BRAKE CYLINDER EMPTY/LOAD EQUIPMENT

摘要

A system compensates for the weight borne by a railcar in determining the force with which the brakes shall apply. The system includes a brake cylinder (6a) and a valve assembly (20). The brake cylinder features a sealed chamber (74) behind its piston (61). During a brake application when the railcar is empty in which the brake cylinder pressure (BCP) exceeds a changeover level, the valve assembly allows back pressure to build behind the piston. This produces a counterforce to partially offset the force produced by the BCP acting on the front of the piston. During a brake application when the railcar is loaded, the valve assembly allows the chamber to exhaust. The system enables the force with which the brakes apply when the railcar is empty to be a fraction of that when the railcar is loaded, with the fraction lowering as the BCP above the changeover level continues to increase.