US1804345A - Railway draft gear - Google Patents

Description

May 5, 1931. w. F. KIESEL, .1RA 1,804,345

RAILWAY DRAFT GEAR Filed sept. 9, 192e 3 sheets-sheen 1 s S I la l gnvcntoz swim WTQWMVM Stratum- May 5, 1931. w. F. KlEsEL, JR 1,804,345

` RAILWAY DRAFT GEAR Filed Sept. 9, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Lm 0/ W v ,m m m NIT l# AN uw m\\\.m .l 1| I 1| O 7 w @w w 5 F @W Nm. QN m o \\TN`M w Y.,

May 5, 1931. w. F. KlEsEL. JR

RAILWAY DRAFT GEAR 3 sheets-sheet :s

Filed Sept. 9, 1926 Patented May 5, 1931 .lerares RAILWAY DRAFT GEAR Application led September 9, 1926. Serial 1\To.- 13{l=,527.`

This invention relates to railway draft appliances 'and more particularly to the provision of means on a vehicle Afor the reception, in a longitudinal direction, of a .l5 double acting draft gear, draft yoke, coupler butt and associated parts.

It is aV general object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved type of draft appliance adapted to be used at the front end of locomotives and on tenders and cars. y

More particularly'it is an object of this invention to provide a draft casting having a draft assembly pocket open at Vthe end for the reception of a friction draft gear, a draft yoke, followers and a coupler butt, removable means/being provided to retain said assembly in position in the pocket and' to take the draw bar pull.

A further object of the present invention consists in theprovision of'a draft pocket casting having formed integral therewith rear stops, said pocket being open at the outer end for the Y reception of a single, double acting friction draft'gear, afollower, a draft yoke and a coupler butt,y said coupler butt and draft `yoke being pivoted 'together, keys beinO- provided to be removably positioned against said follower to retain the draft assembly in the pocket, said keys being substantially in alignment with the pivotal'connection between the draft yoke and the couplerbutt, there being means pro-` vided to retain the coupler head in central position.

A still further object of the present invention consists in the provision of a draft assembly pocket having an open end of a size suflicient to receive therethroughthe whole f, draft assembly, said endbeingV provided with adjustable filler blocks to support the draw bar which is less vin cross sectional area than said opening.

Other and'further objects ofthe present invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the ,following specification and accompanying drawings* wherein are disclosed'two eX- emplary embodiments of the invention with the understanding, however, that various and sundry changes may be made therein without ldeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

ln said drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan view partially in horizontal section lof the present invention shown as applied to the front end of a locomotive Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section 'of Fig. l; f

Fig. 8 is a transverse Y section on line 3 .3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line H of Fig. l showing a portion of the -adjustingk locks broken away; Y v

Fig. 5 is ak plan view of the rear endv of a tender showing the invention applied thereto; and j Fig. 6 is a side elevation of Fig. 5 showing portions broken away for the sake of clearness. f

Ther customary arrangement of draft mechanism for railway vehicles comprises a pocket formed in ornear the end of the car in a sill or buffer and having an open bottominto which the draft gear, draft yoke and other parts may be; lifted and held in place by a pan or strap which takes the weight yof the draft assembly. The front and backstops for the draft gear are usually solidly attached to the partin which the pocket is formed and there is provided a coupler carrier iron to support the outer end of the coupler. Thecasting being open at the bottom, is weak and buiiing and pulling strains tend to break it, as well as` to force thestrap or pan out of'position. The present invention overcomes the above difficulties by providing a pocket for the reception of the draft appliances which is closed at the'bottom and `open only at the outer end. Through this opening vthe entire assembly 1s adapted to be placed 1n the 4pocket `after which a pair vof keys is positioned to cooperate with the front follower and retainthe whole assembly in the pocket. Suitable yadjustable filler blocks close portions of the open end of the pocket and serve toadjustably support the coupler head at the proper elevation above the track.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to l inclusive, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention adapted to be applied to the front end of locomotives, there is disclosed at '10 wnat may be termet the front end casting of the locomotive adapted to be secured, by any suitable fas.- tening means, between the side frames 11 and 12. The end 13 of the casting is closed with the exception of the central portion whereinis provided the opening 14 leading to the draft gear pocket 15 within the casting. This pocket is formed by the top plate 16 which is substantially flat and the bottom plate 17 which is also substantially flat. The side walls 1S of the pocket converge slightly from the opening 14 and then become parallf until they reach a position near the of the casting where they are offset toward each other forming the shoulders 19 which are the draft rear stops. The walls then continue rearwardly for a short distanceV parallel to eachother. The top plate 16 extends from side frame to side frame at the front and has its edges converging toward the rear. The bottom plate is of the same shape and the two converging edges are secured together by vertical walls 2O suitably reinforced by webs as shown. The toprwall is provided at 21 with perforated bosses whereby it is adapted to be bolted to the under surface of the cylinder saddle of the locomotive.

The rear portion of the pocket 15 is of a size to snugly receive a suitable double-acting, friction draft gear 22 which abuts against the draft gear rear stops 19 prev1- ously described. likewise of such a size as to lit snugly but with freedom of movement in the pocket. The function of the draft gear and follower plate and their operation are too well known to need description here. Encircling the draft gear longitudinally is the draft yoke 2a working in suitable channels formed in the top and bottom plates by offsets toward the front of the pocket and being freed at the rear by means of the cutouts 25 and 26 in the top and bottom plates respectively. Thisdraft yoke is of thetype described vin the patent to Harry A. Hoke No. 1,213,196, patented January 23, 1917, and has provided, in addition to the yoke strap, the hollow metal member 2T which is widened at the ends into a spade form so that it substantially touches the side walls of the pooket to prevent the yoke from having lateral movement at its forward end, the rear end being'restricted where it passes between the nar owed portions of the walls 18. This hollow member 27 is securely riveted to the front end of the yoke strap as shown and near the rear of the hollow member a suitable vertical opening passes through both the hollow member and the yoke strap which The front follower 23 is opening is adapted to receive the yoke pin 28 having its head seated in a counterbore in the yoke strap. This yoke pin serves to connect the yoke with the coupler butt 29, to the forward end of which is secured the coupler head 3G of any conventional form. For this purpose the rear end of the coupler butt is thickened and drilled to receive the yoke pin 28. The metal of the coupler butt end is not only thickened to increase the bearing area of the yoke pin, but it is widened and provided with a flat rear end as shown at 31. This flat rear end abuts the front face of the front follower 23. Since the rear of the yoke strap is abutted by the rear of the draft gear, it follows that the front follower will bev pressed tightly against the flat rear end 31 of the coupler butt, which is pivoted to the yoke by the yoke pin 2S forward of the abutting faces 31 and the front follower. By this means the springs of the 'draft gear cause the yoke and the coupler butt to maintain an alignment or to return to alignment after they have been displaced.

The draft assembly, as the draft gear, draft yoke and coupler butt may be termed, is adapted to be inserted into the pocket 15 through the open end 14 thereof when the parts of the draft assembly are assembled as a unit. To retain them in the pocket and to provide means to take the pull of the coupler, keys are provided which pass through the top and bottom` plates of the casting and engage against the front of the front follower, beside the coupler butt.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 these keys 32 are adapted to be inserted from the top where they are readily accessible through the pilot of the locomotive. They are rectangular in form, pass through the top and bottom walls 16 and 17 and are partially housed in olfset'channels33 in the pocket walls 18. These keys have enlarged heads 34 to prevent them from falling through the casting and are retained in position by the split keys 35 passing through suitable slots 36 therein and engaging against the bottom wall 17 of the casting. The keys are placed in position after the draft assembly is in the pocket and serve to take the full strain of the draw bar. Buliing is taken by the draft gear rear stops 19 castvintegral with the pocket. t will be noted that the coupler butt is much less in cross sectional area than the pocket opening, and hence can have movement to the right and left to accommodate slight misalignment. of the cars and to take care of any turning move-- ment of the cars. It is pivoted to the draft yoke substantially in alignment with the two keys 32 so that it has freedom of sidewise movement without affecting the yoke or causing any binding of the yoke in the pocket. This effect is further enhanced by for coupling purposes.

having the yoke extend forwardly ofthe pin and have its spade end guided by the walls y18 of the pocket.

To support the coupler at the proper ele vation and to partially close the end of the pocket, the end block 37 and the draw bar carrier block 38 are provided against the top and bottom walls respectively at vthe mouth of the pocket.

heads recessed in the blocks and are provided with nuts on the outside of the casting.. In order to take care of sagging of the locomotive due to settling of the springs and to other causes, means are provided for blocking up the draw bar in order that it may always remain at the proper elevation Suchv means comprises two or more shims 40 which are initially arranged above the end block 37 in order to retain the space between the end block and the draw bar carrier always the same. As the locoimotive sags, one or more of the shims are removed from the position shown and are arranged beneath the draw bar carrier. These blocks, in addition to 'supporting and guiding the draw bar, serve as a secondary means to retain the draft gear in the pocket in case the keys are darnaged or removed inadvertently.

The draft arrangement just described is particularly adapted for the front end of locomotives, but the invention is not limited to that use. ln Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a mea-'ns for applying the invention to the rear end of a locomotive tender such as that described in the applicants copending ap-V plication Serial No. 77,567, filed December 2li, 1925, although it need not be limited to that particular type of tender underframe.

ln Figs. 5 and 5 there is disclosed the rear end of a tender frame having a single cen* tral sill formed as a casting provided with the integral short bolster 5l. A suitable buffer beam 52 is secured to the upper surface ofthe sillcasting by means of the gusset plate 53 inset into the casting as shown and extending to the ends of the buffer beam. The beam is formed ofl two channel members 54 having a suitabletop plate thereon. rl`he end of the sill has provided therein a pocket of substantially the form disclosed in the modification previously described, but the top of this pocket is, in the casting, open. lt is, however, closed by the gusset plate 53 as clearly shown in the drawings, thus forming a pocket substantially identical with that previously described and having substantially flat top and bottom walls which, together with the side walls, completely enclose it.

