Patent ID: 7766177

Claim:
A draft gear assembly comprising: a draft gear housing; a yoke and integral yoke shaft slidably secured in said housing; a cushion unit associated with said yoke shaft and captured between buff and draft stops secured in the housing; the buff stop designed to release from the housing under emergency buffing forces, said buff stop comprising: a release ring having a cylindrical axis and an outer cylindrical surface having a diameter permitting sliding engagement within a cylindrical interior surface of said draft gear housing, said release ring being radially divided into two or more independent sections, there being a flat chord surface parallel to the cylindrical axis on the outer surface of each section, a threaded bore extending into each section through and perpendicular to the flat chord surface in each section, said release ring being a separate and independent member; and a plurality of release bolts designed to shear under emergency buffing forces having a threaded end and a cylindrical shank with a diameter greater than the external diameter of one threaded end and a flat radial surface where the shank and the one threaded end meet, whereby when the release ring is positioned in the draft gear housing, the release bolts may extend through the draft gear housing and into the sections of the release ring to draw the flat radial surfaces of the bolts into abutment with the flat chord surfaces of the sections and a nut on the other end of the bolts will draw the sections radially outward to the interior surface of the draft gear housing eliminating gaps and minimizing flexing of the release bolts.