US 4,187,600 AGranted

Apparatus for machining railroad truck bolsters

AssigneeTrailer Train Company

InventorsRichard P. Yeates, Boris S. Terlecky, Jagdish K. Shah

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Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus for machining the bolster bowl surface, the bolster pocket surfaces, the fulcrum pin hole surface and the bolster gib surfaces of railroad truck bolsters. The apparatus includes a base, a fixture mounted for rotation on the base and clamps on the fixture for clamping the bolster rigidly to the fixture. A locating template is utilized to properly position the bolster on the fixture, and once properly positioned and clamped, the fixture can be rotated and locked in a plurality of different positions to permit machining of the various surfaces. To machine the bolster pocket surfaces, the fulcrum pin hole surface, and the bolster gibs, a first machining (milling) head is provided that is movable along three perpendicular axes. To accomplish machining of the bolster bowl surface, a second machining (boring/facing) head is provided that is pre-aligned so that once the bolster is properly positioned with the locating template, the second machining head need only be moved along one axis to machine the bolster bowl. The second machining head has a combination boring and facing tool mounted thereon which can accomplish both a boring and facing operation simultaneously to machine the bolster bowl in a single operation.

Claims11

Dependent claims

An apparatus for machining railroad wheel truck bolsters comprising:

a base;
a fixture mounted for rotation about an axis on said base, said fixture including clamp means to clamp the truck bolster on said fixture in a predetermined position;
rotating means for rotating said fixture about said axis to different predetermined positions so that the truck bolster may be oriented in proper position for machining various critical surfaces of the bolster;
lock means for locking said fixture in a selected one of said predetermined positions;
a first machining head mounted on one side of said fixture for sliding movement in a first direction horizontally and parallel to the axis of rotation of said fixture, in a second direction horizontally and perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of said fixture, and in a third direction vertically and perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of said fixture so that certain of said various critical surfaces of the bolster can be machined by said first machining head when said fixture is in certain ones of said predetermined position;
a second machining head mounted on the other side of said fixture for movement in a direction horizontally and perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of said fixture, said machining head having a combined boring and facing tool mounted for rotation on said machining head said boring and facing tool adapted to machine the bolster bowl surface of the bolster when said fixture is in one of said predetermined positions.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.