GB2168020A

GB2168020A - Railways vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2168020A
Application number: GB08430908A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Harry O Wicks
Original assignee: RAILMASTER SYSTEM Inc
Current assignee: RAILMASTER SYSTEM Inc
Priority date: 1984-12-04
Filing date: 1984-12-07
Publication date: 1986-06-11
Also published as: GB8430908D0; GB2168020B

Abstract

In a train comprising road-vehicle trailers the back end of each trailer has an inverted channel 17 mounted upon a pivoted coupling 22 on a bolster 26 of a railway bogie, or "truck", the front end of each trailer being supported by prongs 33 of a pivoted coupling 31 on a similar truck. Modifications are described with reference to Figs. 7-9 and Figs. 10-15. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATIONS Railway highway vehicle In piggyback trains, the cross country travel is by rail and the local delivery is by truck. This effects savings of energy and of labor. However, the dead weight of the piggyback flat cars makes up a large portion of the total railway load. This invention eleminates the piggyback cars and makes the highway trailers an active part of the train, thereby decreasing the weight to be transported by rail and still further increasing the savings of combined railway-highway service.

For railway use, trailers are connected end to end to form a train pulled by a locomotive. Adjacent ends of the trailers in the train are coupled to a railway truck. The coupling may be made by lifting the trailer and lowering it onto the railway coupling. Alternatively, the coupling may be made by backing the trailer into the railway coupling. When the train is made up, each railway truck supports the back end of a leading trailer and the front end of a following trailer. In other words, the front and back ends of each trailer are supported by a different truck. Upon arriving at its destination, each trailer is lifted off (or backed off) its railway coupling and is connected to a tractor for local delivery by highway.

The trailer is a standard highway trailer except for the modification required for the railway coupling. This modification does not interfere with the highway use and makes only a small addition to the weight of the trailer.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of a crane for moving railway trucks laterally from one track to another; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the crane shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective of the back end of a railway highway vehicle and of the railway truck with which it is to be coupled; Figure 4 is a top plan view of a railway truck and of the coupling members on the truck for connection respectively to mating couplings on the front and back ends of adjoining railway highway vehicles; Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a perspective of a modification of Figure 3; Figure 8 is a top plan view of a modification of Figure 4; Figure 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view of another railway train consisting of a locomotive and a plurality of trailers;; Figure 11 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the back end of a leading trailer of the Figure 10 train, the front end of a following trailer, and the railway truck supporting the foregoing; Figure 12 is an isometric view of the railway truck of the Figure 10 train in position to be coupled to the back end of the leading trailer; Figure 13 is a fragmentary section along the centerline of a leading and a following trailer coupled together; Figure 14 is a transverse section through the rear sill of the coupling to the leading trailer of Figure 13, and Figure 15 illustrates a procedure for making up the Figure 10 train of trailers.

Figure 1 shows a train of railway highway trailers in the process of being made up. The back end of the leading trailer is connected to the front end 13 of the following trailer and the adjoining ends 12, 13 are supported by a railway truck. The trucks are stored on a railway track 15 and are moved from track 15 to track 16 on which the train is being made up by a crane 17 having a main frame 8 with a crosswise movable carriage 9 at the upper end of the main frame.

At the outer ends of the carriage are depending arms 10, 11 at the lower ends of which are inwardly extending fingers 12, 13 which are specifically designed to extend beneath the axles 14 of the railway truck 4. When in position beneath the axles 14, the arms or the fingers 12, 13 are lifted to elevate the truck clear of the track 5. The truck can then be moved from its position on the track 5 to a position where it can be lowered onto the track 6.

After the truck is in position on the track 6, the carriage 9 is retracted to the position shown in full lines in readiness to pick up another truck. The truck which has been moved to the track 6 can then be rolled toward the trailer 1 and a coupling part 16 on the truck telescoped into a mating part to be described at the front end 3 of trailer 1.

Set into the rear sill 15 of the trailer is an inverted channel 17 open at its front end 18 and closed at its back end by cross member 19 and having depending sides 20 which flare outwardly at 21 to help guide rectangular coupling member 22 into place as the trailer is lowered onto the coupling member. After the trailer is lowered onto the coupling 22, locking pins 23 are moved in opposite directions outwardly through registering holes in sides 20 of the coupling member by an oppositely threaded screw 24. When the pins 23 are in locking position, the rear sill of the trailer is positively fixed to the coupling 22 and the weight of the back end of the trailer is carried through center plate thrust bearing 25 to bolster 26 of the truck. Opposite ends of the bolster are supported by side frames 27a and springs 28.In addition to carrying the weight of the trailer load, the truck 4 also has its own railway brakes. The coupling 22 forms part of the structure which is supported by the center bearing 25. The back end of the trailer which is rigidly connected to the coupling 22 is therefore supported on the center bearing in the same manner as a freight car would be supported. Side sway at the back end of the trailer on the truck is limited by the usual stops.

At the center of the center bearing 25 is an upstanding center pin 27 having at its upper end a spherical bearing 29 for supporting the shank 30 of a coupling member 31. The shank 30 extends out the open end the coupling member 22. At the back end of the shank 30 is a cross member 32 at the opposite ends of which extend inverted channel fork members 33.

As shown in Figure 4, the coupling 31 fits between two lugs 34 fixed to the front sill 35 of the front end of the following trailer. As shown in Figure 6, the coupling 31 has forks or prongs 33 which extend back beneath the front end of the trailer almost to the fifth wheel coupling pin 36 of the trailer but since the pin 36 is on the center line of the trailer and the prongs 33 are spaced on opposite sides of the center line of the trailer, there never is any contact between the coupling 31 and the fifth wheel pin of the trailer. When the coupling element 31 is in connected or coupled position on the front end of the following trailer, lugs 38 on the coupling are received between the lugs 34 (Figure 4) on the front sill 35 of the trailer. The lugs 38 project above the coupling 31 and are stopped against the front sill 35 of the trailer (Figure 6).

Locking pins 40, 41 carried respectively at the upper ends of arms 42, 43 and driven in opposite directions by oppositely threaded screw actuator 44 are extending through aligned holes in the lugs 38 and 34 after the coupling element 31 is properly positioned on the trailer. Once the locking pins are in place, the front end of the following trailer is rigidly coupled to the coupling element 29 to allow tilting of the following trailer in all directions. Coupling element 31 is resiliently supported by a shear sandwich mounting 45 having one plate 46 connected to bracket 47 fixed to coupling element 31 and its other plate 48 connected by bracket 49 to center plate 25. The rubber body 50 sandwiched between and bonded to plates 46 and 48 resiliently restrains movement of the front end of the following trailer relative to the back end of the leading trailer.The sandwich mounting also centers the element 31 prior to coupling to a following trailer.

In Figures 7, 8 and 9, the coupling element 31 has been changed by eliminating the cross member 32 and forks 33 and substituting a flare 51 and a rectangular box section 52. The box section 52 fits into an inverted channel 53 set into the front sill 35 of the front end of the following trailer. The back end of the channel 53 is closed by a cross member 54a which may provide a stop limiting the insertion of the box section 52 of the coupling.

When the coupling is inserted in the channel, locking pins 54, 55 carried by member 56 register with mating openings in the adjacent side of the inverted channel 53. Also, locking pins 57, 58 carried by member 59 come opposite or register with openings in the adjacent side of the channel 53. An oppositely threaded drive screw 60 cooperates with tabs 61 projecting from members 56 and 59 through the lower side of the coupling member 52 to move the locking pins in opposite directions through the registering holes in the adjacent chan nels thereby fixing the front end of the following trailer to the shank 30 of the coupling which is pivoted on the railway bolster by ball pivot 29.Since the channel 53 is open both at the front of the trailer and at the bottom, it is possible to make up the coupling between the channel 53 and the box section 52 either by backing the trailer onto the coupling or by lifting the trailer and dropping it in place on the coupling. The coupling 53 or 52 is resiliently supported on the center plate 25 by a shear sandwich mounting 62 having the same construction and function as the sandwich mounting 45.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 10 - 15, the train consists of a locomotive 71, and a plurality of trailers 72 connected end to end. When so connected, the road wheels 73 of each trailer are supported above the tracks or rails 74. The trailers are designed for use in a unit train where all of the trailers have a similar frame type of frameless type (monocoque) chassis and coupling structure. The body styles of the trailers may differ in accordance with shipping requirements. The lead trailer in the train has at its front end a load carrying prong 75 fixed to a railway coupler 76 for coupling to the locomotive coupler 77. The trailers in the train are standard highway trailers carried by standard type railway trucks equipped with standard railway type brakes. The highway trailers have additional structure (to be described) to permit the combined railway and highway use.At the front of the trailer, the only modification necessary is the addition of the prong 75.

