US3534942A

US3534942A - Draft gear removal jack

Info

Publication number: US3534942A
Application number: US687586A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert L Carlson
Original assignee: W H MINER Inc
Current assignee: W H MINER Inc
Priority date: 1967-12-04
Filing date: 1967-12-04
Publication date: 1970-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 1987-10-20

Description

United States Patent 3,534,942 DRAFT GEAR REMOVAL JACK Robert L. Carlson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to W. H. Miner Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 687,586

Int. Cl. B66f 3/24 US. Cl. 254-93 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hydraulic jack assembly, for use in removing a draft gear assembly from the draft gear pocket of a railway car, comprising a housing having an open end and a closed end wall, a piston slidable axially in the housing, and stationary means carried by the housing and engageable by the piston for limiting the stroke of the latter outwardly of the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to a railway car having a draft gear pocket in which is mounted a draft gear and yoke assembly, and more particularly pertains to a hydraulic jack assembly engageable in the draft gear assembly and operable to compress the draft gear to permit the draft gear assembly to be removed from the draft gear pocket.

Description of the prior art There have been proposed various hydraulic jacks for incorporation between the yoke and the draft gear of a draft gear assembly, and operable to compress the draft gear to permit the draft gear assembly to be removed from the draft gear pocket of a railway car. Heretofore, such jack assemblies have been of relatively low capacity, have been designed for use with limited types of yokes and/or have been complicated in operation and expensive to manufacture and assemble.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The hydraulic jack assembly of the present invention is adapted to be engaged between a cross pin seated in the key slot of the yoke and the plunger of the draft gear. More particularly, the jack assembly is provided with stationary means carried by the jack housing interiorly of i the jack piston and engageable by the piston for limiting the stroke of the latter outwardly of the housing. With this arrangement, the stroke of the piston is limited positively, operator discretion is eliminated in connection with the extent of expansion of the jack, and a high capacity jack is afforded with a minimum axial length. In addition, the jack assembly is adapted for use with a number of different types of yokes, and is simple in operation and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary horizontal view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a railway car, a draft gear assembly, and the draft gear removal jack of the present invention in an initial mounted position;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal view, partly in section and partly in elevation, taken substantially along the line 22 in FIG. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view corresponding generally to FIG. 2, but illustrating the jack assembly in an expanded position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

3,534,942 Patented Oct. 20, 1970 ice DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is indicated generally by the reference numeral one end of the longitudinally extending inverted generally U-shaped, center sill of a railway car. The center sill 10 is stationary relative to the railway car and comprises an upper horizontal wall portion 12 and vertical side -

wall portions

14 and 16. Secured to the

side walls

14 and 16 are a pair of forward lugs 18 and a pair of rearward lugs 20. The pairs of

lugs

18 and 20 are longitudinally spaced to define the usual draft gear pocket 22.

A conventional draft gear 24 is engaged within the draft gear pocket 22. The draft gear 24 includes a hollow housing 26 with a closed end wall normally abutting the rear lugs 20, and a hollow plunger 28 slidable in the housing and having a closed end wall normally abutting the front lugs 18. Extending between the plunger and housing end walls interiorly thereof are a plurality of resilient pad units (not shown) which normally maintain the draft gear 24 in expanded position. A generally C-shaped yoke 30 extens about and longitudinally of the draft gear 24 and serves to define therewith a draft gear assembly. The forward ends of the arms of the yoke 30 are provided with openings 32. Extending across the bottom of the draft gear pocket 22 are a pair of transverse braces 34.

In normal use, a coupler member (not shown) is arranged at the forward end of the draft gear assembly, the rear shank portion of the coupler member engages the plunger 28, and a draft key (not shown) is disposed transversely through the shank and the yoke openings 32. Buff forces imposed on the coupler member are transmitted directly to the plunger 28 which is moved rearwardly within the housing 26 while the rear lugs '20 serve as reaction members. Draft forces imposed on the coupler member are transmitted by the draft key and yoke 30 to the housing 26 which is moved forwardly over the plunger 28 while the front lugs 18 serve as reaction members. In both cases, the resilient pad units within the draft gear 24 serve to absorb the buff and draft forces.

When the draft gear assembly is to be removed from the draft gear pocket 22 and the center sill 10, it is necessary to compress axially the draft gear 24 in order to release the latter from engagement with the pairs of

lugs

18 and 20. In this connection, the draft key and coupler member are first removed. Then, a cross pin 36 is inserted with its ends in the yoke openings 32, and a hydraulic jack assembly 38, constructed in accordance with the present invention, is disposed intermediate of the cross pin 36 and the draft gear plunger 28. To initially locate the jack assembly 38 in position, shim means 40 is inserted between the cross pin 36 and the jack assembly.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the jack assembly 38 comprises a cylindrical housing 42 having an open end and a closed end wall 44. A central axial spindle 46 is suitably secured in the end wall 44 and projects toward the open end of the housing 42. A circumferential groove 48 is formed in the spindle 46 adjacent the outer end thereof, and located in the groove 48 are four arcuate ring segments 50 that together constitute stationary stroke-limiting ring means. Slidable axially in the housing 42 is an annular piston 52 having an inwardly directed radial flange portion 54 at the inner end thereof which is slidable along the spindle 46 and which is engageable with the ring segments 50.

