US3027851A

US3027851A - Cushion skate wheel stop

Info

Publication number: US3027851A
Application number: US391881A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stanley W Hayes
Original assignee: Hayes Track Appliance Co
Current assignee: Hayes Track Appliance Co
Priority date: 1953-11-13
Filing date: 1953-11-13
Publication date: 1962-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 1979-04-03

Description

April 3, 1962 s. w. HAYES cusHIoN SKATE WHEEL sToP Filed Nov. 13, 1953 April 3 1952 s. w. HAYES 3,027,851

CUSHION SKATE WHEEL STOP Filed NOV. 13, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Apxlil 3, 1962 s. w. HAYES 3,027,851

CUSHION SKATE WHEEL sToP Filed NOV. 13, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,f Y 0 @j f 2 2 56 .50

April 3, 1962 s. w. HAYES 3,027,851

CUSHION SKATE WHEEL sToP Filed NOV. 13, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 www /fz IHIIIIHII' April 3, 1962 s. w. HAYES 3,027,851

cusHIoN SKATE WHEEL sToP Filed Nov. 13, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 MHH W" ,mil

n g m @Hawley/A April 3, 1962 s. w. HAYES CUSHION SKATE WHEEL STOP 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed NOV. 13, 1955 QNN \%,\\\wm\ JW@ x N y@ f www .IMHW/ @um mv?, \|UI\\N1 EN! NNMNNW wmw E im ld? l NN NNN ,wk Tl mi w w my@ WN@ QN V ration of Indiana Filed Nov. 13, 1953, Ser. No. 391,881 1 Claim. (Cl. 10d- 260) The present invention relates to railway car stopping apparatus and has for its primary object the provision of a new and improved apparatus for effectively stopping a railway car as at the end of a track.

Various types of track end or other car stopping apparatus have been provided in the past. Among these are wheel stops which engage the wheels of a car and thereby stop the car. Another type of apparatus is a bumping post which engages the coupling of the car and thereby stops the car. The present invention relates to devices of the character which engage the wheels ot' a car and stop it and especially to apparatus of this character in which the weight of the car is first utilized to retard its movement and, if this is not sufficient, in which the oar is stopped by additional stop means located on the track.

More particularly, the present invention relates to, and has for an object the provision of, a new and improved car stopping means which is aptly defined as a cushion skate wheel stop. In accordance with the invention, there is provided Ia rst component of apparatus which is called a skate. The skate has a wheel lifter end and a wheel abutment end which are located some distance apart and between which extends Wheel supporting and guiding structure constituting, in effect, a trackway mounted upon the rail and operatively connecting the two ends to form a unit of construction. The skate is slidably mounted on top of the rail for movement therealong to a point determined by a cushion skate stop defining abutment and it is preferred that each installation includes two devices, one on each rail. The skates are not only slidably mounted on the rail lbut are held in upright position thereon with some degree of friction by means engaging the opposite undersides of the rail head and adjustable, both upon initial installation and at any subsequent time, to determine the degree of friction with which the skate slides and to insure uniform action of the two skates. As a result, when the car approaches the end of the track or wherever apparatus of the present invention may be installed, the car is first lifted upon the skates. The weight of the car forces the skates down upon the track and a considerable resistance to their movement is provided simply by the weight of the car. The car moves along the skates until it reaches the wheel abutment ends, whereupon the further movement of the car is retarded by the aforesaid friction. Should this friction be not enough to stop the car within the limit of movement of the skates, the skates come up against stop dening abutments, which effectively stop the further movement of the car.

In accordance with the present invention, each skate is stopped in its further movement by a cushion skate stop which efectively results in absorption of the stopping irnpact in the ballast. This is effectively accomplished by constructing the cushion skate stop with structure extending into the ballast so as to engage the ties.

It is accordingly a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cushion skate wheel stop including a skate movably seated on top of the rail and having a wheel lifter end and an abutment end connected by wheel receiving and supporting structure and including, also, a cushion stop for transmitting the nal impact of the stopping to the track ballast.

ice

A further object of the present invention is to provide a cushion skate wheel stop in which the wheels and stop abutments are aligned centrally of the rail head and the stop abutments on the cushion stop and skate are also located immediately above the rail head to minimize overturning moments.

Further objects of the present invention are to provide a new and improved skate for a cushion skate type of wheel stop and also to provide a new and improved cushion stop for cooperation therewith, both of which can be made and installed readily.

