US3013508A - Pulpwood transportation cars - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 19, 1961 s. w. FAIRWEATHER PULPWOOD TRANSPORTATION CARS WE s 1 5 a m m m MIWMN 1m m M RN m Filed April 21, 1958 Dec. 19, 1961 s. w. FAIRWEATHER 3,013,508

PULPWOOD TRANSPORTATION CARS Filed April 21, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 u) re 5;,

In zrerzfon Dec. 1 1 s. w. FAIRWEATHER PULPWOOD TRANSPORTATION CARS 6 SheeosSheet 3 Filed April M FAIAh/EA r/IER (23 W Dec. 19, 1961 s. w. FAIRWEATHER 3,013,508

PULPWOOD TRANSPORTATION CARS Filed April 21, 1958 \D 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 m .5. M FA/kWfATf/[R N Dec. 19, 1961 s. w. FAIRWEATHER 3,013,503

PULPWOOD TRANSPORTATION CARS Filed April 21, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 lawn/0w 3. M FA/RWFAf/IEQ Dec. 19, 1961 s. w. FAIRWEATHER PULPWOOD TRANSPORTATION CARS 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April 21, 1958 Invemow 15. M FZ/Ph ZA T/IER fltfamzgys United States Patent real, Quebec, Canada Filed Apr. 21, 1958, Ser. No. 729,30 8 Claims. Ii. 105 378) This invention relates to improvements in railway cars for the transportation of logs and in particular pulpwoo d.

Heretofore, logs and pulpwood have been transported mainly on flat cars and the stacking of the logs on these flat cars has been a considerable problem and expense due to the inability to ensure the maintenance of the stacked load because of the lack of adequate enclosure. When such a load shifts it is necessary to stop transportation to unload and restack the logs. This, of course, results in considerable loss in transportation time as well as the expense ofrestacking. Moreover, when one or more logs project from the sides of the flat car and are unnoticed, they become a hazard to passing trains as well as to people on station platforms.

Box cars have also been used for transportation of pulpwood and other logs but due to the relatively small centre opening, loading and unloading is both tedious and awkward and, moreover, must be done manually only permitting one crew to work on a car.

The present invention proposes to overcome all of these hazards and difiiculties. In this connection it is a particular object of this invention to provide a pulpwood car comprising a plurality of doors of substantial width on both sides of the car and which are capable of being individually or collectively opened for selective loading and unloading along a substantial length of the car.

Another object is to provide a plurality of doorways along the length of each side of a pulpwood car which are adapted to be closed and opened by a door frame structure for each door-way which is capable of selectively swinging outwardly from its normally closed position and of sliding in the longitudinal direction of the car to an open position so that a plurality of doors on each side can be open at one time to facilitate simultaneous loading and unloading operations at either ends of the car.

Still another object of this invention is to provide each door of the character described with a novel safety looking mechanism which is separately operable for the securing and releasing of each door.

The above and other objects and characteristic features of this invention will be understood more readily from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a car embodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view invention and illustrating one manner in may be opened.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating another manner in which the doors may be opened.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one half of the car shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing a portion of the car in horizontal section and a fragment thereof in plan.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 77 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken through the car at the position indicated by lines 3-45 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side elevational view of fragments of the car shown in FIG. 1.

of a car embodying this which the doors ice FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view showing details of the car door 'lock actuating mechanism.

FIG. 11 is an end view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the lines 12-12 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the lines 13-43 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged detail view one end of the crib shown in FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 5 generally designates the pulpwood ear, including a deck 6 mounted on a car frame '7 and a crib structure mounted on said deck.

of a fragment of The crib structure comprises opposing end frames 9 and opposing side frames 10. The end frames 9 are each formed by four vertical I-beams 11, certain of which are secured to the ends of the car frame 7 by means of bottom extensions 12-. fitted in wells 14 in the car frame ends and certain of which are riveted at their lower ends to brackets 15 welded to the car :deck 6, as indicated at 16. An angle plate 17 is arranged across the bottom of the end frame 9 with one flange flatly engaging the car deck 6 and the other flange secured in an upright position to the inner flanges of the I-beaams 11. A cross-beam 18 of I-section extends across the top of the end frame with the upper ends of the lbeams 11 secured between the flanges on one side of said cross-beam 18. An inside skin 19 of heavy duty, chainlink, wire mesh extends across the end frames 9 to aid in retaining the load.

The crib side frames 10 are of skeleton structure and each consists mainly of a channel-section top beam 20 secured at its ends to the adjacent ends of the crib end frame cross-beam 18 and supported intermediate its length by upright posts 21, 22, 23 and 24.

A plurality of upright posts 21 are arranged in spaced relation on each side from the ends of the crib for a short distance towards the central section. Each upright post 21 is Z-section and has the outer surface of the inwardly disposed flange secured adjacent the upper end thereof to the outer flange of the channel-section top beam 20, as indicated at 25. The lower end 'of each upright post 21 is secured to an angle plate 26 which extends along the side of the deck 6 from the end frame bottom angle plate 17 for a predetermined distance toward the central section. Angle plate 26 has one flange underlying the lower end of the Z-section upright posts 21 and the other flange extending upright along the outer surface of the inwardly disposed flange of said upright posts 21. leg extensions 27 secured to the upright flange of angle plate 26 project downwardly therefrom and are fitted into U- shaped loops or straps 28 carried by the side of car frame 7 below the deck 6.

An upright post 22 extends between top beam 20 and the inner end of angle plate 26. Post 22 is channelsection and has its upper end secured to the inner surfaces of channel-section top beam 20 so that the outer edges of the flanges of said post 22 are directed toward the adjacent end frame 9 of the crib. The lower end of post 22 is mounted on a marginal extension 29 of the deck 6 with the outer surface of the outwardly'disposed flange of post 22 abutting and secured to the inwardly directed surface of the upright flange of angle plate 26 adjacent the inner end thereof. An inside skin of chain-wire mesh 30 extends across from post 22 to the end frame 9. This portion of each side structure and the adjacent end frame 9 conjointly form end pockets of approximatelyfi feet in depth at each end of the car crib.

Posts 23 are positioned at each mediate the centre of the car and each end pocket side forming structure. Each post 23 is I-section and has the outer surface of its outwardly disposed flanges se- Patented Dec. 19, 1961 side of the car intercured adjacent the upper end thereof to the inner flange of the channel-section top beam 20. The lower end of post 23 is secured between upper marginal portions of plates 31 and 32. Intermediate portions of plates 31 and 32 are bent outwardly and downwardly, as indicated at 33 and 34, so that lower marginal portions form an offset leg extension 35 receivable in a further U-shaped loop or strap 28 carried by the side of the car frame structure 7.

A post 24 is positioned in the centre of each side of the car. Post 24 is hollow and rectangular in crosssection. The upper portion of post 24 is welded to the outer surface of the outer flange of top beam 20, as indicated at 38. The lower portion of post 24 is Welded along its inner surface to the upper portion of a leg 39 having a tapered lower portion which extends through the deck 6 and into a further U-shaped loop or strap 28 on the side of car frame structure 7.

A central cross-tie 40 extends across the top of the crib between the opposing centre posts 24 and is secured on its underside to the top of posts 24 as Well as the underlying surface portion of top beam 20 by welding or other suitable means. Two intermediate crossties 41 extend across the top of the crib, one on either side of centre crosstie 40 substantially adjacent opposing intermediate posts 23. Cross-ties are bolted as indicated at 42 to the upper surface of the top beam 20 on either side of the car. Each top beam 20 is provided with a series of longitudinally spaced bolt holes 43 to permit adjustment of cross-ties 41 towards or away from the centre cross-tie 40 to secure the top of the crib at a predetermined distance intermediate the centre and one end thereof according to the load distribution in the crib.

At the top of each crib side frame structure inner and outer rails 45 and 46 extend outwardly in opposite directions from centre post 24 to post 22. The inner rail 45 on each side of centre post 24 is supported by end hanger brackets 47 and 48 located adjacent centre post 24 and post 22, respectively, and by an intermediate bracket 49, all of said brackets being suspended from the web portion of channel shaped top beam 20. It will be seen that inner rail 45 is located inside of post 24, outside of post 23 and extends through an opening in post 22. The outer rail 46 on each side of centre post 24 has its inner end secured in post 24, as indicated at 50 and is supported intermediate its length by a bracket 51 secured to the outer flange of top beam 20 adjacent post 23 and at its outer end by a bracket 52 secured to the outer flange of top beam 26 adjacent post 22. It will be seen that the outer rail 46 is located outside of posts 22 and 23.

-A pair of inner and outer door structures 55 and 56, having an inside skin of Wire mesh 30, are suspended from inner and outer rails 45 and 46 respectively. Inner door structure 55 is normally suspended to close the gap between posts 22 and 23 by hangers 57 and 58 having eyelets at the upper end thereof fitted about inner rail 45 to permit both swinging and sliding movement of door structure 55. Hanger 57 is arranged at one end of the door structure 55 to be normally positioned adjacent post 22 on the side thereof nearest post 23. Hanger 58 is arranged at the opposite end of the door structure 55 and has its upper portion angularly offset so that the eyelet thereof is disposed on the side of bracket 49 remote from post 22. This arrangement permits the door structure 55 either to be swung outwardly about the axis of rail 45 from the normally closed position or else to be slidably moved toward the centre post 24.

