Tank car bottom outlet valve operating assembly
AssigneeTrinity Rail Group, LLC
InventorAubra D. McKisic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
According to particular embodiments, a valve operating assembly, such as for a tank car bottom outlet valve, comprises a slide rotationally coupled to and transversely slidable relative to a valve stem. The slide comprises a shape that facilitates rotational coupling with a handle and the slide further comprises a connector for engaging a protective plate to limit rotation of the slide about a valve rotational axis when in a first position and free to rotate about the valve rotational axis when in a second position.
Claims19
A railway tank car comprising:
- a tank for transporting a commodity;
- a bottom outlet valve coupled to an underside of the tank, comprising:
- a valve control surface, wherein flow of the commodity out of the tank and the bottom outlet valve is controlled by rotation of the valve control surface, and wherein a position of the bottom outlet valve is controlled by a stem coaxial with a rotational axis of the valve control surface and rotationally coupled to the bottom outlet valve;
- a valve operating assembly comprising:
- a slide rotationally coupled to and transversely slidable relative to the stem;
- wherein at least one of the stem or slide comprises a shape that facilitates rotational coupling with a handle;
- a fastening plate;
- a protective plate coupled to the underside of the tank approximately parallel to a longitudinal tank center plane in a fixed position offset in a direction along an axis of the stem, wherein the valve operating assembly is coupled to the protective plate via the fastening plate;
- and
- the slide of the valve operating assembly further comprising a connector for engaging at least one of the protective plate or the fastening plate to limit rotation of the slide about the bottom outlet valve rotational axis when in a first position, and the slide is able to rotate about the bottom outlet valve rotational axis when in a second position.
A valve operating assembly comprising:
- a slide rotationally coupled to and transversely slidable relative to a valve stem, wherein at least one of the slide or valve stem comprises a shape that facilitates rotational coupling with a handle and the slide further comprises a connector for engaging at least one of a protective plate or a fastening plate to limit rotation of the slide about a valve rotational axis when in a first position, and the slide is able to rotate about the valve rotational axis when in a second position;
- and
- a spring that engages the connector of the slide with at least one of the protective plate or the fastening plate so that the slide is rotationally fixed with at least one of the protective plate or the fastening plate by applying a force parallel to the rotational axis.
A method for coupling an operating assembly for a bottom outlet valve to a tank car, the method comprising:
- providing a valve operating assembly comprising:
- a slide rotationally coupled to and transversely slidable relative to a valve stem;
- a fastening plate coupled to the slide;
- wherein at least one of the slide or valve stem comprises a shape that facilitates rotational coupling with a handle and the slide further comprises a connector for engaging at least one of the fastening plate or a protective plate to limit rotation of the slide about a valve rotational axis when in a first position, and the slide is able to rotate about the valve rotational axis when in a second position;
- a spring that engages the connector of the slide with at least one of the protective plate or the fastening plate so that the slide is rotationally fixed with at least one of the protective plate or the fastening plate by applying a force parallel to the rotational axis;
- and
- coupling the fastening plate of the valve operating assembly to the protective plate of the tank car.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.