US3254613A

US3254613A - Car truck

Info

Publication number: US3254613A
Application number: US263038A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hans B Weber
Original assignee: Midland Ross Corp
Current assignee: Midland Ross Corp
Priority date: 1963-03-05
Filing date: 1963-03-05
Publication date: 1966-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 1983-06-07
Also published as: BR6457320D0; BE644661A

Description

H. B. WEBER CAR TRUCK Filed March 5, 1965 June 7, 1966 United States Patent O 3,254,613 CAR TRUCK Hans B. Weber, Bedford, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Midland-Ross Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Filed Mar. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 263,038 8 Claims. (Cl. 10S- 197) This invention relates to a new and improved railway car truck and especially to a novel friction snubbing mechanism to limit the oscillations of the bolster of the car truck relative to the side frame.

The modern railway freight car truck is characterized by friction snubbing means that is reliable as well as simple to make and assemble. Y

The cost of the truck, its frequency of repair and ease of repair are prime considerations to the railroads. Because of the frequency of the oscillations of the weight bearing bolster member relative to the side frame, and the reliance upon a friction snubbing means to damp these oscillations, the wear of the surfaces involved is usually high. With a high rate of wear, there are the corresponding higher costs due to frequent repair or replacement of Worn parts. The invention herein disclosed provides a unique friction snubbing means for a car truck that concentrates the wear on an easily replaced part of the truck as well as providing means to interlock the bolster to the side frame by means of the friction wedge. By thus localizing the wear, the maintenance costs are appreciably reduced. A further advantage of the herein disclosed invention is to provide a readily assembled truck that reduces the time required for assembly and -repair and maintains the side frame and bolster in correct angular relationship.

It is therefore the primary object of `this invention to provide a new and Aimproved railway freight car truck that localizes wear on readily repaired or replaced parts of the truck.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an improved railway car truck having friction snubbingV means that minimize contact between the side frame and bolster to lessen wear therebetween.

It is a still more specific object of this invention to provide a railway car truck with a friction snubbing means which includes a friction wedge having flanges that minimize wear between the side frame and bolster.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a railway car truck in which the snubbing wedges are the sole means reacting between the side frame and the bolster to prevent displacement of the bolster relative to the side frame and in which retraction of the snubbing wedges is limited in such a way that engagement is maintained between the wedges and the bolster in all normal positions of these parts.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a side frame and bolster embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is -a fragmentary elevation in section of another portion of the side frame and bolster shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view in section of the side frame and bolster taken along line IlI--III of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective View of a portion of the side frame and a friction wedge illustrated in the other figures.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown a side frame 2, and a bolster 4. The side frame has an upper compression member 6, tension members 8 and 8a, and vertical columns 10 and 10a.

The vertical column 10, typical of both columns has walls 11 and 12 spaced transversely of the car frame 2 and longitudinally of the bolster 4. The walls 11 and Patented June 7, 1966 12 are connected by a wall 22 which cooperates as a rear wall with the Walls 11 and 12 as side walls to define a wedge pocket 20 in the side frame. The Walls 11 and 12 have vertically

elongated flanges

24 and 26, respectively, which extend in the transverse direction of the side frame to provide vertical

column guide surfaces

13 and 14 which face the bolster and partly define the periphery of the bolster receiving opening'23 as most clearly seen in FIGURE 3. Near the compression member 6, as an integral portion of the column, is an element or means comprising two

stops

15 and 16 which can best be seen in FIGURES l and 4; see also the stop 15 of FIGURE 2.

Within the wedge pocket 20 is a friction wedge 40. The friction wedge is characterized by a front vertical bolster-engaging wall 41 providing a flat or planate friction surface 41s, a rear side frame-engaging wall 42, side walls 43 and 44, and a spring seat 45. The wedge walls 41, 42 are relatively divergent and define at their point of mergence a wedge tip 42a. Disposed laterally of the vertical friction surface 41s (more clearly seen in FIG- URE 3) are

flanges

46, 47 which are flange-like extensions of the wall. In the embodiment shown, these flanges partly form the friction surface 41s which en-- gages an opposing friction surface of the bolster 4. As shown in FIGURE 3, the wedge wall 41 includes the

flanges

46, 47 and is wider than the rear wedge wall 42 and overlaps both pocket side walls 11 and 12 and vertically

elongated flanges

24, 26 in the transverse direction of the side frame. The wedge is urged into engagement with the bolster and the rear pocket wall 22 by a spring 49 which is under compression between the seat 45 and a

spring seat

50 or 50a defined by the compression member 6.

