US2030553A - Railway car - Google Patents

Description

7 1;. E. TILEY Feb. 11, 1936.

RAILWAY CAR Filed Nov. 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Geo/ye E. 77 f Feb. 11, 1936. G. E. TILEY 2,030,553

RAILWAY CAR Filed Nov. 14, 1932 s Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR Geo/"ye 5. 7/767 ATTORNEY Feb. 11, 1936.

G. E. TILEY RAILWAY CAR Filed Nov. 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Geo/ye E. 77/@ ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 11, 1936 e I 4 r x UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE aamwsr can George E. Tiley, Woodhaven, N. Y., assignor to General Chemical Company, New York, N. Y.', a corporation of New York Application November 14, 1932, Serial No. 642,486

10 Claims. (01. 214-83) This invention relates generally to the transfor pneumatically unloading the materials into portation in bulk form of granular or .pulverulent storage bins at the point of delivery. The invenmaterials. More particularly, the invention is dition consists further in the features of construcrectedtovehiclesespecially railway cars, for transtion, combination of elements, and arrangement porting and subsequently unloading relatively of parts exemplified by way of illustration in the 5 finely divided materials into bins alongside the particular embodiment of the invention hereinright-oii-way or more or less remote therefrom. after set forth. The objects and advantages of One of the principal objects of the invention the invention maybe more fully appreciated from lies in the provision of a railway car by which a consideration of the following descriptlon'taken -finely divided materials may be economically in connection with the accompanying drawings,

transported in bulk form, and quickly unloaded in which,-

into receiving bins, at the point of destination, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved selfnear to or remote from the car without manual unloading car;

labor, thus avoiding expense attendant upon Fig. 2 is a. transverse section on the line 2--2 packaging such material and manual handling of Fig. 1; I

of the packaged goods while loading and unload- Fig. 3 is a plan view, with the hoppers removed,

ing incident to transportation. Suggestions have taken approximately on the line 3-4 of Fig. 1;

been made heretofore relative to the construction Fig. 4 is a plan view, with hoppers and car of self-unloading vehicles such as railway cars frame removed, of a modified construction;

and the like. Prior proposals have been directed Fig. 5 is an elevation, approximately on line 20 to constructions involving relatively complicated 5-5 of Fig. 4, showing the hoppers and unloadmechanical appliances and devices which inpracing connections of the modified car; tice are found 'quite likely to get out of order Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified mechanism on account of severe shocks to which railway for controlling unloading of the car;

5" cars are commonly subjected while in use. Fig. 7 is a vertical section approximately on The present invention aims chiefly to provide the line 1-1 of Fig. 6, and

a self-unloading railway car built so as to in- Flgs.8 and 9are plan details. elude a minimum of movable parts in the unload- Re e ng to the dra the r a ing mechanism, thus avoiding delays and inconprises sills iii, the longitudinal centerbeam ll,

" veniences arising in the use of devices of similar cross-beams l2, and the several vertical side and 30 nature involving numerous more or less compllend frame members denoted by reference numercated mechanical elements. The invention is als It. The car body is mounted on conventional further directed to the provision of self-unloadtrucks ll. ing cars so constructed that the few moving parts Disposed centrally of the car body is a vertical 3.; which may get out of order are of such simple napartition I! which together with transverse parture that suchparts may be readily repaired at titions at IS and I1 and the sheet steel plates i8, any time by an ordinary mechanic. Additionally, attached to the vertical frame members l3, form a further object of the invention resides in the a plurality of material carrying compartments or provision of a car constructed so that different hoppers on either side of the longitudinal center 40 kinds of finely divided materials may be transof the car. Two of such compartments, l9 and 40 ported in the car at the same time and separately 20. are shown in transverse section in Fig. 2. unloaded without manual labor at the same or From an inspection of the drawings, it will be different points of delivery. The invention also apparent in the present embodiment of the in.-. embodies a plural hopper car in which because vention, there are provided'slx separate material 43 of the arrangement of the hoppers the rigidity oi compartments. The tops of the hoppers are 45 the car body is materially increased. The present closed by the sheet steel car roof 2| sloping downimprovements further comprise a car body having wardly slightly toward the upper edges of the car a plurality of material carrying compartments body as seen in Fig. 2. Granular or other finely designed so that the car has a maximum carrying divided material to be shipped may be fed in bulk capacity and so that the unloading mechanism is into the several compartments through individual 50 located in Otherwise unoccupied spaces, but yet openings 23 in roof 2!, each opening 23 being readily accessible for manipulation. provided with a movable closure 24. 1

