Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ARTICULATED RAILROAD CAR CONNECTOR
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BACKGROUND OR THE INVENTION
As shown for example, in Radwill, U.S. Letters
Patent No. 4,336,758, articulated railroad car connectors are
a known semi-permanent type of connector between two railroad
car ends in which both car ends rest on the same railroad
truck. Such articulated connectors find widespread use in the
railroad industry.
Disadvantages which have been encountered in
articulated railroad car connectors include wear problems on
extended use because of the heavy forces encountered in the
operation of railroad cars. It is particularly undesirable
for the large connector members, which are welded to the
railroad car sills and then are connected together in
articulated connection,
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to degrade through wear since their replacement is
eYp~naive and difficult.
Additionally, while railroad car connectors of
the prior art may utilize slack adjusting wedges (see
the Radwill patent cited above, and see also Altherr,
U.S. Letters Patent No. 3,716,146), which wedges are
provided to compensate for wear during operation, the
wear condition of such parts in prior art connections
and the amount of remaining possible slack adjustment is
not easily determined in prior designs by casual
inspection. Some designs of the prior art permit
examination of the slack adjusting wedges through small
inspection holes in the connector. If adjustment of the
wedges is required, in many designs of the prior art the
lS slack adjustment wedges must be raised, the articulated
connector disassembled, and the railroad cars separated
enough to put shims behind the follower blocks or slack
adjusting wedge assemblies.
The articulated connector of this invention
exhibits improved wear resistance characteristics.
Particularly, wearing of the connector can be minimized
for longer useful life of the connector. Additionally,
the slack adjusting wedges in the connector of this
invention are readily visible from the exterior, and can
be shimmed without having to put one railroad car on
jack stands and moving the other railroad car away.
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Thus, not only does the articulated connector of this
invention exhibit longer useful life, but maintenance,
repair and adjustment are easier than in the prior art.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In this invention, an articulated connector
for railroad cars is provided, comprising first and
second connector members pivotally connected to each
other at inner ends through a pin to permit vertical,
horizontal and rotational motion of the connector
members. The connector members have opposed ends
proportioned to each welded to a railroad car sill for
connection to the cars. Means such as a vertical
attachment pin are provided for attaching the articu-
lated connector to a railroad truck.
Pin bearing block means are carried in the ar-
ticulated connector, the bearing block means abutting
the pin which holds the first and second connector
members together. Slack adjusting wedge means are
provided, urging the pin against the pin bearing block
means.
In accordance with this invention, the slack
adjusting wedge means are positioned laterally in the
articulated connector, thus being accessible from one or
the other sides of the articulated connector. A side
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aperture in one or both sides of the connector is posi-
tioned to provide access from the outside to the slack
adjusting wedge means. The slack adjusting wedge means
are typically provided as a pair of slack adjusting
wedges, one of the pair being on each side of the
articulated connector, adjacent ends of the connector
pin and adjacent a side aperture to permit access.
Preferably, the pin bearing block means
described above comprises a first bearing block defining
an arcuate recess which abuts the pin, which pin
connects the first and second connector members in
movable relation with said pin. The first bearing block
defines an arcuate face opposed to the arcuate recess,
the arcuate face abutting a matching arcuate face of a
second bearing block and in slidable relation thereto,
to reduce wear. The wear may be particularly reduced if
both the first and second bearing blocks are made of
hardened steel, harder than the first and second
connector members. Also, the first and second bearing
blocks preferably abut along a spherical surface,
including the arcuate face, to permit movement of the
articulated connector in vertical, horizontal and
rotational directions about the pin.
Typically, the inner end of the first connec-
tor member defines an aperture that contains the pin and
the pin bearing block means. Then the inner end of the
,
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first connector member is positioned within a recess defined
by the inner end of the second connector member.
Additionally, the inner end of the first connector member
preferably defines a downwardly facing, spherical face which
rests on a spherical recess area defined in the recess of the
inner end of the second connector member. To facilitate this,
the pin which connects the first and second connector members
preferably extends horizontally through the first and second
connector member inner ends, rather than vertically. Thus,
the above-described spherical face, resting on the spherical
recess, can be of a substantially larger surface area for
supporting vertical loads between the first snd second
connector members. Because of such increased surface area,
compared with the articulated connectors of the prior art,
wear in this area can be reduced.
