US3836023A

US3836023A - Closure mechanism for bottom dump hopper car doors

Info

Publication number: US3836023A
Application number: US00412390A
Authority: US
Inventors: W Peterson; V Bochenek
Original assignee: Pullman Inc
Current assignee: Pullman Standard Inc; Pullman Inc
Priority date: 1973-11-02
Filing date: 1973-11-02
Publication date: 1974-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 1991-09-17

Abstract

A side of track closure mechanism is provided for engaging and exerting an inwardly directed lateral thrust against bottom dump doors in their open position for hingedly moving the doors inwardly into a closed position. The actuating mechanism includes a rotating lever having actuating means at opposite ends thereof and includes means for positioning the actuating means sequentially in position so that they engage the doors of dump cars movable on a track alongside the closure mechanism.

Description

United States Patent Peterson et al.

CLOSURE MECHANISM FOR BOTTOM DUMP HOPPER CAR DOORS Inventors: William H. Peterson, Homewood,

111.; Valerian S. Bochenek, Jr., Hammond, 1nd.

Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 111.

Filed: Nov. 2, 1973 Appl. No.: 412,390

US. Cl. 214/63, 105/241 C, 105/308 E, 105/308 P Int. Cl Bold 7/30 Field of Search 214/58, 63; 105/241 C, 105/308 E, 308 P References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Cooper 214/63 1 Sept. 17, 1974 3,773,194 11/1973 Schuller ..214/63 Primary ExaminerRobert G, Sheridan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hi1mond O. Vogel [57] ABSTRACT A side of track closure mechanism is provided for engaging and exerting an inwardly directed lateral thrust against bottom dump doors in their open position for hingedly moving the doors inwardly into a closed posi tion. The actuating mechanism includes a rotating lever having actuating means at opposite ends thereof and includes means for positioning the actuating means sequentially in position so that they engage the doors of dump cars movable on a track alongside the closure mechanism.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures lil lil PAIENTED SEP] 1 m4 SHEET 3 [IF 3 CLOSURE MECHANISM FOR BOTTOM DUMP HOPPER CAR DOORS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a prime object of the present invention to provide an improved off-car alongside-of-track mechanism for closing downwardly swinging hopper doors as the car is moved alongside the mechanism. The mechanism is of a simplified design consisting of an arm or lever rotatable about a vertical axis and having opposite actuating end portions which engage lugs or sockets disposed on the doors when the same are in an open position and are moved alongside the mechanism. The longitudinal movement of the car provides the force for rotating the lever in its engaged position thereby exerting a lateral thrust against the doors to hingedly swing them inwardly into the closed position. Also, provisions are provided on the mechanism which will cause the arm to be repositioned immediately after it closes a door to again be in position for engaging and moving the following door of the car to its closed position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hopper car positioned adjacent to a closure mechanism for closing bottom dump doors;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1 showing linkage mechanisms for outwardly swinging hopper doors;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing portions of a door closing mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, partially in crosssection, disclosing a door closure mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the movement of a door closing mechanism in closing a swinging car door;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view, partially in crosssection, taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing in elevation releasable locking mechanism for downwardly swinging dump doors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now particularly to FIG. 1, an open top hopper car 10 comprises a body 11 having at opposite sides thereof longitudinally extending side sills 12. The illustrated hopper car 10 comprises a pair of longitudinally spaced hoppers 13 formed by inclined end slope sheets 14. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the outer ends of the hopper are also provided with vertical end walls 15 and the hopper is further formed by inclined side slope sheets 16. The hopper car 10 is supported on suitable wheel trucks 17, in turn carried by a conventional railway track 18. The end slope sheets 14, vertical end sheets 15 and side slope sheets 16 direct material from the hopper downwardly through an opening designated at 19 as disclosed in FIG. 2. The opening 19 is adapted to be closed by means of downwardly swinging side opening doors 20. As indicated above, the present car utilizes two end-to-end hoppers. The linkage mechanism shown in FIG. 2 is provided at each of the opposite ends of each hopper and includes

end hinge arms

21 and 22 providing ends for the doors 20 of each hopper. Opposite ends of the side slope sheets 16 of each hopper are also provided with

end angle members

23 and 24 providing hinge supports for the doors 20. Such hinge supports 23 and 24 are also provided at the opposite ends of each of the hoppers.

