US3639010A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Fluid pressure and dynamic brake interlock valve with variable load control
Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Co
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Filing: 1969-12-15
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Granted: 1972-02-01
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Expires: 1989-12-15
Abstract
Abstract This invention relates to a triple-diaphragm pressure-operated variable-load-type brake control valve for rapid transit vehicles wherein the body of the vehicle is supported on air springs, the pressure in which is varied to maintain the body at a substantially constant height above the rails irrespective of the load on the body. Furthermore, air spring pressure varies the effective area of that one of the three diaphragms that is subject to brake cylinder pressure whereby the brake cylinder pressure required to effect movement of the brake control valve to a lap position subsequent to any reduction of brake pipe pressure effective on one side of a second one of the diaphragms relative to a substantially constant control reservoir pressure effective on the opposite side of this second diaphragm, varies directly as the load carried on the body of the vehicle. The third diaphragm is subject to a fluid pressure that corresponds to the degree of dynamic brake and acts thereon in the same direction as brake pipe pressure acts on the second diaphragm. Consequently, as the speed of the vehicle diminishes and the dynamic brake fades out, the brake control valve operates to control the blending therewith of the pneumatic brake in such a manner as to bring a rapid transit train, each car of which is provided with this brake control valve, to a proper stop at a predetermined rate of deceleration.
Inventors
- 👤 Gary T Mayer
- 👤 Daniel G Scott
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 23:45
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60T; B60T8/00; B60T8/18; B60T8/1893; B60T13/00; B60T13/10; B60T13/58; B60T13/585; B60T13/586
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
623 words
A fluid pressure controlled railway vehicle brake apparatus comprising, in combination: a. a normally charged brake pipe, variations of the fluid pressure in which are effective to control brake applications and brake releases on the vehicle, b. an auxiliary reservoir normally charged to the pressure carried in said brake pipe, c. a control reservoir normally charged to the pressure carried in said brake pipe, d. fluid pressure operated braking means for effecting a brake application on the vehicle, and e. a fluid pressure operated brake control service valve device comprising: i. valve means operable to effect the supply of fluid under pressure from said auxiliary reservoir to said fluid pressure operated braking means and the release of fluid under pressure from said fluid pressure operated braking means to atmosphere, ii. a stem coaxially arranged with respect to said valve means for effecting the operation thereof, iii. a first movable abutment subject on one side to the pressure of fluid in said brake pipe and subject on the opposite side to the pressure in said control reservoir, said first movable abutment being connected to said stem intermediate the ends thereof to effect its movement in one direction in response to a reduction in brake pipe pressure on said one side relative to control reservoir pressure on said opposite side to cause one end of said stem to operaTe said valve means to effect the supply of fluid under pressure from said auxiliary reservoir to said braking means to cause a brake application on the vehicle, wherein the improvement comprises: iv. a second movable abutment subject on one side to a pressure corresponding to the degree of dynamic braking effect exerted by a dynamic braking means on the vehicle and subject on the opposite side to atmospheric pressure, said second movable abutment being connected to said stem intermediate the ends thereof and having the same effective area as said first movable abutment, whereby said second movable abutment renders said first movable abutment inoperative to cause operation of said valve means so long as said pressure corresponding to the degree of dynamic braking effect is equal to said normally charged brake pipe pressure, and renders said first movable abutment operative to cause operation of said valve means in response to a decrease in said pressure resulting from a reduction of the dynamic braking effect as the speed of the vehicle reduces to effect the supply of fluid under pressure to said braking means to a degree proportional to the reduction in said dynamic braking effect whereby said braking means increases its braking effect on the vehicle to compensate for the reduction of the braking effect of the dynamic braking means, and v. a third movable abutment subject on one side to the fluid pressure supplied by said valve means to said braking means and subject on the opposite side to atmospheric pressure, said third movable abutment being connected to the end of said valve stem opposite said one end to effect movement of said stem in a direction opposite said one direction in response to the force of fluid under pressure acting thereon and on said other movable abutments in said opposite direction slightly exceeding the fluid pressure force acting in said one direction on said first movable abutment to cause operation of said valve means to cut off flow of fluid under pressure from said auxiliary reservoir to said braking means, said first movable abutment being responsive to a subsequent increase in brake pipe pressure on said one side thereof to effect further movement of said stem in said opposite direction to cause said valve means to establish a venting communication whereby the fluid under pressure supplied to said braking means is released to atmosphere.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
623 words
A fluid pressure controlled railway vehicle brake apparatus comprising, in combination: a. a normally charged brake pipe, variations of the fluid pressure in which are effective to control brake applications and brake releases on the vehicle, b. an auxiliary reservoir normally charged to the pressure carried in said brake pipe, c. a control reservoir normally charged to the pressure carried in said brake pipe, d. fluid pressure operated braking means for effecting a brake application on the vehicle, and e. a fluid pressure operated brake control service valve device comprising: i. valve means operable to effect the supply of fluid under pressure from said auxiliary reservoir to said fluid pressure operated braking means and the release of fluid under pressure from said fluid pressure operated braking means to atmosphere, ii. a stem coaxially arranged with respect to said valve means for effecting the operation thereof, iii. a first movable abutment subject on one side to the pressure of fluid in said brake pipe and subject on the opposite side to the pressure in said control reservoir, said first movable abutment being connected to said stem intermediate the ends thereof to effect its movement in one direction in response to a reduction in brake pipe pressure on said one side relative to control reservoir pressure on said opposite side to cause one end of said stem to operaTe said valve means to effect the supply of fluid under pressure from said auxiliary reservoir to said braking means to cause a brake application on the vehicle, wherein the improvement comprises: iv. a second movable abutment subject on one side to a pressure corresponding to the degree of dynamic braking effect exerted by a dynamic braking means on the vehicle and subject on the opposite side to atmospheric pressure, said second movable abutment being connected to said stem intermediate the ends thereof and having the same effective area as said first movable abutment, whereby said second movable abutment renders said first movable abutment inoperative to cause operation of said valve means so long as said pressure corresponding to the degree of dynamic braking effect is equal to said normally charged brake pipe pressure, and renders said first movable abutment operative to cause operation of said valve means in response to a decrease in said pressure resulting from a reduction of the dynamic braking effect as the speed of the vehicle reduces to effect the supply of fluid under pressure to said braking means to a degree proportional to the reduction in said dynamic braking effect whereby said braking means increases its braking effect on the vehicle to compensate for the reduction of the braking effect of the dynamic braking means, and v. a third movable abutment subject on one side to the fluid pressure supplied by said valve means to said braking means and subject on the opposite side to atmospheric pressure, said third movable abutment being connected to the end of said valve stem opposite said one end to effect movement of said stem in a direction opposite said one direction in response to the force of fluid under pressure acting thereon and on said other movable abutments in said opposite direction slightly exceeding the fluid pressure force acting in said one direction on said first movable abutment to cause operation of said valve means to cut off flow of fluid under pressure from said auxiliary reservoir to said braking means, said first movable abutment being responsive to a subsequent increase in brake pipe pressure on said one side thereof to effect further movement of said stem in said opposite direction to cause said valve means to establish a venting communication whereby the fluid under pressure supplied to said braking means is released to atmosphere.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
A fluid pressure controlled railway vehicle brake apparatus, as recited in claim 1, further characterized by means operative in response to the degree of dynamic braking effect to establish a corresponding degree of fluid pressure on said one side of said second movable abutment.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
A fluid pressure controlled railway vehicle brake apparatus, as recited in claim 2, further characterized in that said means is a transducer device, and said vehicle dynamic braking means comprises a dynamic braking circuit connected to said transducer device.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
A fluid pressure controlled railway vehicle brake apparatus, as recited in claim 2, further characterized in that said means is a transducer device connected in parallel across the grids of the dynamic braking circuit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
52 words
A fluid pressure controlled railway vehicle brake apparatus, as recited in claim 1, further characterized by a first one-way flow valve means for effecting charging of said auxiliary reservoir from said brake pipe, and by a second one-way flow valve means for effecting charging of said control reservoir from said brake pipe.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
303 words
In a vehicle variable load fluid pressure brake equipment, the combination of: a. fluid pressure operated braking means for effecting a brake application on the vehicle according to the pressure of fluid supplied thereto, wherein the improvement comprises: b. a movable member having a paraboloidal surface thereon, c. a first diaphragm having its outer periphery secured to said movable member and cooperatively contacting said paraboloidal surface whereby its effective pressure area is varied accorDing to the area of said surface in contact with the diaphragm, d. valve means connected to said first diaphragm and operable to effect the supply of fluid under pressure to and the release of fluid under pressure from said braking means and one side of said first diaphragm, e. a pair of spaced-apart diaphragms of constant effective area subject on their respective opposite sides to fluid under pressure and operatively connected to said valve means for effecting operation thereof to effect the supply of fluid under pressure to said braking means accordingly as the degree of dynamic braking effect exerted by a dynamic brake means on the vehicle decreases as the speed of the vehicle reduces, and f. means responsive to the load on the vehicle to correspondingly limit movement of said movable member and thereby the area of said first diaphragm in contact with said paraboloidal surface to thereby vary the effective area of said one side of said first diaphragm subject to the pressure supplied by said valve means whereby, upon the fluid pressure force acting thereon and on said pair of diaphragms in one direction slightly exceeding the fluid pressure force acting on said pair of diaphragms in an opposite direction, said first diaphragm operates said valve means to cut off supply of fluid under pressure to said one side thereof and to said braking means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
303 words
In a vehicle variable load fluid pressure brake equipment, the combination of: a. fluid pressure operated braking means for effecting a brake application on the vehicle according to the pressure of fluid supplied thereto, wherein the improvement comprises: b. a movable member having a paraboloidal surface thereon, c. a first diaphragm having its outer periphery secured to said movable member and cooperatively contacting said paraboloidal surface whereby its effective pressure area is varied accorDing to the area of said surface in contact with the diaphragm, d. valve means connected to said first diaphragm and operable to effect the supply of fluid under pressure to and the release of fluid under pressure from said braking means and one side of said first diaphragm, e. a pair of spaced-apart diaphragms of constant effective area subject on their respective opposite sides to fluid under pressure and operatively connected to said valve means for effecting operation thereof to effect the supply of fluid under pressure to said braking means accordingly as the degree of dynamic braking effect exerted by a dynamic brake means on the vehicle decreases as the speed of the vehicle reduces, and f. means responsive to the load on the vehicle to correspondingly limit movement of said movable member and thereby the area of said first diaphragm in contact with said paraboloidal surface to thereby vary the effective area of said one side of said first diaphragm subject to the pressure supplied by said valve means whereby, upon the fluid pressure force acting thereon and on said pair of diaphragms in one direction slightly exceeding the fluid pressure force acting on said pair of diaphragms in an opposite direction, said first diaphragm operates said valve means to cut off supply of fluid under pressure to said one side thereof and to said braking means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
A vehicle variable load fluid pressure brake equipment, as recited in claim 6, further characterized in that said load responsive means comprises cam means for decreasing the travel of said movable member accordingly as the load on the vehicle increases.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
74 words
A vehicle variable load fluid pressure brake equipment, as recited in claim 7, further characterized in that said movable member is provided with a tapered surface, and said cam means is provided with a correspondingly tapered surface whereby as the load on the vehicle increases the tapered surface of said cam means is so positioned with respect to the tapered surface of said movable member as to reduce the travel of said movable member.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
149 words
A vehicle variable load fluid pressure brake equipment, as recited in claim 6, further characterized in that said load responsive means comprises: a. cam means so positionable with respect to said movable member as to determine the degree of travel thereof, b. a piston operably connected to said cam means for moving said cam means to different positions, c. biasing means effective on one side of said piston to move said cam means to a position to provide for maximum movement of said movable member, and d. fluid pressure operated means for establishing on the opposite side of said piston a pressure variable in accordance with the load carried by the vehicle whereby said piston and cam means are moved against the yielding resistance of said biasing means to a position corresponding to said load thereby to correspondingly reduce the travel of said movable member as said load increases.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
130 words
A vehicle variable load fluid pressure brake equipment, as recited in claim 9, further characterized in that said movable member is provided with a first inclined plane, and said cam means is provided with a second inclined plane having the same degree of inclination as said first inclined plane whereby movement of said cam means in one direction in response to a decrease in load on the vehicle increases the travel of said movable member and movement of said cam means in an opposite direction in response to an increase in load on the vehicle decreases the travel of said movable member thereby to increase the effective area of said first abutment as said load decreases and to decrease the effective area of said first abutment as said load increases.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
371 words
For use in a vehicle fluid pressure brake apparatus, a valve device for controlling the degree of fluid pressure supplied to effect a brake application, said valve device comprising: a. a casing having a bore provided with an annular supply valve seat at One end thereof, b. a hollow valve operating stem having an annular exhaust valve seat at one end thereof and being slidably mounted in said bore, c. a disc valve movable away from said supply valve seat by movement of said stem in one direction, subsequent to movement of said exhaust valve seat into contact with said disc valve, d. resilient means for biasing said disc valve toward seating contact with said annular supply valve seat, wherein the improvement comprises: e. three fluid pressure responsive diaphragm means for controlling movement of said valve operating stem with respect to said disc valve, one of said diaphragm means being effective at one time to establish a fluid pressure force opposite in direction to the fluid pressure force established by the other two, one of said other two diaphragm means being of a variable effective area and arranged to be subjected to fluid under pressure supplied upon said stem moving said disc valve away from said supply valve seat, said one diaphragm means and the third diaphragm means being of uniform effective area, said one of which is arranged to be subjected to a selected pressure established according to a desired degree of a pneumatic brake application and said third diaphragm means being arranged to be subjected to a selected pressure established according to a desired degree of dynamic braking effect exerted by a dynamic braking means on the vehicle whereby said valve operating stem is rendered ineffective to unseat said disc valve from said supply valve seat so long as said selected pressure in accordance with the degree of dynamic braking effect is a maximum, and said operating stem is effective to unseat said disc valve from said supply seat to cause pressure supplied past said disc valve to increase as said selected dynamic braking pressure decreases as the speed of the vehicle reduces to thereby maintain a constant braking force on said vehicle notwithstanding said decrease in vehicle speed.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
371 words
For use in a vehicle fluid pressure brake apparatus, a valve device for controlling the degree of fluid pressure supplied to effect a brake application, said valve device comprising: a. a casing having a bore provided with an annular supply valve seat at One end thereof, b. a hollow valve operating stem having an annular exhaust valve seat at one end thereof and being slidably mounted in said bore, c. a disc valve movable away from said supply valve seat by movement of said stem in one direction, subsequent to movement of said exhaust valve seat into contact with said disc valve, d. resilient means for biasing said disc valve toward seating contact with said annular supply valve seat, wherein the improvement comprises: e. three fluid pressure responsive diaphragm means for controlling movement of said valve operating stem with respect to said disc valve, one of said diaphragm means being effective at one time to establish a fluid pressure force opposite in direction to the fluid pressure force established by the other two, one of said other two diaphragm means being of a variable effective area and arranged to be subjected to fluid under pressure supplied upon said stem moving said disc valve away from said supply valve seat, said one diaphragm means and the third diaphragm means being of uniform effective area, said one of which is arranged to be subjected to a selected pressure established according to a desired degree of a pneumatic brake application and said third diaphragm means being arranged to be subjected to a selected pressure established according to a desired degree of dynamic braking effect exerted by a dynamic braking means on the vehicle whereby said valve operating stem is rendered ineffective to unseat said disc valve from said supply valve seat so long as said selected pressure in accordance with the degree of dynamic braking effect is a maximum, and said operating stem is effective to unseat said disc valve from said supply seat to cause pressure supplied past said disc valve to increase as said selected dynamic braking pressure decreases as the speed of the vehicle reduces to thereby maintain a constant braking force on said vehicle notwithstanding said decrease in vehicle speed.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
102 words
For use in a vehicle fluid pressure brake apparatus, a valve device as recited in claim 11, in which the casing is provided with a second bore, and the variable effective area diaphragm means includes a piston member slidably mounted in said second bore and having a paraboloidal surface formed thereon, and an annular flexible diaphragm the outer periphery of which is secured to said piston member and the inner periphery of which is secured to said valve operating stem, said diaphragm cooperating with said paraboloidal surface is varied according to the axial position of said piston member within said second bore.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
56 words
For use in a vehicle fluid pressure brake apparatus, a valve device as recited in claim 12, further including means for so positioning said piston member in said second bore in accordance with the load on the vehicle as to increase the effective area of said annular flexible diaphragm as the load on the vehicle decreases.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
71 words
For use in a vehicle fluid pressure brake apparatus, a valve device as recited in claim 13, further characterized in that said positioning means comprises two parallel and inclined surfaces one of which is carried by said piston member and the other of which is positioned with respect to said one inclined surface in accordance with the load carried by the vehicle thereby to limit the movement of said piston member.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
For use in a vehicle fluid pressure brake apparatus, a valve device as recited in claim 14, further characterized by spring means for moving said other inclined surface in one direction, and a fluid motor for moving said other inclined surface in an opposite direction.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-01-31 | 1975-08-02 | 1976-02-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-01-31 | 1979-08-02 | 1980-02-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-01-31 | 1983-08-02 | 1984-02-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |