US2051984A - Cement car - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 25, 1936.. R. E. CARTZDAFNER 2,051,984

CEMENT CAR Filed April '7, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR l -Rov E. CARTZDAFNER (YMQQ ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1936. R. 'E. ICARTZDAFNER CEMENT cm Filed April '7, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 25, 1936 z,os1,9a4 CEMENT can Roy E. Cartzdafnehl'assaic, N. 1., assignor to Magor Car Corporation, Passaic, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application April 7, 1932, Serial No. 603,698

30 Claims.

The invention relates in-general to an all-metal freight railroad car particularly constructed for transporting and discharging dry fiowable material in bulk condition,- and forms the original dis- 5 closure of the invention in eopending application Serial No. 721,494, April 20, 1934. The invention specifically relates to a construction of an improved ionn of multiple hopper bottom car particularly designed for transporting dry cement in such way as will permit of an easy and controlled discharge of the cement from the car.

Numerous practical difllculties have been encountered in railroading and handling materials like the fine powdered cement now in general use. Among such practical difiiculties encountered is the necessity of maintaining the material in a dry condition and even out of contact with at mospheric air. This of course, necessitates constant protection under cover, but even then,

cement has a tendency to become a c6mpact mass and, tendsto become caked especially when in large bulk and when transported over long dis.-v tances and over rough trackage. The jarring action of the car in motion tends further to compact the mass of material and any subsequent tendency of the cement to expand or swell must be anticipated in any car structure designed to handle such material. The present disclosure features water-tight and even air-tight material carrying compartments in which the material is g carried as far as is practical in upstanding stacks of maximum depth reaching from the roof construction, through the supporting car body under frame to bottom discharge openings at*the bottom of stack iorming deep funnels or hoppers. In

order to utilize all possibleavailable space within the outlines of a car body underirame'of standard construction to provide for maximum storage capacity for the cement and at the same time to 40 effect economy in manufacturing cost, the hopper bottom type of construction is herein utilized and the storage space provided with three hopper.

bottom discharge openings. Reducing the outlets. to three in number formed relatively long distances between adjacent openings withinthe body of the car.

Under these conditions the opening of one of the discharge outlets permitted the discharge oi some of the material immediately over the opening but the balance ofthe material had a tendency to arch across the opening and thereafter it was extremely dimcult to discharge the remaining more or less compact mass of material. Then when the next adjacent opening was opened, the

foot of the arch which was above this next opening as far as possible the desired high-columnar ar- 5 struction the storage space in the car herein ieaangles presented to the line of flow and which 'is to provide a simplified form of railroad car 20 'mizing of the above recited dimculties.

A similar materialsually centered between the tracks. In the design PATENT OFFICE iell with the result that the arch over the first opening caved in and in order to discharge the same the first opening had to be again opened. To avoid this arching and in order to maintain rangement of the cement and at the same time attain the'advantages of a hopper bottom contured is divided into three high compartments, each formed at its lower end into steep walled 1 hoppers leading to one of the three'separate bottom discharge openings. These compartments are designed to avoid internal projections or sharp would cause the material to accumulate about 1 such obstructions and thus cause difliculty in emptying the compartment; or car in which the material has been transported- In general, the primary object of the invention in which cement can be transported and from which thecement can be discharged with a mini- Among the other objects of the invention is to provide a multiple hopper bottom car construc-- 25- tion of the type outlined which will provide an incre'ase in cubical content or carrying capacity over known forms of cars designed to transport Cement is usually discharged from railroad cars 30 into chutes located between the tracks and usof car construction herein featured, advantage is taken 0! this locating of fixed cement receiving chute or hoppers centered between the tracks 35 and the locating oi the bottom discharge opening as low in the structure as will be permitted in accordance with the car builders requirements to preserve as far as possible long inclined sides to I the hoppers which assist materially in the 'fiow. 40 of the cement from adjacent the roof down to the discharge openings. I

The desire to locate the discharge openings as low as possible prevented the utilization oi the usualtypes of drop doors commonly found on 45 hopper bottom discharge openings. Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide a simple form of door or closure for the low located discharge opening and which door could be operated in conjunction with and without inter- 5o ference with the usual fixedly located receiving chute or funnel. In connection with, the door operating mechanism of this disclosure, an obiect is to provide asimple form of door control which eouldbe easily actuated in moving the door to and from its open and closed position by manual power, even under those conditions where the caking of the material would have a tendency to prevent the opening of the closure. The present disclosure particularly features a form of closure and control for the same which will permit careful regulation of the rate of flow of the cement as it is discharged selectively from any one of the hoppers.

