Patent ID: 6986432

Claim:
A common E/F draft sill assembly for connecting one railroad car to another that is capable of receiving Type E or Type F draft gears and couplers, comprising: a draft sill main body including two side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, a front end face and a rear end face; a coupler opening on the front end face sized to accept both Type E and Type F draft gears and couplers; flange holes provided in the bottom wall in a pattern that accepts both Type E and Type F draft carrier bolt configurations; an integral spring basket assembly extending downward from the coupler opening on the front end face that is sized and shaped to receive a Type F spring-biased support assembly; a keyslot provided on each of the two main body side walls near the front end face that is capable of receiving a cross-key connection of a Type E draft gear and coupler; a mounting structure that accepts a standard vertical pin connection of a Type F draft gear and coupler; and a drop-in removable Type E coupler support that is removably fittable within the integral spring basket and serves as a fixed lower carrier surface for rigidly supporting a Type E draft gear and coupler.