USRE14785E - Door operating mechanism - Google Patents

Description

sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

inlays. imm', or CHICAGO, 1LLINo1's,'AssIGNon To NATIONALDUMP can co., or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS', vA CORPORATION OF MAINE..

noon-OPERATING MECHANISM.

` Chicago, in the county of CookA and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DorfOperating Mech'- anism, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to door operating mechanlsm particularly 1n connection with general service cars.

The objects of the invention are to pro'- vide a simplev and efficient door operating mechanism which Vis positive in its action, so arranged that no strain `is placed upon the mechanism tending `to distort it, thus miniini'zing' repairs; to provide a device which can be easily operated; and provide an operat. ing de vicefso` arranged as to'increase the :a efficiency of the car in unloading,

`- chain to the shaft through devices usually General service cars, as is Well known, imve theirfiat bottoms composed largely of :i 'op doors from which the dumpableladi is discharged. It 'has been customary in lire past lto provide operati'n mechanisms for these doors by means of w ich a plurality of doorsc'an be closed and opened simultaneously. The classes of operating mechanisms heretofore used, generally speaking," are of two kinds; those which emplo f a winding shaft connected by chains or eX-. ible elements to the doors, and those in which the ,shaft placed beneaththe doors operates directly to raise the same.

The first 'classnf device is opento the objection that, owing to the weight of the doors, the chains or flexible elements connecting the doors to the shaft are apt to stretch or kink unequally, so that some of the doors cannot be fully closed, making it impossible to' transfer rthe load from the employed. Cars having these chain and shaft operated doors are open to the further objection that the chainsarein the path of the outcoming load as 'it is `dlscharged, thus hindering the free flow of the material from the car.

Cars of the second class, that is, those emploving the shaftl as the direct operating' member for the doors, while free from the last named objection,.areapt to become defective because of the torslonal stralns imfposed'upon-the shaftsin closing the doors;

Specification of Beissued Letters Patent.` Reissued Jn. 6., 1920.

No. 285,216, md March 26,.'1919.- apigncationfor 1919. Serial No. 340,938.

These shafts extend, approximately one-half 4the length of the car and are operated from the end of'the car 'by rolling the shaft back .and forth beneath the doors. The shaft ends farthest from the ends of the car, owing to -the torsional strainsupon the shaft, will sometimes become distorted, -so that certain of the doors will not be fully closed. This is especially true if small amounts of material are left upon the doors, requiring the exercise of unusual effort to compel the shaft to moveinto fully closed position.

vMy new door operating mechanism disclosed in this -application overcomes the ob# `ections to both types of mechanism, there Aeing no chains to interfere with the load or to become stretched, and there being, no shaft for directly raising or supporting the doors. The closing of the doors by lifting each door singly can 'be done with less effort, and probably inless time, than a complete section can be raised by the old devices,

while the droppingof the' Vdoors may take place in sections.

Anotherv advantage in lifting the doors singly is that the operator sees any objects of material which may be left on the door or underframe requirin cleaning off. WVhen the doors are raised rom the end of the car as isnow commonly done, it is not always possible to notice these things,fthe` result being that attempts are frequently made to close the doors when particles 'of coal are interposed between the edge 'of the door and the adjacent underframe member, thus put'- ting agreatstrain upon the operating mechanism in attempting to force doors into fully closed position.

. The invention 1s illustrated on the accom panying sheets of drawings, in wh1ch Figure 1 'is a fragmentary side elevation' of a general service car embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 Ais a transverse same; and

3 is a. detail bottom plan View of a dump door equipped -with my operating mechanism.

The vvarious novel features of'my invention will be apparent vfrom the following description and drawings and will be particularly ointed out in the' appended claims.

Re erring to the figures of the drawings, it will be noted that I have'shown a general sectional view of the serviceca'r having sideslO, ends 11, and a;

floor composed largely of dump doors 12, @which are pivotall7 connected at theirinner ends to the center sill structure 13, the

frame-Work of thel car including transverse' supporting and strengthening Ymembers 14, which are provided with stop members 15.'

upon which the dump doors- `12 rest when in .an open position.

