Ring protector for preventing tampering of valves positioned...

Details Ring protector for preventing tampering of valves positioned... Ring protector for preventing tampering of valves positioned...

2002-06-04

2003-05-06

Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)

Railway rolling stock

Special car bodies

Freight

Reexamination Certificate

active

06557477

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ring protector. More specifically, it relates to a ring protector for preventing tampering of valves positioned inside a railcar dome.
Valves and actuators for tanker railway cars are subject to severe limitations due to standards imposed by various governing bodies, such as the Chlorine Institute and the Association of American Railroads. For instance, a valve/actuator combination must be attachable to the industry standard manway cover which covers the openings in the tanker railcar. A standard railcar
10
having a manway cover
12
is illustrated in FIG.
1
. The standard manway cover
12
provides for the attachments of four valves
14
, including two valves for liquids and two valves for vapors. Furthermore, all four valves
14
must fit within the confines of a dome
16
covering the manway cover
12
. While the prior art dome illustrated in
FIG. 1
has four valves, other prior art domes exist with three or five valves.
A sectional view of a standard dome
16
is illustrated in
FIG. 2 and a
top view of the standard dome
16
is illustrated in FIG.
3
. The dome
16
covers and protects the valves
14
placed therein. The dome
16
includes a dome ring
18
surrounding the valves
14
and a convex dome lid
20
overlaying the dome ring
18
. As seen in
FIG. 3
, a plurality of circumferentially and equally spaced bolts
22
attach the dome
16
to the manway cover
12
. The dome ring
18
defines four approximately equally spaced dome port openings
24
. The dome port openings
24
allow restricted access to the valves
14
positioned inside the dome
16
without removing the dome. The Association of American Railroads provides guidelines for the sizes of both the dome and the dome port openings. The actual sizes of the dome and the dome port openings are normally specified by the car builders based on the guidelines provided the Association of American Railroads.
While the dome port openings
24
provide the convenience of having access to the valves
14
without having to remove the dome
16
, the dome port openings
24
also allow moisture to enter into the dome
16
and an unauthorized person to tamper with the valves
14
. Such tampering of the valves
14
may release hazardous vapors, such as chlorine, into the atmosphere. To prevent moisture from entering the dome
16
, one solution is to mount four rotatable circular plate
26
on the outer surface of the dome ring
18
. Each plate
26
is mounted adjacent to a dome port opening
24
such that the plate
26
can be rotated to an opened position in which the plate
26
does not block the dome port opening
24
. To prevent moisture from entering the dome
16
through the dome port opening
24
, the plate
26
can be rotated to a closed position in which the plate
26
completely blocks the dome port opening
24
as illustrated in FIG.
4
. While such prior art circular plates
26
can prevent moisture from entering the dome
16
through the dome port openings
24
, the plates
26
cannot prevent an unauthorized person from tampering with the valves
14
. Therefore, there exists a need for assuring that the dome port openings remain blocked when authorized access to the valves are not required.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a side view of a tanker railcar with a prior art dome attached;
FIG. 2
is a sectional view of the prior art dome of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is top view of the prior art dome of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a prior art rotatable circular plate mounted to the outer surface of the dome to block the dome port opening;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of a ring protector in accordance to the present invention for preventing unauthorized access through the dome port opening;
FIG. 6
is a top view of the ring protector of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 7
is a side of the ring protector of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 8
is a perspective view of the ring protector of
FIG. 5
as situated within a dome;
FIG. 9
is a sectional view of a dome in accordance to the present invention with the ring protector of
FIG. 5
situated in the opened position and the dome lid in the opened position;
FIG. 10
is a sectional view of the dome and ring protector of
FIG. 9
with the ring protector sit the closed position and the dome lid in the opened position;
FIG. 11
is a sectional view of the dome and ring protector of
FIG. 9
with the ring protector situated in the opened position and the dome lid pivoted toward the closed position;
FIG. 12
is a sectional view of the dome and ring protector of
FIG. 9
with the ring protector situated in the closed position and the dome lid in the closed position;
FIG. 13
is a top view of a lid bracket in accordance to the present invention; and
FIG. 14
is a side view of the lid bracket of FIG.
13
.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5386845 (1995-02-01), Zink
patent: 5673897 (1997-10-01), Crochet et al.
patent: 6227223 (2001-05-01), Crochet et al.

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