Railway truck with releasable bearing adapter

Abstract

An adapter assembly of a vehicle includes a bearing adapter configured to physically contact a bearing on an axle of the vehicle, and an adapter pad nested within an opening of a side frame of the vehicle and secured to at least one thrust lug of the side frame. The adapter pad includes a base section and legs depending from the base section. The legs are compressed between the at least one thrust lug of the side frame and shoulders of the bearing adapter to exert frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter. A combination of the frictional forces exerted by the adapter pad on the bearing adapter is less than a weight of the bearing adapter, such that as the side frame rises away from the bearing during movement of the vehicle, the adapter pad rises relative to the bearing adapter.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An adapter assembly of a vehicle, the adapter assembly comprising:
 a bearing adapter configured to physically contact a bearing on an axle of the vehicle; and   an adapter pad nested within an opening of a side frame of the vehicle and secured to at least one thrust lug of the side frame, the adapter pad comprising a base section and legs depending from the base section, the legs being compressed between the at least one thrust lug of the side frame and shoulders of the bearing adapter to exert frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter,   wherein a combination of the frictional forces exerted by the adapter pad on the bearing adapter is less than a weight of the bearing adapter, such that as the side frame rises away from the bearing during movement of the vehicle, the adapter pad is configured to rise relative to the bearing adapter.   
     
     
         2 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the base section of the adapter pad is rectangular and the adapter pad has four legs that depend from four corners of the base section, wherein the legs include ribs projecting from laterally-facing outer surfaces of the legs, and the ribs exert the frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter. 
     
     
         3 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the legs include ribs that exert the frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter, and the ribs project less than 0.08 inches from the legs. 
     
     
         4 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the legs include ribs that exert the frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter, and the ribs are elongated in a direction that is orthogonal to the force of gravity. 
     
     
         5 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the legs of the adapter pad include exterior ribs that project from outer surfaces of the legs, and the exterior ribs exert the frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter, the adapter pad further including interior ribs that project from inner surfaces of the legs, which are opposite the outer surfaces, the interior ribs configured to exert frictional forces on the at least one thrust lug to secure the adapter pad to the side frame via an interference fit. 
     
     
         6 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the legs of the adapter pad include interior ribs that exert frictional forces on the at least one thrust lug to secure the adapter pad to the side frame via an interference fit. wherein at least one pair of the legs defines a thrust lug cavity between the at least one pair, the thrust lug cavity configured to receive the at least one thrust lug therein, the thrust lug cavity being sized relative to a width of the at least one thrust lug for the interior ribs of the legs to grip opposite sides of the at least one thrust lug. 
     
     
         7 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the adapter pad comprises an elastomeric material, and the bearing adapter comprises a metal material. 
     
     
         8 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the adapter pad has a durometer hardness in a range from 90A to 58D, and weighs less than the bearing adapter. 
     
     
         9 . The adapter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein as the side frame rises away from the bearing, the bearing adapter is configured to slide along the legs of the adapter pad for the bearing adapter to retain physical contact with the bearing, and the adapter pad remains secured to the at least one thrust lug of the side frame. 
     
     
         10 . A truck assembly of a rail vehicle, the truck assembly comprising:
 a side frame that comprises at least one thrust lug;   an axle that comprises a bearing; and   an adapter assembly that comprises an adapter pad and a bearing adapter, the adapter pad nested within an opening of the side frame and secured to the at least one thrust lug via an interference fit, the adapter pad comprising a base section and legs depending from the base section, the bearing adapter comprising multiple shoulders and configured to physically contact the bearing,   wherein the legs of the adapter pad are compressed between the at least one thrust lug of the side frame and the shoulders of the bearing adapter, the legs including ribs that exert frictional forces on the shoulders, wherein a combination of the frictional forces provided by the ribs is less than a weight of the bearing adapter such that as the side frame rises away from the bearing during movement of the rail vehicle, the adapter pad is configured to rise relative to the bearing adapter.   
     
     
         11 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the base section of the adapter pad is rectangular and the adapter pad has four legs that depend from four corners of the base section, the ribs projecting from laterally-facing outer surfaces of the legs. 
     
     
         12 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the ribs project less than 0.08 inches from the legs. 
     
     
         13 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the ribs are longitudinally elongated in a direction that is orthogonal to the force of gravity. 
     
     
         14 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the ribs are exterior ribs, and the adapter pad further comprises interior ribs that project from opposite sides of the legs relative to the exterior ribs, the interior ribs configured to exert frictional forces on the at least one thrust lug to secure the adapter pad to the side frame via the interference fit. 
     
     
         15 . The truck assembly of  claim 14 , wherein at least one pair of the legs defines a thrust lug cavity configured to receive the at least one thrust lug between the legs in the at least one pair, wherein the thrust lug cavity is sized relative to a width of the at least one thrust lug for the interior ribs along the legs to grip opposite sides of the at least one thrust lug. 
     
     
         16 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the adapter pad comprises an elastomeric material. 
     
     
         17 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the adapter pad has a durometer hardness in a range from 90A to 58D, and weighs less than the bearing adapter. 
     
     
         18 . The truck assembly of  claim 10 , wherein as the side frame rises away from the bearing, the bearing adapter is configured to slide along the legs of the adapter pad for the bearing adapter to retain physical contact with the bearing, and the adapter pad remains secured to the at least one thrust lug of the side frame via the interference fit. 
     
     
         19 . A method for forming a truck assembly of a rail vehicle, the method comprising:
 installing an adapter pad within an opening of a side frame such that the adapter pad secures to at least one thrust lug of the side frame via an interference fit, the adapter pad comprising a base section and legs depending from the base section;   loading a bearing adapter into the opening such that the legs of the adapter pad are compressed by shoulders of the bearing adapter; and   coupling the side frame to an axle such that an arcuate lower edge of the bearing adapter physically contacts a bearing on the axle,   wherein the legs exert frictional forces on the shoulders of the bearing adapter, and a combination of the frictional forces provided by the legs is less than a weight of the bearing adapter such that the bearing adapter lowers relative to the adapter pad, due to the weight, as the side frame rises away from the bearing during movement of the rail vehicle.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein installing the adapter pad comprises loading the at least one thrust lug into a thrust lug cavity of the adapter pad, the thrust lug cavity defined between the legs of at least one pair of legs of the adapter pad, and loading the bearing adapter into the opening comprises positioning the bearing adapter such that the legs of the adapter pad are sandwiched between the at least one thrust pad and the shoulders of the bearing adapter.