Uncoupling lever for railroad cars with standard draft gear cushioning

Claim 2

In an uncoupling lever device for a railroad car having a coupler mounted at one end thereof for side to side swinging movement and movement longitudinally of the car in response to buff and draft forces and including a lock lifter for uncoupling the coupler, which car is equipped for standard draft gear cushioning of said buff and draft forces, with said uncoupling device including a lever assembly comprising a lock lifter section including a hook eye at one end thereof adapted to operatively engage the lock lifter for support by the coupler, and a handle section including a handle portion at one end thereof adapted to be pivotally secured to the car to one side of the end of the car to swing about a pivot point to move said hook eye portion to operate said lock lifter, the improvement wherein: said handle section comprises: an elongate rectilinear bar of quadrilateral transverse crosssectional configuration, with the handle portion being fixed to one end of said bar, said lock lifter section comprising: an elongate quadrilateral bar of quadrilateral transverse crosssectional configuration having the hook eye affixed to one end of same, said lock lifter section bar adjacent the other end of same including a single elongate slideway along one side of same, with said handle section bar being slidably received in said slideway for disposing and maintaining said bars in substantial side by side parallelism, said slideway being shaped relative to said handle section bar to place said handle section bar in cranking relation to said lock lifter section bar and said handle section bar being on the side of said lock lifter section bar that is to face the car, said slideway being open at either end of same for free travel of said lock lifter section slideway longitudinally of said handle section bar to, on movement of said lock lifter section bar toward the handle portion, dispose said other end of said handle section bar exteriorly of said slideway at the hook eye end of same for accommodating contraction of said device under coupler swing when the coupler swings toward said handle portion, said bars being formed for free travel of said lock lifter section bar relative to said handle section bar, on said movement to project said other end of said handle section bar from said slideway, to adjacent said one end of said lock lifter section bar, and for free travel of said slideway the full length of said handle section bar, said bars being proportioned to dispose said other end of said handle section bar intermediate said one end of said lock lifter section bar and the slideway inboard end when the coupler is centered relative to the car.

Claim 3

The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein: said bars each are of rectangular cross-sectional configuration defining opposed wide sides and opposed narrow sides, said one side of said lock lifter section bar being a wide side thereof, with said bars being disposed to have adjacent of their said wide sides in vertically disposed, closely spaced, substantially parallel relation.

Claim 4

The improvement set forth in claim 2 wherein: said lock lifter section further comprises: a rod element affixed to said one end of said lock lifter bar off center of same in the direction away from said one side thereof to accommodate passing of said handle section bar other end by said rod element on contraction of said device, said rod element being formed to define the hook eye.

Claim 5

The improvement set forth in claim 2 wherein: said handle section further comprises: a rod element fixed to said one end of said handle section bar, and forming said handle portion, said handle section rod element defining a pendant handle and an open loop for pivotally connecting same to the car, said pendant handle being in coplanar relatiOn with the long dimension of said handle section transverse cross-sectional configuration.

Claim 6

The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein: said handle section bar is freely removable from said slideway by extending said device to withdraw said handle section bar from said slideway.

Claim 7

In a railroad car adapted to ride on track rails and having a coupler mounted at one end thereof for side to side swinging movement and movement longitudinally of the car in response to buff and draft forces and including a lock lifter for uncoupling the coupler, which car is equipped for standard draft gear cushioning of said buff and draft forces, and an uncoupling device including a lever assembly comprising a lock lifter section including a hook eye at one end thereof operatively engaging the lock lifter and supported by the coupler for pivotal movement about a pivot point to lift the lock lifter to uncouple the coupler, and a handle section including a handle portion at one end thereof pivotally secured to the car to one side of the end of the car to swing about a pivot point to move said hook eye portion to operate said lock lifter, the improvement wherein: said handle section comprises: an elongate rectilinear bar of quadrilateral transverse cross-sectional configuration, with the handle portion being fixed to one end of said bar, said lock lifter section comprising: an elongate quadrilateral bar of quadrilateral transverse cross-sectional configuration having the hook eye affixed to one end of same, said lock lifter section bar adjacent the other end of same including a single, elongate slideway along one side of same, with said handle section bar being slidably received in said slideway for disposing and maintaining said bars in substantial side by side parallelism, said slideway being shaped relative to said lock lifter section bar and said handle section bar being on the side of said lock lifter section bar that faces the car, said slideway being open at either end of same for free travel of said lock lifter section slideway longitudinally of said handle section bar to, on movement of said lock lifter section bar toward the handle portion, dispose said other end of said handle section bar exteriorily of said slideway at the hook eye end of same for accommodating contraction of said device under coupler swing when the coupler swings toward said handle portion, said bars being formed for free travel of said lock lifter section bar relative to said handle section bar, on said movement to project said other end of said handle section bar on said movement, to project said other end of said handle section bar from said slideway, and for free travel of said slideway the full length of said handle section bar, said bars being proportioned to dispose said other end of said handle section bar intermediate said one end of said lock lifter section bar and said slideway when the coupler is centered relative to the car, whereby said lock lifter section hook eye may be pivoted about its pivot point to lift the lock lifter by swinging said handle section about its pivot point away from the car to lift said lock lifter section bar in swinging motion about its said pivot point.

Claim 8

In a railroad car adapted to ride on track rails and having a coupler mounted at one end thereof for side to side swinging movement and movement longitudinally of the car in response to buff and draft forces and including a lock lifter for uncoupling the coupler, which car is equipped for standard draft gear cushioning of said buff and draft forces, and an uncoupling device including a lever assembly comprising a lock lifter section including a hook eye at one end thereof operatively engaging the lock lifter and supported by the coupler for pivotal movement about a pivot point to lift the lock lifter to uncouple the coupler, and a handle section including a handle portion at one end thereof pivotally secured to the car to one side of the end of the car to swing about a pivot point to move said hook eye portion to operate said lock lifter, the improvement wherein: said handle section comprises: an elongate rectilinear bar of quadrilateral transverse cross-sectional configuration, with the handle portion being fixed to one end of said bar, said lock lifter section comprising: an elongate quadrilateral bar of quadrilateral transverse cross-sectional configuration having the hook eye affixed to one end of same, said lock lifter section bar adjacent the other end of same including a single, elongate slideway along one side of same, with said handle section bar being slidably received in said slideway for disposing and maintaining said bars in substantial side by side parallelism, said slideway being shaped relative to said lock lifter section bar and said handle section bar being on the side of said lock lifter section bar that faces the car, said slideway being open at either end of same for free travel of said lock lifter section slideway longitudinally of said handle section bar to, on movement of said lock lifter section bar toward the handle portion, dispose said other end of said handle section bar exteriorily of said slideway at the hook eye end of same for accommodating contraction of said device under coupler swing when the coupler swings toward said handle portion, said bars being formed for free travel of said lock lifter section bar relative to said handle section bar, on said movement to project said other end of said handle section bar on said movement, to project said other end of said handle section bar from said slideway, and for free travel of said slideway the full length of said handle section bar, said bars being proportioned to dispose said other end of said handle section bar intermediate said one end of said lock lifter section bar and said slideway when the coupler is centered relative to the car, whereby said lock lifter section hook eye may be pivoted about its pivot point to lift the lock lifter by swinging said handle section about its pivot point away from the car to lift said lock lifter section bar in swinging motion about its said pivot point.

Claim 9

The improvement set forth in claim 6 wherein: said bars each are of rectangular cross-sectional configuration defining opposed wide sides and opposed narrow sides, said one side of said lock lifter section bar being a wide side thereof, with said bars being disposed to have adjacent of their said wide sides in vertically disposed closely spaced, substantially parallel relation.

Claim 10

The improvement set forth in claim 7 wherein: said lock lifter section further comprises: a rod element affixed to said one end of said lock lifter bar off center of same in the direction away from said one side thereof to accommodate passing of said handle section bar other end by said rod element on contraction of said device, said rod element being fOrmed to define the hook eye.

Claim 11

The improvement set forth in claim 7 wherein: said handle section further comprises: a rod element fixed to said one end of said handle section bar, and forming said handle portion, said handle section rod element defining a pendant handle and an open loop for pivotally connecting same to the car, said pendant handle being in coplanar relation with the long dimension of said handle section transverse cross-sectional configuration, and means for pivotally connecting said handle section rod element to the car at said loop thereof and said handle section pivot and against substantial shifting movement of said handle loop laterally of the car.

Claim 12

The improvement set forth in claim 9 wherein: said handle section pivotally connecting means comprises a clevis fixed to said car in a substantially horizontal plane, a first U-element received over said clevis, a pin received through the legs of said U-element and said clevis to connect said U-element to said clevis, a second U-element fixed to said pin in upright position above said first U-element, with said handle section open loop being received in said second U-element, and means for releasably retaining said handle section open loop in said second U-element.

Claim 13

The improvement set forth in claim 6 wherein: said bars, in the maximum extended relation of said device, as applied to the car, overlap approximately 6 inches.

Claim 14

A replacement mounting assembly for mounting the handle end of an uncoupling lever assembly on a railroad car, said mounting assembly comprising: a clevis adapted to be fixed to said car in a substantially horizontal plane, a first U-element received over said clevis, a pin received through the legs of said U-element and said clevis to connect said U-element to said clevis, a second U-element fixed to said pin in upright position above said first U-element, and means for releasably retaining the handle of the lever assembly in said second U-element.

Claim 15

A replacement mounting assembly for mounting the handle end of an uncoupling lever assembly on a railroad car, said mounting assembly comprising: a clevis adapted to be fixed to said car in a substantially horizontal plane, a first U-element received over said clevis, a pin received through the legs of said U-element and said clevis to connect said U-element to said clevis, a second U-element fixed to said pin in upright position above said first U-element, and means for releasably retaining the handle of the lever assembly in said second U-element.