A railcar truck and adapter pad system for placement between a roller bearing and side frame pedestal roof of a three-piece railcar truck. Many different features of the pad and/or the adapter-pad interface are configured to improve stiffness characteristics to satisfy both curving and high speed performance of the railcar truck.

A railcar steering bogie includes: a bogie frame supporting a bolster such that the bolster is swingable relative to bogie frame about a vertical axis; two wheelsets; axle box suspensions including respective axle beams coupling corresponding axle boxes to bogie frame, the axle boxes accommodating respective bearings supporting corresponding axles; and a steering mechanism steering at least one of the two wheelsets in accordance with the bolster's swinging relative to the bogie frame. The steering mechanism includes: a steering lever configured to turn relative to the bogie frame about fulcrum axis; a coupling link coupling the bolster and steering lever and configured to operate in conjunction with the bolster's swinging relative to the bogie frame; and at least one steering link coupling steering lever and axle beam and configured to steer the corresponding wheelset by displacing corresponding axle box through the corresponding axle beam in conjunction with steering lever's turning.

A plate spring unit applied to a railcar bogie includes: a lower plate spring including both longitudinal direction end portions supported by the respective axle boxes from below, the lower plate spring being made of fiber-reinforced resin; an upper plate spring arranged above the lower plate spring with a gap and including a middle portion pressed from above by a pressing member provided at the cross beam, the upper plate spring being made of fiber-reinforced resin; a middle spacer sandwiched between a middle portion of the lower plate spring and the middle portion of the upper plate spring; and an end spacer sandwiched between the end portion of the lower plate spring and an end portion of the upper plate spring and allowing relative displacement between the end portion of the lower plate spring and the end portion of the upper plate spring in a longitudinal direction.

A method of producing an electrode-equipped plate spring of a railcar bogie includes: a resin removing step of partially irradiating a surface of fiber-reinforced resin, prepared by including electrically conductive fibers in resin, of a plate spring with a laser beam to partially remove the resin and partially expose the electrically conductive fibers; and an electrode forming step of attaching an electrode to an exposed region formed by partially exposing the electrically conductive fibers of the fiber-reinforced resin.

A method of producing an electrode-equipped plate spring of a railcar bogie includes: a resin removing step of partially irradiating a surface of fiber-reinforced resin, prepared by including electrically conductive fibers in resin, of a plate spring with a laser beam to partially remove the resin and partially expose the electrically conductive fibers; and an electrode forming step of attaching an electrode to an exposed region formed by partially exposing the electrically conductive fibers of the fiber-reinforced resin.

A wheelset guide for a rail vehicle, which has a bogie frame, includes at least one longitudinal support, and includes a wheelset bearing for a wheelset of the rail vehicle, wherein the wheelset bearing is connected to the bogie frame and includes a rocker that is pivotably attached to the bogie frame via an elastic rocker bearing, and a pin guided by the rocker bearing, where the bogie frame forms a receptacle for the rocker bearing, which is configured such that the force is introduced into the bogie frame via the rocker bearing itself, and the rocker bearing is positioned in the receptacle in order to improve the strength and stability of the attachment of the rocker to the bogie frame or to the longitudinal support with an open profile.

A railcar truck and adapter pad system for placement between a roller bearing and side frame pedestal roof of a three-piece railcar truck. Many different features of the pad and/or the adapter-pad interface are configured to improve stiffness characteristics to satisfy both curving and high speed performance of the railcar truck.

A railcar truck and adapter pad system for placement between a roller bearing and side frame pedestal roof of a three-piece railcar truck. Many different features of the pad and/or the adapter-pad interface are configured to improve stiffness characteristics to satisfy both curving and high speed performance of the railcar truck.

A running gear for a rail vehicle includes one or more wheel sets, each having a revolution axis and each being guided by a pair of transversally spaced axle boxes. The running gear further includes a running gear frame, a primary suspension assembly between each of the axle boxes and the running gear frame, and a secondary suspension stage for supporting a vehicle superstructure on the running gear frame. Each primary suspension assembly has at least a main spring assembly having a vertical stiffness and a horizontal stiffness that is identical in a transverse direction of the running gear frame and in a longitudinal direction of the running gear frame perpendicular to the transverse direction. The primary suspension assembly further has an anisotropic interface assembly in series with the main spring assembly between the running gear frame and the axle box. The anisotropic interface assembly is such that the primary suspension assembly has a transverse stiffness and a longitudinal stiffness wherein the transverse stiffness is substantially different from the longitudinal stiffness.

A running gear for a rail vehicle includes one or more wheel sets, each having a revolution axis and each being guided by a pair of transversally spaced axle boxes. The running gear further includes a running gear frame, a primary suspension assembly between each of the axle boxes and the running gear frame, and a secondary suspension stage for supporting a vehicle superstructure on the running gear frame. Each primary suspension assembly has at least a main spring assembly having a vertical stiffness and a horizontal stiffness that is identical in a transverse direction of the running gear frame and in a longitudinal direction of the running gear frame perpendicular to the transverse direction. The primary suspension assembly further has an anisotropic interface assembly in series with the main spring assembly between the running gear frame and the axle box. The anisotropic interface assembly is such that the primary suspension assembly has a transverse stiffness and a longitudinal stiffness wherein the transverse stiffness is substantially different from the longitudinal stiffness.