BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Railway vehicles are linked by interlocking or bar coupling members which are each operatively coupled to a draft gear assembly which is housed within a draft sill.

The draft sill is mounted to an end of the railway vehicle. The draft gear assembly allows a smooth transition of loads if the'vehicles come to a sudden halt, are compressed together during descent, or are drawn apart by a following or preceding vehicle. Figure 1 depicts a conventional arrangement of this type where a coupling member 1 is linked by a pin 2 to a yoke 3 which encircles a draft gear assembly 4. The draft gear assembly 4 is housed within a draft sill 5 and has several spring tensioned"pistons"6 which protrude from the draft gear 4 and contact a follower plate 7 which is also housed within the draft sill 5. The draft gear assembly 4 and the follower plate 7 are located between and contact a pair of rear stopper members 8 and a front striker member 9, respectively. The rear stopper members 8 and the striker member 9 are usually electric arc welded, riveted or bolted to the draft sill 5. The front striker member 9 is a one piece casting, or fabrication of multiple metal parts into a single unit.

In operation the spring tensioned draft gear assembly 4 cushions load impact between adjacent vehicles in order to reduce the longitudinal loading bumps, jars and jolts found in extreme surface conditions when moving connected rail vehicles. The coupling member between the vehicles is therefore not subjected to sudden forces which may otherwise damage the coupling or delink the rail vehicles.

However, a good deal of frictional wear often occurs on the pair of rear stopping members 8 and front striker member 9 which are repeatably struck by the draft gear assembly 4 and the follower plate 7 respectively. This friction eventually requires the rear stopping members 8 or front striker member 9 to be restored or replaced.

This is a complicated procedure which involves removing the pin 2, yoke 3 and draft gear assembly 4 in order to access the rear stopping member 8 and the front striker member 9. These must then be mechanically built-up by welding or cut away from the draft sill 5 and new rear stopping members 8 and/or front striker member 9 welded into place inside the draft sill 5. This can be an expensive and time consuming task. The draft gear assembly 4 and follower plate 7 can also wear significantly and require eventual replacement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus being adapted to operatively cooperate with a draft gear assembly, said apparatus comprising: a front and a rear stopping member each being adapted to detachably fit to a draft sill within which the draft gear assembly is housed; and a wear plate detachably mounted to each of the front and/or the rear stopping member, the wear plate including a bearing surface of a wear resistant material which in operation is adapted to be repeatedly struck by the draft gear assembly or a follower plate operatively coupled thereto.

Preferably the apparatus also comprises a front striker member being adapted to fit into the draft sill.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a front striker assembly being adapted to mount to a draft sill within which a draft gear assembly is housed, said striker assembly comprising a

pair of opposing front stopping members mounted within the draft sill and being adapted to transfer loads between adjacent railway vehicles, via the draft gear assembly and a coupling member operatively coupled thereto, and a front striker member mounted to the draft sill adjacent said front stopping members, said front striker member being configured to provide vertical support for the coupling member.

Generally the opposing front stopping members and/or the front striker member are detachably mounted to the draft sill.

Preferably the front stopping members are spaced a fixed distance from the front striker member via one or more protrusions formed integral with the front stopping member or the front striker member and configured to abut the striker member or the stopping member, respectively.

In one example said protrusions are in the form of nibs formed on the front stopping or striker member which predetermines weld preparation between the front stopping members and the front strike member.

Preferably the front striker assembly includes a pair of front wear plates of a wear resistance material each adapted to detachably fit to one of the front stopping members, respectively.

Typically the wear plates are detachably fitted to the respective stopping member via one or more fasteners.

More typically each of the wear plates is detachably fitted to its respective stopping member via a bolt and nut.

Preferably a head of the bolt is countersunk within the wear plate so that the head is flush or beneath the bearing surface of the wear plate. More preferably the wear plates are generally rectangular in shape with the wear plate fitted to the front stopping members having an arcuated cut out section being inwardly facing and adapted to accommodate and permit reciprocating movement of the coupling member.

Generally the wear plates are each constructed of a carbon steel which is commercially available in Australia under the trade mark BISALLOYTM.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the present invention a preferred embodiment of a wear plate and a striker assembly fitted to a draft sill of a railway vehicle will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an elevational view in part section of a conventional arrangement for linking rail vehicles using a draft gear assembly; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view in part section of a draft sill fitted with wear resistant plates and a front striker assembly according to one embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 is a bottom view in part section of the draft sill of Figure 2 together with a draft gear assembly and associated components; and Figure 4 is an elevational view in part section together with an end view of the draft sill and gear assembly of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in Figures 2 to 4 there is a front striker assembly shown generally as 10 including a pair of opposing front stopping members one only of which is shown as 12 and a front striker member 14 all being detachably mounted to a draft sill 16 of a conventional construction.

A pair of opposing rear stopping members one of which is shown as 18 are also detachably mounted within the draft sill 16. Importantly, front and rear wear plates such as 20 and 22 are detachably fitted to the front and rear stopping members 12 and 18, respectively. In this example the wear plates 20 and 22 are each fitted to their

respective front and rear stopping members 12 and 18 via a pair of fixing bolts and corresponding nuts such as 24 and 26. A head of the fixing bolts such as 24 are countersunk within an exposed surface of the wear plate such as 20.

The front pair of stopping members such as 12 together with the striking member 14 and the pair of rear stopping members 18 are generally welded within the draft sill 16. Importantly, the front stopping members 12 of this embodiment are provided with protrusions or nibs 28 against which the striker member 14 abuts so as to accurately space the front stopping members 12 and striker member 14. The front stopping members 12 and striker member 14 are thus independently welded, but may be joined together by weld, or otherwise fixed to the draft sill 16 so that should they be damaged they can be replaced separately. However, the front and rear wear plates 20 and 22 are intended to preferentially wear without exposing the front and rear stopping members 12 and 18 to frictional wear.

As best shown in Figure 3 a draft gear assembly 30 together with a follower plate 32 of a conventional construction are housed within the draft sill 16 between the front and rear stopping members 12 and 18. A yoke 34 longitudinally encircles the draft gear assembly 30 in a conventional manner. A connecting pin 36 engages aligned apertures in the yoke 34 and a coupling member 38. In operation, a rear end of the draft gear assembly 30 abuts the rear wear plates such as 22 and a front surface of the follower plate 32 abuts the front wear plates such as 20.

It would be appreciated that the draft gear assembly 30 and follower plate 32 repeatedly strike or abut the front and rear wear plates 20 and 22 depending on the tension or compression loading in the coupling member 38.

The wear plates such as 20 and 22 are fabricated from a wear resistant carbon steel which in this example is commercially available in Australia under the trade mark BISALLOYTM. However, it should be appreciated that the

wear plates may be constructed of practically any wear resistant material which provides a suitable wear resistant surface for the draft gear assembly 30 or the follower plate 32. The front and rear plates 20 and 22 are all generally rectangular in shape with the front rear plates such as 20 including a cut-out being configured to accommodate and permit reciprocating movement of the coupling member 38. The BISALLOYTM steel is a 350 or 400 grade carbon steel which in this example is approximately 10 millimetres in thickness.

In order to achieve a further understanding of this embodiment of the invention, the general steps involved in replacement of one or more of the described wear plates such as 20 and 22 will now be outlined: (i) the connecting pin 36 is retracted from the yoke 34 and the coupling member 38; (ii) the yoke 34 is moved clear of the draft gear assembly 30 and the follower plate 32; (iii) the draft gear assembly 30 and the follower plate 32 are removed from the draft sill 16; (iv) the worn wear plates such as 20 and 22 are unbolted or otherwise detached from the front and/or rear stopping members 12 or 18 and replacement wear plates affixed to the stopping members 12 or 18.

The draft gear assembly 30 and follower plate 32 are then reassembled within the draft sill 16 in a conventional manner. The multi-component front striker assembly 10 of this embodiment of the invention also permits replacement of the front striker member 14 independent of the front stopping members such as 12.

Furthermore, the protrusions or nibs 28 provided on the front stopping members 12 allow for accurate positioning of the replacement front striker member. It would be appreciated that the front striker member 14 provides vertical support for the coupling member 38.

Now that a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described it will be apparent to those skilled in the

art that the wear plates and front striker assembly have the following advantages over the admitted prior art: (i) the wear plates permit relatively quick replacement of wear components without removing the front and/or rear stopping members mounted within the draft sill ; (ii) the wear plates provide preferential surfaces independent of the front and rear stopping members for repeated abutment and wear imposed by the draft gear assembly and/or follower plate; (iii) the striker assembly includes a front striker member which can be replaced or at least serviced independent of the front stopper members ; (iv) the wear plates and striker assembly can be retrofitted to draft sills of conventional construction; and (v) the application, in the described embodiment, of bolting for attachment of the wear plates lends itself to a relatively straightforward installation.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the wear plate and striker assembly are susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. For example, the wear plates may be welded to the front and/or rear stopping members provided they can be cut away for replacement. The front striker assembly may vary in detail from that described provided it includes a front striker member that can be replaced independent of the front stopping members. All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.