US3489305A - Gear handling device - Google Patents

Description

J. L. PALMATEER GEAR HANDLING DEVICE Filed July 10, 1967 Jam-13, 1970 United States Patent Office 3,489,305 Patented Jan. 13, 1970 3,489,305 GEAR HANDLING DEVICE Joseph L. Palmateer, 5701 Clermont Drive, Alexandria, Va. 22310 Filed July 10, 1967, Ser. No. 652,088 Int. Cl. B66f 9/12; B61k 5/00 U.S. Cl. 214-620 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND In the past, the operation of installing draft gears in the sills of railroad cars has been a time consuming, dangerous one requiring the labor of three men. The conventional manner of installing draft gears is to use a derrick to lift the gear. The end of the railroad car is jacked up and the trucks rolled out from under the car body. A worker must manually guide the gear into position adjacent the sill while the derrick operator lowers the gear into place. During this operation, the gear and derrick boom are at times above the worker creating a hazard to the worker. Once the gear is in place in the sill the trucks are moved back beneath the car body which is then lowered. In the event the draft gear is not positioned properly, it cannot be secured and the above operation must be repeated. This Operation generally requires the service of three men.

With the present invention the procedure is simplified greatly. The attachment is secured to a single tine of a fork-lift vehicle. The draft gear is placed on the platform and maneuvered into position by the vehicle. The platform can swivel about its support so the draft gear may be positioned precisely adjacent the sill. In this manner the workman is at no time in danger and the operation is performed quickly and easily.

The object of this invention is to provide a device to facilitate the installation of draft gears in the sills of railway cars.

This object, as well as others, will become apparent from the following specification illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a plan view of the invention in place on a fork lift truck adjacent the end of a railroad car;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the invention on a tine of a fork lift truck, shown in broken lines;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional View taken on line 4 4; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on line 5--5.

Referring now to the drawings for a more specific description of the invention, the draft gear handler is comprised of an elongated beam 12, which is illustrated as a box beam. At one end thereof, a stirrup 14 is secured to the beam 12. The stirrup 14 is rigidly secured thereto by welding or other suitable means. The stirrup 14 extends below the beam 12 and forms, with the bottom wall 16, an opening 18 su'iciently large to receive the tine 20 of a conventional fork lift truck.

A second stirrup 22 is secured to the beam 12 in the same manner and spaced from the stirrup 14.

A support member 24, which is rotatably mounted on the beam 12 at the end opposite the stirrups, is adapted to receive a draft gear or the like. The support member 24 comprises a flat plate 26 having a bearing'member 28 secured thereto. The bearing member 28 is illustrated as U-shaped with the legs 30 thereof secured to the plate 26 and the bight portion 32 resting on an extension 33 of the bottom wall 16.

A pivot pin 34 rotatably secures the support member 24 to the beam 12.

In this manner a draft gear 36 may be placed on the support member 24 after the handler 10 has been attached to the tine 20 of a fork lift truck 38. The truck may be moved to maneuver the gear 36 in position adjacent the sill 40 of a railroad car 42. The rotational movement of the support member 24 permits accurate and easy alignment of the gear 36 relative to the Sill 40 to facilitate installation therein. The fork lift elevating means provides the necessary vertical movement.

It will be thus understood that the invention provides a means for safe and easy handling of heavy equipment such as railroad draft gears.

While the invention has been described in a certain embodiment, it is recognized that variations and changes may be made therein without departing from the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed 1s:

1. In combination with a self-loading vehicle having a vertically movable carriage carrying horizontally extending fork tines, a rigid beam having a top, bottom, and side walls, a rst U-shaped stirrup having its legs secured to the bottom wall of said beam and extending outwardly therefrom adjacent one end of said beam, a second stirrup similarly secured to said beam spaced along the longitudinal axis of said beam, said stirrups delining with the bottom wall of said beam openings for slidably receiving a single tine of said vehicle to support said beam in a horizontal position on said single tine only, said bottom wall of said beam being of a greater length than the other walls so that a portion extends beyond said other walls, a substantially planar support member, means rotatably mounting said substantially planar support member on the upper side of said portion, said mounting means having substantially the same height as said other walls so that said support member can rotate freely above said beam and in a plane adjacent the top wall of said beam.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,558,388 6/ 1951 Richardson 214--620 2,622,750 12/1952 Ehlers.

2,773,615 12/ 1956 Conway.

2,957,594 10/ 1960 Brenneman 214-620 2,992,749 7/ 1961 Spillios 214-620l X 3,050,206 8/ 1962 McCracken 214-620 3,175,719 3/1965 Herndon 214-620 3,258,146 6/ 1966 Hamilton 214-620 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner ROBERT J. SPAR, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 214-730

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