WHEEL QUENCHING

TREMPE DE ROUES

English Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure
A railway car wheel is placed in a hori-
zontal position in a quenching station. A circular
spray ring having a plurality of nozzles fed
thereby is disposed concentric with the wheel rim
and rotated so that all portions of the rim are
uniformly cooled.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A method of cooling a railway car wheel comprising
the steps of: positioning the heated wheel, with its axis
extending vertically, in a spraying station; moving a
circular spray ring to a position concentric with the wheel
and horizontally aligned with the wheel rim; forcing water
through said spray ring and against said rim to quench the
rim, while simultaneously rotating said spray ring so as
to distribute the sprayed water uniformly over all portions
of the wheel rim; and continuing such rotation until the
wheel has been cooled to the desired temperature.
2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the wheel
is first heated to a temperature approximately in the
range of 840° to 870°C.; and the quenching step is continued
until the wheel is between approximately 205° and 370°C.
3. A wheel quenching arrangement comprising: means
for supporting a railway car wheel with its axis vertical;
a circular spray ring concentric with said wheel and spaced
from the wheel rim; a plurality of spray nozzles secured to
the spray ring; a hollow rotatable shaft located on the axis
of the wheel; feed pipes interconnecting the hollow shaft and
the spray ring; means for supplying water under pressure to
the nozzles; a gearmotor for rotating said shaft and said
spray ring.

4. A wheel quenching arrangement according to
Claim 3 and including a frame; a mounting bracket pivoted
to the frame; spaced bearings secured to said mounting
bracket, said bearings being arranged to support said shaft
for rotation therein; and means for pivoting said mounting
bracket to move said spray ring into and out of position
relative to said wheel.

Description

AMSTED Case 5488 RMF:av
~SS82~
WHEEL QUENCHING
. . .
There are numerous methods of heat treating railway
car wheels and several of these methods include a water
quench. In one such method, the wheel is heated to a
temperature in the range of 840C. to 870C. and then
placed on a turntable assembly. The wheel is rotated on
a vertical axis and water is sprayed against the rim
portion through a plurality of no~zles carried by a
stat-lonary spray ring positioned concentric with the wheel
rim The water spray is continued until the wheel is at
a temperature between 205 and 370C. The water spray on
only the rim portion of the wheel results in the rim tread
having increased hardness and ductility as compared to the
air cooled web portion The foregoing quenching arrangement,
however, has not been completely satisfactory. Because
,~ ,.
railway car wheels weigh over 270 Kg., the bearings on which
they are mounted for rotation tend to wear rapidly, thereby
resulting in costly repairs and extensive down-time.
It is a primary object of the present invention to
provide a wheel rim quenching system which is inexpensive
to install and operate as compared to prior art systems,
and which will simultane3usly provide more uniform spraying.
Other objects will be apparent from the following
description and accompanying drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section,
o~ the quenching arrangement of the present invention; and
-1- ~, -

58Zl
Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along
line 2-2 of Figure 1,
Referring now to the drawings, a support structure 10
is provided to support a wheel 12 at a quenching station~
the wheel being positioned with its axis vertical. The
support structure carries at one side thereof an upright
frame 14, Pivoted as at 16 to the frame is a mounting bracket
18 welded or otherwise secured to a spray cover 20. The
above-described structure is supported by a lift cylinder 22
having one end secured to the splash cover and the other end
secured to the frame 14.
The mownting bracket 18 is provided with a vertical:Ly
disposed member 24 to which are secured in vertically spaced
relationship a pair of bearings 26 which preferably are con-
ventional pillow block bearings. A hollow rotatable shaft 28 ,
is carried by the spaced ~earings and is arranged to be
rotated by a gearmotor 30. A water supply hose 34 is con-
nected to 'che shaft 28 by a rotary union 32 and water is
supplied by a reservoir and pump (not shown).
The shaft extends through the cover 20 and carries at
its lower end a plurality, preferably four, of water feed
pipes 36 which extend outwardly and downwardly to a position
generally in the plane of the wheel to be quenched, The
feed pipes 36 carry and communicate with a circular spray
ring 38 which in its operative position is concentric with
the periphery of the wheel. A plurality of spray nozæles 40
are attached to spray ring 38, It is seen therefore that the
entire spray assembly may be pivoted downwardly into

operative position by cylinder 22, or pivoted upwardly so
that a quenched wheel may be removed from the quenching
station and another wheel moved into the station.
In operation, a wheel which is at a temperature in the
range of approximately 840 to 870C. is placed on the sup-
port 10 and the cylinder 22 is e~tended to lower the spxay
ring assembly into the position shown in Figure 1. The
gearmotor is then energized to rotate shaft 28 and the spray
ring assembly while simultaneously water is pumped through
the sha~t, the spray ring, and thence through the nozzles so
that a quenching water spray is distributed over the wheel
rim, The spraying is continued untll the wheel has reached
a temperature in the range of about 205 to 370C, The
spraying is then terminated 3 the gearmotor stopped, and the
cylinder 22 is energized to pivot the entire assembly
upwardly so that the quenched wheel may be removed from the
quenching station.
The above-described arrangement provides uniform
distribution of water on the wheel rim by an arrangement
which is more trouble-~ree and there~ore less costly than
prior art methods of wheel quenching.