MXPA97006815A - Head of coupled coupling with central plate of profile b - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a lightweight, elongated, casting, unitary coupling head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a railway carriage body and to which a loading wagon can be pivotably mounted. of rail, the casting head is characterized by comprising: (A) an elongated rectangular body, generally hollow, having a pair of parallel and elongated side walls, extending perpendicularly from an elongated upper wall; latching cavity adjacent a first end and adapted to receive a coupling yoke and the associated latching mechanism, and (C) a central plate portion that is engageable with a rail loading wagon separated from a second end of the latching head. casting, the central plate portion comprises: (a) a generally hollow cubic central plate cavity, defined between a pair of central plate cavity end walls, parallel and stops, which extend perpendicularly between the parallel side walls of said hooking head providing an empty hollow space on a floor wall of said central plate cavity, (b) a floor wall member forming a bottom wall of the cavity of generally cubic central plate and extending horizontally between the lower ends of the end walls of the central plate cavity, parallel to the upper wall, the floor wall member has a cylindrical periphery extending downward from a lower side of the hook head and having a circular outer face, and (c) an axially located opening, through the floor wall member, in an axial center of the circular outer face, the opening is adapted to receive a master pin of the railway freight wagon to be coupled with the railway freight wagon and allow its rotational movement against the external face

Description

HEAD OF COUPLING PLATE WITH CENTRAL PLATE OF LOW PROFILE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a railway carriage latching apparatus and, more particularly, relates to a railway carriage latching head having a central plate design with a significantly lighter weight. Without sacrificing resistance and that meets, however, with all the specifications of the AAR (American Association of Railroads).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With increasing fuel costs, there is a concerted effort in the railway industry to increase productivity. Historically, this increase has been achieved by increasing the rolling stock and the capacity of rail cars. However, the practical load limit of current rail systems, in general, has already been reached, so that attention is now being directed to other areas such as lightening the weight of rolling stock, which includes replacement with lighter weight novel materials, wherever possible, without sacrificing resistance or increasing the costs of V Ul A - 'MX irrational way. In addition, practical lengths and practical speeds have been achieved to which train traffic can be operated, in a relatively safe way, but without improving stability or running quality. Hence, the basic equipment designs are being revalued only to lighten the weight, but to improve performance, stability and ride quality. Although making small improvements may seem trivial, the overall benefits obtained can be significant, especially when taking into consideration that in 1994, for example, the North American rail industry transported approximately 1.2 billion tons of cargo in a fleet of 1.5 million cars, with an annual income of $ 31 billion dollars. A rail carriage hitching head, of one design or another, is used in virtually all rail cars and usually comprises a heavy, elongated steel casing piece that is secured or secured in each case. end of a central head of the body of the rail car, to which a rail loading wagon is mounted for pivoting movement to support the carriage on the railway, - in that part a coupling mechanism is assembled for the purpose of joining the ends of two adjacent cars.

