US1154053A - Operating mechanism for car-doors. - Google Patents

Description

M. H. PRIDDY.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS. APPLICATION FILD 050.21. 1914.

1,154,053. Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH cm. WASHINGTON. D. c.

M. H. PRIDDY.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS. APPLICATION FILED DEC.2I, 1914.

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r oration.-

MIELLS HGDGES PRIDDY, OF FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGN-OE OF TWO-FIFTI-IS T0 HARRY M. Ii/EOKEE, FRESNO, CALIFORNIA.

QPERATING MECHANISM FGR CAR-DOOBSQ Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

Application filed December 21, 1914. Serial No. 878,432.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MInLLs l-lonens PRIDD a citizen of the United States, residing at Fresno, in the county of Fresno and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Operating Mechanism for Car-Doors; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates broadly to operating means for car doors and the like, and has for its main object to provide a gear and rack mechanism for this use, and to so construct the rack as to cause it to effectively brace the door and to simultaneously retain an upright operating shaft and a gear on said shaft, in fixed relation to the rack.

Further objects of. the invention are to provide simple and efiicient means for rotating the above mentioned shaft and for locking the same against rotation.

With the above andminor objects in view, the invention resides in certain novel features ofconstruction and combination herein described and claimed and shown in the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a car showing the application of my invention; Figs. 2, 3 and d are horizontal sections taken on the lines 2 2, 33 and 4l of Fig. 1; Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical transverse sections taken respectively on the lines 55 and 66 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the lock; Fig. 8 is a vertical section as seen on the lines 88 of Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a view similar to ig. 7 but showing the pivoted latch member swung laterally and the sliding latch member moved upwardly; Fig.10 is a vertical section as. seen on the line 10+10 of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a horizontal section taken along the plane of the line 1111 of Fig. 8; Fig. 12 is a vertical transverse section showing a modified detail of construction, to be described; and Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing still another modified detail.

In these drawings, constituting part of this application, aportion of a freight car C is shown which is provided with the usual verted L-shaped supporting, plate 3 which may be secured thereto by the provision of an attaching plate & or by other suitable means. The plate 3 slides" freely within a similarly shaped plate or channel-way 5 which is secured byany appropriate means to one side of the car C and is spaced outwardly therefrom as shown.

The structure illustrated anddescribed at the upper and lower ends of the door D is merely illustrative ofone manner in which this door may be suspended for longitudinal movement, it being readily understood that other types of door hangers could well be employed for this purpose.

Secured'by screws, bolts, or other appropriate fasteners to the outer side of the door D, is a horizontal rack bar 6 whose ends are provided with a pair of integral rigid bracl ets 7 which project laterallyt ierefrom, these brackets being provided for the purpose of securing the opposite ends of a pair of truss rods 8 in position. The rods 8 are spaced one above the other and are located in parallel relation as well as lying parallel to and spaced outwardly from the rack 6. By this provision, any tendency of the contents of the car to bulge the center of the door outwardly, is positively prevented since this stress is received by the truss rods 8. As most clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the left handend of the rack 6 projects a slight distance beyondthe left handend of the door D to provide a stop 9 which is normally received within a socket 10 secured to the car in any appropriate manner. By this means, the door D is further prevented from bulging outwardly. The right hand end of the rack 6 projects a considerable distance be 7 thus preventing outward movement on the part of said shaft, which might otherwise allow the gear 11 to move out of engagement,

with the teeth of the rack bar.

From the structure just described, it will be seenthat the rods 8 not only brace the car door 1), but that they retain the shaft 12 in proper relation to the rack bar and prevent the'gear 11 from shifting upon said shaft.

