US 6,182,575 B2 · Adjustable stop-wagon retarders with locking function for wagons at high speed and disposal methods thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to adjustable stop-wagon retarders with locking function for wagons at high speed and disposal methods thereof, which are suitable for railway marshaling yards or rail lines where it is required to prevent wagons from running away, which are hydraulic equipment of no external energy source to automatically regulate wagon's speed and disposal methods of such equipment. The stop-wagon retarder is characterized in that a uni-directional return unit comprising a sealing valve plate and adjustable throttle valve, and a locking control valve composing of switch valve and positioning unit are mounted in the piston assembly, which make the returning speed and the locking speed for wagon at high speed adjustable, thus the aim of setting the retarder with different control levels and thresholds according to the wagon speed is realized. The disposal method is characterized in that the distances between every two adjacent stop-wagon retarders correspond to the distances between every two adjacent wheel axles.

Drawings

Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO

Drawings

Claims17

Dependent claims

An adjustable stop-wagon retarder with locking function for a wagon at high speed including a sliding cylinder assembly and a housing assembly having an exhaust unit, the sliding cylinder assembly comprising a cylinder having an upper end and a lower end;

a piston slidably housed in said cylinder and dividing the cylinder into an upper chamber and a lower chamber;
a pressure valve and a locking control valve both disposed coaxially with said piston;
an unlocking unit;
at least one uni-directional return unit installed on the piston and a sealing gland mounted on the lower end of the cylinder;
said sliding cylinder assembly being charged with hydraulic oil and nitrogen and can longitudinally reciprocate between an upper position and a lower position, a portion of said sliding cylinder being disposed in the path of a wheel of said wagon for retarding the speed of said wagon when said wheel engages said portion,
said uni-directional unit comprising a sealing valve plate and at least one adjustable throttle valve, the sealing valve plate and a pressure valve seat being mounted coaxially on the upper part of the piston with an adjustable gap between the valve plate and the valve seat, the adjustable throttle valve being disposed under the valve plate for controlling the speed of the hydraulic oil returning to the upper chamber from the lower chamber of the cylinder, the sealing valve plate being longitudinally movable along the axis of the piston between the valve seat and adjustable throttle valve;
said adjustable throttle valve comprising a throttle orifice, a ball removably disposed in the throttle orifice, and a biasing member removably disposed in the throttle orifice between the ball and the sealing valve plate biasing the ball towards a closed position, the biasing member having a spring force selected to control the speed of movement of the cylinder from the lower position to the upper position;
said locking control valve comprising a switch valve and at least one positioning unit, said control valve being disposed around the piston between the head of the piston and the sealing gland and rotatable between an unlocked position in which at least one flowing orifice on the switch valve is aligned with the adjustable throttle valve and a locked position in which the flowing orifice is shut off from the throttle orifice, said unlocked position and said locked position being limited by at least one positioning unit;
the switch valve comprising at least one locking oblique, an unlocking oblique, the flowing orifice and a leaking orifice, the locking oblique being impacted by the hydraulic oil from a piston outlet so that the switch valve rotates in one direction towards the locked position when the wagon travels at a speed higher than a predetermined value;
the leaking orifice being aligned with the adjustable throttle valve in the locked position so that the hydraulic oil can slowly return to the upper chamber from the lower chamber, and therefore, the cylinder can slowly return to its upper position;
and the unlocking oblique cooperating with said unlocking unit so that the switch valve rotates in a direction opposite said one direction towards the unlocked position.

8 more elements

An adjustable stop-wagon retarder with locking function for a wagon at high speed including a sliding cylinder assembly and a housing assembly having an exhaust unit, the sliding cylinder assembly comprising a cylinder having an upper end and a lower end;

a piston slidably housed in said cylinder and dividing the cylinder into an upper chamber and a lower chamber;
a pressure valve and a locking control valve;
an unlocking unit;
at least one uni-directional return unit installed on the piston and a sealing gland mounted on the lower end of the cylinder;
said sliding cylinder assembly being charged with hydraulic oil and a gas, and capable of longitudinally reciprocating between an upper position and a lower position, a portion of said sliding cylinder being adapted for positioning in the path of a wheel of said wagon for retarding the speed of said wagon when said wheel engages said portion,
said uni-directional return unit comprising a sealing valve plate and at least one adjustable throttle valve disposed under the valve plate for controlling the speed of the hydraulic oil returning to the upper chamber from the lower chamber of the cylinder, the valve plate being longitudinally movable along the axis of the piston between the valve seat and adjustable throttle valve;
said locking control valve comprising a switch valve including a flowing orifice and a leaking orifice and at least one positioning unit, said control valve being disposed around the piston between the head of the piston and the sealing gland and rotatable between an unlocked position in which the flowing orifice is aligned with the adjustable throttle valve and a locked position in which the flowing orifice is shut off from the adjustable throttle valve and the leaking orifice is aligned with the adjustable throttle valve so that the hydraulic oil can slowly return to the upper chamber from the lower chamber, and therefore, the cylinder can slowly return to its upper position, said unlocked position and said locked position being limited by at least one positioning unit;
the switch valve being impacted by the hydraulic oil from a piston outlet so that the switch valve rotates in one direction towards the locked position when the wagon travels at a speed higher than a predetermined value;
said positioning unit comprising a resilient positioning lock disposed on said switch valve and positioning recesses disposed in said piston, said positioning lock being adapted to cooperate with the corresponding positioning recess to releasably hold the switch valve in said locked or unlocked positions.

6 more elements

An adjustable stop-wagon retarder with locking function for a wagon at high speed comprising:

a housing;
a piston;
a cylinder in said housing and slidably disposed around said piston, said cylinder having an upper end, a lower end and a portion being adapted for positioning in the path of a wheel of said wagon for retarding the speed of said wagon when said wheel engages said portion;
said cylinder being charged with hydraulic fluid and being capable of longitudinally reciprocating between an upper and a lower position;
said piston dividing said cylinder into an upper chamber and a lower chamber and having a piston outlet for fluid flow from said upper chamber of said cylinder to said lower chamber of said cylinder;
a uni-directional return unit on said piston for fluid flow from said lower chamber of said cylinder to said upper chamber of said cylinder;
a locking control valve on said piston for restricting the rate of fluid flow from said lower chamber of said cylinder through said uni-directional return unit to said upper chamber of said cylinder, said locking control valve having an unlocked position allowing a first higher rate of fluid flow from said lower chamber of said cylinder through said uni-directional return unit, and a locked position allowing a second lower rate of fluid flow from said lower chamber of said cylinder through said uni-directional return unit;
said locking control valve being responsive to fluid flow such that when said wagon's speed is higher than a predetermined speed fluid flow forces said locking control valve to said locked position;
a positioning unit for releasably holding said locking control valve in said locked and unlocked positions, the positioning unit comprising a resilient positioning lock and two positioning recesses disposed in said piston at locations corresponding to said locking control valve's locked and unlocked positions;
said positioning lock being disposed on said locking control valve and adapted to cooperate with the corresponding positioning recess to releasably hold the locking control valve in said locked and unlocked positions;
and
an unlocking unit for forcing said locking control valve to said unlocked position when said cylinder approaches said upper position.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Description3,555 words

Summary1,525 words

#The invention relates to adjustable stop-wagon retarders with locking function for wagons at high speed and disposal methods thereof, which are suitable for railway marshaling yards or rail lines where it is required to prevent wagons from running away, and more particularly, to adjustable stop-wagon retarders which are hydraulic equipment of no external energy source, mounted on the track to automatically regulate wagon's speed and disposal methods of such equipment.