E'lO- -cp MX The hitch heads of any design always include a central plate, in any form, which essentially comprises a very heavy cylindrical extension projecting slightly from the inner rear surface of the cast-in hitch head, and it has an opening through the shaft and a flat circular bottom surface to which the rail loading wagon is assembled in a rotatable manner. With a latching head attached or rigidly connected to each end of the central head of the trolley, each with a cylindrical central plate extending downwardly to engage and rest rotatably in a loading car, the two loading wagons will support the two ends of railway carriage. Due to the excessive weight carried by the central plate portion of the hitch head, the prior art hitch heads were usually designed to include very heavy support grips to ensure that the shape and integrity of the hitch head and the portion of central plate that extends from it remain. In accordance with the above, the full weight of the rail car is supported by the two hook heads and, as a result, the design of the hook heads has tended to be very heavy for the purpose of supporting the weight. For example, the coupling heads of the technique I'IO / -'U MX above usually have a core plate core portion that extends the effective height of the latch head and further include a plurality of support gusset that extend from the core portion. The heads of this prior art hitch normally weigh about 1500 pounds each, so that two of these car hitch heads add a total weight of about 3,000 pounds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is based on the context and development of a new and improved hitching head, in which the central plate portion thereof has been redesigned, not only to eliminate the heavy core portion extending the effective height of the hitch head, but also removes a major portion of the heavy gusset that had previously been needed to support the excessive height of the core portion. Still observing the specifications of the AAR, the hitching head of this invention includes a striker and a latching cavity adapted to receive a coupling yoke and the associated latching mechanism, as specified by the AAR. In its simplest form, the attachment head of this invention is substantially similar to those of the .'10-.4-97 MX prior art as specified by the AAR, but incorporates a modified, lightweight central plate portion, where the heavy core portion and the gussets have been replaced by a central plate cubic cavity defined between a pair of spaced-apart, parallel end walls of the central plate cavity, which extend perpendicularly between parallel side walls of the hook head and having an eylindrical extension below them, - a floor wall member circular forms a lower wall of the central plate cavity, which extends transversely between lower ends of the end walls of the central plate cavity and which extends downward from a lower side of the hook head; an aperture is disposed through said wall member, at the axial center of the circular outer face adapted to receive a master bolt of a railway loading wagon, to securely rotate the railway freight wagon, so that have a rotational movement against the circular outer face. The opening extends through a tubular extension that is reinforced by gusset fins interconnecting the tubular extension and the circular floor wall member. In comparison with the prior art hitch heads weighing approximately 1500 pounds, each, the head of the ['I n.'. I-'i; MX hook of this invention weighs approximately 1100 pounds and, thus, is able to lighten the weight of each car by approximately 800 pounds.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hitching head for railway carriages that weighs significantly less than comparable hitches of the prior art. Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved hitching head for rail cars, wherein the center plate portion has been redesigned to eliminate the heavy core portion extending the height of the hooking head, as well as for removing a major portion of the heavy cartels needed to support the excessive height of the core portion. A further objective of this invention is to provide a new and improved hitch head for rail cars, which weighs approximately 800 pounds less than the comparable hitch heads of the prior art. In addition to the objects and advantages of the present invention set forth above, various other objectives • 10 / -17 MX and advantages will be more readily apparent to those experienced in the railroad technique from the detailed description of the invention, particularly when considered together with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a cast hook head in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, with the section taken on line I-1 of Figure 2, - Figure 2 is a cross-sectional top view of the casting head, shown in Figure 1, with the section taken on line II-II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation, in cross-section, enlarged, of the central plate portion of the casting head shown in Figures 1 and 2, the section was taken through the line III-III, thus avoiding a section through the gusset fins so that the section through the floor wall member can be better illustrated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED MODE OF THE INVENTION Before describing the present invention in In detail, for reasons of clarity and understanding, the reader is made to note that the components that are identical and have identical functions, in each of the accompanying drawings, have been marked with reference numbers. same for all figures illustrated herein. With reference to Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated a presently preferred embodiment of a casting head in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, wherein the attachment head 10 comprises a cast, rectangular and elongated, generally hollow steel body. , having a pair of side walls 12, elongate and parallel, extending perpendicularly downwards from the sides of an elongated top wall 14. A striker 14 is incorporated in the front end of the latch head 10, following conventional practices of the prior art, since there is a latching cavity 16 adjacent the striker 14. The latch cavity 16 is sized and equipped to receive a yoke coupler (not shown) and the associated latch mechanism (not shown), following the well-known conventional practices of the prior art