"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
10/31/2016 at 19:07 • Filed to: Trainlopnik, ZF
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"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
10/31/2016 at 19:07 • Filed to: Trainlopnik, ZF | 2
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Here’s a 12 speed ZF AS Tronic automated manual gearbox. The eagle eyed may notice that it doesn’t have anything near twelve gear sets, but that’s because it arranges things rather more efficiently. It has a two speed splitter at the front, a three speed main box and a two speed range change at the back giving, by a process of multiplication, 2 x 3 x 2 = 12 speeds. All perfectly normal. It’s an automated unit, something that is getting near universal on large trucks in much of the world (but not America yet) and often found on long distance buses as well. Same kind of thing as a Smart but with more gears, and despite what some claim they work well.
Here’s a train. It’s an IC3 as used by the Danish national railway company, DSB.
Yes, that rubbery surround at the front does make it look odd. It’s designed to seal the gap when you couple multiple units together.
When first built IC3s had an aircooled Deutz engine (Deutz always disliked water) and a ZF torque converter automatic gearbox under each unit.
In 2005 they were renovated and given watercooled Deutz engines and AS Tronic Rail automated gearboxes, thus creating some of the very few modern trains to have clutches and mechanical gearboxes.
Not many people know that.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> Cé hé sin
10/31/2016 at 19:33 |
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That’s interesting. A modern train that isn’t electric or diesel-electric.
Also interesting... Bombardier, based in Canada, bought the business that built that train.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC3
Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
> Cé hé sin
10/31/2016 at 19:47 |
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Actually in large trucks in the US it’s not automated, but they get the double digit gears by having a 5-6 speed with a 3 speed on the back. Long ago Mack had the quad box with a full 20. They get strange prime numbers like 11 and 13 speeds because of ratio duplication (eg. Low 5th matches high 2nd)
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Cé hé sin
> Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
10/31/2016 at 20:05 |
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The Americans are gradually adopting AMTs (they’re about ten years behind Europe) but the usual manual box used there is nowadays the same layout as the ZF one. It’s an Eaton Roadranger which is 2 x 5 x 2 giving a theoretical 20 speeds of which two overlap so 18. The same box but with the splitter working on high range only gives you 13 speeds. Drop the splitter altogether and you get a nine speed.
There’ve been all sorts of odd arrangements in the past like two four speeds in tandem giving 16 speeds (and two levers!).
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Cé hé sin
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
10/31/2016 at 20:18 |
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Yes, there’s been a lot of consolidation in the train business and with pressure from Chinese makers there’ll be more to come.
Bombardier, Alstom and other makers have been buying local makers in the various markets they sell in so as to have a manufacturing presence in those markets. The Americans have a “buy America” policy so to sell there you must build a factory there, complete your order and then find that no further orders are forthcoming because trains are bought in bulk and last for decades and that you can’t export because other markets have the same policy and so the factory is likely to get closed again. There’s a similar issue with ships operating from American ports so cruise companies have to pull various tricks to avoid having to buy American built cruise ships (which don’t exist anyway).
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Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
> Cé hé sin
10/31/2016 at 20:55 |
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Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
> Cé hé sin
10/31/2016 at 21:02 |
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Unrelated but may be of interest, some Aussie road trains have an extra engine with an automatic trans slung under a trailer:
http://hankstruckforum.com/htforum/index.php?topic=45754.0