Improvements in and relating to Built-up Pressed Steel Truck Frames for Railway Cars.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Jan., 1896-Accepted, 29th Feb., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION...
Improvements in and relating to Built-up Pressed Steel Truck
Frames for Railway Cars.
I, CHARLES THOMAS SCHOEN, a citizen of the United States of America,
residing at 707 Betz Building, in the City and County of Philadelphia and State
of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of America, Manufacturer, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide a light but strong metallic truck-frame
for railway cars. In contradistinction to those frames in which each side is struck
up as one piece from steel plate, my sides are each made or built up of a number
of pieces which are riveted or bolted together; and as distinguished from those
sides which are constructed of a number of pieces united by bolts and formed of
wrought metal, as, for example, the well-known diamond frame, 1 use in my
coustruction pressed steel, flanged to increase its rigidity, as will be described.
The invention consists in certain features of construction of the upper and lower
chords of the sides of the frames, the pedestals, the transoms, and the transom
connections with the sides, all as I will proceed now more particularly to set forth
and.finally claim.
In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in the several figures
of which like parts are similarly designated,
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a truck constructed in accordance with my
invention.
Figure 2 is a side elevation, omitting the right hand axle, journal-box and wheel
of truck.
Figure 3 is an end clevation.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the connection plate for the transom and side.
Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of the chafing plates for the pedestals.
Figure 7 is a horizontal cross-section through the transom at 7-7, Figure 3,
looking toward the top.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the spring cap.
Figures 9 and 10 are, respectively, cross-sections taken transversely and
longitudinally relatively to the frame, of the spring caps and their adjacent
parts.
Figure 11 is a longitudinal section of one of the struts.
Figure 12 is a side view showing modifications in the pedestals.
Figures 13 and 14 are perspective views of a bracket and a spring-cap used in
Figure 12.
The axles a wheels a¹, journal-boxes a³, and springs a³, may be as usual, and
eed. no description.
The sides of the frame are composed of a 'top or compression member or chord b,
constructed as a channel, preferably, of pressed steel, and having its flanges 61
tanding outwardly. This chord is bent at its ends to form the outer
ortions: 6 of the pedestals, said ends being prolonged somewhat below the
evel of the lower or tension member.or chord.c. The chord c has its ends' turned.
p at to meet the upperíohord, and then turned horizontally at to extend
eneath and. parallel with the upper chord, and then, the terminals are returned

page_text: at to fit against the ends 63 of the upper chord to which they are riverea
ate, and thereby stiffen such corner.
In order to stiffen the sides, the skeleton and channeled pressed steel spacing
plates or struts d, see Figures 2 and 11, are interposed between them and riveted
to them, substantially as indicated, the chanuel form of these struts being
indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, and shown in detail Figure 11. These
struts are blanked out with a central opening for economy in metal and weight.
The pedestals are provided with the chafing plates e and f, made of steel and
with the side flanges elf, to embrace adjacent edges of the pedestal. I prefer
to construct them with a spring temper and set them while forming so as to
approach each other, as at the right Figure 2. When thus constructed, the
journal-box must be forced to place, against the elasticity of the chafing plates,
and these chafing plates, therefore, serve to center the box and act as friction
plates for it, and they also serve to cushion the blow or concussion received in
turning curves, and by reason of uneven or rough tracks. The flanges of the
chafing plates receive the usual flanges or side lugs of the journal-boxes. The
chafing plate e has the bolt-hole e2, and the chafing platef has the return f³ in
which is the bolt-hole f³, and these plates are secured in place and the bottoms of
the pedestals closed by the straps g, and the bults h and i, which bolts respectively
extend through the ends 62 of the upper chord. and the bottom portion of the lower
chord and the bolt-holes e and fs. The straps g further serve. to tie the ends b³
to the lower chord o, and. they inay be readily removed for access to and removal
of the journal-boxes.
k
The springs as are provided with pressed steel caps & having the swells to
embrace the sides of the portion of the lower chord and thus hold themselves,
the said caps, in place against lateral displacement, and they are further extended
toward the inner side of the pedestal, as at , Figures 1 and 8, and bear against
A hole is
the portion to prevent displacement longitudinally of the sides.
made in each cap for clearance of the rivet used to unite the chords.at that point.
Instead of a bolster, which is unnecessary in the class. of trucks in which the
springs are arranged over the journal-boxes, there is employed a transom rigidly
secured to the sides of the frames, and the transom which. I prefer to employ is
composed of two pressed steel channel beams 11, the flanges of which face one
another, and these channels. are riveted to the lower chords and to the struts, aud
are connected to the upper chords by connection plates m of pressed steel. These
plates are applied to opposite ends of the transom, and are made with side
flanges m' which embrace the sides of the transom, and thence the plates extend
like the outline of a letter Y, with rise m² and a horizontal flange m³, the body of
each plate and its rise being reinforced by a swell. m. The flange m³ is notched
at mo, mo, so as to pass beneath the upper chord and about the struts, and the two
end portions of the said flange are depressed so as to pass beneath the upper flanges
of the struts, while the intermediate portion extends beneath the upper chord. The
body portions of the connections are riveted to the transom, and their horizontal
flanges are riveted to the upper chords, and their rises abut against the sides, and
thus a very stiff, rigid and secure union of.the transom and sides is effected.
The transom is braced internally, at the point where the king-bolt or center-pin
is used, by the flanged tie-plates ni riveted thereto, and having inwardly embossed
portions n n', which serve as a socket for the king-bolt or center-pin. These. tie-
plates are flanged at their tops, as shown in Figures 3 and 7, n, in order to afford
a broad bearing, and at their sides n³, for purposes of riveting to the channel beams.
The tie-plates may be of pressed steel.
:
The center-bearing plate o may be mounted, upon a spacing-plate p, as in my
British Patent No. 13397, 1895:
Referring now to Figures 12, 13. and 14, which illustrate a variation or
modification, coming, among others, within the scope of my invention, it will be
observed that the construction may be modified in the following particulars :-
The tie-plate.g. may be secured.. at its outer end to the: outer member of. the

page_text: upper chord by a bolt h¹, as before described, while its inner end is secured to a
metallic bracket r by a bolt or other suitable fastening, the said metallic bracket
being riveted solidly to the lower chord. In this way the strain of the holt upon
the lower chord, and injury to the bolt, which may take place with the construction
first described, are avoided. The bracket r may he struck up, with side and end
flanges, see Figure 13.
In order to provide for the use of a heavy spring above. the journal-box, the
upper chord may be bulged out as at s, and in such case the circular spring cap k*,
such as shown in Figure 14, may be used; and the pedestal may be adapted thus
for use with standard journal-boxes.
In both modifications the pedestals are formed of the compression and tension
members, or upper and lower chords of the side.
:
In the form of pedestal shown in Figure 12, the chafing plates e and e* may be
flanged as in Figure 5, but it is obvious that the form of chafing plate shown in
Figure 6 will not be required, and that in its stead a straight chafing plate such as
shown in Figure 5, may be used for both sides of the pedestal, and both of said
chafing plates will be secured in position by the bolts A' and which are used to
hold the tie-plate in position.
A car-truck constructed as described embodies the preferred form of my invention,
but, it is obvious that the details may be varied, and that various combinations of
the several elements or features of the invention may be employed. Moreover,
while I prefer to die-press or stamp the parts from plate steel because of its
strength, stiffness, and lightness, yet I do not limit my invention to the use of that
metal.
Some of the advantages of my invention are as follows:-1. As compared with
a solid side frame, made of a single piece of plate steel pressed to shape, it is to be
noted that the compression and tension members, or upper and lower chords, in
which the greater strength is required, may be made of any required thickness of
metal to attain such strength, while the filling or intermediate portion, namely that
which I call the struts, may be of much lighter material and in skeleton form, and
still subserve all the purposes of strength, thereby effecting a very considerable
economy in cost of construction, weight of metal, and in repairs over such solid
sides where the thickness of metal is uniform throughout. 2. In order to form the
pedestals in the solid sides, it is necessary to use special rolled shapes, which are
very expensive, whereas I form the pedestals by interbending the chords, a con-.
struction quite as efficient as the former, and very much cheaper. 3. In practice,
it is possible to construct a perfectly strong and durable side by making its bottom
chord of five-eighths inch metal, its top chord of one-half inch metal, and the
connecting struts of five-sixteenths inch metal, instead of metal of the same
thickness in all, and this example will illustrate the considerable reduction in cost
in favor of my construction. 4. By the utilization of the tie-plates to form the
king-bolt socket, I avoid the necessity of using the commonly employed tie-plate
below the transom.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim, is :-
.
1. A built-up side frame for car-trucks, comprising individual upper and lower
chords having their ends returned and united and riveted together to form the
pedestals, substantially as described.
2. A built-up side frame for car-trucks, comprising a compression member having
its ends turned down to form the outer portions or sides of the pedestals, and a
separate tension member having its ends bent up to meet the compression member
at points distant from its bent ends sufficient to form the inner portions or sides of
the pedestals, and then bent parallel to the horizontal portion of the compression
member and again returned about the corners of the bent ends of the compression
member and riveted to it, substantially as described.

page_text: 3. A built-up side frame for car-trucks, comprising a compression member, and
a separate tension member, suitably spaced and having their end's intervent to form
the pedestals and riveted together, substantially as described.
4. A built-up side frame for car-trucks, comprising a flanged compression
member, and a separate tension member, the ends of such thembers being bent
about and riveted to one another to form pedestals, substantially as described.
5. A built-up side frame for car-trucks, comprising a compression member, a
tension member, pedestals integral therewith, and skeleton struts interposed between
the said members and secured to them, substantially as described.
6. A car-truck frame, comprising built-up sides, each having a compression
member and a tension member, and a transom resting upon and secured to the
tension member, and connection plates interposed between the transom and the
compression member and rigidly secured thereto, substantially as described.
7. The combination with the sides and the transom, of the connection plates,
each having a body portion secured to the transom, a rise abutting against the side,
and a horizontal flange secured to the upper portion of the side next adjacent
thereto, substantially as described.
8. The combination with the sides, each comprising compression and tension
members, and struts interposed between and rigidly secured to them, of a transom
secured directly to the tension member and the adjacent flanges of the struts, and
connection plates bracing and uniting the transom and compression member,
substantially as described.
9. In a car-truck frame, the combination with the pedestals, of the spring
tempered chafing plates set in their manufacture to stand away from the sides of
the pedestal, substantially as described.
10. In a car-truck frame, the combination with the separate compression and
tension members riveted together, the pedestals, and a detachable strap applied
across the open end of each pedestal, substantially as described.
11. In a car-truck frame, the compression member and the separate tension
member having their ends bent about one another to form the pedestals and riveted
together, and removable straps connecting the ends of the compression member
with the tension member and closing the bottoms of the pedestals, substantially as
described.
12. In a car-truck frame, the bolster having tie-braces therein provided with
inwardly extended embossments forming a socket for the king-bolt or center-pin,
substantially as described.
13. The combination of the built-up pressed steel sides, composed of compression
and tension members having their ends bent to form pedestals, flanged, skeleton
struts interposed between and uniting such members, and extending along the
inner adjacent sides of the pedestals, a transom secured directly to the tension
member and struts, and connection plates uniting the transom and compression
member, substantially as described.
Dated this 21st dow of Ton 1900
JENSEN & SON,
77; Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.