A brake assembly for a rail car includes at least one brake element for pressing against a rotor of a rail car wheel in case of a braking action; an actuator for driving the brake element, a linkage for transferring a braking force from the actuator to the brake element, at least one sensor device for measuring at least one parameter of the brake assembly, and the brake assembly further includes a trigger unit configured to enter its active state when a braking action occurs, wherein trigger unit activates the sensor device in the active state.

A brake actuator for railway vehicles, comprising: a main body having a braking chamber, a service braking piston movable with respect to the main body along a longitudinal axis, a pair of levers articulated to the main body and bearing respective brake pads, a transmission mechanism including an auxiliary body, a pair of thrust elements articulated to said levers, a pair of carriages movable with respect to the auxiliary body along a transverse direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, and a pair of slack adjusters each of which is disposed between a respective carriage and a respective thrust element, wherein the transmission mechanism comprises a floating member, which is free to pivot with respect to the service braking piston about an axis perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and to said transverse axis, wherein the floating member carries a first and a second pair of thrust bearings which cooperate with cam surfaces of said carriage.

The present disclosure relates to a brake cylinder, a brake caliper unit and a rail vehicle. The brake cylinder includes a cylinder block and a cylinder head fixedly sleeved over one end of the cylinder block, the cylinder block being provided therein with a piston, a guide spring, a guide nut, a taper sleeve, an adjusting shaft assembly, a thrust sleeve and a gap adjusting nut assembly; wherein the gap adjusting nut assembly includes a gap adjusting nut, a gap adjusting sleeve and a gap adjusting spring, and a groove extending along an axial direction of the gap adjusting sleeve is formed on an outer circumferential surface of the gap adjusting sleeve, in which groove a release gap adjusting unit is provided. The thrust sleeve spring of the brake cylinder of the present disclosure can recognize excessive elastic deformation of the external lever to prevent the gap adjustment triggered by the excessive elastic deformation of the external lever, ensuring that the release gap of the disc is constant.

A drainage system for use with a slack adjuster for a railway brake rigging wherein the slack adjuster includes a main spring housing, a cone nut housing enclosing a critical operating area of the slack adjuster, and an over travel housing. The drainage system includes at least one opening extending through a sidewall portion of the main spring housing. The opening is configured to allow fluid and/or contaminates to drain therethrough to reduce exposure of the critical operating area of the slack adjuster to the fluid and/or contaminants. A seal/splash guard can be provided at the intersection of the main spring housing and the cone nut housing to prevent fluid and contaminants from entering into the cone nut housing.

A truck mounted braking system is provided with a mechanical pivot adjustment on the bake lever connected to the brake cylinder push rod to permit the braking force applied to the wheels to vary depending on the lading condition of the car, without involving additional pneumatic elements such as a pneumatic empty load device. The brake cylinder may be provided with a channel which permits the push rod to achieve different positions based on different positions of the brake cylinder push rod.

A drainage system for use with a slack adjuster for a railway brake rigging wherein the slack adjuster includes a main spring housing, a cone nut housing enclosing a critical operating area of the slack adjuster, and an over travel housing. The drainage system includes at least one opening extending through a sidewall portion of the main spring housing. The opening is configured to allow fluid and/or contaminants to drain therethrough to reduce exposure of the critical operating area of the slack adjuster to the fluid and/or contaminants. A seal/splash guard can be provided at the intersection of the main spring housing and the cone nut housing to prevent fluid and contaminants from entering into the cone nut housing.

In a method of braking a number of rail cars of a train travelling on a mainline track, in response to a unique braking command provided to each rail car of a first subset of rail cars, wherein each braking command includes a level or percentage of braking the brakes of the rail car are to assume, the brakes of the rail car are set to level or percentage of braking included in the unique braking command provided to the rail car. Thereafter, in response to a unique braking command provided to each rail car of a second, different subset of rail cars, the brakes of the rail car are set to level or percentage of braking included in the unique braking command provided to the rail car.

The invention relates to a railway braking system (1) comprising a first pneumatic distribution device (51) formed by a first distributor provided with a single inlet opening (54a,b) connected to a source for supplying pneumatic pressure mediums (73) and with a single outlet opening (55a,b) connected to a parking brake chamber (25) in order to optionally supply a parking brake (7) with a second pneumatic pressure medium so as to place said brake in either of inoperative and operative configurations, and a second pneumatic distribution device (61) formed by a second distributor provided with a single inlet opening (64a,b) connected to said supply source and with a single outlet opening (65a,b) connected to a service pressure chamber (13) in order to supply a service brake (6) with a third pneumatic pressure medium of which the pressure value is predetermined, so as to apply a predetermined braking force when said parking brake is in the operative configuration thereof.

A railcar brake system includes a first brake beam and a second brake beam configured to be mounted on opposite sides of a bolster of a railcar truck; a brake cylinder connected to the first brake beam; a first lever and a second lever pivotally connected to the first brake beam at separate points, the first lever and the second lever also being connected to opposing ends of the brake cylinder to connect the brake cylinder to the first brake beam; a slack adjuster connected to the second brake beam; a first push rod connecting the first lever to the second brake beam and the slack adjuster; and a second push rod connecting the second lever to the second brake beam and the slack adjuster. Actuation of the brake cylinder causes movement of the brake beams via the first and second levers and the first and second push rods.

There is provided a configuration in which an association between a location of each brake shoe of a railway vehicle and each abrasion detection tag is easily learned, and system implementation and management are simplified. A brake shoe abrasion detection system of a railway vehicle includes a computer that receives data of a signal read by a reader from at least one abrasion detection RF tag attached to each of a plurality of brake shoes of the railway vehicle passing the reader. The computer determines an association between a plurality of the signals and the plurality of brake shoes based on an order that the reader reads the plurality of signals from a plurality of the abrasion detection RF tags attached to the plurality of brake shoes, respectively.