Brake mechanism for a gondola car loader

A brake mechanism for a vehicle movable along the top of adjacent gondola cars, the vehicle having a chassis movably supportable by wheels on the upper edges of side walls of the gondola cars, comprising:

• a brake shoe rack including:
• a first pair of brake shoes, selectively movable in opposition to one another to clamp a first side wall of a gondola car, said first pair of brake shoes including an inner brake shoe for engaging the inside of the first side wall and an outer brake shoe for engaging the outside of the first side wall;
• a second pair of brake shoes, selectively movable in opposition to one another to clamp a second side wall of the gondola car, including an inner brake shoe for engaging the inside of the second side wall and an outer brake shoe for engaging the outer side wall;
• and
• a braking hydraulic ram for moving said brake shoes to clamp and unclamp the side walls of the gondola car, said hydraulic ram having a cylinder coupled to the inner brake shoe of the first pair of brake shoes and to the outer brake shoe of the second pair of brake shoes;
• and a piston coupled to the outer brake shoe of the first pair of brake shoes and to the inner brake of the second pair of brake shoes;
• and
• means for supporting the brake shoe rack from the vehicle chassis, while permitting the brake shoe rack to move from side to side with respect to the chassis, and for raising and lowering the brake shoe rack with respect to the chassis, whereby the brake shoe rack is raisable and lowerable to clear end walls of the gondola car as the vehicle is moved across gaps between adjacent gondola cars and whereby the brake shoe rack is movable from side to side with respect to the chassis to enable the brake mechanism to accommodate gondola car side walls which are bowed or otherwise irregularly shaped,
• said supporting means including a first hydraulic ram having a cylinder and piston rod, one of the cylinder and piston rods being pivotally mounted on the vehicle chassis and the other being pivotably connected to the outer shoe of the first pair of brake shoes;
• and a second hydraulic ram having a cylinder and piston rod, one of the cylinder and piston rods being mounted on the chassis and the other being pivotably coupled to the outer brake shoe of the second pair of brake shoes.

A brake mechanism for a vehicle movable along the top of adjacent gondola cars, the vehicle having a chassis movably supportable by wheels on the upper edges of side walls of the gondola cars, comprising:

• a brake shoe rack including:
• a first pair of brake shoes, selectively movable in opposition to one another to clamp a first side wall of a gondola car, said first pair of brake shoes including an inner brake shoe for engaging the inside of the first side wall and an outer brake shoe for engaging the outside of the first side wall;
• a second pair of brake shoes, selectively movable in opposition to one another to clamp a second side wall of the gondola car, including an inner brake shoe for engaging the inside of the second side wall and an outer brake shoe for engaging the outer side wall;
• and
• a braking hydraulic ram for moving said brake shoes to clamp and unclamp the side walls of the gondola car, said hydraulic ram having a cylinder coupled to the inner brake shoe of the first pair of brake shoes and to the outer brake shoe of the second pair of brake shoes;
• and a piston coupled to the outer brake shoe of the first pair of brake shoes and to the inner brake of the second pair of brake shoes;
• means for supporting the brake shoe rack from the vehicle chassis, while permitting the brake shoe rack to move from side to side with respect to the chassis, and for raising and lowering the brake shoe rack with respect to the chassis, whereby the brake shoe rack is raisable and lowerable to clear end walls of the gondola car as the vehicle is moved across gaps between adjacent gondola cars and whereby the brake shoe rack is movable from side to side with respect to the chassis to enable the brake mechanism to accommodate gondola car side walls which are bowed or otherwise irregularly shaped,
• a push rod rigidly connected between the cylinder of the braking ram and the inner brake shoe of the first pair of brake shoes;
• a first pull rod means for rigidly connecting the cylinder of the braking ram and the outer brake shoe of the second pair of brake shoes, said first pull rod means extending in a direction opposite to that of the push rod, said first pull rod means comprising a pair of pull rods with their principal axes parallel to the principal axis of the piston rod and on opposite sides thereof;
• a piston rod coupled to the piston of the braking ram, said piston rod being rigidly connected to the inner brake shoe of the second pair of brake shoes;
• a second pull rod means for rigidly connecting the piston rod and the outer brake shoe of the first pair of brake shoes, said second pull rod means extending in a direction opposite to that of the piston rod, said second pull rod means comprising a second pair of pull rods with their principal axes parallel to the principal axis of the piston rod and on opposite sides thereof;
• a first tie bar connecting said cylinder to said first pair of pull rods, said second pair of pull rods being slidably movable through guideways in said first tie bar;
• and
• a second tie bar connecting said piston rod to said second pair of pull rods, said first pair of pull rods being slidably movable through guideways in said second tie bar.