Abstract: A primary suspension system for a railway car comprises one or more leaf springs configured to provide vertical and horizontal portions for vertical and longitudinal compliance. A portion of the leaf spring is curved to wrap around a portion on the wheel journal bearing and rest on the top thereof.

Abstract: A pair of adjustment plates are disposed below a mechanical spring which supports a car body. At least one of the adjustment plates include spaced stepped portions to engage a portion of the other plate with the stepped portion engaged determining the height of the car. When the car load is removed from the springs, the relative positions of the plates may be selectively changed to adjust the height of the car body. A shock absorber is connected inside the mechanical spring and removable through the adjustment plates.

Abstract: Suspension for a rail vehicle disc brake unit (1) comprises a suspension console (11) to be attached to a vehicle bogie or underframe, a cradle (13) movably attached to the console, and suspension links (17, 18) pivotally connecting the brake pad holders (6) to the cradle. A further supporting connection (19-21) is provided between the console and the brake unit. In order to obtain the desired mobility for the brake disc during braking there is between the console (11) and the cradle (13) a joint (14), which is stiff in the brake force transmission direction but comparatively resilient in other directions. The supporting connection (19-21) has basically the same properties.

Abstract: A suspension system for rail vehicles which have at least two wheelsets hng axles which are supported in a frame and within which a cross member extends parallel to the axles. The cross member is supported in the vehicle frame in a spring-cushioned manner wherein the frame with the integrated cross member consists essentially of an H-shaped part made of resiliently elastic fiber-reinforced material.

Abstract: A primary suspension system is disposed between a journal bearing assembly carrying a wheel-axle assembly and a side frame of a railway truck. A rubber ring having cut-away portions or openings therein is bonded to inner and outer split metal rings. The inner ring is retained by the journal assembly and the outer ring is retained by the side frame.

Abstract: A primary suspension system is disposed between a wheel journal bearing and a side frame of a railway truck to minimize acceleration forces from being transmitted from a wheel axle unit to a car body. A pair of elastomeric members form a ring clamped around the journal bearing and are bonded to multiple outer plates disposed in different planes. Relatively low spring rates are provided when one set of outer multiple plates are operative with relatively high spring rates being provided when the elastomeric members are compressed and the inner multiple plates become operative.

Abstract: A multi-rate side bearing for a railway truck is provided. The side bearing comprises a base plate and an upper plate, with two resilient devices located between the base plate and the upper plate. The resilient devices usually are elastomeric pads of different compression rates and shear stiffness. Under unloaded car conditions, only one pad is in load supporting contact, but under loaded car conditions, both resilient devices contact the upper and base plates to provide load support and car body-truck motion damping.

Abstract: The bearing housing of a railway vehicle includes a pair of stop members spaced from respective pedestals of the truck frame and engageable with such pedestals to absorb lateral thrust loads upon relative movement between the bearing housings and truck frame. Each stop member includes an elastomer pad mounted to the bearing housing and a wear plate engageable with the pedestal of the truck frame.

Abstract: A laminated mount for a railway vehicle suspension system is provided in which a body of elastomer is disposed between a top and bottom plate, and is divided into a plurality of individual layers by shims embedded at spaced intervals therewithin. Pins extend between the undercarriage of the vehicle and a bearing plate which is embedded between two layers of elastomer such that at least one layer of elastomer is disposed between the bearing plate and the bottom plate. The pins extend through selected layers of elastomer and effectively prevent them from deflecting in shear in response to lateral and/or longitudinal movements of the vehicle. This enables the mount herein to be designed with the combination of a relatively stiff shear spring rate to provide stability of the vehicle, and a soft compression spring rate to provide flexibility in response to vertical movements of the vehicle for wheel load equalization.

Abstract: A bogie truck car body support system wherein a car body is directly supported on a truck frame by bolster springs, the system including a link arranged longitudinally of the car body and connected at one end to a link support which is fixed to the car body by a play-free shock absorber and at the other end to a pin through a play-free shock absorber and a bush rotatably fitted on the pin. The car body has neither the bush nor center pin directly connected thereto which might become wobbly. The system can be readily assembled and disassembled and is capable of reducing vibration and noise transmitted from the truck to the car body.

Abstract: The present invention teaches an intermodal rail-highway transport system for trailer-containers, in which unequalled economy measured in tons per mile per hour per dollar is achieved. Damage-free shipments with reduced loads per axle and unrestricted main line clearances through tunnels are facilitated with a system that utilizes an integral universal system interchange where trailer-containers, whose adjacent ends are supported torsion-free for linehaul via upstanding kingpins integral with centerplates suspended in tandem axle rail support trucks, are assembled into or broken from train-formation configurations by means of elevating shuttle means described in detail below.

Abstract: A secondary suspension system includes a pair of air springs connected between the bolster of a truck and the car body. The air springs are disposed at angles extending inwardly from opposite ends of the bolster towards the center of the car body to provide both vertical and lateral suspension for the car body.

Abstract: A side bearing comprises integrally bonded pieces including an elastomeric cushion member secured to top and bottom plates and flexible leveling means secured to the bottom plate. The bearing is designed for connection between the bolster and truck side frames of a railway car. The elastomeric member includes progressively larger openings therein extending from its center to its ends to provide varying flexibility to permit articulation of the truck side frames relative to the bolster during operation.

Abstract: A primary suspension system is disposed between the axle on journal bearings and the sideframe of a truck. Flexible means, secured to the sideframe, extends around and is spaced from the axle on journal bearings. A circular structure supports the axle and journal bearings, and includes a portion extending radially away from the axis of said axle into the center of said flexible means and is attached to two spaced surfaces which also extend radially away from the axis of the axle.

Abstract: An arrangement for controlling car body roll in high capacity railroad freight cars, in accordance with which a hydro-pneumatic roll contact unit is incorporated in the car truck spring groups that support the respective truck bolsters. The roll control unit comprises a base housing defining a lower or outer cylinder having an upstanding piston rod structure equipped with a piston head that reciprocably mounts a tubular ram having a ram head that operates in the outer cylinder and defines an upper or inner cylinder in which the base housing piston head operates. An annular rolling seal is received in circumambient relation about and connected to both cylinders invaginating leak free relation thereto, which defines an annular reservoir about said cylinders with which both cylinders have communication.

Abstract: A bolster for carrying a car body rests transversely on a pair of side frames of a truck. A side bearer and wear plate assembly are disposed between the ends of the bolster and the side frames to permit the bolster to be rotated relatively about small angles with respect to the side frames. The side bearers each comprise a body having relatively low friction surfaces in engagement with the wear plates. Each of the low friction surfaces may include two or more parallel arcuate tracks or segments which may have radii corresponding to the directions of angular rotation movements of the bolster. The total surface area of the low friction surfaces is designed for optimum operation for predetermined load conditions.

Abstract: A rail vehicle is disclosed for use on an elevated electric rail system having a lower rail below the vehicle and an upper rail above the vehicle. The vehicle includes a pair of lower wheels having independently rotatable flanges rollably carrying a vehicle cab along the lower rail and an upper wheel having independently rotatable flanges rollably engaging the upper rail. Electric motors, energized through contacts carried on the vehicle by an electric circuit associated with the upper rail, are drivingly connected through drive belts to the respective lower wheel to propel the vehicle along the rail system. The vehicle also includes a clamping rail brake carried by a vehicle which is engagable on the lower rail, and a vertically and laterally extendable servo system secured to the vehicle and carrying the upper wheel.

Abstract: A pair of mechanical springs are disposed on an air spring on each side of a truck carrying a car body. A wide plank disposed between the pairs of mechanical springs and each of the air springs is pivoted to permit vertical movements without tilting of the air springs when the mechanical springs are deflected laterally. Shock absorber means are connected between the car body and bolster along the longitudinal axis of the bolster to control lateral shocks as when the mechanical springs are laterally deflected.Mechanical springs in railway cars have employed pairs of mechanical springs in series with pneumatic springs. Multiple mechanical springs, in series with pneumatic springs, have included a heavy outer coil spring and an inner lighter coil spring coaxially nested with the heavy outer spring used to keep the stress levels on the individual springs relatively low. This arrangement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. 3,491,702 to A. G. Dean entitled "Series Pneumatic and Coil Spring Assembly".

Abstract: A railway car includes prime movers mounted to a car body directly connected to pairs of gear boxes to drive pairs of axles mounted on a pair of trucks, with direct connections between the gear boxes and the connections being such so as to permit independent removal of the trucks from the prime movers and to facilitate the installation of interchangeable variable speed drives.

Abstract: A piston and cylinder motion dampening device having spiral groove metering, an orificed two-way pressure relief valve or a screw-on spring or an over-extension limiting seal retainer.A push-together method of assembling a piston and cylinder motion dampening device.A motion dampening device with a baffle chamber. A method of dampening the motion between two members utilizing a piston and cylinder motion dampening device having spiral groove means, a fixed orifice means and a two-way valve means to meter the fluid contained in the motion dampening device.

Abstract: A rail vehicle having a driving bogie frame and a vehicle frame, in which these frames are interconnected by means of supporting springs and at least one of the end faces of said frames are interconnected by air springs. The air springs communicate with a source of compressed air through a conduit system having two branch lines respectively connected to the interior of the air springs while adjustable pressure control valves are respectively arranged in these branch lines. The two branch lines are interconnected by a conduit having an adjustable throttle valve interposed therein. Depending on the respective driving direction of the vehicle by adjusting the valves in the branch lines a differential pressure is established between the air pressures in the air springs connected to the branch lines so that the respective end of the bogie frame is pulled up or pressed down so that the wheel set relief is compensated for.

Abstract: An emergency run guide assembly for the axles of a bogie frame for rail cars which have axle boxes and wich have spring leaf guide rods for the axle guidance of bogies which are secured at their one ends on the bogie frame and at their other ends on the axle boxes, and which guide rods are subjected to breakage, comprises a secondary guide system including bushings secured vertically on the bogie frame and having a central bushing wall. An axle box housing on the axle of the bogies is provided with a bore for the vertical mounting of a bolt thereon. A cylindrical sleeve member has an open bottom end and an opposite top closed end with a bore therethrough and it is mounted on the bolt with its open end downwardly. The walls of the sleeve member are spaced radially outwardly of the bolt and radially inwardly of the cylindrical bushing wall and the sleeve member is secured to the bolt by means of a locking screw which extends through the opening of the sleeve member and is threaded into the bolt.

Abstract: A springing system for a rail vehicle having a frame and a wheel bearing, has two substantially vertical spring elements connectable with the frame or the wheel bearing and located at both sides of the latter, two resiliently yieldable bushings each connected with the respective spring element and located between the latter and the wheel bearing or the frame, respectively, and two resiliently yieldable intermediate elements each located intermediate one of the bushings and the wheel bearing or the frame, respectively. Each of the bushings together with the respective intermediate element forms a stop for absorbing a longitudinal force which is produced during acceleration or deceleration of the veicle. The springing system also provides for a radial adjustment of the wheels of the vehicle under the action of a friction force between the wheels and the rails when the vehicle moves along a curved path.

Abstract: A main body member having a head member bolted to one end defines the primary cylinder end portion of a single-ended hydraulic cylinder. A piston rod bearing insert is pressed into the main body bore which defines a cylinder bore. A piston is bolted to a piston rod which extends upwardly through the bearing insert. The piston rod bearing, piston and rod define the primary rod end portion of the single-ended hydraulic cylinder. The above mentioned components define the entire primary structure of a single-ended hydraulic cylinder system and as such provides the entire primary load bearing circuit of a hydraulic cylinder system. A housing member fits about a part of the main body member and the two define a hydraulic fluid reservoir. The piston return spring is an external spring surrounding the piston rod.

Abstract: A load-carrying railway truck having a longitudinal axis in its direction of travel and including at least one load-bearing member for supporting a load; a pair of live wheelsets supporting the load-bearing member, each wheelset being so mounted in the truck and having such a profile that it is substantially self-steering; means interconnecting the wheelsets to transmit yawing and lateral movements of either wheelset in the opposite sense to the other wheelset; and elastic elements suspending the load to the wheelsets, at least some of the elastic elements having a lateral stiffness in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the truck which is lower than the stiffness provided by them in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis.

Abstract: A radial axle railway truck has a pair of wheel and axle assemblies with profiled wheel treads of greater than conventional conicity to steer the assemblies by means of the differential effect of the inner and outer wheel diameters on curved track, the axle bearings are located inboard of the wheels, and the truck frame side members are correspondingly located inboard of the wheels and there supported on the axle bearings such that longitudinally acting resilient restraint means between the axle bearings and the truck frame resist substantial movements of the axles longitudinally of the truck frame while offering only limited resistance as a couple to steering movements of the axles with respect to the truck frame because of the relatively short transverse moment arm between the longitudinally acting resilient means.

Abstract: This invention provides a railway wagon suspension unit comprising a frame mounted over a saddle accommodating an axle journal housing. The saddle can rock laterally relative to the journal housing. Suspension means are disposed between the frame and the saddle including load springs for vertical support, and a friction wedge block is mounted on the saddle and firmly biassed against the axle journal housing to provide substantially constant frictional forces against lateral motion between the saddle and the housing independently of vertical movement or loading of the frame. In this manner lateral restraints imposed on wheel set oscillations during service are not load sensitive as has been the case with some wedge-pot dampers and other suspensions hitherto.

Abstract: A railway car suspension which includes a coil and pneumatic spring arrangement wherein the pneumatic spring means is disposed lowermost on a truck frame to absorb vertical jolts and absorption of lateral loads, together with stabilizing means between the upper end of the pneumatic spring means and the spring supporting body; and in which the coil spring means is disposed uppermost and arranged to take full loading in case of failure of the pneumatic spring means.

Abstract: A railcar unit includes a pair of railcars, each having a car body supported by single-axle, forward and rearward trucks which are pivotally mounted to the car bodies. Conventional drawbars couple the car bodies and independent, interconnectable members connect the trucks of the adjacent railcars for rotational and longitudinal relative movement while maintaining the truck axles in parallel alignment.

Abstract: A truck is provided with a torsionally compliant transverse member connecting to transversely spaced side frames. The side frames are suspended on the axles by a spring suspension system of generally cylindrical elastomer elements and a combined damping system. Both springing and damping are generally exponentially variable relative to increases in the load in the railcar. A central pivot pin transfers lateral and longitudinal loads between the truck and the car body without transferring substantial vertical loads. The center pin mounting in the torsionally compliant member is compliant. Vertical loads are transferred between the car body and the truck by omni-directional vertically-incompressible low friction side bearings.

Abstract: A railway truck side bearing and more particularly an improved side bearing utilizing elastomeric means and intermediate thereof a cylindrical rolled steel bearing means to control railway freight vehicle hunting.

Abstract: A truck for a vehicle, especially a railway car, comprising a plurality of pairs of wheels for running on rails, a plurality of axles respectively interconnecting the wheels of a pair of wheels, a cross-beam extending substantially parallel to the axles, a plurality of rocker arms, and a plurality of ball joint-type means connecting the rocker arms to the cross-beam and to the plurality of axles, respectively, whereby the axles may carry out pendulum movements in substantially vertical and horizontal directions relative to the rails, and spring means interposed between the cross-beam and the rocker arms permitting movement of the latter in the mentioned directions.

Abstract: A railway vehicle bogie comprising a main transverse beam and two axles each carrying a pair of wheels, each axle being linked to the beam by two radius arms, one on each side of the bogie, each radius arm being pivoted to the respective axle and to the beam in a manner permitting vertical and lateral swinging of each arm relative to the beam, and a leaf spring at each side of the bogie, each leaf spring being fixed at its center to the transverse beam and having each of its two ends linked to a respective radius arm by a respective unit, each unit comprising a wire cable which is secured to the radius arm and to the leaf spring, and abutments which are attached to the radius arm and which engage the cable between the radius arm and the leaf spring when the radius arm is swung laterally relatively to the transverse beam of the bogie.

Abstract: A rail vehicle, especially a passenger train car for high-speed trains provided with air springs associated with each swivel truck in symmetry with the longitudinal central plane, their distance from center to center being so much smaller than the track gauge of the wheels that, if one air spring bellows fails, the weight of the car body will be distributed to the wheels in such a manner that the unloading of the wheels on the one side will not be such as to create the danger of derailment. To stabilize the car body the latter is joined to the swivel truck frame by a resilient linkage which permits vertical movements of the car body but opposes any lateral tilt of the car body by means of a resilient force. The resilient linkage is able to cause the car body to tilt towards the inside of curves when the car is negotiating curves. The swivel truck can be designed either as a driving or as a non-driving truck.

Abstract: An improved railway truck for providing non-contact active support between the unsprung and the sprung elements as well as lateral stability and banking of vehicles used in surface supported transportation systems having unsprung surface contacting elements, sprung load carrying elements, magnetic force fields, inertial and position sensing elements mounted on the sprung element and a non-linear feedback circuit for actively varying the strength of the force field to maintain a relatively stable air gap between the unsprung and sprung elements while also holding the sprung element to a smooth course notwithstanding irregular surface conditions encountered by the surface contacting elements or variations in loading on the load carrying element.

Abstract: A side bearing for railroad cars having a body portion of hard elastomeric material and a base for attachment to the truck bolster of a railroad car. The upper bearing surface when the bearing is unloaded is flat, outwardly convex, or outwardly concave, providing the bearing with strain distribution characteristics under load that minimize heat build-up and permanent deformation of the side bearing.

Abstract: A rail vehicle is carried by two-axled bogies pivoted to it, four shock absorbers only for damping the movements of the body of the vehicle are arranged between the body and each bogie; these are placed on both sides of the transverse and logitudinal axes of the bogie at a relatively great distance from the transverse axis and are arranged at an angle to the horizontal.