Improved safety device for a guiding wheel of a vehicle

800,679. Preventing derailing (accidents) through breakdowns; guide wheels. REGIE NATIONALE DES USINES RENAULT. June 8, 1956 [June 10, 1955], No. 17849/56. Class 103(6) As a safety device for retaining the guiding wheel of a vehicle particularly a rail vehicle, in the event of axle breakage, the axle of the wheel is hollow and receives a vehicle shaft fixed at the upper end to the vehicle and at its lower end provided with a disc which receives the wheel carrier if the axle breaks. As shown in Fig. 1, the hollow axle 1 is fixed. by a collar 3 to the wheel 4 and is mounted in roller bearings in a support 2 to the cover 7 to which is secured the shaft 5 provided with the retaining disc 6. In a modification, the disc 8, Fig. 2, is flanged and of a diameter large enough to support the wheel if the wheel nuts come loose. The disc has a central stem 10 tapered to fit in the end of a hollow shaft 9 secured to the vehicle, the stem 10 being drawn into the shaft by means of a rod 11 screwed into the upper end of the stem 10. Safety devices employing the retaining disc are also described for use when the wheel does not rotate with the axle.