Dampened Railway Truck Bolster

Abstract

A dampened railway truck bolster and side frame assembly with wedge means on one side of the bolster and wear plates on the other to facilitate maintenance of squareness in the truck.

Parent Case Text

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application, Ser. No. 83,875, filed Oct. 26, 1970, now abandoned, entitled "Self-squaring Stabilized Railway Truck."

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to railway truck assemblies and particularly to means of maintaining said truck assembly in maximum square relationship.

A railway truck consisting essentially of a bolster and a pair of parallel side frames normal thereto and at the opposite ends thereof must provide for vertical movement of the bolster, with which the railway car is associated, in relation to the side frames and for limited relative movement between the bolster and side frames in a horizontal plane. Such horizontal movement tends to render the bolster and side frames out-of-square and can result in excess wheel wear. Accordingly it is one purpose of the invention to provide means permissive of such vertical movement, while limiting such horizontal movement, increasing the maintenance of a square relationship between the bolster and side frames and thus within the railway truck itself and reducing wheel wear accordingly.

Another purpose is to provide means retaining railway truck axles and side frames yieldably in a rectangular configuration, allowing the truck wheels to seek a path on the rails with minimum deviation from track direction.

Another purpose is to provide means maintaining a rectangular railway truck configuration and reducing the tendency of railway truck wheels to follow a weaving path.

Another purpose is to facilitate increased bolster and side frame dampening forces.

Another purpose is to provide means maintaining a rectangular railway truck configuration of maximum economy and eliminating the need for extension arms, transoms, spring planks or the like.

Other purposes may appear from time to time during the course of the specification and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an end view;

FIG. 2 is a view taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a detail view similar to that of FIG. 4 with the bolster parts removed.

Like parts are indicated by like numerals throughout the specification nd drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, it will be observed that, for clarity and ease of understanding, only those parts necessary for a complete understanding of the invention are presented in the drawings. In FIG. 1, for example, the numeral 1 generally designates a side frame of which the section carrying the center window 2 is shown. For a more complete view of a side frame, reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,691, issued Feb. 17, 1959, entitled "Stabilizing Structure for Railway Car Spring Suspension." As is well understood in the art, a pair of such side frames are arranged in spaced, parallel relationship in a railway truck. Extending between such side frames and having its opposite ends extending into the window 2 is a truck bolster 3, a more complete showing of which is illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,462, issued Apr. 5, 1966, entitled "Resilient Side Bearing for Railroad Cars."

Suspension springs 4 extend between the underside of the ends of bolster 3 and the floors of the windows 2 to support the bolsters vertically in the side frames 1.

The windows 2 have widened, opposite, parallel side walls 5,6. It will be observed that the side wall portions 5,6 are substantially wider, laterally of the frame 1, than those previously known in the art. Spaced pockets 5a on side wall 5 and spaced pockets 6a on side wall 6 carry therewithin wear plates 5b,6b, respectively. It will be observed in FIG. 5, for example, that the plates 5b and 6b are aligned across the window 2. The plates 5b,6b may be carried and retained in their respective pockets by suitable means, such as the fasteners indicated at 5c,6c. The window 2 is expanded beneath side walls 5,6 to permit passage and subsequent raising of the bolster end.

Each end portion of the bolster 3 carries spaced, oppositely directed pairs of side flanges 10,11 within which are received, respectively, the window side walls 5,6. One side wall of each bolster end, for example that between the flanges 11 as shown in the drawings, is vertical throughout its length and carries vertically disposed wear elements 12 formed and dimensioned for contact with the wear plates 6b carried by wall 6.

The opposite side wall of each bolster end, for example that extending between the flanges 10 as shown in the drawings, has formed therein a pair of spaced pockets 15. The pockets 15 have a downwardly, inwardly inclined base or bottom wall 15a.

