U.S. patent number 3,854,598 [Application Number 05/437,001] was granted by the patent office on 1974-12-17 for automatic unlocking device for rolling stock couplers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Japanese National Railways, Kayabakogyokabushikikaisha. Invention is credited to Kenichi Inami, Mitsuru Wakao, Shigezo Yamazaki.
United States Patent |
3,854,598 |
Yamazaki , et al. |
December 17, 1974 |
AUTOMATIC UNLOCKING DEVICE FOR ROLLING STOCK COUPLERS
Abstract
An automatic unlocking device for rolling stock couplers to make
the couplers of travelling trains separable by lifting the
fastening cotters from them, which consists of a base stand
installed at the side of the railway track, a boom mechanism
composed of parallel links movable along the railway track and
arranged on the said base stand tilting freely towards the railway
track, and a robot which is hung from the boom mechanism and is
provided with devices for unlocking couplers automatically, so that
the robot may be inserted towards any desired couplers of a
travelling train and unlock them successively by lifting up the
fastening cotters from them by means of its unlocking devices.
Inventors: |
Yamazaki; Shigezo (Tokyo,
JA), Wakao; Mitsuru (Iwatsuki, JA), Inami;
Kenichi (Kawasaki, JA) |
Assignee: |
Japanese National Railways
(Tokyo, JA)
Kayabakogyokabushikikaisha (Tokyo, JA)
|
Family
ID: |
11781810 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/437,001 |
Filed: |
January 28, 1974 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 30, 1973 [JA] |
|
|
48-11579 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
213/211;
213/218 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61G
7/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B61G
7/04 (20060101); B61G 7/00 (20060101); B61g
007/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;213/75R,211-219 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wood, Jr.; M. Henson
Assistant Examiner: Church; Gene A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jecies; Saul
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An automatic unlocking device for rolling stock couplers,
comprising a railway track which carries any rolling stock to be
separated, a base stand which is installed on the ground at the
railway track side, a boom mechanism which is supported by said
base stand tilting freely toward the railway track and
incorporating parallel shift links movable along the said railway
track, a robot which is hung from said boom mechanism, and lock
release devices which are arranged on the robot for unlocking
couplers of any rolling stock to be separated when they are
travelling on said track.
2. Device as stated in claim 1, where the boom mechanism comprises
a pillar for hanging robot, parallel-shift links for supporting the
said pillar and a return member for bringing the pillar back to the
starting position through the medium of the parallel-shift
links.
3. Device as stated in claim 2, wherein the parallel-shift links
for supporting the pillar comprise two links which are supported,
sliding freely, by shafts oscillating freely, crank mechanisms
which are connected at the lower ends of both links so as to
produce crank motion thereat, enabling the pillar supported by the
upper ends of both links to move horizontally while being kept
upright when they travel along the railway track, and a timing gear
which connects both crank mechanisms to synchronize them.
4. Device as stated in claim 3, wherein the return member for
bringing the pillar back to the starting position through the
medium of the parallel shift links is a rotary actuator whose
output shaft is connected to a part of said timing gear.
5. Device as stated in claim 4, wherein the robot hung from the
pillar is provided with a levelling mechanism so that it may always
be kept upright.
6. Device as stated in claim 5, wherein the levelling mechanism
comprises two fluid-operated cylinders which are arranged between
the base stand and the boom mechanism and between the boom
mechanism and the robot, respectively. working reciprocally while
exchanging their fluid.
7. An automatic unlocking device for rolling-stock couplers,
comprising
a railway track for the rolling stock to be separated;
support means installed laterally outwardly of said railway
track;
boom means mounted on said support means and having a free end
portion tilting towards said railway track, said boom means being
freely pivotable so that said free end portion can move
longitudinally of said railway track;
a robot device suspended from said boom means; and
lock release means arranged on said robot device and operable for
unlocking the couplers of rolling stock to be separated while the
rolling stock is travelling on said railway track.
8. A method of automatically unlocking the couplers of rolling
stock which is travelling on a railway track, with unlocking
devices mounted on a robot which is suspended from a boom that is
mounted laterally adjacent the track and is pivotable on this
support, comprising the steps of
inserting the boom transversely of the railway track into a gap
between travelling rolling stock having connected couplers, so that
said robot becomes located in said gap;
pivoting said boom from a starting position in the direction of
travel of said rolling stock so that said robot advances in said
gap together with the rolling stock;
unlocking the couplers of the travelling rolling stock with said
unlocking devices; and
withdrawing the boom and robot from said gap between the now
uncoupled rolling stock.
9. A method as defined in claim 8; and further comprising the step
of returning the boom to said starting position after the step of
withdrawing is completed.
10. A method is defined in claim 8; and further comprising
maintaining said robot substantially centered in said gap during
the advancement of the robot with said rolling stock.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention deals with automatic unlocking equipment for
rolling stock couplers, which lifts the fastening cotters from the
couplers of rolling stock travelling in coupled condition and
brings them to a suitable position for separation.
Generally speaking, railway waggons are arranged in trains
according to the destination of their cargoes and may be arranged
several times at various stations before they reach their
destination. Principal railway junctions, therefore, are provided
with marshalling yards where the rearrangement of trains occurs.
The problem of these marshalling yards is how the separation and
re-coupling of waggons may be practiced efficiently and safely.
In the separation and re-coupling of waggons, normally couplers and
brake hoses connecting adjacent waggons must be separated and
re-coupled individually. The separation and re-coupling of brake
hoses may be practiced while the waggons are stopped on the arrival
line or classification line, while re-coupling of the couplers may
also be carried out automatically if one waggon, after its
fastening cotter is lifted up from the coupler, is permitted to
collide with another stationary waggon at a speed within a certain
range, because the couplers of both waggons impact, then tend to
separate from each other and eventually the fastening cotter falls
in place naturally. These operations, therefore, may be carried out
without much danger. In contrast, if fastening cotters are lifted
from their couplers ready for separation beforehand while the
waggons are stopped on the arrival line, there is a danger that the
fastening cotters may fall down naturally to re-couple the couplers
as the waggons push or pull each other due to the starting impact
which occurs when the waggons are pushed towards the classification
line. For this reason, the separation of couplers must be practiced
while they are in contact and while the train is being pushed
towards the classification line. Yard operators, therefore, must
lift up fastening cotters sucessively by hand from couplers to be
separated according to the waybill of the train while moving back
and forth at the side of the train. This work is not only very
laborious, but also very dangerous as it must be done at the side
of travelling trains.
For labor saving as well as the prevention of danger, it can be of
great help if the lifting of fastening cotters is automated. If the
equipment becomes very complex due to such automation, however, it
may not be applied conveniently to many small marshalling yards
such as plane yards, even though it may be applied to the few large
ones such as hump yards. Thus, it is desired that the mechanization
of this kind of operation be accomplished in a simple manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
From the above point of view, the purpose of the present invention
is to offer an automatic unlocking device for rolling stock
couplers, making it possible by means of fixed equipment installed
on the ground to locate couplers to be separated among those of
travelling trains, and to lift the fastening cotters from those
couplers automatically.
To achieve this, the equipment according to the present invention
consists of a base stand which is installed at the side of the
track leading from the arrival line towards the classification
line, a boom mechanism which is supported by the base stand tilting
freely towards the track and incorporating a link mechanism movable
also as required parallel to the track, and a robot which is hung
from the boom mechanism and provided with various "fingers" having
the function of unlocking couplers automatically. This novel
equipment may not only be installed readily in a very small
trackside areas, but also makes it possible to lift fastening
cotters from the couplers of travelling trains and keep them ready
to separate. Also, the robot may be applied to couplers of various
types by modifying its automatic unlocking mechanism.
In order to clarify the above and other purposes, features and
performance of the equipment of the present invention fully,
further explanation will be given in the following referring to a
preferred embodiment of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
FIG. 1 shows a front view of an example of the automatic unlocking
device for rolling stock couplers according to the present
invention.
