AU2008202713B2

AU2008202713B2 - Wagon Bottom Door Release Arrangement

Info

Publication number: AU2008202713B2
Application number: AU2008202713A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Leslie C Smith; Bradley K Usher
Original assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2002-03-28
Filing date: 2008-06-19
Publication date: 2011-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 2023-03-28
Also published as: AU2008202713A1

Description

14529AUDIV ORIGINAL Complete Specification Applicant: China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. Limited Title: Wagon Bottom Door Release Arrangement Address for Service: LESICAR PERRIN, 49 Wright Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 2 This invention relates to rail wagons and to a bottom door release improvement. TECHNICAL AREA Rail wagons carrying particulate materials are known to have a lowermost 5 opening that is adapted to be held in a closed position by several levers which are adapted to be placed in a locking position by being able to be pushed into an over center locking position. An advantageous way of releasing such a door is to use a cam located remotely from the wagon and having a cam follower operated by relative 10 movement of the wagon with respect to the cam, It is also possible to close such a door by using a cam follower which is operated by a cam remote from the wagon and cause to effect relative forces so as to force the levers into a closing position and into an over center locking position. 15 THE PROBLEM TO WHICH THIS INVENTION IS ADDRESSED Previous Patents have published an arrangement where there is a single shaft to which a first lever effecting an over center locking is attached and as well, there are fixedly attached to the same shaft, cam followers for both opening and closing the door. 20 In as far as the disclosures, which are merely printed publications, are concerned, the cam followers would appear to be welded directly to the same shaft to which the respective first levers are also welded. Such an arrangement would have some advantages from the point of view of costs of construction but, on the other hand, have significant disadvantages. 25 A first of these disadvantages is that this arrangement leaves the mechanism when in a load holding position, more vulnerable than perhaps might be necessary to accidental release.

3 This comes about for the following reason. It is known that rail wagons when proceeding along a railway line, will be subject to relative jolting. Such expected jolting is symptomatic of railway lines and wagons that run on 5 these lines and has to be expected. Unfortunately, if a substantial load of particulate materials is resting against a door that is being held in a closed position simply by reason of two levers being positioned in a over center arrangement, then if there is a mass or masses which are going to result by reason of unbalanced forces in a 10 resultant release pressure anywhere on the shaft, then there is an increased danger of accidental release. It will be well understood that accidental release of a load of particulate materials could precipitate serious damage including derailment as well as possible loss of the particulate material itself. 15 Some attempts to overcome this problem have included providing spring biasing. However, this introduces another element which is potentially prone to failure and, in any event, must be set up correctly to ensure that it functions appropriately. 20 A further difficulty with the previously published suggestions is the difficulty that if any damage occurs during conventional operations to one of the cam followers, then maintenance would require that all of the assembly which includes the levers, the shaft, and both release and locking cam followers have to be removed for maintenance or restoration. 25 A shaft, in this application together with the attached levers and cam followers is a very heavy and relatively large item and suoh an assembly, therefore, makes it very difficult to effect conventional restoration.

4 OBJECT OF THIS INVENTION A primary object of this invention is to provide an alternative to the public which will provide a reliable operating mechanism for, at the least, release of wagon storage chamber lowermost doors which will have an alternate release 5 mechanism at the least which may not be so prone to causing accidental release. In a further object, there is proposed such an arrangement which has the advantage of allowing for an assembly where it is easier for maintenance purposes. 10 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In brief, the concept of the invention lies in providing a release arrangement which will only temporarily engage against a lever or levers when being operated to effect a release action. Accordingly the invention can be said to reside in a rail wagon with a storage 15 chamber having at least one door adapted to close a lowermost opening from the storage chamber with the door being adapted to be held in a closed position by an overcenter locking arrangement of two levers, and a bottom release arrangement to allow the door to open and effect discharge of materials thereby the wagon being characterized in that the release 20 arrangement is adapted to only temporarily engage against at least a one of the levers providing the overcenter locking effect such contact being substantially only when being operated to effect a release action of the over center locking levers. By having a temporary contact only, a cam follower and attachments can be 25 kept completely clear of any direct contact with the levers and therefore will not form a part of the inertia mass which has to be monitored for balance purposes. Further, there is then no need to provide any biasing mechanism except perhaps to maintain the position of the cam follower in a position where it will 30 maintain clearance from engagement.

5 In preference such a rail wagon is further characterized in that there is a shaft which is pivotally supported with respect to the wagon so as to be rotatable about its own axis and to which a one only of the two levers effecting the over center arrangement is fixedly attached. 5 If such a shaft exists, it is then useful to use this further as a pivot center for a release arrangement or for a closing arrangement but such an arrangement is not then attached as such to the shaft in such a way as to cause any rotation of the shaft. Further, both a release arrangement and a closing arrangement can be 10 located at opposite ends of a shaft so that the individual components can be very readily removed separate from any removal of the shaft itself. This in practise has meant that there can be very significant savings In a further form of the invention then, it could be said to reside in a rail wagon with a storage chamber of a type including a discharge arrangement for the 15 chamber that includes a lowermost opening with a door pivotally supported so that, in one position, it will close the opening and, in a second position, allow for release from the chamber through the opening for particulate materials in the chamber, means to keep the door in its closed position with respect to the storage chamber including at least two levers which in a closed position, have 20 respective pivot centers such that these will hold the door closed by reason of being in an over center interlocking position, a release arrangement which has a cam follower adapted to be operated by contact with a remote cam located apart from the wagon and by reason of relative movement of the wagon with respect to the cam, characterized in that the release arrangement 25 is adapted to, in one position, interengage with at least one of the said levers to effect a release action when the levers are in an over center interlocking position by engaging only temporarily at least one of the levers to move this from its over center locking position to a release position. In preference, there is further a closure arrangement which has a cam follower 30 adapted to be operated by contact with a remote cam located apart from the wagon and by reason of relative movement of the wagon with respect to the cam, characterized in that the closure arrangement is adapted to, in one position, interengage with at least one of the said levers to effect a closure 6 action when the levers are in a no longer over center locking position, by temporarily engaging at least one of the levers to move this to an over center locking position. In preference, a first of the levers is pivotally attached to a portion of the door, 5 and a second of the levers is pivotally supported by a body of the wagon, and in the case both of the release and closure arrangement includes a member pivotally supported by the body of the wagon. In preference, there is a shaft which is supported by the body of the wagon in a way that will allow for the shaft to pivot about its own axis, a second of the 10 levers being fixedly secured to the shaft. In preference, a rail wagon has a plurality of lowermost openings with respect to a storage chamber which openings are in pairs and aligned so as to be in a same lateral location along the length of a wagon. Further, in preference, there are at least two doors each of which being 15 supported by a pivot support a pivot axis of each of the doors being parallel one with respect to the other. In this way, there are some advantage achieved by having a single shaft with a first lever secured thereto for each of the doors and such therefore that any resultant forces, both during opening or in closing, can be in mutual opposition 20 so that there is less resultant force displacing the shaft with respect to its support by the wagon. In preference, with such an arrangement, there can also then be a single release arrangement for both doors by acting against one of the levers which is, therefore, transmitted by reason of relative rotation of the shaft to the other 25 of the levers in respect of the other door. This then applies both to a release arrangement and to a closure arrangement. In preference then, a release arrangement includes a cam follower supported by a cylindrical housing pivotally supported at a first end of the said shaft so as 30 to be pivotable with respect to said shaft, and to further then have attached a 7 striker arm adapted to be aligned, from time to time, to effect through a striking of a first lever, a release action. In preference, the closure arrangement also includes a cam follower secured to a cylindrical housing which is rotatably supported at an opposite end of the 5 shaft to the support provided for the release arrangement, and there is also attached to the closure arrangement a striker arm that is adapted to effect closing pressure when the cam follower engages an appropriately aligned cam system. The invention will be better understood when described in relation to a 10 preferred embodiment which shall be described with the assistance of drawings wherein: FIG. 1 is an exploded view of components shown in perspective that go to make up the first embodiment; 15 FIG 2 through 4 illustrate side views of the same embodiment with the respective parts in various stages of operation, when viewed form the end of the door opening cam follower, 8; FIG 5 through 7 illustrate side views of the same embodiment with the 20 respective parts in various stages of operation, when viewed form the end of the door closing cam follower, 23; FIG 8 is a front view of the same embodiment; and FIG 9 is a side view showing a wagon in total illustrating how a plurality of 25 these mechanisms would apply in practice. Referring in detail to the drawings, there is a wagon 1 which is supported by traditional bogies 2 so that the wagon 1 is a rail wagon and includes a plurality of storage chambers 3 where each of these include a discharge arrangement 4 which includes a lowermost opening 5. 30 In the embodiment described, there is two such openings 5 which are 8 arranged as pairs and then these are replicated along the length of the wagon 1. Our description then, while referring to a discharge arrangement, presumes that there will be sequential opening and closing of doors over an appropriate 5 location. The concept overall of the opening and closing systems is that there are cams shown typically at 6 in one case and 7 in the other which are located in an appropriate position along the rail track so that when the openings are opened, the material in the storage chamber will discharge into an appropriate 10 receiving container or chute as the case may be. Such an opening action and a subsequent closing action is achieved by the wagon moving through a location where a cam follower is by reason of this movement caused to rotate in one direction or another and to such an extent as to effect the necessary release or discharge action in the one case or 15 closing action in the other. This overall concept, as such, is not so new in that it has at least been previously published in previous patent specifications. What is different here, however, is that a cam follower 8 which is arranged to effect an opening or release action is able to independently rotate and be 20 separately removable from a rest of the discharge arrangement. This is achieved by having the cam follower 8 attached to a cylindrical housing 9 which in turn is then attached and, in this case, this means welded to a further arm 10 which includes at its end a striker 11. The cylindrical housing is supported for rotation about a physical support 25 which, in this case, is the shaft 12. However, the freedom for the shaft 12 to rotate independently of the cylindrical housing ensures that both are not "fixed" one with respect to the other. The shaft 12 has secured thereto by welding, a plurality of levers 13 two of which are attached at their end through a pivotal connection to levers 14 9 which are in turn supported through a pivotal connection at spaced apart locations to door 15. Likewise, a further set of the levers 13 are secured to a second set of levers 17 through a pivotal connection 18 which then at spaced apart locations engage 5 with pivotal connections to a back of the door 19. The doors 15 and 19 are supported so as to have parallel pivot connections at 20 and 21 and such then that the shaft 12 is between the respective doors when these are open or closed. The arrangement is that the shaft 12 is supported by bearings which are hung 10 from the body of the wagon 1. In this way, the shaft 12 by reason of its relative rotational position can cause the respective levers 13, 14 or 17 to be forced into an over center locking position where these are adjusted and positioned so that the respective doors then will be held in a closed position with respect to the opening in the 15 respective storage chambers, In an arrangement that is very similar to the release arrangement, there is a closing arrangement 21 which includes a cylindrical housing 22 to which a cam follower 23 is secured and also a striker bar 24. This is supported for relative rotation with respect to the shaft 12 so that it will 20 not of itself cause the shaft in any way to rotate. Further, however, by reason of the intermittent or temporary contact potential of the closure mechanism as in the same situation with the release arrangement, this is brought into an engaging contact position only when being operated by a cam. 25 By keeping the release arrangement separate from the shaft 12, ensures that the additional off center or possible unbalanced arrangement of any weight attributed by the cam follower or the other parts will not of themselves then add to the potential for jolting of the carriage to cause accidental discharge. This also applies to the closure arrangement which also by not being 10 physically attached to the shaft 12 means that this also will not add to weights that would be off balance and therefore contribute to potential for accidental discharge by influencing the position of the shaft and its attached levers. Also, by having independently separable assemblies for both their release 5 arrangement and the closure arrangement means that these can be very easily separately dismantled from any support and attachment within a wagon and can therefore be quickly replaced or can be easily sent to a workshop for appropriate repair without the whole of the discharge mechanism having to be separately removed.