The invention contemplates a railway car com- Referring to' Figs. 1 and 2, the steel sheeting prising preferably a plurality of hoppers or comforming the bottoms of the hoppers is pitched,

partments for finely divided materialsjand means as shown at 25 and 26, at an angle slightly greater as material compartment terminates in an opening.

3| affording communication between the compartment and the chamber of a feeder indicated generally by reference numeral 32. Feeder 32 may be of more or less conventional construction, and, as shown, includes a rotary air-lock 33 comprising a plurality of radially disposed vanes carried on a shaft 35 journaled as at 38, Fig. 3, in

the casing of the feeder. .Keyed to one end of shaft 35 is a sprocket wheel 38 carrying a drive chain 39 passing over a sprocket 40 loosely mounted on a main drive shaft 42. At 43 is a clutch, operated by a handle 44, by means of which the sprocket 48 may be clutchedto the shaft 42 to drive feeder shaft 35. Each of the six material compartments is provided with a. rotary discharging air-lock which may be selectively driven as desired from shaft 42. As will be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the shaft 42 is located beneath the center beam II, and extends substantially the length of the car, the shaft being journaled in bearings 48 attached to the underside of beam Running longitudinally of the car beneath the material compartments are discharge conduits 58 and 5|, the rotary air-locks of the hoppers on one side of the center beam feeding into conduit 58 and the air-locks on the opposite side of the center beam feeding into conduit 5|.

Mounted near one end of the longitudinal sills l0 and the center beam H and in the unloading equipment compartment 21 between hoppers I9 and 28 and the end of the car is a platform 52 carrying a motor 53 and a blower 54 for pneumatically unloading the materials carried in the several hoppers. The motor 53, preferably a gasoline motor, may be directly cormected to the rotor of the blower 54 'through shaft 55. .Keyed to shaft 55 is a sprocket 58 driving a chain 51 which passes over a gear 58 fixed to one end of a shaft 59 connected to a set of reduction gears denoted generally by the reference character 8|. As shown in Fig. 1, power is transmitted from the reduction gears through a. shaft 52 and pinion 83 to gear 68 keyed to shaft 42, this arrangement affording means for driving the main shaft 42 from the motor 53. The outlet side of blower 54 communicates through a pipe 85 and cross-comnection 65 with the inlet ends of conduits 58 and 50. The equipment compartment 21 may be closed in as desired to protect the unloading mechanism from the weather.

Carried by the sills and center beam at the end of the car opposite the equipment compartment is a second platform 89 in space 28. As shown in Fig. 1, the discharge ends of conduits 58 and 5| are bent upwardly and terminate horizontally.

above platform 59 and in the space 28. The ends of conduits 58 and 5| are formed with flanges"! and H by means of which flexible hose connections may be attached to conduits 50 and 5| for conducting the material to be unloaded into bins located alongside the car, or at points more or less remote from the car. During transit, the

end of conduits 58 and 5| may be closed 011' by blank flanges 12 and 13. The arrangement of the .92 having branches 98 and 84 ends of conduits 58 and 5| in the space 28 is advantageous since it permits a workman to conveniently attach a hose connection to flanges 18 and 1| without crawling under the car. If desired, conduits 58 and 5| may converge into a single outlet so that all the material may be unloaded from them through a single hose connected to the end of the single outlet.

