Truck boltser with laterally wider friction show pocket and mechanism for lateral travel of the friction shoe

A friction shoe assembly for use in a railway truck assembly, said truck assembly including a pair of longitudinally extending railcar sideframes, each of said sideframes aligned and laterally spaced from each other, each of said sideframes including a transversely disposed opening, said openings in transverse alignment with each other for receiving a transversely extending bolster therebetween, said bolster having a pair of distal ends, each of said distal ends provided with a pair of opposed and laterally wider friction shoe pockets for retaining at least one friction shoe assembly, each of said pockets extending inwardly from said top and side walls of said bolster,

• each of said pockets including a horizontally disposed floor with laterally extending front, central, and rear portions, and an inboard side and an outboard side, said central portion of a transverse and laterally greater extent than said front and rear portions, and said front and rear portions of substantially equal transverse and lateral extents,
• said inboard side of said floor having a first sloped friction wall attached to said floor front portion, a second sloped friction wall attached to said floor rear portion, and a vertically extending back wall attached to said floor central portion,
• said vertical back wall of a lateral extent substantially equal to said lateral extent of said floor central portion, said first sloped friction wall and said second sloped friction wall of a lateral extent substantially equal to said lateral extent of said floor front and rear portions, each of said first and second friction walls sloping from said bolster top wall downwardly and generally inwardly towards said back wall, said friction shoe assembly comprising:
• a friction shoe having a central base portion;
• and
• a friction shoe biasing spring having a top end and a bottom end,
• said central base portion interconnecting a pair of winged portions such that said base and winged portions define a friction shoe bottom surface, said base portion including a vertically extending hollow shaft which terminates at a roof, wherein said spring top end is inserted into said shaft for contact with said roof and said spring bottom end outwardly extending beyond said friction shoe bottom surface in resting contact upon said friction shoe pocket floor such that said friction shoe bottom surface is upwardly biased off said floor and wherein said friction shoe winged portions are upwardly biased into engagement with said corresponding sloped friction shoe pocket friction surfaces;
• and
• means connected to said friction shoe spring for promoting lateral sliding of said friction shoe assembly within said laterally wider bolster friction shoe pocket when said railcar encounters lateral acceleration, wherein said means overcomes static friction forces between said friction shoe assembly and said friction shoe pocket wall surfaces before said biasing spring experiences buckling, thereby providing isolation of said railcar truck assembly from said car body.

A railway car truck bolster which promotes displacement of a friction shoe assembly along a lateral axis of a bolster friction shoe pocket while said assembly is retained within said pocket, said bolster transversely extending between a pair of longitudinally spaced truck assembly sideframes, said bolster comprising:

• an extended box like structure having a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall, sand a second sidewall, each of said first and second sidewall joining said top and bottom walls, said structure including distal ends at each lateral end of said structure;
• a first pair of spaced gibs on said first sidewall and a second pair of spaced gibs on said second sidewall, said first and second pairs of gibs proximate to each of said distal ends and in a opposed relationship such that said sideframe is held in position between said first and second pair of gibs;
• a friction shoe pocket located between each pair of spaced gibs, each of said friction shoe pockets extending inwardly from said top and respective said sidewall and defining a lateral distance which a friction shoe assembly can travel,
• wherein said spacing between each of said gib pairs defines a second lateral distance, said second lateral distance equal to said lateral distance which said friction shoe assembly can travel when inside said friction shoe pocket wherein said friction shoe assembly includes means for promoting lateral sliding of said friction shoe so that travel of said friction shoe assembly within said bolster friction shoe pocket decouples said truck assembly from said railcar at the bolster.