Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7913865 | Support device A supporting device is provided to vertically support a coupling rod of a coupling pivotably articulated in the vertical direction to a car body underframe by a bearing block. The supporting device makes contact with the coupling rod by a support, wherein the suppor... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7837046 | Coupler carrier with improved lug structure for railroad cars A self-lubricating, non-metallic type F coupler carrier improves upon state of the art railroad car coupler carrier arrangements. The coupler carrier is mounted within a cage, which coupler carrier comprises certain structures formed from an ultra high molecular wei... | 11/23/2010 |
| 7802689 | Articulated coupling apparatus An articulated coupling apparatus utilized in connecting together, in a substantially semi-permanent fashion, adjacently disposed ends of a pair of railway cars includes male and female connection members. A front and rear followers, each having a spherical cavity, ... | 09/28/2010 |
| 6951176 | Collision energy absorbing structure of vehicle Disclosed is a collision energy absorbing structure of a vehicle capable of relieving impact by using a tubular pipe member having equally-sized rectangular cross section and equal plate thickness and including no inside ribs and by adding a suitable trigger, and be... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6944925 | Articulated connector reconditioning process and apparatuses A method for reconditioning an articulated connector while it is still mounted to the end structure of a rail car is disclosed. The connector is measured to find areas and amounts of wear on portions of the connector. The measurements are taken relative to a referen... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6398047 | End sill assembly with center plate casting An extended end-sill assembly for a railcar, which assembly is produced by mating a front-sill casting and back-sill casting having a transition region therebetween wherein the endsill includes a cast-in-place center plate, a support arrangement for a cus... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6206214 | Non-metallic coupler carrier wear plate for a railcar A railcar coupler carrier wear plate is formed in an "L" shaped section for ease of insertion and replacement in a coupler carrier and for efficient manufacture, the coupler carrier wear plate being retained in the coupler carrier with a bracket arrangeme... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6155442 | Drawbar for lightweight drawbar assembly A drawbar for a slackless drawbar coupler assembly which includes a shank portion extending to a truncated butt end portion defining a convex, hemispherical buff load bearing surface adapted to abut against a concave, hemispherical buff load bearing surfa... | 12/05/2000 |
| 6102222 | Lightweight drawbar assembly A slackless drawbar coupler assembly for use in combination with a railway car having a center sill wherein the drawbar has a shank portion extending to an enlarged truncated butt end portion defining essentially a convex, hemispherical buff load bearing ... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6095350 | Non-metallic wear plate for railroad car couplers and method of use A non-metallic wear plate assembly for railroad car couplers comprises a wear plate of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene having an upper surface with side edges and a middle portion therebetween, the upper surface of the wear plate sloping downward... | 08/01/2000 |
| 6092679 | Support housing for lightweight drawbar assembly A support housing for supporting a slackless drawbar coupler assembly within a center sill of a railway car, in which the slackless drawbar assembly has a drawbar pivotally attached within a spool by a pivot pin, the support housing including a generally ... | 07/25/2000 |
| 6068146 | Universal coupler carrier wear plate A self-lubricating plastic coupler carrier wear plate is formed in a generally T-shape having an outer flange and an inner flange conforming to said T-shape, said web being notched proximate said inner flange for adequate clearance with railcar draft gear... | 05/30/2000 |
| 6024233 | Locking wedge assembly for a slackless drawbar assembly A locking wedge assembly for use in a slackless drawbar assembly designed to connect together, in a substantially semi-permanent fashion, adjacently disposed ends of a pair of railway cars. Such locking wedge assembly including a locking wedge member havi... | 02/15/2000 |
| 5598936 | Coupler carrier wear plate for long-shank couplers A coupler carrier wear plate for a long-shank coupler which includes a mild steel base plate weldable to the carrier, a manganese steel wear plate engageably supporting the coupler shank and connected to the base plate by a resilient bonding material. The... | 02/04/1997 |
| 5558238 | Freight railway car slackless drawbar assembly A slackless drawbar assembly connecting adjacent ends of a pair of freight cars together. Such assembly includes a first pair of vertically disposable rear draft stop members and a first pair of radially opposed front draft stop members engageable with an... | 09/24/1996 |
| 5547089 | Slackless drawbar assembly utilizing a ball and race assembly A slackless drawbar comprising a female member with one end engaging an end of a car body center sill and another end extends outwardly from the center sill end. A cavity formed in such other end defined by inner surfaces of the back wall, top wall and pa... | 08/20/1996 |
| 5520294 | Support housing for a rotary end of a slackless drawbar A support housing for a rotary end of a slackless drawbar adapted to be secured within an end of a center sill of a railroad car having an elongated cavity defined by a pair of side wall portions, a top wall portion and a back wall portion, said cavity be... | 05/28/1996 |
| 5462179 | Slackless drawbar assembly using a ball and race assembly at each end of the drawbar Slackless drawbar includes female member, having a cavity, engaging end of a railway car. Openings through first and second side walls of cavity. A male member has portion movably disposed in cavity. An aperture formed through such male member. A ball has... | 10/31/1995 |
| 5305899 | Coupler follower with elastomeric wear pad for preventing metal to metal contact between the follower and the center sill side walls The present invention involves the addition of a device attached to each of the follower block side walls in order to prevent metal-to-metal contact between the follower block side walls and the center sill side walls. The preventative device comprises an... | 04/26/1994 |
| 5201827 | Slackless drawbar system A slackless drawbar system includes a support member comprising a top plate, a bottom plate and a pair of spaced apart side plates joining the top and bottom plates to form a hollow rectangular member closely fitting inside the rectangular longitudinal op... | 04/13/1993 |
| 5174457 | Coupler unit wear pad assembly for railroad equipment A novel wear pad assembly (22) allows worn coupler carrier wear pads of locomotives and train cars to be easily removed, replaced or reversed. A holder-tray (30) attached to the coupler housing (14) of a train car or locomotive receives a removable wear p... | 12/29/1992 |
| 5167334 | Apparatus to provide versatility in securing male and female connection members of an articulated coupler to a center sill member of a railway car An apparatus which provides versatility in securing an articulated coupling arrangement to a center sill member of a railway car is provided. Such apparatus includes a bottom wall portion which matingly engages a bottom wall of such center sill member and... | 12/01/1992 |
| 5115926 | Coupler member retention in a railway vehicle An improved arrangement for retention of a drawbar is provided in which a single retention member of unitary construction extends laterally within the center sill and fits completely about a longitudinal portion of the butt end of the drawbar. A vertical ... | 05/26/1992 |
| 5114027 | Cast blockout apparatus for a draft gear pocket A castable draft gear pocket blockout apparatus for use in retrofitting slackless drawbar coupler assemblies to existing railroad cars having draft gear pockets, the blockout apparatus being a cast metallic structure having a web, a top flange and a botto... | 05/19/1992 |
| 5096075 | Slackless drawbar with gravity responsive wedge A drawbar coupler for a railway car having a center sill is disclosed for connecting two railway cars together in a slackless arrangement and provide uni-train service. The drawbar coupler is particularly characterized by a quick disconnect feature. The c... | 03/17/1992 |
| 5002192 | Bearing arrangement for railway drawbar connection An improved center sill construction is provided having sill side castings for laterally positioning and holding a drawbar evenly within a center sill, the sill side castings being easily removable without substantial damage to the center sill. The sill s... | 03/26/1991 |
| 5000330 | Railway vehicle rotary drawbar arrangement A railway vehicle drawbar slackless rotary dump arrangement having one end fixed against rotation to one railway vehicle and the other end connected to be rotatable in a second adjoining railway vehicle. Slack elimination is provided by a wedge at each co... | 03/19/1991 |
| 4946052 | Gravity wedge for slackless railcar connections A slackless railcar connector system includes a gravity wedge shim that has a tail piece extending from the narrow edge of the sim through an aligning groove in a sill pocket casting, or the like. A biasing member may also be located adjacent the aligning... | 08/07/1990 |
| 4706826 | Striker carrier having an adjustable wear plate for a railway coupler A striker carrier assembly for a railway coupler is constructed to engage and support the shank of the coupler at an adjustably established elevation. For an E-type coupler, the striker carrier assembly includes a spacer retained on the stirker carrier by... | 11/17/1987 |
| 4674639 | Railway coupler carrier retention system An improved railway car striker assembly including a spring supported coupler carrier wherein the carrier has laterally extending lugs with chevron shaped bearing surfaces engageable with congruent surfaces on retainer plates to restrain longitudinal and ... | 06/23/1987 |
| 4595109 | Coupler for rotary dump cars A coupler for rotary dump cars having a coupler head cast integral with a rotating spindle. The coupler includes a widened shank-spindle housing to accommodate the enlarged end of the spindle for better load characteristics.... | 06/17/1986 |
| 4456133 | Slackless railway coupler connection A railway coupler connection is provided for use in a coupler shank-yoke or a drawbar-yoke configuration. Self adjusting slack reduction is provided by a wedge shaped shim or an angled follower block. Vertical and horizontal angling of the coupler connect... | 06/26/1984 |
| 4445618 | Spring biased rotary railway car coupler carrier A rotary railroad car coupler assembly is described as having a unique carrier which is designed for limited angling or tilting in the vertically elongated chamber of the striker, as the coupler rotates. The projecting lugs of the carrier which interlocki... | 05/01/1984 |
| 4376488 | Railway coupler carrier assembly An improved coupler carrier assembly comprises a spring basket, having front, rear, end and bottom walls, with a plurality of compression springs disposed therein; a coupler carrier having a lower portion disposed in the spring basket and being supported ... | 03/15/1983 |
| 4348964 | Sliding sill low friction supporting plate assembly A fixed sill includes a pair of lower, outwardly extending fixed sill flanges. A generally vertical longitudinally extending support plate is integrally connected to each fixed sill flange on each side of the fixed sill. A sliding sill support is rigidly ... | 09/14/1982 |
| 4345689 | Composite spin welded coupler carrier assembly A composite coupler carrier assembly for railroad cars comprising a lower metallic attachment plate shaped and arranged to be mounted on the car structure supporting the coupler shank, and an upper planar polymeric bearing body of ultra high molecular wei... | 08/24/1982 |
| 4344541 | Coupler carrier arrangement for railroad cars A coupler carrier arrangement for railroad cars, in which the car center sill ends are equipped with a striker casting through which the car coupler shank extends for connection to the car center sill, with the striker casting having the familiar cage, in... | 08/17/1982 |
| 4343407 | Coupler lubricating bearing wear liner channel shaped support plate A rigidifying arrangement for self lubricating wear plate assemblies employed for supporting the inner end of the vertical yoke used in railroad car coupler draft gear rigging, in which the wear plate is in the form of a support plate of channel shaped tr... | 08/10/1982 |
| 4334625 | Wear member for railway vehicle A wear member for a railway vehicle and method of making same are provided wherein such wear member is comprised of a metal support having a substantially planar sheet portion which has a continuous supporting surface and ultra high molecular weight polym... | 06/15/1982 |
| 4333576 | Carrier assembly for use with a rotary railroad coupler system To maintain horizontal alignment of a shank and attached coupler head of a rotary railroad coupler system, a middle portion of the shank is supported by a carrier assembly connected to a striker casting of the coupler system. During rotation of the shank ... | 06/08/1982 |
