Railway wagon hand brake external hanging type force increasing device and system integrating relieving function

Abstract

The invention discloses a railway wagon hand braking external hanging type force increasing device and system integrating a relieving function, and belongs to the technical field of railway vehicle braking. The device comprises a box body assembly installed at the end of a vehicle body, an input shaft and an output driving shaft which are arranged in parallel, and a gear torque increasing assembly connected with the two shafts. The layout that the input shaft is arranged on the lower portion and the output shaft is arranged on the upper portion is adopted, braking torque amplification (such as 2: 1) is achieved in cooperation with the externally-hung gearbox, and the problem that a traditional force amplifier cannot be installed on a vehicle with the limited bottom space is solved. In addition, the device can be integrated with a relieving extension shaft, a relieving operation point which is originally high in position extends to the position close to a hand wheel below the relieving operation point, same-side and same-position convenient operation of braking and relieving is achieved, and the device is suitable for low-cost upgrading and reconstruction of existing trucks.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of railway vehicle braking technology, specifically to a railway freight car handbrake booster device installed at the end of a vehicle for amplifying braking input force and integrating relief operation function. Background Technology

[0002] The handbrake system is a critical safety system in railway freight cars, featuring braking, phased release, and rapid release functions. After the vehicle stops, the operator manually parks it by turning the handwheel to prevent it from rolling away on slopes and ensure parking safety. Existing railway freight car handbrakes (such as the NSW and FSW types) are directly driven manually. For steep gradients, their output force is often insufficient, making it difficult to fully meet the safe parking requirements of such tracks.

[0003] To address the problem of insufficient manual braking force, existing technologies typically employ the following methods:

[0004] The first method is to use a movable pulley system or an amplifying lever mechanism. This method requires a significant amount of space under the vehicle. However, for vehicles with extremely limited space under the vehicle, such as hopper cars and tank cars, it is often impossible to install this type of mechanism.

[0005] The second approach is to improve the internal structure of the handbrake, such as by adding a planetary gear reduction mechanism inside the handbrake housing. While effective, this method requires redesigning and manufacturing the entire handbrake, resulting in high costs and making it impossible to directly upgrade existing vehicles at a low cost.

[0006] Furthermore, when retrofitting existing vehicles with enhanced handbrakes, simply adding a reduction gearbox to the front of the handbrake often alters the handwheel's operating position (e.g., causing the handwheel axle to move forward or rise). Since the original handbrake's "release lever" position is fixed, this makes it difficult for operators to reach the original release lever when cranking the enhanced handwheel, resulting in a situation where "braking is easy, but releasing is difficult," causing inconvenience and even safety hazards for shunting operations.

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a device that can utilize the upper space of the vehicle body, has a simple structure, is compatible with existing handbrakes, and can simultaneously solve the problems of brake force enhancement and ease of operation. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present invention aims to solve the technical problems of insufficient hand braking force, limited bottom installation space, and inconvenience of operation in existing railway freight cars by adding external force-boosting mechanisms.

[0009] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this invention provides an externally mounted power booster for the handbrake of a railway freight car, configured to be installed above the end of the freight car body for driving the existing handbrake mechanism. The device includes:

[0010] The housing assembly includes a base plate for fixing to the end beam of the vehicle body and a support frame disposed on the base plate;

[0011] An input shaft is rotatably mounted on the housing assembly, with one end of the input shaft extending outward to connect to a manual input component;

[0012] An output drive shaft is rotatably mounted on the housing assembly and is arranged parallel to the input shaft; the end of the output drive shaft extends out of the housing assembly and is configured to be coaxially connected to the drive shaft of the handbrake.

[0013] The gear torque-increasing assembly is housed inside the housing assembly and includes a first gear fixed to the input shaft and a second gear fixed to the output drive shaft. The first gear meshes with the second gear, and the number of teeth on the second gear is greater than the number of teeth on the first gear.

[0014] Furthermore, the device may also include a relief extension shaft rotatably supported on or through the housing assembly, the relief extension shaft extending parallel to the input shaft; one end of the relief extension shaft at the operating end is configured to connect to the relief operating handle, and the other end at the device end is configured to connect to the relief shaft of the handbrake.

[0015] Furthermore, the gear ratio i between the second gear and the first gear is greater than or equal to 2; the output torque of the output drive shaft is i times the input torque of the input shaft.

[0016] Furthermore, the support frame includes a vertical plate assembly fixed to the base plate, the vertical plate assembly having shaft holes for supporting the input shaft, output drive shaft and relief extension shaft respectively, and wear-resistant bushings or bearings provided in the shaft holes; the housing assembly also includes a cover plate, the cover plate being detachably connected to the vertical plate assembly to close the gear torque increasing assembly.

