US2724513A

US2724513A - Railway draft rigging

Info

Publication number: US2724513A
Application number: US271230A
Authority: US
Inventors: Willison Donald
Original assignee: National Malleable and Steel Castings Co
Current assignee: National Malleable and Steel Castings Co
Priority date: 1952-02-12
Filing date: 1952-02-12
Publication date: 1955-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 1972-11-22

Description

Nov. 22, 1955 D. WILLISON 2,724,513

RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Feb. 12, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

DONALD W/LL/s0/v E C A; g BY 4%? 2 8 ATTORNEY Nov. 22, 1955 D. WlLLlSON 2,724,513

RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Feb. 12, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR. DONALD W/LL/swv ATTORNE Y Patented Nov. 22, 1955 RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Donald Wiliison, Maple Heights, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 12, 1952, Serial No. 271,230

Claims. (Cl. 213-50) This invention relates to railway draft rigging, and more particularly to the draft gear thereof.

The invention is particularly adapted for application to railway cars in which a very limited space is available for the draft gear, yoke and associated parts. An example of such cars is the well-known hopper ore car having a very short wheel base as well as short overall length. The free space in the draft gear pocket of this car is so restricted that a draft gear and yoke assembly cannot be raised vertically into the draft gear pocketin the car in the usual manner. In fact, it is impossible to assemble a conventional draft gear and yoke into the car.

My invention provides a draft gear of simple construction having the proper cushioning capacity for ore cars of the above type and which permits easy assembly of the gear and its associated yoke into the car. The draft gear is preferably composed of rubber pads of the type disclosed and claimed in the Willison-Spence application Serial No. 138,614, filed January 14, 1950.

A feature of the invention resides in the novel construction of the front follower of the draft gear, which permits the gear and yoke assembly during application thereof into a car, to be manipulated into proper position within the draft gear pocket of the car. This follower is provided with lateral portions which are positioned rearwardly of the forward end of the follower and face the front draft lugs of the draft gear pocket in the car. After the gear and yoke assembly has been placed in position in the draft gear pocket, filler blocks are inserted between the lateral portions of the front follower and the front draft lugs for proper functioning of the gear.

Other features and advantages ofmy invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of a draft gear embodying the invention, applied to a typical hopper ore car construction having a restricted draft gear pocket.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified construction.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the draft gear and yoke assembly in the process of being applied to the car.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the draft gear and yoke assembly in place in the car.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a typical hopper ore car construction having spaced center sills to which are secured the front stop lugs 12 and rear stop lugs 14. The draft gear pocket 16 is formed by sills 10 and stop

lugs

12 and 14. Stop lugs 12 are integral with striking casting 18 which is secured to the forward end of sills 10. Striking casting 18 comprises side walls 20 which are secured to center sills 10, top wall 22, and front wall 24. Extending across the lower portion of the striking casting is a member 26 for supporting the car coupler 28. Member 26 is detachably secured to the striking casting by a horizontal bolt 30 which is received in side walls 20. Walls 20 are provided with inward extensions 32 which underlie portions of member 26 to provide additional support therefor. An end sill 34 is secured to front States Patent fiice wall 24 of the striking casting and to center sills 10 and top plate 36. It will be noted that front stop lugs 12 are integral with side walls 20 of the striking casting. .Center sills 10 and side walls 20 are provided with elongated openings 38 for receiving horizontal key 40 which operatively connects the coupler shank 42 and yoke 44.

Rear stop lugs 14 are formed integral with filler casting 46 which is secured to center sills l0. Filler casting 46 is recessed as at 48 to receive the end portion 50 of the yoke. Also secured to center sills 10 is the center plate 52 which underlies the end portion of the yoke. It is to be understood that in the usual freight car underfr'ame constructions the filler casting and the center plate are disposed rearwardly of the position shown in the present construction so that no portion of these members will underlie the draft gear yoke.

The draft gear as aforementioned is preferably composed of a series of resilient pads 60, each comprising a metallic plate to the sides of which is bonded a rubber cushion having a corrugated configuration. All of the pads of the group have rubber cushions bonded to both sides of the metallic plate, except the end pads 62, which have a cushion secured only to the inner face of each plate. In this manner rubber-to-rubber engagement exists between all of the pads of the draft gear. A rear follower 64 is interposed between the plate of rearward end pad 62 and rear stop lugs 14. The upper and lower edges of follower 64 are chamfered as at 66 for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

At' the forward end of the gear is the front follower 68 having a base portion 70 for engaging the plate of forward end pad 62. Extending forwardly from base 70 is the coupler shank engaging portion 72 which is of a slightly lesser transverse dimension than the transverse spacing of inner surfaces 74 on the front stop lugs 12. This construction provides transverse shoulders 76 which face front stop lugs 12 but are spaced a substantial distance rearwardly thereof when the mechanism is in neutral position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The purpose of this construction is to facilitate application of the gear and yoke assembly into the car, as will be hereinafter described. Filler blocks 78 are interposed between shoulders 76 and front stop lugs 12 and in effect form rearward extensions of stops 12.

The yoke 44 and coupler shank 42 are so slotted that in neutral position connecting key 40 engages the forward end of the slot in the yoke as at 80 and also engages the rearward end of the slot in the coupler shank as at 82. These slots are of suificiently greater length than the width of key 40 to allow the desired amount of unrestricted travel of the gear under bufling loads. In buff the coupler butt urges front follower 68 rearwardly to compress the draft gear. As the gear is compressedthe yoke 44 and key 40 remain stationary until the forward end 84 of the slot in the shank engages the key, after which the latter is carried rearwardly by the shank. In draft the coupler pulling load is transmitted by the key to the yoke which carries rear follower 64 forwardly to compress the draft gear. Slots 38 in the center sills 10 and side walls 20 of the striking casting are of sufficient length to' permit the desired amount of forward movement of key 40 necessary for unrestricted travel of the gear in draft.

The assembly of the mechanism is as follows: The cushioning pads and front. and

rear followers

68 and 64 are first assembled in the yoke 44, the pads being placed under several thousand pounds compression between the rear abutment 88 and the front abutments 90 of the yoke. Next the yoke and draft gear, as a unit, is placed in the relative position shown in full in Fig. 4, with the rearmost portion of the yoke extending over the forward portion of center plate 52.- It will be seen in Fig. 4 that the couplersupport member 26' hasbeen detached from the strikas s na. i s t p rm tmanipulationof,t eu i to the position shown in dot-dash. Upon manipulation of the unit to the latter position the lower bevelled portion of rear follower 64 is in engagement with rear. stop lug 14 as at 86 while the forward end'ofyoke 44.is just.

clear of extensions 32 on thestriking casting. It will be observed that the bevelled portion 66 of the-rear follower permits the yoke and gear assembly to assume a more rearward position than would otherwise be possible It will also be observed that What may. appear to be an interference between coupler shank. engaging portion 72 of front follower 68 and thestriking casting does not in fact exist, since portion 72 will clear the inner surfaces 74 on front stop lugs 12, as may be seen in Fig. 1. From the dotrdash position the unit may now be moved to its final assembled position, as shown in Fig. 5. The yoke support plate 92 is then secured to center sills 10. Next the filler blocks 78 are. raised upwards into place between shoulders 76 on the front follower 68andfront stop lugs 12. These blocks are preferably secured in place by means of welding along the upper edges thereof to the center sills and to lugs.12, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The blocks are preferably chamfered as at 94-50 that if due to manufacturing tolerances the space between shoulders 76 and lugs 12 is less than the width of the block,

the chamfer will serve to wedge the follower rearwardly and compress pads 60 and 62 additionally to permit the blocks to be forced upwardly into position. A safety supportplate 96is secured to sills 10 so as to support blocks 7.8 in the. event the weldfails. Coupler support member 26 may. then be applied and the coupler shank 42 connected to the yoke by means of key 40. a i

The spacer blocks may be formed as shown in Fig. 3 in which the'block. 98 is formed with a transversely-ex-- tending flange 99 which can be secured to the lower flange 100 of the center sill. This constructioneliminates-the necessity of welding the blocks to the car structure.