The hopper also is provided with a plurality of stifieners 25 which reinforce the side slope sheets 16 and which are longitudinally spaced along the outer surfaces thereof. The lower ends of the reinforcing stiffeners 25 also provide hinge supports for stiffeners 28 which are connected to the lower surfaces of each of the doors 20 in longitudinally spaced relation and which by means of pivot pins 29 also further provide for hinge support for each of the doors on the hinge supports 25. FIG. 2 discloses only one of the hinge supports 25 and stiffeners 28, but a plurality of these extend along the underneath portion of the hopper to effectively hinge the doors 20 for downward hinging movement about longitudinal axes. The end angle hinge supports 23 and 24 also include pivot pins 27 which pivot the ends of the doors 20 on the hinge supports 23 and 24, the said hinge pins 27 being in longitudinal alignment with the hinge pivots 29.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the hinge arms 22 are provided with an upwardly extending arm 30 to which an adjustable link 31 is pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 32. The other end of the link 31 is pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 33 to a bracket 34 in turn rigidly connected to the hinge arms 21. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, a pivoted latch 35 includes an'arm 36 which is pivotally connected by means of a pivot 37 to each of the vertical end sheets 15. A hook or keeper 38 on the pivoted latch 35 is shown in locking and supporting relation with respect to a catch 39 in turn provided on the outer ends of each of the arms 22. The latch 35 also includes an elongated slot 40. The link 41 by means of a pivot pin 42 is pivotally connected within the slot to the latch 35. The latch 35 is continually urged to the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 7 by means of a spring 44 connected to said latch and to a lug 43 connected to each of the vertical walls 15. The link 41 is pivotally connected by pivot means 46 to an arm pivotally supported on a bracket 47 by means of a rotatable torsion tube 48. The torsion tube 48 extends longitudinally to the opposite end of a hopper where it in turn is connected to a duplicate of the mechanism just described. The torsion tube has connected thereto, as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, a trip lever 49 and has connected at its end thereof a bumper plate 50 which is adapted to be engaged by a suitable camming means (not shown) stationarily positioned alongside the track for actuating tripping movement of the latch as will be presently described. The trip lever and associated mechanism is duplicated on opposite sides of the car and is provided for each of the hoppers so that the latch may be tripped from each side of the car. The levers 49 on opposite sides of the car for each hopper are suitably interconnected by linkage means not disclosed which will function to trip the latch mechanism from both sides of the car. As shown in FIG. 7, a spring mechanism 51 engages each of the trip levers 49 to urge the same into the position shown.

A closure mechanism for the doors is generally designated by the reference character 52 and includes an actuating arm or lever 53 having at opposite ends thereof actuating portions 54 containing ball elements 55. As best shown in FIG. 3, yoke elements 56 extend vertically from a cam 57, and as indicated in FIG. 4, the lever 53 is pivotally connected to the yoke elements 56 by pivot means 58. The pivot means 58 permits the lever 53 to be rocked about a substantially horizontal axis. The cam 57 also includes a vertical pivot pin 59 which is suitably positioned for rotation within a horizontal support 60 which may consist of a metal box type construction and which is suitably supported and fastened to a concrete bed 60 to one side of the track 18. The cam 57 includes inwardly extending arcuate cam faces 61 connected to cylindrical cam faces 62. An L-shaped arm 63, as best shown in FIG. 3, is pivotally connected by pivot means 64 to the support 60. The arm 63 includes yoke fingers 65 on which is journaled a wheel cam follower 66 supported on pivot means 67. A stop 68 secured to the support 60 holds captive a spring 69 suitably having one end support on the arm 63 for urging the cam follower 66 against the cam faces 61 and 62.