[0017] Furthermore, the device also includes a handwheel axle support, which is configured to be fixedly connected to the vehicle body and located between the manual input component and the housing assembly; the input shaft passes through the handwheel axle support and is further supported thereon to withstand the radial load applied by the manual input component.

[0018] Furthermore, the manual input component is a handwheel with a diameter of 500mm-600mm; the connection between the input shaft and the manual input component is a square shaft structure.

[0019] The present invention also provides a railway freight car handbrake system, comprising:

[0020] A handbrake fixed to the end body of a railway freight car, the handbrake having a braking input interface and a releasing input interface; and

[0021] The handbrake external booster device as described above;

[0022] The housing assembly of the external handbrake booster is fixed above the end beam of the vehicle body;

[0023] The output drive shaft is connected to the brake input interface of the handbrake and is used to drive the handbrake to generate braking force.

[0024] The release extension shaft is connected to the release input interface of the handbrake and is used to transmit the release action.

[0025] Furthermore, the handbrake is connected to the basic braking device at the bottom of the vehicle via a chain; the external handbrake booster is located entirely in the upper space at the end of the vehicle and does not occupy the space at the bottom of the vehicle.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] 1. Strong spatial adaptability: The present invention adopts an external box design, which utilizes the upper space at the end of the vehicle body for installation, without occupying valuable undercarriage space. This solves the problem that hopper trucks, tank trucks and other vehicle models cannot install traditional lever-type power-boosting mechanisms due to insufficient undercarriage space.

[0028] 2. Convenient operation and ergonomic design: Through the integrated release extension shaft design, the release operation point, originally located on the handbrake body, is extended to a position close to the force-boosting handwheel. Operators can complete the entire process of "power braking" and "quick release" from the same standing position, without having to bend over or move their body to find the original vehicle's release handle, significantly improving work efficiency and safety.

[0029] 3. Significant force enhancement effect: By using a gear torque-enhancing component (such as a 2:1 gear ratio) in conjunction with a large-diameter handwheel, the torque output to the handbrake is multiplied while the manual input remains unchanged, thereby greatly increasing the brake shoe pressure and effectively meeting the parking safety requirements of steep slopes.

[0030] 4. Structural layout optimization: By placing the input shaft at the bottom and the output shaft at the top, the operating center of the large-diameter handwheel is relatively low, making it more suitable for ground personnel to operate, while the output shaft is positioned higher, facilitating connection with the original vehicle's handbrake, which is installed at a higher position. Attached Figure Description

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments disclosed in this invention, the accompanying drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described below. These drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this invention.

[0032] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the handbrake force-boosting mechanism of this invention applied to a railway vehicle.

[0033] Figure 2 This is an enlarged schematic diagram of the gear transmission part in the hand brake force-boosting mechanism of this invention.

[0034] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the handwheel shaft in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] In the diagram: 10, Manual input component; 20, Input shaft; 21, First gear; 30, Output drive shaft; 31, Second gear; 40, Housing assembly; 41, Base plate; 42, Vertical plate assembly; 43, Cover plate; 50, Relief extension shaft; 60, Handwheel shaft support; 90, Handbrake. Detailed Implementation

[0036] The technical solutions (including preferred technical solutions) of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and by way of listing some optional embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0037] Example 1

[0038] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, this embodiment focuses on describing the detailed mechanical structure of the external power booster device for the handbrake of a railway freight car.

[0039] The present invention provides an external force booster device for railway freight car handbrake with integrated relief function, which mainly consists of a housing assembly 40, a power transmission shaft system (including an input shaft 20 and an output drive shaft 30), a gear torque boosting assembly, and a relief control assembly (relief extension shaft 50).

[0040] 1. Box assembly and supporting structure

[0041] The housing assembly 40 is the load-bearing foundation of the entire device, and its design fully considers the harsh operating environment of railway freight cars (vibration, wind and sand, rain and snow). In order to facilitate the installation and subsequent maintenance of the internal mechanism, the housing assembly 40 preferably adopts a split structure, including a base plate 41, a vertical plate assembly 42, and a cover plate 43.

[0042] The base plate 41 is made of high-strength steel plate and serves as the mounting base. It has multiple mounting holes or welding bevels, configured for direct welding or fixing to the upper plane of the end beam at the end of the railway freight car body using high-strength bolts. This mounting method utilizes the unused space at the end of the car body and does not occupy any space under the car.

[0043] The vertical plate assembly 42 is vertically welded to the base plate 41 and consists of two parallel steel plates. The plates are precision-bored to create bearing housing holes for mounting the shaft system. To ensure transmission accuracy, the vertical plate assembly 42 undergoes overall annealing after welding to eliminate internal stress.

