US1199049A

US1199049A - Freight-car door.

Info

Publication number: US1199049A
Application number: US79097913A
Authority: US
Inventors: John H Chenoweth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1913-09-22
Filing date: 1913-09-22
Publication date: 1916-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 1933-09-26

Description

J. H. CHENOWETH.

FREIGHT CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22. 1913.

Patnted Sept. 26, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

i. H. CHENOWETH.

FREIGHT CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1913.

1,199,049. PatentedSept. 26,1916.

JOHN H. CHENOWET H, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FREIGHT-CAR DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

Application filed September 22, 1913. Serial No. 790,979.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN H. CHENownTH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight-Car Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to freight cars, and has been more especially designed for usein connection with refrigerator cars which employ doors of considerable thickness.

My present invention employs and bodies the broad structural principle disclosed in my former Letters Patent No. 801,439, granted to me October 10, 1905, but presents several modifications of and improvements upon the structure disclosed in the aforesaid Letters Patent which latter adapts the broad principle of the said structure to refrigerator or other cars having bodily movable slidingdoors of considerable thickness.

Among theleading objects attained by the invention are, first, the provision of a novel door-actuating mechanism for shifting the door into and out of the door opening, affording a greater extent or range of bodily movement than has heretofore been possible; the provision of a novel and effective means for holding the door-hangers against turning movement during the outward and inward movement of the door relatively to the door opening; the provision of means for effecting a final powerful inward pressure by the door to force it into snug and sub- BID."

stantially air-tight engagement with the door j amb; and the provision of a device in the nature of a guide for limiting and controlling the outward swinging movement of the lower end of the door.

Other minor objects and improvements secured by the invention will be apparent from the following detail description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate an improved embodiment of my invention, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the side of a car-body showing my improved door in closed position. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross section, enlarged, on the line 33, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the door opening,

[showing the door in edge elevation and in open position. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged details, in horizontal section, illustrating,'in idle and operative positions, respectively, a device for effecting a final powerful doorclosing movement to insure the snug seating of the door in the door jamb or casing.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the side wall of the car, in which is formed a door opening 11, preferably of the stepped form shown, which is usual in refrigerator doors to secure a more perfect and airtight joint. Directly above the door opening 11 is secured a running track 12.

13 designates the door which, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 4, is of considerable thickness and the edge of which is of a stepped form to cooperate with the stepped opening 11. Mounted vertically in upper and

lower bearings

14 and 15 on the outer face of the door 18 are a pair of crank,

shafts 16. On the upper ends of the crank shafts 16 are cranks 17, the vertical stems 18 of which are journaled in a pair of door hanger brackets 19, these latter carrying wheels 20 that engage the fixed track 12;

The crank stem 18 is secured in its bearing 19 by a cotter pin 21 and washer 22. The weight of the door 13, when in open position, is supported by the hanger brackets 19, through the crank shafts 16, by means of collars 23 fast on the crank shafts 16' engaged by the upper bearings 14. To prevent any turn ng or twisting tendency of the hanger brackets 19 during the operatlon 25 in Fig. 1, while its opposite end has a' sliding engagement in a bearing 26 on the other hanger bracket. Thls rod 24; serves 1n an obvious manner to lock the two han er brackets against turning or twisting upon the track 12 in the half turning movement given to the crank shafts 16 in opening and closing the door, as hereinafter described.

Since, in practice, it is difficult and virtually impossible to insure the perfect parallelism shafts 16, it is highly desirable to provide the described sliding fit of the distance rod or with one of the hanger brackets to accommodate the slight to-andfro movements of said hanger brackets relatively to each of moving the door inwardly and outwardly,

of the crank arms 17 in all positions-of the other that occur during the actuation of the door.

To the lower ends of the crank shafts 16 are keyed or otherwise secured spur pinions 27 preferably housed by downward extensions 15 of the lowerbearings 15. To save space,the outer face of the door 13 is provided with shallow mortises 28 (Fig.-%) to accommodate the pinions 27, and permit the shafts 16 to lie close to the outer face of the door. Slidably mounted in and between the extensions 15 is a bar 29, best shown in Fig. 3, the outer end portions of which are outwardly offset, as shown, and carry racks 3O engaging. the pinions 27. To the rack bar 29 is pivoted a link 31, forming a connection between said rack bar and one end of an operating lever 32, which latter is fast upon a stud 33 (Fig, 2) journaled in a. bushing 33 in-the door. The lever 32 terminates in a handle 34 and, in the closed position of the door, is locked by a guide 35 secured to the face of the door cooperating with a loop 36 on the lever 82 and a keeper 37.

The door is locked in closed position and simultaneously at its lower end is drawn tightly into engagement with the edge of the door opening by means of a pair of locking bars 38. slidably mounted in lZQQP'. ers 39 on the inner face of the door, said locking bars being pivotally connected at their inner ends to and at diametrically opposite points on a crank disk 40 integral with or fast on the inner end of the stud shaft The outer ends of the locking bars 38 are bent outwardly slightly relatively to the door, as shown at 38 in Fig. 3; and, when in locking position, slidingly engage wedge-shape cam blocks 41 secured to the inner side of the wall 10 of the car adjacent to the opposite vertical edges of the door opening. The operative relation of the crank disk 4-0 and locking bars 88 to the actuating mechanism of the crank shafts 16 is such that when the latter are actuated to move the door outwardly of the opening the loclnng bars 38 are retracted, and, when the crank shafts 16 are actuated to move the door into closed position, the locking bars 38 are forced outwardly into the looking position shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

To steady the lower end of the door and prevent undue widthwise or edgewise oscill6 and d7 designate a pair of stops secured to the side 10 of the car at proper positions to engage the ends of the distance rod 2% when the doorcis at the precise extremes of its travel.

