GB996463A - Railway vehicle draft-and-buffer gear arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

996,463. Railway vehicle draw and buffing gear; railway vehicle undercarriages. PULLMAN Inc. Oct. 4, 1962 [Jan. 2, 1962], No. 37509/62. Headings B7L and B7T. Railway vehicle draw and buffing gear comprises a sliding centre sill 16, Figs. 1, 2, which may move longitudinally in a fixed sill 14 beneath the floor 13, and a shock absorbing long travel arrangement 17 which may be actuated firstly by relative movement between linked together sill portions or column sections 16a, 16b, and then by movement of the whole sliding sill within the fixed sill 14, the shanks of the couplers being mounted in housings 26 at each end of the sill 16 so that their centre lines are above the neutral axis n of the sill. The column section 16b has fixed to it tie plates 48 provided with a cross-bar 51 engaging in slots 52, and the section 16a is similarly provided with tie plates 49 and a cross-bar 53 engaging in slots 54. Stop members 55 are provided to co-operate with followers 57, 58, Figs. 9-11, and the shock absorber 17 (shown as a spring) is housed in the pocket 60. In operation, under buff or draw from the neutral position of Fig. 9, one of the bars 51, 53 is moved with its member 16a or 16b to compress the shock absorber 17 until the members 16a, 16b abut as in Fig. 10. Additional buff or draw force then causes the sill 16 to slide as a whole within the fixed sill, so that one or the other of keys 77 fixed beneath the vehicle floor are caused to abut either the follower 57 or the follower 58 to compress the absorber 17 to its fully compressed position, Fig. 11. In the embodiment so far described the bars 51, 53 are located intermediately of the ends of their respective slots when the sliding sill is unstressed, but it may be arranged that the bars 51, 53 engage the ends of the slots in a neutral position, so that relative movement between the members 16a, 16b occurs not only on draft but only upon the application of a buff force. In another embodiment, Figs. 12, 13, two column sections 116a and 116b constructed as before are interconnected by tie rods 137 slidably movable in opposed pairs of side plates 130, 131 mounting rubber draft pads 133 and buff pads 132. The shock absorber 17 in the central pocket is first compressed under buffing load by movement together of the sections 116a, 116b and stop members 139 carried thereon so that the pads 132 abut, and if the buffing load is further increased the sliding sill as a whole then moves within the fixed centre sill and causes keys 141 on the vehicle floor 13 to further compress 17 through the followers 57, 58. The shock absorber may employ hydraulic, friction, rubber, and pneumatic devices, and the automatic coupler shanks, Fig. 4 (not shown) are centralized by resilient pads acting on the butt of each shank.