Further objects will become apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof, in the course of which reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an installation of two cushion skate Wheel stops of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the anchor bar shown in FiG. l being omitted;

FlG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the cushion skate stop against which the skate abuts at the limit of its movement;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the cushion skate stop shown in FIG. 3;

FlG. 5 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view taken along the line 6 6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal cross sectional View taken along the line 7-7 of FlG. 6;

FlG. 8 is a rear elevational view of the cushion skate stop;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the wheel stop portion of the skate;

FlG. 10 is an enlarged side elevational view of the wheel stop portion of the skate, a portion of the cushion skate stop being shown in dotted lines;

FIG. l1 is a top plan view of the abutment end or rather wheel stop end of the skate;

FIG. 12 is a rear elevational view thereof;

FlG. 13 is a vertical cross sectional view along the line 13-13 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a horizontal cross sectional View along the line lli-14 of FIG. l0;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view` FlG. 19 is a vertical cross sectional view along the line 19-19 of FIG. 16;

FlG. 20 is a vertical cross sectional view along the line Ztl-2i) in FIG. 16;

FIG. 21 is a diagrammatic representation illustrating the approach of a wheel to the cushion skate wheel stop and the wheel engaging the wheel stop on the skate; and

FlG. 22 is a diagrammatic representation of the conventional pair of car wheels of a truck upon the skate with the skate engaging the cushion skate stop at the end of its movement.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 21 and 22, the cushion skate wheel stop of the present invention is illustrated as a whole by the reference character 10. It will be observed that the illustrated installation includes two such stops; one for each rail, as shown only in FIG. 1. The rails are spaced apart the usual distance and indicated by the reference character 12 and they are secured in usual manner upon the cross ties 14..

anar/,ns1

Itis preferred that the apparatus be installed at a location Where adjacent rails are secured to each other by a fish plate 16 or other types .of rail joint bars for reasons that will become apparent hereinafter.

The cushion skate wheel stop of the present invention includes a skate indicated by the reference character 20 slidably mounted on the top of the rail and a cushion skate stop 22 mounted upon the rail and so constructed and arranged that the final shock or impact occurving when the skate strikes the cushion stop is transmitted to the rail ties and ballast. The skate includes a front lifter portion indicated generally by the reference character 24 and a rear car wheel engaging abutment portion indicated generally by the reference character 26, the lifter and abutment portions being connected by a car wheel receiving and supporting portion 28 of considerable length, such for example as about four feet. The skate as a whole is slidably mounted on the top of the rail by means including a front and rear guides 3Q and 32 engaging the opposite sides of the rail head and front and

rear holding means

34 and 36, respectively, comprising means hereinafter to be described for engaging the opposite undersides of the rail head for holding the skate centered and vertical with respect to the rail.

The cushion skate stop 22 includes downwardly divergent brackets 4t) extending below the rail into the ballast and engaging a cross tie whereby shock of impact' is transmitted to the rail ties and ballast. It includes, also, a skate abutment 42 which is located at the front end of the stop for engagement by the rear of the skate 2t? and rail head engaging holding means 44. If desired, and preferably, the force of the impact may be distributed to several ties through the use of anchor bars 45 secured to the ties, as shown only in connection with one device in FIG. 1.

Before proceeding with a detailed description of the construction of the apparatus, it may be advisable briei'iy to review the operation. This will be done in connection with FIGS. 21 and 22. Normally, the apparatus of the present invention is installed near the end of the track. The cushion skate stops 22, only one of which is shown in FIGS. 2l and 22, are mounted on the rail with the downwardly extending bracket 40 engaging a railroad tie 14. The associated skate 2f) is located adjacent the fish plate 16 in a position determined by the engagement of the holding means 34 with the plate, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 2l. As a carfwheel, s'uch as the wheel 47 illustrated rather diagrammatically, approaches the skate, it is lifted (and so is the wheel on the other track by the skate on the other track) by the lifter end 24 of the skate, the approach and lifting of the Wheel being indicated by the two dotted wheels. The wheel thereafter climbs the rest of the way up the lifter end and goes down the opposite side and rides on the wheel receiving and supporting portion 28 until it hits the abutment 26 as shown by the solid line wheel. If the momentum is sufficient, the skate is moved along the track with the result that movement of the car wheel and car is retarded by the friction of the skate borne on top of the rail and bearing a considerable portion of the weight of the car. If the friction is not sufficient to stop the skate after some movement along the rail, the skate finally strikes the cushion skate stop22, as indicated in FIG. 22. If the car is traveling With considerable momentum, the Wheel may climb up the inclined surface 70 first engaged by the wheel and then strike against the vertical abutment surface 72 as illustrated in FIG. 22. When the skate strikes the stop 22, the final impact isrtransmitted to the ballast by the divergent brackets 40 of the skate stop thereby effectively and efficiently finally to stop the car.