The outer door structure 56 is normally suspended to close the gap between posts 23 and 24 by hangers 59 and 60 having eyelets at the upper end thereof fitted about outer rail 46 to permit both swinging and sliding movement of door structure 56. Hanger 59 is arranged at one end of the door structure 56 and has its upper portion angularly offset so that the eyelet thereof is disposed on the side of intermediate bracket 51 remote from post 24. Hanger 6%) is arranged at the opposite end of the door structure 56 to be normally positioned adjacent centre post 24 on the side thereof nearest post 23. This arrangement permits the door structure 56 either to be swung outwardly about the axis of rail 46 from the normally closed position or else to be slidably moved toward the outer post 22.

It will be seen that inner door structure 55 is slidable from its normally closed position between posts 22 and 23 to an open position behind the outer door structure 56 because of the relative positioning of intermediate hanger bracket 49 and the eyelet of inner door hanger 58. It will also be appreciated that the outer door structure 56 is slidable from its normally closed position between posts 23 and 24 to an open position in front of door structure 55 because of the relative positioning of intermediate hanger bracket 51 and the eyelet of outer door hanger 59.

When the inner and outer door structures 55 and 56 are in their normally closed positions they may be secured by separate locking mechanisms arranged below the deck 6 outwardly of the frame 7. One locking mechanism includes a shaft 65 extending from a lock actuating mechanism 66 at the end of the car to adjacent intermediate post 23. Shaft 65 is journalled in brackets 67, carried by the car frame 7, to rotate about a horizontal axis. A plurality of pairs of crank arm members 68 are fixed at one end to rotate with shaft 65. A locking pin 69 is pivotally connected at 70 to each pair of crank arms 68. When shaft 65 is rotated in one direction the pins 69 are projected through openings 71 in deck 6 and into U-shaped brackets on loops 72 carried by the lower frame of door structure 55 to secure the door structure in its closed position. Reverse rotation of shaft 65 retracts the pins 69. The lock actuating mechanism 66 includes a sleeve member 73 eccentrically mounted on the outer end of shaft 65 to rotate therewith, a ratchet 74 connected to sleeve member 73 and concentric with the axis of shaft 66 and a pawl 75 mounted on a separate axis 76 and operable by a lever 77 to engage and disengage the ratchet 74. A handle 78 is removably insertable in sleeve 73 to rotate said shaft 65 and thereby actuate the lock mechanism.

Another locking mechanism includes a shaft extending from a lock actuating mechanism 91 located a predetermined distance inwardly from the car end to adjacent the centre post 24. Shaft 90 is arranged parallel to and outwardly of shaft 65 and is journalled in brackets 67, carried by the car frame 7 to rotate about a horizontal axis. A plurality of pairs of crank arms 92 are fixed at one end to rotate with shaft 96. A locking pin 93 is pivotally connected at 94 to each pair of crank arms 92. When shaft 90 is rotated in one direction the pins 93 are projected through openings similar to openings 71 in the deck 6 and into U-shaped brackets or loops 95 carried by the lower frame of door structure 66 to secure the door structure in its closed position. Reverse rotation of shaft 90 retracts the pins 93. The lock actuating mechanism 91 is similar in structure to the lock actuating mechanism 66.

The door structures 55 and 56 are also provided with additional safety locks, including a chain 96 secured to posts 22, 23 and 24, pin receiving brackets 97 and a pin carrying chain 98 carried by the adjacent side frame of the door structures 55 and 56. When the doors are closed the free loop end of chain 96 is inserted between brackets 97 and the pin of chain 98 is inserted through the openings in the brackets and through the said chain loop.

Manual loading of the car is similar to loading a box car. With the door nearest the end of the car open, logs are stacked first in the end pockets of the car, then the logs are stacked in the open doorway section. This door is then closed and locked as above described and the doors adjacent either side of the centre post 24 are moved to aoraeos an open position. Loading is then carried on in these two open doorway sections and the second pair of doors are closed and locked. Due to the length of the car and the particular arrangement of the doors it is possible to employ two loading crews at a time, each crew working at opposite ends of the car. It will be appreciated that, when loading is completed and the doors are secured, there is complete safety in the transportation of the cars at high speeds since there is no danger of the load dumping in transit or even of the hazard of a log being displaced and projecting beyond the sides of the car.

Mechanical loading is readily accomplished with any type of equipment designed to lower bundles of logs through the open top of the car crib. With the exception of the three cross-ties there is no obstruction and these cross-ties are so positioned as to give a minimum amount of obstruction. V Unloading may be done manually or mechanically. The manual procedure is substantially the reverse of the loading operation. Due to the location of the door lock actuating mechanisms the operator must be in a position which is substantially clearof the door to be opened so that there is no danger of him being struck by any logs which may be dislodged when said doors have been disengaged by the locking mechanism.

