US1142407A - Car-weighing apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

INVENTOR 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WN Wm.

PatentedJ une 8, 1915.

Y ATroRNEY N 1. Nm. O A. Nm.. N IMM 5 L@ E l.

WITNESS THE NORRIS PETERS C0., PHOTC-LITHG.. WASHING TON. D. C.

A. w. EPRIGHT. I CARWEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION PILED APR. 27. 1.915.

, Patented June 8, 1915.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

WlTNEss ATTORNEY C. D. N. m G m H w w, n L. ,0. O H P Q C 5 R E T E P R R o N E m *tra err ALONZO w. ern-rentaor ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

cnn-werenrive APPARATUS;

specification if Letters Patent. Y Paltd Jun@ g, i915, l

Application nled Apr127, 1915. l Serial No. 24,7223.

T0 all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ALONZO W. EPRIGHT, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in Altoona, in the county of Blair, Statel of Pennsylvania, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car- `Weighing Apparatus, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof. Y Y

My present invention relates to Vapparatus for weighing railway cars while in mo-f' tion, and is an improvement on the apparatus for this purpose covered by my prior Patent blo. 956,323 issued April` 26,119.10. In the apparatus disclosed in my prior patent, the track over which the cars are passed to the railroad scale is formed ,with

a hump comprising .tivo inclined sections meeting at an apex located at adefinite,

Vhas been extensively used andhas proved to be of great value for the Arapid anda-iccurate weighing of ,cars 1n motion. Some difliculty `has beenV experienced in its use,

. however, from the fact that when the apex of the hump is yvertically adjusted, as it needs to be from time to time as the operating conditicns change, the corresponding tendency to vary the acceleration of the front end of the car passing-over the hump,y

is offset to some extent by the variation in the resistance to the upward movement of the rear truck of the car. tween the tendency to increased or decreased acceleration, and the increase or decrease in resistance varies with the length of wheel base of the car, and introduces an uncertainty in operation, and it is theV object of the present invention to avoid this variable resistanceto movement of the rear wheels of a car during the period in which the velocity of the car should accelerate.

The relation be- The means which l haveidevised for accomplishing my object comprises a hump di- Vvided Vinto three sections of which the inf termediate `,section is at the top of the hump and ,1sv preferably horizontal, or substantially so,'and the `end sections are down- -v wardly inclined from the ends of the intermediatesection, and in which' the intermediate .section maybe maintained substantially parallel to itself in its different ad- Justments.

The variousv features of novelty whichV characterize my invention are pointedout with particularity in the claims annexed to, and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding 'iof the invention, however, and 'ofthe advantages possessed by it,` reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention.

Y 0f the drawings: Figure l is a diagrammatic elevation lillustrating a railway track scale withl my improved hump in' the track leading thereto; 2 is a partial longituv dinalV section through a portion of the hump, andh` ig. 8 is a section -on the line 3&3 of Fig.V 2;'

of the latter being shown as horizontal."

,C is the track section .supported by the scale platform; C', C2- and C3 the three track sections forming the hump in the track over .which theY cars are passed tothe scale.

In the particular construction illustrated, the track rails C4, proper, pertaining to the hump structurearesupported on` chairs F which in turn are mounted on the Vusual cross ties Gr. The cross ties G for the -hump section Cvv are supported on the upper edges of beams H which, in the form shown, are built up beams made of rolled metal shapes and tied together by cross braces l; similarly the cross ties G for the hump sections Y. C2 and C3 are supported von 4the pairs of, brace connected beams H2 and H3 respectively. The lower ends of the beams H of the hump section C are pivotally supported at J through hinge members J and J 2, the hinge members J being connected to the beams H, and the hingemembers J2 being supportedbyabutments B raising from the bottom of the extension of the scale pit B. The lower vend of the hump section C is l Y 8 5 ln theV draw-ings: A; represents the scale j and B the wall vof the scale pit, the bottom similarly hinge supported on abutments B4 similar to abutments B. rlhe upper ends of the beams l-l and the adjacent ends oit' the beams lrest upon an adjustable support D and are `mounted on abutments B2 which, as shown, is a built up beam. Similarly the upper ends of the beams H3 and the adjacent ends of the beams P2 rest upon an adjustable support DA which may be similar to the support D, and is mounted on a corresponding pair of abutments B3. Any suitable provisions may be made for effecting the vertical adjustment of the supports D and DA to thereby vary the vertical elevation of the hump section C2. The means shown for this purpose comprise spacers D3 interposed between the enlarged end portions D oi' the beams D and DA, and the subjacent abutments B2 or B3, these spacers being varied in number, or being replaced by others of different thickness in order to give the desired vertical adjustments of the ends of the lhump section C2. As shown, the beams D and DA are provided with ears D4 under which tops of jacks, not shown, may be placed in order to raise and lower the beam to permit the spacing blocks D3 to be adjusted.

B5 represent seats provided for the lower ends of the lifting jacks. The ends of the track rails Ct adjacent the scale platform may be supported on stationary cross beams K and K", As shown the chairs F project through apertures lvl in a stationary platform M which is carried by suitable beams L.

ln the practical use of my invention for handling ordinary freight cars of the general character usedin the standard railway practice in this country, the hump sections C', C2 and C3 may well be approximatelytwenty-live, twelve and sixteen feet in length respectively. lt is to be understood, of course, that these dimensions are given primarily for illustrative purposes and may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

ln the use oi" the invention the cars are pushed over the hump, and each car ordinarily begins to accelerate and thereby breaks away 'from the sectionof the train back of it and from which it has previously been uncoupled, at about the instant at which the rear truck passes onto the section C2 of the hump, and'in consequence the retarding force,

varying with the vertical adjustment of the hump apex, exerted by the hump section C3 on the rear truck of each car passing over the hump, need not affect the velocity with which the car moves off of the hump section C and C2 onto the scale. ln the different vertical adjustments of the hump the intermediate section is ordinarily maintained horizontal or substantially so.

`While in accordance with the provisions oi" the statutes yl have illustrated and described the best form of my invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat changes maybe made in the form of apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of my invention and that in some cases some features of my invention maybe used without a corresponding use of other features.

Having now described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by lietters Patent, is:

1. Car weighing apparatus comprising a track scale, a track leading thereto, and comprising an adjustable hump formed of an intermediate section, a downwardly inclined section leading toward the scale from one end of said intermediate section, and another downwardly inclined section extending away from the opposite end of said intermediate section, and means for vertically adjusting said intermediate section and the adjacent ends of said inclined sections.

2. Car weighing apparatus comprising a track scale, a track leading thereto, and comprising an adjustable hump formed of an intermediate and substantially horizontal section, a downwardly inclined section leading toward the scale from one end of said intermediate section, and another downwardly inclined section extending away from the opposite end of said intermediate section, and means for simultaneously effecting a vertical adjustment of each end oi" said intermediate section and the adjacent end of the adjacent inclined sections.

ALONZO W. EPRlGl-ll.

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

' Washington, D.. f5.

CIT

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