It is an economic requirement in the manufacture of cars of this character that they be made up cheaply and accordingly another feature of the invention herein disclosed is to provide a car of the least possible number and weight of parts, to utilize otherwise wasted space, such for instance as the space between the hoppers, to accommodate the door control mechanism and to fabricate the structural parts so that they will tend mutually to reinforce and brace each other thus tending to minimize the mass and weight of material necessary to construct the car herein disclosed. L

Incidental to the desire to efiect economies in manufacturing cost, the present disclosure features in the construction of the hoppers, quarter round corner plates which can be bent on a form or die of less size than the forms or dies now used in similar constructions where it is tion also consists in certain new and novel fea,

tures of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a cement car illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and with the .left end omitted;

Fig. 2 is a plan view looking down upon the complete car shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged showing of one end of the car disclosed in the preceding figures, taken along the longitudinal medial plane of the car, it being understood that one-half of the entire .car is shown in Fig. 3, and that the other half is a duplicate of the illustrated showing with the parts in reverse position;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view at one end of the car and taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical, transverse sectional view through one of the hoppers and taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and,

Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional view through the hopper bottom opening and taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings and referring first to the general showing in Figs. 1 to 5, it will be understood that the car is of somewhat conventional design in that it includes a car body underframe l supported on wheel trucks H and in turn supporting a built up car body l2, particularly forming the subject matter of this disclosure. The underframe I0 includes a pair of longitudinally extending fabricated side sills l3. It is noted that this car has no center sill and that the space between the side sills is left open to receive the hoppers bottom portions of the car body hereinafter described. The side sills are connected adjacent the opposite" ends by bolsters M diposite ends of the car an end platform l5 (see Fig. 3) is provided by a sheeting l6 which extends between and is supported by the side sills I3 and extends from an end sill I? to a position adjacent its contiguous end hopper. Four sets of longitudinally spaced apart side posts l8 (see Fig. 4) have their lower ends secured to each of the side sills (see Fig. 1). The upper ends of the side posts I8 are secured to certain of the car lines l9 forming part of the roof 2!].

The roof 20 (Fig; 3) is a single flanged sheet metal pressing with a down turned outlining flange 2i, secured to the upper edges of the hopper forming plates as hereinafter described. The roof provides a support for a centrally extending catwalk platform 22 supported above the roof-on 2 bars 23 and supported at its ends on end uprights 24 carried by the end sill ll.

The car body includes on opposite sides of the car a long side plate 25, (Fig. 5) the up per portion 26 of which extends vertically and is secured to the outside of the side posts as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The lower portion of each side plate is bent inwardly from the vertical to form three hopper side extensions 21, as particularly shown in Fig. 5. At opposite ends of the car the car body is formed of a sharply inclined end plate 28 which extends as shown in Fig. 3 from the roof to the adjacent hopper bottom discharge opening 29. The upper portion of the interior of the car body is divided into three compartments by a pair of transverselyextending vertically disposed partitions, one of which is shown at 3B in Fig. 3. From the lower edge of each of the partitions 30 extends a pair of downwardly inclined diverging bottom plates. It is understood from the showing at the left of Fig. 3 that one of these bottom plates 3| ooacts with the end plate 28 to form the forward and rear sides of one of the end hoppers 33 and that the other bottom plate 32 ooacts with the bottom plate extending from the other portion, likewise to form the forward and rear sides of the middle hopper 34. The upper edges of the partitions 30 are flanged (Fig. 3) to form a partition carline 35 to take the place of one of the usual roof carlines l9.