Mechanical unloading is greatly simplified and can be accomplished by grapples through the top opening or can be pushed off from one side after opposing doors have been opened. This latter process only necessitates manhandling of the logs stacked in the end pockets.

The car structure also lends itself to gravity unloading of the logs which can be further assisted by elevating one rail so that the main bulk of the load will roll out through the doors open on one side of the car. This will leave only those logs in the end pockets to be manhandled.

What I claim is:

1. A railway car for the transportation of pulpwood, logs and the like comprising an open-top crib structure mounted on the deck of a car frame, said crib including opposing immovable end frames and opposing sideframes, each of said side frames comprising immovable end sections forming an end pocket with the adjacent end frame, an outer post adjacent each end pocket, a centre post and an intermediate post located a substantial distance between each outer post and the centre post to define two doorways on either side of said centre post, said side frame end sections and said outer, intermediate and centre posts being rigidly connected at their upper ends by a top beam extending the length of said side frame, means mounting a pair of doors for normally closing the two doorways at one side of said centre post, said pair of door structures being mounted for selective sliding movement relative to one another to open either one of said two doorways and for outward swinging movement about horizontal axes when in their normally closed position, means mounting a second pair of doors for normally closing the two doorways at the other side of said centre post, said second pair of doors being mounted for selective sliding movement relative to one another to open either one of said last mentioned two doorways and for outward swinging movement about horizontal axes when in their normally closed position, and releasable locking means carried by said car frame for separately securing each of said doors in its normally closed position.

2. A railway car as set forth in claim 1, including a centre cross-tie member extending between and secured to the top beam and centre post of opposing side frames.

3. A railway car as set forth in claim 2, including an intermediate cross-tie arranged on either side of said centre cross-tie between opposing side frames, each intermediate cross-tie being secured at its ends to said top beam at a selected point intermediate said centre post and the adjacent end frame of the crib and means provided in said top beam for selectively adjusting the distance between said centre cross-tie and each of said intermediate cross-ties.

4. A railway car as set forth in claim 1, including inner and outer rail members carried by said top beam on opposite sides of said centre post to adjacent the said outer posts, one of said pair of doors which normally closes the doorway remote from the centre post being suspended from an inner rail member and being selectively swingable outwardly about the axis of said inner rail member when said door is in its normally closed position and slidable along said inner rail member to a position across the doorway adjacent said centre post, and the other of said pair of doors which normally closes the doorway adjacent said centre post being suspended from an outer rail member and being selectively swingable outwardly about the axis of said outer rail member when said other door is in its normally closed position and slidable along said outer rail member to a position overlying the first of said doors and across the doorway remote from said centre post.

5. A railway car as set forth in claim 4, in which said centre post is disposed in the path of sliding movement of the door on either side thereof suspended from the outer rail member and in which said outer post is in the path of sliding movement of the door suspended from the inner rail member, said intermediate post being disposed inwardly of the paths of travel of said doors to permit sliding movement thereof from their normally closed to opened positions.

6. A railway car as set forth in claim 4, in which said top beam is channel shaped as viewed in cross-section, and in which said inner rail members are carried by brackets depending from the web portion of said top beam and said outer rail members are carried by brackets secured along one side to the outer surface of one of the flanges of said top beam.

7. A railway car as set forth in claim 1, in which said releasable locking means includes a first shaft extending longitudinally of the car beneath the car deck from adjacent one end to adjacent the intermediate post on the same side of the centre post, a plurality of crank arms spaced along said first shaft to rotate therewith, a pin pivotally connected to each of said crank arms and being selectively projected and retracted through said deck to engage and disengage one of said pair of doors when in its normally closed position, and a second shaft extending longitudinally of the car beneath the car deck from adjacent one end to adjacent the centre post, a plurality of crank arms spaced along said second shaft to rotate therewith, a pin pivotally connected to each of said last mentioned crank arms and being selectively projected and retracted through said deck to engage and disengage the other of said pair of doors when in its normally closed position, and actuating means carried by said first and second shafts for separately rotating the same.

8. A railway car as set forth in claim 1 including an open mesh skin lining the side and ends of said crib.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 266,829 Johnston Oct. 31, 1882 836,239 Buckley Nov. 20, 1906 882,308 Gilman Mar. 17, 1908 930,393 Lamb Aug. 10, 1909 1,202,927 Wagner Oct. 31, 1916 1,443,521 Brandt Jan. 30, 1923 2,320,216 Brister Mar. 25, 1943 2,756,694 Wardein July 31, 1956

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