As seen more particularly in Fig. 5, the upper and lower ends of the shaft 12 are mounted respectively in sockets 13 and 14 which are carried by plates 15 and 16 which are secured respectively to the roof Rof the car and to one of the sills S thereof, these'plates projecting outwardly to such an extent as to position the shaft 12 a suitable'distance from the channel-way 5. Although this manner of mounting the shaft 12may well be employed upon some styles of cars, L-shaped brackets 16 (see Fig. 13) having sockets 14 in their horizontal arms,

- may well be provided in connection with other types, these brackets, as well as the plates 15 and 16, being designed primarily for use upon wooden freight cars. When the door'operating'means is to be provided in connection with a steel car or, a car having steel sills S, as seen in Fig. 12, L-shaped brackets 16 having sockets 16 in the upper ends of their upright arms and appropriate clamps 17 on thefree ends of their horizontal arms, may be provided.

With the parts constructed and arranged as above described, it will be evident that rotation of the shaft 12 will move the rack bar 6 longitudinally, thereby opening or closing the door D as the case may be. For the purpose of imparting this rotary movement to the shaft, the structure most clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 3 is provided. In these figures, the lower end portion of the shaft 12 is shown as provided with a gear 18 upon whose hub a collar 19 rests, said gear being keyed to the shaft while the collar 19 is free to move thereon, this collar being held against upward movement, however, by an appropriate form of stop 20. Pivoted at 21 to one or more ears which project laterally from the collar 19, is a ratchet member 22 which comprises an upright portion adapted to engage the teeth of the gear 18 and a horizontal portion to which one end of a horizontal lever 23 is pivoted, this lever being so connected to member 22 as to allow it to swing downwardly irrespectively of any movement on the part of said mem-' ber, whereas upward movement of said lever will raise this member 22 out of'its engage" ment with the gear 18. It will therefore be seen that proper manipulation of the lever 23 will rotate the shaft 12 to permit the necessary movement of the door D. Under ordinary circumstances, when the door is closed, it becomes expedient to provide means for locking the lever 23 in such a position as to prevent dislocation of the ratchet member 22 from the gear 18, thereby preventing access into the car. For. this purpose, I provide the locking means now to be described. g The, free end of the lever 23 (see more particularly Figs. 7 to 11 inclusive), is provided with an upright stud 24, the latter having an annular groove 25 near its upper end. This groove 24: coacts'with a lock which may be briefly described as follows:

Secured to the door D, at an appropriate point, by the provision of a pair of bolts' 26 and 27, is an upright plate 28Vwhose lower end is provided, in its front face, with an upright groove 29, the bolt 27 being provided with a fork 30- which is located in this groove .29. The lower end of this plate is furtherprovided with a dove-tail guideway 31 in. which a vertically moving latch member 32 is slidably mounted, this latch member 32 having an appropriate stop for limiting its downward movement and being formed on its inner face :with' an upright groove 29" which co-acts with the groove 29 to produce a complete socket.

l/Vith the parts constructed as just de- 1 a direction as to cause its'stud'2kto be located' within the groove 29, theineck formed by the provision of the groove 25 then being 7 scribed, the lever 23 may be swung in such Fig. 10 before this operation can take place. 7

By reference to this'figure, itwill also be seen that one end of the bolt 26 is provided tion by the provision of a pivoted latch member 33 which is connected to the upper v end of the plate 28, the member's 33 and 32 having perforated ears3 l which are adapted to aline and receive a seal 35 (see Fig 1). r

The structure just described is typical of one form of lock which may be employed for securing the lever 23 against movement when the door is to be lockedagainst sliding,

it being understood that any other appropriate form of lock could well be employed for this purpose. v

received by the fork 30, it being understood that the member 32 is raised as seen in 1 member 32 may then be locked in this posi-' When the door is opened, it becomes eX- pedient to provide means for retaining it in this position. Since this may be well done by locking the lever s3 against oscillation, I have provided a longitudinal plate 4-0 directly above the plate 16, said plate 40 having an opening through which the shaft 12 passes and a pair of ears 41 which straddle said plate 16. By the above described positioning of parts, the plate 40 will be spaced outwardly from the car a sufficient distance to allow the lever-.23 to be swung between it and said car as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 1, thereby preventing rotation of the shaft 12 until said lever is again raised.