In Figs. 4 and 5 there is shown in plan and in elevation a modified car construction in which different kinds of finely divided materials may be transported, and separately unloaded from the car into as many separate bins. As in Figs. 1 to 3, the car illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 is built with six material hoppers, three of which, 15, 16 and 11, are shown in elevation in Fig. 5. The lower ends of the hoppers open respectively into the chambers of rotary feeders 18, 19 and 88, the latter in turn discharging material into an associated pipe section 8| which may conveniently be cast as an integral part of the casing of a rotary feeder. Each pipe section 8| is provided on either end with flanges 82 and 83 for connecting other pipes thereto. The rotary feeders are driven through pulleys 84 from a shaft, not shown, arranged beneath the center beam of the car, as in -Figs. 1 to 3.

' let side of the blower in the manner shown in Fig. 2, and that the outlet ends 89 and 98 are bent upwardly and terminate above the sills of the carframe as illustrated in Flg.-1. Conduits 85 and 86 are positioned more closely together than in the construction of Figs. 13, and are arranged substantially underneath the center beam II.

This arrangement permits the outlets of the hoppers and the rotary feeders associated therewith to occupy approximately the same positions relative to the car frame as shown in Fig. 2.

Conduit 85 includes two T connections 9| and connected through bolted flanges to flanges 83 on the ends of pipe sections 8| of the adjacent rotary feeders and 19. Conduit also includes a curved connection similarly attached to feeder 18. Bolted to flanges 82 of pipe sections 8| of feeders 19 and 80 are discharge elbows 91 and 98. When in transit, the ends of discharge elbows 91 and 98 are closed off by blank flanges I88 and IN. The outlet ends 98 'and 89 of conduits 85 and 86 are connected to flanges 82 of pipe sections 8| asso ciated with feeders 18 and I02. When out of operation, it will be understood that the ends of pipes 89 and 98 are closed by blank flanges similar to flanges I00 and 8| on elbows 91 and 98.

In Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9 there is shown a mechanism for controlling operation of the rotary dis charge feeders to successively unload the ma terial contained in the several compartments on either side of the car. This arrangement may be conveniently employed in connection with a car of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The rotary feeder operating mechanism includes a pair of parallel control shafts H0 and Ill rotatably supported on either side of the center beam H, as indicated in Fig. 7. Each shaft has fixed to the end, adjacent the equip ment compartment 21, a gear 3 meshing with pinion IM carried on the lower end of a spindle i 5 projecting upwardly into the equipment compartment 21. Spindle H5 may be operated by a hand-wheel I I1 which is readily accessible from within compartment 21. The main shaft 42, connected with a motor 53 through reduction gearing BI, is journaled in suitable bearings beneath center beam II as in Fig. 7,

shaft 42 carries a plurality of loosely mounted sprockets II9, I20 and I2I each of which is provided with teeth I23, I24 and I25 adapted to engage teeth on the adjacent faces of clutch members I21, I28 and I29. The clutch members are slidable along shaft 42 and are keyed to rotate therewith. Gears II9. I20 and I2I are connected through chains with sprockets I3I, I32 and I33 fixed to the ends of the shafts of feeders indicated by reference numerals I35, I36 and I31.

