System for reprofiling a wheel set of a railway vehicle
AssigneeSimmons Machine Tool Corporation
InventorsMichael H. CHU, James G. OTTON, Eric S. BUTLER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for reprofiling a wheel set of a railway vehicle allows the center of rotation of the wheel set to move relative to supporting rollers. A cutting tool used to reprofile the wheel profile on a wheel set is moved relative to the center of rotation of the wheel set to maintain a constant distance between the center of rotation and the cutter. The rollers are maintained in a fixed position during the cutting process. The system avoids mechanically forcing a constant location of the wheel set relative to the center of rotation.
Claims20
A method of reprofiling a wheel set of a railway vehicle comprising:
- disposing the wheel set on one or more rollers, the rollers being supported on a milling station;
- determining a center of rotation of a wheel on the wheel set;
- determining a desired constant distance between a cutting tool and the center of rotation of the wheel;
- rotating the wheel on the one or more rollers and allowing the center of rotation of the wheel to move relative to the one or more rollers while rotating the wheel;
- activating the cutting tool to mill a profile on the wheel while rotating the wheel and preventing radial movement of the rollers relative to the milling station while the cutting tool is activated;
- and
- moving the cutting tool towards the constant distance between the cutting tool and the center of rotation of the wheel while the cutting tool is activated and while preventing radial movement of the rollers relative to the milling station.
An method for facilitating the reprofiling of a wheel set of a railway vehicle comprising:
- providing a milling station having one or more rollers configured to support a wheel set during a milling process while allowing (i) the wheel set to rotate, (ii) a center of rotation of a wheel to move relative to the one or more rollers and (iii) preventing radial movement of the rollers;
- providing a cutting tool operatively connected to the milling station, the cutting tool being moveable relative to said one or more rollers to mill a profile onto a wheel of the wheel set;
- providing a tracker connected to the milling station to track the position of the center of rotation;
- and
- providing a control system connected to said milling station and said tracker, the control system configured to control the position of the cutting tool relative to the center of rotation and to facilitate movement of the cutting tool towards a constant distance from the center of rotation.
A method of reprofiling a wheel of a railway vehicle comprising:
- rotating a wheel set on one or more rollers supported on a milling station while allowing a center of rotation of a wheel of the wheel set to move vertically;
- and
- cutting the wheel to mill a profile on the wheel while rotating the wheel and moving the cutting tool towards the center of rotation of the wheel while preventing the one or more rollers from moving radially relative to the milling station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.