US2703031A

US2703031A - Flange reducing tool

Info

Publication number: US2703031A
Application number: US257341A
Authority: US
Inventors: Glooskin Samuel
Original assignee: ARTHUR I GLUSKIN
Current assignee: ARTHUR I GLUSKIN
Priority date: 1951-11-20
Filing date: 1951-11-20
Publication date: 1955-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 1972-03-01

Description

March 1, 1955 s. GLoosKlN 2,703,031

FLANGE REDUCING TOOL Filed Nov. 20, 1951 INVENTQR. '16' .SH/fafa 62 oosw/A/ H7710 Pme/Y.

United States Patent() FLAN GE REDUCIN G TGOL Samuel Glooskin, Hartford, Conn., assigner of one-half to Arthur I. Gluskin, Providence, R. I.

Application November 20, 1951, Serial No. 257,341

1 Claim. (Cl. 82-4) This invention relates to a ange reducing tool and more particularly to a tool for reducing the flanges on wheels of railroad locomotives and the like.

It is well known among those skilled in the art that, when the outside diameter of the treads on the Wheels of a locomotive become reduced, due to wear caused by contact between the surfaces of said treads and the brake shoes of the brake system of the locomotive, the tlanges of said wheels become higher relatively to the tread surfaces. When the said flanges become so high that they present the danger of striking tie bolts and other protuberances along the sides of the rails, it is necessary that their height be reduced by a turning or cutting operation.

It has been common practice to remove the Wheels from the locomotive and turn the llanges down in a suitable machine such as a lathe or the like. This, however, is necessarily a long procedure which requires numerous helpers and many hours of labor and results in a very costly operation.

In order to reduce the labor and cost of the operation, several tools have been heretofore developed which were adapted to be attached to the brake shoe levers of the locomotive so as to turn down the flanges by rotating the wheels under the locomotive's own power and without requiring the removal of the wheels from the locomotives. Such previous tools, however, have heretofore not been successful for the reason that they were not properly supported to perform a satisfactory flange reducing operation and required too much power for the capacity of the locomotive. In some cases, the previous tools were supported upon the tread of the wheel and thereby presented much resistance to the power of the locomotive with the result that in many instances such previous tools have been discarded.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a flange reducing tool which may be readily attached to the brake shoe lever, or hanger, of a locomotive and which is supported upon said hanger so that only the cutting blade of the tool will engage the wheel flange to thereby produce a smooth cutting operation upon the said flange and reduce the height of said ange with a minimum of power which is well within the capacity of the locomotive.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a flange reducing tool which may be mounted upon the hanger for a brake shoe in such a manner that it is wholly adjustably supported on said hanger so as to position the cutting tip of the tool at the proper angle, relatively to the llange, to produce the most efficient operation and a smooth cut on said flange.

lt is still a further object of this invention to provide such a tool which is adjustably supported upon the hanger by means of an adjustable abutment that is located between the tool and the edge surface of the hanger so as to firmly and steadily support the cutting blade of said tool in cutting contact with the outer edge of the flange being reduced.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a ilange reducing tool which is simple in construction, economical to produce and which may be conveniently adjusted during the use thereof to produce the most satisfactory results.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be more clearly understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of a tlange reducing tool embodying my invention.

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Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a front view of said tool.

Fig. 4 is a side view in central vertical section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional top view showing a slightly modi- `tied form of a tool and also of a cutting blade.

As illustrated in the drawings, the numeral 5 denotes a conventional locomotive wheel having a tread 6 and a flange 7 along a side of the tread. A brake shoe hanger 8 is commonly provided adjacent to such wheels to carry a conventional brake shoe which is applied against the surface of the tread 6 for braking the locomotive.

Due to the wear on the tread, which is caused by contact between the surface thereof and the brake shoe, the said tread frequently becomes worn to such an extent that the tlange 7 projects far enough beyond the tread surface to present the danger of the flange striking bolts, tie plates or other protuberances along the sides of the rails on which the said locomotive travels. It is then customary to reduce the outside diameter of the flange so as to lower its height with relation to the tread surface and thereby eliminate such danger.

The improved tool which I provide by my invention, for reducing such llanges without requiring the removal of the wheels from the locomotive, comprises an elongated holder 9 having spaced notches 10-10 at the rear side thereof that are formed by projections 11-11--11 which contain a hole 12 that extends across the notches 10-10.

At the front of said holder there is provided a slot 13 which runs longitudinally in the edge of the holder and is adapted to receive a suitable cutting blade 14 having a cutting edge 15. y

Below the holder there is provided a projection, preferably in the form of a rib 16, which depends from the bottom of said holder and extends longitudinally thereof and an adjusting screw 17 is threaded to said rib and extends rearwardly therethrough in line with each of the notches 10-10 so as to adjustably support the said tool on the hanger 8.

When it is desired to reduce the flange of a locomotive wheel by means of my improved tool, the brake shoe for that Wheel is removed from the hanger 8 and the holder 9 of the tool is swivelly mounted upon said hanger by placing it so that the hanger will lit in the appropriate notch 11 and then inserting the mounting pin 18 through the hole 12 and through the hole in the hanger which is normally used for mounting the brake shoe thereon. The cutting tool 15 is then inserted into the slot 13 and positioned therein so that it will be opposite the llange 7 on the wheel.

lt will be noted that the hanger 8 is conventionally positioned in line with the surface of the tread 6 and out of line with the flange 7 and that the notches 10--10 in the holder 9 permit the mounting of the holder upon the hanger in such a manner that it will project from one side of the hanger sufficiently to position the cutting tool 14 in line with the llange 7 and thereby adapt the said tool for use on both the right and left wheels of a locomotive by simply using the appropriate one of the notches 10.

When the tool is mounted to the hanger as above described, the end of the corresponding adjusting screw 17 will engage the edge of the hanger 8, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2, and thereby firmly support the cutting blade in cutting engagement with the flange. When the wheel 5 is rotated, in the direction of the arrow 19, and the tool 14 is moved into contact with the periphery of the ange 7, the outside diameter of said flange will be reduced so as to lower its height relatively to the tread 6. The force applied against the cutting tool will thrust the end of the screw 17 against the edge surface of the hanger 8 and this provides a rigid support for the cutting tool which eliminates chatter and vibration and thereby permits a smooth cutting operation.

It has been found that by locating the screw on the holder as above described, so that the thrust of said screw is applied in the direction of the hanger 8 and the end of the screw abuts directly against the edge of said hanger, there is provided a more rigid support for the cutting tool which produces a smoother surface upon the llange and permits a deeper cut. It has also been found that it is possible to cut a continuous curved chip one-sixteenth ofk an inch thick off the flange by simply applying the tool against the edge thereof with an air pressure of approximately lbs. which is applied to the hanger 8 through the brake system of the locomotive.

The results above described are being regularly obtained with my improved reducing tool incases where it has been found impractical to use other reducing tools which are diierently supported, due to the unsatisfactory results produced by them.

By using one of my improved tools on the wheel of a locomotive, while running a locomotive on its own power at a slow speed, the ange of said wheel may be readily reduced by applying a pressure of approximately 10 lbs. through the brake system to move the hanger 8 and force the cutting tool into engagement with the flange. This operation has been simplified by means of my improved reducing tool to a point where the flanges on four wheels of a conventional locomotive can be reduced in a period of approximately thirty minutes as compared to a much longer period of time needed with other tools which are differently supported relatively to the wheel langes. A complete reducing operation may be formed on a conventional locomotive wheel by running the locomotive over a distance of about sixty yards with my improved tool applied against the flange as above described.

I have found that the best results are obtained from my improved cutting tool when the cutting tool 14 is positioned on a radial line 20, extending through the axis of the pivot pin 18, so that the cutting edge 15 is just slightly above the said line as this eliminates chatter and permits a much deeper and smoother cut than could otherwise be obtained.

In the illustration of Fig. 5, a slightly modilied form of my improved ange reducing tool is shown in use on a double type brake shoe hanger such as commonly found v10-.10 are spaced farther apart to receive the two bracket hangers 22h21 and each of the supporting screws 17--17 abuts the edge of its respective hanger member so that the holder is firmly supported by both ends.

The cutting blade shown in Fig. 5 is shaped to round off the edge of the ange during a reducing operation.

I claim:

Wheel re-turning means for attachment to a brake hanger for a wheel to be re-turned and adapted for operation on the wheel ange, said means having a body of trapezoidal form with spaced vertical slots extending inwardly from one face of the body and a substantially horizontal slot at the opposite face of the body extending at right angles to the first mentioned slots, a cutter selectively seatable along the substantially horizontal slot, a removable pin extending through the body and selectively transtixing the first mentioned slots whereby the pin extends through the brake shoe supporting opening of the hanger, a ange portion extending downwardly from beneath 'the horizontally disposed slot and inwardly of the side of the holder supporting the cutter; the said ange portion having threaded holes extending therethrough in alignment with the respective vertical slots, and an adjusting screw tting each of said holes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS