Claims:1. A pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, comprising:
a reciprocating motion generating member (11) that is associated with or enclosed within a body (13) through an at least a fastening member (15), said reciprocating motion generating member (11) comprising another hollow member (11a);
said at least one fastening member (15) that facilitates the free rotation of said reciprocating motion generating member (11) about a pivot point;
a linear motion generating member (12a) that converts the angular motion or reciprocating motion generated by said reciprocating motion generating member (11) into linear motion;
an actuating mechanism (18) that comprises a holding member (18a), with:
said holding member (18a) being: associated with a projecting member (18c) through an at least a threaded member (18f); and being held in place by an aperture (18h);
a pressable member (18b) being associated with said holding member (18a) through an at least an associating member (18d);
an at least a compression member (18e) being disposed within said actuating mechanism (18) to assist a user with the locking and unlocking of said actuating mechanism (18);
an at least an orifice (18g) that is configured to guide said holding member (18a) during sliding; and
said reciprocating motion generating member (11) being associated with a transversing member of said actuating mechanism (18);
a spherical member (12) that is associated with or fitted into a hollow member of said linear motion generating member (12a), with:
said spherical member (12) being configured to rotate freely in all directions;
said hollow member being configured to accommodate said spherical member (12), without said spherical member (12) popping out;
the diameter (D3) of said hollow member being larger than the diameter (D2) of said spherical member (12); and
said another hollow member (11a) being configured to guide said spherical member (12);
a sliding member (19) that is configured to:
close an inlet member (22a), when said actuating mechanism (18) is unlocked, with a delivery passage member (20) being associated with the outside atmosphere through an exhaust member (21); and
close an outlet member (22b), when said actuating mechanism (18) is locked, with an inlet passage member (22) being associated with said delivery passage member (20); and
an at least a pressure controlling member (14) that is configured to provide an equivalent load to an intended pressure to maintain the intended pressure gradually without sudden surge.
2. The pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein an entry dimension (D1) of said hollow member ranges between 6 mm and 6.5 mm.

3. The pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said diameter (D2) of said spherical member (12) ranges between 6 mm and 6.5 mm.
4. The pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said diameter (D3) of said hollow member ranges between 6.5 mm and 7 mm.
5. The pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein the diameter of said another hollow member (11a) ranges between 6 mm and 6.5 mm.
6. The pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein the diameter of said aperture (18h) ranges between 17 mm and 19 mm.
7. The pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intended pressure ranges between 0 bar and 10 bar. , Description:TITLE OF THE INVENTION: PNEUMATIC HAND BRAKE VALVE FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure is generally related to hand brake valves. Particularly, the present disclosure is related to a pneumatic hand brake valve. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In India and across the word, road transportation through commercial vehicles plays a critical role in the movement of goods and freight. In addition, in developing countries such as India, public transportation plays a significant role in facilitating the mass movement of people from one location to another location.
When a commercial vehicle is parked or descends down a hill, or during a secondary braking situation, a pneumatic hand brake valve is used to apply the brakes by releasing the air pressure at a spring side of a brake actuator. By releasing the air pressure, the spring is decompressed, which leads to applying of the brakes.
The pneumatic hand brake valve is actuated by articulating the angular movement of a lever. Articulating the lever with reduced human effort contributes to refinement and better feeling for an end user.
US8840197B2 discloses a pneumatic hand brake valve that is actuated by pulling a sliding lever over a locking groove to apply or release the brakes. However, the lever locking and unlocking is controlled by the air pressure of the brake valve.
EP0171569B1 and EP2877377B1 disclose combined push type and pull type actuation, which requires lifting springs and locking springs to operate, which may create chaos to the end user during operation. A roller-type follower is used, which requires more force.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and shortcomings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles is disclosed. Said pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles broadly comprises: a reciprocating motion generating member; a body; an at least a fastening member; another hollow member; a linear motion generating member; an actuating mechanism; a spherical member; a sliding member; and an at least a pressure controlling member.
Said reciprocating motion generating member is associated with or enclosed within said body through said at least one fastening member. Said reciprocating motion generating member comprises said another hollow member.
Said at least one fastening member facilitates the free rotation of said reciprocating motion generating member about a pivot point.
Said linear motion generating member converts the angular motion or reciprocating motion generated by said reciprocating motion generating member into linear motion.
Said actuating mechanism broadly comprises a holding member. Said holding member is associated with a projecting member through an at least a threaded member.
Said holding member is held in place by an aperture. An at least an orifice is configured to guide said holding member during sliding.
A pressable member is associated with said holding member through an at least an associating member.
An at least a compression member is disposed within said actuating mechanism to assist a user with the locking and unlocking of said actuating mechanism.
Said reciprocating motion generating member is associated with a transversing member of said actuating mechanism.
Said spherical member is associated with or fitted into a hollow member of said linear motion generating member. Said spherical member is configured to rotate freely in all directions.
Said hollow member is configured to accommodate said spherical member without said spherical member popping out. The diameter of said hollow member is larger than the diameter of said spherical member. Said another hollow member is configured to guide said spherical member.
Said sliding member is configured to close an inlet member, when said actuating mechanism is unlocked, with a delivery passage member being associated with the outside atmosphere through an exhaust member.
Said sliding member is also configured to close an outlet member, when said actuating mechanism is locked, with an inlet passage member being associated with said delivery passage member.
Said at least one pressure controlling member is configured to provide an equivalent load to an intended pressure to maintain the intended pressure gradually without sudden surge.
The disclosed pneumatic hand brake valve offers at least the following advantages: improved ergonomics; smoothness of operation; is simple in construction; and is cost-effective.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates a vertical sectional view of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 2 illustrates a hollow member of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, said hollow member being configured for accommodating a spherical member, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 3 illustrates the construction of an actuating mechanism of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 4 illustrates an at least a threaded member of an actuating mechanism of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 5 illustrates the locking and unlocking of an actuating mechanism of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 6 illustrates a reciprocating motion generating member of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 7 illustrates an isometric view of an actuating mechanism of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 8 illustrates a method of operation of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 9 illustrates another method of operation of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 10 illustrates yet another method of operation of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 11 illustrates the components of a pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles, along with an at least a compression member of an actuator, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Throughout this specification, the use of the words "comprise", “have”, “contain”, and “include”, and variations such as "comprises", "comprising", “having”, “contains”, “containing”, “includes”, and “including” may imply the inclusion of an element or elements not specifically recited. The disclosed embodiments may be embodied in various other forms as well.
Throughout this specification, the use of the phrase “commercial vehicle” and its variations is to be construed as being inclusive of: trucks; buses; and/or vans.
Throughout this specification, the use of the word “orifice” and its variations is to be construed as an aperture or a slit.
Throughout this specification, the disclosure of a range is to be construed as being inclusive of the lower limit of the range and the upper limit of the range.
Throughout this specification, where applicable, the use of the phrase “at least” is to be construed in association with the suffix “one” i.e. it is to be read along with the suffix “one” as “at least one”, which is used in the meaning of “one or more”. A person skilled in the art will appreciate the fact that the phrase “at least one” is a standard term that is used in Patent Specifications to denote any component of a disclosure that may be present or disposed in a single quantity or more than a single quantity.
Throughout this specification, the use of the word “member” is to be construed as a technical component that is communicatively and/or operably associated with other technical components, which function together as part of a mechanism to achieve a desired technical result.
Throughout this specification, the use of the words “communication”, “couple”, and their variations (such as communicatively) is to be construed as being inclusive of: one-way communication (or coupling); and two-way communication (or coupling), as the case may be.
Throughout this specification, the phrases “at least a”, “at least an”, and “at least one” are used interchangeably.
Throughout this specification, the words “the” and “said” are used interchangeably with the same meaning.
Also, it is to be noted that embodiments may be described as a method (sequential process). However, many of the operations may be performed in parallel, concurrently, or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A method may be terminated when its operations are completed, but may also have additional steps.
A pneumatic hand brake valve for commercial vehicles (also referred to as “pneumatic hand brake valve”) is disclosed. As illustrated in Figure 1, an embodiment of the pneumatic hand brake valve broadly comprises a reciprocating motion generating member (11).
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the reciprocating motion generating member is a cam that is configured for the pneumatic hand brake valve, as illustrated in Figure 6.
Said reciprocating motion generating member (11) is associated with or enclosed within a body (13) through an at least a fastening member (15). The at least one fastening member (15) facilitates the free rotation of the reciprocating motion generating member (11) about a pivot point (for example, the centre of the body (13)).
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one fastening member (15) is a spring pin.
The reciprocating motion generating member (11) is also associated with a transversing member (for example, a shaft) of an actuating mechanism (18).
The angular motion or reciprocating motion generated by the reciprocating motion generating member (11) is converted into linear motion through a linear motion generating member (12a, as illustrated in Figure 2).
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the linear motion generating member (12a) is a follower.
As illustrated in Figure 3 and Figure 7, an embodiment of the actuating mechanism (18) broadly comprises a holding member (18a). The holding member (18a) is associated with a projecting member (18c; for example, a knob) through an at least a threaded member (18f; as illustrated in Figure 4).
A pressable member (18b; for example, a button) is associated with the holding member (18a) through an at least an associating member (18d). For example, the pressable member (18b) is associated with the holding member (18a) through snap fitting.
An at least a compression member (18e) is disposed within the actuating mechanism (18) to assist a user with the locking and/or unlocking of the actuating mechanism (18).
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one compression member (18e) is a spring.
A spherical member (12) is associated with or fitted into a hollow member (for example, a groove) of the linear motion generating member (12a), as illustrated in Figure 2. The spherical member (12) is configured to rotate freely in all directions, while said hollow member is configured to accommodate the spherical member (12), without the spherical member (12) popping out.