[0044] The cover plate 43 is connected to the upright plate assembly 42 by screws to form a closed receiving chamber. A rubber sealing gasket is provided between the cover plate 43 and the upright plate to effectively prevent external dust and rainwater from entering the housing and corroding the gears and bearings, while also preventing the loss of internal lubricating grease.

[0045] 2. Power transmission shaft system

[0046] The input shaft 20 (high-speed shaft) is made of high-quality carbon structural steel or alloy steel. It is rotatably supported by an oil-free self-lubricating bushing (or rolling bearing) press-fitted onto the vertical plate assembly 42. One end of the input shaft 20 extends out of the housing assembly 40, and its end is machined into a standard square taper or splined shaft end for a clearance-free fit with the hub center hole of the manual input assembly 10 (handwheel), ensuring reliable high-torque input. In this embodiment, the input shaft 20 is located at the lower part of the housing assembly 40. This lower input position design allows the operator to operate the large-diameter handwheel from the ground or on a platform with a suitable arm height, which is more ergonomic.

[0047] The output drive shaft 30 (low-speed shaft) is arranged parallel to the input shaft 20 and is also supported on the housing assembly 40 by bushings or bearings. The diameter of the output drive shaft 30 is designed to be thicker than that of the input shaft 20 to withstand the amplified high torque. One end of the output drive shaft extending out of the housing is designed with a connection interface (such as a flange, coupling sleeve, etc.) that matches the drive shaft of the handbrake 90, achieving coaxial drive. In this embodiment, the output drive shaft 30 is located at the upper part of the housing assembly 40.

[0048] 3. Gear torque boosting assembly

[0049] The gear torque-increasing assembly located inside the housing assembly 40 is the core functional component. The first gear 21 (small gear) is fixedly mounted on the part of the input shaft 20 located inside the housing via a flat key or spline, and rotates synchronously at high speed with the input shaft 20. The second gear 31 (large gear) is fixedly mounted on the output drive shaft 30 and is in constant mesh with the first gear 21.

[0050] In this preferred embodiment, the ratio of the number of teeth of the second gear 31 to the number of teeth of the first gear 21 is set to 2:1. This means that when the operator applies torque, the theoretical torque obtained by the output shaft is twice the input torque (ignoring transmission efficiency loss). The gears are preferably helical gears, which have better meshing smoothness, higher load-bearing capacity, and lower noise compared to spur gears.

[0051] 4. Auxiliary support structure

[0052] Considering that the input shaft 20 needs to extend to the outside of the vehicle body for operation, resulting in a relatively long cantilever, this device is also specially equipped with a handwheel axle support 60. This support is independent of the housing assembly 40 and is welded to the railing or end wall at the edge of the vehicle body. The input shaft 20 passes through a nylon bushing inside the handwheel axle support 60. This structure forms a "dual-point support" mode (housing support point + support support point), effectively preventing the long shaft from bending and deforming due to excessive force applied by the operator.

[0053] Example 2

[0054] This embodiment focuses on illustrating the most creative feature of the present invention—the implementation details of the relief extension shaft 50 and the resulting ergonomic advantages.

[0055] In existing technological modifications, simply adding a gearbox raises or moves the handwheel position forward, altering the operator's stance and making it difficult to reach the release lever on the original vehicle's handbrake 90 body. This invention solves this problem through the following structure:

[0056] The relief extension shaft 50 is designed as a slender metal rod with its axis parallel to the input shaft 20. This parallel layout makes the overall appearance of the power booster neat and facilitates its placement in the narrow space at the end of the vehicle body.

[0057] In terms of connection mechanism, the release extension shaft 50 passes through the housing assembly 40 (or is supported from the side of the housing by a bracket). Its device end (rear end) is equipped with a coupling (e.g., universal joint, flexible coupling, or rigid sleeve) to connect to the release shaft of the original vehicle handbrake 90. In a preferred embodiment, the use of a universal joint or flexible coupling has significant engineering value, allowing for a certain degree of coaxiality deviation between the installation position of the force-enhancing device and the original handbrake, reducing the on-site installation accuracy requirements. Its operating end (front end) extends close to the manual input assembly 10 (handwheel) and is equipped with an L-shaped or T-shaped release operating handle.

[0058] The operation process is as follows:

[0059] When the train needs to stop on a slope, the operator stands on the platform at the end of the car. During braking, the operator grips the large 560mm diameter handwheel 10 with both hands and rotates it clockwise. The large diameter handwheel, combined with the internal 2:1 gear ratio for force amplification, allows the operator to generate tremendous chain tension without exerting excessive force, firmly pressing the brake shoes onto the wheels.

[0060] During release, when the vehicle needs to be started, the operator does not need to move their feet; they simply extend one hand and pull the handle of the release extension shaft 50 located next to the handwheel. This action is instantly transmitted through the extension shaft to the handbrake 90, triggering the disengagement of its internal ratchet mechanism, causing the chain to loosen instantly and completing the release.

