US1651656A - Stabilizer for locomotive cranes - Google Patents

Description

Dec. f6',-, .1927. 1,651,656

- G. B. YERKES STABILIZER FOR LOCOMOTIVE CRANES Filed Sept. 18, 1925' 2 -SheetsSheet 1 www g Dec. 6, 192?.

cs. B. YERKES STABILIZ ER FOR LOCOMOTIVE CRANES Filed Sept. 18. 1925 Sheets-Sheet 2 GEoRs-nm YERKns, on coRAoPoLIs; rnlvnsy avziivreg rrssrenon omlin MGMYLER resist INTERSTATE COMPANY, or BEDFORD, oH Io A CQRPQRA'LION or OHIO.

STABILIZER non rooolvrorrvn cRANEs.

Application filed September 18, 1925 Serial No. 557L062.

. present invention relates parti cularlyv to a stabilizerfor locomotive cranes but is applicable generally tocarriages which travel along'trackways to prevent lateraltipping of thecarriagesn a ..-When alocomotive crane is being p'erated ;with its .loadcarrying boom; projecting laterally to one side .or the other of the s upportingacarriage, it is necessaryywhen heavy loads arebeing :handled to' provide means for preventing the supportingwcanriage from tipping over.. This has heretofore been accomphshed by providing ground engaging struts 1 onthe-carriage or K boom .or

by clamping the carriage to the. track. rails.

In so faras I am aware, the stabilizing devices heretofore employed-havenot been such as .wpuldpermit of free travel of thecrane along the trackway; and itfis the principal objectof this invention to provide'a.-.stabiliz-' ing device which is normally freefrom.-engagementv with thei -trackway and :permits the crane'to travel freely alongthetrackway,

thedevice being automatically operated to hold thewcarriage to the track whenever: a load sufficient to tip the carriage is imposed on ;the .boom. I r

N -M0re specifically -.it i s the object 'of the present invention to provide means controlled; by; laterally tilting. movements .of. a carriage; on a railway track for- .,-automatically clamping the carriage to the track to revent its tipping over. z f With the above'and other objects in view, the invention may besaidto comprise the device .illustrated in "the accompanying drawings hereinafter described and particularlyset forth in the appended1claimstogether with such variations and modifications thereof that will be apparentto-one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains. Reference should be had to theaccolnpanying drawings forming apart of this specification in which Fig.1 is anend elevation of a locomotive crane to which the. invention is applied, the boom of the crane 'being shown-in a position extending laterally from the carriage; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragwheels 7 which tr inentary side elevation of the carriage shownguone.oflthetrucks' and the rail clamping devlce. associated therewith; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of .one of theJrail clamps; Figs; 4 and 5. are sectional detail viewsshowing the pressure. controlling valve in normal and shiftedpositions, The present invention-is designed espe cially. for use upon" locomotive. cranes and Fig. --1 of the drawing shows a "locomotive crane..in: whichythe carriagefbody 1- hasi-a turntable2 thereonlu'pon which is mounted the. house: 3' inu which the crane operating. mechanism.isfenclosed. Theboom 4 extends upwardly. and. outwardly;- from the turntable an.d..has..ail ioist line 5 suspended fron1..its 6 I outer .end bymeans of which the loads may be liftednflheLcarriage consists of the body 1- and asuitable .numben of trucksfi having avel upon the rails 8 of the trackway. 1. .1. ."i -.T.he structure so. 1 far fdescribed is all old and well-known, the present invention being a. mechanism mounted upon the carriage for I preventing the carriage from being "tipped over heavyloads supported upon the outer. end of the boom; While the device is particularly useful on locomotive cranes, -it is applicable toany carriage travelling upon a railway track 'where itiis desirable to provide meansfor,preventinglateral tipping of 0 the carriage. :Adj acent the K opposite sides thereof and directly above the track rails' 8,

[piston .10. thereinprovidedwith a downwardly, extending piston lodllfWlllCll ex- 7 tendsthrou'gh and. has a fluid tight fit in thelower: end of the cylinder." Each piston rod; 11 hasag forkedlower end 12 inwhich railclamping jaws 13 are pivoted on -ahorizontal pivot pin 14: which extends through the forkedend 12 and through thej-aws 13 intermediate the cnds thereof The lower endsof:the-clamping .jaws: 13 are formed to fit over the opposite sideszof the ball of the rail 8 and .the. upper... ends,thereof are connected to chains 15 which are suspended by eye-bolts 16 secured to the under side of the body 1. WVhen the piston 16 is held in its uppermost position, the clamping jaws 13 are supported entirely above the top of rail 8 and the jaws are held by gravity in open position. When piston 10 is moved downwardly the piston rod 11 carries the pivot pin 14 of the clamping jaws clownwardly towards rail 8, and since the upper ends of the jaws are held agamst' downward ,movement by the chains 15, the jaws J13 will move to closed position as the piston.

is moved downwardly, the jaws being so mounted with respect to the rail 8 that they will grip the ball of the rail between them when they are closed by the downward movement of the piston.

Means is provided for supplying and exhausting pressure to and from either side of the piston 10, pressure from the train air pipe being employed for actuating the clamps. Each cylinder hasa pipe hne 17 connected to the lower end thereof and a pi e line 18 connected to the upper end thereo the pipe 17 leading to the lower portion of a cylindrical valve casing 19 and the pipe 18 lead ng to the upper portion of said casing. A pipe 20 leads from the train air line to the central portion of the casing 19, and the pressure to the cylinder 9 is controlled by a spool valve 21 slidably mounted within the casing '19; The valve 21 has cylindrical upper and lower end portions 22 and 23 which have a fluid tight fit within the casing 19 and an intermediate portion 24 of reduced diameter which forms an annular air chamber between the end portions 22 and 23 as shown in Fig. 4. The valve 21, when in its lowermost position, establishes communication between the pressure pipe 20 and the pipe line 17 so that air under pressure is directed to the lower end of cylinder 9 to move the'piston 10 up wardly and hold it in its uppermost posithe position shown in Fig. 4 air can escape through the air pipe ltthrough the upper portion of the cylinder 9 into the casing 19 i above the valve while pressure is being supplied to the lower end of the cylinder. WVhen the valve 21 is in its uppermost position as shown in Fig. 5, air may escape through the pipe line 17 from the lower portion of the cylinder 9 into the casing 18 beneath the lowerend of the valve 21. It will be apparent that if the valve 21 be held in its lowermost position shown in Fig. 4, pressure position shown in Fig. 4,but will be automatically shifted to its uppermost position shown in Fig. 5 whenever there is a tilting movement of the carriage toward the side of the track opposite that upon which the controlling valve and the clamp controlled thereby are mounted. To this endthevalve 21 is provided with an upwardly projecting stem 25 which has two fixed collars 26 thereon which receive between them a projecting arm or lug 27 fixed to' a cross beam 28 carried by the body 1 of the carriage. The opposite ends of the cross beam 28 extend into the frames of the opposite trucks6 and are supported upon'suitable springs 29 carried by the trucks. .The valve 21 is normally held in its lowermost position but if the carriage body has a lateral tilting movement with respect to the trucks which takes a portion of the weight from the springs 29 on one side of the carriage, the valve stem 25 will move upwardly with the beam 28 and shift the Valve from the position shown in Fig. 4 to position shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the pressure is exhausted from the under side of the piston 10 and pressure is admitted from above the top thereof so that the rail clamps will instantly move to clamping position in engagement with the rail 8. clamps, on one side of the carriage are op- The clamp, or

erated independently of those upon the other side, and the clamps on each side are controlled by a shifting of'weight causing a portion of the pressure on the-springs 29 at one side of the carriage to be relieved sufficiently to permit the springs to lift the end of the cross bar engaged thereby. 'Assuming that the crane is positioned as shown in Fig. 1, if a heavy load be imposed on the hoist cable 5. the center of gravity will be shifted to a point to the left of the left hand rail 8 and would cause the carriage to tip over if means were not provided for checking the tipping movement of the carriage. However, whenever such a condition occurs, the pressure upon the springs 29 on the right hand side ofthe carriage is relieved and these springs push the right hand end of the cross beam 28 upwardly operating the controlling valve 21 and setting the clamp or clamps on the right hand side of the carriage, securely hold the carriage against tipping. If the boom be swung laterally "the-center 'of "gravity ofthe loaded eraneov' r the track the stabilityof the carriage will be reestablishecl and the controlling valve will be pushed downwardly to its animal j v H I h, j

a carriage adapted to t'r'aveljalong arai'lway position causing the clamp or clamps to be instantly re-le'ased from the rails and leaving the carriage free to travel along the tracks way. 7

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travel upon a trackwvay, said carriage having a truck, and a body yieldably supported on the truck, means movably mounted on the carriage and engageable with the trackway to prevent ti p.- ping of the carriage, means for normally holding said trackway engaging means in a position clear of the trackway, and means controlled by a movement of the body with respect to the truck for moving said engag ing means into engagement with the trackwa 2 In a device of the character described, a carriage adaptedto travel upon a railway track, said carriage having a truck and a body yieldably supported on the truck, a rail clamp mounted on the carriage, means for actuating the clamp, and meansoperated upon a relative movement between the body andtruck for controlling said clamp actuating means.

3. In a device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway track and comprising a truck, a body, and springs interposed between the body and truck at opposite sides thereof, a vertically movable member carried by the body, a clamp having rail clamping jaws carried by said member, means for normally holding said member in elevated position and said jaws in open position above therail, and means controlled by an upward movement of the side of the body carrying the clamp away from the truck for lowering said clamp carrying member and closing said jaws on the rail.

4. In a device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway track and comprising a truck, a body,.and springs interposed between the body and truck at opposite sides thereof, a rail clamp on the carriage, means for normally holding the clamp clear of the rail, and means controlled by a lateral tilting movement of the body on the truck for moving the clamp into gripping engagement with the rail.

5. In a device-of the character described, a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway track, a vertically movable member mounted on the carriage, a pair of rail gripping jaws pivoted to said member, means for raising and lowering said member, means connected to the carriage and to said jaws for closing jthejjaws' dat n scammed, more get t atof, and means operable upon; a: ,tll'tm'g'movement of thecarri'age for controlling ment onedmeans.

'6. In a device of track, a vertically disposed fiuiuprssare cylinder mounted on the carriage, a piston I in the cylinder having a rod extending through the lower end of the cylinder, a

pair of rail clamping jaws pivoted tothe lower end of the piston rod, links connecting 1 said jaws to the carriage to cause the jaws to close during downward movement thereof, means for admitting pressure to and exhausting pressure from the cylinder to actuate the piston, and means operable upon a tilting movement of the carriage for con-- trolling said pressure admitting means- 7. In a device of the character described, a carriageadap ted to travel along a railway track, a vertically disposed fluid pressure cylinder mounted on the carriage, a piston in the cylinder havinga. rod extending through the lower end of the cylinder, a pair ofvrail clamping jaws pivoted to the lower,

end of the piston rod, links connecting said jaws to the carriage to cause the jaws to close during downward movement thereof, and means controlled by tilting movements of the carriage for admitting-pressure to and exhausting pressure from the cylinder to actuate the piston.

8. In a device of the character described,

a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway track, said carriage havmga truck and a body yieldably supported on'the truck, a rail clamp on the carriage, fluid pressure clamp actuating means, and means responsive to relative movements between the body and truck for controlling said actuating means.

9. In a. device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway track, said carriage having a truck and a body yieldably supported on the truck, rail clamps upon opposite sides of the carriage, a fluid pressure actuating means for each clamp, and separate means upon opposite sides of the truck for controlling the rail clamps, said controlling means being operated upon an upward movement of the body on the side on which the controlling means is located to cause the clampon said side to be actuated. r r

10. In a device'of the character described, a carriage adapted'to travel upon a railway track, said carriage having a truck and a body yieldably supported to the truck, rail clamps upon oppositesides ofthe carriage,

a fluid pressure cylinder for actuating each clamp, a valve controlling the supply of pressure to said cylinder, and means resp0nsive to relative movements between the truck and body for operating said valve.

11. In a device of the character described,

' a fluid pressure cylinder for actuating each signature.

a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway two relatively movable parts one operatively track, said carriage having a truck and a connected to the truck and the, other to the body yieldably supported on 'the truck, rail body. 7 f b V clamps upon opposite sides of the carriage, In testimony whereof, I hereunto aifix my clamp, and a valve controlling the supply of I I y pressure to said cylinder, said valve having v GEORGE B. YERKES.

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