Referring to the showing of one of the hoppers as in Fig. 4, it will be noted that the end plates 28 and the interior partitions 30 each terminate in spaced relation to the adjacent long side plate 25. The spaces between the side plate and the adjacent edges of the end plates and partitions are filled by quarter round plates 36 which have their outer edges secured to the side plates, and their inner edges securedto the end plates and partition, and form rounded corners to the hoppers. The quarter round plates are all of the same size and construction and as they canbe formed on a die of relatively small size compared with the dies usually employ d in forming parts of round cornered hoppers, a aterial saving is attained in forming these parts as herein suggested. It is noted that the side and end plates and transverse partitions are simply fiat bent plates of sheet metal and the rounded corners can be easily fastened in place following any conventional practices in this respect, preferably by welding soas to avoid the forming of projections on the inner surfaces of the hoppers. It is a feature of this disclosure that the sides of the-hopper are smooth from possible retardance or the cemen as it rolls down the sides of the partition on to the bottom plate in its movement towards the ttom discharge opening. The presence of the partition acts to facilitate the discharge of the entire contents of the carunder those conditions where the-sev eral discharge openings are opened in sequence. Referring to the showing in Fig. 3, it is noted that if the partition 30 was not present'and the left end hopper bottom opening 20 uncovered, the material directly above the opening would discharge but the material in.the space about the position now occupied by the partition would tend to remain stationary in position, being supported by the material above the closed middle hopper 34. Under'such conditions, the material would arch over the bottom of the left or end hopper. Then if the discharge opening 29 for the middle hopper were opened, the support would be removed'from the arched material within the outlines of the end hopper with the. result that the material within the end hopper would then fall towards the bottom of the end hopper. It would then be necessary of course, to again open the closure'of the end hopper before all the material could be discharged. The presence of the partition in the device herein disclosed apparently acts to separate the material in the several hoppers and thus minimizes a tendency of the material in one hopper, the bottom of which is open, from being supported by the material in an adjacent hopper, the bottom discharge opening of which is closed. Usually, the partition further above the bottom discharge openings and minimizes any necessity for the material tomove horizontally during its discharge. The partitions,'--'of'course, act further to provide internal cross bracing to the car body structure and assist in preventing buckling of the side plates under internal pressure of the contained load. It is also noted that the fabricated not conrtruction with its bracing carlines contribute materially to the reinforcing of the upper por-' 5. This provides a construction in which the discharge openings 29 are located low and as near the track level as possible or as would be pernitted by the car builders regulations. It has been found that a discharge opening of the eliiptical design shown in Fig. 4 is admirably adapted for the discharge of cement and locating this opening at the longitudinal center of the car provides a construction featuring long sloping inclines such as the end plates 20 which in the case-of the end plates extend from the roof almost to the track level, thus providing a long, sharp, almost vertical drop for the cement contained in the end compartments.

It is convenient to provide filling openings for each hopper compartment adjacent opposite sides of the car. Accordingly, each of the comentitled "Hopper bottom closures,

-a spacing gusset i6. r Each closure control in is actuated partments is provided with a pair of fllling lugs 20 extending throughthe roof and podtioned on opposite sides of the catwalk as particularly showninFlgsJandS. Eamoftheseopenings isoutlinedbyaflangedframellandisprovided with a closure ll of some approved form which will as'sistin maintainingtbe compartment in a, water tight condition. In the form illustrated,- the closure is pivotally mounted by means of a;

hinge 42 at its inner edge.

The bottom discharge openings 20 are each reinforced by an outlining hopper bottom forming frame It flanged as shown at ll to provide struc- 1 tural strength to resist any tendency of the casting' forming the lower end of the discharge opening from buckling outward. Each of the openings is controlled by a horizontally sliding closure II in the form. of a flat plate, longitudinal opposite edges of which are slidably mounted in tracks 48 secured to the underside of flanges ll.

The closure is moved to and from its open and closed position by means of a pair of screw and nut feeding devices at opposite longitudinal sides of the openings 29 and which aremore fully described in my copending divisional application Serial No.- l2l,494 flied April 20, 1934."

