MXPA99008410A - Tapered wear liner and articulated connector with tapered wear liner - Google Patents

Abstract

A tapered wear liner and articulated connector using such a tapered wear liner are disclosed. The tapered wear liner (78) supports an annular bearing that supports the male connecting member (32) of the articulated connector (10). The tapered wear liner (78) has an outer surface that may be shaped as the frustum of a cone or the frustum of a sphere. The female connecting member (34) has a complementary shaped groove (80) to receive the tapered wear liner (78). The female connecting member (34) has a bottom wall (68) with a substantially uniform thickness from the wear liner (78) to the exterior surface of the female connecting member (34). A main pin (40) connects the male and female connecting members (32,34) together and a center pin (100) is integral with the main pin (40) and connected to the railroad car truck. The present invention is useful with railroad car trucks that have concave curved center plate areas.

Description

SHADED WEAR SHIRT AND ARTICULATED CONNECTOR WITH DRESSED WEAR SHIRT DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to articulated connectors for connecting railway wagons within semi-permanent units and more particularly with said articulated connector having a wear jacket and It can be used with railway wagons that have spherical center plates. The use of standard AAR couplers to connect rail cars is well known. Said couplers are designed to facilitate the connection or disconnection of wagons of individual railroads to allow said wagons to be assembled to form a train and uncoupled for remote loading or unloading. The Type E and Type F couplers are commonly used today. In recent times, the railroad industry has found that connecting several wagons to form a semi-permanent unit is advantageous. For example, railway wagons particularly adapted for a rail trailer transport service can be connected. In this arrangement, an articulated connector is used. The articulated connectors generally comprise a male connecting member connected to the stringer of a wagon and a female connection member connected to the stringer of an adjacent wagon. The male and female connection members are then connected through a main pin which allows the two connecting members to articulate. The articulated connector can in turn be transported by a single change of rail car. A central pin extends from the articulated connector to the truck. Articulated connectors are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,216,370; 3,396,673; 3,646,604; 3,716,146; 4,258,628 and 4,336,758, for example. All of these connectors are for use with railroad truck trucks that have flat center plates, and all of these connectors provide central coupling plates or projections. In some areas of the world, standard coupling devices are used with railroad truck trucks that have spherical center plate areas. Articulated connectors of the types shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,216,370; 3,396,673; 3,646,604; 3,716,146; 4,258,628 and 4,336,758 can not be used with trucks with spherical center plates. Rather, an articulated connector with a spherical center plate is necessary. In addition, in known articulated connectors, the outer end of the male connecting member is supported within the female connecting member on a support crown. In said known articulated connectors, a projection extends downwardly from the female connection member and has a flat central plate. The support colony is supported on a wear jacket within the female connection member. Standard wear shirts are illustrated in US Pat. No. 5,014,626 (1991) by Schultz, and are annular and each side is generally triangular in cross section, as shown in Figure 4 of this patent. Said wear shirts are replaceable and are beneficial in reducing wear on the female connection member. Taking into account that an articulated connector with a spherical central plate and a wear jacket is problematic since the elevation of the connector of the surface of the rail must comply with the existing standards so that the articulated connector has the utility and since the walls of the Female connection member must have sufficient thickness to provide adequate structure strength. The present invention provides an articulated connector that can be used with standard railway wagon trucks with curved concave center plates, at standard elevations of the rail surface, and which includes a tapered wear jacket supported by a suitable force wall. The present invention also provides a tapered wear jacket and a female connection member suitable for use in such an environment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a simplified view of two rail cars being connected by an articulated connector and supported by a single truck below this to form a single unit; Figure 2 is a top plan view of an articulated connector incorporating the principles of the present invention, with the lower half shown in cross section; Figure 3 is a cross section of articulated connector of Figure 2, taken along the line 3-3, with a spherical central coupling plate of a railroad truck truck shown imaginary; Figure 4 is an elevation view of a removable ring seat that can be used with the present invention; Figure 5 is an elevation view of an alternative removable ring seat that can be used with the present invention; Figure 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the bottom wall of one embodiment of a female connection member that can be used in the articulated connector of Figures 2-3, taken along the line 3-3; and Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a bottom wall of another embodiment of a female connection member that can be used in the articulated connector of Figure 2-3, taken along the line 3-3. As you can see in Figure 1, a freight train 8 using an articulated connector 10, a first and a second rail car 12, 14 each having its outer ends 16, 18 supported by conventional wagon trucks 20, 22 in a known manner. The internal adjacent front and rear ends 24, 26 of the railway carriages 12, 14 are connected to the articulated connector 10 which in turn is transported or supported on a support 28 of a single rail car truck 30.