The piston 52 is formed with an interior annular recess 56 in the outer section thereof which defines an intermediate shoulder 58 and which is interiorly threaded at the outer end thereof. Disposed in the recess 56 are a sleeve 60 abutting the shoulder 58 and a disc seal plug 62 abutting the sleeve 60. A disc retainer 64 is threaded in the recess 56 in abutment with the seal plug 62 for securing the latter and the sleeve 60 within the recess 56. The sleeve 60 overlies the groove 48 and the ring segments 50 when the piston '2 is in retracted position. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the described arrangement of the sleeve 60, seal plug 62 and retainer 64 accommodates mounting of the ring segments 50 Within the groove 48 during assembly of the jack 38. The piston 52 is also provided with exterior packing ring seals 66.

The housing end wall 44 is formed with an aperture 68 in which is threaded one end of a nipple 70. Threaded on the other end of the nipple 70 is a coupling sleeve 72 which is provided with a port and annular valve seat 74. A valve element or ball valve 76 is normally biased into engagement with the valve seat 74 by a coil spring 78 held in place by a spring retainer 80 secured in the sleeve 72 intermediate of the ends thereof. The outer end of the sleeve 72 is adapted to receive a fitting 82 having a port and valve seat 84 and a cooperating spring biased valve element or ball valve 86. The coupling sleeve 72 and fitting 82 are adapted to be releasably interconnected by a connector nut 88, with the

ball valves

76 and 86 engaging and thus serving to unseat each other. The fitting 82 is mounted at the end of a flexible hose 90, which, as shown in FIG. 2, is connected to a manually or automatically operated fluid pump 92.

After the jack assembly 38 has been engaged in the draft gear assembly, and the coupling sleeve 72 and hose fitting 82 have been interconnected, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the pump 92 is suitably actuated and hydraulic fluid under pressure is directed through the hose 90 and fitting 82, past the

unseated ball valves

86 and 76, through the coupling sleeve 72, the nipple 70 and the aperture 68, and into the housing 42. The fluid entering the housing 42 serves to expand the jack and to extend the piston 52 outwardly of the housing 42 as shown in FIG. 5, whereupon the draft gear 24 is axially compressed as shown in FIG. 3. The ring segments 50, which are engageable by the piston flange 54 as shown in FIG. 5, serve to limit positively the stroke of the piston 52 outwardly of the housing 42.

When extension of the piston 52 is completed, and actuation of the pump discontinued, the coupling sleeve 72 and hose fitting 82 are disconnected. The ball valve 76 is then engaged by the spring 78 with the seat 74- and fluid under pressure is thereby trapped within the housing 42 for maintaining the jack 38 in the expanded position shown in FIG. 5. At this point, the bottom car braces 34 (FIG. 2) are detached, and the draft gear 24, yoke and jack 38 are lowered from the draft gear pocket 22. To remove the jack 38, the hose fitting 82 and coupling sleeve 72 are reconnected, thus causing the

ball valves

76 and 86 to be again unseated, and the pressure release valve of the pump 92 1s opened to drain fluid from the jack housing 42. Upon return of the piston 52 to retracted position, the cross pm 36 and jack 38 are withdrawn from the draft gear assembly.

While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. For use in removing a draft gear assembly from the draft gear pocket of a railway car, a hydraulic jack assembly comprising a housing having an open end and a closed end wall, a piston slidable axially in said housing, said. housing having an aperture therein through which fluid under pressure may be admitted to said housing for extending said piston outwardly of said housing, a central axial spindle secured to said closed end wall of said housing and projecting toward the open end thereof, said piston being annular and slidable relative to said spindle, an annular groove formed at the outer end of said spindle, non-threaded ring means disposed in said groove with approximately one-half of said ring means being disposed within said groove and the other half projecting radially outwardly of the outer surface of said spindle, and an inwardly directed radial flange portion at the inner end of said annular piston which is slidable along said spindle and which is engageable with said ring means to limit the stroke of said piston said ring means is comprised of two or more arcuate segments to facilitate assembly of said ring means in said groove, wherein said piston is formed with an annular recess in the outer section thereof defining an intermediate shoulder, and wherein a sleeve is secured in said recess abutting said shoulder and radially overlying said ring means when said piston is in its retracted position.

2. The hydraulic jack assembly of claim 1 wherein a disc seal plug is disposed in said recess abutting the outer end of said sleeve, wherein said recess is interiorly threaded at the outer end thereof, and wherein a disc retainer is threaded in said recess in abutment with said disc seal plug for securing same and said sleeve within said recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,356,899 8/1944 Stutter 92108 2,430,100 11/1947 Brurnder 254-93 X 2,955,578 10/1960 Flessate 92108 OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner D. R. MELTON, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 9213