Railway draft appliances – Combined coupler and electric connector
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-16
2001-09-18
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railway draft appliances
Combined coupler and electric connector
C213S001600, C213S076000, C213S0750GT, C439S195000, C439S191000, C439S700000, C439S823000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290079
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to couplers for railroad cars, and in particular to automatic couplers, herein referred to as a Tricoupler, for connecting electric and air lines of railroad cars incident to their mechanical coupling.
2. Background of the Invention
Currently, railway freight cars in interchange service in the United States, Canada and Mexico use knuckle couplers approved by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). These couplers are prepared for uncoupling by placing the lock of one or both couplers in lockset condition by manually lifting the operating rod at the side of the car. In separating the cars, one or both knuckles open and the open knuckle coupler is automatically available for recoupling to any other AAR approved coupler. If it is desired to couple two cars, both having their knuckles closed, one of them must have the knuckle thrown open manually. However, they may only gather and couple reliably within a limited range of displacement of their coupler center lines at the coupling plane or pulling face.
Each car is equipped with air operated brakes controlled at the locomotive through a train air line extending the length of the train by manually joining the line between adjacent cars. To join the air line, a workman must go between the cars and between the rails, a very dangerous and time consuming job. After closing the angle cock at the end car, the brake system is filled with air from the locomotive compressor or sometimes with ground air. Once the system is filled with air, the brakes can be applied by a reduction of pressure in the air line. This reduction of pressure is initiated at the locomotive and transmitted to the cars through the air brake lines. As expected in such a system, the pressure reduction is not instantaneous but propagates from the locomotive to the end of the train.
It has been proposed in the railroad industry that great benefits could be realized by electrically controlling the air brakes from the locomotive. Electrically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) braking systems allow simultaneous reductions in brake pressures in all the desired cars, thereby resulting in a more uniform and immediate brake application. Run-in impacts could be minimized, stop distances could be reduced, there would be a potential for reducing train action forces by selective braking, and even a possibility of selectively cutting the train. Since ECP brakes are initiated by electric signals, there is a need for electrical communications from the locomotives to the cars. These may be accomplished either through electrical cable connections or through remote radio frequencies.
Current coupling systems provide two separate mechanisms for coupling two adjacent cars. The automatic knuckle coupler connects the two cars mechanically while, the air lines are connected manually through the use of gladhands. With the advent of ECP brakes, there is an additional need to connect the cars electrically. Hence, there is a need for coupler systems that will automatically couple two cars mechanically, pneumatically and electrically.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a mechanically compatible knuckle type coupler that attaches to standard couplers and provides for air and electric connections (up to 5 wires), expanded gathering range, and is ready for coupling at all times. This invention offers many safety benefits to the railroad workers involved in train make up operations as well as to the operation of trains in revenue service. These benefits include: (1) workers will not have to go between cars or cross over between cars to position couplers, manually open knuckles, connect air lines, connect electric cables, operate angle cocks, etc.; and, (2) the presence of an electrical cable connection offers many possibilities for enhancing safety of railroad operations including application of handbrakes remotely, coupling and uncoupling operations by remote control or by activation from the locomotive, and environment monitoring of various car functions such as ride quality, hot bearings, temperature control of car lading on heated/refrigerated cars, etc.
There are also significant economic benefits due to reduced train make up time, significant savings in labor costs, reduced lading loss to temperature sensitive cargo, and early detection of car defects such as hot bearings (thereby reducing derailment potential).
In an embodiment, the present invention includes a connector having a junction plate with an outer perimeter surrounded by a housing. Formed within the geometric center of the junction plate is a bore for receiving a portion of an elongated tube. Wrapped about the outer surface of the tube is a coil spring abutting against both the housing and the junction plate. Moreover, symmetrically positioned about the opening of the bore are a plurality of spring-loaded electrical contacts.
REFERENCES:
patent: 599782 (1898-02-01), Harding
patent: 1749149 (1930-03-01), Mead
patent: 1856455 (1932-05-01), Banks et al.
patent: 3249239 (1966-05-01), Herbert et al.
patent: 3251480 (1966-05-01), DePenti et al.
patent: 3263823 (1966-08-01), Gobrecht
patent: 3280990 (1966-10-01), Jefferey et al.
patent: 3549021 (1970-12-01), Metzger
patent: 3549022 (1970-12-01), Metzger
patent: 3552580 (1971-01-01), Cope
patent: 3591017 (1971-07-01), Cope
patent: 3773186 (1973-11-01), Reno et al.
patent: 3812444 (1974-05-01), Reno
patent: 3842987 (1974-10-01), Prada
patent: 3895850 (1975-07-01), Engle et al.
patent: 4284311 (1981-08-01), Forster et al.
patent: 4486060 (1984-12-01), Currall
patent: 4917619 (1990-04-01), Nishiwaki
patent: 5586668 (1996-12-01), Miller
patent: 5899753 (1999-05-01), Wong et al.
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
Sharma & Associates, Inc.
Wallenstein & Wagner Ltd.
LandOfFree
Coupler for railroad cars does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Coupler for railroad cars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coupler for railroad cars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2511794