FIG. 2 shows a side view of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a cutaway front view showing the boom mechanism in
detail.
FIG. 4 is a cutaway side view of FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a detailed front view of the robot section.
FIG. 6 is a detailed side view of FIG. 5
FIG. 7 is a side view showing the locating finger part of the robot
in further detail.
FIG. 8 is a front view showing the unlocking finger part in further
detail; and
FIG. 9 is a back view showing the upper lock lifting finger part of
the robot in further detail.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:
An automatic unlocking device (10) for rolling stock couplers
according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 as it is
applied in practice.
This automatic unlocking equipment (10) of couplers consists of a
base stand (11) which forms the supporting part, a boom mechanism
(12) which is arranged to tilt freely taking the base stand as a
supporting point and a robot (13) which is hung from the top of the
boom mechanism (12). These parts are designed not to protrude
beyond a certain boundary (14) indicated with dotted lines in FIG.
1 when they are in the normal position.
When the present equipment (10) is installed at the railway (15)
side, the base stand (11) which forms the supporting part is fixed
at the lower surface on the track base (16) and carries supporting
brackets (17) (18) (19) on the upper surface.
The boom mechanism (12) consists of a link case (20), a pillar (21)
and parallel links (22) connecting the pillar to the link case. The
link case (20) has an arm (23) extending as a single body from its
side and the top of the arm (23) is supported, oscillating freely
around a shaft (24), by the supporting bracket (17) of the base
stand (11). A tilt cylinder (27) is incorporated between the middle
of the arm (23) and the supporting bracket (18) of the said base
stand (11), being connected to them with shafts (25) (26). Thus,
the boom mechanism (12) incorporating the links case (20), pillar
(21) and parallel shift link (22) may be tilted about the shaft
(24) according to the extension or contraction of the tilt cylinder
(27) and be inclined freely from the upright position shown by the
full line in FIG. 1 to a position over the railway track on which
the waggon (28) is travelling, as shown with dotted line in the
figure.
As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the parallel shift links (22) connecting
the link case (20) and the pillar (21) consist of two crank arms
(29) (30) which are fixed at the upper and lower parts of the link
case (20), respectively, and two parallel links (31) (32) which are
arranged relative to these crank arms. The base end shaft or
rotation axis (33) of the upper crank arm (29) is supported by one
of the side walls and an inner partition wall (34) of the link case
(20), while shaft (35) of the lower crank arm (30) is supported by
both side walls of link case (20). Both the shaft (33) (35)
protrude at one end beyond the link case (20) into the drive case
(36), where they are provided with gears (37) (38) of identical
diameter interlocking simultaneously with a timing gear (40) which
is suppported by the link case (20) on a shaft (39). Also, the
rotation shaft (35) of the lower crank arm (30) is connected to a
rotary actuator (41) fixed to drive case (36) so that, by the
rotation of the actuator (41), the upper and lower crank arms (29)
(30) may be allowed to oscillate always in parallel, at identical
speeds and in identical directions.
The two parallel links (31) (32) are made of square bars having
round shaft parts (42) (43) at the middle. They are supported by
the link case (20) as they are inserted loosely at the round shaft
parts (42) (43) into bearings (44) (45) which are arranged,
oscillating freely, in upper and lower positions parallel to the
rotation shafts (33) (35) of the crank arms (29) (30) The parallel
links (31) (32) are connected at the base end to crank pins (46)
(47) of the crank arms (29) (30) and at the top end to the said
pillar (21) by means of shafts (48) (49), so that the pillar may be
kept upright.
Thus, if the crank arms (29) (30) oscillate within an angle .alpha.
(refer to FIG. 4) by manes of gears (37) .about. (39) with rotation
of the said rotary actuator (41), or if the pillar (21) travels
within a distance l due to an outside force, the parallel links
(31)(32) oscillate around the bearings (44)(45) while sliding
there, so that both of their top ends may be moved horizontally. As
a result, the pillar (21) may be moved horizontally while being
kept upright.
