US1078948A - Inspection device for grain-cars. - Google Patents

Description

B. P. OWENS.

INSPECTION DEVICE FOR GRAIN CARS.

APPLIGATION FILED JAILZO, 1913.

1,078,948. Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

BENJAMIN F. OWENS, or ROCKWELL. our, Iowa.

INSPECTION DEVICE FOR GRAIN-cans.

Specification of Letters patent.

. Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

Applicationfiled JanMaTyZO; 1913. SerialNo.743,2O3;,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. OXVENS,

a citizen of the United States, residingat Rockwell City, in the county of Calhoun and State of Iowa, have invented acertain new and useful Inspection Device forGra1n.

Cars, of which the following is a specifi cation.

During the shipment and" transportation of grainand the like in box cars, itis frequently necessary to inspect thegrain with in the car to determine its condition or quality. done by opening the sealed doors and then after the inspection closing and resealing them. This requires considerable time and trouble'in connection with the breaking of seals and unlocklng the doors and replacing seals, etc.

The ob ect of my invention 1s to prov de a device of simple, durable and inexpensive construction that may be used in the-nature of an, attachment for grain cars and that maybe readily, quickly and easily applied by insertion into the side walls of grain cars and when once applied will be permanently fixed thereto, said devices being so arrangedin the side walls of a box car that an ordinary grain inspection or test tube be inserted through any one of them and a quantity of the contents of the car removed by the operator.

7 The devices are also so arranged that grain cannot flow out of the car or rain, snow, dust, etc., enter the car by means of these inspection devices, thus efl'ecting a great saving in time and trouble in inspect ing the contents of a car.

My invention consists in certain details, in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of part ofthe grain car having my improved inspection device placed therein in position for use. The dotted lines show the cover in position resting against the side of the car. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of part of a car side with my improved device in position therein, the hinged cap thereof being closed, and Fig. 3'shows an enlarged, detail, vertical, central, sectional view through the device embodying my invention.

Heretofore this has usually been' Referring: to the accompanying drawings, V V

I have usedthe reference numeral 10 to indicate the outer'side wall of'a box car'and 11 the inner Wall. These walls are usually spaced apart by the upright frame members of the car.

My improved inspection device comprises the upper end belng arranged at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube and the lowerend being so arranged that it -will standvertical when within a box car in the manner shown in Fig. 3. It is essential in a device of this kind thatit be fixed to the a tubular body. portion 12 open at both ends,

wall of a boxcar at a: certain predetermined andprovided with screw openings and designed tobe fitted against the outer surface of theflcanside and to be permanently attached thereto by means of screws inserted through said openings. This plate is preferably formed integral with the body portion 12 at a point spaced apart from the upper end thereof so that the tube proper projects a slight distance outwardly beyond the plate.

In order to conveniently use the inspection device, it is necessary that both ends .angle orrdegree of inclination, and in order to do so, I provide an attaching plate 13" preferably formed integral with the tube 12 thereof be open when the inspection or test tubes arebeing inserted and it is also necessary and desirable that the outer end of the test tube be always closed when the tube is not'being used to prevent the entrance of dust, rain, snow, etc. In order to provide for this, I have placed on top of the plate .13 a hinge member 14 to which is pivoted a cap 15, the cap being designed normally to close the outer end of the tube. I also preferably provide on the free edge of the cap and on the adjacent portion. of the tube 12, two perforated lugs 16 which may, if desired, bentilized forv the purpose of receiving a sealing device, although ordinarily this is not necessary. The position and shape of the hinge member 14, the hinged cap 15 and the top of the tube are such that when the device is properly attached to a car side the hinged cap may be swung to open position and will then be raised against the side of the car and remain open. When however there is a slight jar or agitation of the car such, for instance, as when it is moving, the position of the hinged cover is so near a vertical line that it will be shaken from its open position and will then fall by gravity to its closed position and will there serve to prevent the entrance'of dust, snow, rain, etc.

By having the plate 13 formed integral with the tube 12 or firmly fitted to it, and by having it spaced apart from the outer end of the tube, I prevent the possibility of rain beating against the side of the car entering the interior of the car either around the plate 13 or at the top of the tube might. be the case it"- the tube were flush with the plate 13.

The entire device may be readily and uickl a) lied to an kind of grain car by simply boring a hole of the proper size through the walls of the car, then inserting the tube and securing the plate 13 by screws.

Sn account of the angle at which the tube is extended grain from the interior of the car will not flow upwardly and cloutwardly through the tube above a horizontal line drawn through the top of the lower end of the tube so that no waste of the grain occurs by the use of my improved inspection device.

By means of this construction the tube may be made so'sinall as to'prevent the entrance of a persons hand so that grain cannot readily and easily be taken from the car through the tube.

I claim as my invention:

An inspection device for grain cars, COIII- prising a tubular body portion open at both ends, an attaching plate formed integral with the tube at a pointspaced apart from the upper end of the tube, said attaching plate being so positioned on the tube that when the attaching plate is in a vertical position the body of'the tube will be inclined at an angle of about fifty degrees relative to the plate, a hinge member formed on top of the plate, a cover hinged to said hinge member and designed, in one position, tostand at approximately right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube and cover the upper end thereof, and in another position to swing slightly past a vertical line through the hinge center to rest against the side of the object to which the attaching plate is fixed, for the purposes stated.

Des lvioines, Iowa, Jan. 10, 1913.

V BENJAMIN F. OWENS.

Witnesses M. VVALLAOE, A. G. HAGUE.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of l atents,

' Washington, D. C.

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