Clutches I21, I28 and I29 may be selectively engaged with the teeth on the faces of sprockets II9, I20 and I2I by operation of the hand-wheel H1. The cams for throwing in the clutches are Referring particularly to Fig. 8, cam I40 is keyed to shaft I I0. Cam I is slidably mounted on shaft H0, but doesnot rotate therewith. As will be seen from Fig. 8, cam I40 carries a high point or knob I42 which is adapted to mesh with a notch I43 cut into the face of a high point I44 on'a floating cam I4I. Cams I40 and I are circular, looking axially ofshaft H0, and knob I42 and projection I44 are formed on the peripheries thereof. Loosely pinned to earn I at I46 is a lever I41 pivoted at I48 to the under side of center beam Ii, (Fig. 7). The opposite end of lever I41 is forked, the arms thereof lying in grooves cut in the periphery of clutch member I21. When the cams are in the position shown in Fig. 9, clutch member I21 is held out of engagement with the teeth of sprocket II9 by a spring I50, one end of which is connected tothe lever and the other end to a flxed point on'the car frame. The clutching mechanism associated with each feeder is similarly constructed.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1-3, in operation, the hoppers may be loaded with relatively finely divided material through openings 23 in the roof of the car. While in transit, the unloading mechanism in equipment compartment 21 is of course out of operation, clutches 43 are thrown out as a precaution, and blank flanges 12 and 13 are bolted in place on the ends of conduits 50 and 5I. The vanes in the air-locks 33 are more or less tight-fitting and little or no material falls through the air-locks into conduits 50 and- 5| while the car is in motion.

The car in Figs. 1-3 is particularly adapted for transporting, in all the hoppers, material of the same kind. When it is desired to discharge all of the material in the car, blank flanges 12 and 13 are removed, and flexible hose connections are attached to flanges 10 and II on the outlet ends of conduits 50 and SI. The opposite ends of the hose connections are placed in the customer's bin, provided with a suitable air filter, which bin may be near the car, or at a point some distance therefrom. The motor 53 is started up, blower 54 is put in operation, and shaft 42 beneath the car is rotated through the reduction gears GI and the connections to shaft 42 and shaft 55 of the motor 53. Clutch43, associated with the feeder of the hopper to be unloaded, is thrown in and the feeder is driven from the main shaft 42. The ratios of the reduction gears are such that material is fed in steady streams in the desired quantities fromthe hoppers in conduits 50 and BI. The blower 54 is of such size and capacity to provide a' sufficient air blast in conduits 50 and 5| to pneumatically discharge from the car the material fed into conduits 50 and 5| by the rotary feeders 32. Operations are preferably conducted so that only one hopper at a time is feeding into conduits 50 and'5l to avoid possible clogging of the conduits.

In practice, should a situation arise in which substantial quantities of material from the hoppers work through the air-locks and into conduits 50 and 5| during transit, if such quantities should be suflicient" to prevent initial passage of air through the conduits, the latter may be cleaned out by means of a rod or other tool inserted through Y-connections 14 at either end of conduits 50 and SI. Connections 14 are provided with suitable removal closures. I

The modified construction disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5 facilitates transportation andunloading vof difierent kinds of finely divided materials. In

the illustrated embodiment, the car is built with six hoppers, and it will-be seen that six different kinds of materials may be transported and 1mloaded into separate bins at one or more points of delivery.

Assuming it isdesired to unload the material contained in hopper 11, blank'fiange I00 is removed from the end of elbow 91, and other blank flanges such as IOI and .the blank flange on the end of pipe 90 are left in place. One end of a flexible conduit is then attached to the end of elbow 91, and the opposite end of the conduit is placed in the customer's bin. With the motor and blower in operation, feeder is rotated by clutching pulley 84 to the main shaft 42 as in Fig. 1. Material is then fed by feeder 80 from hopper 11 into the pipe section 8| directly beneath. The air blast passes through inlet pipe 81,

branch 93, pipe section BI and carries material therein through elbow 91 and the attached flexible conduit to the' bin into which the material is to be delivered. As the ends of elbow 98 and outlet pipe are blanked off, no air passes through the pipe sections 8I immediately beneath feeders 19 and 18.

