JP5920014B2 - Air spring and mobile vehicle using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air spring used for a moving body such as a railway vehicle, and more particularly to an air spring with improved traveling safety during deflation (puncture).

  The air spring improves the ride comfort when traveling on a moving body, and also has the feature of maintaining a constant step between the vehicle body and the platform regardless of the number of passengers. Is often used. The air spring is superior in terms of ride comfort during normal travel by using a diaphragm that swells with air, but during deflation, the air escapes and the diaphragm does not function. For this reason, a structure including a stopper rubber (internal stopper) inside the diaphragm is employed for the purpose of improving the ride comfort during deflation and preventing the derailment of the railway vehicle.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an air spring having such a structure. Here, if the stopper rubber is hard (its spring characteristics are 8 k to 15 kN / mm), the derailment coefficient at the time of deflation exceeds the limit of 0.8 to 1.0, and the possibility of derailment increases. If the stopper rubber is flexible (for example, about 3 kN / mm), the amount of compression of the stopper rubber at the time of deflation increases, and a high-strength stopper rubber is required. It points out problems such as equipment on the lower surface touching the ground. As a solution to this problem, a structure is disclosed in which a part of the internal stopper is inserted into the internal space of the laminated rubber that supports the bottom plate, and the internal stopper is pre-compressed to lower the overall height of the air spring.

  Similarly, Patent Document 2 discloses a first stopper rubber having a low spring constant and a second stopper rubber having a high spring constant for restricting the axial deflection of the first stopper rubber with respect to the stopper rubber provided in the diaphragm. , A structure is disclosed in which a non-linear spring characteristic is exhibited, the influence on ride comfort is reduced, and the amount of settlement of the vehicle body is limited to enable safe traveling.

Japanese Patent No. 3866520 JP 2006-105244 A

  In the structure of Patent Document 1, although it is said that the riding comfort during deflation can be maintained and the derailment coefficient of the vehicle can be kept low to ensure running stability, the structure becomes complicated and causes an increase in cost. Further, the structure of Patent Document 2 has a structure that exhibits a non-linear spring characteristic and is capable of safe traveling by limiting the amount of car body sinking while reducing the impact on ride comfort. Must be used.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to obtain a moving body air spring that can achieve both riding comfort and vehicle running stability with a simpler structure.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a diaphragm sandwiched between an upper plate provided on the vehicle body side and a lower plate provided on the carriage side, and a stopper rubber provided between the upper plate and the lower plate at the time of deflation are provided. An air spring for a moving body comprising a restraining surface member having a restraining surface so as to face the side surface of the stopper rubber, and according to a change in the stopper rubber shape according to a change in the load applied to the stopper rubber during deflation The moving body air spring is characterized in that the contact area between the side surface of the stopper rubber and the restraining surface changes.

  When the compression load from the vehicle body is applied to the stopper rubber at the time of deflation, the stopper rubber is deformed so as to swell in the side surface direction. At this time, a deformation | transformation is suppressed because a bulging side surface contacts the suppression surface of a suppression surface member, As a result, the spring constant of a stopper rubber becomes large. By configuring the contact area to increase according to the degree of deformation, the spring constant can be changed according to the magnitude of the load. That is, with such a relatively simple structure, it is possible to have non-linearity in which the spring constant increases as the load increases.

  Here, the restraining surface member is provided so as to surround the side surface of the stopper rubber, and the restraining surface and the stopper rubber are separated in a no-load state of the stopper rubber, so that the spacing interval increases or decreases in the vertical direction. It is preferable to be configured.

  It is preferable that the stopper rubber does not function at all during normal moving body operation, and the side surface and the restraining surface are not in contact with each other. In addition, it is more comfortable to ride with a non-linearity that is as soft as possible (small spring constant) when the load on the stopper rubber is small at the initial stage of deflation and becomes hard (large spring constant) as the load increases. It is preferable in terms of stable running.