Accordingly, an articulated connector which exhibits
improved wear characteristics, and in which the slack
adjusting wedges are more easily adjusted and maintained, is
provided.
According to the first broad aspect, the invention
provides an articulated connector for railroad cars, which
comprises: first and second connector members pivotably
connected to each other at inner ends with a pin to permit
vertical, rotational, and horizontal pivoting of said
connector members, said connector members having opposed ends
proportioned to each be welded to a railroad car sill, and
means for attaching said articulated connector to a railroad
truck; pin bearing block means carried in said articulated
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connector and abutting said pin; slack adjusting wedge means
urging said pin against the pin bearing block means, said
slack adjusting wedge means being laterally positioned in said
connector: and side aperture means in said connector
positioned to provide access from the exterior to the slack
adjusting wedge means; in which the inner end of the first
connector member defines a downwardly facing, spherical face
which rests on a spherical recess area defined in a recess of
the inner end of the second connector member, said pin
extending horizontally through first and second connector
member inner ends; whereby said spherical face presses with
relatively large surface area against the spherical recess
area to provide a load-bearing sliding surface of relatively
reduced pressure per unit area.
According to a second broad aspect, the invention
provides an articulate connector for railroad cars, which
comprises: first and second connector members pivotally
connected to each other at inner ends through a single
horizontal pin to permit vertical, rotational and horizontal
pivoting of said connector members, said connector members
having opposed ends proportioned to each be welded to a
railroad car sill, and means for attaching said articulated
connector to a railroad truck; pin bearing block means carried
in said articulated connector and abutting said pin; the inner
end of the first connector member defining an aperture that
contains said pin and pin bearing block means, the inner end
of the first connector member being positioned within a recess
defined by the inner end of the second connector member, the
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inner end of the first connector member defining a downwardly
facing, spherical face which rests on a spherical recess area
defined in the recess of the inner end of the second connector
member.
According to a third broad aspect, the invention
provides an articulated connector for railroad cars, which
comprises: first and second connector members pivotably
connected to each other at inner ends with a single pin to
permit vertical, rotational, and horizontal pivoting of said
connector members, said connector members having opposed ends
proportioned to each be welded to a railroad car sill, and
means for attaching said articulated connector to a railroad
truck; pin bearing block means carried in said articulated
connector and abutting said pin; said pin bearing block means
comprising a first bearing block defining an arcuate recess
which receives said pin in movable relation therewith, said
first bearing block defining a spherical face opposed to said
recess, a second, separate bearing block having a matching
spherical face abutting the opposed spherical face of the
first bearing block, said first and second bearing block being
in slidable relation to each other to reduce wear; the inner
end of the first connector defining an aperture that contains
said pin and said pin bearing block means.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of an
articulated connector in accordance with this invention;
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Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken
alonq line 2-2 of Fig. l; and
Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the
articulated connector of Figs. 1 and 2.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, articulated
connector 10 comprises interconnecting first and second
connector members 12, 14. Connector member 12 defines
an inner end 16, which fits within a recess 18 defined
by inner end 20 of second connector member 14. Pin 22
extends through apertures defined in the respective
inner ends 16, 20 in a relatively loose-fitting manner
to permit not only vertical pivoting of the respective
first and second connector members about pin 22, but
also at least a degree of horizontal and rotational
pivoting of the respective connector members 12, 14, to
permit a certain degree of free motion of the respective
railroad cars connected by articulated connector 10.
The ends 24 of the respective first and second
connector members 12, 14 may be proportioned in conven-
tional manner to be welded to the respective sills of
adjoining railroad cars to provide the desired connec-
tion between the two cars.
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As shown in Fig. 3, opposed ends 24 of the
respective first and second connector members are welded
to a sill 26 of respective railroad cars to be con-
nected. The lines of welding may include lines 28 at
the edges of open welding slots of sill 26. Also, an
inner transverse welding line 30 may be provided.
