US3321048A - Abrasion rails for car retarder - Google Patents

Description

y 1967 T. w. WIGTON ETAL 3,321,048

ABRASION RAILS FOR CAR RETARDER Filed March 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Theron Wayne Wigfon Stark E/bridge Tracy ATTORNEY y 1967 T. w. WIGTON ETAL 3,321,048

ABRASION RA [LS FUR CAR RETARDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 52 Filed March 29, 1965 INVENTOR S Theron Wayne Wigran Star/c E lbridge Tracy ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,321,048 ABRASION RAILS FOR CAR RETARDER Theron Wayne Wigton and Stark Elbridge Tracy, both of Aurora, 11]., assiguors to Chicago, Burlington & Quincy This invention relates to a retarder for deceleration of railroad cars in a yard moving from the hump section at a predetermined speed.

In such yards, cars to be classified are shuttled down a lead track connected to various classifying branches in the yard, and the cars are switched into a particular branch and allowed to move by gravity to the lower end of the branch. At this point car retarders are employed to halt the first car allocated to a particular classifying branch.

One type of retarder with which this invention is used is shown and described in Patent No. 2,947,385 dated Aug. 2, 1960. Such retarders are located at the extreme end of the yard and are provided with sections of rail for braking which are both parallel and in a vertical plane on both sides of each running rail, thus applying pressure to the flange and rim of the freight car wheels, and thereby stopping the moving cars.

When cars are stopped by the means of the presently used retarders, the resultant noise is highly objectionable, being at a frequency of some 3000 cycles with amplitude capable of radiation in a radius of several city blocks. The retardersare so essential in the operation of the yards, and the noise so extremely objectionable, that means had to be provided to modify the retarders to eliminate the noise. This is the principal object of the invention.

Several materials were tested and used in place of the present rail type abrasion rails, viz., polyurethane,.bronze, and cast iron, but each had objectionable characteristics, notably short life so as to be economically unfeasible. Finally ductile cast iron was tried and the results were very successful in eliminating the objectionable noise. It is another object of the invention, therefore, to provide abrasion rails for car retarders, the wear surfaces of which are constructed of ductile cast iron.

Ductile cast iron provides a higher coefficient of friction than steel rail and thus the braking power of the retarder is improved.

It is a further object of the invention to form the abrasion rails so that each may be readily reversible and thereby double the life of each rail.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof, having reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters indicate like parts.

In the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a plan view showing a pair of car retarder assemblies associated with a pair of traffic rails at the lower end of a railroad yard;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of one of the retarder rails showing its narrowed width at the ends thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the device;

FIGURE 4 is a section on line 4-4 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross section of one of the abrasion rails shown in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross section of a modified form of abrasion rail.

The invention is applicable to a car retarder having arms disposed on opposite sides of a track rail in a rail road yard. These arms are identical throughout so as to be interchangeable, and each supports and I-beam, upon the flanges of which are welded bars of ductile cast i wear surfaces of the retarder.

iron providing wear surfaces facing each other above the heads of the track rails on which the wheels of the cars to be stopped ride.

Ductile irons, or graphitic steels, are a family of steels which combine the processing advantages of cast iron-- low melting point, good fluidity and castability, excellent machinability and, most important to applicants, good wear resistance-with the engineering advantages of steel, including high strength, toughness, ductility, hot w0rkability, and hardenability. This combination of properties provides a material which is ideal for the abrasion rails of a car retarder. Ductile irons comprise a small amount of magnesium added to a high carbon base iron whereby a metal is produced having a microstructure of spheroidal graphite in a steel matrix, having the aforesaid high strength, ductility and good resistance to shock.

The car retarder assemblies are of the order of forty feet in length and the opposite ends are outwardly curved to provide easy access therebetween of the: flange of the car wheel just prior to being gripped by the abrasion rails.

The retarding rails associated with retarding assemblies are disposed on opposite sides of the track rail with the wear surfaces facing each other slightly above the level of the track rail. The arms and the web of the track rail are provided with openings which may be alined and through which a track bolt passes to hold the assembly together and to the track. The openings through the arms diverge outwardly so that the arms may pivot on said bolts when car wheel flanges and rims engage the The arms project below the base of the track rail between the ties on which the rail rests, and are provided with a second set of alined holes through which another bolt extends having a precompressed expansive helical spring mounted thereon, the ends of which spring bear against the opposed inner faces of the retarder arms biasing the same apart, which causes the opposite sides of the retarder arms to move together, squeezing the flange and rim of any wheel that may be on the track. The strength of the springs and the preloading thereof in the assembly are such as to provide the correct pressure of the abrasion rails on the flange and rim of a wheel passing therebetween.

The above briefly describes that part of a car retarder, such as shown in US. Patent No. 2,947,385, to which the invention pertains, and the same may be incorporated herein by reference thereto.

Our invention replaces the retarder rails 14B and 15B of that patent with our improved abrasion rails which will now be described.

A structural type I-beam of conventional form having web 10 is fitted on its side over the tops of the arms 8-8 and each is bolted thereto with bolts 6-6. These I- beams are of the order of 39 or 40 long, the usual length of a piece of track rail, and by reference to FIGURE 1 it will be noted that the ends of these abrasion rails taper somewhat to a point so that, at the extreme ends of the retarder, wheels on the rail 9 may readily enter the space between the opposed abrasion rails. To provide this taper, the web 10 of the abrasion rail has an elongated V- notch flame cut therefrom at each end, probably about 2' in length, and then the flanges 12-12 are squeezed together until the cut edges of the web 10 meet, when they are welded together again, resulting in the tapered ends of the beam as shown in FIG. 2. The web 10 of the I- beam is provided with transverse holes therethrough for the reception of the bolts 6 to hold the same to the abrasion arms. A ductile iron strip 14 the length of the retarder arm is applied to a flange of the abrasion rail and welded thereto as indicated, and a similar ductile iron strip is welded to the other flange of the abrasion rail. The abrasion rail is therefore reversible by simply removing bolts 6, turning the abrasion rail over, so that the other ductile iron strip is facing the car wheel.

The spring assemblies for urging the retarder rails against a wheel moving therebetween are located along the track 9 between every second and third tie, as shown in FIG. 1. The web of each rail of the track is provided with spaced holes 16. Upon each side of the track web is a flange 18 having spaced holes 20 therethrough corresponding to the holes 16 in the track and through which bolts 22 extend to hold the flanges to the track rail. These flanges support a pair of spaced ears 24 extending normally from flanges 18, and between which ears 24 are pivotally supported the arms 8, as shown. Arms 8 extend below the base of the track rail between a pair of ties and the lower ends of arms 8 support therebetween a preloaded expansive helical spring 26 on a bolt 28 extending between the lower ends of said arms. The spring pressure on the lower ends of the arms 8 causes the upper ends of the arms with the abrasion rails thereon to move toward each other so that when a wheel passes therebetween the abrasion rails will engage opposite sides thereof and apply a braking force thereto.

The I-beam 10 is shown as an ordinary I-beam rolled section but it is obvious the same could be fabricated from three pieces of plate material welded together, in which event that piece forming the web could be sheared off at the ends so that when the pieces are welded together the abrasion rail would have the tapered ends as shown in FIGURE 2.

The modification shown in FIGURE is that of two pieces of channel welded together back to back so as to result in a fabricated I-beam, and the ductile iron straps 14 are welded to the composite flanges of this I-beam as shown. This type, if used, is similarly mounted on the abrasion arms 8-8.

For years railroad yard superintendents and others have sought some means of ending the severe noise menace of present day car retarders. Those experienced with such retarders, or the person skilled in this art, will at once appreciate the fact that with this material all of the objectionable noise in the range of 3000 cycles has been completely eliminated. Furthermore, the braking power of the retarder has been improved due to the higher coefficient of friction of the ductile cast iron abrasion units as compared to the steel rail used in the past.

It will also be apparent that the length of the unit may be varied to suit the particular conditions of the yard where used.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that we have devised a car retarder which has overcome a most annoying menace of present day car retarders, is much more eflicient in operation, and has quickly reversible parts for longer life and economy.

We claim:

1. The combination with a rail mounted railroad car retarder comprising a pair of abrasion beams positioned on opposite sides of a track rail and means for urging said beams toward each other for retarding the wheels of a car traversing said rail between said beams, of wheel contact portions on opposite sides of said beams consisting of ductile'cast iron, whichare adapted to bear against the rim and flange of said wheels.

2. The combination with a rail mounted car retarder comprising a pair of abrasion beams on opposite sides of a track rail, and means for urging said beams toward each other to squeeze and thereby retard the wheels of a car traversing said rail between said beams, of wheel contact portions longitudinally along said beams consisting of ductile cast iron which are adapted to bear against the rim and flange of said wheels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Mars et al. 188-62 DUANE A. REGER, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. 2. THE COMBINATION WITH A RAIL MOUNTED CAR RETARDER COMPRISING A PAIR OF ABRASION BEAMS ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF A TRACK RAIL, AND MEANS FOR URGING SAID BEAMS TOWARD EACH OTHER TO SQUEEZE AND THEREBY RETARD THE WHEELS OF A CAR TRAVERSING SAID RAIL BETWEEN SAID BEAMS, OF WHEEL CONTACT PORTIONS LONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAID BEAMS CONSISTING OF DUCTILE CAST IRON WHICH ARE ADAPTED TO BEAR AGAINST THE RIM AND FLANGE OF SAID WHEELS.

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