The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 14, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 29, 1997
James A Wood, Spartanburg, SC (US);
Richard J Mazur, Greer, SC (US);
Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Wilmerding, PA (US);
Abstract
A brake pipe sensing unit may be used with a universal pneumatic brake control unit of a rail vehicle. The brake pipe sensing unit includes a control reservoir, an auxiliary reservoir, a three state valve, a quick service valve, a brake pipe transducer and a transmission device. The control reservoir is used as a volume in which gas under pressure may stored and from which gas under pressure may be supplied. The auxiliary reservoir communicates with a supply port of the universal unit and with a first and a second route of the brake pipe sensing unit. The three state valve has a first pilot port in communication with a brake pipe of the rail vehicle, a second pilot port in communication with the control reservoir, and first and second exhaust ports both of which connect to atmosphere. The three state valve operates in an apply position, a release position and a lap position depending on the pressure bearing on the first and second pilot ports. The quick service valve connects within the first route and has a service pilot port in communication with both the auxiliary reservoir and the supply port. The quick service valve closes the first route when pressure at the service pilot port exceeds a preselected level. The brake pipe transducer converts pressure within the brake pipe to an electrical signal. The transmission device communicates the electrical signal received from the brake pipe transducer to a brake control bus on the rail vehicle.