It will be apparent that a conventional: draft gear and yoke assembly, in which both front and rear followers'of the gear directly engage the front and rear stop lugs 12 and 14, cannot be applied to the car structure illustrated. :The centerplate 52 would preclude direct raising of the gear and yoke unit into place and any otherrnanipulation of the unit would result in interference between the front My invention makesfollower and the front stop lugs.

possible easy application of adraft gear and yoke assembly which otherwise could not be applied to the can While I have shown my invention applied-to a particular ore car construction, it will be understood that the invention may be utilized in any similar car construction having a limited space for the draft gear, yoke and associated parts.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation,. and I have no intention, in the use of suchv terms and expressions, of excludingv any equivalents of the features shown and described. or portions thereof, but recognize-that various modifications are possible withinathescope of the invention claimed. a

I claim;

1. In a railway draft rigging comprising a draft gear pockethaving front and rear stop lugs and a center plate structure extending! forwardly .of said rear stop lugs, a draft gear in said pocket, said. gear comprising a pair of followers and cushioning means between said followers, the rearward one of said followers engaging'said rear stop lugs, the forward one of said followers having transverse portions facing saidfront-stoplugs and spaced rearwardly therefrom, and. filler blocks: interposed between and in engagement withsaid portions and said front stop lugs, said blocks being applied vupon assembly of said draft gear in said pocket, said forward follower having a yoke engagingportion. extending forwardly of said tirst-named per-' t n lus$. ...ths.. ss..q sfiiy e a n portion being disposed inwardly of the inner sides of said front stop lugs.

2. In a railway draft rigging comprising a draft gear pocket having front and rear stop. lugs and a center plate structure underlying a portion of an associated draft gear yoke, a draft gear in said pocket and being encircled by said yoke, said gear comprising a rear follower engaging said rear stop lugsand a front follower having a forwardly extending portion engaging a forward abutment in said yoke, the sides of said forwardly extending portion being disposedinwardly of thesidesof said-front stop lugs, said front follower having transverse shoulders facing said front stop lugs and spaced" rearwardl'y therefrom, and filler blocks interposed between and in engagement with said shoulders-andsaid front stopdugs, aftersaid gear andyoke as a unit have been inserted in saidpocket.

3. A draft gear for application to a car structure comprising a draft gearreceiving. pocket having front andrear stop lugs and a, center-plate structure underlying the rear portion of an associatedtdraft gear yoke, said gear comprising. front .and rear followers and cushioning means therebetweem; said rear follower having stop lug engaging portions and having its lower rearward portion chamfered' for engagingsaidrear stop. lugs during the processof applying, said, gear into saidnpocket to permit increased reraward positioning .of said gear, said front follower having a forwardnportion, which is receivable between the inner sides of said. front stop lugs during the process of applying saidgearinto saidpocket, said forward portion havinganend. surface for engagement with the end of a coupler shank, said: front follower. also having portions extending laterally beyond the sidesof said forward por tion and being spaced rearwardlyof said front stop lugs, saidlateral portions being adapted for engagement with associated abutment members inserted in said pocketbetween said lateral portions andsaid front stop lugs after said gear has been applied. therein.

4.- A draftgear comprising front and rear followers and cushioningrneans; interposed between said followers, said front follower having a forwardly extending abutment portion which is of a lesservdimension in a transverse direction than the transverse spacing. of the inner sides of the tions, the forward surfaceof said yoke-engagingportiort bei'ng: substantially in transverse-alignment with Saar nen front .stop lugs of an associated draft. gear pocket, the forwardsurface of said abutment portion being substantially in line with saidrfront stop lugs when, the gear is in opera tive position in said pocket,- saidfront follower having laterally extending abutment surfaces. spaced'rearwardly of said forward surface for engagement with associated filler; means disposed adjacent the. sides of said abutment portion. and in engagement with said front stop lugs.

5. A draft gearcomprisingfront andrear followers and.

cushioning; means interposedbetween said followers, said front follower having a forwardly extending abutmentportion, whi ch. is; of alesser dimension. in a transverse direction than the transverse spacing of the inner sides of the front stop lugs of an associated draft gear pocket, .said

front follower-having; laterally extending abutments havingusurfaces disposed rearwardly of the forward end of said abutment portion, said surfaces facing and being spaced-rearwardl-y of the-front stop lugs of said pocket for engagement-withassociated filler means interposed between said surfaces andifront stop lugs.-

I an-.29.