Patent ID: 7055439

Claim:
In a locomotive traction-motor support bearing having a bore for mounting a truck-axle journal, said bore having an upper surface section defining an upper load zone for said truck-axle journal and a lower surface section defining a lower load zone for said truck-axle journal, each said upper surface section and said lower surface section defining a middle portion thereof; said middle portion of said upper surface section being substantially horizontal, and said middle portion of said lower surface section having a downward slope in the outboard direction, wherein the improvement comprises: said downward slope of said middle portion of said lower surface section being based on total misalignment M, where total misalignment M is correlated with values M 1 , M 2 , and M 3 , where M 1 is misalignment caused by locomotive weight, M 2 is misalignment caused by motor tilt and skewing due to bearing clearances, and M 3 is misalignment caused by couple-action on the truck-axle, where for said lower load zone said total misalignment M is substantially equal to the vector sum M 1 +M 2 +M 3 , where M 1 is substantially equal to M 2 +M 3 ; said downward slope of said middle portion of said lower surface section being substantially equal to the value of 2×M 1 ; said middle portion of said upper surface section and said middle portion of said lower surface section defining a frustroconical section of a cone with an altitude having a slope of substantially 1× the value of M 1 to the horizontal, and an apex angle of substantially arctan 2× M 1 .