Fluid handling – With casing – support – protector or static constructional... – Vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-23
2001-07-03
Chambers, A. Michael (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
With casing, support, protector or static constructional...
Vehicle
C137S347000, C137S614040, C137S614060, C105S355000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253786
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to the fields of coupling devices and particularly to apparatus and systems for automatically connecting pneumatic and/or electric lines of railroad cars or other articulated vehicles.
As will appear from the ensuing description, the features of the invention may be embodied in coupling systems for railroad freight cars or passenger trains or other articulated vehicles. However, the invention is particularly concerned with and will be described in connection with coupling systems for railroad freight cars.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In railroad industry, there have been desires for automatic pneumatic-electric coupling devices for a long time because of the concern for the safety of crewmen when it is necessary to manually couple train hoses. The prior art discloses numerous methods and apparatus for connecting brake lines of a train, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,720 to Peche, U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,862 to Werner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,932 to Altherr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,148 to Tibbs, U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,578 to Farnworth, U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,597 to McClure et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,580 to Cope. However, it is not provided in the prior art designs any simple and effective means to automatically seal the juncture area of the coupling. When a rail-car is detached from a train or when train brake-in-two occurs, it is essential that the corresponding juncture areas of the two cars' brake lines common to each other also be disconnected, and in the meantime, air pressure at the compressor source is not lost. However, few of the prior art designs provide appropriate automatic hose-end sealing mechanisms for maintaining air pressure at the compressor source when train brake-in-two occurs. In addition, electric coupling features are not included in the prior art designs because of the difficulties of maintaining perfect electric contact in such an environment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a rail-car automatic pneumatic coupling system of the type utilizing its own pneumatic-system pressure to automatically seal the coupling juncture.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rail-car automatic pneumatic coupling system in which additional features, such as hose-end sealing mechanisms for maintaining air pressure at the compressor source when a train brake-in-two occurs, can be included or installed.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rail-car automatic coupling system in which electric coupling features may also be included.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a rail-car automatic pneumatic-electric coupling system of the type having novel mechanical means for causing the front portion of the coupling system to maintain close contact with, and to automatically disengage from, that of its substantially identical and oppositely facing coupling counterpart.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects of the present invention and to remedy drawbacks of the prior art described above, there is provided new and improved arrangement of automatic pneumatic-electric coupling systems for railroad cars that shall work in conjunction with the rail-cars' conventional mechanical coupling and draft-gear assembly inserted within the rail-cars' center sill structure. The coupling systems of the present invention are designed in such a standard way of freight-car industry that the coupling structures at the front and rear ends of a freight car are identical, i.e., there is no distinction between the coupling system and its coupling counterpart on the adjacent car. A principle of the present invention is to apply the air system's own pressure for automatically and effectively sealing the coupling juncture.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a pneumatic-electric coupling system includes a pair of male and female front mating heads attached to the front panel of a rectangular front-mating assembly and a male alignment pin and female receptacle device on two sides of said front-mating assembly for guiding said mating heads to their appropriate coupling positions during the coupling. In addition, a hose-end-sealing structure is installed within said rectangular assembly for maintaining air pressure at the compressor source when a train brake-in-two occurs. The aforesaid rectangular front-mating assembly is situated at the front portion of the coupling system of the present invention, and is attached to the undercarriage of a rail-car via a coupler shank with the axis thereof centrally aligned along the longitudinal axis of the car.
The foregoing is intended to be merely a summary and not to limit the scope of the specification. The features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the annexed claims. The invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be appreciated by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 442621 (1890-12-01), Harris
patent: 682882 (1901-09-01), Ness
patent: 895617 (1908-08-01), Carlgren
patent: 941348 (1909-11-01), Campbell et al.
patent: 1190063 (1916-07-01), Woods
patent: 1876918 (1932-09-01), Gray et al.
patent: 2296170 (1942-09-01), Lockhart
patent: 5480042 (1996-01-01), Engle
Chambers A. Michael
SMA International, Inc.
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