RAIL ROAD CAR TRUCK AND BOLSTER THEREFOR

摘要

A rail road freight car truck has a truck bolster and a pair of side frames,
the truck bolster
being mounted transversely relative to the side frames. The mounting interface
between the ends of
the axles and the sideframe pedestals allows lateral rocking motion of the
sideframes in the manner of
a swing motion truck. The lateral swinging motion is combined with a
longitudinal self steering
capability. The self steering capability may be obtained by use of a
longitudinally oriented rocker
that may tend to permit resistance to deflection that is proportional to the
weight carried across the
interface. The truck may have auxiliary centering elements mounted in the
pedestal seats, and those
auxiliary centering elements may be made of resilient elastomeric material.
The truck may also have
friction dampers that have a disinclination to stick-slip behaviour. The
friction dampers may be
provided with brake linings, or similar features, on the face engaging the
sideframe columns, on the
slope face, or both. The friction dampers may operate to yield upward and
downward friction forces
that are not overly unequal. The friction dampers may be mounted in a four-
cornered arrangement at
each end of the truck bolster. The spring groups may include sub-groups of
springs of different
heights.