U.S. patent number 3,654,872 [Application Number 05/035,977] was granted by the patent office on 1972-04-11 for railway hopper car pivoted closure chute.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc.. Invention is credited to Joseph G. Fearon.
United States Patent |
3,654,872 |
Fearon |
April 11, 1972 |
RAILWAY HOPPER CAR PIVOTED CLOSURE CHUTE
Abstract
Ballast is distributed in controlled amounts between or outside
parallel rails of a railroad from a railway ballast or hopper car
having discharge openings in the lower end of each of the hoppers.
Discharge control members, in their normal position, cover each of
the discharge openings of the ballast car hoppers. The discharge
control members are pivotally supported from the car body for
rotation about pivot points directly above each rail. When the
discharge control members are rotated in one direction ballast is
distributed between the rails. When rotated in the opposite
direction ballast is discharged outside the rails. The amount of
ballast discharged is controlled by the degree of rotation of the
discharge control members.
Inventors: |
Fearon; Joseph G. (Libby,
MT) |
Assignee: |
Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc.
(Boise, ID)
|
Family
ID: |
21885884 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/035,977 |
Filed: |
May 11, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
105/239; 105/248;
105/283; 105/308.1; 105/252; 105/296; 222/536 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61D
7/12 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B61D
7/00 (20060101); B61D 7/12 (20060101); B61d
007/06 (); B61d 007/18 (); B61d 007/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;105/239,247,248,283,252,296,38R ;222/536 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: La Point; Arthur L.
Assistant Examiner: Beltran; Howard
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. In a car comprising: hoppers disposed longitudinally thereof,
each hopper having longitudinally extending discharge openings, at
least one above each rail on which the car rides,
a discharge control member for each discharge opening,
means pivotally supporting each of said discharge control member
from the car body for rotation about a pivotal axis parallel and
directly above the associated car rail, each discharge control
member having (1) an arcuate top surface extending parallel to and
covering the discharge opening when in the closed position and
rotatable about said pivotal axis to uncover the discharge opening
an amount dependent upon the degree of rotation thereof, (2) a pair
of sidewalls inclined downwardly from said arcuate top surface so
as to direct ballast flowing through the discharge opening to one
side or the other of the car rails, the pivotal axis about which
the discharge member is mounted being located above the center of
gravity thereof so as to be counterweighted and to normally assume
said closed position, the counterweight of the discharge member
plus the weight of the ballast flowing onto either of the sidewalls
exerting a force on the discharge member tending to return it to
said closed position,
actuating means to rotate the discharge control member about its
pivotal axis to the open or closed position, and
friction brake means acting between the discharge member and its
support means for applying a force sufficient to equalize the
rotative force exerted by the weight of the ballast flowing over
the sidewall and the counterweight of the discharge member tending
to return the discharge member to the closed position,
whereby, when the discharge member is manually rotated about its
pivotal axis to discharge ballast, said brake means will maintain
the open position until the equalizing force is overcome by said
actuating means, whereupon the discharge member swings back to the
closed position.
2. The car of claim 1 including means for locking the discharge
control member in closed position.
3. The car of claim 1 including a pair of end walls joining and
overlapping the sidewalls of the discharge member to channel
ballast being discharged.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a railway ballast car having means for
carrying and unloading controlled amounts of ballast between and
outside the rails of a railroad.
2. Prior Art Relating to the Disclosure
Conventional railroad ballast cars for transporting and dumping
ballast have manually operated bottom doors to deposit piles of
ballast outside of or between the rails. Such a ballast car is
shown and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,977,308. The
ballast is subsequently spread by hand or by a separate machine
riding on the rails. Ballast cars have been designed to deposit and
spread ballast. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,930. Ballast
cars of such a design, however, are expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a railway ballast car of conventional
design wherein the discharge openings of the ballast cars are
modified and discharge control members fitted thereon. The
discharge control members are pivotally supported from the car body
at pivot points beneath each of the discharge openings, the
discharge control members in normal position covering the discharge
openings. The discharge control members are rotatable in one
direction to deposit ballast between the rails and rotatable in the
opposite direction to deposit ballast outside the rails. The amount
of ballast deposited depends on the degree of rotation.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a multiple
hopper railway ballast car having hopper discharge openings whose
degree of opening is controlled by a discharge control member of
simple design.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a railway
ballast car of conventional design modified as described herein for
depositing controlled amounts of ballast between and outside the
rails.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a railway hopper car of
conventional design with the hopper discharge openings thereof
fitted with discharge control members of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view of the ballast car of FIG. 1
showing the position of the discharge control means relative to the
rails on which the ballast car rides;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of one of the discharge control members
of this invention showing its relation to the discharge openings in
the bottom of each hopper of the ballast car.
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a modified discharge control
member;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the discharge control member of FIG.
4;
FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the means for rotating the
discharge control member about its pivot point and locking it in a
predetermined position; and
FIG. 7 is an expanded perspective view of the friction brake of
FIG. 6 used to hold the discharge control member in a predetermined
set position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
The modified ballast car of this invention enables the continuous
deposition of controlled amounts of ballast between and outside the
rails of a railroad along sections of newly layed or repaired
railroad track. The ballast is not deposited in piles but is
deposited continuously between and outside the rails as the ballast
car is pulled or pushed along the section of track by suitable
power means. FIG. 1 shows a conventional ballast car 10 having an
underframe 12 supporting sets of wheels 14 for the car, the wheels
riding on parallel rails 16. The car body includes sidewalls 18,
end walls 20 and sloping walls 22 which extend below the underframe
of the car body. Depending from the lower edges of the sloping
walls 22 are sloping extensions 24 forming discharge openings 26
from the respective hoppers of the ballast car. The length
dimension of the discharge openings preferably extends parallel to
the length dimension of the ballast car. As shown in FIG. 1 there
are two openings above each rail 16. FIG. 3 shows the position of
the discharge openings 26 relative to rail 16.
Depending from the underframe and forming end walls for each of the
discharge openings are pairs of support members 28 which extend
below and transversely to the length dimension of the respective
discharge openings. Between each pair of parallel support members
is supported a discharge control member 30, each discharge control
member pivotally mounted for rotation about a pivot point 32.
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of one of the discharge control
members, the remainder of the discharge control members for the
other discharge openings being the same. The discharge control
member 30 comprises an arcuate top member 34 whose surface has a
radius equal to the distance from pivot point 32 to substantially
the lower end of discharge opening 26. The arcuate member 34
extends the full longitudinal width of discharge opening 26 and, in
normal position, covers the discharge opening entirely, preventing
discharge of any ballast material. Sufficient space is left between
the top of arcuate member 34 and the lower ends of extensions 24 to
allow free rotation of member 34 about the pivot point.
Extending downwardly from the arcuate member 34 on each side
thereof and parallel to the longitudinal length of discharge
opening 26 are a pair of side walls 36. The sidewalls 36 are
connected together at their lower end by a bottom wall 38 and end
walls 40 and 42. The end walls 40 and 42 extend beyond their
intersection with each of the sidewalls 36 to form lip portions
which channel ballast along the gravity chutes formed by the
sidewalls and end walls.
Each of the discharge members 30 is pivotally mounted between
parallel support members 28 on a shaft 44 extending through and
rigidly secured to the discharge control member and supported for
rotation by the respective support members 28. The pivot point for
each of the discharge control members, as seen in FIG. 3, is
directly above rail 16 and in the same vertical plane thereof.
Further, the discharge members are mounted so that they will
normally remain in closed position. With reference to FIG. 3 the
pivot point 32 is above the center of gravity of each of the
discharge members. Thus the discharge control members will normally
remain in the closed position.
Attached to each of the discharge control members are means for
rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise to discharge ballast
between or outside the rails. The means may comprise handles 46
connected to each of the discharge members 30. An alternate means
for rotating the discharge control members is shown in FIGS. 4 to
7, and particularly in FIG. 7, and comprises a plate 48 rigidly
secured to shaft 44. The plate 48 includes one or more integral
fittings 50 having openings therein large enough to receive a
length of pipe or rod for manually rotating the discharge control
member 30.
During transit of a ballast car loaded with ballast there is the
possibility of the discharge members rotating an amount sufficient
to discharge ballast due to vibration or other force. To prevent
this a locking means may be provided to lock the discharge control
members in closed position. The locking means is best shown in FIG.
7 and comprises a latch 52 supported for rotation at its upper end
by a shaft extending through two parallel support members 54
secured to and extending transversely from member 28. The lower end
of the latch 52 fits into a notch 56 in plate 48 when the discharge
control member is in closed position. Although manual means for
opening and closing the discharge openings of the ballast car is
shown, means for automatically opening the discharge members a
controlled amount can be provided.
The degree of rotation of the discharge members controls the amount
of ballast discharged from the ballast car. The amount of ballast
needed can be correlated with the speed at which the engine pulls
the ballast car along the section of track. To hold the discharge
control members open to a predetermined set position it is
desirable to include a friction brake 58 (see FIG. 7) which presses
against the end wall 40 of the discharge control member a
sufficient amount to hold it in a predetermined open position. The
friction brake 58 includes a brake plate 60 of brass or other
suitable material in contact with end wall 40. A set screw 62
extends from plate 40 through an opening in support member 28 the
size of or larger than the dimensions of brake plate 60 and further
through member 64 welded to support member 28. A lock nut 66 is
threaded on set screw 62 and is used to adjust the pressure of
brake plate 60 against end wall 40 of the discharge control
member.
The sidewalls 36 and 38 preferably have a taper of approximately
2.77 to 1. Clearance between the arcuate member 34 and the lower
end of tapered walls 24 should be sufficient to retain ballast.
Usually ballast ranges in diameter from three-fourths inch to 11/2
inches; therefore, a clearance between the lower ends of the
tapered walls and the top of the arcuate member 34 of approximately
one-fourth inch is sufficient.
Conventional railway ballast cars can be easily modified to achieve
the results of this invention. Most ballast cars of present design
utilize cone shaped members leading from the bottom of each of the
hoppers, one side of the cone shaped member opening to allow
discharge of material out of the hopper car. By the present
invention the lower part of the cone shaped structure is removed to
form a discharge opening 26 and a discharge control member 30
fitted thereover and supported by suitable support members. Ballast
can be deposited between and outside the rails of a newly layed
track readily and accurately with little or no further spreading
needed.
* * * * *