US 12,151,721 B2 · Locked-axle wheel cradle, system, and method

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.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A locked-axle wheel cradle, comprising:

a receiver member having a first wheel member and a first locked-wheel engager;
a connector member having a second wheel member and a second locked-wheel engager;
a puller coupled to the receiver member and the connector member and configured to pull the receiver member and the connector member towards each other to at least partially mate the receiver member with the connector member to lift a wheel off a surface;
and
a gearbox having one or more gears configured to operate the puller to pull the receiver member and connector member towards each other.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Locked-axle wheel cradle, system, and method

Life of this patent

Locked-axle wheel cradle, system, and method

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20