Patent US3598249A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3598249A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Railway draft appliance
Assignee: AO Smith Corp
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Filing: 1969-01-27
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Granted: 1971-08-10
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Expires: 1989-01-27
Abstract
Abstract A railroad car draft appliance has a hydraulic cushion assembly with a valving system including high-pressure responsive, buff metering valves set in the piston heads, and low-pressure responsive, one-way fluid passage through the cylinder walls for buff strokes. The hydraulic assembly includes one-way, highpressure responsive valving which conducts hydraulic fluid from the draft end of the cylinder through a passage chamber disposed along the cylinder sidewall to the buff end on a draft stroke; and the assembly has a mechanical return spring operating to bias the piston to a zero draft neutral position for full stroke buff protection.
Inventors
- 👤 Harold E Vickerman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 17:28
CPC Classifications
B; B61; B61G; B61G9/00; B61G9/04; B61G9/08
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
344 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupling assembly to a railway car and having a hydraulic cushioning assembly which includes a cylinder member defining a fluid confining chamber and a piston member having a piston head mounted for sliding buff and draft strokes within the cylinder member, one of the piston and cylinder members being secured to the railway car and the other being secured to the car coupling assembly; the improvement comprising: a buff metering valve disposed in an opening defining a passageway through the pistOn head for fluid flow from the buff to draft sides, the valve being biased to close the passageway to fluid flow in the draft direction and to open the passageway in response to a high-pressure differential across the head in the buff direction; a fluid metering system having a first port through the cylinder at the draft end and a second port through the cylinder located a predetermined distance away from the draft end; a metering passage disposed exteriorly of the cylinder between the second and first ports, and a one-way valve at the second port and controlling the metering passage, being closed to flow into the cylinder and open in response to a small pressure differential into the metering passage, to provide added orificing during a buff stroke and being ineffective during a draft stroke; and a draft relief system on the cylinder and defining a draft relief chamber extending from generally the draft end to the buff end, said draft relief system having a first orifice to the cylinder chamber at the draft end and a second orifice to the cylinder chamber at the buff end, having further a first one-way draft relief valve at the first orifice which is biased closed and operative to open with high-cylinder pressure on the draft side of the piston head; and having a second one-way draft relief valve at the second orifice which is closed to fluid flow from the cylinder chamber and operative to open to fluid flow from the draft relief chamber.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
344 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupling assembly to a railway car and having a hydraulic cushioning assembly which includes a cylinder member defining a fluid confining chamber and a piston member having a piston head mounted for sliding buff and draft strokes within the cylinder member, one of the piston and cylinder members being secured to the railway car and the other being secured to the car coupling assembly; the improvement comprising: a buff metering valve disposed in an opening defining a passageway through the pistOn head for fluid flow from the buff to draft sides, the valve being biased to close the passageway to fluid flow in the draft direction and to open the passageway in response to a high-pressure differential across the head in the buff direction; a fluid metering system having a first port through the cylinder at the draft end and a second port through the cylinder located a predetermined distance away from the draft end; a metering passage disposed exteriorly of the cylinder between the second and first ports, and a one-way valve at the second port and controlling the metering passage, being closed to flow into the cylinder and open in response to a small pressure differential into the metering passage, to provide added orificing during a buff stroke and being ineffective during a draft stroke; and a draft relief system on the cylinder and defining a draft relief chamber extending from generally the draft end to the buff end, said draft relief system having a first orifice to the cylinder chamber at the draft end and a second orifice to the cylinder chamber at the buff end, having further a first one-way draft relief valve at the first orifice which is biased closed and operative to open with high-cylinder pressure on the draft side of the piston head; and having a second one-way draft relief valve at the second orifice which is closed to fluid flow from the cylinder chamber and operative to open to fluid flow from the draft relief chamber.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
199 words
The structure of claim 1, wherein the piston head has an annular recess about its periphery adjacent the cylinder, the recess being disposed a predetermined distance from the draft face of the piston, and the first orifice is disposed away from the draft end of the cylinder about the distance corresponding to the predetermined location of the recess, said piston having an opening in the draft side of the head and a bleeder channel extending into the piston head from the draft side and opening to the annular recess, whereby fluid is in communication with the first orifice when the piston head is disposed near the draft end of the cylinder; and including a return spring situated in relation to the railway car for compression and extension in the buff and draft directions having one end connected with the member which moves in response to the buff and draft motion of the car coupling, and the opposite end connected with the railway car, the spring extension being opposed by the cylinder fluid pressure on the draft side of the piston head and the spring having the capability of extension to continuously urge the car coupling to the neutral position.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
