US1891034A

US1891034A - Automatic release valve

Info

Publication number: US1891034A
Application number: US372595A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jesse N Wood
Original assignee: CHARLES W PEAKE; GEORGE H WHICHER
Current assignee: CHARLES W PEAKE; GEORGE H WHICHER
Priority date: 1929-06-21
Filing date: 1929-06-21
Publication date: 1932-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 1949-12-13

Description

Dec. 13, 1932. J. N. woon 1,891,034

AUTOMATIC RELEASE VALVE Filed June 21, 192e INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

lilatenteol Dec., i3, l

JESSE N. WOOD, 0F VENICE, ILLNOIS, ASSIGNOR OF FORTY-NINJE PER CENT TO GEORGE H. WHICHEB, OF VENICE, LLINGIS, AND CHARLES WPEABKE, OF GRANITE CITY,

ILLINOIS au'roraa'rrc nnnnasn vanvn Application led f'l'une 21, 1929. Serial No. 372,595.

'lhis invention relates to the automatic bleeding of the auxiliary reservoirso't automatic air brake systems. As is well known in the art, the automatic system is distinguished from the straight air brake system in that the brakes of the former are ap lied by a reduction in the pressure in the bra e-pipe, also known as the train line, and are released by an increase in the brake-pipe pressure, a valve, termed the triple valve, functioning under the increase in brake-pipe pressure to charge a container, technically known as the auxiliary reservoir, until the pressure of the latter is equal to that oi the brake-pipe. When the brake-pipe pressure is reduced, the triple valve operates automatically to permit air to owlfrom the auxiliary reservoir to the brake cylinder until the pressure in the auxiliary reservoir equals that of the brakepipe. When the brake-pipe pressure is increased, the triple valve operates automatically to permit the brake cylinder to exhaust tothe atmosphere. Manifestly, an accidental break in the brake-pipe, or an intentional disconnection, will cause the brakes to be ap lied automatically, hence the designation or the system as the automatic air brakesystem. However, when the braking apparatus o' a car is'ound to be detective and must be disconnected from the brake-pipe, or when vcertain cars are cut o from the locomotive, as becomes necessary during switching, or when the locomotive is detached 'from the entire train ol cars, the automatic setting oi the brakes of the detachedl cars would malte it impossible to move them while they are de-V tached. 'lo obviate this diiiculty, the auxiliary reservoirs, prior to the present invention, were provided with manually operated release valves, which were opened to vexhaust the auxiliary reservoir, and thereby 'the hrake cylinder, to the atmosphere. lt requires about two minutes to exhaust the auxiliary reservoir, and the hrakeman or switchrnan must be at hand to hold the valve open against the urge of the closing spring until the exhaust is completed. The two minutes "ait at each car impedes the progress o switching or disconnecting a train, especially where the train is ot great lengtl Accordingly, an object of the invention is the provision of a release valve for the auxiliary reservoir which may be opened by hand, but will be closedautomatically when the brake-pipe is recharged, thereby eliminating the two-minute wait.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means whereby the engineer may, if he desires, open the releasevalves of all the cars of a train automatically when detaching his locomotive, thereby makin it unnecessary to open each valve individua l @ther objects, advantages, and deslrable features of the invention will appear in the course of the following description oan il'- lustrative embodiment of the spirit of the invent-ion.

ln the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which like numbers of reference denote like parts wherever they occur,

Figure l is a schematic diagram ont the inn vention; and

Fgure 2 is a sectional view oi:3 the release valve and adjacent parts, taken on the line 2 2 in Figure l.

Briey described, the illustrative embooli ment or the invention comprises a release valve for the auxiliary reservoir, an air driven motor means lor operating the release valve, a connection 'from the train line or brake-pipe to the motor means lor operating. the latter to close the release valve,n1eans `lor entrapping and storing air from' the brakepipe when the pressure in the latter exceeds the normal service pressure, and means for automatically releasing the stored air and conveying it to the motor means lor operating the latter to open the release valve when the brake-pipe is discharged.

