System for coupling a quenching car to a hood car and for braking the hood car

Equipment for operating a battery of coke oven machines, in combination said equipment comprising:

• a quenching car movable in forward and backward directions of travel parallel to the coke oven battery;
• a track mounted hood car movable in forward and backward directions of travel parallel to said coke oven battery and having a hood for trapping and carrying the dirty gases rising from glowing coke on the quenching car;
• coupling means between said hood car and said quenching car that is operable when said quenching car is moving in said forward and backward directions for coupling together said hood car and said quenching car and for permitting movement of said hood car and said quenching car together in said forward and backward directions, said coupling means defining a coupling opening in said hood car;
• said coupling means also including (a) a driver element on said quenching car, (b) a hydraulic coupling control system, and (c) a driver element cylinder-piston actuator operable with a pressurized medium by said hydraulic coupling control system for moving said driver element transversly of the forward and backward directions of travel of said quenching car and said hood car into and out of said coupling opening in said hood car whereby said driver element may be engaged with, or disengaged from, said hood car;
• said coupling means further including a pair of spaced-apart parallel stop bars defining at least part of said coupling opening, said stop bars being oriented transversely of the directions of forward and backward travel of said hood car and quenching car, said stop bars being adapted to be horizontally displaced toward and away from each other in substantially parallel relationship;
• said coupling means additionally including compression coupling springs urging said stop bars towards each other, said stop bars having mutually facing sides which at least partially define diverging surfaces to accommodate entry of said driver element between said stop bars;
• brake means on said hood car for automatically stopping the hood car movement when the hood car is uncoupled from the quenching car but for being released to permit movement of the hood car when the quenching car is coupled to the hood car, said brake means comprising (a) a stationary brake rail, (b) a pair of pivotally mounted brake jaws adapted to grip said brake rail, (c) brake compression springs urging said brake jaws to pivot toward each other and against said brake rail, (d) a hydraulic brake release cylinder-piston actuator connected to pivot said brake jaws away from each other, (e) a hydraulic brake control cylinder-piston actuator for activating said brake release cylinder-piston actuator and having an associated control piston rod adapted to be engaged by said driver element of said quenching car, and (f) a hydraulic brake control system for operating said brake release cylinder-piston actuator from said hydraulic brake control cylinder-piston actuator;
• the cylinder portion of said hydraulic brake release cylinder-piston actuator being connected to one of said brake jaws;
• said hydraulic brake release cylinder-piston actuator having an associated piston rod pivotally connected to the other of said brake jaws such that when said brake release cylinder-piston actuator is activated, the brake jaws are pivoted away from each other against the action of the brake compression springs and away from stationary brake rail;
• and
• an emergency brake control consisting of a switching control means on said quenching car connected via the pressure medium through said hydraulic coupling control system to said driver element cylinder-piston actuator, said switching control means adapted to be activated by a stationary switching cam mounted at a selected position along the path of travel of said quenching car to operate said driver element cylinder-piston actuator to retract said driver element out of said hood car coupling opening.