Abstract: One of several inventions claimed is a method of providing increased traction to the driving wheels of a high speed transportation vehicle. The vehicle is placed within a tubular passageway, equipped with wheels arranged to contact the tube at three or more equidistant contact points, and these wheels are pressed against the inside surface of the tube by means of controlled application of powerful hydraulic pressure. Vertical stability of the vehicle is achieved by a new apparatus comprised of a spoke attached to the vehicle which projects outward to a point adjacent to but not touching the tube, a set of wheels transversely mounted on each side of the spoke, and a pair of L-shaped guide rails between which the wheels roll. An improved wind resisting braking system is claimed which uses extendable baffle plates and air ports from which compressed air is ejected in a direction opposed to the direction of travel.

Abstract: A model train coupler for a truck having a pocket with an upright pivot pin, the coupler including a stem inserted endwise into the pocket and swingable on the pin, a laterally opening hook extending outwardly from the stem, an actuator depending from the closed side of the hook, and a guide extending resiliently from the stem partially across the open side of the hook, said hook having an outwardly convergent end portion for entering engagement between the hook and guide of a like coupler to interengage the hooks, and the actuator of a like coupler being engageable with a track cam to spread interengaging hooks laterally apart for uncoupling.

Abstract: A hollow trolley pole associated with an electrically propelled vehicle has an upper end portion and a lower end portion. A passageway extends downwardly through the trolley pole from the upper end portion to the lower end portion. A trolley wire contact shoe is mounted on the pole upper end portion and slides along an electric power line or trolley wire that is suspended, for example, from a mine roof in an underground mine. An electrical conductor extends from the contact show through the passageway to the lower end portion of the pole which is received within a socket-like connector which is spring mounted in a base member connected to the vehicle frame. The conductor is enclosed within an impact resistant flexible conduit that extends from the passageway in the lower end portion of the pole through the connector and the base member and into a contactor box for connection to a propulsion motor.

Abstract: A railway track working machine is equipped with a device for blocking the suspension of its axles, which device comprises, for each axle box a movable support sliding in a vertical guide fixed to the machine chassis and vertically displaced by a rod of a jack. Restoring springs ensure that the movable support bears against the rod of said jack. The movable support comprises a vertical stop, a transverse stop and two longitudinal stops intercepting during and at the end of the travel of the jack bearing members integral with the axle box in order to immobilize the latter in the vertical, transverse and longitudinal directions with respect to the chassis. This device is suitable for machines whose tools are generators of reaction forces which are capable to displace the machine chassis with respect to the railway track in the three aforementioned directions.

Abstract: There is disclosed a collator which can access a desired one of a plurality of recording medium bins at any timing and which allows a maximum utilization of the plurality of bins. The collator includes a transporter for transferring recording medium to bins, a deflector for guiding the recording medium to the selected bin, an empty detector for detecting an empty state of the recording medium in the bins, and a controller for controlling the operation of the deflector such that when a predetermined amount of recording media have been stored in the bin during the recording medium storage operation, the recording media are transferred to other storage, and when said empty detector detects that the recording media have been removed from the bin having the predetermined amount of recording media stored therein, the transport of the recording media to the emptied bin is permitted.

Abstract: There is described a vibrating railroad ballast tamping tool head which provides ease of replacement of tamping tools, in the field. The head according to a preferred embodiment has a tamping tool holder mounted centrally on the end of a tool drive shaft, a pair of spaced tamping tool-shank receiving sockets being provided in the holder one on either side of the drive shaft and open to the underside of the holder. A pair of tamping tools each having a lower ballast engaging working face and an upper shank are located by means of tapered bores and key ways within each of the sockets and a tamping tool retaining yoke engages the shanks of both tamping tools underneath the tool holder and locks the tools to the holder by means of a centrally disposed bolt which is received in a blind bolt hole in the holder and draws up to force the tools into the sockets and to lock them therein.