The motor means preferably comprises a motor tor closing the release valve, and ano other motor tor opening it The vvalve close ing motor comprises a cylinder l, having a piston 2 at one end, andthe valve opening motor comprises cylinder having a piston el, the pistons 2 4- he'ing rigidly secured to a common piston rod 5. lre'lerably, but not necessarily, 'the release valve is located in one of the'cylinders, and preferably in the lll@ cylinder 1, for reasons which will hereinafter appear. To this end, the internal diameter of the intermediate portion 6 of the cylinder 1 is less than the internal diameters of the end portions 7 and 8, and a channel 9 having a 'flat bottom 10 is formed in the lower internal side of the thicker intermediate wall 6. The fiat bottom 10 forms a seat Jr`or the release valve 11 that slides thereover to cover and uncover the port 12 in the intermediate wall portion 6. The intermediate portion ot rod 5 has an integral flange or collar 13, and the outer ends oi" the rod are screw threaded to receive nuts 14, which are drawn tightly against their respective adjacent pistons 2 and 4, piston 2 being clamped against a sleeve 15 on the rod 5, which in turn forces a piston 16 against the rod flange 13.

rlhe pistons

2, 4, and 16 may be provided with suitable packing or piston rings 17. Slide valve 11 is recessed at 13 to receive the adjacent tongue 19 presented by the sleeve 15. Both tongue 19 and recess 18 are recessed at 20 to receive a compressed helical spring 21 that maintains slide valve 11 against its seat 1U. Cylinders l and 3 may be provided with suitable Jfeet or lugs 22, that are apertured to receive bolts 23, that secure them to a suitable support 24 in suitable space relation to one another. Chamber 25. between

pistons

2 and 16, communicates with the auxiliary reservoir 26 of the brake system of the car by means oi a conduit 27. Chamber 6, to the left of piston 2 in the lett end ot cylinder 1, communicates with the car branch 29 of the brake-pipeor train line 30 through a conduit 31.

The means for entrapping and storing air from the brake-pipe when the pressure therein exceeds the normal service pressure com prises a volume reservoir 32, 'that is Jfed with air from the brake-pipe through

conduits

31, 33, 34, check valve 35, and conduit 36. Check valve is maintained against its seat by a compressed helical spring 37, surrounding valve stem 33. and the pressure oi the spring 3'? may be adjusted by raising or lowering the sleeve,- 39.. externally screw threaded to tit the tapped hele in the upper wall 40 of the valve housing 41. i conduit 42 leads air from the volume reservoir 32 to the chamber 43 to the right of the piston 4 in the cylinder 3, and a needle valve 44 controls the dow of air through the conduit The lower eirtremity 45 of valve 44 is of. piston formation, and operates in a cylinder chamber 46. having its lower end closed by screw-threaded plug or head 4'?. The chamber 46 communicates with brake-pipe 30 through car branch pipe 29, conduit 31 and conduit 33. rlfhe volume of reservoir 32 is preferably twice the mazimum volume of expansible chamber 43. Chamber 43 communicates with the atmosphere through port in the annular wall of cylinder 3 when the piston has reached its extreme lett position as indicated in broken Lactose lines in Figure 1. Chamber 49 to the right of piston 16 in cylinder 1 substantially confines the air therein so that it is compressed or rarified according to the direction in which the piston 16 is moving and thereby cushions the moving parts against shock. A pin hole 50 may be provided in the head 51 that closes the end 8 of cylinder l, the size of the hole being such that the air escapes from the chamber 49 slowly enough to cushion the motor against undue shock, yet rapidly enough to minimize the elasticity of the air cushion sufficiently to prevent a recoil of the pistons. A pin hole 52 is preferably also provided in the head 4 53 at the right of piston 4 in cylinder 3 to prevent recoil by the formation of an air cushion in chamber 43.

