1. Technical Field
The present embodiments relate generally to the field of railroad couplers, and more specifically, to the manufacturing of a railway coupler knuckle.
2. Related Art
Railcar couplers are disposed at each end of a railway car to enable joining one end of such railway car to an adjacently disposed end of another railway car. The engageable portion of each of these couplers is known in the railway art as a knuckle.
Typically a knuckle is manufactured with three cores, commonly referred to as a finger core in the front portion of the knuckle, pivot pin core in the center of the knuckle, and a kidney core at the rear of a knuckle. The finger core and kidney core reduce the weight of the knuckle. Still, knuckles can weigh about 80 pounds, and must be carried from the locomotive at least part of the length of the train during replacement. This distance can be anywhere from 25 up to 100 or more railroad cars in length.
Coupler knuckles are generally manufactured from cast steel using a mold and the three cores. During the casting process itself, the interrelationship of the mold and three cores disposed within the mold are critical to producing a satisfactory railway freight car coupler knuckle. Many knuckles fail from internal and/or external inconsistencies in the metal through the knuckle. If one or more cores move during the casting process, then some knuckle walls may end up thinner than others resulting in offset loading and increased failure risk during use of the knuckle.
Furthermore, multiple thin ribs have been located within a front face section associated with a finger cavity at the front of the knuckle. These multiple, thin ribs are known to be a source of premature failure of the couple knuckles so designed.
In a first embodiment, a method for manufacturing a railcar coupler knuckle includes providing a cope mold portion and a drag mold portion, the cope and drag mold portions having internal walls defining at least in part perimeter boundaries of a coupler knuckle mold cavity, wherein the mold cavity includes a finger section; positioning at least one internal core within either the cope mold portion or the drag mold portion, the at least one internal core configured to define a kidney cavity and a pivot pin cavity within a coupler knuckle; closing the cope and drag mold portions with the single core therebetween; and at least partially filling the mold cavity with a molten alloy, the molten alloy solidifying after filling to form the coupler knuckle, wherein the at least one core defines the kidney and pivot pin cavities, and the finger section of the mold cavity defines at least one finger cavity of the coupler knuckle.
In a second embodiment, the invention comprises a railroad coupler knuckle having a single, solid rib at a horizontal centerline of the knuckle that passes through a pivot pin hub thereof, wherein the single, solid rib extends generally from a flag hole of a finger cavity of the knuckle to an opposite side of the knuckle from the flag hole.
In a third embodiment, the invention comprises a railcar coupler knuckle, having a tail section, a hub section, and a nose section, the tail, hub, and nose sections defining internal cavities comprising (i) a combined void that defines a pivot pin hub and a kidney cavity and (ii) an isolated finger cavity, the combined void formed using a first internal core during manufacturing of the coupler knuckle, and the isolated finger cavity formed using a second internal core during manufacturing of the coupler knuckle, such that molten allow substantially separates the combined void and the isolated finger cavity.
The system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like-referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
In some cases, well known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail. Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It will also be readily understood that the components of the embodiments as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.
Referring to
The front face section 24 includes a nose section 52, which includes a generally cylindrical flag hole 54 opening formed in an end region of the nose section 52. A pulling face portion 58 is disposed inwardly from nose section 52, at least a portion of which bears against a similar surface of a coupler knuckle of an adjacent railcar to couple the railcars together as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The cope mold section 210 and the drag mold section 250 include mold cavities 212 and 252, respectively, into which a molten alloy is poured to cast the coupler knuckle. Mold cavities 212 and 252 are configured to correspond to the desired external surfaces of the coupler knuckle to be manufactured using cope and drag mold sections 210 and 250. The combined (first internal) pivot pin and kidney core 10, 12 is positioned with the cope or drag mold such as to be isolated from, and without contact with, the finger core 14, or second internal core. The result is that, after the molding process, molten alloy substantially separates the finger cavity 40 from the pivot pin hub section 22.
At step 310, the combined pivot pin and kidney core (first internal core) is positioned within either the cope mold portion or the drag mold portion. The first internal core is configured to define a kidney cavity and a pivot pin hub within a coupler knuckle. For example, a single core may be used that includes a pivot pin portion and a kidney portion that form the pivot pin hub and kidney cavity, respectively, but as a single void in the knuckle 16.
At step 320, the isolated finger core (second internal core) is positioned within either the cope mold portion or the drag mold portion to define a finger cavity. At step 330, the cope and drag mold portions are closed with the one or two internal cores therebetween using any suitable machinery. At step 340, the mold cavity including the one or two internal cores is at least partially filled, using any suitable machinery, with a molten alloy which solidifies to form the coupler knuckle.
Some of the steps illustrated in
The terms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations can be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the disclosed embodiments. For example, the steps of the method need not be executed in a certain order, unless specified, although they may have been presented in that order in the disclosure. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims (and their equivalents) in which all terms are to be understood in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. Nos. 61/055,459 filed May 23, 2008, and 61/055,805 filed May 23, 2008, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61055459 | May 2008 | US | |
61055805 | May 2008 | US |