The feed screws are actuated in unison so as to draw evenly on both sides of the closure and thus tend to avoid canting or uneven movement through bevel gearing 59 with a connecting shaft 80. The connecting shaft and extended ends CI of the feed screws together with their connecting gearing is carried by a mounting frame 82 positioned in the space between adiacent hoppers, as

shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This frame includes a U- shaped pressed plate II where two mountings are combined as shown in- Fig. 3 but may be'of L- shape as shown at 63' in Fig. 1, where it is required to support only one closure cohtrolmech:

The upper portion of the pressed plate is supported from a transversely disposed channelll supported from an angle plate 85 to the underside of the bottom plates 31 and 32 through from a hand wheel 61 carried at the outer end of a horizontal shaft I journalled in.the adiacent side sill I: which brings the wheel in a convenient position about waistof the operator. This shaft 68 is connected through bevel gearing "with a short downwardly ex tending driving shaft II and which in turn is side sills tend to brace the outer sides of ese slope sheets and to transfer strains thereon directly to the underframe. I 7

Instead of securing the side and end plates directly to the roof construction, it is'further suggested that Z-side plates 13 be secured with one depending flange ll overlapping andsecured to the upper edges of the p1ates 2i and 28 and another upstanding flange I5 be telescoped by the depending flange 2| of the roof 2..

In operation, it will be understood that the hoppers are successively fllled, one after the other or simultaneously. by opening the most convenient of the top closures II and fllling the same following conventional practices in this respect. After each hopper is filled, the top closure is forced into-snug closed, water-tight position, and if desired may be provided with any suitable blocking means.

When the car reaches the point at which the material is to be discharged, it is located with one of its discharge openings positioned above the fixed chute which is to receive the discharge. The operator then actuates the hand wheel controlling the closure of the discharge opening so located and by rotating the wheel in the proper direction gradually shifts the closure and progressively uncovers the opening. This regulating the opening provides the desired rate of flow therethrough and which rate will be dependent largely upon the condition of the material discharged. It hasv been found in practice that the caked cement does not tend to are across the opening as was the case with other forms of similar cars. This is believed to be due to the fact that the slope sheets forming the hoppers are within the sliding angle of the cement when in its portable conditioii herein discussed, and due to the fact that all the interior surfaces are smooth, free of projections. The resulting freedom of flow may perhaps also be due to the pressure head provided by the deep column of material. This pressure head is especially high during the initial period of discharge but it is during this time Where difiiculties have been experienced heretofore in discharging materials like cement through small aread bottom openings. In practice no material amount of the cement remains in the hopper so that at each discharging operation each hopper is cleared of its contents. When one hopper is emptied the car may be moved to locate the next hopper in position to discharge its contents. And this operation is repeated until all of the compartments have been discharged.

Due to the mutual bracing of the parts, one from another, it is possible herein to form the mdy mainly from extremely thin gauge steel sheeting and at the same time to provide a car 1 body of the maximum permissible allover dimensions and utilize as lading carrying space greater cubical dimension than has been possibleheretofore in similar makes of cars. Except for the castings which outline the bottom discharge opening, practically all of the remaining portion of the car body is formed simply of pressed sheet metal with the parts riveted or welded together following approved and common practices in this respect.

I claim:

1. In a cement car, the combination of a car body underframe including side sills, side posts secured at their lower ends to the side sills, a car bodysupported on the underframe and including a roof secured to and supported by the upper ends of the side posts, side plates at opposite sides of the car, the upper edges of the side plates secured to the roof, reinforced thereby, and said roof acting as a spacing member, the upper portion of the side plates extending vertically and secured to'the side posts, the lower portion of the side plates forming extensions extending downwardly and inwardly towards the longitudinal medial plane of the car to form opposite sides of three hoppers, end plates having their upper edges se-,

' cured to the roof, reinforced thereby and extending downwardly therefrom to form the end sides of the two hoppers at the ends of the cars, a pair of vertically extending longitudinally spaced transverse partitions providing internal reinforcements connecting opposite side plates, and each coacting with the adjacent end plate and side plates to form the upper portions of the end hoppers and coacting with each other and with the side plates to form the upper portion of the .middle hopper, a pair of inclined bottom plates depending from the lower edges of each partition, diverging from each other and coacting with the end sides and side plates to form three central discharge open bottom hoppers, horizontally sliding closures for each of said hoppers, control mechanism for each closure, said mechanisms each including a pair of screw feeds engaging opposite longitudinal sides of each closure for sliding the same longitudinally of the carto and from opened and closed positions, each control mecha-' nism also including means contained in the adjacent space between the central hopper and the end hoppersfor connecting said screw feeds to cause them to work in unison, a mounting for said connecting means secured to the underside of the bottom plate which defines part of its associated hopper and a transversely extending shaft for actuating each of said connecting means, each of said shafts journalled in one of the side sills and provided at its outer end with a hand wheel located within the downwardly projected outlines of the roof and exteriorly of its supporting side sills.

2. In a cement car, the combination of a car body underframe including side sills, side posts secured at their lower ends to the side sills, a car body supported on the underframe and including a roof secured to and supported by the upper ends of the side posts, side plates at opposite sides of the car, the upper edges of the side plates secured to the roof, reinforced thereby, and said roof acting as a spacing member, the upper portion of the side plates extending vertically and secured to the side posts, the lower portion of the side plates forming extensions extending downwardly and inwardly towards the longitudinal medial plane of the car to form opposite sides of three hoppers,

end plates having their upper edges secured to the roof, reinforced thereby and extending down wardly therefrom to form the end sides of the two hoppers at the ends of the cars, a pair of vertically extending longitudinally spaced transverse partitions providing internal reinforcements connecting opposite side plates, and each coacting with the adjacent end plate and side plates to form the 'upper portions of the end hoppers and coacting with each other and with the side plates to form v the upper portion of the middle hopper, a pair of inclined bottom plates depending from the lower edges of each partition, diverging from each other and coacting with the end sides and side plates to form three central discharge open bottom hoppers, horizontally sliding closures for each of said hoppers, control mechanism for each closure, said mechanism each including parts secured to and supported by one of the bottom plates of its associated hopper and including an actuating shaft journalled in one of the side sills and provided atto the outside of the side posts, a single flanged constituting a roof telescoping an upstanding flange of the Z-top rail, sloping end sheets secured at their upper edges to the Z-top, rails, 'the lower portion of the side sheets forming,

sloping extensions constituting opposite sides of three hoppers located between and substanti y filling the space outlined by the bolsters and de sills and supported by the side sills and said car body provided with a pair oi transverse partitions forming opposite sides of the middle hopper and each coacting with the adjacent end plate to form the end hoppers and sloping bottom plates welded to the lower edge of each partition and. coacting'with the forward and rear endshee'ts to form the forward and rear side of each hopper.

4. In a hopper car of the type described, the

combination of an underframe comprising a pair of side sills and without a center sill, a car body carried thereby and including side plates and end plates, said end plates extending transversely of the car substantially from one side sill .to the other, a roof including a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart roof car-lines, connecting the end and side plates and acting to reinforce the upper portions of the end and side plates, a transverse partition located between the end and side plates and extending across the longitudinal medial plane of the car, having its upper edge flanged and' constituting an additional car-line for the roof centered between a pair of the first named car-lines, bottom plates forming inclined continuations of the partitions diverging downwardly from each other and extending substantially from .one to the other 'of the side sillsf'said bottom plates, side and, end plates coacting to form a plin'ality of open bottom hoppers with their inclined bottom platesprojecting through and extending below :the level of the underframe and with their openings spaced apart along the longitudinal medial plane of the'car. closuresfor the open bottom of the hoppers and means supported from the bottom platesand side sills and with parts thereof located in the space beneath the Itransverse partition for controlling the opening and closing movements of the closures.

5. In a multiple hopper car, the combination of a'car body provided with means forming two compartmenis, -a roof for the same, a transverse partition for dividing the interior of the car body into said two compartments secured to and connecting together the opposite sides of the car body and thus providing an internal reinforcement for the car body, said roof. including transversely extending members for reinforcing the same,

said membersincluding 2 members, roof carlines, and said partition having its upper edge 'flanged and said flanged edge constituting the carline for the portion of the roof iustabove the partition.

6. In a car of the type described, the combination of an underframe, side posts extending up from the underframe', a car body carried by the under-frame and including side plates secured to the side posts, and including a roof supported from the side posts, a partition extending trans- 'versely of the car between and spaced from a; pair of said posts, a sloping end plate coacting with the partition and side plates to form a hopper bottom compartment and corner plates connecting the side plates with the partition and end plate, said pairof side posts being located within the side plates and outside of the hopper. '1. In a car of the class described, the combination of a side plate, a side post secured at its upper portion to an upper portion of the plate with the post on the inner side of the side plate,

a transverse partition having one of its edges spaced from the side post, and forming a common side to a pair of hopper'bottomcompartments, a pair of corner plates extending between the edge oi the partition and the side plate and coacting therewith to conceal the corner post and to form adjacent corners of the compartments.

8. In a hopper car, the combination of a pair. of side plates, means coa'cting therewith to form a plurality of hoppers, said means including a transverse plate disposed between and with its edges spaced from the side plates, a pair of quarter round plates with their convexed" sides means including a transverse partition forming a.

common side to both hoppers extending between V and at right angles to the side plates and having vertical edges spaced'from the adjacent side plate, a pair of quarter round comer plates at each verticaledge of the partition, the quarterround platesfof each pair having their convex sides facing each other, with one side of each corner plate secured to the adjacent side plate and theother sides of the corner platessecured to the adjacent vertical edge of the partition on opposite sides thereof.

An all-metal car for transporting cement and the like, comprising an underfr'ame open at its central part and including load sustaining.

side sills, a car body carried by the underframe and including sloping ends. above the side sills, vertical sides and a roof connecting the upper edges of the ends and sides and hopper side extensions overlapping the adjacent side sill and coacting with the ends to form a plurality of open bottom hoppers, means for supporting the hoppers i.'roin the'side sills, car side braces for supporting the vertical-sides from the side sills and horizontally movable closures for the open bottoms .{of thehoppers. v

11. A cement car comprisinga body underframe including side sills, roof supporting side posts secured to the side sills,- abody mounted on the underframe and including a roof secured to the side posts, side and end walls and transverse partitions extending downwardly from the roof, bottom plates forming downwardly inclined extensions from the lower edge of each partition, the lower portions of saidside and end walls and the bottom plates forming hoppershaving bottom discharge openings along the iongitudinal center of the car, closures for said openings, a control for each of said closures' supported from one of the bottom plates of its associated hopper, and a shaft, for actuating each of said closure controls, each of said shafts ioumalled in one of the side sills and provided end with a hand wheel.-

12. In a car of the type described, the comat its outer bination of a carbody underframe, a car body mounted on the underframe and including side and end plates, and an internal partition with a pair of downwardly inclined extensions there{ from forming hopper bottom plates, and a roof connecting and reinforcing the side and. end plates and the internal partition, the lower portion of the car body forming a plurality of hoppers having discharge openings at the longitudinal medial plane of the car, the lower portion of the sides and one of the end plates coacting with one of the hopper bottom plates to form one of said hoppers, a closure for the discharge opening from said hopper, control mechanism for said closure, including a transversely extending shaft contained in the space between the same and the next adjacent hopper, a mounting frame for said shaft fitted between and secured at its ends to said inclined extensions and supported thereby directly from the roof reinforced partition.

13. A cement car comprising a body underframe including side sills, roof supporting side posts secured to the side sills, a body mounted on the underframe and including a roof secured to the side sills, said body provided with a plurality of hoppers having bottom discharge openings along the longitudinal medial plane of the car and located below the plane of the side sills, closures for each of said openings, a control mechanism for each closure contained for the most part in the space between the hoppers the closure of which is controlled thereby and an adjacent hopper and each control mechanism including a transversely disposed shaft having a hand wheel at the outer side of one of the side sills and located within the downwardly projected outline of the roof.

14. In a car of the type disclosed, the combination of a transverse partition, a pair of extensions depending from the lower edge of the transverse partitionsand forming part of two hoppers, closures for the bottom of the hoppers, and control mechanism for each closure located for the most part in the space between the hoppers and means providing a bridge carried at opposite ends by said pair of extensions and supporting said control mechanisms.

