A gladhand connector or gladhand coupler is an interlocking

hose coupling A hose coupling is a connector on the end of a hose to connect (or ''couple'') it with another hose or with a tap or a hose appliance, such as an irrigation sprinkler. It is usually made of steel, brass, stainless steel, aluminium or plastic ...

fitted to hoses supplying pressurized air from a

tractor unit A tractor unit, also known as a truck unit, lorry unit, power unit, prime mover, ten-wheeler, semi-tractor, semi-truck, semi-lorry, tractor cab, truck cab, lorry cab, big rig tractor, big rig truck or big rig lorry or simply a tractor, truck, ...

to air brakes on a

semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer (vehicle), trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a ''semi-trailer truck'' (also known simply as a "semi-trailer", "tractor trailer", or "semi" in the United Sta ...

, or from a

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

railway air brake A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on April 13, 1869. Th ...

s on

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American English, American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC), also called a tra ...

s. Gladhand connectors resemble a pair of "hands shaking" when interlocked, hence the name.

Design

Gladhands are designed to allow the driver to disconnect without a mechanic or tools. They sometimes utilize a quick release style to speed up brake release time. A tractor / trailer typically has two gladhands - one for service brakes and another for emergency brakes. Gladhands are color coded. In North America, service lines are blue and emergency brake lines are red and are standardized by

SAE International SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...

's standard SAE J318. Outside North America, the supply lines are red and the control lines are yellow, following

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...

's standard ISO 1728. The SAE "service" lines are synonymous with the ISO "control" lines and the "emergency" lines are synonymous with ISO "supply" lines. Mated rubber grommets provide a positive seal. Gladhand couplers are typically 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. North America has a system of standardized gladhand sizes.

References

{{Commons category, Palm couplings, position=left Pneumatics

Design

See also

References