and, therefore, need not be further detailed here. The crucial point of this invention resides in the single portion of center plate 18, low profile and little F'111-- 4 - < -!; MX weight, which is dockable to a rail freight car (not shown) with the central plate portion 18 separated from the rear end of the casting head, following conventional practices. The unique and novel portion of central plate 18 comprises a cavity 20 of central plate, generally cubic, defined between a pair of end walls 22, spaced apart and parallel, of the central plate cavity, which extend perpendicularly between the side walls 12. Parallel of the casting latch head 10. A cylindrical extension 24 of the cavity extends downwardly from the generally cubic plate cavity 20 to provide a circular floor wall member 26 forming a horizontal bottom wall of the cavity 20 of central plate, generally cubic, the floor wall member 26 has a circular outer face. Obviously, the lower portion of the cavity 20 is cylindrical rather than cubic. An opening 28 is axially located through the floor wall member 26 at the axial center of the circular outer face, adapted to receive the master pin (not shown) of a rail loading wagon (not shown), in which the carriage body (not shown) will be placed with the master bolt inserted into the opening 28, the circular floor wall member 26 will engage the bowl portion (not shown) of the wagon l '> • .- '> / MX rail loading, thus allowing the cargo wagon to pivot under it. Preferably, a tubular extension 30 is provided axially and extends axially upwardly from the center of the floor wall member 26, through which the opening 28 extends. Ideally, the gusseting gusset fins 32 should be provided for reinforcing the floor wall member 26 and the tubular extension 30. An ideal arrangement is to provide four reinforcing gusset fins 32 at right angles to each other, extending radially from the tubular extension 30, which interconnect the tubular extension 30, the member of floor wall 26 and the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical cavity extension 24. In addition to the lateral supports, these fins 36 can be provided on the external surfaces of the side walls 12 adjacent the cavity 18 of the central plate. These support wings 36 may be provided in any of several different ways, with two vertical and parallel fins 36 as shown only in exemplary form. While the openings 34 are not structurally essential, they are provided through the end walls 22 to provide cleaning openings for the removal of the core material from sand or the like, after casting, the use of which will be necessary.

V i / 4 - 1? MX for casting the cavity 20. While the currently preferred embodiment for carrying out the present invention has been discussed above in detail, those of ordinary skill in the railway art can recognize various alternative ways of practicing the invention without deviating from the spirit and reaching of the appended claims. For example, other means and systems for reinforcing the floor wall member 26 might work equally well. Of course, the bottom surface of the floor wall member 26 must be designed to be coupled with the cargo rail car's rail in which it will be placed. In view of the fact that the main objective of this invention has been to reduce the weight of the conventional hook heads without sacrificing the strength and that this has been done by removing material therein, in particular, the heavy core portion and the gussets that previously had been provided, the latch head design disclosed herein has proven to be as strong as the prior art designs, but not necessarily more resistant. Therefore, a manufacturer would do well to manufacture the hitch heads of the invention with a stronger cast steel, such as a high strength low alloy steel, in order to I'IH. '1 / MX increase and optimize the resistance despite the reduced mass of material. In any case, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing description is illustrative only and is not intended to limit the invention in any way.

I'lp .'.- 'l / MX

Claims (17)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the present invention, it is considered as a novelty and, therefore, the content of the following CLAIMS is claimed as property; A lightweight, elongated, cast hooking head that can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body and to which a railroad freight car can be pivotably mounted; the casting head is characterized in that it comprises: (A) a rectangular and elongate body, generally hollow, having a pair of parallel and elongated side walls, extending perpendicularly from an elongated upper wall, - (B) a cavity engaging adjacent a first end and adapted to receive a coupler yoke and the associated latch mechanism, - and (C) a central plate portion that is engageable with a railroad freight car separated from a second end of the latch head casting, the central plate portion comprises: (a) a generally cuboidal central plate cavity, defined between a pair of central plate cavity end walls, parallel and
2. I 'I O, -' MX separated, extending perpendicularly between the parallel side walls of the hook head; (b) a floor wall member forming a lower wall of the generally cuboidal central plate cavity and extending horizontally between the lower ends of the end walls of the central plate cavity, parallel to the upper wall, the floor wall member has a cylindrical periphery extending down from a lower side of the hook head and having a circular outer face, and (c) an axially located opening through the floor wall member. , in an axial center of the circular outer face, the opening is adapted to receive a master bolt of the railway loading wagon to be coupled with the railway loading wagon and to allow its rotational movement against the circular outer face. 2. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head that can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body according to claim 1, characterized in that the floor wall member is reinforced with fins. of gusset that extend between the floor wall member and the cylindrical sides thereof. E'1024-97 X
3. 3. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head mountable at the end of a central head of a rail car body according to claim 1, characterized in that a tubular extension is provided to extend axially upwards from the floor wall through which the opening extends.