In the use as a highway trailer, the front end is carried by a fifth wheel pin 82 which is removably locked to the fifth wheel plate of the usual truck tractor. When used in the railway train, the gravity load of the front end of the trailer and the braking (buff) and draft thrusts are all taken through the prong 75 which is rigidly fixed to the front end of the trailer frame. At the back end of the trailer frame, it may be necessary to reposition the road wheels 73 on the subframe 83 so as to have the position shown. The purpose of the subframe 83 and the adjustable mounting for the road wheel is to permit compliance with local laws relating to highway use and/or to allow sufficient space for adaptation to the railway mode.The particular road wheels shown are supported by an air suspension 83a such as manufactured by Neway or Granning so that upon release of the air pressure, the wheels are automatically retracted well above the rails sufficient to meet or exceed normal railraod rail clearance requirements. The lifting means for road wheels in the suspension is not activated until the back end of the trailer is positioned so the load is carried by a standard four wheel railway truck 84, for example, a Dresser Model DR-1; Barber Stabilized Truck Mod. S-2-C, or equivalent.

The coupling between the truck 84 and the back end of the leading trailer is through an adapter frame 85 rotatably supported on the rail truck boster 86 by its center plate (thrust bearing) 87. The adapter frame, as shown in Figure 3, has load carrying fork members 88 which extend through coupling sockets 89 in the rear sill 90. The adapter frame also has latch members 91 which extend through openings 92 in the rear sill 90. When the forks 88 are fully received in the sockets 89, the adapter frame is solidly latched against the rear sill of the lead trailer by the cooperation of the forward ends 93 of the latch members 91 with a latch bar 94.

The gravity load of the back end of the leading trailer is carried by the forks 88 and is transferred by the forks to the center thrust bearing 87. The adapter frame also has sway pads 95 for limiting side sway of the following trailer and linkage mechanism 96 for pivoting the latch members 91 clear of the latch bar 94 and thereby releasing (or engaging) the latches holding the adapter frame against the rear sill of the back end of the trailer.

In the rear sill 90 there is also a socket member 97 carrying an upwardly biased kingpin 98 which is held in the lowered position by linkage 99. The socket member receives the tongue 75 of the following trailer. When the tongue is fully received, the axis of a self aligning bearing 100 in the tongue lines up with the axis of the kingpin 98 so that upon release of the latch mechanism 99 which has been holding the kingpin down, the kingpin is urged upward by a spring into position in the self aligning bearing 100 and positively couples the back end of the leading trailer to the front end of the following trailer. The socket 97 has enough clearance to allow pivoting and rocking of the tongue 75 relative to the socket.

The centerline of the kingpin 98 and the axis of bearing 87 lie on the same vertical axis. The entire gravity load of the back end of the leading trailer and of the front end of the following trailer is transmitted from the rear sill 90 through the forks 88 to the adapter frame and through the bearing 17 to the bolster 16 of the railway truck 14.

Making up a train is illustrated in Figure 15. (1) A trailer 102 is brought to the site by highway tractor. (2) A railway truck 103 with its adapter frame mounted thereon is brought from a spur 104 into loading position on a track 105, directly behind trailer 102. (3) the trailer 102 is backed toward the railway truck 103 until forks 88 on the railway truck are received in sockets 89 on the trailer and latches 91 are latched over the latch bar 94 on the trailer and the back of the trailer 100 is latched to the railway truck 103. The air is then released from trailer suspension 83a and the trailer road wheels are lifted above the track 105. The trailer 102 and truck 103 are backed as a unit into trailer 106 having its front end supported by its retractable stand or landing gear, the tongue 75 of trailer 106 being received in socket 97 in trailer 102 and the kingpin 98 is then released to complete the coupling of the back end of trailer 102 and the front end of trailer 106 to the truck 103. Upon retracting the landing gear for trailer 106 and connecting the air brake lines to the brakes 108 for truck 103, the trailers 102 and 106 are ready for railway use.

Claims

1. A railway train comprising one or more end to end trailer vehicles each having its highway engaging wheels supported above a railway track, a railway truck having railway wheels on the track and a bolster with a load carrying thrust bearing, an adapter frame supported by said bearing for rotation about a vertical axis and having laterally spaced horizontal load carrying forks on opposite sides of the centerline of one of said trailers and in load carrying relation to one end of said one of said trailers.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the truck carries its own brakes.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the forks are latched to said one trailer.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which the adapter frame has side sway limiting stops for the end of the trailer adjacent said one trailer.

5. The structure of claim 1 in which pivoting of said one trailer about a vertical axis is effected by pivoting of the adapter frame on said thrust bearing.

6. The structure of claim 1 in which the railway wheels are mounted in a frame and the bolster is resiliently supported by the frame.

7. The structure of claim 6 in which the brakes for the truck are carried by the frame.

8. The structure of claim 1 in which said forks are received in sockets at the back end of said one trailer.

9. The structure of claim 8 in which said sockets are in the rear sill of said one trailer.

10. A railway train comprising one or more end to end trailer vehicles each having its highway engaging wheels supported above a railway track, a railway truck having railway wheels on the track and a bolster with a load carrying thrust bearing, a rigid adapter frame supported by said thrust bearing for rotation about a vertical axis through said bearing, means fixing one end of one of two end to end trailers to said adapter frame and means for pivoting on said adapter frame on said vertical axis one end of the other of said two end to end trailers.

11. The structure of claim 10 in which the means for pivoting includes a prong having one end fixed to the end of the trailer adjacent said one trailer and the other end pivoted to said one end of said one trailer on said vertical axis.

12. The structure of claim 11 in which said other end of the prong transfers load to said one end of said one trailer.

13. The structure of claim 11 in which pivoting of said other trailer is effected by pivoting of said prong on its pivot to said one trailer.

14. The structure of claim 11 in which the pivot between said prong and said one trailer comprises a socket in said one end of said one trailer receiving said other end of the prong and having clearance permitting limited pivoting of the other end of the prong about a vertical axis, a vertical bearing in said other end of the prong, and a pin slidable in said socket on a vertical axis through said bearing to establish the pivot connection between said prong and said one trailer.

15. A railway train comprising one or more trailer vehicles each having at its front end a fifth wheel coupling means adapted to couple with a fifth wheel coupling means of a highway tractor and at its back end rear wheels to support the back end of said vehicle while moving along a highway, a railway truck having railway wheels and a bolster with a load carrying vertical thrust bearing, an adapter frame rotatably supported by said bearing and having laterally spaced horizontal load carrying forks received in load carrying relation to the back end of one of said road trailers, a load carrying tongue on the front end of another trailer received in a socket member on the back end of said one trailer, said socket member being between said forks and in load carrying relation to said tongue, and a pin coaxial with said bearing and carried by said socket member and extending through said tongue to establish a push and pull draft connection between the tongue and said socket member, said bearing and pin being on a vertical axis between said forks.

16. The structure of claim 1 in which the highway wheels are vertically retractable for railway operation.

17. A railway train comprising one or more end to end highway trailer vehicles, each having its highway engaging wheels supported above a railway track, a railway truck having railway wheels on said track and a bolster with a load carrying thrust bearing, and a rigid adapter frame supported by said thrust bearing for rotation about a vertical axis, said frame having a first coupling means laterally spaced on opposite sides of the center line of one of said trailers made up with complementary coupling means in the back end of said one of said trailers, to releasably fix said frame to said back end of said one of the trailers and positively prevent rotation of said back end of said one trailer relative to said frame while said frame rotates about said vertical axis.

18. The structure of claim 17 in which said complementary coupling means are made up with said first coupling means alternatively by lowering said back end of said one trailer onto said first coupling means or by backing said one end of said one trailer onto said first coupling means to permit making (or disconnecting) the coupling connection at locations where trailer lifting equipment is not available.

19. The structure of claim 17 in which the complementary coupling means has laterally spaced vertical planar surfaces engaging parallel laterally spaced vertical planar surfaces on said first coupling means.

20. The structure of claim 17 in which the complementary coupling means comprises an inverted channel.

21. The structure of claim 17 in which the first coupling means is stopped against an end sill of one of said trailers and the complementary coupling has flanges outstanding from said sill and pinned to the flange of said first coupling means.

22. The structure of claim 17 in which the first coupling means is made up with an inverted channel in the back end sill of said one of said trailers.

23. A railway train comprising a plurality of end to end highway trailer vehicles, each having its highway engaging wheels supported above a railway track, a railway truck having railway wheels on said track and a bolster with a load carrying thrust bearing, and a frame supported by said bearing for rotation about a vertical axis, said frame having a first load carrying coupling engaged with second complementary load carrying coupling on the centerline of one of said trailers, said couplings each having laterally spaced vertically extending longitudinal sides, the sides of one coupling being in telescoping relation to the sides of the other coupling, and horizontal latch pins extending through the sides of the couplings for holding the couplings coupled.

24. The structure of claim 23 in which the first and second couplings are pinned together by retractable horizontal pins.

25. A railway train comprising one or more end to end highway trailer vehicles each having its highway engaging wheels supported above a railway track, a railway truck having railway wheels on the track and a bolster with a load carrying thrust bearing, an adapter frame supported by said bearing for rotation about a vertical axis, said trailer having at its front end a front sill, a load carrying arm on said adapter frame stopped against said sill, said sill and said arm having on opposite sides of the center line of the trailer laterally spaced interengaging flanges and retractable pins extending through said flanges for releasably locking said arm to said sill.

26. The structure of claim 17 in which a ball bearing is pinned to the upper end of the frame on said vertical axis, and an arm fixed to the front end of the trailer following said one trailer is pivoted on said ball.