Two-way safety trip for railway vehicles

A two-way safety trip for placement adjacent a railway track along which a railway vehicle travels in either one of opposite first and second directions of travel, the railway vehicle having a braking mechanism including an actuator for traveling along a given path of travel as the railway vehicle travels along the track such that the safety trip will engage the actuator to activate the braking mechanism when the railway vehicle is traveling in a selected one of the first and second directions of travel to stop the travel of the railway vehicle in the one of the first and second directions of travel, and will engage the actuator to not activate the braking mechanism when the railway vehicle is traveling in the other of the first and second directions of travel so as to permit continued travel of the railway vehicle in the other of the first and second directions of travel, the safety trip comprising:

• a bracket;
• attachment means for attachment of the bracket adjacent the track, at a basal location wherein at least a portion of the bracket is placed adjacent the path of travel of the actuator of the braking mechanism;
• a trip member;
• mounting means mounting the trip member upon the bracket for pivotal movement about a pivotal axis located adjacent the path of travel of the actuator of the braking mechanism when the bracket is attached at the basal location, the pivotal movement being between a first position and a second position;
• stop means on the bracket, the stop means being spaced from the pivotal axis about which the trip member is mounted;
• a trip arm on the trip member for extending from the pivotal axis into the path of travel of the actuator when the trip member is in the first position, and for extending out of the path of travel of the actuator when the trip member is in the second position;
• a stop arm on the trip member for extending toward the stop means to engage the stop means when the trip member is in the first position, and for extending away from the stop means when the trip member is in the second position;
• and
• biasing means biasing the trip member into the first position;
• the stop means including a first stop facing in a direction opposite to the first direction of travel of the railway vehicle and a second stop facing in a direction opposite to the second direction of travel of the railway vehicle, when the bracket is attached at the basal location;
• the mounting means including selective means for selectively mounting the trip member upon the bracket in either one of a first mounting orientation and a second mounting orientation;
• the first mounting orientation being such that the stop arm confronts the first stop when the trip member is in the first position, with the trip arm extending into the path of travel of the actuator, for permitting pivotal movement of the trip member from the first position toward the second position in a first pivotal direction in response to engagement of the actuator with the trip arm as the actuator moves along the path of travel during travel of the railway vehicle in the first direction of travel so as to enable continued travel of the railway vehicle in the first direction of travel, and for precluding pivotal movement of the trip member from the first position toward the second position in a second pivotal direction in response to engagement of the actuator with the trip arm as the actuator moves along the path of travel during travel of the railway vehicle in the second direction of travel so as to trip the actuator and activate the brake mechanism to bring the railway vehicle to a stop;
• and
• the second mounting orientation being such that the stop arm confronts the second stop when the trip member is in the first position, with the trip arm extending into the path of travel of the actuator, for permitting pivotal movement of the trip member from the first position toward the second position in the second pivotal direction in response to engagement of the actuator with the trip arm as the actuator moves along the path of travel during travel of the railway vehicle in the second direction of travel so as to enable continued travel of the railway vehicle in the second direction of travel, and for precluding pivotal movement of the trip member from the first position toward the second position in the first pivotal direction in response to engagement of the actuator with the trip arm as the actuator moves along the path of travel during travel of the railway vehicle in the first direction of travel so as to trip the actuator and activate the brake mechanism to bring the railway vehicle to a stop;
• whereby the safety trip will stop the travel of the railway vehicle in the selected one of the first and second directions of travel and will permit continued travel of the railway vehicle in the other of the first and second directions of travel.