. lThisunvention has; to do primarily .with .the door operatmg mechanism. Having in mind the disadvantages ofV door operating devices heretofore vemployed and the advantages of this present door operating mechanism, as hereinabove set forth, attention is called to the fact that each of the dump vdoors is raised from an open position into a closed position separately-v and independ-l .ently of any other onefof the doors.' Secured tothe bottoml of each of the dump doors 12 is a bracket 16,' pivotally connected to the middleportion of which at 17I is alever "18, to one end of which is pivotally connected, at 19, a locking member 201 Pivotally connected a'tf 21 to an intermediate point of l'the leveris-another locking mem bery 22. The outer end- Aof lthe member 18 hasA a Ahandle portion-'),y whereby the locking members 221may--be moved toward and away from a locking position.l The ends of theA locking members 20 Aand 22,1espectively,

farer adapted lto pass' into recesses or locking f pockets 21,4 formed in castings 25secured to the rame'mem'bers 14. -`Let it be assumed 'that ally of the dump .doors l2 are in their open.r position, as shown atthe right hand of Fig. 2e. y To raise each one ofthese doors individually to its closed position, the same is accomplished by grasping-the handle 23 and lifting the same up- Wa'rdly, it being understood that the handle I 23 is |in its central position, with the lock- 'fing members`20 'and 2 2 inI an unlocked posi? vvtion. When each door hasbeen vraised into its closed position, the yhandle may '-be swung in one direction to cause the locking membersA 20 and 22 'to move into the lockjecting `l1p 26 `of a bracketl 27 secured to the' `l ing openings 24 of the' brackets 25, whereupon the doors `will be locked or supported in their closed position,thislocking movement of the handlel23 being the final lock-` in movement.. The handle 23 alsoI takes a loc ing position, inwhich it overlles a proframe-'of the car. Eaoh'doo1, 3herefo1e, vwhen locked in'closedpositlon, is locked at three points, at the bracketsv y.25 fahd bracket 27. 2

lVVhile'there are many advantages in raising the doors into a yclosed position individually and locking said'doors in closed position individually, as hereinabove setforth,

. l there are advantages also'in 'releasinga plu-` -rality'of thedoorsgsimultaneously for dumpfing purposes., To this end, have provided-v purposes. l

' means forreleasing a plurality of doors simultaneously, and preferably there are'four releasing means for each car, that is, one rc.- leasing means for each quarter of the car. This releasing means takes the form'of a longitudinally'extending and longitudinally movable barmember 28, slidablyy supported upon the outer ends of the frame member 14, each of said bar members having a plu' rality of .dovvnwardly extending arms or projections 29, which are adapted to vmove thehandles 23 and the rlocking members 20 and 22 connected thereto from a locking, po-v sition into an unlocking'position, for re`A leasing a plurality of doors'simultaneously for dumping purposes.'

` As shown` particularly in Fig. l, it Will'be Iuotedthat the longitudinally extending bar member 2S has pirotally connected thereto,v

at 30, a control lever 31, which is pivotally supported at 32, intermediate its ends. As shown inlsaid figure, the dump doors are all locked in closed position with the handle,2-3

'in each case overlying the supporting lip 26, the 4unlocking proJection 29 secured to the bar member 28 in each case lying in juxtaposition to the 4handle If now the control lever` 31 is moved in aA clockwise direction, the -bar member 2S will be moved to the left, causing its projections 29 to move the handles 23 to the left, out of supporting engagement. with the l.supporting lips 26,A

mov-ing the locking members 20 and 22 out vof engagement with the brackets 25 .and into unlocking position, whereupon the dump doors in that section of the carcontrolled bvthereleasjing lever 31'Will drop. into an open position simultaneously for dumping The door operating mechanism hasl all of -the .advantages hereinabove mentioned in connection With raising the dumpvdoors into Aclosed position individually and locking the said dump doors individually Without the use of chains or shafts as heretofore used. y Furthermore, these doors are not supportedin` vtheir closed position by chains or shafts, as

'has been vthecase heretofore, chains, and

shafts being eliminated in the construction here disclosed; and at the same ti'meapllbrality of doors are released to drop into an openposition smiultaneously by mechanism Whichissimple and effective, the door ,oper-v ating mechanism being adaptcd to -meetall of the yrequirements under service conditions.

spirit and scopeof the. following claims.