It should be understood that more than two rail cars can be connected to form a unit. In the simplified example of Figure 1, the unit simply comprises the first and second rail cars 12-14 connected by the articulated connector 10 and transported in three rail car trucks 20, 22 and 30. An example of an articulated connector 10 is shown in detail in Figures 2-3 for use with trucks or rail car wagons 30 where the support 28 does not have a flat central plate support area, but rather has a curved concave support surface. Trucks of this type include those known in the industry as the "Y-25 bogie'A Said curved concave support surface is shown imaginatively at 31 in Figure 3, and is typically in the middle of the support 28 of a wagon truck 30. It should be understood what features of the present invention can be used with other types of articulated connectors.The article connector 10 of Figures 2-3 allows relative vertical lateral and rotary angular movement between rail cars 12, 14 and comprises a male connecting member 32 and a female connecting member 34. The male connecting member 32 is fixed to the front end of the second rail car 14 in a conventional manner, such as by welding to the central beam 33 of the railway car 14. The female connecting member 34 is fixed to the rear end of the first rail car 12 in a conventional manner, such as by welding The central stringer 33 of the first rail car 12. The male connection member 32 has an external end 36 received within an open-ended cavity 38 of the female connection member 34. The male and female connection members are pivotally connected by a main pin 40 which is positioned in a pair of vertically aligned openings 42, 44 formed in the female connecting member and another opening 46 in the male connecting member vertically aligned with the openings 42, 44 in the female connecting member 34. The open-ended cavity 38 is substantially larger than the male connecting member 38 to allow the connection to articulate when there are vertical curves as well as horizontal curves during the service operation. In an assembled condition as shown in Figures 2-3, the main pin 40 has a central longitudinal axis 41 which is coaxial with the central vertical axis 45 of the vertically aligned openings 42, 44 of the male connecting member 34. The member male connection 32 has an outer end spherical surface 50 together with an inner spherical surface which is formed in the vertical opening 46. Placed inside the male opening 46 is a pin holder block 54 having a semicircular surface partially surrounding the main pin 40, and a spherical end surface that splices and is complementary to the spherical internal surface 52 of the male connecting member 32. It should be understood that these parts may be standard parts of the articulated connectors of the prior art such as those described in US Patent No. 3, 716,146 (1973) by Altherr. The outer end spherical surface 50 of the male connecting member 32 is spliced with a complementary spherical surface of a dependent block 62 positioned within the open end cavity 38 of the female connection member 34. The dependent block 62 is backed by a wedge. in the form of a triangle 64 serving an automatic tensioner as described in the North American Patent No. 3,716,146 (1973) of Altherr. The triangle-shaped wedge 64 is with the back against an inner end surface 66 of the female connecting member 34 at the inner end of the open-ended cavity 38. The female connecting member 34 has an upper wall 67 and a wall bottom 68 defining the cavity with the open end 38. A vertically aligned opening 42, 44 is formed in each upper wall 67 and lower wall 68. The lower wall 68 extends from the lower end surface 66 towards the open end of the cavity 38. The lower wall 68 has an inner surface 70 and a convex curved outer surface 72 configured to engage and be received on the convex curved surface 31 in the central plate 33 of the support 28 of the rail car truck 30. The outer surface of the inner wall 72 has a circular edge 74 surrounding the vertically aligned lower opening 44 and, an end 75 at the open end of the connecting member ' female. As shown in Figure 3, an annular support 76 supports the male connecting member 32 on an inner support surface 86 of an annular ring seat wear sleeve 78. The ring seat wear sleeve 78 has a part upper 79, a lower part 81 and a central axis 83. The ring seat wear sleeve 78 is supported on the inner surface 70 of the lower wall 68 of the female connection member 34. The ring seat wear sleeve 78 it has a height between its upper part 79 and its lower part 81, the height is shown in Figures 4 and 5 at 85, and an inner surface 86 and an outer surface 88. The inner surface 86 and the outer surfaces both have widths 87 , 89 between the upper part 79 and the lower part 81. The ring seat wear sleeve 78 also has a thickness between the inner and outer surface 86, 88. The ring seat wear sleeve 78 the widest ca of the upper part 79 and the narrower one near the lower part 81. As shown in Figures 4-5, both the outer surface 88 and the inner surface 86 of the ring seat wear sleeve 78 are tilted towards the central axis 83 of the ring seat wear sleeve 68. As shown in Figure 5, in one embodiment of the present invention the outer surface of the ring seat wear sleeve 88 is substantially configured as the trunk of the ring seat. a sphere. Alternatively, in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the outer surface 88 may be substantially configured as the trunk of a cone. Both the inner and outer surfaces 86, 88 may be similarly shaped or may have different shapes. For example, with the external surface 88 comprising the trunk of a cone and the inner surface 86 comprising the trunk of a sphere, or vice versa. As shown in Figures 4-5, the ring seat wear sleeve 78 may have small annular angled surfaces 90, 92 near the upper part 79 and the lower part 81 of the wear sleeve. Together, the outer surface 88 and the small angled surfaces 90, 92 comprise the surface of the ring seat wear sleeve that is beyond the inner support surface 86. In comparison with the ring seat wear sleeve the prior art, such as that shown in Figure 4 of U.S. Patent No. 5,014,626 (1991)a substantial part of the surface beyond the inner support surface 86 lies outside the channel 93 perpendicular to the central axis 83 in the lower part 81 of the ring seat wear sleeve 78. In the illustrated embodiments, the surface internal and external 86, 88 are substantially parallel to each other for a substantial portion of the width 87 of the outer surface 88 of the ring seat wear sleeve. The thickness of the ring seat wear sleeve 78 between the inner and outer surfaces 86 and 88 can thus be substantially uniform for a substantial part of the height 85 of the ring seat wear sleeve 78. The outer surface 88 of the ring seat wear sleeve 78 is supported on the inner surface 70 of the lower wall 68 of the female connecting member 34 in a lower annular groove 80. As shown in Figures 3, and 6-7, the lower annular groove 80 has a lower surface 82 that slopes toward the vertical axis 45 of the vertically aligned openings 42, 44 and makes the opening 44 in the lower wall 68 of the female connection member 34 and the central axis 41 of the main pin 40 The lower surface 82 of the groove 80 is separated from the convex curved outer surface 72 of the lower wall 68 along its entire length so that the lower wall 68 has a sufficient thickness for prop order adequate strength. The lower annular groove 80 has an inner edge 91 and an outer edge 84. As shown in Figures 3, and 6-7, the inner edge 91 of the annular groove 80 is in a plane 94 perpendicular to the axis 45 of the grooves. vertically aligned apertures 42, 44 and the outer edge 84 lie in a plane 96 perpendicular to the axis 45. The two planes 94, 96 are vertically separated from one another so that the plane 96 of the outer edge 84 is as close to the plane as possible. upper wall 67 of the female connection member 34. As shown in Figures 3-7, at least a portion of the annular ring seat wear sleeve 78 is configured to fit within or complement the lower annular groove 80, and substantially all of the annular ring seat wear sleeve 78 can be adjusted within the annular lower groove 80. The lower surface 82 of the lower groove 80 can be configured to be inclined in substantially the same direction The outer surface 88 of the annular ring seat wear sleeve 78. In this manner, as shown in Figure 6, the lower surface 82 can be substantially configured as the trunk of a sphere to complement a wear jacket annular seat seat 78 having an external surface 88 substantially configured, the trunk of a sphere like the annular ring seat wear sleeve 78 shown in Figure 4. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 7, the bottom surface 82 of the lower groove 80 can be substantially configured as the trunk of a cone to complement a ring seat wear sleeve 78 having an outer surface 88 substantially configured as the trunk of a cone as the ring seat wear sleeve 78 shown in Figure 5. In any case, at least a substantial portion of the outer surface 88 of the seat wear sleeve of an illo 78 which is in contact with the lower groove 80 is located outside the plane perpendicular to the central axis 83 of ring seat wear sleeve 78 and the lower part 81 of ring seat wear sleeve, and at least a part The substantial surface of the lower surface 82 of the groove 80 is out of plane 101 perpendicular to the central axis 45 of the openings 42, 44 and the lowest point 103 of the groove 80. The thickness of the lower wall 68 of the female connection member 34 corresponding to the perpendicular distance shown in 97 in Figures 3 and 6-7, of the lower surface 82 of the lower groove 80 and the outer surface 72 of the lower wall 68 of the female connection member. This perpendicular distance 97 may be substantially uniform for at least a substantial part of the width, shown at 99 in Figures 6-7, of the lower surface 82 of the lower slot between its inner and outer edges 91, 84 and substantially uniform between the upper part 79 and the lower part 81 of ring seat wear sleeve 78. With said uniform perpendicular distance, the thickness of the lower wall 68 can be substantially uniform. This uniform thickness can be achieved in the case of the frusto-spherically shaped lower surface 82 of Figure 6 using the same center of curvature 98 and the different radii of curvature for the outer surface of the lower wall and the lower surface of the groove . For example, for the Y-25 bogies, the radius of curvature for the outer surface 72 may be approximately 225 cm. or about 8.9 inches, and the bottom wall 68 may have a thickness 97 of about 1 inch, so that the bottom surface 82 has a radius of curvature of about 7.9 inches. And if the lower surface 82 of the lower groove 80 is planar and frustoconically configured while the outer surface 72 of the lower wall 68 is curved and frusto-spherically configured, the inclination of the lower surface 82 of the lower groove 80 is can be removed to maintain substantially constant perpendicular distances 97 between the lower surface 82 of the groove 80 and the lower surface 72 of the lower wall 68. As shown in Figure 3, the articulated connector also includes a central pin 100 coaxial with the pin main 40 and extending beyond the lower outer surface 72 of the female connecting member 34 and received in an opening in the support 28 of the rail car truck or carts 30. The central pin 100 has a smaller diameter than the outer diameter of the main pin 40. The lower end of the center pin is locked, through a lock pin 102 or other device. device, for fixing the central pin 100 to the underside of the concave surface 31 of the support 28. The central pin 100 is integrated with the main pin 40 at its upper end so that the entire articulated connector is thus blocked to the surface concave curve 31 of the support 28. The main pin 40 and the central pin 100 can be made integrally by manufacturing them as a single structure, since they can be made integrally through a threaded connection, for example. As shown in Figure 3, the main pin 40 is received in the lower opening 44 of the female connecting member 34 so that the portion 104 of the main pin 40 is at the edge 74 of the opening 44 in the outer lower surface 72 of the lower wall 68. In this way, the opening 44 in the lower wall 68 of the female connecting member has a diameter at least as large as the diameter of the main pin 40, and a portion 104 of the main pin 40 is exposed in the opening 44 in the lower wall 68 of the female connection member 34. The male and female connection members 32, 34 may be made of conventional materials in conventional manners, such as by casting. The ring seat wear sleeve 78 may be replaceable, and may be made of a wear resistant material such as manganese steel. The disassembly characteristic described in US Pat. No. 5,014,626 (1991) by Schultz can advantageously be incorporated into the articulated connector of the present invention. With the present invention, an articulated connector can be used with standard railway wagon trucks or carts that have a frusto-spherically shaped support surface while meeting the existing requirements for lifting from the top of the rail to the center of the curvature of the convex curved support surface , while retaining the advantage of using a wear jacket in the support that supports the male connection member and while providing a lower wall in the female connection member of a suitable force. While only specific embodiments of the invention have been described and shown, it is apparent that various alterations and modifications can be made to it. It is, therefore, the intent of the appended claims to cover all modifications and alterations as they fall within the scope and spirit of the invention. On the other hand, the invention is intended to include equivalent structures and structural equivalents to those described herein.

Claims (8)

1. CLAIMS 1. An annular ring seat wear sleeve for use with an articulated connector for connecting adjacent ends of a first and second rail car, the articulated connector is supported on the rail car truck and includes a male connection member fixed to the rear of the first rail car and a female connection member fixed to the front of the second rail car, the female connection member has an open end cavity for receiving an outer end of the male connecting member and a Lower surface configured to engage with and be received on a surface on the railroad truck, the articulated connector further includes a main pin extending through. of the openings aligned in the female connecting members for connecting the male and female connecting members while allowing articulation between the male and female connecting members, the main pin has a central longitudinal axis, an annular support supporting a part of the male connection member, the ring seat wear sleeve has an upper part, a lower part, a central axis, an outer surface and an inner support surface for supporting the annular support on an inner surface of the female connection member , the inner support surface slopes towards the central axis, the annular ring seat wear jacket is characterized in that: the outer surface inclines towards the central axis, and the substantial part of the surface beyond the supporting surface interior is outside a plane perpendicular to the central axis and in the lower part of the seat wear shirt of ring. The annular ring seat wear jacket according to claim 1, characterized in that in combination with male and female connection members and a main pin extends between the aligned openings in the male and female connection members. Said open end cavity in said female connection member is defined by an upper wall and a lower wall, the inner surface is in the lower wall and includes a lower annular groove, the combination further includes an annular support supporting a part of the male connection member, said annular ring seat wear jacket is received in the annular lower groove and supports the annular support, the annular lower groove in the inner surface of the lower wall having a lower surface, wherein at least a substantial part of the lower surface of the lower annular groove lies outside the plane perpendicular to the central axis of the openings and the lowest point of the lower groove. 3. In an articulated connector for connecting adjacent ends of first and second rail cars, the articulated connector is supported on a railroad truck and includes a male connection member fixed to the rear end of the first rail car and a member of the railroad car. female connection fixed to the front end of the second rail car, the female connection member has an open end cavity for receiving an outer end of the male connection member, the open end cavity is defined by a lower wall and an upper wall, The lower wall has an inner surface and an outer upper surface for coupling with and being received on the surface in the rail car, the female connecting member has openings in the upper wall and lower wall aligned along an axis vertical, the male connection member has an aperture that is aligned with the openings aligned in the Female connection board, the articulated connector further includes a main pin extending through the aligned openings in the male and female connection members to connect the male and female connection members while allowing articulation between the male articulation members and female, the main pin has a central longitudinal axis, an annular support supporting a male connection member part, an annular ring seat wear jacket having an inner support surface supporting the annular support and being supported on the surface Inside the lower wall of the female connection member, the annular ring seat wear jacket has an upper part, a lower part, a height between the upper part and the lower part, and a central axis, the inner support surface of the annular ring seat wear jacket is inclined towards the central axis, the articulated connector is characterized in that: the female connection member includes a lower annular groove in the inner surface of the lower wall to receive the seat wear liner of ring, the lower annular groove has a lower surface that slopes towards the opening in the lower wall and being separated from the outer lower surface of the lower wall of the female connection member. ; and wherein the annular ring seat wear sleeve has an outer surface configured to complement the shape of the annular lower groove of the female connection member, the outer surface is inclined substantially in the same direction as the inner surface by a substantial portion of the height of the ring seat wear sleeve and substantially in the same direction as the bottom surface of the annular bottom groove; and wherein the perpendicular distance of the lower surface of the lower groove to the outer surface of the lower wall of the female connecting member is substantially uniform between the upper part and the lower part of the ring seat wear sleeve. The articulated connector according to any of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the lower surface of the lower annular groove is substantially configured as the trunk of a cone. The articulated connector according to any of claims 2 or 3 characterized in that the lower surface of the lower annular groove is substantially configured as the trunk of a sphere. The ring seat wear sleeve or the articulated connector according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the outer surface of the ring seat wear sleeve is substantially configured as the trunk of a cone. The ring seat wear sleeve or the articulated connector according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the outer surface of the ring seat wear sleeve is configured substantially like the trunk of a sphere. The ring seat wear sleeve or the articulated connector according to any of claims 1-6, characterized in that the thickness of the ring seat wear sleeve between the outer and inner surfaces is substantially uniform on the one hand of the width of the outer surface of the ring seat wear sleeve.