The robot (13) is hung with a shaft (51) oscillating freely to a
hanger (50) fixed to the top end of the pillar (21). A levelling
cylinder (54) is pivoted with shafts (52) (53) between the robot
(13) and the hanger (50). Another levelling cylinder (55) which
forms a pair with the levelling cylinder (54) is pivoted with
shafts 56) (57) between the supporting bracket (19) of the base
stand (11) and the arm (23) of the boom mechanism (12). As the boom
mechanism (12) oscillates around the shaft (24) according to the
extension or retraction of the said tilt cylinder (27), these
levelling cylinders (54) (55) perform reciprocal motions (as one is
extended, the other is retracted) while exchanging their actuating
fluids, so that the robot (13) may always be kept upright
irrespective of the inclination angle of the boom mechanism
(12).
In the said application example, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the
robot (13) consists of a main arm (58), two supporting arms (59)
(60) which extend downwards as a single body from the main arm,
locating fingers (61) and lock release fingers (62) (63) which are
all arranged on the supporting arm (59) and a lock lift arm (64)
which is movable up and down along the main arm (58) and carries
lock lift fingers (65) (66). As was stated already, the robot is
hung on the hanger (50) of the pillar (21), namely by means of a
bearing unit (67) arranged at the upper part of its main arm
(58).
As seen in FIG. 7, the locating fingers (61) arranged on the
supporting arm (59) incorporate a first finger (68), a short one,
and a second finger (69), a long one. The base ends of these
fingers (68) (69) are supported by shafts (71) (72), oscillating
freely to the left and the right, respectively, on a supporting
plate (70) fixed to the supporting arm (59). A hanging plate (73)
extending downwards from the supporting plate (70) supports at the
lower end a locating cylinder (74), which has a spacer (76) at the
top of its rod (75). Since the pins (80) (81) at the tops of arms
(78) (79) extending from the base ends of the said fingers (68)
(69) are fitted into a groove (77) of the spacer (76), the fingers
(68) (69) oscillate around the shaft (71) (72) according to the
extension or retraction of the locating cylinder (74) so as to fold
as indicated in the figure, or open to the left and right.
Lock release fingers (62) (63) are to fit with and push up the
release levers (83) (refer to FIG. 1) of couplers (82) on waggons
(28) and bring them to a movable position by releasing them from
the chain locks. The upper and the lower lock release fingers (62)
(63) may be employed for waggons of upper and lower operating
types, respectively. As seen in FIG. 8, therefore, these lock
release fingers (62) (63) are fitted, sliding freely, to the upper
and the lower parts of the supporting arm (59) and joined to each
other with a connecting rod (84). The release cylinder (85) which
actuates these lock release fingers (62) (63) is fixed to the
supporting arm (59) with a supporting plate (86) and its rod (87)
is connected at the top end to push-up ring (88), which is inserted
loosely in the supporting arm (59). Thus, the lock release fingers
(62) (63) are allowed to slide up and down along the supporting arm
(59) as the lock release cylinder (85) extends or retracts. It is
recommendable to bring the lock release fingers (62) (63) to the
working position only when they are used, while kepping them
normally in the passing position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 so as to
prevent them from touching waggons when the equipment (10) is
inserted between coupled waggons. In this example, therefore, the
top ends of screw rods (19) (92) arranged on the lock release
fingers (62) (63) are fitted in cam grooves (89) (92) which are
arranged on the supporting arm (59). Thus, with the push-up motion
of the lock release fingers (62) (63) actuated by the lock release
cylinder (85), these fingers may be automatically turned to the
working position from the passing position.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the lock lift arm (64) having lock lift
fingers (65) (66) is fitted at the upper end with a shaft (93)
oscillating to the supporting plate (94), which moves up and down
along the said main arm (58) by means of a roller (95). The lock
lift fingers (65) (66) arranged on the lock lift arm (64) draw the
fastening cotter (109) (refer to FIG. 1) of waggon (28) from the
coupler (82) and make the lock release ready. Like the said lock
release fingers (62) (63), the upper and the lower lift fingers
(65) (66) work for waggons of upper and lower operating types,
respectively. In order to permit the lock lift fingers (65) (66) to
perform such a function, the said supporting plate (94) is
connected by a shaft (96) at the lower end to the base end of a
lock lift pushing cylinder (97), the rod (98) of which is fixed at
the top end to a connecting device (99) arranged on the lock lift
arm (64), so that the lock lift fingers (65) (66) may be pushed to
a suitable position to meet the fastening cotters (109) of couplers
(82) as the lock lift arm (64) oscillates around the shaft (93)
with the extension of the lock lift cylinder. The connecting plate
(100) between the main arm (58) and supporting arms (59) (60)
carries a lock lift cylinder (101) fitted with a shaft (102) and
the rod (103) of the lock lift cylinder (101) is connected at the
top end to the supporting plate (94) by a shaft (104). Thus, the
lock lift fingers (65) (66) may be lifted by the extension of the
lock lift cylinder through the medium of the supporting plate (94)
and lock lift arm (64) to draw up the fastening cotter (109) from
the coupler (82) and bring it to a position ready for lock
release.
