US1853293A - Draft gear - Google Patents

Description

April 12, 1932. H. F. woERNLEY 1,853,293

DRAFT GEAR Filed Nov, 28, 1927 J2 sheets-sheet 1 I I I'NI.

2 a L f /6 I I 9 5 Il -30 32 a 3,

l a9 `l 'l f -.fl

2.9 29 lNvENToR HARRY F. WOERNLEY ATTORNEY APl-l 12, 1932. H. F. woERNLEY 1,853,293

DRAFT GEAR Filed Nov. 28, 192'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,Z9 9F- Kx INVENTOR @I 9 HARRY F WOERNLEY 29 BYWWM ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 1v?,l 1932 UNITED srArEs PATENT* oFrlcaf HARRY F. WOERNLEY, OF `WII4KINSB`URG,-, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CARDWELLWESTINGHOUSE COMPANY, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION or DELAWARE DRAFT (fi-TEAMS,

l .Application led November 28, 1927. Serial No. 236,051.'

This invention relates to draft gears for railway cars and more particularly to friction draft gears.

' An object of my invention isr to provide a v friction draft gear in which the several parts thereof are so formed that they may be easily assembled in building the gear and may be readily removed or replaced should it be desired to repair the draft gear. l@ y *y Another `object of my invention is to pro- ,vide a friction draft gear with a novel spring assemblage, in which ak plurality of springs are arranged one within the other, and each spring wound in such a manner that thecoils ,15 thereof cannot become caught between the coils of an adjacent spring or springs.

Another object of my invention is to provide thevr draft gear hou-sing with means 'adapted to engage the center or draft sills of a l 'gg car to limit lateral movement of the gear.

A further object of my invention is to provide a draft gear unit havingy a hollow rectangular housing in which the inner surfaces of the top and bottom-walls are made arcuate to accommodate a spring of main'mum diameter and to permit t e insertionk of said spring from the front end of the casing, and another object is to provide fillers adapted to fill the recesses defined by these surfaces to restrict u the opening at the front end of the casing to properlyreceive the friction elements of the unit.

Y' Other objects and advantages will appear yfrom the following more detailed description. YIn the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevational `view of the draft gear unit constructed inaccordance with my invention, Y and illustrating the unit applied to the center or draft sills, one of said sills being removed and the sill cover plate, follower and draft gear carrier being shown in section; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the cover plate for the sills removed, portion of the view being shown in horizontal section; Fig. 3 is a cross ksectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.

2; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through the draft gear unit on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 1s an end elevational view of the draft gear unit; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is an y within the other.

enlarged front elevational view of one of the fillers for the casing; F ige.` 8 is a sectional View of the same taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 and Fig. 9 isa sectional view on the line 9 9 of Fig. 46. i

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference character 1l indicates the spaced center or draft sills of a railway car between which a friction draft gear unit is mounted. To the webs of the sills 1 are secured front follower stops 2 kwhich form abutments for the follower plate 3, which follower is adapted to cooperate with the forward end of the draft adapted to vcooperate with stops or abutments 4 also secured to the sills 1. The front face of the follower is adapted to be engaged by the butt of the coupler shank 5 which is attached to the forward end portion of a yoke 6 in the usual manner,the yoke being disposed vertically between the sills and passing around the draft gearunit. For supporting the draft yforward end, groups of alternated friction y plates 11 and 12 which are disposed at oppo- 'site sidesof a wedging mechanism, the plates 11 being anchored to the casing 8, and the plates 12 being movable relative to the plates 11 under buffing'or pulling impacts. Also contained within the casing, is a spring assemblage which may comprise three coil springs of di'erent diameters and arranged one The outer or largest spring 13, and the inner or smallest spring 14, are coiled in the samedirection, while the intermediate spring 15 is coiled in the opposite direction, so that, when the springs are assembled, the coils of the adjacent springs will eX- tend in directionsfacross one another and thus prevent the coils 'of one spring from becoming caught between the coils of another 'gear unit, the rear end of said unit being i tudinally disposed wedge blocks 16 and 17 having opposed wedging faces adapted to engage corresponding wedgingfaces of Wedge blocks 18 disposed at opposite sides of the wedge blocks 16 and 17. A follower plate 19 is disposed within the casing 8 and engages the inner ends of the friction plates 12, said follower being engaged at the oppositel side by the springs 13 and 15. The wedge block 16 is normally engaged by the follower plate 3. v 4 Y The Wedge block 16 is acted upon bythe spring 14. through the medium of a stem 20k extending through an opening in the wedge block 17 and a spring follower 21 which en` gages the innerend of thestem- 20 within the kwedge block 17.

