Pneumatic Hopper Car Door Actuating System

Abstract

In a hopper car arrangement, a hopper car door pneumatic actuating system including the standard air reservoir tank and a railroad car actuated ground-mounted induction coil, and a solenoid valve energized thereby, for opening the hopper doors, and a railroad car actuated ground-mounted induction coil and a solenoid valve for closing the doors whereby a supply valve and a four-way pilot valve is actuated to supply pressurized air from the tank to selectively operate a two-way acting air cylinder attendant to opening and closing of the hopper doors, and a latch for holding the supply valve open until the doors are closed and a flow control check valve in the train-line adjacent the air receiver tank to block off any rapid drop in pressure in the air reservoir tank to prevent application of the air brakes when operating the hopper doors.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE

U. S. Pat. application Ser. No. 89 to James J. Schuller filed Jan. 2, 1970 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,729 issued Jan. 16, 1973 is hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of art ertaining to actuating mechanisms for opening pertaining closing hopper car doors and, in particular, to fluid actuating means in the dumping area.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It has been known, as, for instance, disclosed in the aforementioned U. S. Pat. application, that hopper doors on hopper railroad cars may be opened and closed pneumatically but it is desirable to provide an automatic arrangement which is simple in construction providing for improved automatic opening and closing of the hopper doors. This is what this invention solves.

SUMMARY

It is a general object of this invention to provide for pneumatic opening and closing of the doors of a hopper car.

The pneumatic operating system involves electrical induction means mounted on the ground and tripped by the car as it goes toward the dumping area whereby the source of pressurized air on the car is released by a valving mechanism to operate a pneumatic motor for opening of the car doors and further ground-mounted tripping mechanism in the form of an induction means acts again on the pneumatic means to cause the hopper doors to close, once the dumping of the contents within the hopper car is completed.

It is a further object of utilizing, in combination with this opening and closing, tripping induction mechanisms pneumatic valving, a pneumatically operated piston and cylinder arrangement, and a mechanical latch for holding the valving open until the doors are later closed.

A further advantage of the invention is to provide for a combination supply valve and pressure responsive flow control valve whereby leakage of air pressure from the air cylinder is prevented when the car is operated over the road with the hopper doors closed insuring that no air pressure can go from the air reservoir tank into the pneumatic cylinder and piston arrangement. The invention provides for a flow control check valve means which seals off any rapid pressure drop in the tank so that the trainline does not feel this rapid drop in pressure to cause application of the vehicle brakes which would be undesirable, ordinarily, when operating the hopper doors.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a hopper car;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the electropneumatic door operating mechanism showing the valves therefor in position for opening the hopper doors; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the hopper car door actuating system including the valves therefor in a position for closing of the doors of the hopper car.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, there is shown a railroad hopper car 2 (see FIG. 1) which is provided with hopper doors 4 and a door operating mechanism in the form of pneumatic means 6 which operates linkage 7 opening the doors 4 as, for instance, shown in the aforesaid U. S. Pat. application Ser. No. 89.

The pneumatic means 6, which includes the hydraulic cylinder 8 and the piston 9 or drive or motor means, forms part of the electro-pneumatic system 10 which controls the opening and closing of the hopper doors 4. The system 10 further includes the air reservoir tank or source of pressurized fluid or power 11 which is typically found on railroad hopper cars for operating the car air brakes through a trainline or main air pressure line 12 which is coupled with other cars for supplying pressurized air to the tank 11. A flow direction control check valve 13 is located in the trainline 12 adjacent the tank 11 and this valve permits flow of the pressurized air in one direction from the trainline into the tank. This check valve in effect seals off or blocks any rapid pressure drop in the tank from going into the trainline. If there were to be a rapid drop in pressure in the train line during penumatic operation of the doors this would cause immediate application of the brakes which would be undesirable ordinarily when operating the hopper doors.

Inducting or induction means in the form of an induction coil or actuating or tripping means 14 is mounted on the ground. This ground coil 14 energizes the induced coil actuated or tripped means 15 which is located on the car for activating the pneumatic components for operating the hopper doors to an open position. Lead lines 16 lead from the induced coil 15 to the flow control means or solenoid valve means or electrically induced valve 17 for operating the solenoid valve by energizing the solenoid 17a to move the valve member 18 against the valve spring 19 to allow communication of the passages or grooves 20 of the member 18 with the reservoir line 21. FIG. 2 shows the valve 17 in an energized condition. In the de-energized condition the ports or grooves 20 permit the air within the valve 17 to be exhausted by way of exhaust line 22. The groove or port 20 is in communication with the valve outlet line 23 which is in fluid communication with the supply line 24 to the supply means or valve 27 and the pilot valve line 25 to the pilot or selector valve 47. Air pressure introduced into line 24 goes into the chamber 28a of the supply valve 27 and moves the supply valve member 28 to the right (as viewed in FIG. 2) lining the groove or port 30 with the reservoir exit line 26 from the reservoir tank 11 so that the air under pressure may pass to the supply valve 27 via supply outlet line 27a. The supply valve member 28 in moving to the right moves against its compression spring 29.