I clann: M .-1 ,1, 1. In a general servlce `car having a, plurality of doors, means for closing. said doors 12o It is'my intention to cover all moditicatlons of the invention ,falling witllintlw individually, and me.ns common toga.' plurality of the doors 'anl movable lengthwise of the car for releasing said doors. ,f

" 2.' In a general serv1cecar'havingap1ii} rality of doors, means 4for closing said doors means for locking said doors" individu'llly, individually, and means commonv to a plurality ,of doors and movable. .lengthwise of I the car for unlocking the doors simultaneously.v 3. In a neral service car having a plur'alty of oors, aj handle on each of said doors :for movin said doors intoa given p o- ",10 sition individua 1y and whereby 'said doors may be locked in said p'osition, and means movable'lengthwise of the car operatively -oonnected wlth each of said handles for moving a plurality yof said handles into an v'lbi'unlocked position whereby a plurality of l said doors may -be released simultaneously. 4. In a eneralservice carhaving a plu- .,rality of oors, a handle on each of said doors -for moyin said doors into a given po- '20 Vsition individua ly and whereby said doors r ma. be' locked in said position, the locking*- -'act1on by said handle being the final locking action, and a slidably mounted Imember havyilortions adapted-to engage and release 85 said andles for releasing a plurality of said doors simultaneously. l .5. In a genera-1 service car having a door,

a. lever connected thereto, a lockingmemberpivotally connected to said lever and l$ movable into lockin and. unlocking positions by operation o said lever, said door being raised individually and locked through movement of said lever, anda bar-mounted for longitudinal movement with respect to .8 6 said car operatively connected to said lever for moving said locking member into an un- -loc position.' 6. a general servicecar having a door, a, leverlpivotally connected thereto, locking 4Q members pivotally connected to saidl leverl fll' and movable into locking and unlockingpo'l sitions by said lever, cooperating locking i members carried by the frame of the car for -iid locking members and lever, and means for actuating said lever for moving the lock- 5 members into an unloclcn1 osition,

salda door being lraised indivi ua through movement of said lever.

of November, 1919. ly and v 8. In a eneral service car yhaving lcross-- wise and ongitudinally' "extending frame members, statlona Alocking members carried thereby, a plvotally mounted dump door, a lever--pivotall connected to said door and having a han le portion, and moxLk able locking members pivotally connected to said lever and movable into. locking relation- .ship vwith certainof said stationary locking.

members -by vmovement of said lever, said lever also moving into a locking relationship .with one `of theV stationary lockin members, said door also being raised indlvidually 'through said hand lever. 9. In a general service car having cross- 'Wise and longit-udinally extending frame members, stationary locking members. carried thereby, a pivotally mounted dump door, a lever. pivotally connected vto said door and having a handle portion, movable locking members pivotally connected to said lever and movable into locking relationship ujith 'said stationary locki members by movement of said lever, said oor also bei y raised Iindividually through said hand lever,

andv means Y cope-rating with the lever for moving the lever and movable locking mem-- bers into an unlocking position.

10.v A general service car having a iioor composed largely of drop doors, means' for lifting one of said doors individually byl hand, and means includin a member lmovably mounted on the door or supporting the door in lifted'v position.

11. A genera-l .service car having a floor composed largely of drop doors, means carried vby one of said doors for individually lifting said door and for permanently locking said door in closed position.

12. Ina general service car having a plurality` of doors, means for individually lifting said doors, 'and means for individually locking said doors in closed position, said locking means being operated by a movement of the lifting means.

v13. 4A general service car having afsubstantiallyhorizontal.floor composed lar ely of doors hinged at or near the center sil of the 'car and dropping away from the-sides of the car tov discharge the load, and means for lifting said doors individually by hand-l and for `supporting-'said doors in closed p osition. i

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day HARRY s. VHART-

Images