Improvements in and relating to Bolsters for Railway Cars.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Bolsters for Railway Cars.
:
I, CHARLES THOMAS SCHOEN, a citizen of the United States of America, of
707 Betz Building, in the City and County of Philadelphia and State of
Pennsylvania, 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 :-
This invention relates to bolsters for the trucks and bodies of railway cars, and
more especially to that class of metallic bolsters which are built up of plates of
steel which are pressed to shape and then riveted together.
The objects of the invention are to economize in the cost of construction of such
built-up metallic bolsters, and to facilitate the riveting of their parts, and to reduce
the number of parts entering into their composition or construction.
The invention.consists in a bolster the outline of which is somewhat of the form
of a box-girder, the adjacent edges of the constituent body members of which are
provided with outwardly projecting flanges or portions which are riveted together.
The invention also comprises certain details of construction whereby this form of
bolster is adapted for interchange with bolsters already in use, so that cars
containing other forms of bolsters may be repaired with my bolster.
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 bolster constructed in accordance with
my invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;
Figure 3 is a vertical cross section taken in the plane of line 3-3, and
Figure 4 is an end elevation.
Figure 5 is a top plan view of a body bolster constructed in accordance with my
invention, and Figure 6 is a side elevation thereof, these two figures (5 and 6)
having the left-hand end broken ont in order to get the view within the
sight.
Figure 7 is a vertical cross section taken in the plane of line 7-7, and
Figure 8 is an end elevation.
.
Referring now to the truck bolster, Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, the body is composed
of a trough-like member a, having at its upper edges the lateral flanges b extending
longitudinally thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom. The member a is made
deepest at its center, and tapers thence in curved or straight lines towards opposite
ends, which opposite ends are made flat so as to co-operate with the springs of the
truck. The top portion of the body has its upper and lower edges parallel, and
Buch top member is also made in the form of an inverted trough, and has its lower
edges flanged outwardly as at d so as to register with the flauges 6 of the member a.
These two members are united by rivets e applied to their flanges band.d, and
constitute the box-girder-like construction referred to.
As shown in Figure 1, the bolster is narrowest at its center where the center-
bearing plate is applied, and its sides diverge thence toward opposite ends so that
the said ends will give a width substantially equal to the standard width of bolster
required by the Master Car-Builders' Association, although for new work this
requirement may be dispensed with.
In order to adapt the bolster to the column guide-bars in common use, the ends

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of the poisters are provided with indentations 9 leaving the adjacent shoulders
on opposite sides, to take the place of bulster-guide columu plates. The flanges b
and dare cut away opposite these indentations.
Side bearings i are riveted to the top meniber; and the center plate is also
riveted to said top member; and said top member is provided with hand-holes k
by means of which ready access may be had to the interior of the hollow-box-
girder-like bolster for applying and removing the rivets by which the center-plate
and side-bearings are attached.
In order to close and also to reinforce the ends of the bolster, vertical tie-plates
are riveted in the ends of the bolster.
In order to reinforce the members of the bolster at the center, so as to compensate
for increased strain and pressure at that point, I provide the members of the
bolster with indentations m and n respectively.
In order to reinforce the king-bolt holes, I turn up the displaced metal so as to
form flanges o and p about said holes, and the center-bearing plato may have its
king-bolt hole provided with a flange r for a like purpose, and also to form a
cavity within the center-bearing plate for the reception of a lubricant,
By making the bolster of less width at the center thau at the ends I effect au
economy in the width of the sheets of metal required to obtain a given depth at tho
center, and moreover such increased central depth results in obtaining the necessary
.strength to carry the vertical load. The decreased depth at the ends permits of
the use of the bolster in the present type of diamond truck frame.
By making the column-guides integral with the bolster is avoided the necessity
of employing extra or applied pieces, and at the same time the construction is
stronger.
The flanging of the king-bolt holes gives increase of bearings for such bolt and
at the same time reduces the liability of injury from contact with the holt. The
flange around the bolt hole in the center bearing gives a longer bearing for the
king-bolt than is obtainable by simply punching out a hole in the bottom of
the plate.
.
I
The tie-plates serve not only as such and for boxing in the ends of the bolster,
but they also make a finish, and assist in supporting those portions of the
bolster where the springs are placed and to which the load is transmitted from
the center.
In the adaptation of my invention to body-bolsters, the body s may be made as
a trough, as shown in the section Figure 7, with the lower member curved or
tapered from the greatest depth at the center outwardly toward each end, and its
upper edges are provided with the longitudinal, outwardly projecting flanges s'.
The upper member is a simple flat plate t, which is riveted to the flauges s' so
as to close the top of the member s. The center-bearing plate u and the
side bearings may be of approved construction and riveted to the bottom
member 8.
The construction shown in Figures 5 to 8 of the body-bolster may be applied,
with the necessary changes, to a truck bolster, the essential thing being that the
bolster shall be in the form of a box-girder, with its members having adjacent
lateral projections or flanges, which are riveted together.
I have shown the vertical sides of the bolsters as substantially straight or in
vertical parallel lines, but it is obvious that the sides of the bolsters may present
in cross section a tapering or other outline.
Some of the advantages of this construction of truck and body bolsters, are that
the riveting is all outside work and can be done very much cheaper than in those
constructions where some or all of the riveting has to be done from the inside or
otherwise. Again, the number of parts in the matter of braces or tie-plates is
very much reduced, and while the weight of this bolster is about the same, or in
fact, less for a given strength as compared with other pressed-steel built-up
boletere, all of the metal practically is in those parts of the bolster which help to
carry the load, whoreas in other cases, very much of the weight is in the braces