US940806A - Method of reworking worn car-axles. - Google Patents

Description

. J. M. HANSEN. I 7 METHOD OF REWORKING WORN GAR AXLBS. APPLICATION FILED JUHIE 13. 1908.

W ssEs, 'NVENTOR' I Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

n are tin-ii JGH'N M. HANSEN, or rirrsnnne, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF REXVCIEKING WSRN OAR-AXLES.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HANSEN, a resident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have in vented a new and useful improvement in Methods of Rcworking lVorn Car-Axles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a fulhclear, and exactdcscription thereof.

This invention relates to a method of reworking or utilizing worn ca'r axles.

Railroad car axles are subjected to severe wear on the journal portions. The practice is to discard such axles when the journal portions "are worn down about g; of an inch, it

- being then considered that either the axle is no longer safe or that its reduced diameter cntails excessive wear on the journal bearings as well as also being objectionable on account of the loose fit with the bearing.

, he life of axles is rather short and as their first cost is large they constitute a heavy item in the maintenance of rolling stock.

The object of this invention is to utilize such worn car axles and re-work the same to at least double the life thereof so as to e'fi'ect a lar e saving in the maintenance of rolling stoc The invention consists in forming and-reworking car axles by forming the axle with finished ournal and collar portions and after wear, heating and so reforging the axle as to reduce the length of the end collar and enlarge the journal portion so that after such ifs-forging it would be at least as large as the original ournal )ortion.

The invention claitne in this application is one of the modifications illustrated and described in my companion application, Serial No. 438,419, wherein the invention is generically claimed.

In the acconipiinying drawings Figure 1 is a side view showing one end of a Worm car axle prior to being subjected to my method; I igs. 2 and 3 are sectional diagrammatic views illustrating the manner of en'- larging the diameter-of the worn journal ortion; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view lllustrating the returning of the journal portion.

Fig. 1 shows a ortion of a worn car axle having the main body or central portion 1, the ortion 2 upon which the-wheel is securec, the journal 3 and the end collar 4.

' The dotted lines 5 show the original diameter of the journal portion, so indicating the- Specification of: Letters Patent.

manner in which the same has been worn.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

This axle may be similar to the standard axles in all particulars except that an exces of metal is provided in its end portion, the

is, in the end collar +t. The dotted line 6 indicates the usual length of a standard caraxle and all of the nietal'beyond said dot-ted line is excess;

\Vhcn this axle has become worn it is subjected to a suitable forging operation to. again enlarge its journal to or. beyond its original diameter so that the latter can again be re-turned and used the same as a new axle. Fig. 2 illustrates one manner of effecting this result. The end of the axle is heated and then subjected to an Lip-setting operation, such as by means of the up'setting dies? carried by a suitable plunger 8 which may be operated by a. hydraulic cyl inder or other suitable means. held and grasped by means, such as ,di"

whichare made to grip the axle inside. he journal portion,so holding the axle against the thrust of the upsetting die. Preferably also these dies 9 are extended to inclos the journal portion but not. tightly, leaving a space therebetween. 10 and shows the parts in position before the upsetting operation, while Fig. 3 shows the same parts after the upsetting operation. in which the metal has been forcedinwardly by the upsetting die, so reducing the length of the end collar and increasing the diameter of the journal portion so that after such reforging the 1journal portion will be at least as large as t 1e original journal portion. It will thus be seen that by making theend collar of he original axle of greater len h than required, sutiicient metal is provi ed for such enlarging of the journal portion by the upset-ting operation. The metal is preventedfrorn flowing inwardly. beyond the journal portion on account ofthe gripping dies 9 and consequently when upset must flow radially and increase the diameter of 100 The excess of metal in the end 00 strain 105 The axle gs Fig. 2 shows a space all cases will be made sufiicient so that when the journal portion ism setthe. axle will have a collar of the usua s ze and a journal as large as in theoriginel forged ax-le so that said journal can again be turned down (191.?

to the same size as thejournals of new axles. This re-turning 15 illustrated in Fig. 4.

g} etc eee Aceordin to this method the axle may he made capab e of being re-iorged a plurality of times by providing a sufiicient quantity of excess metal in the end collar, and in the 5 suveessive re-forgings said end collar will be reduced in length at each re forging. The re-forgedaxle has a journal portion of the same size and consequently the same strength as a new axle.

10 it will be readily seen that aceordin to ,this method the life of the axle can be oubled and eveh trebled by rather simple operations and at comparatively small cost, much less than the cost of a new axle. This 15 will materially reduce the cost of maintenance of the rolling stock.

What-I claim is} The method of form' b and rte-working ear axles, consisting m orming the axle with finished journal and collar portions, 20

large as the original journal portion. 9:,

In testimony whereof, I the said J OHN M. HANSEN have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN M. HANSEN.

" Witnesses: I ROBERT C. TOTTEN, J. R. KELLER.

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