Festoon brake system
OwnerRichard D. Foxinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A trolley system is provided which includes a powered tow trolley that travels along a rail, an end trolley that is fixed to an end of the rail, and several intermediate trolleys that travel along the rail between the tow and end trolleys. All trolleys are interconnected with a flexible tow line. Each intermediate trolley is provided with an individual mechanical brake for preventing movement along the rail until the brake is actively released by either a pulling or pushing force exerted on the corresponding trolley. The trolleys may include saddles for supporting for example, a load of cables or hoses festooned between the trolleys that are used for powering a moving machine connected to the tow trolley.
Claims29
A trolley system comprising;
- a rail;
- a tow trolley including means for supporting a load and means for movably attaching said tow trolley to said rail;
- an end trolley fixed proximate one end of said rail and including means for supporting a load;
- a plurality of intermediate trolleys disposed between said end trolley and said tow trolley, each intermediate trolley including means for movably attaching each intermediate trolley to said rail and means for supporting a load;
- tow line means, interconnecting the end, intermediate and tow trolleys, for causing said tow trolley to move said intermediate trolleys apart from one another as the tow trolley moves along the rail away from the end trolley;
- brake means, including an individual brake disposed on each of said intermediate trolleys, for preventing movement of each individual intermediate trolley along the rail;
- means for releasing the individual brakes by pulling action of the tow line means when adjacent intermediate trolleys are spaced apart from one another at a distance proximately equal to a length of tow line means extending between the adjacent intermediate trolleys;
- and
- means for releasing the individual brakes upon impact of adjacent intermediate trolleys.
A trolley system comprising;
- a rail;
- a tow trolley including means for supporting a load and means for movably attaching said tow trolley to said rail;
- an end trolley fixed proximate one end of said rail and including means for supporting a load;
- a plurality of intermediate trolleys disposed between said end trolley and said tow trolley, and each intermediate trolley including means for movably attaching each intermediate trolley to said rail and means for supporting a load;
- tow line means, interconnecting the end, intermediate and tow trolleys, for causing said tow trolley to move said intermediate trolleys apart from one another as the tow trolley moves along the rail away from the end trolley;
- brake means, including an individual brake disposed on each of said intermediate trolleys, for preventing movement of each individual intermediate trolley along the rail until release of a corresponding individual brake, said brake means including means for biasing each said individual brake into engagement with the rail;
- means for releasing the individual brakes by pulling action of the tow line means when adjacent intermediate trolleys are spaced apart from one another at a distance proximately equal to a length of tow line means extending between the adjacent intermediate trolleys;
- and
- means for releasing the individual brakes upon impact of adjacent intermediate trolleys.
A brake system for a trolley system having a rail, a tow trolley, an end trolley, and intermediate trolleys interconnected with a tow line, said brake system comprising:
- brake means, including an individual brake disposed on each of said intermediate trolleys, for preventing movement of each individual intermediate trolley along the rail, said brake means including means for biasing each said individual brake into engagement with the rail;
- means for releasing the individual brakes by pulling action of the tow line when adjacent intermediate trolleys are spaced apart from one another at a distance proximately equal to a length of a portion of the tow line extending between the adjacent intermediate trolleys;
- and
- means for releasing the individual brakes upon impact of adjacent intermediate trolleys.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.