Wedge members 20 have a downwardly inclined inner wall 20a formed and adapted for engagement with the wall 15a of the pockets 15 and are of a width for reception within the pockets 15. Wedge members 20 have a vertically disposed outer wall or wear surface 21 dimensioned for engagement with the wear plates 5a carried by the wall 5. Wedge members 20 are supported by springs 22. The springs 22 provide a dampening means to control the vibrations of suspension springs 4 and springs 22 are of a force different from that of the balance of the group of springs 4. Hence the springs 4,22 are arranged asymmetrically about a central point on thy bottom wall 2a of window 2.

Illustrated at 25 is a spring-support plate carried on and by the window bottom wall 2a. The plate 25 carries upstanding elements, such as that illustrated at 26 for example, for positioning the spring described above. Similar elements depend from the bolster 3 and wedges 20 for locating or positioning the opposite ends of said springs, as is well known. Plate 25, however, permits of standarization of the side frame 1 while permitting a choice with respect to the location of pockets 15 in the opposite ends of the bolster 3. Thus the pockets 15 may, as is preferred, be formed in the opposite ends of bolster 3 and on the same side of the longitudinal axis thereof, or, if desired, the pockets 15 may be disposed diagonally across or on opposite sides of the bolster ends, it being understood that each bolster end has a vertical wear surface or surfaces opposing one vertical side wall of its associated window and wedge means at the opposite side wall of the same associated window.

The use and operation of the invention are as follows:

Wedge means 20 continuously urge the bolster 3 against the opposed window wall. The vertical contact of the bolster with said opposed wall and the perpendicular relationship of said window wall with the lateral axis of the side frames tends to maintain the bolster and side frames in rectangular or square relationship. The substantially widened lateral extent of the side walls 5,6 and the consequent increase in contact area of wedge means 20 and member 12 with the window side walls further enhances the ability of the railway truck to remain square as the wheels negotiate the rails.

A square or rectangular relationship is thus maintained in the railway truck elements without the employment of extension arms, transoms, spring planks and similar extraneous elements.

With the widened wedging action positioned at one side portion of the bolster ends a tendency to twist and thus to apply greater force to one wedge spring and less to the other, as is experienced with wedge elements at opposite side portions of the bolster, is avoided and an increased or full dampening force can be realized beneath the wedges in the assembly of the invention.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a self-squaring railway truck side frame and bolster assembly, a side frame having a centrally located window therein, said window having opposed, parallel, vertical side walls, each of said side walls having portions extending laterally in a single plane in opposite directions inwardly and outwardly from and beyond said window, said portions extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of said side frame, the extending portions of one of said side walls paralleling the opposed extending portions of the other of said side walls, a vertical wear plate carried by each of said side wall portions, said wear plates being positioned on opposite sides of said side frame longitudinal axis, each of said wear plates overlying a major area of one of said side wall portions, a bolster extending through said window and having wedge pockets opposed to one set of said wear plates in one of said side walls and wedge pockets opposed to the other set of wear plates in the other of said side walls, the number of said pockets corresponding to the number of said wear plates, a wedge element received in each of said pockets and having a vertical wear surface opposed to and in contact with one of said wear plates, first springs supporting said bolster in said window and second springs supporting said wedges in said pockets.

2. In a self-squaring railway truck side frame and bolster assembly, a side frame having a centrally located window therein, each of the opposite vertical side walls defining said window being expanded and extended laterally of and in a single plane in opposite directions outboard and inboard of said side frame, said expanded and extended side walls lying in parallel planes, a bolster end penetrating said window, a pair of vertical wear plates positioned in each of said side walls, each of said wear plates having a major segment thereof positioned to one side of said window, vertical wear surfaces on one side of said bolster and in contact with the pair of wear plates in one of said window side walls, wedge pockets formed in the opposite side of said bolster end, wedge elements received in said wedge pockets and having vertical wedge surfaces opposed to and in contact with the pair of wear plates and the other of said window side walls and springs supporting said bolster end and said wedge elements in said window.