THE OPERATION The present invention is particularly suited to railway hopper cars utilized in unit train operations. Such trains consist entirely of hoppers carrying coal or other comminuted materials which are dumped downwardly through the tracks into suitable bin arrangements when the train arrives at its destination. As each car moves into the unloading area a suitable cam device or other actuating means will engage the bumper plate 50 moving the lever 49 inwardly thereby pivoting the arm 45 to move the link 41 outwardly whereupon the latch 35 is disengaged from the catch 39 and the doors 20 can now move downwardly as the load is discharged by gravity through the tracks. As the car now moves along the track with its doors open it moves alongside the closure mechanism of the present invention. During this movement one of the balls of the lever 53 engages one of the sockets 74 of the bracket 73 and as the car moves the arm 53 is rotated about a vertical axis, as best shown in FIG. 5. The movement of the car and its relationship to the arm 53 provides for an inwardly directed force to be exerted against the doors which swings the door inwardly until they are locked in closed position as shown in FIG. 2. As the doors are swung inwardly into their locked position the arm 54 which is being held captive in the socket 74 also tilts somewhat upwardly following the door to its closed position. This upward tilting is accommodated for by the hinge means 58 connecting the arm 53 to the yoke elements 56. Since the doors are interconnected as indicated in FIG. 2 by means of the link 31 actuation or inward movement of one of the doors provides for the inward and hinging movement of the other door. During this closing movement the catch elements 39 ride against the outer surfaces of the keeper hook 38 pushing the latch 35 to one side whereupon the catch 39 is moved into engagement with the hook 38 and the spring 44 immediately urges the latch into the locked position shown in FIG. 2.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the arm 53 is in a diagonal position for engaging the bracket 73. In this position the follower 66 is disposed within one of the inwardly directed arcuate cam surfaces 61 and by means of the spring 69 is maintained against the camming surfaces to hold the cam 57 in this position. However, as the arm is rotated about its axis by the moving car the cam follower leaves the concave surface 61 and rides about the cylindrical outer cam surface 62. As the arm is rotated with the engaged ball 55 being swung in an arc the engaged ball 55 is now moved free of the closed door and the spring pressed cam follower 66 rides toward the concave surfaces urging the cam to again rotate to the position wherein the other actuating ball 55 is again in the diagonal position ready to be engaged by the bracket and socket of a succeeding door which then again will be closed in the manner described above.

By the simplified mechanism shown therefor the doors are positively closed by a positive lateral force which is initiated by the longitudinal movement of the car alongside the closure mechanism. Upon engagement of the actuating ball with the socket the arm is locked in position with the door and is only disengaged after the door has been closed whereupon the actuating arm is then again immediately positioned ready for engagement with a succeeding door to again perform the closing function. Thus it is believed a simple and effective door closing mechanism has been provided which will achieve the objects of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. For a hopper car having a hopper positioned between a pair of side sills,

door means supported on said car for hinging movement on longitudinal axes parallel to said sills from an open substantially vertical position to a closed substantially horizontal position beneath said hopper,

means releasably locking said door means in said closed position, said releasable means providing for release of said door means to discharge material from said hopper, the improvement comprising;

a door means closing mechanism including a support stationarily positioned to one side of a track on which said car is positioned,

a closing arm having actuating means thereon,

means supporting said arm for pivotal movement about a vertical axis on said support whereby said actuating means is movable in a generally cylindrical path around said axis,

engageable means on said door means,

means positioning said arm whereby said actuating means is in actuating position to engage said engageable means on said door means when said car is moved on said track alongside said support thereby rotating said arm to provide a lateral force moving said door means inwardly to a closed position, and

means urging said arm again into said actuating position.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

said arm in said actuating position extending diagonally relative to the direction of movement of said car.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

said means supporting said arm for pivotal movement including resilient means accommodating tilting movement of said arm during closing of said door means.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

said engageable means comprising a socket within which said actuating means is engaged during closing movement.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

said arm in its cylindrical movement closing said door means having said engaged actuating means moving underneath said car in proximity to the longitudinal center of said car.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

including resilient means urging said rotating arm to move said second actuating means into actuating position.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

including spring activated means between said arm and said support urging and releasably positioning said arm during rotation thereof in said actuating position.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

including resilient means associated with said means supporting said arm accommodating tilting movement of said arm during closing of said door means.