The bolster 4 comprises a top wall 51, a bottom wall 52, and

side walls

53, 53a, vertically elongate guide lugs 54 and guide lugs 55 spaced lengthwise of the bolster and the intermediate portion of the wall 53 define a U- shape recess along opposite sides of the bolster for receiving a friction wedge, such as the Wedge 40. The bolster is supported at normal position in the side frame bolster opening by the bolster springs 56. A wear plate 57 is secured within each bolster recess between the

lugs

54, 55 to the wall 53 providing a vertical surface 58 which normally engages the surface 41s of the wedge in sliding frictional relationship.

Guide lugs

54 and 55 each have a

guide face

54a and 55a, respectively, in opposed spaced relation with a guide surface. The faces cooper ate with the surfaces to guide the bolster as it moves ver tically within the opening.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the distance in the transverse direction of outer transversely-facing surfaces 46a and 47a of

zthe flanges

46 and 47, respectively, is greater than the distance between outer transversely-facing surfaces 15a and 16a of the

stop lugs

15 and 16, respectively'. This arrangement :permits the bolster to rise to an upper portion of the bolster opening under unusual circumstances while maintained in guide relation with the flange surfaces 46a and 47a without its movement being obstructed by the

stops

15 and 16.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the wedge 40 is shown in its normal position within the pocket and the recess provided by the side frame and bolster, respectively. The wedge .is urged downwardly by the spring 49 -against the surfaces of the bolster wear plate 57 and the rear .pocket wall 22. E-ach wedge tip 42a overhangs the lower portion of the column to thereby define together an enlarged bolster entry opening 60 for receiving an end portion of the bolster during the assembly of the car truck. While the wedge ordinarily rests against the surface of the wall 22, it cannot enter the pocket 20 any further than the wedge flanges 46 Iand 47 will permit since appreciable movement into the pocket will cause engagement of the flanges with the

vertical surfaces

13 and 14 of the column 1t). The wedge 40 cannot move upwardly any further than the

fixed stops

15 and 16 will permit since the

anges

46 and 47 engage the stops upon a lifting of the wedge away from the wall 22 within, eg., a distance of less than 2 inches. The wedge has little freedom in the transverse direction of the side frame since its side walls are in close clearance with the side Walls 11 and 12 of the column 10. Thus, when the bolster rests on its supporting springs 56, there is no possibility of the wedge being jostled out of the side frame in the event of a broken wedge spring.

The bolster, though it may be freely moved into and out of the side frame when disposed below the level of the tips of the wedges with the springs S6 removed, is effectively trapped within the side frame by the wedges. Lateral movement of the bolster crosswise of the track bed is limited by engagement of the

guide lugs

54, 55 with

lthe anges

46, 47 of the wedge wall 41. Downward movement of the 4bolster is limited to that permitted by the solid height of the springs 56 which do not permit the guide lugs to pass beneath the

anges

47, 46 of the wedge. Upward movement 0f the bolster is limited by the compression member. Even if the bolster engages the cornpression member', the overlapping relationship of the guide lugs with the

flanges

46, 47 permits little or no movement of the ybolster transversely to the side frame. The -bolster is restricted in its movement relative to the side frame in the longitudinal direction of the 4latter by the snubbing action of the friction wedges land positively limited in such movement when the faces of the

lugs

54, 55 engage the

surfaces

13 and 14 of the elongated iianges. In this manner complete wedge interlock and snubbed vertical movement between the bolster and a side frame is achieved.

In addition to providing a side frame `and bolster interlock, the wedge, bolster, and side frame construction herein disclosed sustains substantially less wear on the truck than experienced with a type of conventional truck wherein the lbolster has `guide lugs which rub the sides of the column. With these conventional trucks, a serious problem in repair was the reconstruction of the guide lugs` on the bolster, or the repair of the column due -to abrading contact between the guide lugs and column.

In the present construction, the bolster engages only the Wedge in normal train operation and rarely ever contacts the side frames. The wedge, on the other hand, undergoes only slight relative movement with the side frame. Wear between the bolster and the wedge occurs primarily on the wear plate 57 and the wedge along its surface 41s. Thus, the wear is concentrated on readily replaceable parts, namely: the wedge and the wear plate 57. Because of the greater than conventional frictional surfaces provided by the wedge 40 and the wear plate 57, replacement frequency is reduced.

T O Iassemble the truck, the wedge 40 is urged by a pinch bar in a direction compressing the spring 49 in the usual manner. The wedge is held in a retracted position by a retaining pin while the bolster is inserted into the side frame bolster entry opening thereby allowing its lugs 54, to pass under the retracted wedge. Once positioned within the entry opening, the bolster is raised into the bolster receiving opening until the support springs 56 can be placed under the basket portion thereof. The bolster is then lowered until the wall 52 thereof rests on the springs. At this point, the retaining pin holding the wedge in the retracted position can be withdrawn and the wedges are forced into contact with the bolster by the action of the springs 49.

yIn addition to facilitating repair of a worn truck by merely replacing a removable part of the friction snubbing means, the herein disclosed invention provides improved snubbing. Hitherto in the art, one of the limitations on the effectiveness of the friction snubbing was the `limitation of the area of the friction surface on the wedge. In the past, the width of the vertical column has imposed a maximum width to the wedge. This is particularly true of wedges having their wedge .pockets located in the side frame column. By constructing a wedge as herein disclosed, with its bolster-engaging wal-l extended beyond its side walls and the bolster corespondingly recessed, it is possible to increase the area of the friction surface on the wedge beyond the width of the wedge pocket in the column. Thus, there is not only the advantage of localizing truck wear and simplifying repair and assembly, but improving the overall efficiency of the snubbing means through increase in surface areas of the bolster and wedge in frictional contact.

Another advantage of a railway car truck, in accordance with this invention, is that the vertical surfaces of the columns 10, forming the bolster opening of each side frame extend in a straight line from the tension member to the compression member. When constructed in this manner, there is substantial improvement in the inherent strength of the side frame. This construction is possible because of the elimination of the lugs on the bolster conventionally provided to overlap the columns in the longitudinal direction of the side frame, and consequent elimination of notches in the column for passage of bolster lugs therethrough in assembling or disassembling the truck. By the present invention the bolster and -side frame are interlocked by the wedge.

The terms and expressions which -have been employed are used `as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention of excluding such equivalents of the invention described or of the portions thereof as fall within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a railway truck:

(a) a bolster;

(b) a side frame having an opening therein through which an end portion of the bolster is laterally insei-ted;

(c) a pair of vertical members in said side frame defining opposite sides `of said opening, said opposite sides being spaced apart by a distance greater than `the overall longitudinal dimension of the bolster and each member having a wedge retaining pocket formed in the face which partially bounds said opening in a general vertical transverse plane, said mem- -bers restraining the bolster against movement longitudinally of the truck;

(d) a longitudinally, retractable wedge in each pocket,

resiliently biased toward the bolster and reacting between an inclined surface within the pocket and `a vertical, transverse face of the bolster, each wedge extending into a clearance space defined between the transverse vertical face of the -bolster and the general vertical transverse plane of said corresponding vertical member;

(e) means holding the wedges against lateral displacement;

(f) single means to limit both retraction and vertical movement of the wedges, and prevent withdrawal of either wedge from the clearance space;

(g) means Vcoacting only between the wedges and the bolster to prevent lateral displacement of the bolster relatively to the wedges; and I (h) means reacting between the bolster and the side frame to limit vertical movement of the bolster in said opening whereby said wedges engage said vertical transverse faces of the bolster in any position the parts may assume.

2. The combination defined in 1 in which the bolsterengaging face of each wedge includes laterally extending side portions lying between the bolster and said vertical members; and in which the single means to limit both retraction and vertical movement of the wedges comprises bosses projecting from `said members into said clearance space and arranged in the path of travel of said side portions.

3. The combination defined in `cl-aim 1 and spring means reacting between the side frame and the bolster and serving as the means to limit vertical movement of the bolster in one direction, said spring means being removable, whereby the bolster may travel beyond the limit established by the spring means, to a position in which the means coacting between said wedge and bolster to prevent lateral movement of the bolster Irelatively to the side frame is rendered ineffective for purposes of assembly and disassembly of the truck.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the means coacting between the wedge and the bolster to prevent lateral movement of the bolster relatively to the side frame comprises spaced vertical guideways formed on the bolster and projecting into the clearance space and engaging opposite sides ofthe wedges.