Similarly, if it is desired to unload the material in hopper 16, a flexible conduit is connected to elbow 98, and the elbow 91 and outlet .pipe 90 are blanked off. Material is discharged only from hopper 16. If the material from hopper 15 is to be unloaded, the flexible conduit may be attached to the outlet end. of pipe 93, and elbows 91 and 98 are closed off thus preventing escape of air from the main conduit through feeders 19 and.80. The hoppers on the opposite side of the car may be unloaded in a similar manner. This construction permits unloading of material from one compartment without contamination by different material contained in another compartment. If desired, hopper 15 may be unloaded first, and hoppers 16 and 11 unloaded successively thereafter. 1

There may be instances in which the same kind of material is to be transported in, say, hoppers 15 and 16, and it is desired to unload these materials successively into the same bin. To provide for this situation, before the car leaves the loading terminal, curved pipe section 95 connected to feeder 18, elbow 98, and pipe section tion, and the material in hoppers 15 and 16 is to 75 be delivered intothe same bin, the blank flange on the end of outlet pipe is removed and the flexible conduit connected thereto. The rotary feeders and 10 are operated one at a time, and as blank flange I00 on the end of elbow 01 is in place, the air blast passes from the main conduit through branch 04, pipe section II beneath feeder 19, the pipe connection I04 between feeders 19 and 80, and pipe section 0| beneath feeder 10, and the material from hoppers 10 and 10 is successively carried through outlet pipe 00 and the attached flexible conduit into the storage bin.

Additionally, a pipe section I01 may beplaced between feeders 10 and 00, and feeders 18, 10 and 80 may be operated separately in any sequence to discharge the material in the hoppers .on one side of the car through outlet 00. This construction permits conversion of the car of Figs. 4 and 5 into a car similar to that shown in Figs. 1-3, and provides interchangeable means for separately unloading material from the hoppers through individual discharge conduits associated with the hoppers, or for successively unloading the hoppers through a common conduit. A similar arrangement maybe made on the opposite side of the car.

Whena car such as shown in Figs. 1-3 is equipped with the rotary feed control mechanism shown in Fig. 6, the unloading operation may be carried out substantially as follows: Floating cam I4I, shown in plan in'Fig. 8, and similar floating cams IOI and I02 are slidable on shaft II 0, and are maintained in the same position radially of the shaft by levers I41. As noted, cam I40 is fixed to shaft H0, and similarly cams I04 and I55 are likewise fixed to the shaft. However, cams I40, I54 and I00 are attached to shaft IIO so that the respective knobs I42 of the cams are positioned on the shaft radially 120 apart. When the car is loaded, shaft H0 is rotated, if necessary, by the hand-wheel II1 so that knobs I42 on cams I40, I04 and I00 are out of contact with'the high points I44 of cams I4I, IOI and I02. By means of springs I00, clutch members I21, I20 and I29 are drawn away from the adjacent sprockets, and cam I, for example, is moved along shaft IIO toward cam I40 as shown in Fig. 9. With all the cams in the position shown in Fig. 9, clutches I21, I20 and I20 are disengaged, and even if shaft 42 were rotated, feeders I00, I06 and I31 would not be rotated since the connecting clutches are in the neutral position.

When the car arrives at destination and it is desired to unload the material, say from the hopper immediately above the feeder I00, handwheel H1 is rotated sufllciently to seat knob I42 on cam I40 in notch I40 of cam I. These cams are shown in this position in Fig. 8. As knob I42 meshes with notch I40 on cam I4I,-cam MI is moved along shaft IIO against spring I00, and. the teeth of clutch I21 engage the teeth of sprocket II9. With motor 00 in the equipment compartment in operation and shaft 42 rotating as in the construction shown in Fig. 3, when clutch I21 is thrown into engagement with sprocket II9, the rotation of shaft 42 is transmitted through sprocket H0 and sprocket IOI to the shaft of feeder I00, and material from the hopper immediately above is continuously discharged into a longitudinal conduit 00 (Fig. 3) underneath.

