U.S. patent number RE35,969 [Application Number 08/644,245] was granted by the patent office on 1998-11-24 for single sided control valve and pipe bracket arrangement.
This patent grant is currently assigned to New York Air Brake Corporation. Invention is credited to Robert Gayfer, Luann M. Lalone.
United States Patent |
RE35,969 |
Lalone , et al. |
November 24, 1998 |
Single sided control valve and pipe bracket arrangement
Abstract
A single sided valve wherein the service portion is mounted to
the front face of a pipe bracket adjacent to the right face and the
emergency portion is mounted to the front face adjacent to the left
face. The brake pipe, brake cylinder and at least one reservoir
port are on the back face and the brake pipe port is adjacent to
the left face behind the emergency portion. Mounting brackets each
include a horizontal flange with apertures to receive the fasteners
which mount the mounting brackets to the vehicle and the horizontal
flange which extends from the pipe bracket substantially past the
front face and the center of gravity of the control valve. A
combined dirt collector and cut-off cock is connected to the brake
pipe port adjacent to the left face of the pipe bracket and
includes a handle to the left of the left face.
Inventors: |
Lalone; Luann M. (Adams,
NY), Gayfer; Robert (Watertown, NY) |
Assignee: |
New York Air Brake Corporation
(Watertown, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
23073502 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/644,245 |
Filed: |
May 10, 1996 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
280534 |
Jul 26, 1994 |
05478142 |
Dec 26, 1995 |
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
303/36; 303/74;
137/354; 251/143 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60T
15/42 (20130101); B60T 15/52 (20130101); B60T
17/046 (20130101); Y10T 137/6892 (20150401) |
Current International
Class: |
B60T
17/00 (20060101); B60T 15/52 (20060101); B60T
17/04 (20060101); B60T 15/00 (20060101); B60T
15/42 (20060101); B60T 015/52 () |
Field of
Search: |
;303/36,74,35,38,39,69
;137/899,351,354 ;251/143 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Poon; Peter M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Barnes & Thornburg
Claims
What is claimed:
1. A brake control valve for operating a .[.vehicles.].
.Iadd.vehicle's .Iaddend.air brakes by controlling air pressure in
a brake cylinder from at least one reservoir in response to brake
pipe pressure in a brake pipe comprising:
a pipe bracket having opposed front and back faces, top and bottom
faces and right and left side faces;
said rear face including brake pipe, brake cylinder and at least
one reservoir ports and said brake pipe port being adjacent said
left face;
a service braking portion mounted to said front face adjacent said
right face;
an emergency braking portion mounted to said front face adjacent
said left face; and
a pair of mounting brackets adjacent said right and left faces for
mounting said control valve to a vehicle.
2. A control valve according to claim 1 wherein said mounting
brackets each include a horizontal flange with apertures for
receiving fasteners which mount said mounting brackets to said
vehicle and said horizontal flange extends from said pipe bracket
substantially past said front face.
3. A control valve according to claim 2 wherein each of said
horizontal flanges extends beyond the center of gravity of said
control valve.
4. A control valve according to claim 2 wherein said mounting
brackets each includes a vertical flange mounted to a respective
side face and each of said horizontal flanges extends from said
vertical flanges towards each other.
5. A control valve according to claim 2 wherein said mounting
brackets can be mounted to said pipe bracket with each of said
horizontal flanges adjacent either said top or bottom faces.
6. A control valve according to claim 1 wherein said service
portion includes a manual release valve between said service
portion and said emergency portion.
7. A control valve according to claim 6 including a retaining valve
mounted to said front face above said release valve and between
said service portion and said emergency portion.
8. A control valve according to claim 1 including a retaining valve
mounted to said front face between said service portion and said
emergency portion.
9. A control valve according to claim 1 including a cut-off cock
connected to said brake pipe port and including a handle to the
left of said left face.
10. A control valve according to claim 1 including a combined dirt
collector and cut-off cock connected to said brake pipe port and
including a handle to the left of said left face and said dirt
collector adjacent said left face.
11. A control valve according to claim 1 including an air filter in
said pipe bracket behind said service portion.
12. A control valve according to claim 1 including a brake cylinder
test port on said front face.
13. A control valve according to claim 1 wherein said rear face
includes two reservoir ports.
14. A pipe bracket for a brake control valve for operating a
.[.vehicles.]. .Iadd.vehicle's .Iaddend.air brakes by controlling
air pressure in a brake cylinder from at least one reservoir in
response to brake pipe pressure in a brake pipe, said pipe bracket
comprising:
opposed front and back faces, top and bottom faces and right and
left side faces;
said rear face including brake pipe, brake cylinder and at least
one reservoir ports and said brake pipe port being adjacent said
left face;
service braking portion ports mounted to said front face adjacent
said right face; and
emergency braking portion ports mounted to said front face adjacent
said left face.
15. A pipe bracket according to claim 14 wherein said side faces
each includes apertures for receiving fasteners for mounting a
mounting brackets thereto.
16. A pipe bracket according to claim 14 including a retaining
valve port in said front face above and between said service
portion and said emergency portion ports.
17. A control valve according to claim 14 including an air filter
passage in said pipe bracket behind said service portion ports.
18. A control valve according to claim 14 including a rear cylinder
test port on said front face.
19. A control valve according to claim 14 wherein said rear face
includes two reservoir ports. .Iadd.
20. A brake control valve for operating a vehicle's air brakes by
controlling air pressure in a brake cylinder from at least one
reservoir in response to brake pipe pressure in a brake pipe
comprising:
a pipe bracket having opposed front and back faces, top and bottom
faces and right and left side faces;
said rear face including brake pipe, brake cylinder and at least
one reservoir ports;
a service braking portion mounted to said front face adjacent one
of said side faces;
an emergency braking portion mounted to said front face adjacent
the other of said side faces; and
a pair of mounting brackets adjacent said right and left faces,
each of the mounting brackets include a horizontal flange with
apertures for receiving fasteners which mount said mounting
brackets to said vehicle and said horizontal flange extends from
said pipe bracket transverse to said front face and terminates at a
position substantially past said front face. .Iaddend..Iadd.
21. A control valve according to claim 20 wherein each of said
horizontal flanges extends to said position which is beyond the
center of gravity of said control valve in the direction transverse
to said front face. .Iaddend..Iadd.22. A control valve according to
claim 20 wherein said mounting brackets each includes a vertical
flange mounted to a respective side face and each of said
horizontal flanges extend from said vertical
flanges towards each other. .Iaddend..Iadd.23. A brake control
valve for operating a vehicle's air brakes by controlling air
pressure in a brake cylinder from at least one reservoir in
response to brake pipe pressure in a brake pipe comprising:
a pipe bracket having opposed front and back faces, top and bottom
faces and right and left side faces;
said rear face including brake pipe, brake cylinder and at least
one reservoir port;
a service braking portion mounted to said front face adjacent one
of said side faces;
an emergency braking portion mounted to said front face adjacent
the other of said side faces; and
a pair of mounting brackets adjacent said right and left faces,
each of the mounting brackets include a horizontal flange with
apertures for receiving fasteners which mount said mounting
brackets to said vehicle and a vertical flange mounted to a
respective side face and each of said horizontal flanges extend
from said vertical flanges towards each other. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to brake control valves for
the air brakes of a vehicle, and more specifically to a single
sided brake control valve. Air brake control valves used in the
railroad industry have generally included a center pipe bracket
with a serve portion on the right side, and an emergency portion on
the left side. The connections of the ports for the brake cylinder,
brake pipe and reservoirs are in the back of the pipe bracket. The
pipe bracket is mounted to the vehicle through vertical apertures
in the pipe bracket. Typical examples are the ABD series and the
DB-60.
More recently, there has been interest in a single sided brake
control valve where in the emergency and service portions are
mounted to a front face of the pipe bracket and the ports are on
the back face. Early single sided control valves are shown in U.S.
Pat. No. 1,192,960 and 1,502,521. The emergency and service
portions are mounted to the top face of the bracket and the porting
is on the bottom face. Later developments turned away from this
technology and included a service and emergency portion mounted to
common side face with the ports mounted to the bottom face. A
typical example is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,879,699; 1,910,544;
4,033,632; and 4,125,292. The mounting of a combined service and
emergency portion to the left face and the porting to the right
face of a pipe bracket is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,348.
Although many ideas have been patented, not all of the them have
been implemented or even accepted by the industry.
An early design by New York Air Brake Corporation, the Assignee of
the subject application, is illustrated in Design Patent
Application Ser. No. 29/012,476 filed Sep. 3, 1993, and shows a
single sided control valve and pipe bracket having the service
portion mounted to the adjacent left side of the front face and the
emergency portion mounted adjacent to the right side of the front
face. The brake pipe, brake cylinder and reservoir ports are on the
back face with the brake pipe port substantially in the center, but
closer to the right face. The manual release valve of the service
portion extends to the left of the left face. A retaining valve is
mounted to the bottom center of the front face between the service
and emergency valve and adjacent to the handle of the cut-off cock
mounted to the brake pipe port. The air filter is in the pipe
bracket behind the service portion as required by a AAR Field
Manual Rule 4, Item 4.
A similar valve was designed by Westinghouse Air Brake Corporation
with the exception that the air filter is behind the emergency
section contrary to the Field Manual Rule 4, Item 4. This leads to
a lot of confusion in the field maintenance and results in the
filter not being changed when they should be. Similarly, the Wabco
design, which is illustrated in FIG. 1, uses vertical throughbolts
to mount to the pipe bracket to mounting brackets, the mounting
brackets are flushed to the front wall of the pipe bracket and
extends past the back wall. This places the service and emergency
portion in a cantilever relationship to the mounting bracket. This
is an undesirable situation.
In both the New York Air Brake and the Wabco single sided design,
the handle of the combined dirt collector and cut-out cock is
inaccessible since it is on the back side of the pipe bracket with
the handle accessible in one position from underneath the bottom
wall. Closing the cock requires the operator to angle their arm
under the pipe bracket and pull the handle forward into a
horizontal position further bending and straining their arm.
Excessive gasket changing and bolt cleaning is very awkward due to
the cramp area of the location of the bolt. The manual release
valve is historically on the left side of the service portion. By
providing the service portion on the front face adjacent to the
left side of the bracket, the release rod is closer to the front
end of the car, which is to the left of the example used herein. In
short platform cars or cars which have a slope sheet containers,
for example, coal cars, a requirement that the release rod be 30
inches from the end of the car may not or cannot be met.
Thus, there exists the need for an improved single sided pipe
bracket which is more user friendly and capable of meeting all of
the ARR requirements.
Thus, this is an object of the present invention to provide a
single sided control valve which is more user friendly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a single
sided control valve with the handle of the combined dirt collector
and cut-out cock ready by accessible to the user and its position
visible.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a single
sided control valve which is capable of meeting the 30 inch from
end of car requirement for the release rod valve in any and all
situations.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a single
sided control valve which is more stable in its mounting
brackets.
These and other objects are achieved by providing the service
portion mounted to the front face of a pipe bracket adjacent to the
right face and emergency portion mounted to the front face adjacent
to the left face. The brake pipe, brake cylinder and at least one
reservoir port are on the back face and the brake pipe port is
adjacent to the left face behind the emergency portion. A pair of
brackets adjacent to the right and left faces mount the control
valve to the vehicle. The mounting brackets each include a
horizontal flange with apertures to receive the fasteners which
mount the mounting brackets to the vehicle and the horizontal
flange extends from the pipe bracket substantially past the front
face. Thus, the horizontal flanges extend beyond the center of
gravity of the control valve. Thus, the center of gravity is within
the confines defined by the mounting brackets. This provides a more
stable valve. Vertical flanges of the mounting bracket are mounted
to a respective side face of the pipe bracket and horizontal
flanges extend therefrom toward each other. This particular design
of the pipe bracket and the mounting bracket can be mounted with
the horizontal flanges adjacent either the top or bottom faces of
the pipe bracket.
