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:
Sep. 17, 1996
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1994
Armand P Taillon, Chicago, IL (US);
Philip J Brunkhorst, Sioux City, IA (US);
Standard Car Truck Company, Park Ridge, IL (US);
Abstract
A novel friction wedge for use in a bolster pocket of a truck of a railroad car, comprises a metal body portion having a vertical wall and one or more pad members supported on the surface of a pad-support body. The metal body portion has a vertical wall the exterior surface of which body bears against a guide column of the side frame. The pad-support body, which is part of the metal body portion, is provided with an inclined surface upon which is secured a polymer pad with a central planar inclined surface which bears against the correspondingly inclined surface of the pocket. The pad member is required to be formed from specified reaction injection molded (RIM) polymers which it is found to be free of microscopic voids >20 .mu.m and therefore, fully dense, unlike prior art polymer pads for friction wedges. This property of being fully dense unexpectedly allows the pad to have specified physical properties which permit a railroad car truck equipped with the friction wedges to operate with exceptional reliability, safety and for a long period of time. In a particular embodiment, the design of the pad(s) permits relative movement of the pad and the metal body of the friction wedge to locate the center of pressure accurately on the friction wedge, under load, and this further improves the effectiveness of the friction wedge and extends its useful life.