4. 4. An elongated, lightweight casting head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 3, characterized in that the tubular extension is reinforced with gussets extend between the tubular extension and the floor wall member. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 4, characterized in that four of the gusset fins are provided at angles straight between them, extending laterally and axially from the tubular extension. 6. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 5, characterized in that the gusset fins extend from the tubular extension. towards the f H). '4 - < * l MX cylindrical portion of the floor wall. 7. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one reinforcing flap is provided. it extends perpendicularly outwards, from each of the parallel side walls of the latching head adjacent to the cubic central plate cavity. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted at the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 7, characterized in that two reinforcement tabs are provided that extend perpendicularly outward from each of the parallel side walls of the hook head, two wings are equally spaced on each side of a vertical plane, through the opening, and perpendicularly through each side wall. 9. A lightweight, angling, cast-in head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 1, characterized in that a cleaning opening is provided through of each of the extreme walls, to facilitate the removal of the material [•] ..;! '.- < ) / Casting heart MX. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 1, characterized in that the hooking cavity includes a plurality of guide fins Parallel and tapered extending perpendicularly inwardly, from an inner surface of the side walls, into the engaging cavity which abuts the surface of an adjacent end wall - opposite the cubic center plate cavity. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 10, characterized in that at least two guide tabs are tapered and parallel to each other. a mirror image arrangement, are provided on each inner surface of the side walls within the engagement cavity, which abut against the surface of an adjacent end wall opposite the cavity of the cubic center plate. 12. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted at the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 1, characterized in that in the first .'the. -? MX end of the hitch head is incorporated a hammer. 13. A lightweight, elongated, cast hooking head that can be mounted to the end of a central head of a rail car body and to which a railroad freight car, the head, can be pivotally mounted. of cast hook is characterized in that it comprises: (A) a rectangular and elongate body, generally hollow, having a pair of parallel and elongated side walls extending perpendicularly from an elongated top wall, - (B) a hooking cavity adjacent to a first end of the coupling head, adapted to receive a coupling yoke and the associated latching mechanism; and (C) a central plate portion that can be coupled with a railroad freight car separated from a second end of the casting head, the central plate portion comprising: (a) a central, generally cubic, well defined cavity between a pair of end walls of central plate cavity, parallel and separate, extending perpendicularly between the parallel side walls of the attachment head, -l '| p,' 1-'i / MX (b) a cavity extension cylindrical extending downwardly from the generally cubic plate cavity; (c) a floor wall member, which forms a lower wall of the generally cuboidal central plate cavity, which extends horizontally from the cylindrical cavity extension parallel to the upper wall, the floor wall member has a circular outer face: (d) an opening axially located through the floor wall member at an axial center of the circular outer face, the opening is adapted to receive a master bolt of the railway freight car, to be coupled with the railway freight wagon for rotational movement against the circular outer face (e) a tubular extension extending axially upwards, from the wall of floor through which the opening extends; and (f) a plurality of reinforcing gusset fins connecting the tubular extension, the floor wall member and the cylindrical cavity extension. 14. A lightweight, elongated, cast hooking head that can be mounted on the end of a ! ' I U, '• .-' > / MX central head of a rail car body according to claim 13, characterized in that four of the gusset fins are provided at right angles to each other, extending laterally and axially from the tubular extension. 1