The diameter (D3) of the hollow member is larger than the diameter (D2) of the spherical member (12), which ensures that the spherical member (12) rotates freely inside the hollow member in all directions. The reciprocating motion generating member (11) comprises another hollow member (11a), as illustrated in Figure 6.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, an entry dimension (D1) of the hollow member ranges between about 6 mm and about 6.5 mm.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the diameter (D2) of the spherical member (12) ranges between about 6 mm and about 6.5 mm.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the diameter (D3) of the hollow member ranges between about 6.5 mm and about 7 mm.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the diameter of said another hollow member (11a) ranges between about 6 mm and about 6.5 mm.
Said another hollow member (11a) is configured to guide the spherical member (12), which ensures improved load distribution. This results in improved life of the reciprocating motion generating member (11), with optimal minimum effort during actuation.
When there is a requirement for applying the hand brake, the pressable member (18b) is pressed by the user, with the support of the projecting member (18c). Upon pressing the pressable member (18b), the holding member (18a) slides through an at least an orifice (18g; as illustrated in Figure 4) of the projecting member (18c). The at least one orifice (18g) is configured to guide the holding member (18a) during sliding.
As a result, the holding member (18a), which is associated with or held in place by an aperture (18h; as illustrated in Figure 5), gets released from the aperture (18h) of the body (13).
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the diameter of the aperture (18h) ranges between about 17 mm and about 19 mm. The profile or dimension of the aperture (18h) is maintained with respect to the holding member (18a)
As illustrated in Figure 8, when the actuating mechanism (18) is actuated or unlocked, a sliding member (19) is configured to close an inlet member (22a), with a delivery passage member (20) being associated with the outside atmosphere through an exhaust member (21).
This results in the releasing of the air pressure in the delivery passage member (20) to the atmosphere through the exhaust member (21), eventually leading to the releasing of an at least a compression member of an actuator (24; Figure 11), from a compressed state to released state (as illustrated in Figure 8). Therefore, the hand brake gets applied.
As illustrated in Figure 9, when the actuating mechanism (18) is locked, the linear motion generating member (12a) moves the sliding member (19) through the reciprocating motion generating member (11) (as illustrated in Figure 2), till an outlet member (22b) is closed, with an inlet passage member (22) being associated with the delivery passage member (20).
Now, air pressure is maintained at the delivery passage member (20), which, in turn, leads to compressing of the at least one compression member of an actuator (24), as illustrated in Figure 9. Therefore, the hand brake gets released.
As illustrated in Figure 10, an intermediate position (i.e. any position in between actuating or unlocking, and locking) is achieved by triggering the linear motion generating member (12a) by the reciprocating motion generating member (11), as illustrated in Figure 3.
Any incremental movement of the actuating mechanism (18) causes the upward movement of the sliding member (19). This movement of the sliding member (19) closes the inlet member (22a) and opens the outlet member (22b).
Once an intended pressure is reached below the sliding member (19), an at least a pressure controlling member (14) is configured to move said sliding member (19) to close the outlet member (22b). This decompress the at least one compression member of an actuator (24), as illustrated in Figure 10. This process is repeated for further incremental movements of the actuating mechanism (18), till an actuating position is reached.
The at least one pressure controlling member (14) is configured to provide an equivalent load to the intended pressure. As a result, the intended pressure is maintained gradually without sudden surge.
The intended pressure is any braking pressure between 0 bar and a vehicle system pressure, as demanded by the situation of the user. For example, the intended pressure ranges between 0 bar and 10 bar, depending on the vehicle design.
The disclosed pneumatic hand brake valve offers at least the following advantages: improved ergonomics; smoothness of operation; is simple in construction; and is cost-effective.
It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the above description is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered as limiting. Various modifications, additions, alterations and improvements without deviating from the spirit and the scope of the disclosure may be made by a person skilled in the art. Such modifications, additions, alterations and improvements should be construed as being within the scope of this disclosure.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
11 - Reciprocating Motion Generating Member
11a - Another Hollow Member
12 - Spherical Member
12a - Linear Motion Generating Member
13 - Body
14 - At Least One Pressure Controlling member
15 - At Least One Fastening Member
18 - Actuating Mechanism
18a - Holding Member
18b - Pressable Member
18c - Projecting Member
18d - At Least One Associating Member
18e - At Least One Compression Member
18f - At Least One Threaded Member
18g - At Least One Orifice
18h - Aperture
19 - Sliding Member
20 - Delivery Passage Member
21 - Exhaust Member
22 - Inlet Passage Member
22a - Inlet Member
22b - Outlet Member
24 - At Least One Compression Member of an Actuator
D1 - Entry Dimension of the Hollow Member
D2 - Diameter of the Spherical Member
D3 - Diameter of the Hollow Member