Acf Industries, Incorporated

William T Deet

John A Krug

William L Willis

Paul J Dumser

William U Casseau

Laurence E Culligan

Bruce A Walter

An improved brake linkage system for a railway car, especially a hopper car, having an air cylinder actuated to move a cylinder lever. The cylinder lever is directly connected to a floating operating lever by a slack adjuster which can be made substantially shorter, lighter and less expensive than slack adjusters of prior art systems. With respect to the prior art, the present invention permits use of less linkages, shorter linkages and lighter linkages, thus making the overall linkage system lighter, less expensive and more efficient.

Railway car brake system

An improved railway car underbody support structure and method for economically constructing same. The structure includes a center sill assembly having a pair of vertically disposed side plates spaced equidistant from the longitudinal center line of the car body and extending from a coupler longitudinally inboard to a wheeled truck assembly. The truck assembly carries two laterally spaced side bearing members for bearing the load of the car body during lateral tilting of the car body. One of the improved features is a unitary metal member cut from an economically patterned metal plate. The unitary members, which are themselves free of any weld lines which may crack under the extreme loads exerted on railway cars, are welded to the underside edge of a respective side plate and welded together beneath the center line of the car body. The unitary members act as, 1) a bottom side flange to stiffen the side plates, 2) a bottom cover plate to help integrate the still and 3) as a bottom bolster support which extends over a respective side bearing member. The invention also features a mini-bolster inwardly spaced from the main bolster to distribute the car body load through the still assembly; a unique side plate upper edge configuration and weld line placement; and a pair of reinforcing bars welded beneath the end of the car body on the inside vertical surfaces of respective side plates; all to provide improved structural underbody integrity and performance.

Railway car underbody structure and method

Growing community of inventors

Franklin County, MO, United States of America

William T Deet