15. In a car of the type disclosed, the combination of an underframe including side sills, a roof and roof supporting uprights, vertical side plates above the side sills, sloping end plates extending each in a single transverse plane from the roof to a position below the level of the underframe and to a low position adjacent the track level and secured at their upper edges to the roof, two transverse partitions, each extending down from the roof, 2. pair of sloping bottom plates depending from each partition 'and diverging downwardly from eachother toform with the end plates parts of three hoppers extending below the level of the underframe, said hoppers provided I with open bottoms along the medial plane of .the car and disposed close to the track level and providing high columnar arrangement of three compartments, each compartment extending from the open bottom to the roof.

16. In arailroad hopper car, the combination of side sills, bolsters connecting the side sills and coacting to form an underframe without a center sill, wheel trucks supporting the underframe said wheel trucks including wheels adapted to rest on the rails and thus acting to define a track level, side sills, 'means forming a deep compartment having its upper portion secured to the roof, braced thereby and having a width substantially coextensive with the width of the car, and having its lower portion formed of inwardly and downwardly inclined walls coacting to form a a root supported directly from the hopper, fitted between and secured to the side sills, said hopper extending above and below the level of the underframe and provided at its lower end with a horizontally extending opening positioned relatively close to said track level and extending on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial plane of the car and a horizontally movable closure for the opening.

17. In a hopper car, the combination of a pair of side sills, end sills and bolsters forming an underframe without a center sill, a body structure supportedfrom theunderframe and including inclined end plates and side plates connecting the end plates to form the upper portion of the body structure; transverse partitions connecting the opposite side plates, longitudinally extending and inwardly inclined plates forming depending extensions from both the side plates and from the transversely extending partitions, coacting to form a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart hoppers each extending transversely across the longitudinal medial plane of the car and extending vertically from a position above to a position below the level of the underframe, fitting between and supported from the side sills and centered along the longitudinal medial plane of the car and a roof supported directly from the underframe and also supported from and secured to the side plates, to the end plates and to the partitions, whereby the roof is additionally supported from the car body.

18. In a hopper car, the combination of a pair the transversely extending partitions, coacting to form 'a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart hoppers extending transversely across the longitudinal medial plane of the car and extending vertically from a position above to a position below the level of the underframe, fitting between and supported from the side sills and centered along the longitudinal medial plane of the car and a roof supported directly from the underframe and also supported from and secured to the side plates, to the end plates and to the partitions, whereby the roof is additionally supported from'the car body, and spacing means fitted between adjacent hoppers substantially at the level of the underframe for bracing one from the other, a closure for one of the hoppers and control means therefore mounted in said spacing means.

19. In a hopper car, the combination of a pair of side sills, end sills and bolsters forming an underframe without a center sill, a body structure supported from the underframe and including inclined end plates and side plates connecting the end plates to form the upper portion of the body structure, transverse partitions connecting the opposite side plates, longitudinally extending and inwardly inclined plates forming depend- 'irteiisi sl from both the side plates and from the; may extending partitions, ccacting to formaplurality of longitudinally spaced apart hoppers extending transversely across the longitudinal medial plane of the car and extending vertically from a position above to a position:

along the longitudinalmedial plane of the carand a roof supported directly from the underframe and also supported irom and secured to the side plates, to the end plates and to the partitions, whereby the roof is additionally supported from the car body, saidroof provided with roof car-lines and side po'sts having their lower ends secured to the side sills, their upper ends secured to the roof car-lines and their intermediate portions secured to the adjacent side plate.

20. A hopper car provided with an underirame including side sills, end sills and a bolster adjacent each end sill, a car body provided with a plurality of transversely extending partitions forming the interior of the car body into a plurality of compartments, the lower portion of each compartment forming a. hopper extending through the space formed in the underframe between the side sills and between the bolsters and suported on the side sills, the ends of said car body terminating inwardly from the vertical 2 planes containing the end sills, a roof covering directly above the body portion and secured thereto, end uprights carried by the end sills and each spaced from the adjacent end of the car body, a catwalk having its ends supported from the end uprights and bridging the space between the end upright and the adjacent end of the car body,

and supporting means between the root and the part of the cat-walk overlapping the same for supporting the mid-portion of the cat-walk from the roof, and one of said supporting means being and supported by one "of the partitions.

