Railway car wheelset and rails therefore
OwnerThomas Aldingtoninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved railway car wheelset having a novel wheel configuration that permits greatly improved performance on existing and improved track. This means that substantially higher rolling speeds can be achieved without loss of stability and while maintaining the ability of the wheelset to self center and self steer. The improved performance is enabled primarily by forming the track engaging surface of each wheel of the wheelset with an outward arcuate projection also referred to herein as the convex annular portion of the wheel. This wheel configuration operates to reduce the magnitude of the effects that occur when disturbances cause the wheelset to deviate from centered position on the track.
Claims6
A railway car wheel having a basically frusto-conical shape, the wheel having inner and outer sides, the wheel being formed with an annular curved convex protrusion extending radially outward from the basic frusto-conical shape at a location intermediate the inner and outer sides of the wheel, said annular curved convex protrusion forming the tread surface of the wheel.
A railway car wheelset comprising a pair of variable diametered wheels and an axle, the wheels having inner and outer sides and being respectively secured at their inner sides to the opposite ends of the axle for rolling in unison therewith, each of said wheels having a basically frusto-conical shape and being formed with an annular curved convex protrusion extending radially outward from the basic frusto-conical shape intermediate the wheel inner and outer sides, said annular curved convex protrusion forming the tread surface of the wheel.
In combination, a railway car wheelset and a pair of rails forming a railway track, the wheelset comprising an axle and a pair of variable diametered wheels of substantially frusto-conical configuration each having an inner and an outer side, the wheels being adapted to roll on the rails and being respectively secured at their inner sides to the opposite ends of the axle for rolling in unison therewith, each of the track rails having a crowned rolling surface, the tread surface of each wheel being formed with an annular curved convex protrusion, the gage tolerance of the wheelset being within the gage tolerance of the rails of the track.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.