Drive unit for a rail vehicle wheel set

Abstract

A drive unit for driving at least one wheel drive shaft, in particular of a wheelset axle, in particular a cross-drive for use in rail vehicles with a driving engine and a transmission assembly coupled thereto. The output of the transmission assembly is formed by a hollow shaft which is coupled via an articulated coupling to the wheel drive shaft, in particular the wheelset axle. A first braking subsystem and a second braking subsystem are embodied as disk brake systems, each comprising at least one brake disk. An attachment flange of the brake disk of one braking subsystem is embodied in integral fashion with the hollow shaft. Placement of the braking subsystems along the hollow shaft is disclosed.

1 . An improved method of manufacturing a drive unit for a rail vehicle wheel set, the drive unit being adapted for use in vehicles which will be subject to varying requirements of use, wherein the drive unit comprises a transmission assembly including an input coupling and a hollow rotatable transmission output shaft, a wheel drive shaft which carries the wheels of the wheel set for rotation together, an articulated coupling which connects the transmission output shaft directly with the wheel drive shaft, whereby driving torque is coupled to the wheels through the wheel drive shaft, a braking system comprising first and second braking subsystems operable on the transmission output shaft and spaced apart from each other along the transmission output shaft, the first braking subsystem including an attachment flange attached to the transmission output shaft, and brake elements for braking on the attachment flange, and a bearing arrangement disposed in the transmission assembly for rotatably supporting the transmission output shaft; 
 the improvement comprising the steps of:    providing the bearing arrangement for the transmission output shaft inside the transmission assembly;    selecting a fixed external diameter for the bearing arrangement independent of particular requirements of use for the vehicle;    selecting an external diameter of the transmission output shaft to take account of the conditions of use in a particular vehicle, such conditions of use including at least the elasticity of the suspension of the rail vehicle; and    selecting an internal diameter for the bearing arrangement to match the selected external diameter of the transmission output shaft.