Piston rod 5 may be operated manually by a lever 54, pivoted at 55 to any suitable support. such as a lug 56 on the head 57 of cylinder 3, and pivotally connected to rod 5 by pin 58 borne by said rod and operable in a slot 59 in the lever 54. The lower extremity of lever 54 may be pivoted at 60 to any suitable operating member 61 that eX- tends to a convenient point within reach ot the brakeman or switchman.

rlhe brake-pipe 30, the angle cocks 62, the hose 63 and associated parts, the air strainer 64, the car branch pipe 29, the cut-out cock 65, the triple valve 66, the pressure retaining valve 67, the auxiliary reservoir 26, and the car brake cylinder 63 are standard and well known parts of an automatic air brake systern. lt will, therefore, be unnecessary to describe these parts or the manner in which they operate and co-operate. lt will be understood, also, that, in the diagram, the dimensions of these parts are out of true proportion to the dimensions of the new parts of the present invention, the former being drawn to a much smaller scale than the latter because theirl construction is well known and need not be shown in detail.

lhe construction of the novel parts of the apparatus, the manner of assembling them, and the location of their points of connection to an automatic air brake system having been fully described, the mode of operation will be readily understood. When a train has been assembled and is in service, the brake pipe is normally charged with air under a pressure of seventy pounds per square inch, and the movableparts of the apparatus occupy the positions shown in full lines in Figure 1, all the angle cocks 62 and the cut-oil cocks 65 being open. it now, a car be disconnected from a train, the angle cocks 62 oi the adjoiw ing cars are closed, the hose couplings are disconnected and the angle cocks 62 of the detached car are lett open. rlhe pressure in the car section of the brake-pipe then becomes zero, causing the actuation of the triple valve to admit air from the auxiliary reservoir 26 to the brake cylinder 68 and to apply the llO resinas brakes. lf, now, it is desired to permit the car to coast or to be rolled independently of the locomotive, as in switching, the brakes must oicourse be released. To do this, it is merely necessary to pull rod 61 to the left, thereby shitting rod 5'and valve l1 to the left until port 12 is completely opened to the atmosphere thereby permitting the auxiliary reservoir 26, and the brake cylinder 68 comxnunicatingn therewith to discharge into the atmosphere through conduit 27 and chamber 25.y thereby releasing the brakes of the car. llfhen the car is again attached to the train, and its brake-pipe again becomes a part of the train line charged with air under a pressure ot seventy pounds per square inch, the

fiston 2 is' pushed toward its extreme right y the compressed air in chamber 28 transmitted thereto from the brake-pipe through conduit 3l, the slide release valve il again covers the port l2, and permits auxiliary reservoir 26 to be recharged through the automatically operating' triple valve 66. Since the release valve il is thus closed automatically, the brakeman need not wait at the release valve two minutes after he has opened it, as has heretofore been necessary, in order to close lt will be observed that valves el and 35 are closed in Figure l, valve le being closed by the air pressure exerted against the bottoni of piston Ll5 in chamber 46, and valve 85 being; closed by spring 37, the pressure of which is adj usted bythe manipulation of threaded sleeve 39 so that it-Will oppose the lifting of the valve 'roin its seat as long; as the pressure in the brake pipe and in the 3e does not exceed seventy-three pounds` square inch. will, therefore, be apn-rcY t that no air from the brake-pipe can pass through the conduit 42 to the chamber actuate piston 4l to open release valve the pressure in the brake-pipe enceecis seventy-three pcunds per square inch.

h f-ineer of a freight train is not perited tc raise the brake-pipe pressure to' more n seventy pounds per square inch, when le train is in seri/'ice or on the read.

l'rlcuever, just prier to detaching the locoincu""h 'the intention of letting the cars of remain standing, he may raise the essure te ninety pounds per square inch. is seventeen pounds more than is neces c counterbalance the pressure of the of valve 35, consequently valve 35 i -s lifted until chamber 32 has l se charged with air under a pressure of serenteen pounds square inch. Now, when the locomotive is cut oli" while the angle cocks (l2 the cars remain open, the brake-pipe under cars is discharged, and the air pressure in chambers 28, 3-, and i6 is removed. whenL piston l5 drops, because of its own Weight also because of the seventeen pounds nressure on the top -face of the piston 45, thereby opening valve and permitting` the compressed air in reservoir 32 to enter chamber 43 through conduit 42, thereby moving piston l to its extreme lett position, carrying with it rod 5 and valve l1, and opening port 12, thereby discharging the air in the brake cylinder 68 and the auxiliary reservoir 26 to the atmosphere and releasingg1 the brakes automatically. Manifestly, the time and labor needed heretofore to open the release valves by Vhand was considerable; and the use of the automatic means or the present invention for opening' the release Valve oi an auxiliary reservoir materially expedites operation. Will be observed that, When the train is running with 'the brakes in release, the pressure on both sides of the piston 2 is seventy poundsA per square inch, While the pressure on the leit side onli7 of piston 16 is seventy pounds per square inch.. 'lihe pressure of the air in chamber 25 on

pistons

2 and 16 beingequal but opposite, no movement of the piston rod can be effected by the cornpressed air in chamber 25,- the stroke toward the right being effected bythe cumpressed air in chamber 28, while the stroke toward the left is eliccted by the compressed air in chainu ber 43. lt will be understood and appreciated that, While, in the present practice, the brake-pipe service pressure un freight trains is seventy pounds square inch, it is higher on pass-enger equipment, and the present venticn is not limited for use on trains hav C; a service pressure cf seventy pcunds, but is aim i `icable to any suitable serviceprcssure that may be new in use or hereafter established, the and-storing ci the air in the reservoir 32 may be etlected by exceeding such service pressure,

should, alsc, understood that the ternw gsair brake,7E air brake system the i Wherever they cccur in the descrip 'For instance, the thrcttle-valve ci a loccm motive has a ten eucy te stick and the ref lease-valve oic thr vention is characterized and is by the absence i titute therefor.

l all changes in term, arrangement, order, er use of parte, as it is evident that inany inin r changes be made therein Without de, iircin the spirit of this invention or tie cope of the tollowing claires.

4 aser,

I claim:

1. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor having in combination therewith an air-driven motor for opening said valve, a

therefor having in combination therewith anair-driven motor for opening said valve, a reservoir for storing the air that opens said valve, a check valve arranged to admit air from the brake-pipe to the said last mentioned reservoir whenv the pressure in the brake-pipe rises above its normal service pressure, a valve controlling the flow of air from the last mentioned reservoir to the motor, and means operated by the pressure in the brake-pipe for closing said last mentioned valve and by the pressure in the last mentioned reservoir 'for opening it.

3. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor having in combination therewith an air-driven motor 'for operating said valve, an air connection from the brake-pipe to the motor for operating themotor to close the valve, a reservoir for storing the air that opens said valve, a check valve arranged to admit air 'from the brake-pipe to the said last mentioned reservoir when the pressure in the brake-pipe exceeds the normal service pressure therein, and a valve controlling the admittance ci air from the said last mentioned reservoir to the motor Jfor operating the latter to open the release valve, the said last mentioned motor valve having provisions whereby is maintained closed by the pressure of the air in the brake-pipe.

fi. n automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservo-ir having in combination therewith a cylinder, a pair of pistons therein rigidly connected to move 'together and spaced provide a movable chamber therebetween, an air conduit 'from the auxiliary reservoir 'the said chamber, a port leading 'from the said chamber to the atmosphere, a valve the chamber slidable over the port to open and close the same and operated by said pistons, and an air conduit leading into the cylinder space between a cylinder head and adjacent piston -for operating the latter.

.5. An automatic he system including an auxiliary rese voir' having in combination therewitlynnder, a pair of pistons therein rigidly connected to move together and spaced to provide a movable chamber therebetween, an air conduit from the auxiliary reservoir to the said chamber, a port leading from the said chamber to the atmosphere, a valve in the chamber slidable over the port to open and close the same and operated by said pistons, and a conduit leading from the brake-pipe into the cylinder space between a cylinder head and an adjacent piston for operating the latter.

6. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor having in combination therewith a cylinder, a piston therein connected to said valve to close it when moving in one direction and to open it when moving in the opposite direction, means for collecting and storing air from the brake-pipe when the pressure therein exceeds the normal service pressure, and a valve operated by the discharge of the brake-pipe for admitting air from said air storing means to the said cylinder for operating said piston to open the valve.

7 An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor having in combination therewith a cylinder, a piston therein connected to said valve to close it when movingin one direction and to open it when moving in the opposite direction, means for collecting and storing air from the brake pipe when the pressure therein exceeds the normal service pressure, and a valve operated by the discharge of the brake pipe for admitting air from said air storing means to the said cylinder for operating said piston to open the valve, said cylinder having an opening to the atmosphere that communicates with the space between the piston and the cylinder head when the piston has reached the end of its opening stroke, thereby to exhaust the air that drove the piston.

8. in automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor operable in opposite directions for opening and closing the valve, respectively, a piston Jfor closing the valve, a piston for opening the valve, cylinder means which said pistons operate, a conduit leading from the brake-pipe to the space between the tirst piston and its adjacent cylinder head 'for closing the valve, means for entrapping and storing air from the brake-pipe when the pressure therein exceeds the normal service pressure, a. conduit leading "from said storing means to the space between the second piston and its adjacent cylinder head for opening .the valve, and a valve controiiingthe said last mentioned conduit andmaintained in closed position by the pressure of the air in the brake-pipe.

9. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir anda release valve liO normal service pressure and means for discharging said entrapped air to operate said motor, said means being controlled by the discharge of the brake pipe.

10. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor having in combination therewith an air-driven motor for opening said valve, a reservoir for storing excess pressure of air from the brake pipe and means controlled by the pressure in the brake pipe for discharging air into said motor.

11. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir 'and a release valve therefor having in combination therewith an air-driven motor for opening said valve, a reservoir for storing the air that opens said valve, a check valve arranged to admit air from the brake pipe to the said last mentioned reservoir when the pressure in the brake pipe rises above its normal service pressure and a valve controlling the iiow of air from the last mentioned reservoir to the motor.

12. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir and a release valve therefor having in combmation therewith automatic mechanism for opening the valve, said mechanism having means to place said mechanism in a condition to be operated when the brake-pipe is charged above its normal service pressure and means for discharging air to operate -said mechanism, said means being controlled by the discharge of the brake-pipe.

13. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir, a release valve for the reservoir, and a pneumatically operated mechanism for actuating said valve, said mechanism having means to place it in condition to be operated when the brake pipe is charged above its normal service pressure, and means for operating said mechanism to actuate said release valve, said means being controlled by the discharge of air from the brake pipe.

14. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir, a release valve for the reservoir, and a pressure operated mechanism for actuating said valve, said mechanism having means to place it in condition to be operated when the rake pipe is charged above its normal service pressure, and means for operating said 'mechanism to actuate said release valve, said means being controlled by the discharge of air from the brake pipe.

15. An automatic air brake system including an auxiliary reservoir, a release valve for the reservoir, and a pressure operated mechanism lfor actuating said valve, said mechanism having means to place it in Condition to be operated by the storage of pressure therein when the brake pipe is charged above its normal service pressure, and means for releasing the pressure in said mechanism to actuate said release valve, said means being controlled by the discharge of air from the brake-pipe.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature.

JESSE N. WOOD.