Handbrake operating linkage for railroad tank car

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9944302-B1
Application number	US-201615347430-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2016
Priority date	Oct 13, 2016
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

A handbrake operating linkage for a railroad tank car, in which a hand wheel used to provide tension in the linkage is located on a lateral side of the car body, near an end of the car and at a height permitting a person standing on the ground alongside the tank car to set the handbrake. The hand wheel is located on the car at an end of the car opposite the end at which an airbrake cylinder-and-piston assembly is located, and the linkage extends from an airbrake cylinder lever to the hand wheel by way of a direction-reversing lever and a bell crank, avoiding a requirement for parts of the linkage to pass through direction-changing sheave wheels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A handbrake operating linkage for a railroad tank car having an elongate car body, the handbrake operating linkage comprising:
(a) a cylinder lever having a pair of opposite ends;
(b) a first brake rod connected to the cylinder lever at a first attachment point located near a first one of the opposite ends of the cylinder lever, the first brake rod extending to a live lever of a respective truck brake mechanism on a wheeled truck at a first end of the tank car;
(c) a second brake rod functionally but indirectly connected to the cylinder lever at a second attachment point on the cylinder lever at a location spaced apart from the first attachment point in a direction toward the other one of the opposite ends of the cylinder lever, the second brake rod extending to a live lever of a respective truck brake mechanism on a wheeled truck at a second end of the tank car;
(d) a reversing lever having a pair of opposite ends, the reversing lever being movable about a fulcrum mounted on the tank car, a first end of the reversing lever on a first side of the fulcrum being connected to the cylinder lever by a respective tension-bearing member acting on the cylinder lever at a third attachment point located on the cylinder lever and spaced apart from the first attachment point in the same direction along the cylinder lever as the second attachment point, the third attachment point being farther than the second attachment point from the first attachment point;
(e) a brake-applying tension-bearing linkage connected to a second end of the reversing lever, located on an opposite second side of the fulcrum, the brake-applying tension-bearing linkage extending generally longitudinally along the car body toward the second end of the car and being connected to a direction-changing device mounted on a portion of an undercarriage of the tank car on a lateral side of the car at the second end of the car; and
(f) a flexible tension-bearing member connected to the direction-changing device and extending from the direction-changing device to a tension-generating take-up device, the flexible tension-bearing member being interconnected with the direction-changing device so as to cause the direction-changing device to apply tension to the brake-applying tension-bearing linkage in response to tension created in the flexible tension-bearing member by actuation of the tension-generating take-up device.

2. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 1 including a brake operating motor connected to the cylinder lever near the first one of the opposite ends of the cylinder lever.

3. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 1 including an intermediate lever mounted on the car body and a slack adjustment mechanism interconnected with and extending between the cylinder lever and the intermediate lever, and wherein the second brake rod has a first end that is connected to the intermediate lever.

4. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 1 wherein the direction-changing device is a bell crank mounted on the tank car at the second end of the tank car.

5. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 1 wherein the tension-generating take-up device includes a winch and a handwheel arranged to drive the winch.

6. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 1 including a slack adjuster as part of an indirect connection between the second brake rod and the second attachment point on the cylinder lever.

7. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 6 wherein the slack adjuster extends from the cylinder lever to an intermediate lever attached pivotably to the tank car and wherein the second brake rod is also connected to the intermediate lever and extends from the intermediate lever toward the live lever of the truck brake mechanism of the wheeled truck at the second end of the tank car.

8. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 1 wherein the brake-applying tension-bearing linkage includes a brake-applying rod having a first end interconnected with the reversing lever and an opposite second end connected with the direction-changing device through a flexible chain.

9. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 2 wherein the brake operating motor is an airbrake cylinder-and-piston assembly mounted on the tank car, the cylinder-and-piston assembly including a piston rod having an end connected to the cylinder lever.

10. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 4 wherein the flexible tension-bearing member extending from the bell crank to the tension-generating take-up device is a chain, and wherein the tension-generating take-up device includes a winch and a handwheel arranged to drive the winch.

11. The handbrake operating linkage of claim 4 wherein the bell crank is mounted on a side sill of the tank car and is movable in a longitudinal, vertical plane, about a transversely-oriented horizontal pivot axis.

Assignees

• Gunderson Llc

Inventors

• Saxton Gregory J
• Heitmeyer Kristofer M

Classifications

• B60T7/10

  Disposition of hand control · CPC title

• B61H13/02 Primary

  Hand or other personal actuation · CPC title

• B60T7/108

  with mechanisms to take up slack in the linkage to the brakes · CPC title