Since the tender tank and other parts cover the gusset, the keys 55 are inserted from the bottom and pass upwardly into the top wall l.of the casting as in the previous modifica- They are held in po-e. -sition by suitable bolts 39 which have their tion and are received in similar channels in the side walls. The keys are retained in position by a .transverse bolt ,56 which passes through suitable holes near the bottomends of the keys v.and through a pair of depending lugs 57 integralr with the casting. A 'nut 58 and suitable locking means are provided to retain the bolt in position. l

. vThe'remaining portions of the device as applied to atender kare the same as those used in Vconjunction with the locomotive modification and the operation is rthe same. lt will readily be apparent to thoseskilled in the art how the device may be applied to any forni of railway car where it maybe so desired, and it is intended that the claims Vappended hereto shall be construed as ap` plied to any forni of railway vehicle.

Having thus described the invention,

what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. in a device of the class desc -ibed, in combination, a complete draft assemblyincluding a single draft 0near,frontfand rear followers, a draft yoke and a coupler including shank and butt, a'pocket casting adapted to be attached to a vehicle and having an open end larger than said coupler shank, said draft assembly being adapted to be placed in said pocket through said open end while completely assembled, means'pivotally securing said yoketo said coupler butt near the front end Aof said yoke and ahead of Vsaid draft gear, keys passing through the top and bottom of said pocket casting and positioned to engage the front follower to retain the draft assembly in said pocket and to take the coupler pull, said keys Ybeing substantially adjacent the connecting means fork said yoke and coupler butt, and an adjustable coupler shank carrier secured to said casting atthe mouth of said pocket. n l i 2. In a vehicle, in combination, a frame, afcasting 'secured to said fram and having avdra-ftassembly pockettherein, said pocket opening at the end only andV having substantially flat top and'bottonrwalls, a pair of draft gear rear stops integral with said casting, a coupler having a butt smaller in cross section than the pocket opening, a draft yoke pivoted to said coupler butt, a single, double-acting draft gear within said yoke, a rront/followerfor said draft gear,

said Vcoupler butt khaving va flat rear end behind its pivot, said follower and rear end being pressed intoengagemen't bysaid draft gear to always return the yoke and coupler tok alignment, said draft gear, draft yoke, followerand coupler being adapted to be completely assembled and then introduced into said pocketthrough the end opening with the draft gear against saidrear stops,

keys adapted to be introduced through said top and bottom walls to engage said follSO lower to retain said assembly in said pocket, said pivotal connection between said draft yoke and coupler butt being .in substantial alignment with said keys, and a substantial distance within said pocket, and end blocks secured to said casting above and below said coupler shank to partially close the pocket opening.

- 3. In a railway vehicle, in combinatioma frame, a casting seeued to said frame and substantially at the end of the vehicle, said casting having a pocket thereinopening toward the end of the vehicle, the side, top

and bottom walls of said pocket being sub' stantially flat, a draft gear rear stop in said pocket, a draft assembly including a single double-acting draft gear, a draft yoke surrounding said gear, a front follower, a coupler having its butt pivoted to said yoke and its end engaging said follower, means on said yoke near the coupler butt to retain said yoke in alignment in said pocket, said coupler butt being of such a size as to have freedom of movement in the mouth of said pocket, the whole draft assembly being adapted to be placed in the pocket as a unit, a key adapted to pass through said casting and engage said follower to retain the assembly in the pocket, and filler blocks secured to said casting above and below said coupler butt for the purpose described.

4l. Draft gear structure comprising laterally spaced draft beam members, a hollow casting secured between the forward ends of said beam members, a yoke disposed between said beam members, a follower plate exiending through said yoke, laterally spaced abutments on the interior of said casting, removable locking keys disposed between said abutments and said follower plate, and a removable coupler shank guide on said casting.

5. Draft gear structure comprising` laterally spaced draftbeam members, a hollow casting secured between the forward endsY of said beam members, a yoke disposed between said beam members, a follower plate extending through said yoke, laterally spaced abutments on the interior of said casting, removable locking pins disposed between said abutments and said follower plate, and a member removably mounted at the front of said casting and Vpartiallyv closingv the open end thereof. f

6. Draft gear structure comprising laterally spaced'draft beam members, a hollow casting secured between the forward ends of said beam members, a yoke disposed between said beam members, a follower plate extending through said yoke, laterally spaced abutments on the interior of said castings, removable locking keys disposed between said abutments and said follower plate, and a member mounted at the front of lsaid casting and partially closing the open end WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR,

Images