Additionally, vertical connector pin 36 is
provided to fit in a corresponding recess of a railroad
truck, upon which articulated connector 10 and the
adjacent railroad car ends rest.
Rods 38 are provided to laterally retain pin
22 and to hold it in position. It can be seen that rods
38 are held in apertured projections 40, which project
outwardly from the inner end 20 of second connector
member 14. Rods 38 are retained in position by cotter
pins 42.
First bearing block 44 is provided within
aperture 46 of inner end 16 of first connector member
12. First bearing block 44 may be made of hardened
steel and is chown to define a cylindrical face 48 which
slidably abuts cylindrical pin 22 to slide with respect
to pin 22 when first connector member 12 rotates
vertically about pin 22.
First bearing block 44 also defines a spheri-
cal face 50 on a side opposed to face 48. Spherical
face 50 of first bearing block 44 abuts and presses
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against a spherical face of second bearing block 52 so
that both rotational and horizontal motion may take
place between the first and second bearing blocks 44,
52. Bearing block 52, in turn, rests against inner
surface 54 of aperture 46 within first connector member
12.
Both of bearing blocks 44, 52 are made of
hardened steel to minimize the substantial wear that
would otherwise take place along inner face 50. Par-
ticularly, bearing blocks 44, 52 are typically harder
than the material of first and second connector members
12, 14.
Hardened plate 56 rests within a recess 58 of
second connector member 14, as shown in Fig. 2, and
defines a spherical recess 60 which accommodates the
spherical innermost end surface of first connector
member 12. Increased surface bearing area is provided
by the structures of this invention, when compared with
prior art structures, for reduction of pressures per
unit area during railroad car buff conditions and
consequent reduction of wear.
It will be noted that pin 22 is horizontally
pos~tioned, rather than vertically positioned as in many
prior art articulated connectors. Because of this, it
becomes possible for the inner end 16 of first connector
member 12 to rest upon a downwardly facing plate 62,
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having a lower surface 64 defining a spherical section.
Plate 62 defines two upper ribs 66 which form a recess
to retain inner end 16 of first connector member 12,
shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, so that plate 62 is lateral-
ly fixed in its relation with inner end 16.
Spherical face 64 of plate 62 rests against a
spherical recess of pressure plate 68, carried by second
connector member 14, receiving all of the weight of
connector member 12 and permitting horizontal, rotation-
al and lateral pivoting motion between plate 62 and
pressure plate 68 along spherical face 66 as the
respective first and second connector members pivot with
respect to each other.
Because of the horizontal positioning of pin
22, the surface area of spherical face 64 may be larger
than in corresponding structures of the prior art, so
that the load per square inch along spherical face 64
may be relatively reduced. This results in reduction of
wear in the area of spherical face 64, especially when
plate 62 and pressure plate 68 are made of hardened
steel.
Slack adjusting wedge means 70, 72 are posi-
tioned within apertures 73 of inner end 20 of the second
connector member 14. Specifically, a pair of slack
adjusting wedges 70, 72 are provided, bearing in conven-
tional manner against pin 22, with each of the pair of
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slack adjusting wedges 70, 72 being laterally positioned
near an end of pin 22 so that access may be obtained to
the respective wedges through side openings 74 of aper-
tures 73, which are defined in the sidewalls 75 of inner
end 20 of the second connector member 14, as particular-
ly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Thus, access may be obtained
to each of the sets of slack adjusting wedges 70, 72,
one on each side, through the respective openings 74
found on each side. Specifically, Fig. 3 depicts each
side of the articulated connector 10 of this invention,
which sides are identical.
Slack adjusting wedges 70, 72 function in
conventional manner by gravity to keep pin 22 pressed
against first bearing block 44. Wedge 72 urges wedge 70
by gravitational pressure into engagement with pin 22 to
accomplish this. It can be seen also that wedge 70
serves as a bearing against horizontal pin 22.
The above has been offered for illustrative
purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of
the invention of this application, which is as defined
in the claim~ below.
