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BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is generally concerned with braking devices for motorways and more specifically with a brake apparatus mounted on a bogie. 5 The bogie-mounted brakes throughout the railroad industry include either a dual actuator system as illustrated in US Patent No. 3,499,507 or a single-actuator system as illustrated in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,400,874 and
10 5,495,921. In all these three systems, the actuator rods extend through holes in the base plate of the bogie. The primary and secondary beams or joists are unitary cast iron beams. The beams are U-shaped with a vertical base and two vertical walls that
15 extend from it. The actuator or actuators are mounted to the vertical base and the actuator rods or rods are mounted and extend through holes also in the vertical base. Another example of a brake mounted on a bogie that
20 has a single actuator is illustrated in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,766,980 and 4,653,812. By moving the actuator rods or rods to the outside of the center section, they pass under the base plate of the bogie and no holes are required through the base plates. It shows that
25 the beams or brake beams have a channel section
REF: 131306
Central rolled steel with end sections that have cast brake shoeheads and prominent guide legs bolted to the center section. As with the previous unit beams, the grooved portion has an overall U-shape having a vertical base wall with two opposite horizontal walls extending therefrom. There is a continuing need to reduce the cost, size and weight of the bogie-mounted brake and make them adaptable to other track sizes and bogie configurations. The present invention is concerned with a brake system for a railway vehicle having first and second beams or brake beams, two levers that rotatably mount an actuator to the first beam and push rods that connect the levers to the second beam or joist . Each of the first and second brake beams includes a pair of vertically spaced beam elements. The levers are mounted to the first brake beam in the space between the beam elements to rotate in a plane displaced from a central plane of the space. Also, the first and second push rods are mounted to the second brake beam in the space between the beam elements to rotate in a plane also displaced from the center plane of the space.
Each of the levers includes a lever element attached to the push rods and the actuator and a sleeve extending from the lever element and rotatably attached to the first beam. The connection of the lever element to the sleeve defines the position of the pivot plane of the lever. The second brake beam includes two pairs of spacers that extend from the beam elements to an opposite spacer and the second end of the push rods are mounted between the pair of spacers. The height of the spacers in each pair are unequal to define the position of the pivot plane of the push rods. The spacers are welded to a beam element of the beam or brake beam. One of the spacers can be an angle bracket welded to a beam element. Other objects, advantages and new features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a plan view of a brake mounted on a bogie installed to the bogie, which incorporates the principles of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a side view of the brake mounted on bogie of Figure 1, which incorporates the principles of the present invention. Figure 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a brake mounted on a bogie installed on the bogie, incorporating the principles of the present invention. Figure 4 is an exploded view of the brake mounted on a bogie of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a side view of a first embodiment of the primary beam without brake heads, incorporating the principles of the present invention. Figure 6 is a side view of the first embodiment of the secondary beam incorporating the principles of the present invention. Figure 7 is a side view of a second embodiment of the primary beam without brake heads, incorporating the principles of the present invention. Figure 8 is a side view of the second embodiment of the secondary beam, incorporating the principles of the present invention. Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX of Figure 1 of the second embodiment of the lever and the primary beam.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES A brake mounted on a bogie is shown in figures 1 and 2 with respect to the base plate 10 of the bogie and a wheel 12. The brake mounted on a bogie includes a beam or primary brake beam 14 and a secondary brake beam or beam 16 on opposite sides of the base plate 10 and interlocked by the force transmission assembly or push rod 18. An actuator 20 is supported by the primary beam 14 and is attached to the secondary beam 10 16 by the push rods 18. A spring plate 22 lies below the push rod assembly that must separate the spring plate during brake operation. At each end of the primary beam 14 and the secondary beam 16, there is a brake head 30 having brake shoes 32 secured thereto by a detachable retainer 34. Also, extending from the ends of each of the beams of brake are the guide legs 36 which are received in grooves in the side walls of the bogie. Each of the brake heads 30 and brake shoes 20 32 are adjacent to the respective wheel 12. The system described up to now is well known in the industry and is illustrated for example in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,766,980 and 4,653,812. The operation of the actuator 20, with or without slack adjusters and the mounts of
25 push rod 18 to put into operation the pair of beams
