Constant contact side bearing support of a rail car body on a multi-axle rail car truck is provided for the purpose of restraining truck hunting and controlling car rocking. A bearing receiver or cage mounted on the truck bolster in laterally offset relationship to the truck center plate bowl supports wedge shaped bearing blocks on inclined surfaces within the cage. Biasing means, e.g., a long travel coil spring, biases the bearing blocks against the inclined surfaces of the cage, thereby maintaining a substantially constant normal bearing force on the car body throughout the wear life of the bearings. In an alterative embodiment, the cage is mounted on the car body with the bearing surfaces of the bearing blocks engaging corresponding bearing surfaces on the bolster. Arrangements providing for ease of inspection and replacement of the bearing blocks are disclosed.
The invention provides a multiple axle rail vehicle wherein the car body of the rail vehicle is provided with multiple center plate members at each end of the car body. Multiple trucks are attached to each end of the car body with each truck individually connected to a respective center plate. Connecting each truck to an individual center plate on the car body eliminates the span bolster permitting the rail vehicle to weigh less and have a lower deck height.
A long travel constant contact side bearing for railway cars provides better handling characteristics, achieving improved tracking and curving through use of various combinations of features. Such a long travel side bearing is able to meet recent stringent American Association of Railroads standards, such as M-976. Lowered spring rates, preferably less than 6,000 lb/in., help with stability and reduce set-up sensitivity. Reduced cap and base dimensions and spring design help achieve travel of at least 5/8''. A visual inspection windows allows ready inspection. Increased service life and wear characteristics are obtained by addition of hardened wear surfaces, improved tolerances, changes to Grade E steel, increase of top contact surface flatness and coped top surface peripheral edges. Standardized sets of spring components can be mixed and matched, requiring fewer specialty parts. Interchangeability of improper components can be prevented by a combination of keying features and/or spring lockout features.
A constant-contact load-bearing assembly for a railcar truck bolster and operable against a complementary body bolster bearing and biased to continuously contact the body-bolster bearing to transfer the lading and railcar weight forces, which assembly has an outer element of a first coefficient of friction, a second or inner element with a second and larger coefficient of friction and biasing apparatus to maintain the inner assembly pad element in contact with the body-bolster assembly at an empty-railcar condition to provide control of the railcar body at the empty or unloaded car status with the biasing apparatus compressible at a loaded railcar state to provide contact between the outer pad element and the body-bolster bearing pad for transfer of the railcar loads and forces over the range of operating loads between the empty-car state and the loaded to capacity state.
A railway vehicle having twelve wheel and axle assemblies grouped into six 2-axle truck assemblies. Three truck assemblies are mounted on each of two span bolsters which in turn are mounted on opposite ends of a railway vehicle. All of the truck assemblies are rotatably mounted to the span bolster and the span bolster is rotatably mounted to the rail vehicle. The center assembly can be rotatably mounted about an axis common with the axis of the center plate of the span bolster. In some embodiments the spring assembly on the center truck assembly of each span bolster is lighter than the spring assemblies on the other truck assemblies mounted to the same bolster. In some embodiments the center truck assembly can move laterally more than the other truck assemblies on the span bolster.
