Westinghouse Air Brake Company

Roger V Lewis

James M Zemyan

William G Greenaway

A spring applied parking brake assembly for a railroad vehicle braking system is provided for an automatic application of the parking brake in the absence of an air source. The spring applied parking brake assembly comprises a cylindrical casing containing a piston assembly. The piston assembly is mounted for longitudinal movement within the casing upon the application and/or removal of pneumatic pressure to the piston assembly. The piston assembly is associated with a force transfer lever of the braking system so as to apply a force to this force transfer lever upon longitudinal movement of the piston assembly. At least one spring member is provided within the cylindrical casing. This spring member applies a constant force to the piston assembly such that longitudinal movement of the piston assembly automatically occurs upon removal of pneumatic pressure to the braking system, causing the piston assembly to retract within the casing and the force transfer lever to rotate in a direction to initiate a brake application. Thus, once the train is removed from the train consist and the air supply for the pneumatic braking system has been disconnected, the brakes of the train are automatically applied. A manual quick release system is also provided which allows the parking brake to be released during shunting operations or anytime that it is desirable to move the vehicle in the absence of air.

Spring applied parking brake assembly having a manual quick release feature

A manual shifting apparatus for an automatic empty/load brake device used in conjunction with a pneumatic braking system provided on a transport vehicle having a truck and a car body mounted thereon through a resilient suspension system. The automatic empty/load brake device has a sensor arm which moves through a range of positions upon the application of a braking force to the transport vehicle by the pneumatic braking system. The range of positions includes a first range of positions indicating the transport vehicle as being in a loaded condition and a second range of positions indicating the transport vehicle as being in an unloaded condition. The automatic empty/load brake device applies a substantially reduced pneumatic braking force to the transport vehicle whenever the sensor arm is in the second range of positions. The manual shifting apparatus is adapted for mounting on the transport vehicle adjacent the automatic empty/load brake device and includes a manual shifting member movable between a first disposition and a second disposition. In the first disposition, the manual shifting member confines the sensor arm of the automatic empty/load device to the first range of positions and excludes the sensor arm from travel into the second range of positions. In the second disposition, the manual shifting member permits the sensor arm of the automatic empty/load device to travel into the second range of positions.

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North Huntingdon, PA, United States of America

Roger V Lewis