US2630081A - Axle mounting - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1953 R. C. KEPNER AXLE MOUNTING Filed July 15, 1946 if 14H/2 h AT`TORNEY Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AXLE MOUNTING Robert C. Kepner, Bloomsburg, Pa., assigner to American `Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 13, 1946, Serial No. 683,557

(Cl. 10S-364) 2 Claims. i 1

This invention relates to axle mountings in general and in particular to axle mountings for mine or other industrial cars where clearances are small and shocks comparatively great.

In recent years asthe loads carried by mine and other industrial cars increased it has been recognized that some type of springing or shock absorbing medium is necessary to prevent destruction of the car body. In the majority of cases, however, it is impossible to use springs of the type customarily used for large railway cars or highway vehicles. Particularly in mine car work tunnel clearances will prevent ordinary types of springingsince in order to obtain large capacity the car iioors must be lowered as low as possible to get necessary load carrying capacity. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide an axle mounting which will eciently absorb shocks yet occupy an extremely small space above the car axle.

i A further object of the invention is the provision -of an axle mounting vmaterial interposed between the car body and the axle and capable of permitting limited relative motion between the body and axle in all directions.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an axle mounting which may be readily applied to existing car structures.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken through the car adjacent a supporting axle;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 'l is a sectional View taken substantially on line 4-1 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1 but disclosing a modification and taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 6, and;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 6 6 of Fig. 5, and Fig. '7 is an enlarged sectional view of the central portion only of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the floor 2 of the mine car body is welded or otherwise attached to longitudinally extending sill members 4 having cutouts 6 therein through which the axle A may extend. The sill elements 4 are connected together and braced in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive by a T-shaped cross sill member 8 having the leg vertically disposed and coped to permit a projection I8 to extend intothe` opening 6 formed in the side sills fl. The lower plate I6 is likewise coped to permit its ends to project .into the opening and also to permit attachment of thrust members 2u to the axle.

y These thrust members Z are spaced slightly from the carside sills and will absorb the side thrusts of the car body and transmit them directly to the axle and thence to the wheel W without any danger of jamming the bearings as would otherwise occur. From the preceding it will be seen that the resilient unit comprising the upper andlower plates I2 and IS and resilient material I4 may be inserted through the openings in the sill and riveted or otherwise attached to the flanges Ill of the cross sill 3. It is then only necessary for the axle to be inserted through the openings and the thrust plates 2e riveted or otherwise secured to the axle. Due to the coping of lower plate I6 and its engagement with the thrust plates 29, shifting of the plate I5 relative to axle A is prevented. Accordingly, the resilient material I4 will act in shear to cushion slightly the side thrusts prior to engagement of the side sills with the thrust plates 20. The resilient material I4 will also act in shear to control slightly the movements of the axle longitudinally of the body, with total movement restricted by the clearance between the axle and sides of openings 6. Relative vertical motion between the car body and axle will, of course, be absorbed by the resilient material acting in compression and the shock forces will be evenly transmitted through the material and over substantially the entire length of the axle: between the wheels.

In the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the car floor 30 is suitably attached to side sill elements 32 of bulb angle form and the floor portions are joined by an inverted U- structure 34 extending over and housing the axle. In this instance the resilient unit formed of upper plate 3B, lower plate 38 and resilient material 40 is made in two parts for ease of assembly. The two parts, as

clearly shown in Fig. 5, are separated by a top i member 42 riveted or otherwise secured to the central portion of the axle housing. Plates 38 as clearly shown are narrower than the space between the side walls of housing 34 and, accordingly, the resilient unit will act in shear to resist both transverse and longitudinal axle movements since the action of the rubber-in-shear is of lower value than the friction between the axle and plate. In .order to limit the side motion between the car body and axle and relieve the wheel bearings of improper impact, a side thrust member 44 is riveted or bolted to the center part of the axle and extends downwardly between zstrap members 46 secured to the axle housing and joining the flanges thereof. Asclearly shown inFig. 5, there is clearance between-the thrustmember 44 and the strap members 46 which Clearance-is less than that between the side sillszandthe wheel bearings. Thus these strap members will not only reenforce the axle housing adjacent-its center portion, but will also transmit side thrusts to the U-shaped thrust member "44 attached to the axle as previously described.

It will be seen from thepreceding description that vthe vcar Abody is resiliently mounted on the axle for atleast slight movement in all directions and `it will also -be seen 'that the resilient unit can be readily applied to existing car structures without materially changing the .clearances .between `-thecar floorand :the rail. it will alsozbe seen `by persons skilled .in the art rthat 'various modifications yand rearrangements of parts may lbe made without .departing from the scope vof the invention as definedby the appended claims.

\What is claimed is:

i1. In a mine .car :axle mounting the combina.- tion of a substantially square axle, wheels supporting ,the ends of :the vaxle,an inverted U shaped axle housing covering Athe entire central portion of the axle and secured to and forming part of the car'fbody, a pair of cushioning units positioned in said axle housing .and each comprising an upper plate supporting the axle housing, a lower icV 4 plate supported on the axle, and resilient matefi rial bonded to said plates to form the unit and resiliently resist relative movement between the plates, tie means joining the central portions of said axle housing to resist spreading thereof, andl U-shaped means secured to the central portion o said axle between the units and having the lower portion thereof engaging said .tiesmeans to prevent damaging axial strains vkfrom being transmitted to said resilient material and to prevent said body from contacting said wheels.

2. .Ina mine car axle mounting the combination of an axle, wheels supporting the ends of the axle, va pairorspaeedapart cushioning units supporting the mine car body upon the axle and comprising, a pair of spaced apart lower plates supported .on ,the axle, a pair of spaced apart upper plates supporting the car body, resilient material secured to said plates to form the pair of spaced cushioning units, means secured to the body .and fengageable :with the .inner ends of fsaid upper yplates "to :hold fsaid .units in .spaced VAapart relationship, and means Isecured to said 'axle in the space vbetween .said units and engaging the car vbody to prevent .damaging axial strains ffrom being .transmitted ,to said `resilient material and to :prevent said .body from contacting :said wheels.

.ROBERT KEPNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are -of record in -the 'le of this patent:

UNITED STATES Vvl?A'1`1-l1\',S

vSensenich June 23, 1.94.27

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