Railway rolling stock – Special car bodies – Dumping
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-16
2001-05-08
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railway rolling stock
Special car bodies
Dumping
C105S239000, C105S241100, C191S04500A
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227123
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
We, David A. Lohr, William E. Kurtz, Robert H. Dorian and Fred J. Taylor have developed this invention which relates, in general, to electrical actuators for railroad cars and, more specifically, to a wayside electrical pick-up shoe for controlling a discharge of a bottom discharge railcar.
2. Prior Art
Externally activated electrical and mechanical actuators have long been utilized in railcars for actuating a variety of railcar components. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,391,255 discloses an automatic train stopping mechanism utilizing spring biased contact shoes on the railcar acting against ramp rails along the track. U.S. Pat. No. 1,504,969 also discloses a ramp shoe for a train stopping mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,322 discloses an electrical railcar mounted actuator for operating signal lights. U.S. Pat. No. 1,342,591 discloses a street railcar mounted actuator for displaying next stop for the streetcar. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,305,241 and 4,542,701 disclose railcar mounted actuators, or pick-up shoes, for operating discharge doors of the railcar.
Pick-up shoes for railcars have been constructed of spring biased contacts attached to a base plate which is attached to the railcar. In existing pick-up shoes of this type, it is common for the base plate to be attached to the railcar through special insulated connectors. These insulating connectors tend to deteriorate and need frequent replacement. Additionally, these insulating connectors require specially sized mounting holes. All of these factors increase the cost of existing pick-up shoes as well as the time for installing and maintaining the pick-up shoes.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pick-up shoe which can be attached to the railcar using conventional attachments, such as bolts. A further object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight pick-up shoe. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pick-up shoe which has a longer, useful life span than the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above objects are achieved with a wayside electrical pick-up shoe according to the present invention. The pick-up shoe includes a spring biased electrical contact pivotally attached to a base plate and a mechanism for electrically insulating the base plate from the electrical contact. In one embodiment of the present invention, the mechanism for electrically insulating the contact includes insulating material forming at least part of the pivot between the contact and the base plate, such as a pivot pin formed of insulating material. The mechanism for electrically insulating the contact may further include additional insulation plates on the body and/or the electrical contact or insulating material may be supplied on a spring member which biases the contact.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the base plate is formed from a non-conductive material such as a plastic or composite material. In this embodiment, the material of the base plate itself serves as the mechanism for electrically insulating the contact from the base plate. In this embodiment, the electrical contact may be formed entirely of an electrically conductive material, or alternatively, the electrical contact may include a replaceable, electrically conductive plate.
The wayside electrical pick-up shoe according to the present invention may be used for operating the discharge mechanism for the railcar or any electrically activated system on a railcar. Additionally, the wayside electrical pick-up shoe according to the present invention allows the base plate to be attached to the railcar by conventional connectors, such as bolts, because the present design avoids the need for electrical insulation between the base plate and the railcar body. The present invention incorporates the insulation into areas having less stress than the prior art resulting in an increase in the expected life span of the pick-up shoe. All of these advantages are provided without detrimentally affecting the location or the operation of the pick-up shoe.
These and other advantages of the present invention will be clarified in the brief description of the preferred embodiments taken together with the attached figures wherein like references represent like elements throughout.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1342591 (1920-06-01), McNicholas
patent: 1391255 (1921-09-01), Keeling
patent: 1391502 (1921-09-01), Quarles
patent: 1504969 (1924-08-01), Parker
patent: 1670003 (1928-05-01), Pifer
patent: 1771718 (1930-07-01), McAvoy
patent: 1802322 (1931-04-01), Wilson
patent: 2305241 (1942-12-01), Duncan
patent: 3509292 (1970-04-01), Dehn
patent: 3707627 (1972-12-01), Sheppard
patent: 3740498 (1973-06-01), Herbert
patent: 4542701 (1985-09-01), Fischer et al.
patent: 4628825 (1986-12-01), Taylor et al.
patent: 5454456 (1995-10-01), McKenzie
Dorian Robert H.
Kurtz William E.
Lohr David A.
Taylor Fred J.
Johnstown America Corporation
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
Webb Ziesenheim & Logsdon Orkin & Hanson, P.C.
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