US1680417A - Railway vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 14, 1928. 1,680,417

. H. A. HOUSTQN RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed June 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESSES INVENTOR Ef fira/n /g ua/z Aug. 14, 1928. 1,680,417

- v H. A. HOUSTON RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed June 4, 1927 2 Sheets-Shet 2 WITNESSES: INVENTOR wax/AM Patented Aug. 14, 1928.

UNITED STATES HAROLD A. HOUSTON, OF WILKINSBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

RAILWAY VEHICLE.

Application filed June 4, 1927. Serial No. 196,429.

My invention relates to railway vehicles tion;

and more particularly to devices for connectlng and centering the adjacent ends of the trucks of such vehicles.

In railway vehicles in which the cabs or bodies are mounted on a plurality of articulated trucks, excessive nosing and lateral movements of the adjacent ends of the trucks are likely to occur when the vehicles travel over curved or uneven sections of track, if the trucks are loosely connected. On the other hand, if the trucks are connected too rigidly, undesirable stresses in the vehicle and excessive wear of the wheel flanges and rails will result. Therefore, it is desirable to connect the adjacent ends of the trucks in;

such manner that they will be prevented from moving laterally relative to one another, until subjected to a predetermined force.

One object of the invention is to provide .for yieldingly opposing the relative lateral movements of the adjacent ends of the trucks.

willbe indicated in the appended claims.

For a fullerunderstanding of the invention,'reference may be had to the followmg detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which;-

Figure 1 is a. view, in side elevation,'of fragmentary portions of a pair of articulated trucks provided with a centering device embodying the principles of the inven- Fig. 2 is a detailed view, partly in section and partly in side elevation, of a portion of the trucks and the centering device illustrated in Fig. 1; r

will, in part, appear Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of one form of the centering device; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of another form of the centering device.

In the drawing, a pairof cooperating trucks 1 and 2 areillustrated as having the usual frames 3 and lthat are ournaled upon a plurality of axles 5 which are carried by wheels 6 in a well known manner. -The trucks land 2 may be coupled together by a draw bar 6 or by any articulated joint that is secured to the respective end sills 7 and 8 of the frames 3 and 4, the particular type of coupling being no part of the present in-- vention.

In order to restrain the adjacent endsof I the trucks from moving laterally relative to one another, they areprovided with a,centering device 9. The centering device comprises a triangular strut or resistance rocker 10 thatisdisposed betweenv a seating member 11 which is mounted on the truck frame.

form that will provide suflicient resistance tokeep the truck ends centeredunder normal conditions. The rocker illustrated in Fig. 3 has a roundedbearing portion 14 on one end that is disposed in a seat 15 in the seating member 11, and its other end is formed with a flattened cam-shaped face 16 that is adapted to rock on the bearing face 17 of the yoke 12.

Another form of resistance rocker is il- 'lustrated in Fig. 4 as having a base provided with two rounded corners 18 and 19 that are disposedin cooperating seats 20 and 21 in the seating member 11. The other endof the rocker is providedwitha camshape face 22 and is disposed in the bearing face 17 of the yoke 12.

In either form of rocker,-.the camshape end is held in position in the yoke by means of an arm23, one :end of which is pivotally connected to the rocker and the other. end

.of which is pivotally connected to an extension 24 on the side of the yoke.

The required variable resistance to the lateral movementsof the adjacent ends of the trucks is provided by holding the camthe trucks.

shaped rocker or triangular strut 10 bet-ween the seating member 11 and the yoke mem ber 12 under such compression that, by reason of the shape of the rocker, a predetermined force is required to unseat it.

As shown, the body of the yoke member isrectangular in shape and is slidably mounted in an opening in the housing. \Vitlra. view to making the yoke stronger and retaining it in proper position in the housing, its rear portion is provided with an extension 25 that is slidably seated in an opening in an enlarged portion 26 of the base of the housin In order to bias the yoke against the cam face of the rocker, a number of sprin s 27 are mounted'in the housing, with their inner ends 28 hearing against a, spring support 29 constituting a part of the housing andtheir outer ends 30 bearing against the inner wall 31 of the outer end of the yoke member.

' Thesupporting members of the centering deviceare generally mounted on the trucks in suohposition that the rocker, the yoke, and the springs will be'under compression when the trucks are connected by the coil pling.

correct any tendency to nosing or relative lateral movements of the adjacent ends of However, when such a vehicle enters a curved. section ot track, the leading truck will follow thev curvature of the rails and thereby give the adjacent ends of the trucks a tendency to swing out of almement.

' Under such conditions, the forces exerted by the relative lateral movements of the adjacent ends of the trucks will be opposed by the resistance of thee-am or triangular rocker that.is disposed.undercompression in the centering device. If the curvature of the vrails becomes very pronounced, the lateral forces exerted by the ends of the trucks will be increased and will unseat the resistance jacent ends of the trucks will overcome the resistance of the rocker and cause it to be unseated. Accordingly, they may be designed to meet the conditions under which they will be operated. 7

While the illustrated example constitutes a particular embodiment of my invention. I

do not limit myself strictly to the details shown, since, manifestly, the same may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

I 1. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering device comprising a seat mounted on one ol? said trucks, a yoke n'iountcd; on a cooperating truck, and a cam rocker disposed to be interposed between the seat and the yoke.

In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering device comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted on a cooperating truck, a cam rocker disposed to be interposed between the seat and the yoke, and means for positioning the rockerin the yoke.

3. In a-railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, ot a con tering device comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted on a cooperating truck, a cam rocker disposed to be interposed between the seat and the yoke, and a link adapted to connect the rocker and the yoke and center one end of the rocker in the yoke.

4. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a contering device comprising a. seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housing mounted on a cooperating truck. a yoke resiliently mounted in the housing. and a cam rocker interposed between the seat and the yoke.

-5. In a railway vehicle. the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering device comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housing mounted on a. cooperating truck, a yoke movably mounted in the housing. a cam rocker inter posed between the seat and the yoke, and a spring located in the housing and adapted to press the yoke against the rocker.

6. In a railway-vehicle. the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and meansfor eonnecting'the trucks, of a centering device comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted. on a cooperating truck, and a heart-shape cam rocker interposed between the seat and the yoke. l I

7. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of. articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering device comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted on a cooperating truck. a triangular resistance rocker interposed between the scat and the yoke, and means cooperative with the yoke to retain said rocker seated until subjected to a predetermined force.

8. Ina railway vehicle the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering device comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housing mounted on a cooperating truck, a yoke movably mounted in the housing,v and a triangular resistance rocker interposed between the seat and the yoke and means cooperative with the yoke to retain said rocker seated until the appli-' cation of a. predetermined force.

9. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulated trucks and means for connectin the trucks, of a .centering device thereor comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housing mounted on a cooperating truck, a yoke movably mounted in the housing, resilient means for cushioning the yoke in the housing, a triangular resistance rocker interposed between the yoke and the seat, and a link for connecting the rocker and the yoke,

said link being disposed to support the rocker in Working relation to the yoke.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 27th day ofMay,

HAROLD HOUSTON.

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