I have described my invention with considerable detail and have set forth certain specific embodiments for carrying out the objects of the invention but it is to be understood that I need not be limited to these identical disclosures, otherwise than as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim l. The combination with a sliding door, of a horizontal rigid rack bar secured to the outer side thereof and having rigid brackets projecting laterally from its two ends, truss rod extending through said brackets and lying parallel to the rack bar, an upright shaft disposed between the rod and the rack bar, a gear on said shaft and meshing with the teeth of said bar, and means to rotate the shaft.

2. The combination with a sliding door, of a horizontal rigid rack bar secured to the outer side thereof and having rigid brackets projecting laterally from its two ends, a truss rod extending through said brackets and lying parallel to the rack bar, an upright shaft disposed between the rod and the rack bar, a gear on said shaft and located directly above the truss rod, whereby the latter prevents downward movement of said gear, and means to rotate said shaft, the gear being meshed with the teeth of the rack bar.

3. lhe combination with a sliding door, of a horizontal rigid rack bar secured to the outer side thereof and having rigid brackets projecting laterally from its two ends, a pair of parallel horizontal truss rods spaced one above the other and having their ends secured to said brackets, said rods being also spaced from and lying parallel to the rack bar, an upright shaft disposed between said rack bar and the truss rods, a gear on said shaft and lying between the two truss rods, and means to rotate said shaft.

The combination with a sliding door, a rack secured thereto, a gear meshing with said rack, a revolubly mounted shaft upon which said gear is secured, a second gear secured to said shaft, a collar loosely mounted on the shaft adjacent the second gear, a

substantially L-shaped ratchet member pivoted at its angle .to said collar, one end of said member being adapted for engagement with the teeth of the second gear, a lever pivoted to the other end of said member to swing toward the second gear, and means to lock said lever against such swinging movement.

5. The combination with a sliding door, a horizontal rack secured thereto, a gear meshing with said rack, an upright revolubly mounted shaft upon which said gear is secured, and a lever connected to the lower end portion of said shaft to oscillate horizontally, said lever being also mounted to swing downwardly, of a plate in which the lower end of said shaft is revolubly mounted, a second plate lying upon the first named plate and having an opening through which the shaft projects, and a pair of ears depending from the second plate and straddling the first plate, the lever being adapted to be swung downwardly behind the second plate.

6. The combination with a sliding door, an upright revolubly mounted shaft, connections between the shaft and the door for sliding the latter as the former is rotated, and a horizontally swinging lever for rotating said shaft, of an upright stud rising from said lever and having a reduced neck near its upper end, a lock body secured to the door and having a groove and a fork located in said groove, said body likewise having an upright guideway, a sliding latch member mounted to slide vertically in said guideway, and means to retain said latch member in lowered position, the stud being adapted to be moved into the groove in the lock body and the neck being adapted to be received by the fork therein, when said latch member is raised.

7. The combination with a sliding door, an upright revolubly mounted shaft, connections between the shaft and the door for sliding the latter upon rotation of the former, and a horizontally swinging lever for rotating said shaft, of an upright stud rising from said lever and having a reduced neck, a lock body-secured to the door and having a groove in the lower end portion of its outer face, a bolt passing through the door and the lock body and having a forked end located in said groove, the lower end of said body likewise having an upright guideway, a vertically sliding latch member in said guideway, a second bolt above said latch member and passing through the lock body and through the door, said bolt having a stop to limit the upward movement of said member, and a pivoted laterally swinging latch member pivotally connected to the upper end of the lock body and adapted to swing downwardly over the vertically sliding latch member, when the latter is 'loW- my hand in presence of two snbscribing ered, the groove in the lock body and the Witnesses. forked end of the bolt in said roove, loein adapted to receive respectivelyrthe stud @113 MIELLS HODGES PRIDDY' 5 the reduced neck thereof, When the verti- Witnesses:

oally moving latch member is raised. I MARIE JORGENSEN, In testimony whereof I have hereunto set L. VAN BUREN.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing th e Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. 0.

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