The various components of the apparatus of the present invention are constructed in a novel manner as will now be brought out in connection with a detailed description of them. Consideration willbe given first'to the.

cushion skate stop 22, and then the skate 20 with its wheel abutment 26 and wheel lifter 24.

The cushion skate stop 22 is illustrated in and will be described in connection with FiGS, 3 to 8, inclusive. From these, it will be noted that the skate stop is of fabricated construction; that it is made up of a number of parts which may be readily cut as from bar stock; and that it can be readily assembled and secured, as by welding, to form a device of rugged construction that can be readily installed on a rail. The stop includes the divergent downwardly extending brackets 40', the front forwardly facing abutment 42 and the holding means 44. The abutment 42, which is that element of the stop actually engaged by the skate, is preferably of generally trapezoidal configuration and located transversely slightly above the top of the rail head, the head being indicated by the reference 12H. The force of the impact is effectively transmitted from the abutment `42 to the brackets 4t) by a plate 46 seated directly on top of the rail head.

The plate 46 extends somewhat beyond the sides of the rail head and it is provided With oppositely disposed openings 48 for the reception of the bolts 50 forming part of the stop holding means. The bolts are provided with heads 52 having beveled inner and upper portions 53 engaging the inclined undersides of the rail head 12H as best illustrated in FIG. 6. The bolts, it should be noted, are located quite close to the sides of the rail head so that they, with the beveled heads are effective to center the stop and to hold it in an upright position. The bolts are drawn up rather tightly by the nuts 54 located on the upper side of the plate 46, but the bolts are not drawn up so tightly as to prevent sliding movement o-f the stop. As a matter of fact, it is essential for the purposes of the present invention that the stop be permitted to slide so that the impact from the skate is transmitted to the ties and ballast thereby to provide the cushion stop.

In order to prevent undesired movement of and binding by the holding bolts 50, the latter are mounted in retainers 56 dimensioned rather closely to receive the bolt heads 52. The retainers 56 may be constructed from channel elements and they are located with their open sides facing toward the rail. These channel elements thus maintain the bolts in substantially a vertical and non-binding position even when the stop is subjected to considerable impact.

The force of the stopping impact is additionally transmitted to the divergent brackets 40 by a vertical rearwardly extending bar 62 the front end of which abuts the rear face of the abutment 42 and the rear end of which is secured to the side brackets 40. The brackets include a front element 60, a rear element 64 and a side bar 66, these three elements being welded to form a rather channel like structure. It should be noted that the lower end of side bar 66 is cut at a diagonal and the element 60 is bent to conform to it, thereby to give the `lower end a converging shape to facilitate installation of the stop on the track. The side brackets are welded to the horizontal bar 46 and to the vertical bar 62 and also to a narrow rear plate 68 also seated directly on the top of the rail head and the front end of which abuts against the bar 46. In order to provide additional strength in a simple manner, generally triangular braces 69 are welded between plate 62 and the downwardly extending and

divergent bars

60 and 64 of the side brackets 40. The various parts of the apparatus may readily be secured together to form a unitary, rigid and efiicient skate stop. For the most part, the welding is indicated by the welding fillets which have been drawn in and which, therefore, are not described in detail.