21. In a car, the combination of an underframe having at one end, side sills, a connectingend sill and a bolster, an end upright carried "by the end sill, a car body carried by the underirame and including an inclined end plate overlying the bolster and spaced inwardly from the end .up-

' right, a roof secured at one end to the upper end of the inclined end plate, a cat-walk supported at one end on said end upright, bridging the space between the end upright and the adjacent end of the car body and roof and supported from the roof.

- the car body and roof and additionally supported from the roof, and a sheeting extending between and supported by the side sills overlapping the bolster and extending from the end sill to a position adjacent said inclined end plate.

. 23. In ahopper car, the combination ofan underirame including a pair of side sills, a car body carriedby the undertr'ame and including a plurality of hoppers projecting from aposition above to a position below the level of the underirame and each hopper defined on opposite sides by a pair ofinclined side plates, and iiller gussets having a material vertical depth capable of resisting vertically directed distorting strains located between each side plate and its adjacent side sill andsaid side sills acting to support each hopper on opposite sides of the same and said gussets coacting to maintain the hoppers con-" tained between the side sills.

24. In a hopper car, the combination of an underframe including side sills, end sills and bol-' sters, with a platform at each end of the'car connecting the ends of the side sills with the adjacent end sills and overlapping the adjacent boister, a car body having its lower portion defining a plurality of open bottom hoppers, located between the platforms and having opposite sides of each hopper supported from the side sills, a rugged flller gusset fitted horizontally between an inclined side of each hopper and the adjacent side sill and with the open bottoms extending horizontally and spaced apart along the iongitudinal medial plane of the car.

25. In a hopper 'car, the combinationof an underframe includingside sills, end sills and bolsters, with a platform at each end of the car I connecting the ends of the side sills with the adjacent end sill and overlapping the adjacent bolste'r, a car body having its lower portion defining sills at opposite ends of thebolsters and a rooi. q

' for the car body secured thereto and to per ends of the side posts. a

26; In a hopper car, the combination of an underframe including side sills, a car body provided with a roof secured thereto and acting to reinforce the upper portion thereof, means for forming hopper bottom compartments in the car body, said means including a partition and a botthe uptom plate coacting to form an inner end of one of said compartments extending vertically and transversely of thecarand extending from they roof to a position below the level of the underframe and said compartment at its lowermost end provided with a horizontally extending open- I ing, said car body including an end plate deiining an outer end oisaid end compartment, se-' cured at its upper edge to the roof and inclined downwardly and inwardly of the car, and projecting through the underframe, and said hopper bottom defined on opposite sides by inwardly and downwardly inclined side plates, each supported from its adjacent side sill.

27. A car body for a hopper car comprising a tween the side plates, a roof comprising a single flanged sheet metal pressing. having a ..down

turned outlining flange secured to the upper edges of the side and end plates and providing a water tight enclosure to the upper part of the car body and said roof also secured .to the. upper edges of the interior partitions.

28. In a car, the combination of an underirame having at one end, side sills, a connecting end sill and a bolster, an end'upright carriedby the end sill, a car body carried by the underirame and includingan inclined endplate overlying the bolste an spaced inwardly from the end upright, u at one end to the upper end of d plate, a' cat-walksupported at .on said end upright, bridging the space between the end upright and the adjacent end of the car body and -roof and supported from.

\ tresses between one end of the car body and the adjacent bolster and spacing means fitted between two of the hoppers substantially at the level of the underframe.

30. In a car, the combination of an underframe, including side sills and an end sill, a car body carried by the underframe and having the end adjacent the end sill spaced inwardly therefrom, a platform extending between the side sills and between the end sill and said car body, an end upright secured to the end sill and spaced from the car body, a cat-walk bridging the space between the end upright and top of the car body and a ladder extending from the end of one side 10 sill to said bridging portion 01 the cat-walk.

ROY E. CARTZDAFNER.

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