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.

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.

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.