The skate 20 will now 4be described and attention will be given also first to the wheel abutment 26 which is best illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 14, inclusive, to which reference will now be had. As earlier indicated, the wheel abutment 26 includes the-inclined and vertically disposedwheel abutment surfaces 70 and 72, of which the latter is above the former. These are formed by the front e-dge of a plate 74 secured as by welding immediately to the rear of the wheel supporting bar 28. The plate 74 is mounted in vertical position and seats not only upon the bar 28 but primarily upon a short bar or plate 76 having a width substantially equal to that of the rail head (see FIG. 9) and upon the transversely extending bar 73 which is adjacent bar 76 and extends somewhat beyond the sides of the rail head and which is provided with the apertures 80 (see FIG. l3)`for the reception of the bolts 82 having heads 84, with beveled portions 85 engaging the undersides of the rail head, and which form part of the holding means 36, which, it should be noted, is located underneath the inclined abutment surface 70, where they most elfectively cooperate with the stop in preventing overturning and the application of lifting components to the bar 28. The bolts are held in place by the nuts 86 and retainers S7, the nuts preferably being tightened only enough so that the skate slides relatively freely along the top of the rail. In some installations the nuts may be drawn tight and then loosened from about one-sixth to one-half turn. Installation on good track gives the best results and the adjustment should be such that the two skates have uniform movement, thereby to avoid skewing of the wheel trucks and possible derailment. This can be done with the present apparatus both upon initial installation and at any subsequent time. While sliding occurs, the skate is quite iirmly held. The holding means 36 is also located in a vertical and centrally aligned position on the track. n

As earlier indicated, the wheel abutment end of the skate is also guided in its movement along the rail by the guide means 32. These are right angled in form, as best illustrated in FIG. 9, and welded to the outer sides of the plate 76 as well as to a somewhat wider (than the plate 74) strengthening and abutment member $8 welded to the rear of the abutment an-d the lower rearwardly facing vertical end 90 of which abuts against the skate stop 22, as illustrated in FIG. 22 and in phantom in FIG. 10.

The holding means 36 is strengthened by the generally triangular front and

rear braces

92 and 94, see particularly FIGS. 9 and l0. The former are notched at 96 so as to iit around part of the bar 28 and the front lower end of the abutment 74 is also notched at 98 to lit around part of the bar 23. As a result, the latter is securely and effectively connected to the wheel abutment.

The lifter 24 will now be described in detail in connection with FIGS. l to 20, inclusive. As heretofore indicated, the lifter is secured to the front end of the bar 28 and in a manner best illustrated in FIGS. l5 and 17. It includes the front guide 30 and the centering and holding means 34. The lifter includes also a main bar 100, a transversely mounted bar 102 abutting a-gainst the rear of the bar 100 and a shorter bar 104 abutting against the rear of the bar 102 and the front end of the bar 28. All these bars are seated on top of the rail and secured to the upper sides of all is a generally triangular lifter plate or bar 106 on top of which is supported a trackway defining bar S, a rear portion 110 of which is bent downwardly to abut against the front of bar 28 and which is welded to it and to the bar 104. The front end of the bar 108, which is indicated by reference character 112, abuts, as does the front end of the bar 100, against a toe defining element 114 which is tapered to facilitate the entry and gradual lifting of a wheel up to the highest point 116 of the track lifter. Additional support and inter-connection between the bar 28 and the lifter is provided by a brace plate 118 secured to the bent down rear portion 110 of the trackway 10S and to the upper surface of bar 28.

The guides 30 are secured to the sides of the bar 100 in much the same fashion as the guides 32 are secured to the bar 76.

The holding means 34 includes the bolts 120 passing through apertures 122 in the plate 102. The bolts are provided with heads 124 having beveled portions engaging the underside of the rail head. The bolts are secured in place by the nuts 126 and are retained against undesired movement by the channel shaped retainers 128, see particularly FIG. 19. The nuts are tightened in the same manner as nuts S6, as already described.

The holding means is braced by the generally

triangular braces

130 and 132 abutting against the rear and front edges of the bar 102. They are notched to t around the upper parts of the

bars

100 and 104, respectively.

The operation of 4the apparatus las a whole will now be described in connection with FIGS. l, 2, 2l and 22, particularly the latter. As previously indicated, the cushion skate wheel stops 10 of the present invention are installed at some desired location as at the end of the track and at a place where the fish plates 16 are located opposite each other. The cushion skate stops 22 are located at a desired distance from the plates 16. This `distance may be, for example, in a neighborhood of about 35 feet. Initially, the skates 20 are located adjacent the plates 16 and at positions determined by engagement of the holding means 34 with the plates. The holding means 34 and 36 are adjusted as previously described to hold the skate rather firmly and so that the two skates move uniformly under car impact. It should be noted that the adjustable holding and guiding means enables the apparatus to be installed on various sizes of rails, that illustrated being adapted for installation on rails Varying in height from iive to seven inches.