48 designates a wear-strip secured to the side wall of the car on that side of the dooropening over which the door operates to prevent injury to the side wall of the car by reason of chafing or abrasion of the door against the latter.

d9 designates a handle secured to the face of the door near its lower end, by means of Whiclithe operator, when actuating the lever 3a. to unlock the door and force outwardly its upper end, may, simultaneously, assist the action of gravity by pulling outwardly upon the lower end of the door in case the latter tends to stick in the opening.

50 designates a fixed stop on the door designed. to limit the swing of the lever The final inward movement of the door and the initial outward movement thereof are facilitated and a tight joint obtained by s an auxiliary closing and. opening device best shown in detail views Figs. 5 and 6, and i comprising a lug or spur 51 on the upper the power leverage of the operating lever 32. I

Tn the initial opening movement, the outer edge of the lug or spur 51 strikes and wipes over the plate 52", thus creating an initial outward thrust and affording an increased leverage (as compared with that of the crank-arm 17) to overcome any tendencyof the door to stick in the opening. It is under stood that there is suflicient lateral play of the hanger brackets 19 relatively to the track 12 to permit the above described action. V

The door is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in its closed and locked position. To open the door, the keeper 87 is withdrawn, and the lever 32 swung to the left until it engages the stop 50. This retracts the locking bars 38; and, simultaneously, through the bar 29, rack bars 30 and pinions 27, imparts a 7 full half revolution to the crank shafts 16. As the latter are journaled eccentric'ally at their upper ends in the hanger brackets 19, this results in an outward movement of the upper end of the door to an extent equal to twice the length of the cranks 17, which is ample to completely offset the doorrelatively to the outer plane of its opening, as

shown in Fig. 4. During the initial part of this opening movement the lugs 51 strike and wipe over the plates 52' and impart an initial outward thrust on the upper end of the door independently of the cranks 17 in the manner described. The lower portion of the door at the same time swings outwardly under the force of gravity, assisted by a pull on the handle a9, if necessary. During this operation the distance rod 24 prevents turning of the hanger brackets 19 and insures the correct alinement of the trolley wheels 20 upon the trolley track 12. The door is then pushed edgewise to the right until the end of the distance rod 24: engages the stop 47, when the opening 11 is fully exposed. During this edgewise move ment of the door the headed keeper-rod 42 effectively prevents any edgewise oscillation of the door and limits the sidewise oscillation of the lower end of the door to substantially the vertical position. The car having been loaded, the door is pushed edgewise back to a position directly in front of the opening, which is determined by the engagement of the other end of the distance-rod 21 with the stop 4:6. The lower end of the door is then pushed inwardly, and simultaneously the lever 32 is swung to the position shown in Fig. 1, which reverses the direction of rotation of the crank shafts 16, and forces the upper end of the door into closed position. During the final part of this turning movement of the crank shafts 16, the spurs 51 come into engagement with the cam lugs or keepers 52 and increase the effectiveness of the final part of the closing movement of the operating lever 32 in'the manner already described. The lock or keeper 37 may then be reengaged with the end of the guide 35 to secure the lever 32 in normal position, whereupon the door is fully closed and locked.

In the door-operating mechanism disclosed in my former Patent No. 801,439, above referred to, it was possible to give to the crank shafts only a quarter turn, which considerably limited the extent of outward bodily movement of the door relatively to its opening, and hence rendered the operating mechanism of that patent impractical for thick doors such as those of refrigerator cars. By my present operating mechanism, it is possible to give to the crank shafts a full half turn, which doubles the extent of bodily outward movement of the door, as compared with my former patent, and hence, in effect, doubles the thickness of door which may be employed.

I claim v 1. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-side having an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled upon'the door, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having vertical stems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hanger brackets having wheels engaging said track and further provided with bearings for said crank stems, a rod secured to one of said brackets and having a sliding engagement with the other, and means for effecting a turning movement of said crank shafts.

2. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-side having an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled upon the door, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having vertical stems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hanger brackets having wheels engaging said track and further pro vided with bearings for said crank stems, pinions on said crank shafts, a rack bar slidably mounted on said doorand engaging said pinions, and means for imparting endwise movement in either direction to said rack bar.

3. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-side having an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled upon the door, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having vertical stems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hanger brackets having wheels engaging said track and further provided with bearings for said crank stems, cooperating lugs on said crank shafts and the car-side, respectively, adapted to come into cam engagement with each other when the door is in nearly closed position, and means for imparting a turning movement to said crank shafts.

4L. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-side having an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled uponthe door, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having vertical stems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hanger brackets having wheels engaging said track and further provided with bearings for said crank stems, wear-plates carrying cam-lugs secured to the car-side above said opening, laterally projecting lugs on said crank shafts, respectively, adapted to engage said cam-lugs during the final part of the closing movement of the door and to engage said wear-plates during the initial part of the opening movement of the door, and means for imparting a turning movement to said crank shafts.

JOHN H. GHENOWETH. Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, EMILIE Ross.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.