5. 5. A lightweight, elongated, cast hooking head that can be mounted to the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 14, characterized in that at least two reinforcement tabs are provided and extend perpendicularly outward, from one of the parallel side walls of the attachment head adjacent the cubic center plate cavity, at least two fins are provided. equally spaced on each side of a vertical plane through the opening and perpendicularly through each side wall. 1
6. 6. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head that can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body according to claim 13, characterized in that a cleaning opening is provided through each one of the end walls to facilitate the removal of the core material. 1
7. 7. A lightweight, elongated, cast hook head that can be mounted on the end of a lp. '.-' »>; MX central head of a rail car body, according to claim 13, characterized in that the hooking cavity includes a plurality of parallel and tapered guide fins, extending perpendicularly inwardly from an inner surface of the side walls, within the latching cavity, which abuts against the surface of an adjacent end wall opposite the cavity of the cubic center plate. 18 '. An elongated, lightweight, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 17, characterized in that at least two tapered and parallel guide fins, in one mirror image arrangement, are provided on each inner surface of the side walls within the hook cavity, which abut against the surface of an adjacent end wall opposite the cubic center plate cavity. 19. A lightweight, elongated, casting hook head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body, according to claim 13, characterized in that the first end of the hook head is - -incorporated a hammer. 20. An elongated, cast, and lightweight UMI-I / M head, which can be mounted on the end of a central head of a rail car body and can be assembled to fit Pivoting, a railway loading wagon, the casting hook head is characterized in that it comprises: (A) a rectangular and elongate body, generally hollow, having a pair of parallel and elongated side walls extending perpendicularly from an elongated top wall , - (B) at the first end of the coupling head is incorporated a striker, - (C) a latching cavity adjacent to the striker adapted to receive a coupling yoke and the associated latching mechanism, - and (D) a a central plate portion that can be coupled with a railroad freight car separated from a second end of the casting head, the central plate portion comprises: (a) a generally cubic center plate cavity, defined between a wall pair is a central plate cavity end, parallel and spaced apart, extending perpendicularly between the parallel side walls of the hook head, - (b) an extension of a cylindrical cavity extending downwardly from the cavity of the cavity. Pl 11 / 4-17 MX generally cubic plate; (c) a floor wall member forming a lower wall of the generally cuboidal central plate cavity, extending horizontally from the cylindrical cavity extension parallel to the upper wall, the floor wall member has an outer face circular, - (d) an opening located axially through the floor wall member, at an axial center of the circular outer face, the opening is adapted to receive a master bolt of the railroad freight car, to be coupled with the rail freight wagon for rotational movement against the outer circular face; (e) a tubular extension - extending axially upwards, from the floor wall through which the opening extends, - and (f) four reinforcing tab fins connect the tubular extension, the wall member floor and the extension of cylindrical cavity, the gussets are located at right angles to each other, extending laterally and axially from the tubular extension. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An elongated lightweight casting head that can be mounted to the end of a central head of a rail car body and to which a railroad freight car can be pivotally mounted, the head of casting hook has an elongated rectangular body, generally hollow, with a pair of parallel and elongated side walls extending perpendicularly from an elongated top wall and further including a hooking cavity, adjacent the front end, adapted to receive a coupling yoke and an associated latching mechanism, and a lightweight central plate portion that is engageable with a rail loading wagon separate from the rear end of the cast latch head. The single central plate portion comprises a central, generally cubic, plate cavity defined between a pair of parallel and spaced end walls. of the central plate cavity ~~, which extend perpendicularly between the parallel side walls of the hitching head, and a floor wall member forming a lower wall of the central plate cavity and having a cylindrical periphery extending down from a bottom side of the hook head and having a circular outer face with an opening, axially disposed to Pl (I '4-') 'MX through the outer circular face to receive a master bolt from the rail freight car. PIU.M- 'MX