| 摘要 |
<p>A dual-purpose road/rail vehicle and apparatus for adapting an existing road or utility vehicle to provide it with a road/rail capability. Axles carrying rail guide wheels may be fitted to the front and rear of a road vehicle and deployed, is swung down to engage the rails by mechanisms such as a manual lever arrangement or a hydraulic pistion and cylinder. Particularly but not exclusively for use with vehicles having an independent road wheel suspension system (10, 42), for example a MacPherson strut or similar, in this invention, a set of rail wheels (21) are supported with respect to the vehicle (100) by support means (5, 5') which extends beneath the suspension system (10, 42) and can move between a first position (Fig 2A) adjacent a portion of said suspension system and a second position (Fig 1A) in which the support means clears said suspension system for action with respect to the road wheels (1'). When the support means is in the first position and the railway wheels are deployed, the support means engages the suspension system and the weight of the vehicle is carried via the suspension system, the support means and the rail wheels.</p> |
