Patent ID: 8485105

Claim:
A device for stopping travel of a railcar that rides along a pair of rails, the railcar having a plurality of wheels, each wheel in the plurality of wheels having a wheel tread that rides along one of the pair of rails, the device comprising: a wing having a base and having a fin that extends upwardly from the base, wherein the fin has a bottom surface that faces the base, the bottom surface having a front abutment surface and a rear abutment surface, and wherein the fin also has a bearing surface for engaging a wheel tread of a wheel in the plurality of wheels, the bearing surface transversely extending with respect to the bottom surface; wherein the fin is pivotable with respect to the base between a first position in which the front abutment surface abuts the base and the rear abutment surface is spaced apart from the base and a second position in which the rear abutment surface abuts the base and the front abutment surface is spaced apart from the base; wherein engagement of the wheel tread with an upper portion of the bearing surface causes the fin to pivot from the first position to the second position until the rear abutment surface engages with the base; and wherein the wing is pivotable about a longitudinal axis that extends parallel to one rail of the pair of rails, the wing being pivotable perpendicularly transversely with respect to the one rail between an active position wherein the fin is positioned over the one rail to engage the wheel tread and an inactive position wherein the fin is positioned away from the one rail so that the wheel can freely travel along the one rail past the wing.