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US 2015/0336590 A1Published application
Operating mechanism for tank car bottom valve
AssigneeGunderson LLC
InventorsGregory J. Saxton, Bradley J. Thomas, Brian J. Jurvakainen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An operating mechanism for a bottom valve for a cargo tank of a railroad tank car, in which a valve operating lever is normally disconnected from a valve operating shaft and a valve operating shaft assembly includes a weak-link connector to prevent inadvertent opening of the bottom valve in case of derailment of the tank car.
Claims7
In combination with a railroad tank car body including a bottom valve, a valve operating mechanism comprising:
- (a) a valve operating shaft extending from the bottom valve and having an outer end;
- (b) a support bearing supported by the car body, the support bearing supporting said outer end of the valve operating shaft;
- (c) a valve operating lever supported adjacent the support bearing and associated with the valve operating shaft;
- (d) a normally-disengaged drive mechanism associated with the operating lever and arranged to connect the operating lever selectively to the operating shaft, thereby enabling the lever to rotate the shaft.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.