US1835178A - Antifriction bearing - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 8, 1931. R j OLANDER 1,835,178

ANTIFRICTION BEARING Filed May 12, 1928 30 the top of the housing.-

Patented Dec. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES BoLANn :r. oIlANDcER, or CHIC-l ed, xLnnvois, AssIe voR TO w. MINER, inoQor GHICAGQILLINOIS; A oonronAtrronor DELAWARE I Am rnIorIoN BEARING Application filed May .12, 1928. seri 1iNo. 277,202.- i

This invention relates to improvements in ant1-fr1ct1on bearlngs.

One object of the invention is t o'provide an anti-friction bearing especially adapted 5 for use asa side bearing member forrailway cars, of simple constructiomwherein the antifriction element proper 1s 'self-centermg'un der the influence of gravity, is positively guided to centered position, and is held 0 against chattering in all of itsoperative positions.v a p i 4 1 Another object of the invention is to provide an anti-friction side bearing for railway cars, including a rolling anti-friction element which is self-centering, and a retaining housing for the anti-friction element provided with a hardened steel bearing plate on which the anti-friction element rolls, the plate having upstanding centering knobs or lugs a pressed'therein which cooperate with bearing openings or pockets in the anti-friction element, wherein the housing is :open at'the bottom to permit insertion ofithe anti-frictron element and bearing plate, the bottom opening being closed by a separable plate securedthereto, thereby retaining the parts in assembled relation, he anti-friction element having shouldered engagement with the housing to prevent removal thereof through Othenand further'objects' of the invention will 'moreclearly appear from thedescription and claims hereinafter following.

View through portions of the body and truck bolsters of a railway car, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith, the antifriction element being shown in full lines'in of the bearing member shown in Figure 1.

And Figure 3 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view, corresponding substantially to [ment being illustratedin elevation. 1

p In said drawings, 10 denotes the under side portlon'of the body bolster of'azrailway ca-r, andll the upper portion. of anopposed truck bolster. In "the, present instance, my improved ant -fraction bearing is illustratedas secured to thetruckbolster. a i

Y My improved anti-friction "bearing lcomprises, broadly, a retaining housing, A; an

anti-friction element B; a bearing plat e C;

bottom of thehousing, V

The retaining member or housing A pro .vided with vertical, 's pacedsside walls 1212 and transversely disposed, vertical, spaced end walls 13-" 13; -At the bottom, the lions ing is'provided with laterallylprojeeting seof the truck bolster 11, as clearly shown in Figure 1. The side walls 12 of'the housing are provided with inwardly projecting re- :tainin'g flangesf16.16 at the top thereof, the retaining'fianges 16 having a thickened centralportion 17 providing a depending ingand;the :central portion of the; lower edge of 1 said" flange immediately adjacent.

thereto is inclined downwardly in opposite directions, as indicated at 18-18, ffor a purpose hereinafter described. The side walls 212 and the endwalls .13 "are interiorly cut away at, the. bottom of the; housing, thereby. presentingupwardly inclined abutment faces" 19-49, the abutment faces 19: of opposite sidewalls convergingupwardly. I

As shown the housing A is open both at the top and thebottom is 55 and a separate bottom plateD for closinggthe i 5 reta1n1ng,sect1on. The bottom edge of each of the flanges 16 is disposed substantially srhorizontally at the opposite ends of the hous- Inthe drawings, forming a part of this 5- specification, Figure 1 is a vertical,sectional i closed by the plate D, which, as shown, is relatively thick. The same is preferably composed of malleable iron. The plate D comprises a substantially fiat central body portion, provided with corner lugs 20-20, which, as shown, are of greater thickness than the body portion of the plate. The lugs 20 are so arranged as to be disposed in the corners of the housing, and between the lugs 20, at oposite ends of the housing, the plateD is cut away, as indicated at 21, to provide openings through which cinders and other foreign matter which may accumulate in the housing is discharged.

The end walls 13 of the housing are also provided with discharge openings 22-22 in alignment with the cut-away portions 21 of the bottom plate. The side and end edges of the bottom plate are upwardly beveled, as indicated at 23, so as to fit the abutment wall sections 19 of the side and end walls of the housing. Adjacent the cut-away section 21, at one side of the housing, as indicated at 24E-24l in Figure 2, the bottom plate D is undercut so that upon upsetting the corresponding lower edges of the end walls inwardly the bottom plate will be retained in locked position by the overlapping wall sections thus provided. One of the longitudinal side edges of the bottom plate D is also undercut, as indicated at 25 in Figure 3, and the corresponding side wall 12 is inwardly offset to overlap this section to lock the plate to the housing. The bottom section of the wall 12 is offset by hammering the same over to displace the metal at the lower edge thereof in overlaping relation with the bottom plate D. As clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2, the thickened lug members 20 of the bottom plate D provide transversely disposed aligned abutment faces 26-26, which cooperate with the bearing plate C to retain the same in proper position when the parts of the anti-friction hearing are assembled.

The bearing plate C is preferably formed of hardened steel and pressed to the shape shown. The plate C is of substantially rectangular outline and is provided with a pair of upstanding knobs or centering lugs 27-27, which are of substantially spherical formation.

The bearing plate C is of such a size as to fit between the abutment shoulders 26 of the bottom plate D at opposite ends of the housing and is of substantially the same width as the interior of the housing between the side walls 12.

The anti-friction bearing element B, as shown, is in the form of a rocker of substantially triangular cross section, having curved bearing surfaces. The rocker is provided with three curved bearing surfaces 28-28-28 of relatively long radius and three curved bearing surfaces 29-29-29 of shorter radius. As shown, the bearing surfaces 28-28-28 are arranged in series and the bearing surfaces 29-29-29 of shorter radius connect each two adjacent bearing surfaces 28, the surfaces 29 merging with the surfaces 28.

With the conformation of rocker or bearing element B provided, the same is positively centered under the influence of gravity and, due to the arrangement of concentric surfaces of differentradii in series, as hereinbefore described, the rocker or bearing element B, in its movement from the normal centered position to either side thereof, will have the bearing surface, which is disposed uppermost, spaced a constant vertical distance from the point of contact of the rocker or bearing element with the supporting bearing plate C.

In order to maintain the rocker bearing element B assembled with the housing, the same is provided with retaining projections 30-30 on the opposite sides thereof.

As shown in Figure 1, the retaining projections are of substantially triangular outline, having inclined side edges 31-31 converging upwardly and terminating in a curved connecting top edge face 32. As shown, the projections 30 engage under the retaining ribs orflanges 16 of the side walls of the housing, and the curved end edges 32 are slightly spaced from the depending sections 17 of the flanges when the anti-friction element is in normal centered position. When the anti-friction element B is rocked to either side of its centered position, one of the side edges 31 of each of the retaining projections is brought into opposed relation to one of the inclined wall sections 18 of the enlargement 17 of the corresponding flange 16, as clearly shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The parts are so proportioned that substantially the same amount of clearance is provided at all times between the edges of the retaining projections 30 and the lower edges of the retaining flanges 16 of the housing. By this arrangement, rattling or chattering of the anti-friction element is effectively prevented in all operative positions of the same.

The bottom bearing surface 28 of the antifriction element B which cooperates with the bearing plate C is provided with a pair of spaced centering openings or pockets 33-33 which are adapted to cooperate with the centering projections 27 of the bearing plate C. 7

By engagement of the bearing projections or knobs 27 of the plate C within the pockets 33 of the anti-friction element B, shifting of the rocker or bearing element in a longitudinal direction is positively prevented and the same is compelled to rock or roll to its centered position, as shown in Figure 1.

In assembling the parts of my improved anti-friction bearing, the anti-friction rocker element B is first inserted through the open bottom section of the housing and the bearing plate C is placed in position on the bot-. tom plate D, and the bottom plate inserted within the bottom opening of the housing.

7 When the bottom plate D has been forced into engagement with the abutment faces 19 of the walls of the housing, the bottom edge sections of the end walls and one of the side walls are hammered over, as hereinbefore described, to lock the plate D in position; The parts of the side bearing are thus held in as sembled relation and the anti-friction element B is prevented from escape through the top of the housing by engagement of the retaining lugs with the flanges 16.

In the operation of my improved anti-friction bearing, upon relative approach of the body and truck'bolsters, the load is transmitted through the anti-friction rocker element B, and upon relative angular movement of the body and truck bolsters the anti-friction element B is rolled to one side ofcentered position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure l; The displacement of the anti-friction element continues either until the bolsters are separated or movement of the antifriction element is limited by engagement with one of the end walls 13 of the houslng,

as clearly indicated in Figure 1. Then the bolsters are separated and the load removed The necessary foundry operations in casting the parts are also greatly reduced by avoiding theuse of the usual retaining pin for the anti-friction element. 7 The anti-friction rocker element is thus left solid, that is, it

is not provided with a pin receiving opening and the housing walls are left intact by omitting the retaining pin guide openings. The housing and anti-friction rocker element may thus be cast without theuse of the usual cores which are necessarily employed in these foundry operations, thus further reducing the cost of manufacture. The manner of assembling my improved bearing also avoids all riveting for holding the parts assembled.

The employment of the stamped, hardened steel bearing plate for the anti-friction rocker element, not only simplifies the construction by elimination of the separate rivet members commonly used in bearings of this type,

wherein-the rivet members have centering heads or knobs thereon' and are formed of relativelyssoftmaterial,but also adds greatly to the life. of the-bearing member and its eflicient operation especially in that the bearing projectionsare formed ofthe same hardcned material as, and form a partof, the hardened bearing plateg l T j While I have herein shown and described what I consider thefpreferred mannerof carrying out my invention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Iclaimr Y j I 1. In an anti-friction bearing for railway cars, adapted to be interposed between the body and truck bolsters thereof, the combination with a housing open at the top, said hous ing being provided with inwardly overhanging retaining flanges at the top, having depending central projections having bottom portions'inclined upwardly in opposite directions; of an anti-friction rocker element within the housing, said rocker having. retaining projections on the opposite sides thereof, adapted to engage beneath said flanges to prevent escape of the rocker through the open top of the housing, said retaining projections being of triangular formation and each having upwardly converging side edges connected at the top by a curved edge engaged beneath the central portion of the depending projection of the corresponding flange of the housing when the rocker is in centered position and having one of said converging side edges engaged beneath the inclined bottom edgejat one side of the center of said projection when said rocker is displaced to one side of its normal centered positiomisaid curved edges and said I side edges being respectively equally spaced from the flanges of the housing when said anti-friction element is in said respective centered and displaced'positions.

2. In a side bearing, the combination with a; housing having end and entirely closed side walls, the latter being provided on their inner faces with guide flanges; of a rolling, gravity, self-centering, solid anti-friction 7 element; a bearing plate having upwardly extending integral stud formations, said element having cooperating recesses within which the studs are-received and relative bodily shift between said element and plate is prevented, said'anttfriotion element having integral projecting'wings engaging beneath the flanges of the side walls of the housing to limit upward displacement of the element in all positions thereof andpre-iventing disengagement of said studs; and a bottom closure plate for the housing having integral projections between and by which said bearing plate is retained in centered position, said bottom plate being secured to the housing by peening portions of one against the other whereby said housing, anti friction element, bearing plate and bottom plate may be assembled entirely by'hand and all permanently retained in operative assembled position, one with the other, solely by and upon the peening together of said bottom plate and housing.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 9th day of May, 1928.

ROLAND J. OLANDER.

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