Brakes – Elements – Beams or beam assemblies
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-03
2001-06-05
Graham, Matthew C. (Department: 3613)
Brakes
Elements
Beams or beam assemblies
C188S15300R, C188S052000, C188S233700
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241057
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to a parking brake arrangement for a railroad vehicle type braking system and, more particularly, this invention relates to a hydraulic type parking brake lever arrangement for a railroad vehicle braking system, especially truck mounted brake assemblies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As is generally well known in the railway industry, when railway cars are taken out of a train and parked at a siding or yard, the hand brake or parking brake on at least some of these cars are applied as a precaution against unwanted or unexpected movement of the cars. A typical railway car hand brake system normally consists of an apparatus for manually applying and biasing one or more brake shoes against the tread of one or more wheels of the railway car by either turning a hand wheel or pumping a ratchet handle on a hand brake mechanism attached to the railway car.
As illustrated in
FIG. 2
, in truck mounted braking systems, the hand brake mechanism is usually either a cast or stamped metal gear housing usually attached to an outside end wall of the railway car and having a rotatable chain drum therein which can be rotated by turning the hand wheel to wind a brake chain onto the chain drum. The other end of the brake chain normally extends through the bottom of the gear housing and is interconnected with cable or other linkage, such as a hand brake lever, to the brake beam which carries the brake shoes such that winding of the brake chain onto the chain drum will apply tension to the brake chain and linkage as necessary to draw the interconnected brake shoes against the tread surfaces of adjacent railway car wheels and, accordingly, apply the hand brake as intended.
A disadvantage of this prior art type hand brake arrangement is that operation of the handwheel requires exerting a considerable amount of physical force from an awkward position. This, in turn, makes the hand brake difficult to apply and could present a possible injury hazard.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a hydraulic parking brake lever arrangement for a railway vehicle braking system which is an ergonomic alternative to the currently used manually activated hand brake assemblies. The hydraulic parking brake lever arrangement of the present invention is particularly applicable to truck mounted braking systems and may be used to replace the currently used manually activated handwheel type hand brakes.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a hydraulic parking brake lever arrangement which is easy to apply and provides a reduced chance of injury to the operator applying this brake.
Briefly, and in accordance with the forgoing objects, the invention comprises a hydraulic actuator which is mounted on the braking assembly. The hydraulic actuator includes a piston which moves outward from the hydraulic actuator upon activation of the actuator. The piston includes a connecting means, such as in the form of a clamp, which is connected at its end opposite from the hydraulic actuator. This connecting means is attached to a lever arrangement and the lever arrangement is associated with the force transfer lever of the air cylinder. Activation of the hydraulic actuator causes the lever arrangement to apply a force to the force transfer lever causing this force transfer lever to rotate in a counterclockwise direction to apply the appropriate forces to the push rod within the brake cylinder and to the slack adjuster assembly in order to effect activation of the parking brake assembly.
The hydraulic actuator of the invention may be mounted in a variety of locations and in a variety of directions within the braking assembly. Depending upon the mounting location and direction of the hydraulic actuator, several different lever arrangements may be used in order to achieve the counterclockwise rotation of the force transfer lever of the air cylinder assembly in order to apply the appropriate forces to the push rod and the slack adjuster so that actuation of the parking brake assembly can be achieved.
Although a number of objects and advantages of the present invention have been described in some detail above, various additional objects and advantages of the hydraulic parking brake lever arrangement of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those persons who are skilled in the art from the following more detailed description of the invention, particularly, when such detailed description of the invention is taken in conjunction with both the attached drawing figures and with the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3107754 (1963-10-01), Bachman
patent: 3944286 (1976-03-01), Engle et al.
patent: 4175793 (1979-11-01), Clemmons
patent: 4201277 (1980-05-01), Meier et al.
patent: 4312428 (1982-01-01), Beacon
patent: 4733602 (1988-03-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5361876 (1994-11-01), Haverick et al.
patent: 5701975 (1997-12-01), Hawryszkow
Graham Matthew C.
James Ray & Associates
Westinghouse Air Brake Company
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