Railcar retarder assembly
AssigneeABC Rail Products Corporation
InventorsRobert C. Barry, Daniel A. Ivanyo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A railcar retarder assembly for use in a railroad trackwork such as a railcar classification yard is provided with a fixed base plate, a vertically-oriented pivot shaft secured to the base plate, an elongated and curved cam member mounted on the pivot shaft, and a horizontally-oriented hydraulic subsystem piston element that induces reaction hydraulic damping forces which are transmitted horizontally to the wheel flanges of a passing railcar to thereby reduce the rolling velocity of the railcar.
Claims9
A railcar retarder assembly for co-operation with a railroad trackwork railcar rail and with a rail-supported railcar, and comprising:
- a base plate for mounting in a fixed position relative to the railroad trackwork railcar rail;
- a vertically-oriented pivot shaft rigidly secured to said base plate;
- a retarder actuator pivotally mounted on said pivot shaft, having a curved camming surface that is positioned adjacent the railroad trackwork railcar rail, and that is rotated in a horizontal plane when moved by the wheel flange of the railcar passing through the assembly;
- and
- an energy-absorbing hydraulics subassembly co-operatively connected to said actuator, and comprising a hydraulic fluid-containing hydraulic cylinder element, a reciprocable piston element positioned within said hydraulic cylinder element and having a connected piston rod extending horizontally outside, a gas-filled accumulator element, and fluid line means for flowing hydraulic fluid as between said hydraulic cylinder element and said gas-filled accumulator element, said reciprocable piston element and connected piston rod having longitudinal axes that are oriented horizontally and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the railroad trackwork railcar rails and have continuous contact with said assembly actuator curved camming surface,
- said energy-absorbing hydraulics subassembly absorbing energy from said actuator when the wheel flange of the railcar passing through the assembly rotates said actuator horizontally in one direction, and rapidly rotating said actuator horizontally in an opposite direction after the wheel flange of said railcar passes through the retarder assembly.
A railcar retarder assembly for co-operation with oppositely-spaced railroad trackwork railcar rails and with a rail-supported railcar, and comprising:
- a base plate for mounting in a fixed position relative to the railroad trackwork railcar rails;
- a pair of spaced-apart and vertically-oriented pivot shafts rigidly secured to said base plate;
- a pair of actuator members respectively pivotally mounted on said pivot shafts, each of which has a curved camming surface that is movable horizontally, and that each of which is rotated in a horizontal plane when moved by a wheel flange of a railcar passing through the assembly, and positioned adjacent the railroad trackwork rails;
- and
- an energy-absorbing hydraulics subassembly co-operatively connected to said pair of actuators and comprising a hydraulic fluid-containing hydraulic cylinder element, a pair of reciprocable piston elements positioned within said hydraulic cylinder element and each having a connected piston rod extending horizontally outside, a gas-filled accumulator element, and fluid line means for flowing hydraulic fluid as between said hydraulic cylinder element and said gas-filled accumulator element, said reciprocable piston elements and connected piston rods having longitudinal axes that are oriented horizontally and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the railroad trackwork railcar rails and having continuous contact with said assembly actuators, said energy-absorbing hydraulics subassembly absorbing energy from said pair of actuators when opposed wheel flanges of the railcar passing through the assembly rotates each actuator of said pair of actuators horizontally in an inward direction, and rapidly rotating each actuator of said pair of actuators horizontally in an outward direction after the opposed wheel flanges of said railcar passes through the assembly.
In a method of reducing the velocity of a free-rolling railroad system railcar having wheels with flanges and supported on a trackwork rail, the steps of transferring railcar wheel forces horizontally to a rotatable curved camming surface, rotating the curved camming surface about a vertical axis, and causing the rotated curved camming surface to horizontally move a reversible hydraulic piston that compresses gaseous fluid to a high degree of compression and that by hydraulic fluid damping creates a high magnitude reaction force, said high magnitude reaction force being applied horizontally by the reversible hydraulic piston and the rotatable curved camming surface to railcar wheel flanges to thereby oppose said railcar wheel rolling resistance forces and reduce the rolling velocity of a passing free-rolling railroad system railcar.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.