The approach of a wheel 47 relative to one of the stops is illustrated in FIG. 2l. The description will be given in connection with one wheel but it should be understood that what occurs with one wheel occurs also with respect to the wheel on the other track.

AS the wheel approaches the skate, it first strikes the toe 114 of the lifter 24. It rises along the trackway 108 until it reaches the apex 116 following which it falls down onto the wheel receiving and supporting bar 28. Thereafter, the wheel rides along the bar 28 until it strikes the wheel abutment 26. The wheel initially strikes the abutment 70 but if the momentum is lgreat enough the wheel may climb up along the latter until it strikes the vertical abutment 72. Thereafter, the wheel will not climb any more.

The location of the holding means 36 below the inclined abutment 70 insures that a minimum lifting force is transmitted to bar 28 upon impact. The inclined abutment serves to minimize overturning moments upon initial car wheel impact and the weight of a car wheel climbing up it is also utilized. The holding means 36 prevents transmission of the overturning moment or lifting force to the bar, with the result that the construction as a whole tends to prevent rupture of bar 28. As a result, the latter need not be unduly heavy.

The skate 20 is moved along the track under the momentum of the car wheel and car and the movement of the car is retarded by the friction of the skate sliding along the top of the rail. The skate is kept in its vertical position and prevented from moving laterally and from tipping -by the action of the guiding and holding means heretofore described in detail. If the car is not stopped by the friction, the skate iinally is moved into engagement with the skate stop 22. In some installations, it is but rarely that the stop is engaged. At this time, the vertical end portion of the abutment strikes the stop element 42. These engaging portions are immediately above the track and aligned with longitudinally extending portions of both the skate and stop, thereby to provide a rugged rigid structure operating with a minimum of overturning moments. The stop 22 transmits the force of the impact through the previously described structure to the divergent side brackets 40 and the latter'in turn provide the cushion stop by transmitting the force of the impact to .the ties 'and ballast. In this connection, it should be noted that the stop 22 is slidable along the rail acer/,sel

but kept in vertical position and prevented from tipping by the guiding and holding action of the holding means 44. Also, the wheel may move up stop portion 70 to portion 72, after which it will vnot rise further. This is the position in which the `car wheel is shown in FIG. 22. A-t this time the other wheel of a truck is on the lifter portion 24.

When the car is moved back along the track, the wheel moves along the bar 28 and finally strikes the rear part of the lifter. The location of the wheel relative to the rear part of the lifter at this time is best illustrated in FIG. 16 and it will be seen that this relationship is such that the skate will be drawn rearwardly along the top of the rail by the wheel which rests against the apex 116 and the bar 28. The skate 20 is thus retracted back to its original position as determined by the plate 16 against which the holding means strikes.

Another advantage of the apparatus of the presen-t invention is that it can be made economically and it can also be easily installed because of what might be called a straddling type of construction and one not requiring7 any drilling of the rails.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be noted that the present invention provides an eective yand economical cushion skate wheel stop which can readily be fabricated from bar stock, primarily. While the invention has been described in connection with the details of a particular embodiment, it should be understood that these details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except insofar as set forth in the accompanying claim.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A cushion skate stop adapted to be installed on a rail for engagement by a slidably mounted car wheel engaging and supporting skate, including in combination, a longitudinally extending bar, means including a pair of horizontal supporting elements for mounting said bar above the lhead of a rail, one of said elements extending transversely of the rail beyond the rail head and having its front end aligned with the front end of said bar, a transversely extending generally vertically located skate stop abutment secured to the front ends of said bar and said one element, the second of said elements having a width substantially equal tto that of the rail head and having its front end abutting against the rear of said one element, said second element being secured to said one element and said bar, guiding and holding means including bolts extending downwardly through the end portions of said one element to below the rail head and having beveled portions engaging the undersides of the rail head at opposite sides of the rail, and a pair of divergent brackets having lengths such as to extend into the road bed at opposite sides of the rail secured to opposite sides of said bar and second element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,334,896 English Mar. 23, 1920 1,369,910 Whilt Mar. 1, 1921 1,385,528 Duiy July 26, 1921 1,407,396 English Feb. 21, 1922 1,544,369 Breyley June 30, 1925 1,575,411 Breyley Mar. 2, 1926 1,864,539 Hayes Iune 28, 1932 2,441,193 Hayes May 11, 1948V