During rotation of shaft I I0 to throw in clutch I21, and while clutch I21 is engaged, knob I42 of cam I04 is positioned 120 beyond the knob of cam I40, and knob on-cam I00 is positioned 240 notch I40 of cam IOI. By this operation, clutch I20 is engaged, and as knob I42 of cam I40 has moved out of notch I40 of cam I4I, clutch I21 has become disengaged and feeder I00 ceases to operate. when the hopper above feeder I00 is emptied, hand-wheel I I 1 is again turned approximately 120 so as tmbring the knob on cam I00 into mesh with the notch on cam I02. By this movement of hand-wheel II1, clutch I28 is thrown out of operation, clutch I21 remains out of operation, and the teeth of clutch I29 engage the teeth on sprocket I2I thus driving the feeder I01 through sprocket I00. In Fig. 6, the parts are shown in this position. When the hopper above feeder I01 is unloaded, shaft H0 is turned far enough to disengage cams I00 and I02, and all the clutches are then inoperative.

Summarizing with reference to the unloading control mechanism of Figs. 6-9, it will be seen that when the knobs on cams I40, I04 and I 00 are out of mesh with the notches I40 on cams I4I, IOI and I52, the shafts of rotary feeders I00, I00 and I01 are disconnected from the main shaft 42. When it is desired to unload the hoppers on one side of the car, hand-wheel II1 may be operated so as to successively connect with the main shaft 42, first, sprocket IOI of feeder I00, then sprocket I02 of feeder I 00, and finally sprocket I00 of feeder I01, thus successively and separately unloading the hoppers immediately above feeders I00, I00 and I01. The hoppers on H the opposite side of the car may be operated by similar manipulation of shaft III. This construction has the particular advantage of preventing a condition in which several hoppers are discharging at once into the outlet conduit underneath, thus avoiding possible clogging. Furthermore, since the clutches are operated from hand-wheels in compartment 21 which is closed and locked during transit, tampering with the discharge mechanism en route is prevented.

The constructions shown in the drawings may be modified to a considerable extent without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the car of Fig. 1 may contain any number of hoppers arranged as desired with respect to the car frame. The hoppers may extend entirely across the car body instead of halfway as in the drawings and foregoing description. In such arrangement all the hoppers might be unloaded through a single discharge conduit instead of by means of two conduits as described. In this instance, the car may be provided with a double center beam so that the bottoms of the hoppers may project downwardly between the horizontally spaced longitudinal elements of the center beam, and terminate beneath the sills similarly as in Fig. 2. However, a construction having a plurality of hoppers formed by longitudinal and transverse partitions is preferred since this design adds materially to the strength and rigidity of the car body. Further, a relatively large number of hoppers is preferred since the capacity of the car is increased, and empty spaces between the sloping bottoms of the hoppers are reduced to a minimum. However the hoppers may-be arranged, the hoppers preferably terminate below the level of the sills so as to drop the center of gravity of the load as low as possible.

For shipment of some substances, the hoppers may be lined with suitable material to prevent contamination with the iron of 'the car body.

The motor, blower, reduction gears and associated elements may be placed elsewhere on the car frame than in the position shown. For instance, if desired the unloading equipment compartment may be located intermediate adjacent hoppers in a space 29. Because of ready accessibility, it is preferred to house the unloading equipment as shown, at one end of the car. An electric motor may be substituted for the gasoline motor 53, although the latter type motor is preferred since inconveniences involved in connecting an electric motor to a source of power are avoided.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame, a plurality of material hoppers carried by the frame, a discharge conduit positioned beneath each hopper, an air-lock for feeding material from each hopper into the associated conduit, a motor carried by the frame, a blower operatively connected to the motor, a shaft driven by the motor, means for selectively connecting the air-locks to the shaft to operate the air-locks, and a connection between the blower and a discharge conduit for pneumatically discharging material from the vehicle.

2. A vehicle'for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame, a material hopper carried by the frame on either side of the longitudinal center thereof, the outlets of the hoppers projecting below the frame, discharge conduits disposed longitudinally of the frame and positioned beneath each of the hoppers, the discharge ends of the conduits terminating above the base of the frame, means for feeding material from the hoppers into the associated conduit, a blower carried by the frame and connected to the conduits for discharging material pneumatically from the discharge conduits.

3. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame having longitudinal supporting sills, a material hopper carried by the frame and having an outlet projecting beneath the sills, a discharge conduit positioned beneath the hopper, the discharge end of the conduit terminating above the sills, a supporting member mounted above the sills, a blower carried by said member, a connection between the discharge side of the blower and the conduit, a motor for driving the blower, means for feeding material from the hopper into the conduit, and means driven by the motor for selectively operating the feeding means.

4. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame having longitudinal supporting sills, a material hopper carried by the frame on either side of the longitudinal center thereof, the outlets of the hoppers projecting beneath the sills, discharge conduits disposed longitudinally of the frame and positioned beneath the hoppers, the discharge ends of the conduits terminatin above the sills, a supporting member mounted above the sills, a blower carried by said member, a connection between the discharge side of the blower and the conduit, a motor for driving the blower, means for feeding material from the hoppers into the associated conduit, and means driven by the motor for selectively operating the feeding means.

5. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame having longitudinal supporting sills, a material hopper carried by the frame on either side of the longitudinal center thereof, the outlets of the hopper projecting beneath the sills, discharge conduits disposed longitudinally of the frame and positioned beneath each of the hoppers, the discharge ends of the conduits terminating above the sills, a supporting member mounted on the sills, a blower carried by said member, a connection between the discharge side of the blower and the conduits, a motor for driving the blower, air-locks for feeding material from the hoppers into the associated conduit, a shaft rotatably supported beneath the frame, a connection between the shaft and the motor, and means for selectively connecting the air-locks tothe shaft.

6. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided materials which comprises a transportable frame having longitudinal supporting sills, a plurality of material hoppers carried by the frame on each side of the longitudinal center thereof, the outlets of the hoppers projecting beneath the sills, a pair of discharge conduits disposed longitudinally of the frame, each conduit being positioned beneath a plurality of material hoppers on either side of the longitudinal center of the frame, and the outlet ends of the conduits terminating above the sills at one end of the frame, a supporting member mounted above the sills at the other end of the frame, a blower carried by the supporting member, a connection between the discharge side of the blower and the inlet end of each of the conduits, a motor for driving the blower, air-locks for feeding material from the hoppers into the subjacent conduit, a longitudinally extending shaft rotatably supported on the underside of the frame and positioned centrally of the sills, reduction gears connectirig the shaft and the motor, and means for selectively connecting the air-locks to the shaft.

7. In a vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material, a transportable frame, a plurality of material hoppers carried by the frame, a discharge conduit positioned beneath each of the hoppers, means for feeding material from a hopper into an associated discharge conduit, and unitary means for separately operating the said feeding means.

8. In a vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material, a transportable frame, a plurality of material hoppers carried by the frame, a rotary feeder for discharging material from each of the hoppers,-a shaft, a connection in-' cluding a clutch between the shaft and each of the rotary feeders for operating the feeders, and unitary means for separately engaging the clutches.

9. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame, a material hopper carried by the frame on either side of the longitudinal center thereof, a discharge conduit positioned beneath each hopper, an air-lock for feeding material from each hopper into an associated conduit, 9, motor carried bypth e-frame, a blower operatively connected to the motor, a 'shaftdriven by the motor, means for selectively connecting the air-locks to the shaft to operate the air-locks, and a connection between the blower and a discharge conduit for pneumatically discharging material from the vehicle.

10. A vehicle for transporting and unloading finely divided material which comprises a transportable frame, a plurality of material hoppers carried by the frame, a discharge conduit positioned beneath each hopper, an air-lock for feeding material from each hopper into the associated conduit, a motor carried by the frame, a blower operatively connected to the motor, a shaft driven by the motor. means for selectively connecting the air-locks to the shaft to operate the air-locks, a connection between the blower and a discharge conduit, and interchangeable means for pneumatically separately unloading material from a hopper through an individual discharge conduit associated with such hopper or for pneumatically unloading the hoppers through a common conduit.

GEORGE E. 'I'ILEY.

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