EP2356009A1

EP2356009A1 - Coupling unit

Info

Publication number: EP2356009A1
Application number: EP09799497A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andreas Krome
Original assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG and Co KG
Current assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG and Co KG
Priority date: 2008-11-13
Filing date: 2009-11-06
Publication date: 2011-08-17
Anticipated expiration: 2029-11-06
Also published as: US8590718B2; PL2356009T3; WO2010054630A1; US20110240585A1; EP2356009B1; DE102008057055A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a coupling unit, in particular for the semi-permanent connection of two wagons of a rail vehicle, having a first housing (1) for fastening to a first rail wagon and having a second housing (2), which is pivotably and rotatably coupled to the first housing, for fastening to a second rail wagon, wherein a bearing outer ring (3) with a hollow spherical inner bearing surface (4) is fastened to the second housing, which bearing outer ring (3) is guided in sliding fashion on a bearing inner ring (6) with a spherical outer surface (7) and with the bearing inner ring being seated with an inner bore (8) on a shaft (10) which is fastened to the first housing, wherein the shaft has, on a first end (11), one or two flattened portions (13a, 13b) which run in the axial direction of the shaft and, on a second end (12), one or two second flattened portions (14a, 14b) which run in the axial direction of the shaft, and at least one clamping piece (50) is provided which bears against one of the flattened portions and an opening region (34) in the first housing, and thereby prevents the shaft from rotating.

Description

Name of the invention

clutch unit

description

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a coupling unit, in particular for the semi-permanent connection of two wagons of a rail vehicle.

In rail vehicles adjacent wagons, which are together on a bogie (eg Jacobs bogie) are coupled by semi-permanent connections. These connections are also referred to as "short couplings ¹¹ . Vehicles having such clutches are also referred to as "short-coupled units." Mostly only two vehicles are coupled together, but sometimes more.

The task of this close coupling is to transmit the tensile and compressive forces in the vehicle longitudinal direction during acceleration and braking from one wagon to the other. Furthermore, it should transmit the lateral forces when cornering and weight forces. The clutch should have a mobility to ensure all three spatial axes. When cornering, the main motion angles occur around the vertical z-axis. If depressions or crests are run over, tilting angles also occur around a horizontally extending y-axis and roll angles about an x-axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the traction, which are to be compensated by the clutch. Furthermore, a short coupling should have no linear degrees of freedom to avoid jerking during load changes.

There are several known solutions for said application. These solutions are based predominantly on the fact that a radial spherical plain bearing with a horizontal bearing axis forms the central element of the articulated connection. By means of a suitable geometry, the spherical plain bearing has the required rotational angular mobilities in all three pivot axes. The joint bearing is fixed for this purpose via its outer ring in a coupling housing. The housing is a joint head and is connected in the vehicle longitudinal direction in a suitable manner with the vehicle frame of one of the wagon ends to be connected. Usually this is a welded joint used. The joint bearing is fixed via its inner ring with a shaft or a shaft and these in turn in a housing. In various solutions of the prior art shaft and inner ring are made in one piece. The housing in turn is also connected in the vehicle longitudinal direction with the end of the second wagon to be connected. Again, a welded joint is usually used for this purpose. The housing is often shaped below so that it can be supported directly on the center plate of the bogie. In this way, the required articulated connection is formed. These state-of-the-art solutions are available with maintenance-type spherical plain bearings (grease / oil lubrication) or with maintenance-free spherical plain bearings (sliding layers between outer and inner ring). Furthermore, maintenance-requiring solutions with other storage solutions are known which, however, do not achieve the ever-increasing service life requirements. However, these known solutions of the prior art have all the disadvantages. Thus, the tolerance adjustment of the shaft, housing, support discs and bearing width with regard to a backlash-free shaft connection is difficult. Furthermore, the assembly / disassembly is difficult in deformations of the shaft. Often occur corrosion of the shaft seat in the housing or corrosion of the inner ring seat on the shaft. The maintenance of such known short couplings is therefore insufficient. Furthermore, the shaft is insufficiently fixed in the housing. Non-sealed designs require a high level of maintenance due to the relubrication required.

Another known type of articulated coupling unit for semi-permanent connection of railroad cars is known from DE 691 08 977 T2. However, a sealing of the bearing elements is not provided, which limits the use. A disadvantage with regard to a secure attachment and backlash, especially in case of vibrations in this coupling unit, that a wedge-shaped clamping member is used to fix the receiving shaft of the inner bearing part on the housing.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a coupling unit, in particular for the semi-permanent connection of two wagons of a rail vehicle, which minimizes the disadvantages of the prior art. The coupling unit should also ensure sufficient stiffness with the lowest possible component weight. In addition, a simple separation and connection of the coupling unit should be possible even after many years of use. For the bearing elements, the use of replaceable wear parts should be possible. The coupling unit should also be simple in construction, inexpensive to produce and quick to install. A sealing of the bearing elements in the coupling unit should be possible borrowed. The object is achieved by a coupling unit with the features of claim 1. Accordingly, a coupling unit is proposed in particular for the semi-permanent connection of two rail cars of a rail vehicle, with a first housing for attachment to a first railroad car and a pivotally and rotatably coupled to the first housing second housing for attachment to a second railroad car, wherein on the second housing a bearing outer ring is mounted with a hollow spherical inner bearing surface, which is slidably guided on a bearing inner ring with a spherical outer surface and the bearing inner ring with an inner bore on a shaft which is fixed to the first housing, wherein the shaft at a first end one or two in the Axial direction of the shaft extending flattenings and at a second end one or two extending in the axial direction of the shaft second flats and at least one clamping piece is provided that against one of the flats and an opening portion in the first Geh äuse rests and thereby secures the shaft against rotation.

Preferred further embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

According to one embodiment, the clamping piece is cuboid, wedge-shaped or cylindrical. According to a further embodiment, the clamping piece consists of at least two clamping piece parts.

In accordance with a further embodiment, the flattenings on the first shaft end are aligned parallel to one another and / or the flattenings on the second shaft end are aligned parallel to one another. According to a further embodiment, the first flats and / or the second flats are arranged differently close to the axis of symmetry of the shaft. According to a further embodiment, the bearing inner ring and the shaft are integrally formed as a component.

According to a further embodiment, a first support ring on the shaft adjacent to the bearing inner ring and the first housing and / or a second support ring adjacent to the bearing inner ring and the first housing are arranged. According to a further embodiment, the support rings and the bearing inner ring are designed as one component.

According to a further embodiment, a first sealing bellows and / or a second sealing bellows are arranged running around the shaft, the first sealing bellows sealingly abutting the second housing and the bearing inner ring and / or the first support ring and the second sealing bellows on the second housing and sealingly abuts the bearing inner ring and / or the second support ring. According to a further embodiment, a first clamping element is arranged to extend around the shaft on the first sealing bellows, which presses the first sealing bellows against the first supporting ring and / or on the second sealing bellows a second clamping element is arranged running around the shaft, which surrounds the second sealing bellows against the first second support ring presses.

According to a further embodiment, a projection for supporting on a rotary pan is formed on the first housing.

According to a further embodiment, sliding material is arranged between the bearing inner ring and the bearing outer ring.

According to a further embodiment, an opening is provided on the first housing which has a central, at least partially cylindrical, opening area for receiving the shaft and an inner opening area for receiving the clamping piece. According to another embodiment The inner opening region is at least partially parallelepiped-shaped. According to a further embodiment, the inner cylindrical opening region has an open position.

According to a further embodiment, the shaft has at least two axial bores at the first end and / or second end.

According to a further embodiment, the shaft protrudes beyond the housing, so that at least one of the flattening pairs (13a, 13b or 14a, 14b) is arranged partially outside the housing.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. Like reference numerals designate like components throughout the figures, unless otherwise indicated.

From the figures show:

1 is a schematic sectional view as an elevation of an inventive coupling unit according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a side view of a coupling unit according to the invention in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment; FIG.

3 is a schematic sectional view of a coupling unit according to the invention according to a third embodiment;

4 is a schematic sectional view of a part of a coupling unit according to the invention in accordance with a fourth exemplary embodiment. Fig. 1 shows a schematic sectional view as an elevation of a coupling unit according to the invention according to a first embodiment. The coupling unit has a hatched first housing 1 for attachment to a first railway carriage (not shown) and a pivotally and rotatably coupled to the first housing 1 also shown hatched second housing 2 for attachment to a second railway wagon (not shown). In the second housing 2, a bearing outer ring 3 is mounted with a hollow spherical inner bearing surface 4. Inside of the bearing outer ring 3, a bearing inner ring 6 is shown with a spherical outer surface 7. The bearing outer ring 3 is slidably guided on the bearing inner ring 6. The bearing inner ring 6 has an inner bore 8 through which a shaft 10 passes. The shaft 10 has shaft ends 11, 12 which are fixed in the material of the first housing 1. Through the bearing inner ring 6 and the bearing outer ring 3, a radial spherical plain bearing 15 is formed with a substantially horizontal Lagerachsausrichtung. The bearing outer ring 3 is fixed in the second housing 2. In this embodiment, the shaft 10 and the bearing inner ring 6 is realized as two components. According to the invention, shaft 10 and inner ring 6 can also be designed as one component. The radial spherical plain bearing 15 is provided in this embodiment for freedom from maintenance with sliding material 5, for example, sliding fabric or a sliding coating, for example made of bronze or Teflon on the inner bearing surface 4 of the bearing outer ring 3. Lubrication with grease between outer ring 3 and inner ring 6 is also provided. On both sides of the bearing inner ring 6 support rings 16a, 16b are arranged on the shaft 10, which fix the inner ring 6 relative to the first housing 1 and position. According to the invention, these support rings 16a, 16b and the bearing inner ring 6 can also be designed as one component. The support rings 16a, 16b then form lateral flanges of the bearing inner ring 6. Bellows 18a, 18b extend from the second housing 2 to the respective support ring 16a or 16b and to the first housing 1. By means of the bellows 18a, 18b, an intrusion of Liquid, dust or dirt in the radial pivot bearing 15 can be prevented. This serves to increase the service life of the radial spherical plain bearing 15 and to extend the maintenance intervals. The bellows 18a, 18b are designed so that they slip on at least one attachment point outside / inside at excessive pivot angles, or allow elastic deformation. In the present embodiment, this clamping elements 21a, 21b are mounted around the bellows 18a, 18b, which press the bellows 18a, 18b against the support rings 16a and 16b. According to the invention, the clamping elements 21a, 21b can be embodied as wire rings, worm springs, hose clamps or the like. The clamping elements 21a, 21b may be made of steel, plastic or other suitable permanently elastic materials. By this fixation ensures that the tightness is ensured for a long time and not by plastic deformation of the actual bellows material, the bias is too low to ensure the tightness.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of a side view of a coupling unit according to the invention according to a second embodiment. The coupling unit of FIG. 2 is constructed substantially like that of FIG. 1. The first housing 1 has a projection 19, which extends substantially planar. With this approach 19, it is possible that the first housing 1 (not shown) on a rotary pan is supported. Advantageously, the approach 19 is designed so that the first housing 1 can be supported directly on the turntable (center plate). The first housing has lateral stiffeners 20, here in the form of stiffening ribs 20. The stiffening ribs 20 have the task of avoiding a gaping of the open top first housing 1 at high tensile loads. The shaft 10 has at its first end 11 axially extending and opposite flats 13a, 13b and correspondingly - not shown here - at its second end 12 axially extending and opposite flats 14a, 14b. By these flats 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b, the distance between the pairs opposite lying flats 13a, 13b and 14a, 14b lower than the outer diameter of the shaft 10 in the cylindrical unreduced area. The opposing flats 13a, 13b are designed asymmetrically in this embodiment. The same applies to the flats 14a, 14b. That is, the flattening 13a shown in the picture above is closer to the central axis of the shaft 10 than the flattening 13b and therefore has a larger width. However, the flats 13a, 13b can also be made symmetrical. In the present in this embodiment asymmetric design of the flats 13a, 13b and 14a, 14b on the shaft 10, the contact area between the shaft 10 and the first housing 1 in the locked state of the shaft 10 in the vehicle longitudinal direction is different in size. In practice, it is required that the coupling unit in the vehicle longitudinal direction can transmit higher compressive forces than tensile forces. By a suitable orientation of the different sized contact surfaces (in the printing direction, the larger area), the carrying capacity of the contact shaft / first housing 1 can be adapted to these different requirements. Due to the different sized contact surfaces also in the vertical direction down a greater load capacity than upwards. The first housing 1 has an opening 30, through which the shaft 10 can be inserted at an insertion side 31 of the first housing 1 into the first housing 1. The opening 30 has, for each shaft end 11, 12, substantially three partial areas 32, 34, 36. The first of the insertion 31 outgoing opening portion 32 is formed substantially cuboid and is still funnel-shaped above, which facilitates insertion during assembly of the shaft 10. This first opening region 32 merges into a substantially cylindrical central opening region 34. The central opening region 34 merges into a third inner opening region 36, which is designed in a partially parallelepipedal manner. The opening width of the first opening region is barely larger than the wave width in the region of the flattened portions 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b, ie the distance of the flattened portions 13a, 13b or 14a, 14b from each other. The diameter of the cylindrical central opening region 34 corresponds approximately For mounting the shaft 10 in the first housing 1, this is aligned for insertion into the first opening portion 32 so that the flats 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b parallel to the insertion or the side surfaces of the first cuboid opening portion 32nd are aligned. The shaft 10 is then lowered into the opening 30 until the end of the cylindrical central opening area 34 is reached. At this point, the shaft is rotated by 90 °. As a result, the cylindrical surfaces of the shaft and of the central opening region 34 come into contact in the region of contact zones 35a, 35b. The shaft 10 is fixed after this rotation in the vehicle longitudinal direction, as well as vertically up and down. The cylindrical contact zones 35a, 35b on the outer circumference of the shaft 10 between the flattened portions 13a, 13b and 14a, 14b take on the function of transmitting the tensile and compressive forces from the driving operation, to carry the weight of the supporting wagon downwards and Lifting forces upwards from the driving dynamics or lifting work in eg maintenance incidents to record. In the shaft 10 in this embodiment at the shaft ends 11, 12 frontally two axial bores 40 are introduced. By means of suitable tools, which engage in these holes 40, the rotation of the shaft 10 is simplified. According to the invention, the shaft 10 can also be made longer, so that it protrudes beyond the housing 1. Then tools such as wrench for rotating the shaft 10 at the flats 13 a, 13 b and 14 a, 14 b are brought into engagement. A clamping piece 50 is inserted at each of the shaft ends 11, 12 in the inner opening portion 36. Inserted presses the clamping piece 50 against one of the flats 13a, 13b and 14a, 14b of the shaft 5 and the first housing 1 and thereby prevents rotation of the shaft 10. The clamping piece 50 can be secured for example by screwing or other suitable measures against falling out.

In the coupling unit according to the invention, the shaft 10 can be produced inexpensively with the flats 13a, 13b. The cylindrical Shaft 10 has a high bearing capacity compared to the solutions of the prior art, since the flats 13a, 13b are arranged perpendicular to the main load zone and also relatively small. The housing parts 1, 2 are easy to manufacture, since a few surfaces are to be processed as functional surfaces. The assembly is easy, in particular by the first open top housing 1 and the attachment by clamping. Another advantage is the seal. The actual functional surfaces of the bearing 15 are protected from contamination and moisture. As a result, less wear occurs on the sliding layer and longer maintenance intervals are possible, in particular for bearings requiring maintenance. The coupling unit according to the invention offers a better corrosion protection of the internal parts or it is a lesser or no further corrosion protection of these parts required because they are arranged well protected. The coupling unit according to the invention is based on the basic structure "radial bearing with horizontal bearing axis." In this configuration, an optimum is achieved with respect to bearing housing stiffnesses, total mass, force absorption capacity, pressure distribution, travel angle, bearing life and required installation space.

3 shows a schematic sectional view of a coupling unit according to the invention in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment. In essence, the coupling unit corresponds to that of FIGS. 1 and 2. Here, the clamping piece 50 is mounted between the upper shaft flat 13 a and the lateral casing stiffener 20. Since this clamping piece only borrowed for rotative fixation of the shaft 10, it is not involved in the actual power flow between the shaft 10 and the first housing 1 for transmitting the operating loads. This represents a serious difference to existing solutions.

The basic principle of the invention is that a flattened cylindrical shaft 10 is inserted into a radially one-sided open substantially cylindrical central opening portion 34. The shaft 10 is so strong flattened so that it fits just by the one-sided radial first opening portion 32 adjacent to the central opening portion 34. By rotating the shaft 10, the remaining cylindrical contour of the shaft 10 closes the unilaterally radially open cylindrical central opening portion 34, whereby the shaft 10 is fixed. For this purpose, the shaft 10 is narrower in the region of the flattening 13a than its nominal outside diameter. This can be achieved by two flattening but also by a single flattening. The flattening 13a is simultaneously used as a contact surface for a clamping piece 50, which prevents rotation of the shaft 10. As a result, the shaft 10 is locked. In the case of only one-sided flattening 13a, one side of the cylindrical bore 36a in the first housing can receive an open position 60, which allows insertion of the shaft with subsequent rotation. The provision of only one flattening 13a makes it possible to realize the shaft 10 of the coupling unit according to the invention more cost-effectively, since fewer flattenings have to be produced.

4 shows a schematic sectional illustration of a part of a coupling unit according to the invention according to a fourth exemplary embodiment. Here, the clamping piece 50 is formed in several parts from a first clamping piece part 50.1 and a second clamping piece part 50.2 and arranged on a housing reinforcement 20.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments herein, it is not limited thereto, but modifiable in a variety of ways. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 first housing

2 second housing

3 bearing outer ring

4 inner storage area

5 sliding material

6 bearing inner ring

7 outer surface

8 inner bore

10 shaft / shaft

11 first end

12 second end

13a, 13b flattening on the first shaft end

14a, 14b flats on the second end of the shaft

15 Radial spherical plain bearings

16a, 16b support rings

18a, 18b bellows

19 approach

20 stiffening rib

21a, 21b clamping elements

30 opening

31 introduction page

32 first opening area

34 middle opening area

35a, 35b contact zones

36 inner opening area

40 axial bore

50 clamping piece

50.1 first clamping piece part

50.2 second clamping piece part

60 exemption

Claims

claims

1. A coupling unit, in particular for the semi-permanent connection of two wagons of a rail vehicle, comprising a first housing (1) for attachment to a first railroad car and a pivotally and rotatably coupled to the first housing (1) second housing (2) for attachment to a second railroad car , wherein on the second housing (2) a bearing outer ring (3) with a hollow spherical inner bearing surface (4) is fixed, which is slidably guided on a bearing inner ring (6) with a spherical outer surface (7) and the bearing inner ring (6) with an inner bore (8) is seated on a shaft (10) fixed to the first housing (1), the shaft (10) having at one first end (11) one or two flats (9) extending in the axial direction of the shaft (10). 13a, 13b) and at a second end (12) has one or two in the axial direction of the shaft (10) extending second flats (14a, 14b) and at least one clamping piece (50) is provided that against one of the flats (13a, 13b, 14a, 14b) and an opening portion (34) in the first housing (1) is applied, thereby securing the shaft (10) against rotation.

2. Coupling unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the clamping piece (50) is cuboid, wedge-shaped or cylindrical.

3. Coupling unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the clamping piece (50) consists of at least two clamping piece parts (50.1, 50.2).

4. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the flats (13a, 13b) on the first

Shaft end (11) are aligned parallel to each other and / or the flats (14a, 14b) on the second shaft end (12) are aligned parallel to each other.

5. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first flats (13a, 13b) and / or the second flats (14a, 14b) are arranged differently close to the axis of symmetry of the shaft (10).

6. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing inner ring (6) and the shaft (10) are integrally formed as a component.

7. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a first support ring (16 a) on the shaft

(10) adjacent to the bearing inner ring (6) and the first housing (1) and / or a second support ring (16b) adjacent to the bearing inner ring (6) and the first housing (1) are arranged.

8. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support rings (16a, 16b) and the bearing inner ring (6) are designed as a component.

9. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a first sealing bellows (18a) and / or a second sealing bellows (18b) are arranged to extend around the shaft (10), wherein the first sealing bellows (18a) on the second housing (2) and the bearing inner ring (6) and / or the first support ring (16a) sealingly abuts and the second sealing bellows (18b) on the second housing (2) and the bearing inner ring (6) and / or the second support ring (16b) sealing is applied.

10. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the first housing (1) has a projection (19) is formed for supporting on a rotary pan.

11. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that sliding material (5) between the bearing inner ring (6) and the bearing outer ring (3) is arranged.

12. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the first housing (1) an opening (30) is provided which has a central at least partially cylindrical opening portion (34) for receiving the shaft (10) and an inner opening portion (36 ) for receiving the clamping piece (50).

13. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inner cylindrical opening portion (36) has an exemption (60).

14. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shaft (10) at the first end (11) and / or second end (12) has at least two axial bores (40).

15. Coupling unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shaft (10) projects beyond the housing (1), so that at least one of the flattening pairs 13a, 13b or 14a, 14b partially outside the housing (1) is arranged.