#A multifunctional stop-wagon retarder for railway wagon is disclosed in Chinese Pat. No. ZL92232912.5. This retarder can reduce the speed of a wagon, stop a wagon, or prevent a stalled wagon from running away. And it will do work on a wagon at low speed, and be locked by a wagon at high speed. However, the retarder has disadvantages. The structure of its uni-directional return unit makes the normal returning speed of sliding cylinder unadjustable and therefore, the retarder can not have different control levels. The term “control level” means the time necessary for the sliding cylinder of the stop-wagon retarder to return to its original position after it is deflected downwards by a wheel of the wagon. It's locking control valve can not regulate the locking speed and different thresholds for controlling the locking speed can not be set. The connection mode of the positioning unit is complicated and its components are liable to come off, which affects locking precision. And the exhaust hole located rather low in the housing harms its water prevention performance. In addition, existing disposal method for stop-wagon retarders adopts centralized method to dispose large retarder group which can not achieve good retardation on wagons.

#Accordingly, the first object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable stop-wagon retarder with locking function for a wagon at high speed, which can overcome the above shortcomings of the prior art and can adjust the returning speed and the locking speed of the stop-wagon retarder and therefore, can realize different control levels and thresholds, achieve reliable control and be effective in protecting from water harm.

Brief description of the drawings7 figures

#FIG. 1 is an elevational section of the general structure of the adjustable stop-wagon retarder with locking function for a wagon at high speed according to the present invention.

#FIG. 2 shows, on an enlarged scale, part of FIG. 1 (including uni-directional returning unit, the locking control valve and unlocking unit).

#FIG. 3 shows, on an enlarged scale, the block in FIG. 1 (including the positioning unit and the switch valve).

Detailed description1,892 words

#Embodiment 1

#In Embodiment 1, a sealing valve plate 12 that form part of a uni-directional returning unit, and a pressure valve seat 13 that are mounted coaxially on the top of a piston 3, leaving an adjustable gap h between the sealing valve plate 12 and the pressure valve seat 13. An adjustable throttle valve is mounted under the valve plate 12, forming a passage through the head of the piston 3 in the axial direction. The adjustable throttle valve comprise a step-shaped throttle orifice 9 having coaxially a larger diameter upper section and a smaller diameter lower section, and therefore a shoulder being formed therebetween; a steel ball 10 disposed on the shoulder in the step-shaped orifice 9; and a compression spring 11 disposed in the throttle orifice 9 between the steel ball 10 and the sealing valve plate 12, biasing the steel ball 10 towards the shoulder (FIGS. 2 and 4).

#Between the piston head 3 and the sealing gland 2, a locking control valve is installed around the piston and can rotate around the axis. Its rotation angle is limited by a positioning unit. A switch valve 24 is of integral structure, including at least one locking oblique 16, an unlocking oblique 17, at least one flowing orifice 14 and a leaking orifice 15. And the positioning unit comprises positioning locks 25, 26 and 27 located on the switch valve and positioning recesses 28 and 29 on the piston. When the locking control valve rotates around the axis clockwise or anti-clockwise, the flowing orifice 14 on the switch valve will accordingly open to or shut off from the throttle orifice 9 of the adjustable throttle valve, that is, in the unlock or lock positions (FIG. 2, FIG. 7 FIG. 8 and FIG. 9). Each set of positioning unit has one positioning lock and two positioning recesses. The positioning lock is formed by a positioning steel ball 25, a positioning spring 26 and spring seat 27 which are mounted inside a radial positioning orifice 30 of the switch valve 24 in sequence. The spring seat 27 is fastened in the switch valve 24. The shape and location of positioning recesses 28 and 29 that are arranged on the same cycle around the piston, match with the positioning steel ball 25, and the pitch between the positioning recesses ensures that the flowing orifice 14 can fully open to or shut off from the throttle orifice 9 of the adjustable throttle valve, when the locking control valve rotates around the axis clockwise or anti-clockwise (FIG. 3 and FIG. 2).

Adjustable stop-wagon retarders with locking function for wagons at high speed and disposal methods thereof

Life of this patent

Adjustable stop-wagon retarders with locking function for wagons at high speed and disposal methods thereof

Life of this patent

Life of this patent

Abstract

Drawings

Drawings

Claims17

Description3,555 words

Drawings

Classification4 codes

Life of this patent

Description3,555 words