fes -iYes * ?; Brake 14 and 16 is well known and will not be described in detail herein. The improved brake beam system of the present invention is illustrated in detail in Figures 3-9. Each of the primary beam 14 and the secondary beam 16 include a central section 40 having two vertically spaced beam members 40A, B and 40C, D respectively. The beam elements can be, for example, splined elements, each of which includes a horizontal base 42 and a pair of vertical side walls 44. In both beams, the base 42 is horizontal and the side walls 44 are vertical. The specific orientation and design of the present central sections 40 allow them to be of substantially reduced U-shaped or C-shaped grooved material compared to that of the prior art brake beams. Material of square or rectangular cross section can also be used. Although the specific beam elements to be described are preferred, any pair of vertically spaced beam elements can be used. A pair of first welds 51 secure the upper ribbed element 40A, 40C to the grooved elements of the bottom 40B, D. The openings 41 in the base provide access to the hollow welds 51 and allow debris and water to flow through the welds. The upper grooved elements 40A, C are shorter in length than the grooved bottom elements 40B, D and are secured together at their ends by a second weld illustrated as a plate 53. The guide legs 36 are secured to the grooved elements 40 through welding 53 and a third weld 55 joined to the bottom grooved element 40B, D. Since the guide legs 36 are unitary with the beam structure, the brake head 30 with the brake shoe 32 are separable of the guide legs 36. The brake head includes a pair of spaced blocks 31 on its rear wall, between which a portion of the guide leg is received. A fastener 56 extends through aligned openings 33 in the blocks 31 and the guide leg 36. A split pin 57 secures the fastener 56. A tab 35 extending from the upper block 31 is bent over the upper part of the block. 56 bra to also secure it in place. Other devices may be used in place of the tongue 35. The brake head 30 is secured from lateral movement by welding 53 and a transverse wall of the guide leg 36. This will also prevent rotation or rotation of the brake head 30. The actuator 20 is supported by the primary brake beam 16 through the bell-shaped lever 70. Opposite ends of the actuator 20 are secured by bolts 80 received through the opening 72 in the angled lever 70. A split bolt 82 is attached through the end of the bolt 80. The elbow lever 70 is rotatably attached to the end section 50 in the opening 54 of the first beam by a bolt 84 received in the opening 74. A split bolt 88 is provided at the end of the bolt 84 to secure it in place. One end of the push rod assembly or assembly 18 is secured to the bell-shaped lever 70 by a bolt 90 received in the opening 76 of the bell-shaped lever 70 and a split bolt 94 holds the bolt 90 in place. The other end of the push rod 18 is received and secured to the center section of the grooved elements 40C, D of the second beam 16 by the bolt 96 and the split bolt 98 through the bore 45 in the base 42. A bushing or bushing 92 is provided at the end of the push rod assembly or assembly 18. Preferably the push rod assembly 18, the angled levers 70 and the center line of the actuator 20 lie in a common horizontal plane. Depending on the design of the bogie, this plane will vary. The push rod assembly or assembly 18 must clear any bogie structure while the actuator 20 and the crank lever 70 must not only clear any structure of the bogie, but also the axle of the wheels during the movement of its normal operation. Thus, the plane of rotation with respect to
space between vertically spaced beam elements 40, may vary. For the example shown in Figure 2, the spring plate 22 must be cleared by the push rod assembly 18. Due to the arrangement of the brake shoes and beams relative to the bogie 10, the spring plate 22 and the wheels 12, the plane of the push rod 18, the bell-shaped lever 70 and the actuator 20 must be above the center line of the space between the beam elements 40. Two different embodiments for effecting the non-centered plane are described in the figures 5 and 6 and 7-9. In the first embodiments of Figures 5-6, protuberances 43 are provided on the base 42 and include the perforations 45 (not shown in Figures 5-6) receiving the fasteners 90 and 96. The angled lever 70 is secured and travels mounts between the protuberances 43A and 43B shown in Figure 5 and the end of the drive push rod 18 is secured and travels between the protuberances 43C and 43D shown in Figure 6. For purposes of clarity, the protuberances 43 are not shown in figures 3 and 4. All the protuberances 43 act as spacers for the actuator and the push rod assembly. The bottom protrusions 43B and 44D also act as wear plates because they support the bell lever 70 and the end of the push rod 18 respectively. The
protuberances 43 are mounted or secured to the bases 42 by welding. The plane of rotation of the crank lever 70 defined by the center of the space between the protuberances 43 is above the center line
CL of the space between the beam members 40, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. A second embodiment as illustrated in Figures 7-9 does not require protrusions on the primary beam 14. Instead, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a sleeve 71 extends from the bell-shaped lever 70. The sleeve can be welded to the bell-shaped lever 70. The position of the assembly of the bell-shaped lever 70 to the sleeve 71 defines the plane of rotation. As will be noted, it is again above the center line CL. A thrust washer 73 is provided between the bottom of the sleeve 71 and the beam element of the bottom 40B. The spacer 75 is provided between the bolt 84 and the upper beam 40A and a spacer 77 is provided in the lower beam member 40B. The secondary beam 16 illustrated in Figure 8 includes the upper protrusion 43C. The bottom protrusion 43D has been replaced by an angular clamp or protrusion 43E welded to the weld 53 and bottom beam element 40D. As in the other modalities, the center of the space between the protuberances 43C and 43E is above
of the center line CL of the space between beam elements 40C and 40D. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it will be clearly understood that it is by way of illustration and example only and not to be taken as a limitation. The spirit and scope of the present invention will be limited only by the terms of the appended claims. It is noted that, in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it refers.