9. For a hopper car having a hopper positioned between a pair of side sills,

a pair of doors supported on said car for hinging movement on longitudinal axes parallel to said sills from an open substantially vertical position to a closed substantially horizontal position beneath said hopper,

linkage means interconnecting said doors to provide for conjoint movement of the same,

means releasably locking said doors in said closed position, said releasable means providing for release of said doors to discharge material from said hopper, the improvement comprising;

a door closing mechanism including a support stationarily positioned to one side of a track on which said car is positioned,

a closing arm having first and second actuating means on opposite ends thereof,

means supporting said arm centrally between said actuating means for pivotal movement about a vertical axis on said support whereupon said actuating means are movable therewith in a cylindrical path,

engageable means on said door,

means positioning said arm whereby said first actuating means is in actuating position to engage said engageable means on said door when said car is moved on said track alongside said support thereby rotating said arm to provide a lateral force and move said doors to said closed position and said second actuating means is moved into actuating position.

10. The invention in accordance with claim 9,

including means positioning said arm in said actuating position wherein it extends diagonally relative to the direction of movement of said car, said means including;

a cam connected to said arm for rotation therewith,

a cam follower supported on said support,

and resilient means urging said follower into engagement with said cam,

said cam having a camming configuration positioning one of said actuating means in said actuating position after each rotative movement of said arm.

Claims

1. For a hopper car having a hopper positioned between a pair of side sills, door means supported on said car for hinging movement on longitudinal axes parallel to said sills from an open substantially vertical position to a closed substantially horizontal position beneath said hopper, means releasably locking said door means in said closed position, said releasable means providing for release of said door means to discharge material from said hopper, the improvement comprising; a door means closing mechanism including a support stationarily positioned to one side of a track on which said car is positioned, a closing arm having actuating means thereon, means supporting said arm for pivotal movement about a vertical axis on said support whereby said actuating means is movable in a generally cylindrical path around said axis, engageable means on said door means, means positioning said arm whereby said actuating means is in actuating position to engage said engageable means on said door means when said car is moved on said track alongside said support thereby rotating said arm to provide a lateral force moving said door means inwardly to a closed position, and means urging said arm again into said actuating position.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said arm in said actuating position extending diagonally relative to the direction of movement of said car.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said means supporting said arm for pivotal movement including resilient means accommodating tilting movement of said arm during closing of said door means.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said engageable means comprising a socket within which said actuating means is engaged during closing movement.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said arm in its cylindrical movement closing said door means having said engaged actuating means moving underneath said car in proximity to the longitudinal center of said car.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including resilient means urging said rotating arm to move said second actuating means into actuating position.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including spring activated means between said arm and said support urging and releasably positioning said arm during rotation thereof in said actuating position.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including resilient means associated with said means supporting said arm accommodating tilting movement of said arm during closing of said door means.

9. For a hopper car having a hopper positioned between a pair of side sills, a pair of doors supported on said car for hinging movement on longitudinal axes parallel to said sills from an open substantially vertical position to a closed substantially horizontal position beneath said hopper, linkage means interconnecting said doors to provide for conjoint movement of the same, means releasably locking said doors in said closed position, said releasable means providing for release of said doors to discharge material from said hopper, the improvement comprising; a door closing mechanism including a support stationarily positioned to one side of a track on which said car is positioned, a closing arm having first and second actuating means on opposite ends thereof, means supporting said arm centrally between said actuating means for pivotal movement about a vertical axis on said support whereupon said actuating means are movable therewith in a cylindrical path, engageable means on said door, means positioning said arm whereby said first actuating means is in actuating position to engage said engageable means on said door when said car is moved on said track alongside said support thereby rotating said arm to provide a lateral force and move said doors to said closed position and said second actuating means is moved into actuating position.

10. The invention in accordance with claim 9, including means positioning said arm in said actuating position wherein it extends diagonally relative to the direction of movement of said car, said means including; a cam connected to said arm for rotation therewith, a cam follower supported on said support, and resilient means urging said follower into engagement with said cam, said cam having a camming configuration positioning one of said actuating means in said actuating position after each rotative movement of said arm.