Conveyorized system for rebuilding tread and disc brake actuator units for use in railway cars
First Claim
1. A conveyorized system for disassembling, inspecting and rebuilding brake activator units used on railway cars, comprising:
- a. a disassembly station including a series of predetermined disassembly tools which are worker operated to disassemble a said unit into component parts;
b. an inspection station including a series of predetermined inspection tools which are worker operated to inspect predetermined parameters on selected ones of said components;
c. a repair station including a series of predetermined repair tools to repair said predetermined ones of said components;
d. an assembly station including a series of predetermined assembly tools to reassemble said unit with said inspected and repaired and/or replaced components; and
e. multilevel conveyors between at least selected ones of said stations for conveyance of said component parts therebetween,wherein each station includes first and second sub-areas respectively containing separate sets of said predetermined tools to respectively enable the disassembly, inspection, and reassembly of tread brake activator units and disc brake activator units in the respective sub-areas as separate capabilities of the stations, wherein the multilevel conveyors are used to convey the component parts separately within the connected ones of the first sub-areas and the second sub-areas of the respective stations, said conveyors thereby including separate conveyor lines associated with the respective sub-areas.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A conveyorized system and method of use therefor for disassembling, inspecting, reconditioning and testing a brake actuator is disclosed. The disassembly area includes a spring removal fixture and a torque removal fixture. The conveyor system includes multi-level conveyor portions to eliminate the need for operators to lift awkward, heavy components. The test area includes a fixture adapted to pressure test and leak test a reconditioned brake actuator and to test for slack adjuster travel. The disclosed conveyor system is specially adapted to disassemble, inspect, recondition and test air brake actuators for trains, such as disc actuators and tread actuators.
97 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A conveyorized system for disassembling, inspecting and rebuilding brake activator units used on railway cars, comprising:
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a. a disassembly station including a series of predetermined disassembly tools which are worker operated to disassemble a said unit into component parts; b. an inspection station including a series of predetermined inspection tools which are worker operated to inspect predetermined parameters on selected ones of said components; c. a repair station including a series of predetermined repair tools to repair said predetermined ones of said components; d. an assembly station including a series of predetermined assembly tools to reassemble said unit with said inspected and repaired and/or replaced components; and e. multilevel conveyors between at least selected ones of said stations for conveyance of said component parts therebetween, wherein each station includes first and second sub-areas respectively containing separate sets of said predetermined tools to respectively enable the disassembly, inspection, and reassembly of tread brake activator units and disc brake activator units in the respective sub-areas as separate capabilities of the stations, wherein the multilevel conveyors are used to convey the component parts separately within the connected ones of the first sub-areas and the second sub-areas of the respective stations, said conveyors thereby including separate conveyor lines associated with the respective sub-areas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A conveyorized system for disassembling, inspecting and rebuilding brake activator units used on railway cars, comprising:
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a. a disassembly station including a series of predetermined disassembly tools which are worker operated to disassemble a said unit into component parts; b. an inspection station including a series of predetermined inspection tools which are worker operated to inspect predetermined parameters on selected ones of said components; c. a repair station including a series of predetermined repair tools to repair said predetermined ones of said components; d. an assembly station including a series of predetermined assembly tools to reassemble said unit with said inspected and repaired and/or replaced components; and e. conveyors between at least selected ones of said stations for conveyance of said component parts therebetween, wherein said brake activator units include spring biased components, said disassembly station including means for manipulating a spring in said unit to remove spring force from a fastener in said unit to facilitate removal of the fastener and thereby the spring and selected ones of said components from the unit held together between the spring and fastener. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A production line assembly for disassembling, inspecting and rebuilding brake activator units used on railway cars, comprising:
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(a) a disassembly station including a series of predetermined disassembly tools which are user operated to disassemble a said unit into component parts; (b) an inspection station including a series of predetermined inspection tools which are user operated to inspect predetermined parameters on selected ones of said components; (c) a repair station including a series of predetermined repair tools to repair said predetermined ones of said components; (d) an assembly station including a series of predetermined assembly tools to reassemble said unit with said inspected and repaired and/or replaced components; and wherein said stations include first and second sub-areas respectively containing separate sets of said predetermined tools to enable the disassembly, inspection, and reassembly of tread brake activator units and disc brake activator units in the respective sub-areas. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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Specification