The primary objective of the invention is toenabletrains of semi-trailers or dog trailers to run on virtual rails. Here slave reference points located on all or some of the trailers are made to follow the path traced out by a master reference point located on the prime mover (or attached real or virtual trailer).This is achieved by steering all or some of the trailerwheels. The easiest way of steering the trailerwheels is toreplace the fixed wheels at the rear of the trailers with steerablewheels. Actively steered traileraxles can be made by replacing the damper of self aligningaxles with a computer controlled actuator. The problem with these axles is that that the maximum trailer wheel angle is around 20 degrees. However if the virtual rail effect is to beachievedfor sharp turns, such as the Performance Based Standard (PBS) Low Speed Swept Path (LSSP)test,trailerwheel anglesup to 40 degrees are required. The invention achieves trailer wheel angles up to 40 degrees by mounting the trailerwheels on one or more two-axles dollies. These dollies are rotated by computer controlled actuators to achieve the virtual rail effect. Note that the invention works for both steady state and non -steady state turns. The invention al so enablesno-skill reversing of trailertrains. The invention allows costs to be reduced by only steering the rear wheels of every second semi trailer or dog trailer. ii Kt$ 0) (S fc4 4? (0< r .11 0? do F (0 4 n
Improved Articulated Vehicle
20.07.2023
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch