Improvements in Mechanism for Grinding Car and Locomotive Wheels.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 20th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanism for Grinding Car and Locomotive
Wheels.
1, JOHN MURPHY, Superintendent, a citizen of the United States, residing at
the corner of Allegheny Street and Second Avenue, in Pittsburg, in the County
of Allgeheny, State of Pennsylvania, and United States of America, 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 invention described herein relates to certain improvements in mechanism
for grinding car and locomotive wheels without removing the same from the car or
trucks.
It has heretofore been attempted to true car wheels in position by jacking up
the car so as to lift the wheels clear of the rails. The wheels are then rotated by
any suitable means and a rotary grinder is moved against and across the tread of
the wheels. As the axles of the wheels are loosely mounted in the trucks and as
the wheels are very seldom truly balanced, the center of rotation of the wheels will
move through a circle of greater or less diameter dependent upon the speed of
rotation of the wheel and its lack of balance. It will be readily understood from
the foregoing that it is practically impossible to true a wheel which is not only
free to, but actually does, move towards and from the grinder.
The object of the present invention is to provide a grinding mechanism
constructed to prevent any change or shifting of the center of rotation of the
wheel to be trued during the grinding operation, thereby ensuring the production
of a wearing surface which shall be a true circle having its center coincident with
the center of rotation of the wheel. The invention is hereinafter more fully
described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,
Fig. 1 is an end elevation of my improved mechanism, showing a car truck in
position for its wheels to be trued; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a top plan view ;
Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation, the plane of section being indicated by the
line IV-IV, Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a modified structure of the grinding mechanism ;
Fig. 6 is an end view of the same;
Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation, the plane of section being indicated by the
line VII-VII, Fig. 5;
Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation illustrating an arrangement of mechanism for
effecting the simultaneous adjustment of both of the grinding and centering
mechanisins.
In the practice of my invention a bed plate 1. provided with suitable guide
ways 2, is arranged on each side of the track, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. On
these bed plates are mounted the head-blocks 3, which are adapted to be shifted
along the ways 2, toward and from the rails by means of levers 4, pivoted to the
rpine37

page_text: bed plates and connected by links 5 to the head-blocks. The head-blocks are
provided with internally threaded sockets 6, for the reception of screws 7, which
are provided at their inner ends with centering pins 8.
Sliding carriages 9 and 9 are arranged on opposite sides of the head-blocks,
said carriages being supported by guide ways or ribs 10, on the bed plate and held
in parallelism with the axes of the centering pins 8, by means of dove-tailed
wings 11, along one side of the carriages fitting in correspondingly shaped grooves
in the sides of the head-blocks, as clearly-shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. These
carriages are moved back and forth along the sides of the head-blocks by means of
feed screws 12, which are mounted in the head-blocks in such manner that while
free to move, they are held as against longitudinal movement. These screws
engage threaded openings in lugs 13, formed in the carriages as shown in Fig. 4.
The carriages are provided with suitable slide ways 14, at right angles to their
direction of movement on the head-blocks, for the reception of the slide
blocks 15, 15, which are provided with suitable bearings 16 for the reception of
shafts 17, 17, parallel with the axes of the centering pins 8. Suitable grinding
wheels 18, 18, are secured on the inner ends of the shafts 17, which are adapted
to be driven by belts passing around pulleys 19, keyed on the shafts 17, or in
any other suitable manner. The blocks 15, 15, are shifted in their slides by
means of screws 20, engaging threaded openings in lugs 20, on the undersides of
the blocks.
In using my improved mechanism, a car is run in along the track until the axis
of one of its axles is in the vertical plane passing through the axles of the
centering pius 8. The car and truck are now raised by a jack or other suitable
means until the axis of the axle is in the horizontal plane passing through the axes
of the centering pins 8. The lids of the axle boxes are now removed or turned
to one side to expose the ends of the axle. The head-blocks are now moved in
towards the car and the conical ends of the centering pins are forced by the
rotation of the screws 7, into the center holes, which are formed in the ends of
axles when being turned for the reception of the wheels. The engagement of the
centering pins with the holes in the ends of the axle will prevent any change of
position of the center of rotation of, the wheel, which may be rotated by any
suitable means, as, for example, by its motor if it be an electric car, the motors on
the other axle being disconnected. One of the carriages,. as 9*, on each side of the
car, is moved towards the latter until the grinding wheels 18 are in line with the
car wheels. The sliding blocks 15 are now shifted by their screws 20 to bring
the grinding wheels in contact with the treads of the wheels. As the wheel is
held as against any movement, it renders certain that the surfaces ground will
be true circles having their centers coincident with the centers of the axles.
It
After the wheels A have been ground, the carriages 93 are drawn back, the
center pins withdrawn and the head-blocks moved outwardly by their levers. The
car is lowered onto the rails and shifted until the axle of wheels B have been
brought into the described relation to the center pins. The car is next raised,
the head-blocks moved in, the center pins forced into the center holes of the axle,
and the grinding wheels 18 brought into operative relation to the wheels B.
will be observed that the grinding wheels operate between the wheels A and B,
thereby avoiding the removal of the brake shoes, life guards and other parts of the
truck, which are usually arranged outside the wheels. The grinding mechanism
can be used to true wheels having inside shoes, but in such case the grinding
wheel 18 will be used to true the wheels A, and the grinding. wheels. 18* in
truing wheels B, the grinding wheels in this operating outside the wheels.
While preferring to use two grinding wheels which operate different wheels, as
all delay incident to the removal and replacement of the shoes is avoided, it is
obvious that a single grinding wheel having the described relation to each center
pin can be used, in which the grinding, wheels will operate outside in truing one
pair of wheels and inside in truing the other pair, but in such case, the brake shoes
of one pair of wheels must be removed.

