Patent ID: 8807050

Claim:
A constant contact side bearing assembly for a railcar, comprising: a housing including upstanding wall structure defining a central axis for said side bearing assembly; a multipiece cap arranged in operable combination with said housing and including a first non-metal member arranged for vertical reciprocatory movement within said housing, with said first non-metal member having wall structure arranged to slidably contact the wall structure of said housing during vertical reciprocatory movements of said first member, and with the wall structure of said first member being arranged to one side of the central axis of said side bearing assembly, a second non-metal member arranged within said housing and carried by said first member, with said second non-metal member including wall structure arranged to slidably contact said wall structure of said housing during vertical reciprocatory movements of said second member, and with the wall structure of said second member being arranged to a second side of the central axis of said side bearing assembly, and wherein a generally flat surface on said second non-metal member extends beyond the wall structure of said housing; a spring arranged within said housing and generally centralized beneath both of said first and second members of said multipiece cap for returning energy imparted to said spring during operation of said side bearing assembly; wherein said first and second members of said multipiece cap define non-vertical interengaging and slidable surfaces therebetween and disposed at an angle ranging between about 20 degrees and about 30 degrees relative to a horizontal plane for maintaining the wall structure on each of said non-metal members in sliding contact with the wall structure of said housing thereby limiting horizontal shifting movements of said multipiece cap relative to said housing; and wherein an insert is maintained in operable association with the generally flat surface on said second non-metal member to slidably contact with an underside of said railcar whereby allowing said side bearing assembly to establish a coefficient of friction ranging between about 0.4 and about 0.9 with the railcar during operation of said constant contact side bearing assembly.