320 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupling assembly to a railway car and having a hydraulic cushioning assembly which includes a cylinder member defining a fluid confining chamber and a piston member having a piston head mounted for sliding buff and draft strokes within the cylinder member, one of the piston and cylinder members being secured to the railway car and the other being secured to the car coupling assembly; the improvement comprising: a buff metering valve disposed in an opening defining a passageway through the piston head for fluid flow from the buff to draft sides, the valve being biased to close the passageway to fluid flow in the draft direction and to open the passageway in response to a high-pressure differential across the head in the buff direction; and a fluid metering system on the top side of the cylinder, having a first port through the cylinder at the draft end, a plurality of second ports, one of the second ports being spaced a predetermined distance from the draft end and the remaining second ports being spaced adjacent further to the buff end, said second ports being closed by the piston during a buff stroke, said fluid metering system comprised further of an open face housing cap extending over the first and second ports, the cap being fixed generally to the top side of the cylinder with the open face down, and the cap dEfining a metering passage with a predetermined cross section in accordance with the resistance to flow desired for the metering system; and including one-way valves at said second ports and controlling the metering passage, with the one-way valves being closed to flow into the cylinder and operable to open in response to a small pressure differential in the opposite direction, whereby the metering system provides an initial soft response to a buff stroke and stiff resistance to a draft stroke.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
320 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupling assembly to a railway car and having a hydraulic cushioning assembly which includes a cylinder member defining a fluid confining chamber and a piston member having a piston head mounted for sliding buff and draft strokes within the cylinder member, one of the piston and cylinder members being secured to the railway car and the other being secured to the car coupling assembly; the improvement comprising: a buff metering valve disposed in an opening defining a passageway through the piston head for fluid flow from the buff to draft sides, the valve being biased to close the passageway to fluid flow in the draft direction and to open the passageway in response to a high-pressure differential across the head in the buff direction; and a fluid metering system on the top side of the cylinder, having a first port through the cylinder at the draft end, a plurality of second ports, one of the second ports being spaced a predetermined distance from the draft end and the remaining second ports being spaced adjacent further to the buff end, said second ports being closed by the piston during a buff stroke, said fluid metering system comprised further of an open face housing cap extending over the first and second ports, the cap being fixed generally to the top side of the cylinder with the open face down, and the cap dEfining a metering passage with a predetermined cross section in accordance with the resistance to flow desired for the metering system; and including one-way valves at said second ports and controlling the metering passage, with the one-way valves being closed to flow into the cylinder and operable to open in response to a small pressure differential in the opposite direction, whereby the metering system provides an initial soft response to a buff stroke and stiff resistance to a draft stroke.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
The structure of claim 14, wherein the one-way valves are balls and the housing cap has cooperating recesses defining a restricted area for opening and closing movement of the balls.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
339 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupling assembly to a railway car and having a hydraulic cushioning assembly which includes a cylinder member defining a fluid confining chamber and a piston member having a piston head mounted for sliding buff and draft strokes within the cylinder member, one of the piston and cylinder members being secured to the railway car and the other being secured to the car coupling assembly; the improvement comprising: a fluid metering system having a first port through the cylinder at the draft end and a second port through the cylinder located a predetermined distance away from the draft end; a metering passage disposed exteriorly of the cylinder between the second and first ports, and a one-way valve at the second port and controlling the metering passage, being closed to flow into the cylinder and open in response to a small pressure differential into the metering passage, to provide added orificing during a buff stroke and being ineffective during a draft stroke; and a buff metering valve disposed in a generally cylindrical opening through the piston head defining a passageway through the piston head for fluid flow from the buff to draft sides, and said buff metering valve comprising: a valve seat at the buff end of the cylindrical opening and defining a buff orifice, and the seat having a widened ball seat about the buff orifice on the inside edge; a collar slidably mounted crosswise in the cylindrical opening toward the draft end from the valve seat, the collar having a ball seat spaced adjacent the valve seat; a ball disposed freely between the two ball seats; and a helical spring mounted with the cylindrical opening and extending between the draft side of the cylindrical opening to the collar, and the spring having a high-spring rate to hold the collar and ball against the valve seat to close the buff orifice up to a cracking pressure of the order of 4,000 p.s.i. on the buff side of the piston head.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