[0061] This "standing still and controlling the overall situation" operating mode significantly reduces the labor intensity of shunting operators and eliminates the risk of falling off the train due to leaning out to operate.

[0062] Example 3

[0063] This embodiment describes the system integration of the device at the vehicle level. This invention is particularly applicable to railway freight cars with limited underside space, such as hopper cars and tank cars.

[0064] This device is used as a standalone "functional enhancement package" for retrofitting existing vehicles. During the retrofit, the original handwheel is removed; the housing assembly 40 is positioned and welded to the front of the original handbrake 90; the upper output drive shaft 30 is connected to the main shaft of the original handbrake 90 via a sleeve coupling; the release extension shaft 50 is connected to the original release interface via a connecting rod; finally, a new large handwheel 10 is installed on the lower input shaft 20.

[0065] Example 4

[0066] Those skilled in the art should understand that the core of this invention lies in the "external housing + power amplification + mitigation integration" architecture, and the specific transmission form can be adjusted according to requirements.

[0067] Inside the housing assembly 40, sprockets and chains can be used instead of gears. A small sprocket is mounted on the input shaft 20, and a large sprocket is mounted on the output drive shaft 30.

[0068] If extremely high axial space is required, a planetary gear reducer can be used instead of a parallel shaft gear.

[0069] In addition, a one-way ratchet mechanism can be further integrated on the input shaft 20 to prevent injury from high-speed reverse rotation of the handwheel due to hand slippage during operation.

[0070] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention. Various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A railway wagon hand brake external booster device configured to be installed in the upper space of the end portion of a railway wagon body for driving an existing hand brake machine, characterized in that, The hand brake booster device comprises: a box assembly comprising a base plate fixed on the end beam of the vehicle body and a support frame arranged on the base plate; an input shaft rotatably mounted on the box assembly, one end of the input shaft extending outward to connect a manual input assembly; an output drive shaft rotatably mounted on the box assembly and arranged in parallel with the input shaft, the output drive shaft extending out of the box assembly and coaxially connected with a driving shaft of the hand brake; a gear torque increasing assembly accommodated in the box assembly, comprising a first gear fixed on the input shaft and a second gear fixed on the output drive shaft, the first gear being engaged with the second gear, and the second gear having a larger number of teeth than the first gear.

2. The railway freight car hand brake external booster as defined in claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: a relief extension shaft rotatably supported on or passing through the box assembly, the relief extension shaft extending in parallel with the input shaft; one end of the relief extension shaft at the operating end is configured to connect a relief operating handle, and the other end at the equipment end is configured to connect with a relief shaft of the hand brake, so that the operator can drive the relief shaft of the hand brake through the relief extension shaft at the position of operating the manual input assembly.

3. The railway car hand brake external booster as defined in claim 1 wherein, The ratio of the number of teeth of the second gear to the first gear is i≥2; the output torque of the output drive shaft is i times the input torque of the input shaft.

4. The railway car hand brake external booster of claim 1 wherein, The support frame comprises a vertical plate assembly fixed perpendicularly on the base plate, the vertical plate assembly being provided with shaft holes for supporting the input shaft, the output drive shaft and the relief extension shaft respectively, and the shaft holes being provided with wear-resistant bushings or bearings; the box assembly further comprises a cover plate, which is detachably connected with the vertical plate assembly to enclose the gear torque increasing assembly.

5. The railway car hand brake external booster of claim 1 wherein, Further comprising a hand wheel shaft support configured to be fixedly connected to the vehicle body and located between the manual input assembly and the box assembly; the input shaft passes through the hand wheel shaft support and is supported by the hand wheel shaft support to bear the radial load applied by the manual input assembly.

6. The railway car hand brake external booster of claim 1 wherein, The manual input assembly is a hand wheel with a diameter of 500-600 mm; the connection between the input shaft and the manual input assembly is a square shaft structure.

7. A railway car hand brake system characterized by, The hand brake booster device comprises: a hand brake fixed on the end beam of the railway wagon, the hand brake having a brake input interface and a relief input interface; and the hand brake booster device according to any one of claims 1 to 5; the box assembly of the hand brake booster device is fixed above the end beam of the vehicle body; the output drive shaft is connected with the brake input interface of the hand brake to drive the hand brake to generate braking force; the relief extension shaft is connected with the relief input interface of the hand brake to transmit the relief action.

8. The railway car hand brake system of claim 6 wherein, The hand brake is connected to the foundation brake device at the bottom of the vehicle through a chain; the hand brake booster device is completely located in the upper space of the end of the vehicle and does not occupy the space at the bottom of the vehicle.

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