Improvements relating to the Underframes of Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1897-Accepted, 3rd July, 1897.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM ALPHONSUS MCGUIRE, of 309, Webster
Avenue, Chicago, in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, United States
of America, Manufacturer.]
.
Improvements relating to the Underframes of Railway Vehicles.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
-
This invention relates to truss bracings especially designed for railway cars
and is illustrated in the acompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a partial side elevation;
Figure 2 is an enlarged detail, being a side elevation of portions of the truss
brace;
Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.
The only successful external truss or bracing for four-wheeled cars designed to
hold up the ends of the car bodies extending beyond the truck frame, is one which
extends from near one end nearly to the opposite end of the car body, embracing
the truck frame but not connected to or dependent upon it. This bracing is com-
plicated and expensive, and cannot be used with many of the best forms of motor
trucks. Other braces have been made which were dependent upon the truck frame
for their base, but they have proved to be unsatisfactory because they lengthened
and shortened by the vertical action of the car body, and were not sufficiently
durable, as they were dependent for their support upon pivots or rocking journals,
which soon cut out because of the dirt and constant motion under heavy pressure.
The object of this invention is to overcome the objections incident to the con-
structions heretofore used, and it consists in providing a diagonal bracing at each
corner of the car body, said braces being supported by the truck frame in such
manner that they will not lengthen or shorten by the vertical movement of the
car body upon the truck, as will hereinafter be more fully set forth.
Referring to the drawings-
4 indicates the car sill, to which is connected a brace 5 arranged in a diagonal
position, said brace being preferably tubular in form, and being connected to the
car sill by a bracket 6 or other suitable device; an adjusting device, such as a
nut 7, being provided to adjust the tension upon said brace. The lower end of
the brace 5 is connected to a vertical member or support 8, the upper end of which
is secured to the car sill, as shown in Figure 1. The vertical support 8 is prefer-
ably a chick post of the truck, but it moves with the car body and is independent
of the truck frame 9. The brace 5 is secured to the support 8 by means of a
pocket 10, which is screwed upon said support, and into which the end of the tube
brace 5 fits. At the back of the pocket 10 is provided a flat bearing face 11, and
at one side of said flat bearing face is formed a narrow rack 12 which extends sub-
stantially parallel with the support 8, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. 13-14
indicate similar flat and rack bearing faces secured to the truck-frame 9, as shown

page_text: in Figures 2 and 3. Between said flat and rack bearing faces, at each corner of
the truck, are interposed travelling rollers 15, which have corresponding plane
and rack bearing faces for engaging the bearing faces of the truck frame and
pocket 10, as best shown in Figure 2. The plane faces of said rollers are intended
to engage the plane faces on the pocket 10 and on the truck frame, to support the 5
strain upon the brace, and the gear teeth on said rollers are intended to engage the
rack bearing faces to maintain said rollers in their proper position and to insure
their rotation under all circumstances. It will be noted that the rollers 15 are
arranged to travel vertically, and are not mounted upon fixed pivots, the result
being that the point at which the end thrust is sustained is automatically adjusted
to correspond with the vertical movement of the car body.
To prevent the rollers 15 from getting out of place, flanges 16-17 are formed at
each side of said rollers and embrace the bearing faces on the pocket 10 and truck
frame, as shown in Figure 3.
To facilitate the assembling or removal of the truss, the rollers 15 are formed in
two parts, 18-19, as shown in Figure 3, the division being on a line between
the rack and plane faced portions of said rollers. It should, of course, be under-
stood that all the plane bearing faces above referred to are formed on the pitch line
of the rack bearing faces.
'
This invention is not limited to the specific construction described herein, as
many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the inven-
tion, which consists broadly in providing a brace to support the ends of the car
with a support which is automatically adjusted with the movements of the car
body in such manner that the point at which the end thrust is received and
resisted will preserve its position relatively to the brace, thereby maintaining
practically constant the length of the brace."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:
1. The combination with a truck frame, of a brace supporting the end portion
of the car body, and vertically movable mechanism co-acting with the truck frame
to resist the end thrust of said brace and moving vertically with said brace, where-
by the resistance to the end thrust of said brace is uniformly applied to said brace
at substantially the same point, substantially as described.
2. The combination with a truck frame, of a brace supporting the end portion
of the car body, and vertically movable mechanism interposed between the truck
frame and said brace and co-acting with the truck frame to resist the end thrust
of said brace, and moving vertically with said brace, whereby the resistance to the
end thrust of said brace is uniformly applied to said brace at substantially the
same point, substantially as described.
3. The combination with a truck frame, and a brace supporting the end of the
car body, of a revoluble bearing between the lower end of said brace and the truck
frame, said bearing being vertically movable with said brace, substantially as
described.
4. In a brace for cars, the combination with a truck frame, and a brace
attached to the car body, of a roller arranged to travel vertically with the brace,
and interposed between the truck frame and said brace, substantially as described.
5. In a truss or bracing for four-wheeled cars, the combination with a vertical
member secured to the car body, and a truck frame, of a flanged travelling roller
interposed between said vertical member and the truck frame, substantially as
described.
6. In a truss or bracing for four-wheeled cars, the combination with a vertical
member secured to the car body, and a truck frame, of a flanged and partly-toothed
travelling roller interposed between said vertical member and the truck frame
substantially as described:
7. In a truss or bracing for four-wheeled cars,' the combination with 'a vértical

page_text: member secured to, the car body, and a truck frame, of a flanged and partly-toothed
travelling roller interposed between said vertical member and the truck frame, said
roller being formed in two parts, substantially as described.
8. In a truss' or bracing for four-wheeled cars, the combination with the truck
frame, of a vertical member rigidly attached to the car body, a diagonal member,
one end of which is rigidly attached to the car body and the other end of which is
rigidly attached to said vertical member, with a roller interposed between said
vertical member and the truck frame, one side of the periphery of which engages
said vertical member and the opposite side of the periphery of which engages the
truck frame substantially as described.
9. In a truss or bracing for four-wheeled cars, a truck frame, a vertical member
attached to the car body, a roller arranged to travel vertically and interposed
between said vertical member and the truck frame, and a diagonal member inter-
posed between said vertical member and the car body, substantially as described.
10. In a truss or bracing for cars, the combination with a truck frame, of a
vertical member attached to the car body, a travelling roller having part of the
face of its periphery toothed and part plane, a corresponding plane and toothed
surface upon both the vertical member and the truck frame arranged to engage
said roller, and a diagonal member interposed between the lower end of said
vertical member and the car body, substantially as described.
11. In a truss or bracing for railway cars, the combination of a truck frame, a
vertical member attached to the car body at one end, a diagonal member attached
to the car body at one end and connected to the lower part of said vertical member
at the other end, and a travelling journalless roller interposed between said
vertical member and the truck frame, substantially as described.
12. In a brace for cars, the combination with a truck frame, and a brace attached
to the car body, of a vertically movable support connected with the brace and truck
frame, which receives the end thrust of said brace, substantially as described.
13. In a brace for cars, the combination with a truck frame, and a brace
attached to the car body, of a vertically movable support connected with the brace
and truck frame, which receives the end thrust of said brace, and means for ver-
tically adjusting said support to correspond to the vertical movements of the car,
substantially as described.
Dated this 1st day of Tune 1907
HASELTINE, LAKE & CO.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.