly withstand transverse movements, the invention inverts the approach by using a tilting element that moves in the opposite direction (tilting) to counteract the transverse forces, thereby protecting the bellows from stress
2Reliability
If air spring bellows are dimensioned larger to handle transverse movements, then stress is reduced, but installation space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into two functional components: the air spring bellows responsible for vertical suspension and the tilting element responsible for transverse movement management. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, enabling the bellows to be smaller while the tilting element handles transverse stresses
3Force
If air pressure inside the air spring bellows is increased to improve load bearing, then vertical stiffness is improved, but the bellows become more susceptible to mechanical stress from transverse movements
Solution Approach 1:
The tilting element serves as a protective intermediary that shields the high-pressure air spring bellows from transverse forces. This allows the bellows to operate at higher pressures for improved vertical load bearing without being directly exposed to damaging transverse stresses
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces mechanical stress on the air bellows, extends its service life, allows for a more compact design, or increased air pressure, and provides a demand-oriented tilting stiffness, effectively addressing the limitations of prior art by alleviating load on the air spring and enhancing its performance.
Implementation Method 1
the tilting joint has at least one resilient return element... which has arc-shaped intermediate plates with curvatures increasing in the direction of a longitudinal axis... and/or which has V-shaped intermediate plates with inclinations increasing in the direction of the longitudinal axis
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to an air spring arrangement for vehicles, in particular for rail vehicles, comprising an air spring (1). To create advantageous design conditions, it is proposed that at least one first tilting element (3) is connected to the air spring (1), the first tilting element being configured as a tilting joint, and the tilting joint comprising at least one resilient return element. This results in a reduction of the load on the air spring (1).