Gear case for locomotive drive system
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorPaul R. Bien
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gear case comprises three parts: upper and lower sections of heavy duty castings or fabricated steel, the lower section having an open bottom, and a light gauge sheet metal pan enclosing the bottom of the lower section. Alternatively, the upper and lower sections comprise a one piece rigid housing open at the bottom. The pan is wider than the upper and lower sections to afford extra lubricant capacity. A molded baffle resides in the pan to separate active from reserve volumes of lubricant. The heavy duty sections have machined openings to receive seals and afford dimensional stability. The sheet metal pan is collapsible to take the consequences of impact in case of minor derailment and is easily repaired or replaced.
Claims9
In a locomotive drive system having an axle mounted rail engaging wheel and an axle hung traction motor and gears connecting the motor with the axle, a gear case enclosing the gears and having a lower part extending close to the rail level and subject to damage by impact to the lower part, the gear case comprising:
- a rigid main housing open at its bottom;
- a collapsible pan enclosing the open bottom of the main housing extending close to rail level and collapsible upon impact so that impact damage to the bottom of the gear case is confined to the collapsible pan and such damage is not extended to the rigid main housing.
In a locomotive drive system having an axle mounted rail engaging wheel and an axle hung traction motor and gears connecting the motor with the axle, a gear case enclosing the gears and having a lower part extending close to the rail level and subject to damage by impact to the lower part, the gear case comprising:
- a rigid upper section open at its bottom;
- a rigid lower section having an open top and bottom and joined at the top to the upper section;
- and
- a collapsible pan enclosing the open bottom of the lower section extending close to rail level and collapsible upon substantial impact so that impact damage to the bottom of the gear case is confined to the collapsible pan and such damage is not extended to the rigid sections.
In a locomotive drive system having a rail engaging wheel axle mounted traction motor and drive gears connecting the motor and axle, a gear case for enclosing the drive gears and containing gear lubricant, the gear case having a lower part extending close to the rail level and subject to damage by impact, the gear case comprising:
- rigid upper and lower main casing sections secured together at a mating plane and having machined lateral openings adapted to contain seals for driving and driven shafts;
- the lower casing section having an open bottom terminating in a mounting flange;
- and
- said lower part comprising a collapsible sheet metal section removably attached to the mounting flange for enclosing the bottom of the lower casing and extending close to rail level, whereby damage to the lowest part of the gear case is repairable by replacing the sheet metal section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.