BACKGROUND

Various vehicles such as freight railroad cars in North America and other parts of the world have a car body and two spaced apart trucks. The car body or car body under frame includes two spaced apart center plates that respectively rest on and are rotatably or swivelly received by bolster bowls of the two trucks. The trucks rollingly support the car body along a path such as along railroad tracks. Each truck has a three piece truck configuration that includes two spaced apart parallel side frames and a bolster. The side frames extend in the same direction as the tracks, and the bolster extends transversely or laterally (such as perpendicularly) to the tracks. The bolster extends laterally through and between and is supported by the two spaced apart side frames. Each side frame defines a center opening and pedestal jaw openings on each side of the center opening. Each end of each bolster is supported by a spring group positioned in the center opening of the side frame and supported by the lower portion of the side frame that defines the center opening.

Each truck also includes two axles that support the side frames, four wheels, and four roller bearing assemblies respectively mounted on the ends of the axles. The truck further includes four bearing adapters respectively positioned on each roller bearing assembly in the respective pedestal jaw opening below the downwardly facing wall of the side frame that defines the top of the pedestal jaw opening. The wheel sets of the truck are thus received in bearing adapters placed in leading and trailing pedestal jaws in the side frames, so that axles of the wheel sets are generally parallel. The bearing adapters permit relatively slight angular displacement of the axles. The spring sets or groups permit the bolster to move somewhat with respect to the side frame, about longitudinal or horizontal, vertical, and transverse axes (and combinations thereof).

Directions and orientations herein refer to the normal orientation of a railroad car in use. Thus, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the “longitudinal” axis or direction is substantially parallel to straight tracks and in the direction of movement of the railroad car on the track in either direction. The “transverse” or “lateral” axis or direction is in a horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and the straight tracks. The “leading” side of the truck means the first side of a truck of a railroad car to encounter a turn, and the “trailing” side is opposite of the leading side. A truck is considered “square” when its wheels are aligned on parallel tracks and the axles are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the side frames.

Existing trucks do not fully address the ever increasing and expected future demands for freight railroad car truck performance in the railroad industry. More specifically, while the various current known and commercially available three piece truck configurations meet current Association of American Railroads (“AAR”) specifications, enhanced specifications are being developed by the AAR and it is expected that the current three piece truck configurations may not meet these new AAR specifications. These AAR enhanced specifications set forth or codify these continuing and ongoing demands in the railroad industry for improved freight railroad car truck performance to: (a) reduce railroad car component wear and damage such as wheel wear and damage; (b) reduce rolling resistance; (c) reduce fuel consumption; (d) reduce the need for and thus cost of railroad track repair (including reducing the cost of track and tie maintenance); (e) reduce truck hunting and improve high speed stability (“HSS”) for both empty and loaded railroad cars; and (f) improve curving performance for both empty and loaded railroad cars.

Ideally, on straight tracks or straight rails, a three piece truck with parallel side frames and parallel wheel set axles perpendicular to the side frames (i.e., a perfectly “square” truck) rolls without inducing lateral or transverse forces between the wheel tread and the track. However, at higher speeds, even minor imperfections or perturbations in the tracks or in the equipment can lead to a condition known as “hunting”. Hunting refers to a yawing or oscillating lateral movement of the wheel sets along the tracks that causes the railroad car to move side-to-side on the tracks. More than minor imperfections or perturbations in the tracks or in the railroad car equipment or components can lead to greater truck hunting even at lower speeds. Hunting tends to increase wheel wear and damage, increase fuel consumption, increase the need for railroad track repair, and decrease HSS. In certain instances, hunting has also led to derailments, damage to the lading, and damage to the freight railroad cars.

Curved railroad tracks pose a different set of challenges for the standard three-piece truck. When a railroad car truck encounters a curve or turn, the distance traversed by the wheels on the outside of the curve is greater than the distance traversed by wheels on the inside of the curve, resulting in lateral and longitudinal forces between the respective wheels and the tracks. These wheel forces often cause the wheel set to turn in a direction opposing the curve or turn. On trucks with insufficient rigidity, this can result in a condition variously known as “warping,” “lozenging,” “parallelogramming,” and/or “unsquaring,” wherein the side frames remain parallel, but one side frame moves forward with respect to the other side frame. This condition is referred to herein as warping for brevity.

Another known issue relates to various known 3-piece railroad truck suspensions that have side frames with flat rectangular surfaces against which friction wedges are pressed to produce frictional (i.e., Coulomb) damping to control vertical bounces and other oscillatory modes. Normally, significant clearance exists between the side frame's column face and nearby surfaces of the bolster to enable assembly and proper relative motion during use. This clearance is undesirable in that it enables the truck assembly to become warped or change shape from the intended parallel and perpendicular arrangement (i.e., to undergo warping).

Such warping alone or in combination with hunting can cause increased wear on the tracks and railroad car truck components or equipment. Such warping alone or in combination with hunting also tends to increase rolling resistance that increases railroad car fuel consumption, decreases railroad car efficiency, and increases railroad engine pollution.

Various transoms for railroad car trucks have been proposed to address various of these issues. These proposed transoms have various issues.

For example, the transom proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,474,383 includes a cutout section in a center of the transom. The transom also includes elastomeric materials with the bushings used to connect the transom to the side frames These features affect the lateral and vertical stiffness of the transom, causing various forces acting on the wheels to be transferred to other components of the railroad car truck. These features also increase the complexity and cost of the railroad car truck.

In another example, the transom proposed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0158209 also includes a cutout section in a center of the transom. This transom is connected to the side frames via hinges at four connection points and specifically two for each side frame. The hinges enable the transom to deflect vertically. The features of this transom affect the lateral and vertical stiffness of the transom, causing various forces acting on the wheels to be transferred to other components of the railroad car truck. The features also increase the complexity and cost of the railroad car truck.

Accordingly, there is a need to meet the ongoing demands in the railroad industry for improved freight railroad car truck performance.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a new stabilizing transom that reduces, inhibits, and/or minimizes the truck hunting, warping, and related issues. Further various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a new railroad car truck with such stabilizing transom. Further various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a new railroad car with one or more railroad car trucks with such stabilizing transoms. In various embodiments, the railroad car truck with the stabilizing transom of the present disclosure includes a first side frame, a second side frame, a bolster, and the transom connected to the first side frame by first and second connection assemblies and to the second side frame by third and fourth connection assemblies.

More specifically, in various embodiments of the present disclosure, the railroad car truck of the present disclosure includes: (1) a first side frame; (2) a second side frame; (3) a bolster; and (4) a transom including (a) a panel assembly, (b) first and second connector assemblies connecting the panel assembly to the first side frame, and (c) third and fourth connector assemblies connecting the panel assembly to the second side frame. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, each connector assembly includes: (i) a top connection plate, (ii) a spacer connection plate, (iii) a first bottom connection plate, and (iv) a second bottom connection plate. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the connection plates of each of the connector assemblies is made from a strong metal such as steel and welded to the respective side frame. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the connector assemblies includes a plurality of fasteners that suitably connect that connector assembly to the respective portion of the panel assembly.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the transom is configured to apply opposing forces to the side frames to reduce, inhibit, and/or minimize truck hunting, warping, and other issues. More specifically, when the railroad cars starts to hunt or warp, the transom applies opposing biasing forces to the side frames to rigidly holds both side frames parallel to each other while also keeping both side frames perpendicular to the bolster, and thus reduces, inhibits, and/or minimize truck hunting as well as warping.

It should also be appreciated that although the transom of the present disclosure is not primarily intended to produce resistance against other undesired directional movements of the side frames and bolster, in various circumstances and embodiments, the transom of the present disclosure can act or co-act to permit certain directional movements and/or can act or co-act to reduce, inhibit, and/or minimize certain other undesired directional movements alone or in combination with other components of the railroad car truck. For example, the transom can be configured co-act with the bolster and bearings to provide a certain amount of resistance to undesired lateral bolster movement.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts.