Portions of the interior surfaces of the top and bottom walls 1() of the casing 8 are each made in the form of an arc of a circle, the diameter of which is slightly greater than the diameter of the large spring 15 so that this spring can'be'inserted through thefront end of the casing. If these recesses were not provided, then any spring having a greater diameter than'the greatest vertical dimension through the wedging mechanism could not be inserted through the front end of the casing and would haveV to be otherwise inserted, which would necessitate a number of objectionable structural changes in the casing and would unnecessarily multiply the number of parts. After the spring 15 has been inserted inthe casing, each of these recesses is filled, at the? front end of the-casing, by a filler 22, having; at each end, a vertically disposed transverse lug 23 which is adapted to extend between transverse lugs 24 formed on the walls 10 interi'orly of the casing, and the fillers are adapted to be held in interlockedengagement with the housingv by the engagementof the several parts of the wedging mechanism therewith. It` will thus be seen that the fillers 22wi11, by filling the recessesat the frontend of the casing,.prevent excessive vertical movement of certain of the frictional elements of the wedgingmechanism.

The rear ends of the friction plates 11 are wider than the front end portions so that shoulders are formed on the plates which are adapted to engage the rear lugs 24 formed interiorly of the casing, and thus anchor the plates to the housing against undue forward movement, rearward movement being limited by the rear ends of the plates abutting transversely extending lugs projecting inwardly from the top and bottom walls of the casing, their inner ends being of reduced height to permit the entrance of the springs.

When the several parts of the draft gear unit are assembled, they are forced inwardly aA short distance, thus initially compressing the spring assemblage, and to maintain this initial compression and-v toholdthe parts in assembled relation, a key 25 is'A provided which 'until the follower 3 extends vertically through an opening 26 formed in the stem 20 of the wedge block 16 and through elongated slots 27 formed in the top and bottom walls 1Q of the casing 8. Intermediate its ends this key is provided with a recess into which a projection 28, on the spring follower 21, is adapted to extend and engage the key to prevent accidental movementy thereof in the direction of its length. As the spring 14 is under initial compression, as hereinbefore mentioned, the pressure of "thisfspring acting` on the follower 21, will maintain the projection 28 in engagement with the key 25.

Each side wall 9, of the casing 8, is providedwith spaced horizontally disposed ribs 29, which extend longitudinally of the casing, and at their ends are connected with vertically disposed front and rear ribs 30 and 31, respectively. Spaced a short distance from the front rib 30 is a like' rib 32 which together with the ribs 3()v and 31 strengthen the outer end portion of the casing transversely vagainst the expanding force of the wedging mechamsm. from the casing a sufficient distance that they substantially fill the space between the webs of the sills 1, there beingjust sufficient clearance between the ribs and the sills to permit the vproper movement of the'` casing, so that excessive llateral movement of f the draft gear unit is prevented.

Inl the compression of the gear, the follower 3 advances the wedge block 16 which-block thenv exerts a wedging action onl the wedge block 18. T he wedge/,blocks 1.8 are advanced engages the friction plates 12. which arethen advancedsliding between the anchored friction plates'll. rlhe advance of the wedge blocks 158 is opposed by the springs 13 andy 15 acting through the spring follower 19 and the wedge block 17 so that the wedge block 17 also exerts a Wedgingl action` on the wedge blocks 18. Outward Vpressure thus exerted on the wedge blocks' 18 increases the frictional resistance to lthe movement of the friction plates 12.

When the pressure. on the gear vis relieved, the springli tends to release the wedge'block 16, so that the wedging pressure on the wedge blocks 18 is relieved, permitting the springs 13 and 15 to return the friction plates 1`2"to release position.

While one illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, Ait is not my intention to limit its scope to that' embodiment or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is p 1. In a draft gea-r, they combination with a casing, of alternatedy relatively fixed and movable friction plates mounted in said cas-- ing, a spring mounted in said casingv tending All of these ribs extendoutwardly casing, of alternated relatively fixed and to urge said movable plates forward, abutments on the top and bottom walls of `said casing adapted to limit the forward movement of said iixed plates, said abutments being recessed to permit of the insertion of said spring from the forward end of said casing, members engaging said abutments adapted to fill the recesses formed-in the abutments, and wedge means for exerting lateral pressure on said plates.

2. In a draft gear, the combination with a casing, of alternated relatively xed and movable friction plates mounted in said cas! ing, a spring mounted in said casing tending to urge said movable plates forward, abutments on the top and bottom walls of said casing adapted to limit the forward movement of said xed plates, said abutments being recessed to permit of the insertion of said spring from the forward end of said casing, and members interlocked with said abutments adapted to ill the recesses formed in the abutments, and wedge means for exerting lateral pressure on said plates.

3. In a draft gear, the combination with a movable friction plates mounted in said casing, a spring mounted in said casing tending to urge said movable plates forward, abutments on the top and bottom walls of said casing adapted to limit the forward moveyment of said fixed plates, said abutments comprising spaced lugs having recesses formed therein to permit of the insertion of said spring from the forward end of said' casing, members adapted to fill said recesses having lugs cooperating with said spaced lugs for maintaining said members against longitudinal movement relative to said oas.- ing, and Wedge means for exerting lateral pressure on said plates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. f

HARRY F. WOERNLEY.

Images