Gladhand
A gladhand connector or gladhand coupler is an interlocking hose coupling fitted to hoses supplying pressurized air from a locomotive to railway air brakes on railroad cars. Mating rubber grommets provide a positive seal. Gladhand couplers are genderless or hermaphroditic, allowing them to be freely connected to each other, for example allowing either end of a railcar to be connected to the end of a train.
Gladhands connected between two rail cars.
A prototype gladhand. Photo by Dave Sclavi.
Another full-size gladhand. Each square in the image is 1/2 inch. Photo by Dave Sclavi.
Description
From US Patent Application US20100237569 A1:
- In a conventional railroad train braking system, each railway vehicle is provided with a brake pipe line which extends along the length of the vehicle. The pipe line is connected to the brake cylinders via reservoirs and valves. Each end of the brake pipe is coupled to a “glad hand” connector by an angle or stop cock and a flexible hose. The glad hand connectors are fastened together to form a continuous pipe line stretching from the head locomotive to the last train car. Each flexible hose has a glad hand, acting as a coupling member, at each end for connecting the hose sections of adjacent cars together when joining additional individual railroad cars.
Glad hands are joined by pulling the hoses from adjacent cars upward, pushing the sealing gaskets on the glad hands at the end of each hose into aligned and abutting relationship, and then rotating the coupling members downward which engages mating flanges and lugs extending from the coupling members. This coupling results in a sealed fluid passage between air hoses on adjacent railroad cars, which maintains the brakes of all of the individual cars in an “off” position. If there is a significant reduction in air pressure within the hose lines, such as in the case of separation of cars, the brakes move into the “on” position.