Among these lock lift fingers (65)(66), the lower one (66) has no
chance of contacting waggons when the equipment is inserted between
coupled waggons and therefore it is fixed to the lock lift arm (64)
as a single body, while the upper one (65) may contact waggons in
such a case and therefore may oscillate freely on the lock lift arm
(64) through the medium of a reception cylinder (105) (65) (66)
shown in FIG. 9. Also, the spring (106) is arranged between the
cylinder and the coupling device (99), so that the lock lift finger
(65) may be kept normally at the working position due to the force
of the force of spring (106) and be turned against the spring (106)
to the passing position only when the lock lift arm (64) is folded
by retracting the lock lift pushing cylinder (97) and a fastening
piece (107) arranged on the reception cylinder (105) of the lock
lift finger (65) comes in contact with the stop rod (108) extending
from the supporting plate (94).
The automatic unlocking equipment (10) thus devised according to
the present invention may be applied to the couplers of travelling
waggons in the following manner.
As soon as the couplers of any waggons to be separated from a train
which is pushed by a yard locomotive come in front of the equipment
(10), a starting signal is given. It may be given by hand as
required to the equipment (10) according to the waybill of the
train. It may also be given automatically by means of a simple
electronic computer which memorizes the train waybill.
Upon the starting signal, firstly the tilt cylinder (27) of the
equipment (10) extend to incline the boom mechanism (12) until the
robot (13) reaches the stipulated position between the waggons
while keeping the robot upright by means of the levelling cylinder
(54) (55), At the same time, an instruction signal is given to
switch a solenoid valve (110) arranged on the supporting arm (59)
of the robot (13) (refer to FIG. 7) and, as the locating cylinder
(74) compresses, the locating fingers (59) (60) open back and
forth.
Thus, once one end of a waggon which is pushed by a yard locomotive
comes in contact with the top end of the short finger (68), the
robot (13) will move horizontally with the travelling wagon due to
the parallel links (22) as the top end of the finger (68) is pushed
by the end of the waggon, while keeping the relative position
between the robot (13) and the coupler unchanged. At the same time,
if the robot (13) tends to proceed faster than the waggon due to
the impact from the latter, the long finger (69) will contact the
top end of the preceding waggon and prevent the robot from
proceeding too fast, thus avoiding in combination with the short
finger (68) any deviation in relative position between the robot
(13) and the coupler.
Meanwile, once the end of the waggon contacts the top end of the
short finger (68), its roller reception (111) is pressed to some
extent to close a limit switch 112 refer to FIG. 7) arranged there
and this is detected immediately by the robot (13), which receives
the starting signal for sequence operations. This starting signal
is then transmitted to a solenoid valve (114) controlling the lock
release cylinder (85) through the solenoid control mechanism (113)
arranged on the main arm (58) of the robot (13) as shown in FIG. 5.