With the service portion mounted adjacent to the right face and the
emergency portion mounted adjacent to the left face, the manual
release of the service portion is between the service and the
emergency portion. This displaces the release rod into
substantially the center of the pipe bracket and therefore provides
additional distance to the end of the car which is adjacent to the
left side of the pipe bracket A retaining valve is mounted to the
front face of the pipe bracket above the release valve and between
the service and the emergency portion. A cut-off cock or combined
dirt collector and cut-off cock is connected to the brake pipe port
adjacent to the left face of the pipe bracket and includes a handle
to the left of the left face. This allows easy access of the handle
without reaching under the pipe bracket and also provides visual
indications of the position of the handle. Easy access is also
provided to the dirt collector bowl. An air filter in the pipe
bracket is behind the service portion. A brake pipe test port is
also provided on the front face. Generally, the back face will
include ports for two reservoirs, namely an auxiliary reservoir and
emergency reservoir.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present
invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description of the invention when considered in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front view of a single sided control valve of the prior
art.
FIG. 2 is a schematic right side view of the prior art single sided
control valve of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a front view of a single sided control valve incorporated
in the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a back view of a single sided brake control valve
according to the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a left side view of a single sided brake control valve
according to the principles of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A general overview of the prior art single sided valve is
illustrated in FIG. 1 and 2 and will include the same reference
numbers as that of the embodiment of the present invention
illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 where they have the same function and
purpose.
A control valve consists of generally three portions, namely, a
service portion 10 and emergency portion 20 connected to a pipe
bracket 30. The pipe bracket 30 connects the service portion 10 and
the emergency portion 20 to the various types of a vehicle brake
control system. The service portion 10 includes a manual release
valve 12 having a release rod 13. It is this release rod 13 which
must be a minimum of 30 inches from the end of the car. It should
also be noted that in FIGS. 1 and 3, the end of the car is assumed
to be on the left. Also connected to the pipe bracket 30 is a
retaining valve 14 having a handle 15. A combined dirt collector
and cut-off cock 16 is also connected to the pipe bracket and
includes a handle 17 for the cut-off cock and a dirt collector bowl
18. The pipe bracket 30 includes a front face 31, back face 32, a
top face 33, a bottom face 34, a right face 35 and a left face
36.
The service portion 10 is connected to service portion ports 41 in
the face 31 and the emergency portion 20 is connected to emergency
portion ports 42 also on the front face 31 of the pipe bracket. The
service portion 10 and the emergency portion 20 or any standard
service portion and emergency portion, for example ADB, ADBW, ABDX
and DB-60. Porting on the face is well known. The rear face 32,
illustrated in FIG. 4, includes a brake pipe port 43 to which the
cut-off valve 16 is mounted and which includes its own brake pipe
port 44. An auxiliary reservoir is connected to auxiliary reservoir
port 45 and emergency reservoir is connected to emergency reservoir
port 46. The brake cylinder is connected to brake cylinder port 47.
An aperture 48 is provided in the back wall 32 to receive the
filter. It should be noted that since FIG. 4 is a back view of a
single sided brake control valve of the present invention, there is
a variation of what the back view and porting would be for the
single sided control valve of the prior art of FIGS. 1 and 2.
Whereas the auxiliary reservoir port 45, the emergency reservoir
pipe port 46, the brake cylinder port 47 and the aperture for the
filter 48 are in the same position, and brake pipe port 43 the
cut-off valve 16 would be to the left of the brake cylinder port 47
in FIG. 4.
A mounting bracket mounts the pipe bracket 30 to the vehicle. The
mounting bracket 50 includes a horizontal flange 52 and a vertical
flange 54. Fasteners 51 connect the horizontal flange 52 to the
body of the vehicle. In the prior art embodiment of FIG. 1 and 2, a
second pair of horizontal flanges 56 and 58 extend from the
vertical flange 54 and engage and are connected to the top surface
33 and the bottom face 34 of the bracket 30 by throughbolts 53. In
FIGS. 1 and 2, the horizontal flanges 52 point away from each other
and extend beyond the rear face 32 of the pipe bracket. The result,
as shown in FIG. 2, is that the center of gravity of the control
device is outside the confines of the brackets 50 and therefore the
system is cantilever, producing undesirable stress and strain.
Another disadvantage of the prior art of FIG. 1 and 2 as discussed
above, is that the handle 17 of the cut-off cock is only reachable
by placing your hand underneath the bottom wall 34 and reaching to
the rear, to move it up and down between its horizontal and
vertical position. Also, there is no way to visually check the
position of the valve since it is not visible from the front of the
pipe bracket. Similarly, the position of the handle 17 furthest
from the end of the car requires additional room for the
maneuvering of the handle. It is difficult to remove and clean dirt
collecting bowl 18.
Also, as previously discussed, by providing the emergency portion
20 over the filter opening 48, it is a violation of Field Manual 4,
Item 4.
The retainer valve 14 is mounted to the back wall 32 by an adaptor
which must extend above and over the top wall to allow the handle
15 to be accessible. This increases the overall height of the
control valve.
A single sided control valve according to the principles of the
present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3-5. The first difference
to be noticed is that the service portion 30 is mounted to the
front face 31 adjacent to the right face 35 and the emergency
portion 20 is mounted to the face 31 adjacent the left face 36.
This results in the placement of the manual release valve 12 of the
service portion 10 and the release rod 13 between the service
portion 10 and the emergency portion 20 and displaced from the left
face 36. This displacement of approximately 12 inches makes the
present valve more versatile and may be used with any size, body or
shape car and still the meet the 30 inch displacement of the
release rod 13 from the edge of the car (which is on the left of
the FIG. 3). The other result of moving the emergency portion
adjacent to the left face 36 and the service portion 10 adjacent
the right face 35 is placing the service portion 10 over the filter
opening 48. This brings the valve in compliance with Field Manual
Rule 4, Item 4.
The retaining valve 14 is mounted to the front face 31 of the pipe
bracket 30. This provides access to the handle 15 and reduces the
height of the profile of the control valve. Also provided in the
front face 31 of the pipe bracket is a brake cylinder test port
49.
Another major improvement of the present control valve is the
positioning of the combined dirt collector and cut-off cock
adjacent the left face 36 of the pipe bracket. As illustrated in
FIG. 3 and 4, this allows the handle 17 to be to the left of the
left side 36. This provides complete visual indication of the
position of the handle 17 as well as access from or adjacent to the
end of the car. Similarly positioning the dirt bowl 18 adjacent the
end of the car allows easy access, removal and cleaning. Part of
the advantage that comes about is the use of a combined dirt
collector and cut-off cock where the handle 17 is mounted to the
opposite side of the housing than that of the prior art device
illustrated in FIG. 1. The specific design of the combined dirt
collector and cut-out cock is shown in Design Application Ser. No.
29/025,855, filed Jul. 14, 1994.
A further modification between the control valve of the prior art
of FIG. 1 and 2 and that of the present invention in FIGS. 3-5 is
the design of mounting brackets 50. The horizontal flange 52 extend
from the vertical flange 54 towards each other as illustrated in
FIG. 3. They also extend from the pipe bracket past the front face
31 past the center of gravity of the control valve. The vertical
flange 54 is mounted to the side walls 35 and 36 by bolts 53. This
bracket structure provides an improved free standing,
self-supporting system.
Another advantage of moving the manual release valve 12 in board is
that it does not interfere with the positioning of the bracket 50.
It also allows the lateral extent of the overall control valve to
be reduced. As shown for the pipe bracket in FIG. 1, the brackets
have to extend outside of the extension of the manual release valve
beyond the lateral extent of the pipe bracket 30. It should also be
noted that the present brackets 50 are capable of also mounting the
present pipe bracket to be suspended from below a support. This is
achieved by interchanging and inverting the right and left
brackets. Thus, the horizontal flanges 52 would be above instead of
below the pipe bracket. The prior art brackets 50 of FIGS. 1 and 2
are not capable of such a modification.
Although the present invention has been described and illustrated
in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way
of illustration and example only, and is not to be taken by way of
limitation. The spirit and scope of the present invention are to be
limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
* * * * *