The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 15, 2023
Filed:
Sep. 23, 2022
Bnsf Railway Company, Fort Worth, TX (US);
Henry R. Schafer, Smithville, MO (US);
Christopher M. Romero, Lawrence, KS (US);
Timothy Webb, Topeka, KS (US);
Mike E. Teaford, Topeka, KS (US);
Edward M. Meyers, Grantville, KS (US);
Ryan L. Kimberlin, Meriden, KS (US);
Larry C. Valentine, Berryton, KS (US);
BNSF Railway Company, Fort Worth, TX (US);
Abstract
A crane-less locked axle cradle system configured to lift a rail vehicle wheel off a rail and transport the lifted wheel along a rail is presented. The present disclosure discloses a system that can lift the locked-axle wheel off the rail with no crane thereby allowing the train with a locked axle to be transported off the mainline in a shorter period of time. A cradle system can have two parts (male and female members with wedges and rail wheels) that can be mated with each other around a rail wheel. As the male and female members are pulled together, locked wheel engagers can couple with different portions of the locked-axle wheel, causing the locked-axle wheel to lift off the rail given the gradient of the wedge or rotation of the wheel. In another embodiment, the wheel lifting can be assisted by an air bag, hydraulic cylinder, jack, or other.