MXPA98002786A - Railroad truck with elastomer suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a railroad trolley comprising: two side frames laterally spaced, each of the side frames comprises a top-understanding member, two lower tension members and two longitudinally spaced columns, each extending between the member tension and the compression member thus forming a central cavity in each side frame, and a lower support member extending longitudinally between said tension members, a cross member extending laterally between the side frames and having two end sections, each from which is received in one of the central cavities of the side frame, a spacing or spacing structure having a lower surface and an upper surface, the lower surface of the spacer structure is received on an upper surface of the lower support member of one of the frames later ales, and an elastomeric suspension device placed between the lower surface of the sections of the cross member and the upper surface of the spaced structure, wherein the elastomeric suspension device comprises a generally toroidal shaped body, said body forms a centrally located opening which is extends vertically, and wherein the spacer structure comprises end walls and internal supports for supporting and spacing said generally planar lower and upper surfaces, and a first positioning or placing boss comprising a generally cylindrical structure extending upwardly of the interior of the located opening centrally in the body section of the spring suspension device

Description

STRETCHER OF RAILWAY CAR WITH SUSPENSION EL? STOMERICA. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: Rail freight car frames are composed of three basic structural components. These components are two side frames laterally spaced receiving a crossbar that extends laterally between the two side frames. Each side frame has a central bag that includes a lower support member. A spring group is received in the lower support member to support the end of the crossbar. Mooring devices such as friction shoes are located between the interface of the side frame and the inclined faces of the ends of the cross member to provide a damping to the oscillations of the spring group. A typical three-piece frame of a load-carrier frame is shown in U.S. Patent 5,095,823. Each friction shoe in a three-piece rail car frame includes an inclined surface that engages a complementary surface inclined on the end of the cross member and a vertical face interacting with a vertical surface complementary to an inner column of the side frame. The elastic group itself can comprise up to thirteen or more springs each of which is either a traditional steel spiral or a shock absorber type construction.

There is a desire among the manufacturers of cargo wagons to reduce the weight of cargo wagons in order to allow greater weight of material to be towed. Therefore, it is desirable to apply a new engineering to the interface between the crossbar and the side frame to eliminate as much as possible all the spiral group of spring and the arrangement of the friction shoe. It is also desirable to eliminate the wear-dedicated arrangement at the interface between the friction shoe and the slope face of the cross member, and the same vertical structure of the side frame although the side frame usually includes a vertical wear plate which can be replaced. The present invention provides a railway loading carriage with an improved interface between the cross member and the supporting side frames. The traditional spiral spring and the mooring group are replaced by an elasto erica suspension. The interface can also include a spacing structure to support the elastomeric suspension. The spacing structure itself usually comprises a fabricated or cast steel structural device positioned in the lower support member of each side frame. This spacing structure would include an upper and a lower part joined by appropriate structural supports such as four outer walls and a cross welding. The elastomeric suspension itself generally has a toroidal shape and usually includes a centrally located opening. The elastomeric suspension could also be formed without the central opening and could have different shapes including cylinders, cubes, hyperbolic and other structures. Suitable protruding devices may be located either on the lower support member of the same side frame or on the spacer structure to protrude or penetrate the opening of the elastomeric suspension. A similar protrusion may extend downwardly from a lower surface of the end of the cross member to be received in the upper portion of the opening of the elastomeric suspension. The weight saving of the arrangement of the elastomeric suspension of the present invention compared to the traditional spring and the friction shoe arrangement would be in the vicinity of 300 pounds (137 kg) for each spiral spring friction shoe arrangement. This would constitute two such savings per rail car frame or a total weight savings per load car of approximately 1, 200 pounds (542Kg) per load car. The elastomeric suspension device of the present invention is designed to provide vertical stiffness and damping for the cross member received in the two side frames of a three-piece rail frame. The traditional coil spring and friction shoe arrangement is designed to cope with the two conditions most frequently encountered by a freight car, properly an empty condition and a fully charged condition. Therefore, the elastomeric suspension of the present invention was invented to perform as needed in a rail car when the two extreme load conditions are encountered, which were considered in the design and operation of the elastomeric suspension device. In fact, the elastomeric suspension device of the present invention is superior to the traditional arrangement of friction shoe and spiral spring when the total lower total height is considered and the vertical travel is less in an empty state change to the truck conditions loaded. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: The Figure is a side view of the suspension structure of a load carriage according to the present invention with the crossbar in a raised position including a separate spacer structure; Figure 2 is a side view of the rail car suspension structure of the present invention without a separate suspension structure and with a side frame of reduced height. Figure 3A is a partial view of the load carriage suspension structure of the present invention with the cross member in a raised position with a position protrusion only in the spacer structure; Figure 3B is a partial side view of the structure of the present invention with the cross member in a raised position and with the position protrusion on the spacer structure and a stop from the cross member; Figure 4A is a side view of an elastomeric suspension device with a combined support structure; Figure 4B is a side view of an elastomeric suspension device with an alternative combined support structure; Figure 5 is a side view of the rail car suspension structure of the present invention with an alternative elastomeric suspension device support; Figure 6 is a graph of the operation of the traditional arrangement of the friction shoe load carriage frame - spiral spring tracing the vertical travel of the spring against the load force; Figure 7 is a graph of the operation of a load carriage frame with elastomeric suspension device, plotted with the vertical travel of the device in relation to the loading force. Referring now to Figure 1, a side view of a rail frame 10 is presented. The cast steel side frame 12 is shown as comprising a compression member 14 extending along the longitudinal length of the side frame. The ends of the pedestal 15 extend from the longitudinal ends of the compression member 14 and include the pedestal jaws 19 adapted to receive a shaft bearing. The tension members 16 extend longitudinally downward from the compression member 14 and are joined by the support member 17 extending laterally between the lower ends of the tension members 16. As mentioned above, the side frame 12 it is usually a unitary cast steel structure. The vertical columns 18 extend between the lower support member 17 and the compression member 14 to thereby form a central ball in the side frame 12. It is understood that each rail load carriage frame comprises two side frames 12 that are spaced apart one from another.

The cross member 22 is also a unitary cast steel structure that extends laterally between the side frames 12. The end of the cross member 22 (shown in an elevated position) includes a lower surface 25 from which a positioning protrusion extends. 24. the positioning or positioning protrusion 24 is usually a cylindrical structure that is longitudinally positioned at the center of the lower surface of the cross member 25. The spacer structure 26 is either a unitary cast steel structure or a fabricated steel structure that includes a section bottom plan 34 and an upper planar section 36. Other structural materials may be used such as aluminum. The upper and lower planar sections are spaced apart and joined by structural components 38 that include outer walls with internal structural supports. The preferred form of the spacer structure 26 is a square, but a rectangular configuration or a cylindrical rounded configuration can also be adapted to be received in a lower side frame support 17. the elastomeric suspension device 30 has a generally toroidal shape, which includes a cylindrical opening that extends vertically 32. The position protrusion 28, usually a cylindrical section, extends upwardly from the top of the spacer structure 26. The position support 28 extends partially on the outside of the opening of elastomeric support 32, usually less than a quarter of the vertical distance. The position support 24 extends downwardly from the lower surface 25 of the cross member 22 into an upper portion of the elastomeric suspension device opening 32, also less than a quarter of the distance. The reason for such distance of a quarter is providing a solid stop or stop to limit the vertical travel of the crossbar 22. Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a rail frame 11 having a side frame 13 of reduced height, so that the separate spacing structure is not required in the embodiment shown in Figure 2. The side frame 13 comprises the compression member 115 extending along the longitudinal length of the side frame. The pedestal ends 29 extend from the longitudinal ends of the compression member 15 and include pedestal jaws 129 each adapted to receive an arrow or shaft bearing. The tension members 6 extend longitudinally downward from the compression member 15 and are joined by the support member 27 extending between the lower ends of the tension members 6. The side frame 13 includes a support member 27 which in itself includes a position protrusion 42. The position protrusion 42 is usually a cylindrical section extending upwardly from a lower support member 27. An elastomeric suspension device 40 is provided in this embodiment. A centrally located vertically extending opening 44 is provided which is generally cylindrical in shape within the elastomeric suspension device 40. The position protrusion 31 extends from the bottom of the section 35 of the cross member 23 also within the opening 44 of the upper portion of the elastomeric suspension device. The protrusion 42 extends upwardly from the lower support member 27 of the side frame 13 and directly into the opening 44 in its lower portion, in the elastomeric suspension device. Referring now to Figure 3A, an alternative embodiment of the suspension structure of a loading car of the present invention is shown. The cross member end 50 is shown in a raised position in the cross member opening partially formed by the lower support member of the side frame 52 and the side wall 53. the distance structure 54 has a construction similar to the spacing structure 26 described above., except that the position protrusion 58 extends up a greater distance, equal to approximately half the uncompressed height within an opening of the elastomeric suspension device 56. the underside 51 of the cross member 50 does not include a position support in the embodiment, due to the extension of the position protrusion 58. Referring now to Figure 3B, an alternative embodiment of the load carriage suspension structure of the present invention is shown. The cross member end 60 is shown in a raised position in the cross member opening partially formed by the bottom support member of the side frame 62 and the side wall 65. The distance structure 64 is of a construction similar to the distance structure 26 described. above, with the exception that the position protrusion 68 extends up a greater distance, approximately equal to half the uncompressed height within an opening of the elastomeric suspension device. The lower side 61 of the cross member includes a support position stop 63 which extends downwards only a short distance to approximately the position protrusion 68 to limit the downward travel of the cross member 60. Referring now to Figure 4A, the suspension device elastomeric 70 is shown as a typical toroidal shaped structure having a flat upper portion with the upper plate 74 and a flat bottom portion with the bottom plate 76. the supporting structure 72 is shown as a generally cylindrical structure having a flat top portion engaging bottom plate 76 and a flat bottom portion 78 adapted to be received in the lower support member of a side frame. The support structure 72 could be composed of fabricated steel, cast steel, fabricated aluminum, cast aluminum, or any structural plastic with appropriate sidewalls and a transverse soft weld, which might be needed. Referring now to FIG. 4B, the elastomeric suspension device 80 is shown as a typical toroidal shaped structure having a flat upper portion, with an upper plate 84, and a flat bottom, with the bottom plate 86. The structure 82 is shown as a hyperbolic structure having a flat upper bottom plate 86 and a flat bottom 88, adapted to be received in the lower support member of a side frame. The support structure 82 could comprise fabricated steel or aluminum, cast steel or aluminum or any structural plastic with suitable sidewalls and internal transverse welding as may be needed. Referring to Fig. 5, a rail frame 11 is shown, which is identical to the structure shown in Fig. 2, with certain exceptions, the structural support 41 is provided on the surface of the member 27, the support 41, has a flat bottom portion which is received adjacent to the upper surface of the lower support member 27, e) the support 41, also has a concave upper surface 43, which is adapted to additionally receive the lower surface of the elastomeric suspension device 40. No position protrusion extends from the bottom surface of the cross member 23, nor from the upper surface of the structural support 41, in the embodiment shown, but the position protuberances may be provided if desired. The structural support 41, which could be comprised of a steel or cast aluminum insert placed on the upper surface of the member 27, or a structural support 41, could be comprised of a structural plastic. Referring to Fig. $, A working graphical representation of a spiral spring friction shoe suspension of the conventional type is established in a rail freight car frame., where the vertical path of device or compression is plotted with respect to force. Note that for an empty or nearly empty rail freight car, with load on each coil spring group device of approximately 10,000 pounds vertical compression is approximately 5cm, for fully loaded rail freight cars, the load on each suspension device is about 50,000 pounds for a nominal load carriage of 100 tons (American), as can be seen in Fig. 6, such loading would result in a vertical compression of the spiral spring suspension device, approximately 8.75cm, in service upon exposure to regular oscillations, the elastomeric suspension device would compress and expand approximately 2.5cm more and less from the -8.75 position. Note that the graph of Fig. 6 indicates the operating curves of the friction shoe arrangement of the spiral spring. The first operating curve for the vertical travel is up to 5cm, with a slight pendint, this is indicative that the operation of the spiral spring arrangement is only slightly compressed under light or non-existent load conditions. Such a condition is shown in A, in Fig. 6. However, since the rail loading cart is fully or almost fully loaded, the second operating curve for a greater travel slope reaches up to 12.5cm, such condition is shown as B, in Fig. 6. The operation of an elastomeric suspension device of the present invention is shown in Fig. 7. The first operating curve for vertical travel of up to 4.5cm, is like a slight slope, this indicates that the operation of the elastomeric suspension device is only slightly compressed with a lightly loaded or unloaded load carriage condition of approximately 5,000 to 10,000 pounds per suspension group. However, since the rail loading car is fully or almost loaded, the second operating curve with a greater slope is applied, but it should be noted that the route only extends to approximately 5.5cm, with a load of approximately 60,000 pounds. suspension group as shown in C, in Fig. 7, or a nominal load of the 110T load carriage, note that this vertical compression is about 6.25cm smaller than in the friction shoe arrangement and conventional spiral spring that it was described with reference to Fig. 6, therefore, the side frame that is needed to accommodate the elastomeric suspension device of the present invention would have a cross-sectional opening 6.25cm smaller in vertical height than a conventional side frame. This would result, of course, in a side frame with less weight. The elastomeric suspension device itself has a toroidal shape with a vertical central axial opening. The elastomeric suspension device may comprise a single homogeneous elastomer designed to provide that double slope operation, or may comprise two separate elastomers, one of greater rigidity than the other for vertical understanding. Such a dual arrangement of the elastomers can be realized by a toroidal structure having an outer toroidal device of a selected deflection operation surrounding an internal cylindrical device of a second deflection operation. Another advantage over the conventional spiral spring frame is that the load carriage and the spiral spring frame must accommodate or receive a vertical cross-over travel of approximately 5 to 12.5cm, from non-existent to full load conditions. This produces different design programs to ensure that the load carriage can function properly under the normal conditions of the track and train speed. The frame with the elastomeric suspension device of the present need only be designed to accommodate a vertical cross-over travel of approximately 3.12cm, from unloaded to fully loaded conditions. The benefit for loading truck operation is evident. Another advantage of the elastomeric suspension device of the present invention, when used in a load carriage frame instead of a friction shoe arrangement with a spiral spring, is shown by comparing B, in FIG. 6, with C, in FIG. Fig. 7. B in Fig. 6, represents the vertical spring movement from end to end during the operation of the load carriage normally with full load, note that such vertical spring movement is about 5.5cm, in a car of load using the elastomeric suspension device of the present, such vertical movement of the end-to-end elastomeric suspension device, as shown in C, in Fig. 7, is approximately lcm, under full load conditions. Here also the benefit for the operation of the loading car is evident.

Claims (16)

1. R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S 1. - A rail frame comprises two side frames laterally spaced, each of the side frames comprising a top compression member, two lower tension members and two longitudinally spaced columns, each extending between the tension member and the compression member forming a central bag in each side frame and a lower support member extending longitudinally between the tester members; a crosspiece extending laterally between the side frames and having two end sections each of which is received in one of the central pockets of the side frame, a distance structure having a lower surface and an upper surface, the surface of Background of the spacer structure is received on an upper surface of the lower support member of one of the side frames, and an elastomeric suspension device positioned between the lower surface of the end sections of the cross member and the upper surface of the spacer structure.
2. 2. The railway frame according to claim 1, wherein the elastomeric suspension device comprises a body formed generally toroidally; the body forms a centrally located opening that extends vertically.
3. 3. The railway frame of claim 1 comprising a first position protrusion extending upwardly from a generally central portion of the upper surface of the spacer structure, wherein the first position protrusion extends upwardly within the opening in the elastomeric suspension device.
4. 4. The railway frame according to claim 1, further comprising a second position protrusion extending downwardly from a longitudinally central portion of a lower surface of the cross section of the cross member, and wherein the second position protrusion extends downwardly in the opening of the elastomeric suspension device body.
5. 5. The railway frame according to claim 1, wherein the distancing structure comprises outer walls and internal supports to support and distance the surfaces of the generally flat bottom and those of the upper part, the first position protrusion or properly The pushing projection comprises a generally cylindrical structure that extends upwards in a generally cylindrical opening in the body section of the elastomeric suspension device.
6. 6. The rail frame according to claim 3, wherein the first position protrusion d extends approximately half the distance upwardly within the generally cylindrical opening in the body of the elastomeric suspension means.
7. 7. The railway frame according to claim 1, wherein the elastomeric suspension device is vertically compressed approximately 2. 30cm to about 5.5cm in a full load condition.
8. 8. The railway frame according to claim 1, wherein the elastomeric suspension device is vertically compressed in a swing from top to top in a fully loaded condition about 1 cm.
9. 9. The railway frame according to claim 2, wherein the upper surface of the structure distance includes an area of generally concave shape for receiving an elastomeric suspension device.
10. 10. A rail frame comprising two side frames laterally spaced, each of the side frames comprises a top compression member, two lower tension members and two longitudinally spaced columns extending between the tension members and the tension member. compression thus forming a central pocket in each side frame, and a lower support member extending longitudinally between the tension members; a cross member extending laterally between the side frames and having two end sections each of which is received in one of the central pockets of the side frame, and elastomeric suspension means placed between the bottom surface of the cross section end section and the lower support member.
11. 11. The rail frame according to claim 10, wherein the elastomeric suspension means comprises a toroidal shaped body, the body forming a vertically extending centrally located opening.
12. The rail frame according to claim 10, wherein the bottom support member of the side frame includes a concave shaped area for receiving the elastomeric suspension means.
13. 13. - The rail frame according to claim 10, comprising a first position protrusions extending upwards from a central portion of the lower support member, a first opening extending vertically within a central portion of the middle of the middle of elastomeric suspension, a first position means extending in the first opening in the elastomeric suspension means.
14. 14. The railway frame according to claim 10, further comprising a second position protrusion extending downwardly from a lower surface of the cross section end section, a second opening extending vertically within a portion upper central of the elastomeric suspension means, and the second protruding protrusion or projection extends into the second opening of the elastomeric suspension means.
15. 15. The railway frame according to claim 1, wherein the elastomeric suspension means is vertically compressed approximately 1. 75cm in an unloaded condition and approximately 5.5cm in a full load condition.
16. 16. The rail frame according to claim 1, wherein the elastomeric suspension means is compressed vertically in a swing from top to top in a fully loaded condition in about 1 cm.