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:
Jul. 07, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 20, 1997
Kenneth Foster Folk, Harrisburg, PA (US);
Frank Mario Mastrog, Harrisburg, PA (US);
The Whitaker Corporation, Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
Invention relates to an on-board electrical generator system that may be retrofitted to existing railroad vehicles, such as freight cars, box cars, and the like, where rotation of the vehicle's axle powers the system. A preferred use thereof is to charge the battery for the electrically controlled brakes on the vehicle. Such vehicles typically include a chassis, having plural axles mounted thereon, and a journal box or adaptor block having a projection generally aligned parallel with the axles. Each axle contains a pair of wheels, which are inwardly mounted from the respective axle ends and rotatable with the axle. The generator includes a rotor fixed for rotative movement relative to a stationary stator, whereby such relative movement causes electric currents to be generated in the stator containing the generator in a non-rotatable housing. The improved feature hereof is the provision of a hollow shaft for mounting of the rotor, where the shaft is slidably received on a respective axle end and keyed to the axle end. To secure the housing against rotation is an axially extending arm keyed to the projection. Another securing mechanism is an anti-rotation bar which cooperates with the journal box or adaptor block.