Railway rolling stock – Trucks – Supplemental wheel
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-24
2001-10-09
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railway rolling stock
Trucks
Supplemental wheel
C105S026100, C105S072200, C105S215200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298792
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to hi-rail assemblies that allow conventional roadway vehicles to be driven on a railroad track, and, more particularly, to a hi-rail assembly having a height adjustment means and that is attachable to a conventional vehicle to allow continued traction between the vehicle tires and the rails of the railroad track after wear of the vehicle tires.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hi-rail capability refers to railway wheels, usually retractable, that are attached to standard roadway vehicles for the purpose of allowing the vehicles to travel on conventional railroad tracks in addition to conventional roadways. Hi-rail vehicles are commonly used as maintenance vehicles or as track inspection cars due to their mobility on both standard highways and railroad tracks.
A conventional hi-rail vehicle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,465 issued to Power, Sr. This design illustrates a railway wheel apparatus that allows simultaneous actuation of two cylinders to lower the railway wheel apparatus onto the railroad track. In operation, the railway wheels contact the rails and raise at least a portion of the vehicle off of the railroad track. Generally, the rear pair of vehicle wheels remain in contact with the railroad track to be able to propel the vehicle on the railroad tracks. A problem with this design is that the vehicle tires remain in constant contact with the railroad track, and subsequently will lose traction due to wear of the tire. Because the railway wheel apparatus remains at a constant position with respect to the railroad track, the wear of the vehicle tires will cause the traction between the vehicle tires and the railroad track to decrease. Consequently, in order to regain the traction lost due to wear of the vehicle tires, either the hi-rail wheel assembly must be adjusted through technical and complex mechanical adjustments of the wheels that reposition the vehicle at a lower level, which can be very complicated and require great effort, or the worn vehicle wheels will have to be replaced on the vehicle by new wheels that have not experienced the deterioration of the use, thereby discarding the worn wheels before the end of the standard life of the wheels.
What is needed, then, and not found in the prior art, is a hi-rail assembly that provides a means for making adjustments to reduce the distance between the hi-rail assembly and railroad tracks so that the vehicle tires will continue to make a satisfactory connection with the railroad tracks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved hi-rail assembly having a height that can be altered to vary the position between the vehicle tire and the railroad track.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished through the improved hi-rail assembly of the present invention. The hi-rail assembly of the present invention includes a frame that is attachable to a conventional road vehicle, an axle tube attached to the frame via a pair of is pivotal links at the two ends of the axle tube, and a pair of railway wheels attached to the ends of the axle tube that are used to engage the railroad track. The axle tube is connected to the pivotal links via a block and a block pin, such that the pivotal links will determine the distance between the frame and the axle tube when the railway wheels are in their extended position.
Each pivotal link of the present invention includes an upper link plate and a lower link plate. The upper link plate is pivotally connected to the lower link plate such that when pressure is applied to the pivotal link, both the lower link plate and the upper link plate will pivot, according to the direction of the pressure applied, to either an extended position to engage the railroad tracks or to a contracted position to allow the vehicle to travel on a standard roadway. The lower link plate includes a cam aperture and a recessed cam shoulder for receiving the block pin attached to the block. Furthermore, the assembly includes a locking means to secure the position of each pivotal link in either an extended or a retracted position.
To allow the distance between the frame and the ground surface to be adjusted to allow a worn tire to make contact with the railroad track, the lower link plate includes a recessed cam shoulder surrounding the cam aperture. The recessed cam shoulder is sized to receive a cam, and includes a number of mounting bores surrounding the outer periphery of the cam. The cam includes several attachment apertures surrounding the outer periphery of the cam, and is designed to engage the lower link plate in the space defined by the outer periphery of the bored shoulder. The cam includes an eccentric aperture located near the center of the cam aperture. The eccentric aperture will engage the block pin, and, when the cam is rotated within the lower link plate, the distance of the axle tube above the ground surface will be varied according to the placement of the eccentric aperture of the cam within the lower link plate. Thus, the distance between the frame and the axle tube will be changed, and the traction between the railroad tracks and the vehicle tires will therefore be controllable by the rotation of the cam.
Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description and by reference to the attached drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3797401 (1974-03-01), Alimanestianu
patent: 4381713 (1983-05-01), Cripe
patent: 4488494 (1984-12-01), Powell, Sr.
patent: 4527486 (1985-07-01), Baird et al.
patent: 4534297 (1985-08-01), Johnson
patent: 4583465 (1986-04-01), Powell
patent: 5018453 (1991-05-01), Kinard
patent: 5154124 (1992-10-01), Madison
patent: 5403031 (1995-04-01), Gottschalk et al.
patent: 640447 (1962-05-01), None
Burr & Forman LLP
ESSCO
Holland Christopher A.
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
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