When the solenoid valve is thus switched, the lock release cylinder
(85) expands to lift the lock release fingers (62) (63) while
turning them along the cam grooves (89) (90) to the working
position from the passing position so as to enable either of them
(62) (63) to push up the release lever of the waggon and make it
movable, i.e., bring it to a position ready to unlock by releasing
the fastening cotter from the chain lock.
Next, when this operation is over, either of limit switches (115a)
(115b) arranged on the lock release fingers (62) (63) is
accompanied by shutting of and this signal is transmitted to a
solenoid valve (116) controlling the lock lift pushing cylinder
(97) through the said solenoid control mechanism (113). Thus, the
lock lift pushing cylinder (97) starts to extend and the lock lift
arm (64) is turned around the shaft (93) and either of the lock
lift fingers (65) (66) is pushed out to a position fitting the lock
lifter of the coupler. Accompanied by operation of the upper lock
lift finger (65) the fastening (107) leaves the stopper lever (108)
and the upper lock lift finger (65) is turned automatically by the
force of the spring (106) from the passing position to the working
position to fit the lock lifter of the coupler.
Then, when the above operation is over, the lock lift arm (64)
closes a limit switch (117) arranged on the supporting plate (94)
and the signal from the limit switch (117) is transmitted to a
solenoid valve (118) controlling the lock lift cylinder (101)
through the solenoid control mechanism (113). As soon as it is thus
switched, the lock lift cylinder (101) extends to lift up the lock
lift fingers (65) (66) together with the lock lift arm (64), so
that the lock lifter and eventually the fastening cotter is pulled
up and the coupler is made ready for release.
When such a series of operations is over, the solenoid reset
signal, as one of the sequence operations, is passed to all the
solenoid valves (114) (116) (118) through the control mechanism
(113) to switch them to the starting position. Thus, the lock lift
pushing cylinder (97) retracts to withdraw the lock lift fingers
(65) (66) from the lock of the coupler. At the same time, the lock
cylinder (101) also retracts to bring them back to the starting
position, while the lock release fingers (62) (63) are brought back
to the passing position by the retracting lock release cylinder
(85).
Even though the fastening cotter is no longer lifted due to the
withdrawal of the lock lift fingers (65) (66), the fastening cotter
once lifted up will not drop naturally to lock the coupler again as
long as the couplers are pushed against each other between
waggons.
When all the reset operations of the robot (13) are over, the
finishing signal is transmitted through the solenoid control
mechanism (113) to the outer control unit, which gives the reset
signal to the solenoid valve (110) controlling the locating
cylinder (74). Thus, it is switched to the starting position and
the locating cylinder (74) extends to fold the locating fingers 68
Then, the tilt cylinder (27) receives this signal and retracts to
bring the boom mechanism (12) back to the upright position while
withdrawing the robot (13) from between the waggons. As soon as
this operation is over, the rotary actuator (41) receives the
instruction to start rotation, the robot (13) and the parallel
shift links (22) are brought back to the starting position ready
for the next operation. By repeating these operations, fastening
cotters may be lifted successively from couplers to be
separated.
Since conventional methods which are commonly applied to various
control systems may also applied to the control system and the
sequence mechanism for timing each of the said operations, no
particular explanation will be given here. In addition, explanation
has been made so far referring to an application example relating
to an automatic coupler commonly employed of a type where the
fastening cotter is lifted through the medium of a lock lifter by
turning the release lever while holding it up. It is clear,
however, that the present equipment may also be applied to couplers
of other types by modifying the automatic coupling release
mechanism arranged on its robot part (13).
Thus, the equipment of the present invention makes it possible in
lift fastening cotters from couplers between waggons to be
separated and bring them to a position ready for release, using a
relatively simple mechanism. It may not only be installed at small
yards where the installation area is limited, but also results in
the saving of labor and the prevention of danger, accomplishing the
purposes and effects expected and stated initially.
Although explanation has been made so far referring to a preferred
embodiment of the present invention, it is clear that various
modifications may be practiced without deviating from the principle
of the present invention. We specify, therefore, the following
Scope of Claims including all such modifications which fall within
the basic scope of the present invention.
* * * * *