US2419044A - Railway car diaphragm - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jo/zmfl WZI dZZZ/Zd, BY 7 M J. A. WENDLAND RAILWAY CAR DIAPHRAGM Filed 001;. 24, 1945 April 15, 1947 April 1947- J. A. WENDLAND RAILWAY CAR DIAPHRAGM Filed Oct. 24, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 15, 1947 RAILWAY CAR DIAPHRAGM John A. Wendland, Elkhart, Ind., assignor to The Adlake Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application October 24, 1945, Serial No. 624,188

4 Claims.

This invention has to do with railway car diaphragms of the so-called accordion type.

For many years it has been the practice to make such diaphragms out of lubricated belting material, the belting material being highly lubricated in order to permit the folds and corners of the diaphragms to bend and flex in various directions without breaking down the threads in the material. With the advent of more modern designs in railway cars the necessarily dark and tarry appearance of the diaphragms caused by the presence of the lubricant has become objectionable, with the result that attempts have been made to improve the appearance of the diaphragms by giving them a silvery or other light colored effect, by paint or plastic coatings, to

harmonize with the decorations of the car as a whole. It has been found that such coatings do not adhere satisfactorily to the surface for any length of time, due to the oily character of the lubricant, and attempts have therefore been made to construct surface finished diaphragms from lubricant-free fabrics. These attempts have not been successful, owing to the rapid breakdown of the fabric at the upper corners of the diaphragm where the fabric is ordinarily formed into gussets or folds and the bending and flexing are most pronounced.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved diaphragm of the accordion type in which the top and leg members are so connected at the corners as to produce a freeacting, weather-tight, wear-resisting structure without the necessity of having the fabric from which the members are made highly lubricated, thus enabling the surface of the fabric to be left either in its natural state or finished with any desired decorative coating.

While the foregoing statements are indicative in a general Way of the nature of the invention, other more specific objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction of the improved diaphragm.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is presented herein by way of exemplification but it will of course be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of incorporation in other structurally modified forms coming equally Within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a face view of a single-fold diaphragm constructed in accordance with the invention, with the intermediate portions of the vertical leg members broken away;

on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is another edge view of the upper portion of the diaphragm, showing the latter in its fully extended position;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of one of the soft pliant corner pieces, before its application to the edges of the top and leg members; and

Fig. 10 is an edge view of the upper portion of a. two-fold diaphragm, similarly constructed in accordance with the invention.

Diaphragms of the accordion type are ordinarily of either single-fold or two-fold construction. While the present invention is equally applicable to either construction, a single-fold diaphragm is shown. in Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, for simplicity of illustration. This diaphragm, like other diaphragms of the accordion type, is adapted to be positioned between and secured to the end of the car and the face plate, whereby to form a closed passageway from the vestibule of one car into the vestibule of the next.

As will be observed in Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, the diaphragm consists, of separate top and leg channel members Ill and H which are constructed of thick longitudinally stiff fabric,v preferably three-ply belting material. These members are of outwardly opening generally U-shaped cross section with reference to the passage through the diaphragm and are contractible andv extensible in a direction at right angles to their lengths. The top member ID is disposed in a generally horizontal position and the ends l2 of the top member are arranged within the contour of the upper ends l3 of the leg members. The upper ends l3 of the leg members are centrally cut away to provide recesses M of upwardly opening generally U-shaped form for the free reception of the ends l2 of the top member.

At the upper corners of the diaphragm the ends l2 of the top member are connectedwith the ends I3 of the leg members by means of free acting corner pieces l5 of relatively thin, soft, pliant material. Chrome leather has been found ex- 3 cellent for this purpose. The corner pieces I5 are of generally L-shaped form, as shown in Fig. 9, and are sewed or otherwise secured along their reentrant edges 16 to the edges [1 of th ends of the top member and along their opposed edges l8 to the edges i9 of the U-shaped recesses in the upper ends of the leg members. The corner pieces l5 are loosely sleeved back under the ends I2 of the top'member in variably divergent relation thereto, the positions assumed by the corner pieces with respect to the ends of the top and leg members depending upon the degree of contraction or extension of the diaphragm. In an'extremely contracted position, such as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the corner pieces I5 will be so disposed as to more or less snugly conform to the convex surface of the top member In, whereas in an extremely expanded'position of the diaphragm, such as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the corner pieces l5 will diverge more or less abruptly from the convex surface of the top member.