339 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupling assembly to a railway car and having a hydraulic cushioning assembly which includes a cylinder member defining a fluid confining chamber and a piston member having a piston head mounted for sliding buff and draft strokes within the cylinder member, one of the piston and cylinder members being secured to the railway car and the other being secured to the car coupling assembly; the improvement comprising: a fluid metering system having a first port through the cylinder at the draft end and a second port through the cylinder located a predetermined distance away from the draft end; a metering passage disposed exteriorly of the cylinder between the second and first ports, and a one-way valve at the second port and controlling the metering passage, being closed to flow into the cylinder and open in response to a small pressure differential into the metering passage, to provide added orificing during a buff stroke and being ineffective during a draft stroke; and a buff metering valve disposed in a generally cylindrical opening through the piston head defining a passageway through the piston head for fluid flow from the buff to draft sides, and said buff metering valve comprising: a valve seat at the buff end of the cylindrical opening and defining a buff orifice, and the seat having a widened ball seat about the buff orifice on the inside edge; a collar slidably mounted crosswise in the cylindrical opening toward the draft end from the valve seat, the collar having a ball seat spaced adjacent the valve seat; a ball disposed freely between the two ball seats; and a helical spring mounted with the cylindrical opening and extending between the draft side of the cylindrical opening to the collar, and the spring having a high-spring rate to hold the collar and ball against the valve seat to close the buff orifice up to a cracking pressure of the order of 4,000 p.s.i. on the buff side of the piston head.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
209 words
The structure of claim 5, and including a draft relief member defining an external enclosed passage chamber on the top side of the cylinder and having a passage chamber opening through the draft end of the cylinder, a draft relief valve operably mounted to the top part of the cylinder and within the passage chamber over the passage opening, the relief valve having a cover member and a high-rate spring holding the cover member over the top of the passage chamber opening and closing the same against cylinder pressures at the draft end which do not exceed the draft relief valve cracking pressure in the general range of 800 p.s.i. to 1,500 p.s.i.; a buff end wall for the cylinder having an orifice defining a fluid passageway from the buff end of the passage chamber to an opening within the end wall to the cylinder chamber; and a one-way sliding valve over the buff end wall opening comprising a pin projecting into the cylinder chamber from the end wall and a washer freely mounted on the pin, the valve being open in response to any pressure drop from the passage chamber to the cylinder chamber, and covering the orifice in response to any pressure drop in the opposite direction.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
266 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupler to a railway car and for controlling run-in and runOut motion of the coupler, the appliance having a hydraulic cushioning assembly with a piston having a piston head mounted within a fluid confining cylinder for buff and draft strokes against the resistance of the fluid therein, the strokes being in response to the coupler run-in and runout, respectively, and the cylinder having a cylindrical sidewall extending between draft and buff end walls, the improvement comprising; a one-way buff stroke metering valve in the piston, a passage housing mounted generally on the top side of the cylinder sidewall and including an open face housing facing down on the sidewall and extending generally along the length of the sidewall, the housing and the sidewall defining a closed external passage chamber; the sidewall having a first passage chamber orifice through the sidewall and into the passage chamber at the draft end wall; the buff end wall having a second passage chamber orifice from the passage chamber into the cylinder; a one-way draft relief valve mounted on top of the sidewall within the passage chamber at the first passage chamber orifice, and having a spring serving to hold the valve closed over the first passage opening, said spring having a high-spring rate in relation to cylinder pressures during a draft stroke; and a one-way valve over the passage chamber orifice on the buff end wall and projecting into the chamber, said valve being constructed to close to fluid flow from the cylinder to the passage on a buff stroke.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
266 words
In a railway draft appliance for operably mounting a car coupler to a railway car and for controlling run-in and runOut motion of the coupler, the appliance having a hydraulic cushioning assembly with a piston having a piston head mounted within a fluid confining cylinder for buff and draft strokes against the resistance of the fluid therein, the strokes being in response to the coupler run-in and runout, respectively, and the cylinder having a cylindrical sidewall extending between draft and buff end walls, the improvement comprising; a one-way buff stroke metering valve in the piston, a passage housing mounted generally on the top side of the cylinder sidewall and including an open face housing facing down on the sidewall and extending generally along the length of the sidewall, the housing and the sidewall defining a closed external passage chamber; the sidewall having a first passage chamber orifice through the sidewall and into the passage chamber at the draft end wall; the buff end wall having a second passage chamber orifice from the passage chamber into the cylinder; a one-way draft relief valve mounted on top of the sidewall within the passage chamber at the first passage chamber orifice, and having a spring serving to hold the valve closed over the first passage opening, said spring having a high-spring rate in relation to cylinder pressures during a draft stroke; and a one-way valve over the passage chamber orifice on the buff end wall and projecting into the chamber, said valve being constructed to close to fluid flow from the cylinder to the passage on a buff stroke.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
144 words
The structure of claim 7, wherein the one-way buff metering valve has a cracking pressure in excess of 800 p.s.i.; the one-way draft relief valve has a cracking pressure in excess of 800 p.s.i.; and including an external closed ended cap on the cylinder wall, the cap covering a sidewall orifice at the draft end wall and a second sidewall orifice spaced a distance from the draft end wall corresponding to more than twice the width of the piston head, the cap and the orifices defining a closed path for fluid flow from the cylinder through the orifices and beneath the cap back to the cylinder; and a one-way valve over the top of the second orifice and beneath the cap, the valve being constructed to close to fluid flow into the cylinder and open to fluid flow from the cylinder into the cap.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-08-09 | 1975-02-08 | 1975-08-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-08-09 | 1979-02-08 | 1979-08-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-08-09 | 1983-02-08 | 1983-08-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |