Door operating mechanism

Abstract

A railway hopper car having a plurality of longitudinally extending pairs of discharge gates operatively connected to a bell crank and strut and said bell crank having trackside mounted cam engaging rollers to provide for selective opening and closing of said discharge doors upon movement of said hopper vehicle along a railway track. Means are also provided for manual opening and closing of the hopper doors and a door closing spring assembly is engageable with the bell crank to provide for assisting in closing of the hopper doors.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to railway hopper vehicles and in particular to the associated mechanism provided for opening and closing longitudinally disposed discharge gates.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Prior art trackside mounted door opening arrangements have included ground mounted cam members generally disposed between the rail and engageable with a centrally disposed door opening mechanism mounted on the associated railway vehicles. Such are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,266,630, May 21, 1918; 3,459,317, Aug. 5, 1969. Side cam operating mechanisms are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,803,384, May 15, 1931 and 3,314,558, Aug. 18, 1967. With prior designs it was oftentimes necessary to provide a vertical movement to the door opening cam to move it into and from the clearance diagram so as to not interfere with passage of other cars and not to engage the associated door opening mechanism of the associated hopper cars in the event it was not desirable to open the discharge doors. The present invention provides trackside actuating cam members which are movable into the operative position to engage the car mounted door opening and closing members.

SUMMARY

This invention pertains to a door opening mechanism for use on railway hopper cars which is actuated by trackside cam members engageable with roller portions of a car mounted door opening mechanism structure. The longitudinally disposed discharge doors are connected to a rotatable bell crank which is positioned in a transverse plane and includes an arm portion extending outwardly of the vehicle and engageable with trackside cam members. Spaced cam members will provide sequential opening and closing of the discharge doors during passage of the railway vehicle through phased engagement with a door opening roller which provides rotation of an associated bell crank and followed by door opening movement. Later during the car movement along the track segment a door closing cam is engaged by a roller member spaced from the door opening roller which will provide reverse rotation of the associated operating bell crank followed by closing of the discharge doors.

In the event trackside cam structure is not available to provide automatic sequencing of the door operation, the doors may be opened manually. Manual operation is initiated by slight angular rotation of an opening cam which urges the door opening mechanism over center. Door closing is provided through lever engagement with the mechanism which is assisted by a spring assist attached to the mechanism to provide for rapid and easy closing of the large heavy doors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a railway hopper car having a door opening mechanism which is operated by trackside cam members or, in the alternative, by manual means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a railway hopper car having longitudinally disposed pairs of discharge gates connected to a door opening mechanism which includes a rotatable bell crank having roller portions engageable with trackside camming members and connected to said discharge doors by a connecting strut.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hopper discharge gate opening and closing mechanism having a locking hinge pivotally attached to said car and extending outwardly therefrom to be engageable by an unlocking means mounted at trackside to provide for unlocking of the discharge gate mechanism prior to engagement with the associated trackside camming members.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a hopper car having a discharge gate operating mechanism disposed along the transverse margin of the vehicle and disposed beneath the associated vehicle side sill thereby permitting mechanism components to be engageable with trackside mounted camming members.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from reference to the following description, attached drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a railway hopper car including the door opening mechanism and trackside camming arrangement involved with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the railway hopper car illustrated in FIG. 1 with half of the view showing the discharge door and associated operating mechanism just prior to door opening and the other half of the view showing a discharge gate and associated mechanism just prior to door closing;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a track section including opening and closing cam arrangement;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a car mounted door operating mechanism;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the door operating mechanism illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the open and closed position of the door operating mechanism and the associated discharge door; and

FIG. 7 is a detail elevational view of a locking hinge actuating rod on a door closing cam.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

By referring to FIG. 1 an orientation explanation will be provided describing the positioning of the door operating mechanism on a typical hopper car vehicle. A hopper car is designated by the numeral 10 and includes the usual transversely spaced side wall units 11 which are interconnected by intermediate bulkheads 12 and end bulkheads and associated slope sheets 13. Longitudinally extending side sill units 14 extend along the lower margin of the side wall units 11 and are interconnected at their end portion by the end sill assemblies 15. Corner posts 16 extend vertically from a junction of the side sills 14 and end sill 15 upwardly to engage the end slope sheet 13 of the end compartments. The hopper car may include a longitudinally extending continuous center sill or a stub sill 17 as the case may require which projects outwardly from opposite ends of the car. The vehicle is supported on the usual wheeled trucks 18 which ride on the tracks 19.

Positioned along the railway tracks 19 are the mechanism operating cam units which include a door opening cam assembly 20 having an opening cam member 21 which is spaced some distance above the level of the tracks 19 to thereby provide for opening rotation of the door opening and closing mechanism. A locking hinge actuating rod 20' is fixedly supported on the cam surface member 21. Spaced down the tracks from the door opening cam assembly 20 is a door closing cam 22 having a closing cam surface 23 which is likewise engageable with the door opening and closing mechanism of the hopper vehicle to provide for closing movement of the mechanism and associated doors. During movement of a hopper car 10 along the track segment illustrated in FIG. 1 in a direction from left to right the door operating mechanism will successively engage the door opening cam assembly 20 which provides for rapid door opening and discharge of the associated hoppers and which will be followed by engagement of the car mounted door operating mechanism components with the door closing cam 22 which will return the doors to the shut position.

The longitudinal discharge doors or gates are designated by the numeral 24 and will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings. The doors 24 are pivotally attached to the car framing by the hinge or pivot point 25. The doors may also include C-shaped reinforcing channels 26 which extend along the length of the door and provide resistance to bending which may be caused by heavy lading contained within the hoppers. Each door includes a sealing lip 27 of a somewhat resilient or spring material which is deflectable upon contact with the associated sealing lip 27 of the adjacent door and thereby provides a completely sealed connection between the doors.

A door operating mechanism for actuating each of the two doors is designated generally by the numeral 28 and includes a number of members which are suspended below the side sill units 14 and mounted from a hanger bracket unit 29 which may be fixedly attached to the underside of the center sill 14. The door operating mechanism includes a bell crank member 30 which is pivotally connected at 31 to the hanger bracket 29. The bell crank includes two arm members including a door connecting arm portion 32 extending inwardly from the pivot point 31 as illustrated in FIG. 5. A second arm portion of the bell crank 30 is designated by the number 33 and comprises a roller mounted arm portion which provides a mounting unit for a door opening roller 34 and a spaced lower or door closing roller 35. Each roller includes an associated bearing bracket and pin assembly 36.

A door connecting strut 38 is pivotally connected at 39 to the bell crank member 30 and pivotally connected at 40 to the associated discharge door 24. The struts 38 may comprise a pair of threaded members thereby providing a strut having an adjustable length. In the door closed arrangement of FIG. 5 it is noticed that the doors are closed and locked in an over center position with respect to the pivots 31, 39 and 40. In other words, a straight line drawn between the struts 39 and 40 will pass above the bell crank pivot 31 thereby insuring that when forces are impressed upon the door 24 the door operating mechanism will be urged to remain in the closed position.

A door closing spring assembly 41 may be pivotally attached to the roller mounted arm portion 33 and includes a pair of telescoping cannisters 42, 43 which are positioned about a compression spring 44. The spring assembly 41 is pivotally attached to the hanger bracket 29 in such a manner as to provide a force to the bell crank 30 tending to rotate the bell crank in a counterclockwise direction which would assist in closing the longitudinally extending door or gate 24.

A mechanism locking member is designated by the numeral 45 and comprises a hinge which is pivotally attached at 46 to the associated side sill unit 14. The locking hinge 45 has a notched or V-cut 47 therein which is positionable about the associated locking lug 37 attached to the locking bracket 36 associated with the door opening roller 34. The hinge 45 includes a cam engaging surface 48 which extends outwardly of the vehicle beyond the locking lug 37 thereby providing a contact surface for an unlocking rod which is part of the door cam assembly 20. The purpose of this surface 48 is to provide an automatic unlocking feature whereby the locking hinge 45 may be rotated upwardly away from the locking lug 37 thereby permitting free door opening rotation of the associated door mechanism 28.

An automatic door opening feature is provided for manual opening of the discharge gates through an opening cam 49 arrangement which is illustrated in FIG. 5. This cam arrangement 49 includes a cam member 50 which is rotatable into engagement with the door connecting arm 32 thereby urging the bell crank member and associated door connecting arm 32 to pass the over center selflocked position resulting in automatic unloading or opening of the car doors through the weight of the doors and lading contained within the hopper. The cam is pivotally mounted to an operating shaft 51 which has bar receiving receptacles 52 positioned at each end to receive a rotating bar from a trackside operator. This bar is designated by the numeral 53 and is illustrated in FIG. 6 in a position inserted into one of the receptacles 52 as the mechanism is urged into the over center position. The opening cam 49 may include a tab portion 54 engageable with a car mounted bell crank stop 54' to thereby position the receptacles 52 at a convenient angle for receipt of an opening bar 53. A stop lug 55 is connected to the arm 32 and engages the stop 54' in the closed position of the door as shown in FIG. 5.

THE OPERATION

In operation of the door operating mechanism of the present invention, utilization may be made of the trackside cam operating devices or manual devices may be applied to the car mounted mechanism for opening and closing of the hopper doors. The present invention provides this design flexibility by positioning the door operating mechanism outboard of the car structure where it may be easily accessible for manual engagement.

As the hopper car proceeds through the cammed track section the actuating rod 20' of the door opening cam assembly 20 will be engaged by the locking hinge 45 which will be hinged upwardly out of engagement with the lug 37 thereby unlocking the bell crank 30. The actuating rod 20' is shown in the detail view of FIG. 7. Following this unlocking of the bell crank 30 the top roller 34 will engage the cam surface 21 of the door opening cam and as the hopper car proceeds along the tracks will urge the bell crank member 30 in a direction towards the railway vehicle which will move the strut and bell crank connection from the over center locked position thereby permitting a free opening rotating movement of the associated door 24. In the event the camming devices are not present at trackside the over center movement of the bell crank and associated strut 38 can be accomplished by inserting an unlocking bar 53 in the associated receptacle 52 and urging the cam 50 into the bell crank 30 to provide the over center unlocking rotation of the bell crank and strut assembly.

As the door 24 completes the opening rotation it is understood that the door closing spring assembly 41 will telescope together and compress the spring 44. This spring compression provides a door closing or mechanism returning force which assists in moving the bell crank 30 back to the door closed position. This assist spring assembly is particularly important for manual door closing.

To close the doors, the railway vehicle proceeds along the tracks 19 to the door closing cam assembly 22 which includes a cam surface 23 positioned in such a manner to engage the door closing roller 35 which is positioned at the lower end of the arm portion 33. As the car proceeds along the tracks the cam and roller inter-engagement will return the door operating mechanism to the door closed position. During this movement from the door open position which is shown in the solid line illustration in FIG. 6, the locking lug 37 will rotate below the locking hinge 45 until the locking lug 37 has been received within the notch 47. Should manual door closing be required the door closing spring assembly 41 will assist in providing door closing forces; however, the manual door closing force is provided by the bar member 53 which is inserted through an opening 55 in the bell crank 30 and seats against a bar stop 56 fixed on the arm 32. By providing a downward force the bar is seated on the hinge means 31 and the upward force exerted on the stop 56 and arm 32 pivots the bell crank about its pivot 31 again to the over center closed position.

Thus it is readily apparent the objects of the invention have been fully achieved by the invention disclosed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a hopper car having a body structure and a hopper, bottom dump door means including a door hingedly connected to said body on one side of said hopper for hinging movement downwardly about a longitudinal axis from a closed to an open position, the improvement comprising:

a lever having a substantially upright arm and a laterally extending arm,

first pivot means connecting said lever to said body for pivotal movement about a longitudinal axis,

a strut including second pivotal connecting means connecting said strut to said laterally extending arm,

third pivotal connecting means connecting said strut to said door,

said second pivotal connecting means in the closed position of said door being disposed in an over center position relative to said first and third pivotal connecting means,

a stop carried on said body limiting the movement of said door to its over center position,

first and second cam engageable means on said upright arm,

said first cam engageable means being adapted to engage first trackside camming means during movement of said car to pivot about said lever from said over center position wherein said door is opened and material is discharged from said car, and

said first cam engageable means being adapted to engage second trackside camming means during said car movement for pivoting said lever again to its over center door closed position.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said first and second cam engageable means including first and second rotatable rollers.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said lever having an L-shaped configuration.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said cam engageable means being respectively positioned at upper and lower ends of said upright arm.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including spring means connected to said lever and said body urging said lever to pivot toward a position closing said door.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including a locking member moveably supported on said body,

a lock element on said lever adapted to be engaged by said locking member to lock said lever in a closed position,

and means on said locking member engageable by trackside operating means for moving said locking member out of engaged position with respect to said lock element prior to engagement of said first cam engageable means with respect to said first trackside camming means.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including manually rotatable means on said body moveable into engagement with said lever for rotating the same from its over center closed position to open said door.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 7, said manually rotatable means including a cam element rotatably positioned on said body.

9. The invention in accordance with claim 1, including manual lever means adapted to connect to said lever for exerting a manually applied force to rotate said lever to said closed position.