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:
Oct. 14, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 05, 2001
Paul Hewitt, Angus, GB;
Meridian Rail Information Systems Corp., Lombard, IL (US);
Abstract
A wear plate assembly adapted to engage a friction wedge of a railroad car truck. The wear plate assembly includes a base member having an upper wear member adapted to engage the friction wedge. The upper wear member is formed from a first material such as steel. The wear plate assembly includes a lower wear member located adjacent to and below the upper wear member. The lower wear member is adapted to engage the friction wedge and is formed from a second material such as cast iron. The upper wear member has a coefficient friction with the friction wedge of approximately 0.30 and the lower wear member has a coefficient friction with the friction wedge of approximately 0.15. When a rail car is at tare weight the friction wedge will slidably engage the upper wear member and when the rail car is at fully laden weight the friction wedge will slidably engage the lower wear member. The vertical dampening force created by the friction wedge at fully laden weight is thereby less than the dampening force that is created by the friction wedge at tare weight.