Importance

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Abstract

For use in an air brake system for a railroad car having at least three pipe sections, a valve and actuator assembly manually operable from opposite sides of the car for selectively interconnecting the pipe sections, having a valve housing with three ports leading to an interior valve chamber containing a ball element. The ports are adapted for connection to the pipe sections and the ball element is rotatable within the valve chamber about the axis of an operating stem which protrudes to the exterior of the valve housing. The ball element has communicating passages arranged to communicate with the ports in any one of four different combinations depending on the rotative displacement of the ball element. The ports not communicating with ball element passages are closed. An actuator housing is attached to the valve housing and defines an actuator chamber separate from the valve chamber. The actuator housing has an aperture through which the protruding portion of the operating stem is received into the actuator chamber. A rotatable actuator shaft extends through the actuator chamber in a direction perpendicular to the operating stem. A gear connection is provided between the actuator shaft and the operating stem, and the actuator shaft is in turn rotatable from remote locations at opposite sides of the railroad car. The actuator shaft carries a locking element which is engageable with a fixed element on the actuator housing to prevent inadvertent rotation of the actuator shaft from a selected position. The locking element may be disengaged from the fixed element by axially shifting the actuator shaft to thereby permit rotation of the ball element.

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First Claim