Railcar coupler lock with increased chamfer on the knuckle shelf seat

Abstract

An improved lock for a railroad coupler, said improvement comprising an increased chamfer on a knuckle shelf seat.

1 . An improved lock for a railroad coupler, said improvement comprising an increased chamfer on a knuckle shelf seat. 
   
   
       2 . The improved lock of  claim 1 , wherein the knuckle shelf seat is increased at least about 2.5″ in length. 
   
   
       3 . The improved lock of  claim 1 , wherein the knuckle shelf seat chamfer is increased up to about 3.5″ in length. 
   
   
       4 . An improved lock for railroad coupler, said lock comprising an increased radius on the knuckle shelf seat of said lock. 
   
   
       5 . The improved lock of  claim 4 , wherein said increased radius tapers from a radius of about 0.9″ near the knuckle face of the lock, tapers to a radius of about 0.35″ away from the knuckle face of the lock, and then tapers to a radius of about 0.1″ at the end of the fillet furthest from then knuckle face of the lock. 
   
   
       6 . An improved lock for railroad coupler, said lock comprising at least one modification that results in lowering the force to open the knuckle or reduce or eliminate the occurrence of knuckle jamming.