Abstract:
A gladhand coupling that prevents inadvertent separation of the coupling halves without the need for additional structure or manipulation to connect and disconnect the halves. Each half is equipped with a lug having two spaced apart ramped pads and a flange defining a channel having a corresponding ramped pad. When two halves are positioned together then rotated into the locked position, the ramped pad of the flange is positioned proximately to the either of the ramped pads of the flange to prevent inadvertent lateral compression of the two halves that would otherwise cause unintentional uncoupling. The coupling may be disconnected by simple rotation of one coupling half relative to the other so that the ramped pad of the lug is positioned between the spaced apart ramped pads of the lug and by pulling the coupling apart as done by current rail car decoupling procedures.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/003,104 filed on Jan 21, 2016 and PCT Application No. PCT/US16/14267, filed on Jan 21, 2016. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to air brake hose connectors and, more particularly, to a connector having a mechanical interlock to prevent inadvertent decoupling. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Air brake hose couplers, typically referred to as gladhand connectors, have two interlocking members fitted to the hoses that supply pressurized air from a locomotive to the railway air brakes of the railroad cars of a train and then coupled together to join the hoses together. Conventional gladhands used throughout in the rail industry do not include any mechanism that locks the gladhands together when in the coupled position. Instead, the prevailing gladhand design uses the compression of a rubber gasket between the faces of the two gladhands as the sole means to hold a rib in a groove, thus holding the gladhands together. This approach has proven to be unreliable in the field, however, as it is easily disconnected by involuntary forces, such as hose vibration. While the art includes locking mechanisms for gladhands, these approaches have not been adopted in the field because they require that the gladhands be unlocked through additional steps or manipulation that are not practical for current methods of rail car separation or compliant with the applicable industry regulations and standards, such as those promulgated by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Thus, there is a need in the art for a gladhand design that mitigates the risk of unintended hose separation but allows for disconnection without additional steps or structure. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention comprises a gladhand coupling having a coupling half having a face with an opening therethrough, a locking lug extending outwardly from the face of said coupling half and having a first ramped pad positioned at a predetermined location about the face and a ridge extending outwardly therefrom, and a flange extending from the face and having a second ramped pad positioned oppositely about the face from the first ramped pad, a third ramped pad spaced apart from the second ramped pad to define a slot therebetween, and a groove formed therein that corresponds to the ridge of the locking lug. A second gladhand coupling a second face with a second opening therethrough, a second locking lug extending outwardly from the second face of said second coupling half and having a fourth ramped pad positioned at a predetermined location about the second face and a second ridge extending therefrom, and a second flange extending from the second face and having a fifth ramped pad positioned oppositely about the second face from the third ramped pad, a sixth ramped pad spaced apart from the second ramped pad to define a second slot therebetween that can accept the first ramped pad, and a second groove extending therefrom may be connected to the first gladhand coupling half. The first coupling half and the second coupling half are movable between a disconnected position, wherein the first and fifth ramped pads are misaligned and the second and fourth ramped pads are misaligned, and a connected position, wherein the first and fifth ramped pads are aligned and the second and fourth ramped pads are aligned. The first coupling half and second coupling half are oriented at other than 180 degrees to each other when in the connected position. The first coupling half and the second coupling half are also movable into a released position where the fourth ramped pad can pass through the first slot and the first ramped pad can pass through the second slot. The first coupling half and second coupling half are oriented at about 180 degrees in the released position. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         [0007]    The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated by reading the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a gladhand coupling according to the present invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is another perspective view of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is front view of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a front view of another embodiment of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of another embodiment of a gladhand coupling half according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout, there is seen in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , a gladhand coupling  10  comprising a pair of coupling halves  12  that may be rotatable coupled together. Each coupling half  12  includes an air hose shank  14  for the connecting an air hose (not shown) to coupling half  12 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , coupling half  12  is hollow and includes face  16  extending along a plane and having an opening  18  formed therethrough to define an air passage that is in fluid communication with the interior of connector  14  and thus the internal diameter of an air hose attached thereto. As with conventional gladhands, coupling  10  is connected and disconnected by rotating one coupling half  12  relative to another coupling half  12 , thereby connecting and disconnecting the air hoses coupled to the shanks  14  of each coupling half  12 . All of the elements of gladhand coupling  10  may be formed via metal casting when manufacturing coupling  10 . 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 through 5 , each coupling half  12  includes a locking lug  20  extending outwardly from the periphery of face  16  along a plane parallel to axis X-X. Lug  20  has a first ramped pad  22  defined by a conical portion  24 , i.e., the surface of conical portion  24  extends conically relative to face  16 , and a ramped surface  26  leading to conical portion  24  from the remaining surface of lug  20  that is conical relative to face  16 . Coupling half  12  further includes an L-shaped annular flange  28  positioned approximately oppositely about face  16  of coupling half  12  from ramped pad  22  of lug  20 . Flange  28  includes a pair of legs  30  that extends over face  16  to define a channel  32  that is adapted to receive a lug  20  of another coupling half  12 . The lower portion of flange  28  includes a second ramped pad  34  having a conical portion  36  and a ramped portion  38  leading to conical portion  36  that correspond in positioning and conical angle to conical portion  24  and a ramped surface  26  of lug  20 . Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , conical portion  24  and conical portion  36  extend about face  16  of coupling half  12  at matching angles relative to longitudinal axis X-X of coupling half  12 . 
         [0019]    Each coupling half  12  further includes a pointed leg  40  on flange  28  and a notch  42  positioned at one end of lug  20  so that when two coupling halves  12  are connected together, leg  40  of flange is received in notch  42 , thereby forming a stop that prevents rotations of coupling halves  12  past the locked position of gladhand coupling  10  seen in  FIG. 1 , where each coupling half  12  is positioned at less than 180 degrees relative to the other coupling half  12 . Rotation of coupling halves  12  toward a 180 degree offset position allows coupling  10  to unlock as ramped pads  22  and  34  are no longer aligned opposite each other thereby allowing the resilient gasket to compress and coupling  10  to uncouple by pulling ridge  46  out of groove  44  when rail cars are separated normally. 
         [0020]    As further seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , each coupling half  12  also includes an arcuate groove  44  formed in the interior surface of flange  28  and a corresponding arcuate ridge  46  formed on the exterior surface of lug  20 . Ridge  46  and groove  44  are dimensioned and positioned so that ridge  46  of one coupling half  12  will slide into groove  44  of a mating coupling half  12  and continue sliding until the legs  40  of each half  12  engage the corresponding notches  42  of the other halves  12  as two coupling halves  12  are rotated toward the locked position. Ridge  46  is held in groove  44  by the opposing forces from the resilient gaskets seated in bore  18 . 
         [0021]    Coupling halves  12  are joined to form gladhand coupling  10  by positioning the respective faces  16  of two coupling halves  12  against each other so that the longitudinal axes are misaligned, and then rotating one coupling half  12  relative to the other coupling half  12  past a 180 degree orientation until lug  20  of one coupling half  12  slides completely into channel  32  of flange  28  of the other coupling half  12 , ridge  46  slides fully into groove  44 , and pointed leg engages notch  42 . As halves  12  are rotated toward the locked position of  FIG. 1 , ridge  46  and groove  44  urge halves  12  together, thereby compressing any sealing gasket (not shown) that is positioned between the two halves  12 . Because sealing gaskets are resilient, the biasing forces produced by the sealing gasket will help maintain gladhand coupling  10  in the locked position by keeping ridge  44  seated in groove  46 . 
         [0022]    Gladhand coupling  10  prevents inadvertent separation of halves  12  as follows. As coupling halves  12  are rotated into the locked position, sloped surfaces  26  and  38  guide surfaces  24  and  36  into opposing alignment despite any dimensional tolerances of the two coupling halves  12  and sealing gasket. Once gladhand coupling  10  is moved into the fully locked position of  FIG. 1 , surface  24  of one half  12  is directly opposite surface  36  of the opposing half  12  and spaced apart therefrom by an extremely minimal distance, such as between 0.00 inches and 0.06 inches thereby preventing coupling halves  12  from being compressed laterally enough that coupling halves  12  have the freedom to uncouple unintentionally. Due to the limited distance between these two surfaces, any inadvertent lateral forces applied to coupling  12  will be unable to compress the gasket positioned between the two halves  12  sufficiently to loosen coupling  10  such that ridge  44  of locking lug  20  of each half  12  is free to slide out of groove  44  of flange  28  of the other half  12 . Rotational movement of coupling halves  12  will move flat surfaces  24  and  36  out of alignment so that coupling halves  12  can compress sealing gasket sufficiently to allow each ridge  44  of each locking lug  20  to slide out of each groove  44  of each flange  28 . Alternatively, ramped pads  22  and  34  may be dimensioned and positioned to become mechanically coupled when coupling halves  12  are rotated together into the locked position of  FIG. 1 . This embodiment requires machining of surfaces  24  and  36  to be shallow ramps such that the highpoint created by the intersection of ramps  26  and  24 , and the highpoint created by the intersection of ramps  36  and  38 , need to be forced past each other to reach the fully locked position. The resulting mechanical interference between these two high points would help retain coupling  10  in the fully engaged position until they were forcefully pulled apart by the train in an intentional uncoupling event. 
         [0023]    The intentional uncoupling of a gladhand coupling, including gladhand coupling  10 , involves using the train to pull the brake hoses tight, which forces halves  12  to rotate toward 180 degree opposite alignment relative to each other. As halves  12  rotate, the opposing ramped pads  22  and  34  rotate out of alignment allowing the resilient gaskets to compress sufficiently to allow ridge  46  to be pulled out of groove  44  by the train car forces so that coupling halves  12  can separate. Gladhand coupling  10  thus remains free for normal disconnection of gladhand couplings by an intentional rotation of halves  12  relative to each other, such as during a rail yard pull-apart, but reduces the incidents of inadvertent disconnection when in locked position. As no additional latches or locking mechanisms need to be manipulated to unlock coupling halves  12 , coupler  10  can be disconnected simply by rotating the two coupling halves  12  relative to each other as is the practice with conventional gladhands, or pulling them apart as described above, thereby providing for a secure mechanical interconnection without the need for complex locking structure that must be separately unlocked before gladhand coupling  10  can be open to disconnect air hoses connected thereto. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , in another embodiment of coupling  10 , ramp  36  of ramped pad  34  may be shaped to define a first portion  50  that is substantially flat, a second portion  52  that slopes steeply upward, and narrow pad  54  that is substantially flat and proximate to descending ramp  38 . A second ramped pad  56  is positioned oppositely about locking lug  20  and spaced apart from ramped surface  26  and conical portion  24  of ramp pad  22  to define a slot  58  therebetween. Slot  58  is positioned so that it aligns with narrow pad  54  when coupling halves  12  are positioned at approximately 180 degrees relative to each other. Accordingly, coupling halves  12  may be engaged by positioning at approximately 90 degrees relative to each other and rotated. Narrow pad  54  will interface with second ramped pad  56  to prevent inadvertent unlocking of coupling halves  12  should coupling halves  12  not be fully rotated past 180 degrees into the fully locked position. Narrow pad  54  will also, as explained above, cooperate with ramped pad  22  to prevent inadvertent uncoupling when coupling halves are rotated past 180 degrees into the full locked position. Due to the relative positioning of slot  58  to narrow pad  54 , coupling halves  12  are free to uncouple when coupling halves  12  are rotated into the 180 degree orientation relative to each other, such as during an intentional uncoupling event. Thus, this embodiment of coupling  10  prevents inadvertent separation of coupling halves  12  in nearly all orientations after initial coupling other than the orientation where glandhands  10  are intended to and remain free to automatically uncouple when intentionally pulled apart in an uncoupling event.