  As a configuration having such an interval, the stopper rubber may have a conical or spindle shape on the side surface, a top surface and a bottom surface in a planar shape, and the suppression surface may be a substantially vertical wall surface. The stopper rubber may have a shape in which the side surface is substantially vertical, the upper and lower surfaces have a planar shape, and the suppression surface may be a wall surface having a partial side surface of a cone or spindle shape. This is because the spring constant change can be designed arbitrarily by gradually increasing the spacing between the surfaces, and it is possible to realize a design that keeps the riding comfort good and keeps the derailment coefficient low. .

  The suppression surface is preferably resin-coated. In general, the inner surface of the air spring member is a surface as manufactured by a press die, a forging die, or a mold, and is often rough and uneven. In the present invention, since the function by the contact with the stopper rubber is given, the rough surface may have an adverse effect on the product life and the function due to the rubber damage. Therefore, it is preferable to suppress the roughness of the surface of the restraining surface that comes into contact with the stopper rubber, and it is more preferable that the surface is resin-coated. The resin can be a general-purpose resin such as nylon or polyethylene, and is not particularly limited, but a fluororesin is particularly preferable in order to realize a low friction coefficient.

  The suppression surface member may be a wall surface member formed integrally with the upper surface plate or the lower surface plate. Further, the stopper rubber is preferably pre-compressed.

  Generally, a metal member used for an air spring is manufactured by canning, forging, or casting. Therefore, the restraining surface member is manufactured as an independent member and can be fixed to the upper surface plate or the lower surface plate. By designing the restraining surface member integrally with the upper surface plate or the lower surface plate and manufacturing it as an integrated object, the structure becomes simpler and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. The stopper rubber can be provided on the lower surface plate or the upper surface plate in combination with the restraining surface member. However, in view of ease of manufacturing, the stopper rubber is preferably fixed to the lower surface plate. Moreover, if the stopper rubber is pre-compressed, it can contribute to lowering the floor of the vehicle to which the air spring is applied.

  Furthermore, the present invention is a mobile vehicle such as a railway vehicle provided with the above-described mobile air spring between a carriage and a vehicle body.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to obtain the air spring for moving bodies which can make riding comfort and stability of vehicle travel compatible with a simpler structure.

It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the air spring as an example of this invention. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the state which the air spring of FIG. 1 deflated. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between a compression displacement amount X of a stopper rubber and a compression load P in the air spring of FIG. 1. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the air spring as another example of this invention. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the state which the air spring of FIG. 4 deflated. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the air spring as another example of this invention. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram explaining the state which preliminarily compressed the stopper rubber inside in the air spring of FIG. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the state which the air spring of FIG. 6 deflated. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between a compression displacement amount X and a compression load P of an internal stopper rubber in the air spring of FIG. 6.

  The structure of the air spring according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the element which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in different drawing shall show the same or corresponding element. The present invention is not limited to these, but is defined by the scope of the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an air spring as an example of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an air spring cut along a vertical plane passing through its central axis. Although a top view and a bottom view are not shown, the whole is a circular shape rotated around the central axis. The basic components of the present invention and the operation thereof will be described with reference to FIG. The basic structure of the air spring is composed of a diaphragm 4 whose upper and lower surfaces are sealed and held by an upper surface plate 1 and a lower surface plate 2, respectively. Although the structure of the upper surface plate 1 and the lower surface plate 2 is not a simple plate and has various complicated structures, it does not matter what the structure is in the present invention. Therefore, in each drawing including FIG. 1, a typical structure is shown as an example. This is shown schematically. The diaphragm 4 is inflated by compressing and filling air into a space sandwiched between the upper surface plate 1 and the lower surface plate 2. The top plate 1 is attached to the vehicle body side, and the bottom plate 2 is attached to the carriage side. The diaphragm 4 supports the weight on the vehicle body side, and the air functions as a spring.

  The air spring of FIG. 1 includes a stopper rubber 5 at a position between the upper surface plate 1 and the lower surface plate 2 and serving as an internal space of the diaphragm 4. Since the stopper rubber is provided inside the diaphragm, it is also called an internal stopper. In FIG. 1, the stopper rubber 5 is a lump of rubber placed so that the bottom surface is in contact with the bottom plate 2. The upper surface side of the stopper rubber 5 is a flat surface facing the upper surface plate 1 and is not fixed to the upper surface plate 1. In this state, no load is applied to the stopper rubber 5.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the air of the air spring in FIG. 1 has escaped (this state is referred to as a deflated state). When in the deflated state, the diaphragm 4 no longer functions as an air spring. The upper surface plate 1 is lowered downward by a load from an upper portion thereof, that is, a load on the vehicle body side. Here, due to the presence of the stopper rubber 5, the upper surface plate 1 comes into contact with the upper surface of the stopper rubber 5, and the stopper rubber 5 supports the load. The stopper rubber 5 is crushed up and down by a load from the upper part and deforms so as to swell left and right.

  The dimensions of the air spring shown in FIG. 1 are, for example, that the outer diameter of the upper plate is 350 to 1,000 mm, the diameter of the stopper rubber is 100 to 500 mm on the lower surface, 50 to 450 mm on the upper surface, and 15 to 250 mm in height. As a characteristic, the spring constant of the stopper rubber that works effectively as a spring at the time of deflation is about 3 kN to 15 kN / mm, but these are determined according to the specification of the railway vehicle to be applied, and are limited to the exemplified numerical values. Is not to be done.

  The restraining surface member and its function according to the present invention will be described. 1 and 2, the restraining surface member 3 is provided so as to face the side surface of the stopper rubber 5. The surface of the suppression surface member 3 that faces the side surface of the stopper rubber functions as the suppression surface 3a. Here, the side surface is a surface connected to the upper surface facing the upper surface plate side and the lower surface facing the lower surface plate side of the stopper rubber, and is a surface on the side deformed so as to swell due to a load in the vertical direction. Further, the restraining surface member 3 is spaced apart so that the restraining surface 3a is separated from the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 when the diaphragm is normally used (FIG. 1). Once the diaphragm 4 is in a deflated state, the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 is deformed and comes into contact with the restraining surface 3a, and the restraining surface member 3 restrains the deformation. Due to this suppression, the stopper rubber 5 becomes difficult to be deformed, that is, becomes hard as rubber.

This is shown in the graph of FIG. The horizontal axis in FIG. 3 represents the amount of compressive displacement X in the vertical direction of the stopper rubber 5, and the vertical axis represents the compression load P applied to the stopper rubber 5. A position where the diaphragm is in a deflated state and the upper surface plate 1 is in contact with the upper surface of the stopper rubber 5 is represented as an origin X = 0. The stopper rubber 5 is compressed by the vertical load (that is, the weight on the vehicle body side) from the upper surface plate 1 and is deformed so that the side surface swells in the lateral direction. Therefore, the compression displacement amount X changes as shown by the line B with respect to the load P. However, when the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 is in contact with the suppression surface 3a of the suppression surface member 3 (P = P _C , X = X _C ), deformation of the side surface is suppressed by the suppression surface. Increases, and the amount of displacement with respect to the compressive load decreases as shown by line A. In other words, this produces an effect that soft rubber catches the vehicle body at the initial stage when the deflation occurs, and is suppressed so as not to cause displacement of the vehicle body beyond a certain level. If the vehicle body is excessively displaced (sinks) to the cart side, other devices installed between the vehicle body and the cart may be damaged or malfunction, and the malfunction as a spring may not be performed at all. Arise. According to the present invention, it is possible to ensure riding comfort during deflation while suppressing such problems.

  In the above, the example in which the restraining surface member 3 is configured as a part of the lower surface plate 2 is shown in FIG. 1, but the restraining surface member 3 as another member is fixed to the lower surface plate 2 with welding, bolts, or the like. Alternatively, it may be molded as an integral product. When molded as an integral product, it is often preferable in terms of manufacturing cost and strength. The stopper rubber 5 may be fixed to the upper surface plate 1 in addition to being installed on the lower surface plate 2. Further, the restraining surface member 3 is not limited to the one provided on the lower surface plate 2 and may be provided on the upper surface plate 1 side. In any case, it is only necessary that the side surface of the stopper rubber and the suppression surface are arranged at positions facing each other in the deflated state of the diaphragm so that the deformation of the stopper rubber can be suppressed by contact with the suppression surface.

  The shape of the stopper rubber 5 is an example in which the side surface is a cone or a part of a spindle in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper surface and the lower surface are planar, and the suppression surface 3a of the suppression surface member 3 is a substantially vertical wall surface. However, in addition to this, the following configuration is possible.

  First, as a basic form, both the side surface and the suppression surface of the stopper rubber may be vertical surfaces. In this case, the stopper rubber has a generally cylindrical shape. Due to the load in the vertical direction, the side surface of the stopper rubber is deformed non-uniformly such that the upper and lower central portions are thick and the upper and lower end portions are thin. As the suppression effect progresses continuously in this manner, the rubber constant gradually increases, and the displacement gradually proceeds as illustrated in FIG. 3, so that a ride with less impact can be obtained.

  The effect of such suppression appears as an inclination of line A or a curved shape in the graph of FIG. 3, and can be designed in various ways depending on the arrangement shape (interval and inclination) of the side surface of the stopper rubber and the suppression surface. In order to realize a more gradual change in the spring constant, it is preferable that the distance between the side surface and the restraining surface is increased or decreased in the vertical direction. The side surface of the stopper rubber may be a conical shape or a round spindle shape as shown in FIG. 1, the suppression surface 3a of the suppression surface member 3 may be a substantially vertical wall surface, and the side surface of the stopper rubber is a substantially vertical shape. The suppressing surface may be a wall surface having a conical or spindle-shaped partial side surface, or a combination thereof.

  The upper surface of the stopper rubber 5 is preferably smooth in the horizontal direction when in contact with the upper surface plate 1 when the diaphragm 4 is deflated. This is because there are merits in that the ride comfort is good and the stopper rubber is not easily damaged. For this reason, it is better that the upper surface is covered with a low friction sliding material.

  In addition, it is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing damage that the restraining surface 3a is covered with a low-friction sliding material in contact with the stopper rubber 5. That is, it is preferable that the friction coefficient in the tangential direction in a state where the stopper rubber is in contact is covered with a material smaller than the surface of the restraining surface member itself. Although it is possible to have a low-friction plate on the surface, it is more convenient to coat the suppression surface with a resin other than rubber. The resin material is not particularly limited, such as polyethylene, polyvinyl, and nylon, but is preferably a fluorine resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene in terms of low friction.

  FIG. 4 shows an example in which a stopper rubber as an internal stopper is replaced with a laminated stopper rubber 50 made of laminated rubber in the same air spring as in FIG. The laminated stopper rubber 50 has a structure in which a plurality of laminated rubbers 50b having a disc shape having a thickness similar to the laminated plate 50a which is a disc-shaped metal plate having a hole in the center are laminated. Many such laminated stopper rubbers are already used in the field of air springs, and those having a detailed structure are used. FIG. 5 shows a state where the diaphragm is deflated in the air spring of FIG. Due to the vertical load, the individual laminated rubbers 50b constituting the laminated stopper rubber 50 are deformed in the horizontal direction substantially equally. When using a laminated stopper rubber, the amount of deformation of the rubber in the direction that swells in the horizontal direction due to the vertical load is smaller than in the case of a rubber stopper with a lump of rubber as shown in FIG. 1, and almost evenly for each laminated rubber 50b. It will be transformed. Therefore, it is effective to provide the suppression surface of the suppression surface member 3 close to each laminated rubber. Moreover, in order to give the suppression effect by the suppression surface member 3 gradually, it is also possible to provide the suppression surface of the suppression surface member 3 with a slight inclination or to expand in a stepped manner according to the laminated rubber. is there.

  6 to 8 are diagrams showing still another configuration example of the present invention. The air spring shown in FIG. 1 is largely different in configuration in two respects. One is that the stopper rubber 5 which is an internal stopper is pre-compressed. Hereinafter, preliminary compression and its operation will be described.

  Referring to FIG. 6, a compression plate 8 is provided on the upper surface of the stopper rubber 5 on the upper plate side so as to cover. In this state, the stopper rubber is in a free state and is not compressed. Here, FIG. 7 shows a state in which the compression plate 8 is pushed down and the stopper rubber 5 is compressed and deformed by a certain amount. Although the compression plate fixing and fixing structure is not shown in detail in FIGS. 6 to 8, it is compressed by known means, for example, using bolts and restraining parts, and fixed in that state. The compression load is, for example, 30 k to 80 kN, and the compression displacement is about 5 to 35 mm. Such an air spring is used in a state where the stopper rubber 5 is compressed by a certain amount as shown in FIG.

  Here, the case where the diaphragm 4 is in a deflated state will be described with reference to FIG. Due to the deflation, the upper plate 1 is lowered downward by the vehicle body side load, and the compression plate 8 is pushed down. Since the compression plate 8 is previously applied with a force upward from the stopper rubber 5 by a pre-compression load, the vehicle body does not sink further until that load, and functions as a spring against a load exceeding the load. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the amount of settlement of the vehicle body during deflation. FIG. 8 shows a state where a load exceeding the precompressed load is applied and the compression plate 8 is in contact with the lower surface plate 2. Thus, in the air spring, the displacement width in the compression direction is from the state of FIG. 7 to the state of FIG.

  Here, the function of the restraining surface member 3 will be described. In a no-load state of the stopper rubber 5 before the precompression, the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 is separated from the suppression surface 3a (FIG. 6). In the pre-compressed state, the stopper rubber 5 is deformed by a certain amount. In this state, a part of the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 is in contact with the suppressing surface 3a. Further, when the deflated state is reached, the deformation of the stopper rubber 5 proceeds, and the contact area between the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 and the suppression surface 3a increases. As described above, the spring constant in the vertical direction gradually increases as the load increases due to the sinking of the vehicle body, so that it is possible to obtain riding comfort and running stability.

  Further, in this example, it is shown that the compression plate 8 can also be shaped to function as a restraining surface member. That is, in this example, the compression plate 8 is also a restraining surface member provided with the restraining surface 8a so as to face the side surface of the stopper rubber 5, and the stopper rubber 5 according to the change in the load applied to the stopper rubber 5 during deflation. According to the change in shape, the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 is in contact with the suppression surface 8a as shown in FIG. 8, and the contact area with the suppression surface 8a is changed.

  The second difference is that, in this example, another stopper rubber is provided between the lower surface plate 2 of the diaphragm and the holding plate 6 provided further below, that is, outside the diaphragm 4. Such a stopper rubber is called an external stopper and functions as a spring in series with the diaphragm. The laminated stopper rubber 7 which is an external stopper is an example in which a plurality of laminated rubbers 7a and laminated plates 7b are laminated. Other known configurations can also be applied.