The supply valve member 28 is provided with a right end projection 31 provided with a projection hook or head end 32 which is engageable with the hook end 34 of the latch arm 33 of the latch or lock mechanism or holding means 33a. The latch arm is pivotally connected at 35 to the wall or other type of fixed pivot and a latch rod is pivotally connected at 36 to the latch arm 33 and extends downwardly and is provided at its lower end with a latch rod movable pivot 38 to which is pivotally connected the tripped arm 40 which is on the pivot fulcrum means 39. A latch tripping arm or resetting means 41 is mounted at the lower end of the piston rod 42 of the piston 9. The piston is further provided with a piston head 43 within the pneumatic chamber 44 of the cylinder 8. The chamber 44 is provided with exiting conduits 45 and 46 which respectively communicate with grooves or ports 51 and 51' respectively located in the valve member 50 of the pilot valve 47. At the left end of the pilot valve 47 the chamber 49 is provided with an open pocket as the spool valve member 50 is shifted to the right so that the exhaust conduit 48 is blocked by the spool valve but the exhaust conduit 48' is open to allow any air between the piston head 43 and the cylinder 8 to be exhausted via line 46 and port 51 ; whereas line 45 which communicates with the interior of the cylinder 8 above the piston head 43 is in communication with the groove or port 51 and the conduit portion 27a for receiving pressurized air from the reservoir 11.

For closing of the doors there is provided an induction or inducing means or coil 14' which is ground-mounted and acts on the induced coil 15' located on the car for closing of the car doors as the car passes by the coil 14'. Electrical lead lines 16' connect the induced coil 15' with the solenoid 17a' of the solenoid 17' which, when energized, moves the valve member 18' to the right against the valve spring 19', as seen in FIG. 3 and this places the reservoir tank exit line 21' in communication with the groove or port 20' whereby air flows into line 25' to go into the right end pocket of the chamber 49 for moving the spool valve 50 to the left to provide for fluid communication from the tank 11 into the cylinder chamber 44 via line 46 while the air exhaust port 22' is blocked by the solenoid valve member 18'. As the piston rod moves upwardly the arm 41 contacts the tripped arm 40 for releasing the latch arm 33 to allow the spring 29 in the supply valve 27 to return the supply valve member 28 to the left to block off fluid communication from the reservoir 11 via line 26 to the supply valve 27 and the pilot valve 47. The purpose of the supply valve is to prevent leakage of pressurized air from the air cylinder 8 when the car is operated over the road with the hopper doors closed. This supply valve 27 insures that no air under pressure can go from the air reservoir tank via air lines into the cylinder.

Thus, what is provided here is an electrical pneumatic system operating on door opening and closing linkage for pneumatically opening and closing the hopper doors and involves the use of the induction coil 15 on the car for opening the car hopper doors in passing over the coil 14 on the ground whereby the supply valve 27 and the pilot valve 47 are pneumatically positioned for operating a pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement for opening of the doors. The pneumatic system is provided with a pneumatically actuated latch mechanism 33a for holding the supply valve 27 open until the doors are later closed. The ground-mounted induction coil 14' is located beyond the dumping area further down the track for closing the car doors and, consequently, the pilot valve is pneumatically positioned to have the pneumatic piston 9 and cylinder 8 arrangement close the doors, and at the end of the closing cycle the latch arm 33 for holding the supply valve 27 open is then tripped by the arm 41 at the lower end of the piston rod 42 so that no further pressurized air can escape from the air reservoir tank 11.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for opening and closing the doors of a hopper vehicle comprising:

a source of fluid power,

flow control means including a door opening control valve and a door closing control valve, each in communication with the source of fluid power,

selector means having an inlet in communication with said source of fluid power, a pair of outlets, and positionable means for selectively communicating said inlet with each of said outlets, respectively, in response to operation of said control valves,

motor means in communication with the outlets of said selector means for opening and closing the hopper doors in response to pressurized fluid in each of said outlets from said source of fluid power;

actuatable means operatively connected with the respective control valves of the flow control means for selectively operating same for supplying pressurized fluid from the source of fluid power to selectively position the positionable means of said selector means,

said flow control means also including a supply valve between said source of fluid power and said selector means,

holding means for selectively maintaining said supply valve open, and

resetting means cooperative with said motor means and operatively engagable with the holding means in response to the hopper doors being closed for causing said supply valve to close to thereby block off fluid communication between the source of fluid power and the inlet of the selector means.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

said source of fluid power being a reservoir tank containing air under pressure, and including a pair of reservoir outlet lines connected to the door opening control valve and door closing control valve, respectively.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

said motor means including a cylinder having a pair of ends communicating with respective outlets of said selector means and a piston in said cylinder movable between said ends in a first direction for opening the doors and a second direction for closing the doors.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and

a piston rod on said piston extending from said cylinder, and

said resetting means comprising an arm mounted on said piston rod.