Claims

1. A rail wagon with a storage chamber having at least one door adapted to close a lowermost opening from the storage chamber with the door being adapted to be held in a closed position by an over-center locking 5 arrangement of two levers, and a bottom release arrangement to allow the door to open and effect discharge of materials thereby the wagon being characterized in that the release arrangement is adapted to only temporarily engage against at least a one of the levers providing the over-center locking effect such contact being substantially only when 10 being operated to effect a release action of the over center looking levers.

2. A rail wagon as in the immediately preceding claim further characterized in that there is a shaft which is pivotally supported with respect to the wagon so as to be rotatable about its own axis and to 15 which a one only of the two levers effecting the over center arrangement is fixedly attached.

3. A rail wagon with a storage chamber of a type including a discharge arrangement for the chamber that includes a lowermost opening with a door pivotally supported so that, in one position, it will close the opening 20 and, in a second position, allow for release from the chamber through the opening for particulate materials in the chamber, means to keep the door in its closed position with respect to the storage chamber including at least two levers which in a closed position, have respective pivot centers such that these will hold the door closed by reason of being in 25 an over center interlocking position, a release arrangement which has a cam follower adapted to be operated by contact with a remote cam located apart from the wagon and by reason of relative movement of the wagon with respect to the cam, characterized in that the release arrangement is adapted to, in one position, interengage with at least 30 one of the said levers to effect a release action when the levers are in an over center interlocking position by engaging only temporarily at least one of the levers to move this from its over center locking position to a release position. 12

4. A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims where there is a also a closure arrangement which has a cam follower adapted to be operated by contact with a remote cam located apart from the wagon and by reason of relative movement of the wagon with respect to the 5 cam, characterized in that the closure arrangement is adapted to, in one position, interengage with at least one of the said levers to effect a closure action when the levers are in a no longer over center locking position, by temporarily engaging at least one of the levers to move this to an over center locking position. 10

5. A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims further characterized in that a first of the levers is pivotally attached to a portion of the door, and a second of the levers is pivotally supported by a body of the wagon, and in the case both of the release and closure arrangement includes a member pivotally supported by the body of the wagon. 15

6. A rail wagon as in the immediately preceding claim further characterized in that there is a shaft which is supported by the body of the wagon in a way that will allow for the shaft to pivot about its own axis, a second of the levers being fixedly secured to the shaft.

7. A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims further characterized 20 in that the rail wagon has a plurality of lowermost openings with respect to a storage chamber which openings are in pairs and aligned so as to be in a same lateral location along the length of a wagon.

8. A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims further characterized in that there are at least two doors each of which being supported by a 25 pivot support a pivot axis of each of the doors being parallel one with respect to-the other.

9. A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims 7 or 8 further characterized in that there is included a single release arrangement for both doors by acting against one of the levers which is, therefore, 30 transmitted by reason of relative rotation of the shaft to the other of the levers in respect of the other door.

10.A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims further characterized 13 in that the release arrangement has a cam follower supported by a cylindrical housing pivotally supported at a first end of the said shaft so as to be pivotable with respect to said shaft, and a striker arm aligned, from time to time, so as to be adapted to effect through a striking of a first 5 lever, a release action.

11.A rail wagon as in any one of the preceding claims further characterized in that the closure arrangement has a cam follower supported by a cylindrical housing pivotally supported at a first end of the said shaft so as to be pivotable with respect to said shaft, and a striker arm aligned, 10 from time to time, so as to be adapted to effect through a striking of a first lever, a release action when the cam follower engages an appropriately aligned cam system.

12. A rail wagon substantially as described in the specification with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying illustrations. 15