FIG. 9 is a graph for explaining the characteristics of the air spring shown in FIGS. The horizontal axis in FIG. 9 represents the entire stopper rubber, that is, the amount of vertical compression displacement X between the upper surface plate 1 and the holding plate 6, and the vertical axis represents the compression applied between the upper surface plate 1 and the holding plate 6. Load P. A position where the diaphragm is in a deflated state and the upper surface plate 1 is in contact with the upper surface of the compression plate 8 is represented as an origin X = 0. In the state where the vertical load P (that is, the weight on the vehicle body side) from the upper surface plate 1 is applied to the compression plate 8, the stopper rubber 5 as an internal stopper has a reaction force corresponding to the preliminary compression load. Without being deformed, the force is transmitted to the laminated stopper rubber 7 which is an external stopper through the lower surface plate. Therefore, the lamination stopper rubber 7 starts to be displaced. When the load reaches the precompression load P ₀ (displacement X ₀ ), the stopper rubber 5 also starts to function as a spring and starts to be displaced, so that the overall spring constant becomes small. Here, the characteristic of the line B in FIG. The displacement X changes with the extension of the same spring constant as the load increases, and changes abruptly when the compression plate 8 contacts the lower surface plate 2 (X ₁ ). Return to characteristics. Therefore, an impact is applied to the vehicle body at this changing point. Now, in this example, the characteristic when there is the restraining surface member 3 is shown by a line A. FIG. When the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 begins to contact the restraining surface 3a after exceeding the pre-compression load, the spring constant of the stopper rubber 5 gradually increases, so that the displacement change until the compression plate 8 comes into contact with the lower surface plate 2 is sharp. Reduces the impact at the time of contact. By mitigating the impact in this way, the ride comfort of the vehicle passenger is greatly improved and traveling stability is ensured. As shown in FIG. 7, when the side surface of the stopper rubber 5 is already in contact with the suppression surface 3a at the time of preliminary compression, X _C in the characteristic graph of FIG. 9 matches X ₀ .

  According to the air spring of the present invention, it is possible to achieve both ride comfort and vehicle running stability with a simple structure, and a moving body having a structure that supports a carriage and a vehicle body with a spring, such as a railway vehicle. In particular, the present invention can be used for a mobile vehicle in which stability and riding comfort are required in response to lateral displacement during straight traveling due to high speed traveling and lateral displacement due to centrifugal force during curved traveling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper surface board 2 Lower surface board 3 Inhibition surface member 3a Inhibition surface 4 Diaphragm 5 Stopper rubber 50 Lamination stopper rubber 50a Lamination board 50b Lamination rubber 6 Nipping board 7 Lamination stopper rubber 7a Lamination rubber 7b Lamination board 8 Compression board 8a Inhibition surface

Claims (7)

A diaphragm sandwiched between an upper surface plate provided on the vehicle body side and a lower surface plate provided on the carriage side;
A moving body air spring comprising a stopper rubber provided between the upper surface plate and the lower surface plate,
A suppression surface member having a suppression surface so as to face the side surface of the stopper rubber;
The contact area between the side surface of the stopper rubber and the suppression surface is changed in accordance with a change in the shape of the stopper rubber in accordance with a change in the load applied to the stopper rubber during deflation .
The air spring for a moving body, wherein the stopper rubber is pre-compressed by a compression plate .   2. The air spring for a moving body according to claim 1, wherein a part of a side surface of the stopper rubber is in contact with the suppression surface in the pre-compressed state. The stopper rubber is a side conical or spindle shape, an upper surface and a lower surface and wherein the planar shape der Turkey, movable body air spring according to claim 1 or 2. The compression plate includes a second suppression surface provided to face the side surface of the stopper rubber,
The contact area between the side surface of the stopper rubber and the second restraining surface is changed in accordance with a change in the shape of the stopper rubber in response to a change in the load applied to the stopper rubber during deflation. The air spring for a moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by: The air spring for a moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the restraining surface is resin-coated with a resin other than rubber . The air spring for a moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a second stopper rubber at a lower portion of the lower surface plate. The mobile vehicle provided with the air spring for mobile bodies of any one of Claims 1-6 between the trolley | bogie and a vehicle body.

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