Abstract: An extensible electrical cable assembly for use in mechanisms requiring repeated reciprocal movements is disclosed. The assembly is comprised of a static housing and resiliently stressable flat cable, the cable being wrapped in a coil around a hub in the housing. The cable has a first and second ends with electrical connectors thereon, and an intermediate portion, the first end being at the outer end of the coil and the second end being at the inner end of the coil. The cable is extensible upon movement of the first end of the cable away from the housing accompanied by withdrawal of the intermediate portion of the cable from the coil. The cable is in a resiliently lightly stressed condition as a result of its being coiled, the cable being capable of being further resiliently stressed whereby upon movement of the first end of the cable away from the housing, part of the intermediate portion of the cable is withdrawn from the coil, thus reducing the number of layers in the coil and drawing them toward the hub.

Abstract: A mobile track leveling machine comprises a pneumatic arrangement for introducing additional ballast into a gap between a track bed and a lifted track, which includes a storage container for the ballast, a vertically adjustable pipe arranged to receive ballast from the storage container and to be immersed in the track bed alongside a longitudinal edge of a respective track tie, the pipe having a tapered end for ready penetration into the track bed and a flattened side defining an outlet for the additional ballast facing the longitudinal tie edge. Compressed air is delivered into the pipe for moving the additional ballast therethrough and out of the outlet.

Abstract: A chain cap is provided for forming a stable load suitable for vehicular travel from a plurality of elongate articles. A plurality of the chain caps are provided for encompassing the elongate articles. Each of the chain caps are provided with interfitting surfaces which interlock when the chain caps are stacked, tie bar surfaces which define tie bar channels extending between adjacent chain caps and conformal surfaces for engaging the elongate articles. Each of the elongate articles is engaged by at least a pair of the chain caps, the conformal surfaces of the chain caps engaging opposing sides of the elongate articles. A first planar array of the elongate articles is established, the elongate articles being disposed in a roughly parallel relationship with pairs of chain caps being adjacently disposed for defining a tie bar channel therebetween. A tie bar is mounted in the tie bar channel, the tie bar extending between adjacent pairs of chain caps.

Abstract: A support system for a railroad track is described specifically adapted for the improvement of railroad subgrade performance. A plurality of vertically disposed piles are positioned below the ties and the rails of the track so that loads imposed on the cross ties will be distributed into the subgrade by the piles. The piles are preferably comprised of cementitious material. Each of the piles is comprised of a cylindrical stem portion having a funnel-shaped head portion at the upper end thereof. In one form of the invention, the cross ties rest upon the upper end of the head portion of the piles. In another form of the invention, a ballast material is positioned between the cross ties and the upper ends of the piles.

Abstract: A collapsible, corrugated damage prevention device for separating freight in transit in railroad cars, trucks, and the like is provided and includes an outer tube like member and a collapsible spreader core inside the outer tube and at right angles to the sides of the outer tube. One version provides an outer tube like member and a second tube like member inside and at right angles to the outer tube. Another version provides a U-shaped outer section with outwardly extending flanges covered with a cap sheet to provide a hollow interior. The sides of the void filler are scored to allow each side to be easily folded outwardly from the core member thus disposing the entire device in a flat configuration which can be easily stored when not in use.

Abstract: An electric rerailer provided with guide ways for guiding a motor-driven vehicle of a model railway onto a pair of rails, in which the surfaces of the guide ways are formed by electric conductors electrically isolated from each other and used respectively for the left and right wheels of the vehicle, and the conductors are capable of being electrically contacted with the rails for the left and right wheels respectively. The guide ways are formed on inclined or horizontal surfaces of the rerailer base, and the rerailer base is capable of being releasably mounted on the rails or being connected between ends of the rails.

Abstract: A railway track working machine is provided with a vibratory ballast surface compactor. The compactor has a top ballast engaging plate and a second ballast engaging plate arranged to work in association with top ballast plate (hinged or otherwise) along an outer longitudinal edge of the top plate. The top plate has a leading edge and a trailing edge and a ballast compacting under-surface, the leading edge being wider in a direction tranversely of the track than the trailing edge and the compactor is mounted so as to present, in ballast compacting operation, the top plate leading edge at a higher level above the ballast surface than the trailing edge, the under-surface of the top plate sloping rearwardly in the direction of track working from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The trailing edge is adjusted, in operation, so as to be located at a selected level for ballast compaction.

Abstract: Apparatus for transferring power from the battery of a service vehicle to the battery of a second vehicle, wherein the final connection between the batteries is made from a remote location via a radio transmitter and a receiver which is mounted in the casing of the apparatus to actuate a solenoid in response to a signal from the transmitter. The circuit between the solenoid and the receiver includes a transistor to control current through the solenoid coil and the base of the transistor is connected to the battery of the second vehicle. Cables used to attach the apparatus to the second vehicle battery are wound on a spool having an interrupted ratchet on one end thereof, the ratchet engaging a ratchet lock that pivots in one direction to hold the reel when the reel is turned in one direction to pay out the battery cables and the ratchet lock pivoting in the other direction within a ratchet wheel interruption to permit free rotation of the reel in the opposite direction for retrieval of the cables on the reel.

Abstract: Apparatus for the conversion of a vehicle from conventional road use to use on railroad tracks is provided and comprises a support arm attached to the vehicle frame at one end and to the vehicle suspension adjacent the axle at the other end, a base plate pivotally mounted on the support arm, a railway wheel axle with associated wheels secured to the base plate, a hydraulic cylinder operable to swing the railway wheel from a retracted position to an extended position and back, a securing notch formed in the base plate, a securing pin extending from the hydraulic cylinder through the base plate and being adapted to cooperate with the securing notch to maintain the railway wheel in the extended position, and a guide bar in the extended position engaging the inside sidewall of the vehicle highway tire to maintain straight ahead tire orientation.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for obtaining a temperature profile of a moving substrate, particularly a fabric web moving through a linear drying or heat-setting oven. Without arresting fabric movement, a temperature sensing probe, preferably a thermocouple mounted on a support, is placed in engagement with a specific point of the fabric web, sharpened pins on the support, penetrating and engaging the web. The temperature probe is connected by a wire to a reel. The reel has a handle held by the operator about which the reel rotates to let out and take up the wire while providing electrical continuity between the wire and a stationary recorder. Level unwinding of the wire takes place from the reel as the probe moves with the fabric through the oven, the probe continuously monitoring the temperature of the specific fabric point and feeding signals back to the recorder through the wire.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for power collection and for control f motors on a chassis of overhead trolleys. The apparatus includes a casing for receiving the control device, which is detachably mounted on the rear side of the overhead trolley chassis by means of a groove-snap lock. The casing is provided on its front side with a receiving device for receiving carbon brushes which engage the power tracks and serve to supply the power.

Abstract: A primary suspension spring disposed between a wheel journal and a railway truck side frame includes top and bottom elastomeric members which form a ring around the journal. Both members include a relatively large cut-away portion towards their centers to provide soft vertical and longitudinal spring rates for a car body. Relatively small amounts of elastomeric material are disposed longitudinally towards the front and rear of the large cut-away portions towards the tangents of the wheel journal.

Abstract: A drum tie-down apparatus for securing drum-like containers in an upright position to a floor or platform of a transportation vehicle having spaced apart cargo tie-down points. The apparatus comprises a pair of cylindrical, hollow tube segments horizontally oriented and engageable with a drum lid adjacent opposite rim edges, flexible strap segments for connecting upper and lower central portions of the tube segments together across the drum lid and a pair of elongated flexible tie-down segments, one extending horizontally through each of the tube segments, the ends thereof being attached to said spaced apart tie-down points such that end portions of the pair of tie-down segments extend downwardly and radially outwardly from the tube segments to the tie-down points.

Abstract: A connection for connecting a pair of rail members end to end, each rail member having a base, web, and a railhead. The connection comprises a tongue projecting endwise from the railhead of one rail member into a slot in the railhead of the other rail member, with the top of the tongue generally flush with the top of the railheads and the bottom of the tongue slidable on the other rail member for transmitting loads applied to the top of the railheads. The connection further comprises a longitudinally extending end projection on the other rail member slidable in a recess in the one rail member. The end projection is engageable with the one rail member for limiting the extent of the relative longitudinal movement and for transmitting tension force along the rail members. The connection transmits longitudinal, lateral and downward vertical loads on the rail members while allowing thermal expansion of the rail members, and presents a continuous load bearing surface along the top of the railheads.