page_text: The removal of the brake shoes when using a single grinding wheel on each
side, can be avoided by using two centering devices on each side, as shown in
Figs. 5, 6 and 7. In this construction two head-blocks 3" and 3°, each provided
with movable centering pins 8 and 8b, are arranged on the slides 2 of the bed
plate 1. These blocks are shifted back and forth by any suitable means, as,
for example, by a handle 21 on the shaft 22, which is mounted in suitable
bearings on the bed plate and provided with arms 23, connected by links, 24 to
the head-blocks. The inner or adjacent sides of the head-blocks are provided with
dove-tailed grooves for the reception of the correspondingly shaped wings 25, on
the ends of the carriage 26. This carriage is shifted by means of screws 27,
engaging threaded openings in lugs on the ends of the carriage, said screws being
mounted with a freedom of rotation, but not of longitudinal movement in the
head-blocks. Bevel pinions 28, on the outer ends of the screws engage corre-
sponding pinions on the shaft 29, thereby ensuring a simultaneous movement of
both arrows when one is rotated by a hand wheel 30.
The carriage is provided with suitable slides 31, for the reception of the sliding
block 32, which is provided with suitable bearings for the shaft 33, having the
grinding wheel 34 secured thereon.
The block 32 is shifted along the carriage by means of a screw 35, mounted on
the carriage and engaging a threaded opening in the lug 36, on the underside of
the block. The screw is rotated by a hand wheel 37 on the shaft 38, which is
provided with a bevelled pinion intermeshing with a corresponding pinion on the
screw.
The manner of using this form of mechanism will be readily understood from
the foregoing description and the description of the operation of the form of
mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
As shown in Fig. 8, both of the head-blocks can be simultaneously adjusted
by means of a shaft 35, provided with right and left hand screws 36 and 36',
engaging with lugs 37 and 37%, projecting down from the head-blocks through
slots 38, in the bed plates 1. This shaft is supported by suitable bearings 39,
depending from the bed plates and adapted to hold the shaft from longitudinal
movement while permitting rotary movement, which is effected by a hand
wheel 40.
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 mechanism for grinding car and locomotive wheels, having in combination
two movable centering devices adapted to engage and hold the axle of the wheels
as against lateral movements, means for moving the centering devices towards
and from each other, and a grinding wheel and means for shifting the position
of the grinding wheel with relation to the centering devices, substantially as
set forth.
2 A mechanism for grinding car and locomotive wheels having in combination
two head-blocks, means for moving the head-blocks toward and from each other,
axle centering devices mounted on the head-blocks, a grinding wheel mounted on
each of the head-blocks, and means for shifting the grinding wheels, substantially
as set forth.
3. A mechanism for grinding car and locomotive wheels having in combination
two head-blocks, means for moving the head-blocks toward and from each other,
axle centering devices mounted on the head-blocks, two grinding wheels mounted
on each of the head-blocks on opposite sides of the centering device, and means
tor shifting the grinding wheels, substantially as set forth.
4. A mechanism for grinding car and locomotive wheels having in combination
two head-blocks, means for simultaneously moving the head-blocks toward and
from each other, axle centering devices mounted on the head-blocks, a grinding

page_text: wheel mounted on each of the head-blocks and means for shifting the grinding
wheels, substantially as set forth.
Witnesses: ··
DARWIN S. WOLCOTT.
MARSHALL A. CHRISTY.
Second day of January, A.D. 1897,
JOHN MURPHY.