Friction wedge for railroad car truck
AssigneeWabtec Corporation
InventorGiuseppe Sammartino
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A single-piece friction wedge for use in damping relative movement between a bolster and a side frame of a railroad car truck includes a generally horizontal bottom surface, a generally vertical front surface, and a back surface oriented at an acute primary angle with respect to the front surface. The back surface has first and second sloped surfaces which are angled toward each other. A damping system employing such a friction wedge includes a bolster pocket insert. The bolster pocket insert is configured to be at least partially received within a pocket of the bolster and has an inner face configured to engage the pocket of the bolster and an outer face configured to engage at least one of the first and second sloped surfaces of the back surface of the friction wedge.
Claims18
A single-piece friction wedge for use in damping relative movement between a bolster and a side frame of a railroad car truck, the friction wedge configured to be received between and spaced from side walls of a bolster pocket and comprising:
- a generally horizontal bottom surface;
- a generally vertical front surface;
- and
- a back surface oriented at an acute primary angle with respect to the front surface, wherein the back surface comprises first and second sloped surfaces which are angled toward each other with a valley therebetween.
A damping system for use in damping relative movement between a bolster and a side frame of a railroad car truck, the damping system comprising:
- a single-piece friction wedge comprising:
- a generally horizontal bottom surface;
- a generally vertical front surface;
- and
- a back surface oriented at an acute primary angle with respect to the front surface, wherein the back surface comprises first and second sloped surfaces which are angled toward each other with a valley therebetween;
- and
- a bolster pocket insert configured to be at least partially received within a pocket of the bolster and comprising
- an inner face configured to engage the pocket of the bolster;
- and
- an outer face configured to engage the first and second sloped surfaces of the back surface of the friction wedge and maintain the friction wedge spaced from side walls of the pocket of the bolster.
A single-piece friction wedge for use in damping relative movement between a bolster and a side frame of a railroad car truck, the friction wedge configured to be received between and spaced from side walls of a bolster pocket and comprising:
- a generally horizontal bottom surface;
- a pair of side surfaces configured to face the side walls of the bolster pocket;
- a generally vertical front surface;
- and
- a back surface oriented at an acute primary angle with respect to the front surface, the back surface comprising first and second sloped surfaces and a valley between the first and second sloped surfaces, wherein the first and second sloped surfaces:
- (a) are angled toward each other,
- (b) are each substantially flat,
- (c) are substantially identical mirror images of each other, and
- (d) define therebetween a secondary angle between approximately 90° and approximately 175°, wherein the valley defines the vertex of the secondary angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.