USRE1512E - Improvement in car and tru - Google Patents

Description

N0.'1,51z. v 1 RBIssUED JULY 14, 1863.

J. J. SHERMAN.

UAR AND TRUCK GONNEGTIQN.

To all whomvit may concern UNITED STATESv e Parnu-'r OFFICE.

, .rosIAH J. SHERMAN, or ALBANY., 'Nn- WYQRKQ a-MPaoysMENT In AN nY Tu ucipnugri-ou$jf Speciiieation forming part of Letters Patent No.' 38,182, dated April-'14, ISGS.; Reissue No. l,5l 2, dated Be it known that I, JrJ. SHERMAN, of Al bany, in the countyofAlbany and State of Ne'w York, have invented a new 'and useful Improvement in Garand Truck Connections Afor Railroad-bars;` and I do hereby declare that the following-is :a full, clear, and exact description of kthe-same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part' of this specifcatiomin which-,-

Figure -lj is a longitudinal vertical section of a car`truck with my improvement attached, taken' in the line .1f Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical-section ofthe same, taken in the .line y y, Fig.' 1. Fig 3 is a section ofa truck,

showing a modification o f my invention. taken in the nuez z, Fig; 4'. (Fig. 4is @section of Figz, 4taken in the line w' 1:'. Figs. 5, ti, 7,'8,

`and-9 are sections of modificationsv ot my. in-

vention detached from th truck.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre'- spondin g parts inthe several igurcs.

,The object of this invention is to diminish the lateral force upon the .rails of a railroad and the wheels of a caretruck ot' the strains and concussions caused by the lateral movements of the'car,'to ease the motions ofthe cnr and to facilitate the required changes in the relative position of the trucks of acar in turning or passing over curves.

To enable those skilledV in .the ar.'J to fully understandand construct. my invention, I will inches deep at the center and fourteen and' one-haltl inches in diameter at the suri'acen l) is a cross-piece, which is precisely similarto Il', und is secured transversely to the bottoni of the car in such position that when the trucks and the car are in place the four cavities u oi' the cross` pieces B of the two trucks will coincide vs -'ith the 'fourcavities a of the crossLpi-ccs 1) l), and the .cavities na! form July 14, 1863.

four inclosures directly over or a little Within,

es may'befdesired; the rails of` Vthe road, 'and .midway between the axles of their respective' trucks. Withineach of these inclosures there e is placed a smooth cast-iron ball; VE-'sey eleven and onehalf-inchesin diameter, o1 of a A diameter exceedingthe space between the topI audl bottom of the inclosures just su'i-A ciently to prevent the top and bottom boxes. from touching each other during any' required movement ofthe trucks, as in passing over joints or other irregularities ofthe road.- 'To diminish their weight these balls may be iliade hollow, and in ordinary cases, with goed iron, need not exceed an inch in thickness of shell and for .the `same. reason such'parts o1'. 'thie'boxesaswrillf 'safely admit of' it-may be 'made hollow, or, (as will be presently seem) asf it is not in all casesindispensable that they be formed upon crosspi'eces, they'may be otherwise lightened by any desired 'change f design ini their exterior vform or manner of atb' justmcnt upon the curand trucks not incompatiblewith their purposes,;as hereinafter .ei-4,

plained.

To prevent thel escape of the-.balls E from their vinclosures in case of any extraordinary' accident, each pair of cross-pieces or the-'enr and the trucks may be confined togetherhy two or vmore loose chains, F, so adjusted as n'ct to permit the boxes to separate suicieutly for the balls to pass, and yet not to interfere with their action Within theproper limits. l

To illustrate the 'operation of my improvement, let :the ballsE in Fig. 2 be supposed to represent'the positionot" .each of-the four halls, and the boxesot said balls theposition of the boxes ot' the other balls when" th'e ear is at rest or unaffected by any lateralor other horizontal movement. .Let the red out?E linesin Fig, 2 show' their position at the in'-V stant of equilibrio after the maximum etiect of a powerful horizontal impulse yfrom the` righ t. upon the cnr, and 'cv theline .otlincidence between ythe cara-nd thc truck, and by conse- `quence also hetweenthe car and the rails.`

It will be--seen4 thatto drivel the b alls to the position represented in 're'd outlines in Fig. 2 the'lcur must have been; moyedwithfa lateral impulsesof.suihcient force to overcome. thev threefoldV resistance o, ilrst, the initial inertia. ot' the ear; second,-the .series of iuertias like those of Fig. 1, 2, andi' should be employed, and a conical form substituted for spherical,

las shown in Fig. 3 and 4, at F', in order to steady the rubber. The rubber F should-be fitted to till the cavities compactly, (except in some cases in a longitudinal direction, as presently explained,) so `as to substitute the atomic mobility ofthe rubber for the bodily mobility of the halls. lThe edges of the cava ities should be rounded to prevent cutting the rubber, and the perpendicular .thickness of the rubber adjusted to the depth of the cavities in such a manner as to keep the upper and lower boxes sufficiently apart to allow the required play between .them under all degrees of compression. to which the rubber will be subjected. These rubbers F may be strengthened to any required degree by forming them upon an ironor other metallic core', elongated, like themselves, perpendicular-ly. (ln like manner the balls E may be coated with rubb er, if desired It is obvious that in thismodication of-the invention, all relative movement of the car and the trucks being, as before, qualified by the peculiar restraints interposcdby the boxes, and the mobility ot" the particles ot' the rubbersupplyingthe place ot' the mobility of the ball, part of the advantages attributed to the action of the balls are obtained, with the additional one of an universal-spring to the car,

or one acting in all directions.

The circular movement of the truck upon its axis in turning largelcurves of the road is so slight that very little longitudinal play of the balls or ot the boxes to respond to it is needed. For instance, on a curve of one thousand feet radius, with the trucks of the car fifty feet apart from center to center, and

ythe vertical centers of the two inclosures ot' each truck four feet apart, the' longitudinal' movement of a bottom box forward or backward of its top box would not exceed sixtenths of an inch, andas but halt' this movement is made bythe ball it is not required to depart from the center otl either cavity more. than three-tenths of an incha space so inappreeiable in the proportions between the balls and their inclosures, or the dimensions ofthe cavities l -have proposed, as to require no special provision for it. v I

In cases where much smaller curves of the road are to be provided for, and increased L play in that direction given to the balls, the

bottoms of thccavities must be elongated by .flattening their curves longitudinally` or the ca vilies themselves may be made oblong'.

Where elastic rubber is used in place of the balls, instead ot' elongatin'g either the bottom or the whole ofthe cavity for this purpose, an outer portion only should be elongated, say, to a depth ot' from one-f`ourth Ato one-third that-ot' the cavity, and with a taper to the` interior line where the elongation commences,' as Shown`in Fig. 3. The rubber should not till this added space compactly, except when forced into it by the action'of the truck in lturning curves; but as it is not desirable to allow much longitudinal play to the balls orto thc boxes, and as it will be necessary in some cases to provide for sharp curves in the road, the vupper crossfpieces, D, should iu such cases be used and' attached to the car by means ot' a key-bolt, H, in the center, as shown clearly in 1*`ig.el,and turn upon slides G, substantially inthe manner the trucks themselves ordinarily turn. rlhese slides should be .curved inwardly and be segments of a circle vment, it will be seen, does not interfere with the distinctive action of the boxes, but operates entirely through their medium, an d serves only to extend its range. v

I am aware that car-bodies have before been supported upon their trucks through the medium of metallic balls or convex plates, so as to permit lateral or oscillating motion, as described inLetters Patent granted to Thomas P. How on the 11th of March, 1,851, and to Thomas E. Roberts on the 16th of August, 1859. The first-named device is essentially' different ,from mine, inasmuch as the bearings are not so constructed as to restore the carbody to its normal position by their own automatic action. Robertss invention is inferior to mine, in providing for arockin'gl rather than a direct lateral motion'and 4req airing accurate balancing to secure its full etiiciency. A

' Having thus described m yin ventioll, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters .'it automatically to its normal positflmsubstantially as herein described.

The combination of the annular si'nings g with the bearings e fh i j, or any of them, or thfe mechanical equivalent ot' said springs., when used in connection with the balls E oi' rubbers 1*" to restrain or qualify their action,

substantially in the mannerherein set forth.

JosiAn J. summits..

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