5. In a railway car truck:

(a) a bolster having vertically disposed, transverse side faces on its opposite side;

(b) longitudinally projecting, vertical guides on said opposite faces defining a -guideway therebetween, the longitudinally outermost edges of the guides being longitudinally spaced apar-t a distance equal to the overall longitudinal dimension of the bolster;

(c) a side frame having an opening therein through which an end portion of the bolster may be laterally inserted;

(d) a pair of vertical members in said side frame serving to bound said opening .and coacting with the longitudinally outermost edges of -the guides to limit longitudinal displacement of the bolster relatively to the side frame, each member having la wedge-retaining pocket formed in the surface which bounds said y Opening;

(e) a longitudinally retractable wedge in each pocket, resiliently biased toward the transverse side faces of the bolster and lreacting between an inclined surface within the pocket and the vertical transverses side faces of the bolster;

(f) laterally extending lianges formed on the wedges and having vertical outer lateral edges lying between said guides on the bolster and preventing lateral displacement of the bolster relatively to the wedges;

(g) means holding the wedges against lateral displacement relatively to the side frame;

(h) means projecting from the side frame toward the bolster between the guides and limiting upward movement and retraction of the wedges by engagement with the upper edge of the wedge, whereby said Wedge cannot be -retracted from between said guides;

(i) stop means reacting between -the side frame and the bolster to limit displacement of the bolster relative to the side frame whereby said wedges are engaged by the guides in any position the parts may assume; and

(j) means rendering one of said stop means ineffective for purposes of assembly and disassembly.

6. 'Ihe combination defined in cl-aim 5 in which the stop means which may be rendered ineffective comprises spring means reacting between the bolster and the side frame and which -urge the bolster upward and in which the Wedges have a downward directed narrowing taper.

7. The combination defined in claim 1 and means for holding the wedges in Ia position of retraction thereby releasing the bolster for movement beyond the limit established by the spring means when said spring means is re-A moved.

8. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein:

(A) said single means to limit both retraction and vertical movement of the wedges comprises bosses projecting from said members into said clearance space and arranged in the path of travel of said wedges in horizontally overlapping relation to that portion of each wedge disposed in said clearance space; and

(B) the transverse dimension of the bolster-engaging face of each wedge is greater than the distance between outer transversely facing surfaces of said bosses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,894,385 1/ 1933 Webb 10S-197 2,159,138 5/1939 Duryea 10S-197 2,324,267 7/ 1942 Oelkers 105--97 2,545,591 3/1951 Shaw 105-197 2,697,989 12/ 1954 Shafer 10S-197 2,729,173 1/ 1956 Couch 105-197 2,732,813 1/1956 Couch 10S-197 2,908,232 10/ 1959 Baselt 10S-197 EUGENE G. BOTZ, Primary Examiner.

LEO QUACKENBUSH, MILTON BUCHLER,

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Examiners.

H. BELTRAN, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A RAILWAY TRUCK: (A) A BOLSTER; (B) A SIDE FRAME HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN THROUGH WHICH AN END PORTION OF THE BOLSTER IS LATERALLY INSERTED; (C) A PAIR OF VERTICAL MEMBERS IN SAID SIDE FRAME DEFINING OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID OPENING, SAID OPPOSITE SIDES BEING SPACED APART BY A DISTANCE GREATER THAN THE OVERAL LONGITUDINAL DIMENSION OF THE BOLSTER AND EACH MEMBER HAVING A WEDGE RETAINING POCKET FORMED IN THE FACE WHICH PARTIALLY BOUNDS SAID OPENING IN A GENERAL VERTICAL TRANSVERSE PLANE, SAID MEMBERS RESTRAINING THE BOLSTER AGAINST MOVEMENT LONGITUDINALLY OF THE TRUCK; (D) A LONGITUDINALLY, RETRACTABLE WEDGE IN EACH POCKET, RESILIENTLY BIASED TOWARD THE BOLSTER AND REACTING BETWEEN AN INCLINED SURFACE WITHIN THE POCKET AND A VERTICAL, TRANSVERSE FACE OF THE BOLSTER, EACH WEDGE EXTENDING INTO A CLEARANCE SPACE DEFINED BETWEEN THE TRANSVERSE VERTICAL FACE OF THE BOLSTER AND THE GENERAL VERTICAL TRANSVERSE PLANE OF SAID CORRESPONDING VERTICAL MEMBER; (E) MEANS HOLDING THE WEDGES AGAINST LATERAL DISPLACEMENT; (F) SINGLE MEANS TO LIMIT BOTH RETRACTION AND VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF THE WEDGES, AND PREVENT WITHDRAWAL OF EITHER WEDGE FROM THE CLEARANCE SPACE; (G) MEANS COACTING ONLY BETWEEN THE WEDGES AND THE BOLSTER TO PREVENT LATERAL DISPLACEMENT OF THE BOLSTER RELATIVELY TO THE WEDGES; AND (H) MEANS REACTING BETWEEEN THE BOLSTER AND THE SIDE FRAME TO LIMIT VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF THE BOLSTER IN SAID OPENING WHEREBY SAID WEDGES ENGAGES SAID VERTICAL TRANSVERSE FACES OF THE BOLSTER IN ANY POSITION THE PARTS MAY ASSUME.