System and method of re-profiling locomotive railcar wheels
AssigneeHJR Real Estate Management, LLC
InventorHarold F. Ross
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus reconfigures or configures a wheel associated with a train. The apparatus comprises a tool configured to engage the wheel a compound slide system for positioning the cutting tool in at least two axes. The compound slide system is controlled so that the wheel is configured in accordance with a profile. The slide system can be moved mechanically and/or pneumatically and/or can use a mechanical profile. The apparatus can have a low profile and a low weight.
Claims20
A low profile portable apparatus for profiling a first wheel, the apparatus comprising:
- a wedge comprising a base a top surface, the top surface being acutely angled between 15 and 45 degrees with respect to the base;
- a cutter;
- a positioning system configured to move the cutter relative to the first wheel along at least two axes, the positioning system coupled to the wedge;
- and
- a computer control configured to control the positioning system, wherein the positioning system is controlled so that the first wheel is free to spin without contact with the portable apparatus except at the cutter, wherein the computer control, the wedge, the positioning system and the cutter are disposed below a center point of the first wheel and a bottom of a first rail associated with the first wheel, the wedge being attached to the first rail.
A method of using a cutting system with an adjustable height between 11 and 17 inches and a weight between 350 and 400 pounds to profile a wheel while attached to a railcar or locomotive on a track, the method comprising:
- raising the wheel from a first rail of the track while allowing other wheels to engage the track, the other wheels being a set of wheels associated with the wheel;
- attaching the cutting system to at least a portion of the track using a bottom plate, wherein the cutting system has a top surface for a positioning system, the top surface being disposed at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with respect to a base and disposed above the first rail and below a center point of the wheel;
- and
- profiling the wheel in accordance with a stored profile in the cutting system.
A system with an adjustable height between 11 and 17 inches configured to profile a first wheel of a first pair of wheels mounted on an axle and disposed on a track with a first rail and a second rail in accordance with an electronically stored profile, wherein the first wheel is raised while allowing one or more second pairs of wheels to engage the track, the system comprising:
- a bottom plate disposed parallel to a ground with a mounting mechanism;
- a cutting tool disposed at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with respect to the bottom plate and disposed above the track and configured to engage the first wheel;
- a positioning system configured to position the cutting tool;
- and
- a control configured to control the positioning system, wherein the positioning system is controlled so that the first wheel is profiled to the electronically stored profile, wherein the cutting tool and the positioning system are disposed at an angle above the first rail and below a center point of the first wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.