US1123443A - Draft-gear. - Google Patents

Description

- I. M. WAUGH.

DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JANJQ, 1911.

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DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19.191L

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

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J. M. WAUGH.

DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19,1911.

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T 0 all whom it may concern Be it lmown that I, Jane's M. Warren, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Qhicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft(lears; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numbers of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

T his invention relates to improvements in that class of draft gear'set forth in my prior patent for draft rigging for railway cars issued April 17th, 1906, No. 818,066, and my application for patent for draft rigging,

filed on the 10th day of October, 1908, Serial No. 57,050, and in which bufling and pulling stresses are absorbed by groups of spring friction plates, in which the friction plates of each group are in physical contact face to face. in practice, said friction plates are arranged transversely between the center sills or draft arms, and usually within the draft yoke or tail strap. In some instances, the ends of said spring and friction plates have been brought into engagement with the centralizirg casing or other lateral confining walls therefor, owing perhaps to a very slight shifting of some of the plates in one or more groups, laterally. Where this occurs, the cast (or other relatively soft) metal lateral walls are soon more or less worn or cut thereby, and what is even more important, the increased resistance to the travel of the plates by the engagement of the ends thereof against said lateral wall, causes unequal stresses to be exerted on opposite sides of such plates, not only tending to injuriously affect the plate, but, in fact, detracting in part from the highest edicieiicy of the device.

The object of this invention is to afford a smooth and hardened guide at the ends of the respective groups on each side of the gear and in close re'lation with the plates of the respective groups, thereby acting to prevent any shifting whatsoever of the plates laterally under any conditions, and affording a smooth hard surface for contact with the end of the plate to afford minimum friction of the extremities of the plates thereon.

It is also an object of the invention to arford a construction of the class described, in

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, Serial No. 603,511.

which the respective groups of springs may be readily inspected to determine their condition.

lit is also an object of the invention to afford a construction affording a quick renewal or replacement, if required.

Finally it is an object of the invention to afford a construction by the use of which large shock absorbing capacity may be provided in a relatively short space between the center sills or draft irons.

The invention embraces many novel features and consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more fully pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view partly in section of a device embodying my invention, showing the same installed for locomotive use. Fig. 2 is a similar top plan view, showing the same installed between the center sills of a car. Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a section on line of Fig. 2.

As shown in the drawings: Referring first to Figs. 1 and 3, 1 and 2, indicate the center sills of a locomotive tender constructed as shown, of channel bars, and between and to which is rigidly secured by riveting or any suitable means, the draft gear casing comprising the upper or top wall 3, and front and rear transverse webs -l and 5, which fit between the sills 1 and 2, and the longitudinal and integral webs and flanges 0 and 7, the latter of which is respectively against the inner face of the channel bars 1 and 2, and beneath the bottom flanges thereof, and

through which rivets or bolts extend and,

engage in said center sills. integrally connected with said top wall or casing 3, are depending flanges 8 and 9, which afford the lateral walls of the draft gear casing, and as shown, webs 10, are connected with said depending flanges 8 and 9, and the flanges 7 to reinforce the construction. Carrier bars 11 and 12, are held firmly in position beneath the depending flanges 8 and 9 respectively by means of clamps or members .13, which are rigidly secured to said flanges to aflord the bottom of the draft gear casing. Extending longitudinally of the casing in the top thereof, and on each side. are filler bars 14 and 15. The tail 16, of the coupler extends through the end sill 17, as shown in Fig. 1, and into the forward end of the casing and rigidly secured thereon, is the tail strap or yoke 18, which extends cenl l I trally through said casing to the rear end thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Secured within said casing and within the tail yoke, is a rear follower block 19, which bears against the rear wall of the casing, and similarly positioned at the front end of the yoke, is the forward follower block 20. Arranged between said follower blocks under tension, are groups of fiat spring plates 21, 22, 23 and 24::- These are of a width to fit loosely between the carrier bars 11 and 12, and filler bars 14: and 15, in said casing, and are separated into groups by means ofalternately arranged convex and concave spacing members, of which, as shown in the four group arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1, a spacing member 25, is provided against each of the follower blocks, which is flat on the side adjacent thereto and convex on the side bearing against the adjacent spring group. Of course, said convexity may be cast or otherwise provided on the follower block itself, if desired, or, in other words, may be integral therewith. The central spacing member 26, is a double convex member, while the alternate spacing members 27 are double concave spacing members. Each of these double concave members, as shown, comprise a wedge shaped member, the base of which is directed outwardly toward the draft irons or wall of thebasing, while the thin or tapered ends thereof are directed inwardly. A. relatively thin plate or web 28, is rigidly secured to each connecting the same rigidly together. In the construction shown, the plates are at all times centralized in the yoke and draft gear chamber or casing by means of guide plates 29 or 30. These are'securcd along the inner sides of the lateral casing walls 8 and 9, and may be rigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner, or loosely inserted and are constructed of hardened steel or in any suitable manner, preferably harder than the ends of the steel spring plates. These are sumciently smooth to prevent the ends of said spring. lates biting therein or cutting the same. Said plates extend nearly on the en-. tire length of the casing, and may be of any required width, and, as shown, the follower blocks fit between the same.

The construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4c, is substantially the same with the" exception that the installation is shown in connection with the sill underframe of a car. In this construction, 31' and 32, indicate the center sills shown as 2 bars, though, of course, not necessarily so, and to which are rigidly secured the rear and front stops 33 and 34:, and 35 and 36, shown as riveted to the webs of said sills. As shown, the horizontal bottom plate 37, is secured between said sills affording the bottom of the draft chamber. The drawhead stem 38, extends as before described, through the end sill and easing, as shown in Fig. 2.

between the, center sills and rigidly secured thereon is the tail yoke 39, which extends into and through the draft gear chamber, and the lower side of which lies in a recess in the bottom or floor of the draft chamber, as shown in Fig. 4. Extending through said yoke at the rear and front ends thereof, are follower blocks 40 and 4:1, of a length to extend across said chamber from sill to sill, and to bear against the respective front and rear stops. Secured within the yoke is a casing, which may be constructed of cast or pressed metal. This casing comprises a rear end wall 12, and top wall 43, side walls 4-4, and a bottom wall 45. Conveniently, the top and bottom walls of the casing are pressed or formed outwardly to fit substantially within the yoke, as shown in Fig. *l. Secured within the casing are a succession of groups of spring plates indicated by 46, 47, l8, 49, and 50. These groups are spring friction plates arranged as before described, and said groups are separated alternately by double convex and double concave spacing members 51, 52, 53 and 54. Inasmuch as an odd number of groups of springs is shown, the spacing member against which one of the end groups bears will be a half concave, and that against which the groups at the other end bears, a half convex. For this purpose, as shown, a half convex spacing member 55, is secured in the ends of the The forward end of the casing is open, and bearing against the front follower block 40, and extending into said casing and bearing against the first groups of springs therein, is an abutment head 56, convex at its point of bearing against the spring group or in other words, substantially complemental with the half concave member at the opposite end of the casing. As shown, said abutment block is longitudinally grooved on each side thereof, and extending through the respective side walls of the casing and into said grooves are stop and guide pins 57. Said pins serve as stops in assembling the groups in the casing and permit the casing with its contents to be shipped fully assembled. The space occupied by the groups of plates and spacing members in the casing, and the length of the abutment block is such that some tension is normally exerted on said plates, thereby holding all the parts constantly in o erative relation. Secured against each 0 the lateral walls of the casing, which lies in close proximity with the ends of the plates affording each of said groups for the .purpose before described. View apertures may be provided in the top, bottom, or side wall of the casing to permit the contents of the casing to be examined whenever desired. This may be accomplished readily in the constructions illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, inasmuch as practically the entire bottom of the gear is exposed to view. In the construction illustrated in Figs. and 4, the gear may he dropped down from between the center sills when desired for this purpose, should the top of the casing be left partly open or the liottoin of the casing may be left partly or wholly open.

The operation is as follows: In bufiing or pulling, the stress is communicated to the spring plates and is absorbed frictionally by said plates acting as springs and also what is more important, is absorbed by said plates for theirentire surfaces as friction members. The frictional effect rapidly increases with the stress of the shock imparted, and in consequence, the construction a fi'ords enormouscushioning capacity. The cushioning capacity, however, may be varied by increasing the number of plates in the respective groups to obtain greater cushioning elticiency or by decreasing the number in the respective groups by increasing the thickness or space occupied by the respective spacing members. The hard and smooth guide members at each end of the spring plates serve at all times to hold said plates from any tendency whatever to work toward either side of the casing. Owing to the hardness of said guide plates these may be. termed anti-friction guide plates for there is very little friction exerted by the ends of the spring plates bearing thereagainst, and in consequence, the maximum cushioning effect is at all times centralized or in alinement with the yoke, thus obviating any tendency to the breakage of plates because of unequal resistance to travel ex erted at the ends of the plates.

Obviously, details of the construction may be varied, and I do not purpose limiting the patent on this application otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described a spring casing open at one end and partly open on the side thereof to permit inspection, spring plates therein, spacing members dividing the springs into groups, a grooved abutment block adapted to bear firmly against the spring plates, and guide and stop pins extending through the respective side walls of the casing and into the grooves in the abutment block and adapted to guide the abutment block during movement as well as act as a stop to prevent the displacement of the springs.

In a device of the class described the combination with the groups of spring plates, the spacing members and the follower blocks, of a casing partly inclosing the same and partly open on one side thereof to permit inspection, and guide plates in each side the casing in close relationwith the ends of the spring plates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JAMES MILTON VVAIIGH. Witnesses:

LAWRENCE REIBsTEIN, CHARLES W. TILLs, Jr.

Malina at thlliii patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of :lE'llitfilllltllb

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