Railway draft appliances – Couplings – Glass table
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-26
2001-03-27
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railway draft appliances
Couplings
Glass table
C213S124000, C213S131000, C213S159000, C213S211000, C213S212000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206215
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to the fields of coupling devices and particularly to modification of the standard Type-E/Type-F coupler for railroad cars.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It has been know in the railroad industry to connect together adjacent cars in a train by means of so-called “standard coupler”, such as the Type-E and Type-F couplers utilized by American Association of Railroads (AAR). The coupling is achieved by means of interlocking knuckles pivotally carried on coupler heads by knuckle pins and controlled by means of knuckle locks within a lock-receiving chamber. The coupler heads are relatively massive castings connected to the undercarriages of railway cars. It is well known that the uncoupling of these standard couplers require manual operation which is very time-consuming.
So it will be appreciated if the couplers can be provided with fully automatic coupling-uncoupling features to dramatically improve the operation efficiency of the freight cars. It is understood that, with addition of electro-pneumatically operated breaking system and with the development of automatic train serialization technologies, it is possible to realize such automatic coupling-uncoupling control.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved coupler for railroad cars in which its uncoupling operation can be controlled automatically by introducing, at the guard-arm side of the coupler head, an actuator connected to and controlled by the serialization and operation-control system of the train.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects of the present invention and to remedy drawbacks of the prior art described above, there is provided improved arrangement of mechanical couplers for railroad cars that is compatible with the existing standard couplers. According to one aspect of the present invention, an improved standard type-E or type-F coupler includes a coupler head of the type having standard coupling knuckle, guard arm, and an standard interior knuckle-control structure within a lock-receiving chamber. Said interior knuckle-control structure includes the standard components such as a knuckle-lock attached to a lock-lift assembly, a knuckle thrower and other standard components. In order to provide the coupler with automatic uncoupling feature, an electric actuator, such as a motor or a solenoid, is installed within a chamber provided behind said guard arm. Said actuator controls the movement of the lock-lift assembly via a leverage system provided so that the coupler lock can be lifted to the lock-set position by said actuator using electric power which can be controlled automatically by the operation-control system of the train.
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: 3491899 (1970-01-01), Cope
patent: 3599803 (1971-08-01), Cope
patent: 3724680 (1973-04-01), Hines
patent: 5139161 (1992-08-01), Long
patent: 5775524 (1998-07-01), Dunham
Morano S. Joseph
Olson Lars A.
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