5. The invention according to claim 1, and

said actuatable means being electrically energizable solenoids for operating said door opening and door closing control valves, and

induction means for selectively energizing each of said solenoids.

6. The invention according to claim 5, and

said induction means including a first ground mounted coil for opening the hopper doors and a second ground mounted coil spaced from the first coil for closing the doors.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and

said supply valve including pressurized fluid controlled means positionable to open and close the supply valve in communication with said source of fluid power through said door opening control valve.

8. The invention according to claim 7, and

said positionable controlled means of said supply valve including a projecting head end, and

said holding means comprising a pivotal latch arm having a hooked end which is positionable to engage said head end when the supply valve is open.

9. An apparatus for opening and closing the doors of a moving hopper vehicle comprising:

an air reservoir tank,

a supply valve in fluid communication with the reservoir tank,

a first door opening solenoid valve in fluid communication with the tank and with the supply valve,

a second door closing solenoid valve in fluid communication with the tank,

a pilot valve in fluid communication with the supply valve and the first and second solenoid valves, said pilot valve being placed in a first position by said first solenoid valve attendant to opening of the doors and being placed in a second position by said second solenoid valve attendant to closing of the doors,

a pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement in fluid communication with the pilot valve, the pilot valve including means for moving the piston in a first direction for opening the doors and means for moving the piston in a second direction for closing the doors,

first ground-mounted induction means for controlling the opening of the vehicle doors,

first induced means acted on by the first ground-mounted induction means and operatively connected with the first solenoid valve for operating same for supplying air from the reservoir tank to the supply valve and the pilot valve for moving the piston in said first direction to thereby open the hopper doors,

second ground-mounted induction means for controlling the closing of the doors, second induced means acted upon by the second ground induction means and being operatively connected with the second solenoid valve for operating same for supplying air from the reservoir tank to the pilot valve for moving the piston in said second direction to thereby close the doors,

said supply valve having a latch receiving projection,

a latch mechanism connecting with said projection in the door open position of the supply valve for holding the supply valve open during door open, dumping, and door closing operations of the hopper doors,

biasing means urging said supply valve to a closed position, and

tripping means on said pneumatic piston operatively engageable with the latch mechanism after the hopper doors are closed for releasing said projection to allow the supply valve to be moved to the closed position by the biasing means.

10. An apparatus for opening and closing the doors of a moving hopper vehicle comprising:

a source of pressurized fluid,

a supply valve in fluid communication with the source of fluid,

a first door opening valve in fluid communication with the source of fluid and with the supply valve,

a second door closing valve in fluid communication with the source of fluid,

a pilot valve in fluid communication with the supply valve and the first and second valves, said pilot valve being placed in a first position by said first valve attendant to opening of the doors and being placed in a second position by said second valve attendant to closing of the doors,

fluid motor means in fluid communication with the pilot valve, the pilot valve including means for moving the fluid motor means in a first direction for opening the doors and means for moving the fluid motor means in a second direction for closing the doors, first induced means operatively connected with the first valve for operating same for supplying fluid from the source of pressurized fluid to the supply valve and the pilot valve for moving the fluid motor means in said first direction to thereby open the hopper doors,

second induced means operatively connected with the second valve for operating same for supplying fluid from the source of pressurized fluid to the pilot valve for moving the fluid motor means in said second direction to thereby close the hopper doors,

a holding mechanism connecting with the supply valve in the door open position of the supply valve for holding the supply valve open during dumping operation of the hopper doors, and

tripping means correlated with the movement of the fluid motor means and engageable with the holding mechanism after the hopper doors are closed for releasing said holding mechanism to allow the supply valve to be moved to the closed position.

11. The invention according to claim 10, and

said first door opening and second door closing valves being electrically induced valves.

12. The invention according to claim 10, and

said fluid motor means comprising a pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement.

13. The invention according to claim 10, and

first ground-mounted induction means adapted to act upon said first vehicle-mounted induced means and second ground-mounted induction means adapted to act upon said second vehicle-mounted induced means.

14. The invention according to claim 10, and

said holding mechanism including a latch mechanism and a projection on the supply valve couplable with said latch mechanism in the door open position of the supply valve for holding the supply valve open during dumping operations of the hopper doors.

15. The invention according to claim 14, and

said tripping means comprising a member connected with said fluid motor means and engageable with said latch mechanism after the hopper doors are closed for releasing the projection to allow the supply valve to be moved to the closed position.