In order to obtain a nicely tailored fit of the corner pieces IE to the edges of the top and leg members some additional fullness is desirable in the corner pieces at 23, along their edges NB. This added fullness may be obtained without difficulty by cutting each of the corner pieces in two identical sections 21 and providing them with edges 22 which are adapted to be overlapped and sewn together at 23 in generally parallel relation. The edges 22 are initially cut with an outward curve at 24 and thereafter sewed together in a more or less straight line, whereby to produce the desired fullness at 20.

Fig. shows a two-fold, as distinguished from single-fold, diaphragm constructed i accordance with the invention. In this diaphragm two sets of top and leg members it and I i, similarly joined by corner pieces I5, are employed.

The improved diaphragm is adapted to effectively withstand the folding, creasing, buckling and twisting to which diaphragms are constantly subjected in modern high speed railway operation, and will give satisfactory service over a long period of time because of the freely yieldable nal ture of the novel corner connections, which connections readily conform to the expansion and contraction of the diaphragm at the corner locations, without undue strains or stresses.

I claim:

1. In a railway car diaphragm of the accordion type, separate top and leg channel members of flexible sheet material, which members are of outwardly opening cross section and are collapsible and extensible ina direction at right angles to their lengths, the ends of the top member extending laterally into the upper ends of the le members, and the upper ends of the leg members being centrally relieved to provide upwardly opening recesses for the free reception of the ends of the top member, and corner pieces of relatively thin soft-pliant material which are secured along lapsed or extended.

4 certain of their edges to the edges of the ends of the top member and along their remaining edges to the edges of the recesses in the upper ends of the leg members, with the corner pieces loosely sleeved back under the ends of the top member in variably divergent relation thereto depending upon the degree to which the diaphragm is col- 2. In a railway car diaphragm of the accordion type, separate top and leg channel members of thick longitudinally stiff fabric, which members are of outwardly opening generally U-shaped cross section and are collapsible and extensible in a direction at right angles to their lengths, the ends of the top member extending laterally into the upper ends of the leg members, and the upper ends of the leg members being centrally relieved to provide recesses of upwardly openin generally U-shaped form for the free reception of the ends of the top member, and corner pieces of relatively thin soft pliant material of generally L-shaped form which are secured along their reentrant edges to the edges of the ends of the top member and along their opposed edges to the edges of the U-shaped recesses in the upper ends of the leg members, with the corner pieces loosely sleeved back under the ends of the top member in variably divergent relation thereto depending upon the degree to which the diaphragm is collapsed or extended.

3. In a railway car diaphragm of the accordion type, separate top and leg channel members of thick longitudinally stiff multi-ply fabric, which members are of outwardly opening generally U- shaped cross section and are collapsible and extensible in a direction at right angles to their lengths, the ends of the top member extending laterally into the upper ends of the leg members, and the upper ends of the leg members being centrally relieved to provide recesses of upwardly opening generally U-shaped form for the free reception of the ends of the top member, and corner pieces of relatively thin soft pliant leather of generally L-shaped form which are secured along their reentrant edges to the edges of the ends of the top member and along their opposed edges to the edges of the U-shaped recesses in the upper ends of the leg members, with the corner pieces loosely sleeved back under the ends of the top member in variably divergent relation thereto depending upon the degree to which the diaphragm is collapsed or extended.

4. A railway car diaphragm of the construction set forth in claim 1, in which said corner pieces are members of generally L-shaped form which are composed of a plurality of initially flat pieces of material, which pieces are joinedtogether in such manner as to produc in the corner pieces additional fullness along the center portions of the outer edges of the latter.

JOHN A. WENDLAND.

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