US1409589A - Door-space closure for freight cars - Google Patents

Description

J. W. RUSCH.

DOOR SPACE CLOSURE FORFREIGHT CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6,1920.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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J. W. RUSCH.

DOOR SPACE CLOSURE FOR FREIGHT CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6,1920.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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UNITED STATES ,PATENT OFFICE.

7 JOHN W. RUSClH, OF BUFFALO LAKE, MINNESOTA.

noon-smell cnosunn r03 FREIGHT cans.

To all whom'c't my camera Be it known that I, Join: W. RUSOH, acitizen of the' United States, residing at Buffalo Lake, in the county of Renville and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements .in Door- Space Closures for Freight Cars; and I do hereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description 0 the inventlon, .such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved door space closurefor freight cars, which closure is suitable for adapting the car to retain grain or live animals; and, to this end, my invention consists of the novel devices and combinatlons of devices hereinafter described and 'POlIllZBd out in the claims.

-My invention, in its preferred form, 1s illustrated in the accompanying drawlngs, wherein like notations refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In said drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the central portion of a freight car with the outer car door removed anda portion of the side of the car broken away;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section on the hue 22 of Fig. 1, with some parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, with some parts broken away; and

Fig. 4 is a detail in horizontal cross section on the line 4-4 of Fig. l.

The car body 5 is assumedto be that of an ordinary freight car, without inside lining or interior walls, but with its body walls and floor so constructed and related to each other as to be tight ,enoughto carry loose grain, such as wheat, rye, barley or oats, when so desired. Said car body 5 is assumed to be provided with the usual centrally located door space openings 6 opposite to each other in its side walls. For, present pur-' poses, it is sufiicient to distinguish the right end and left end door posts, respectively, by the numerals 7 and 8. To the vertical side walls of the car body, inside of the same, I secure a panel guide rack made up of a series of sections 9, of equal length, conveniently formed from boards nailed to the studding of the car and vertically spaced apart from each other to afford guide channels 10. This guide rack extends from a Specification of Letters Patent. Patented M 14 1922. Application filed m a, 1920.. SerialNo. I

point adjacent tothe right hand door post 7 toward the right hand end of the car. The numerals l1 andx12 represent a series of panels adapted to span the door opening 6, and each of which anelsis provided with a guide roller 13 working in the guide channels 10 of the guide rack and supporting the panel members 11 partly therefrom. The lower panel 12 is metal-sheathed, as shown, and all of the panels are lap-jointed together, and, to this end, the panel members 11 are made up of wooden bodies 11 with metallic lips l1 riveted thereto and projecting downward therefrom in position to engage the upper edges of the respective underlying panels and thereby lap-joint all .of the panels together.

To the opposite or left-hand door post 8, I secure an abutment 14 with one edge projecting inward toward the center of the car beyond the inner face of the post 8, as best shown in Fig. 4. Hence, when the panels are drawn over into their closed positlons, their ends will come, up against the projecting edge of this abutment 14 and there be stopped in alignment with each other, with their end portions lapping the inner face of the said left-hand post 8. It

has'already been stated that the panels 11 and 12 are of such length that they will span the door space 6 and they are of such length, that, when spanning the door space, their opposite ends lap the inner faces of the respective door posts 7 and 8.

The said panels 11 and 12 are all provided with lock lugs 15, one on each panel, at uniform distances from the right ends of the panels, and which lugs travel in the guide channels 10 of the guide rack and are so located on the panels that, when the latter are in position to span and close the door space, the lock lugs 15 will all become vertically alignedwith each other, at a short distance to the left of the right-hand door post 7. To the left-hand edge of this post 7 I secure a long staple l6 and a gravity-acting or automatic locking bar 17, the automatic action being secured by'the way in which these two elements 16 and 17 are related to each other and the said lock lugs 15 and the of the staple pass, and are thereby made to loosely connect the bar 17 with the said left-hand face of said door post 7. The weight of the bar 17 will, therefore, tend to make the bar assume its lowermost and innermost position, and when the panels are in their closed positions, the bar 17 will thus, by 'gravity, move downward and inward, until stopped by the panels, and this will be with the inner edge of the bar to the I right of and close to the aligned lugs 15,

and will, thereby hold the panels in their closed positions. The locking bar 17 can, of course, be moved by hand upward and outward to the limit of said guiding slots 18, and it is shown provided with a series of holes 19, intended to register with corresponding holes in the door post, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and chained pins 20 are shown secured to the staple, for application to these holes 19 throughholes in the staple 16 to hold the locking bar 17 in position to lock or unlock the panel, and, when unlocked, to afford the requisite clearance for the sliding motion of the said panel.

From the foregoing description and the drawings, it must, of course, be obvious that the panels 11 and 12 are capable of being moved, either independently or two or more together, into positions for spanning the door space 6, and that, at all times, the said panels are lap-jointed together, if all are moved into said closed position where they all span the door space 6. It also follows that this is the relation of said panels 11 and 12, when any two or more of the same are moved into their closed positions, considering the same in regular order from the lowermost to the uppermost thereof. Hence, it follows that a grain-tight closure, of any desired height equal to or less than the height of the door space opening 6, may be secured.

When the car is loaded with grain, the pressure against the panels is considerable, making it quite difiicult to slide the panels, unless a good hold thereof can be secured. Hence, as a means for better enabling the panels to be handled against the load of the grain,'I provide the same with eye-lugs 21 projectin outward from near their lefthand en s on their vertical faces and corresponding eye-lugs 22 projecting outward lengthwise of the car from the ends of the panels. Hence, whether in their closed posi-. tions or their idle positions, one or the other of these sets of eye-lugs 21 or 22 will be available to be taken hold of by hand, or the hook of a chain with a suitable leverage device (not shown) which can be anchored at its opposite end to the car body, and thereby the requisite power be rendered available for sliding the panels against the heaviest pressure to which they are liable. The abutment 14 is recessed to afford seating sockets 14 for the end eye-lugs 22, when the panels are in their closed positions.

When'the panels are'in their idle position of the lock bar 17 is 'sufiicient to bring its inner ed e in front of the projecting eyelugs 22 fi xed in the ends of the panels, and thereby hold the panels from anylongitudinal movement in their idle positions within their supporting rack, altogether out of the wa or clear from the door opening 6.

11 view of the features above described, it is, therefore, further obvious that, if it be desired to use this car for live animals, such as cattle, hogs or sheep, only selected members of the panels need be moved'into position to span the door opening 6, such, for example, as alternate members thereof with the intermediate members left in their idle positions in which relation of the panels an abundance of ventilating spaces will be afforded between the panels, at the door space. When alternate panels are moved to closed position it. is obvious that the lefthand end of each being unsupported by the adjacent panel below, will tilt slightly downwardly and at such time the end will be supported by the staple 22 resting in the bottom of the slot or socket 14. When all of the panels are closed, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the panels will be supported.

upon each other and the members 22 will not contact with the bottom of the sockets 14*.

Then, again, if it is desired to use the car for freight other than grain or live animals, where no closure is needed for the door opening 6 other than the outside car door, the panels are simply moved to the extreme right into their idle positions within their supporting rack and there locked by the bar 17, where they will securely remain out of the way. until again needed for handling grain or live stock.

; The practicability and utility of my improved closure has been demonstrated b the successful commercial usage thereo on freight cars.

It will, of course, be understood that more or less of the details of the illustrated structure could be changed, without de arting from the spirit of the invention. or example, the panels might be made entirely of wood or single sections of other material and be jointed together grain-tight by other means than those shown, as, for example, by grooves and tongues in the co-operating edges of the jointed panels. The guide rack might also be of anyother suitable construction which would serve the function of holding and guiding the panels, as required.

What I claim is 1. A door space closure for freight-cars, suitable for retaining grain or animals,

panels adapted to span the door space;

mounted in said guide rack for movement crosswise of the door space, independently or two or more thereof while jointed together, and provided with lock lugs adapted to be vertically aligned with each other when the panels are in position to span said door space, and a locking bar carried by the door post and adapted to automatically move to position to engage behind said aligned lugs to hold said panels in their said closed positions.

3. The combination with a car body, of a guide rack secured to the interior thereof adjacent to one end of the car door space, and lengthwise of .the car, a plurality of panels adapted to span the door space, mounted in said guide rack for movement crosswise of the door space, independently or two or more thereof while jointed together, the free ends of which panels are adapted to align with each other when in their idle or open positions in said rack and which panels are provided with lock lugs adapted to be vertically aligned with each other when the panels are in position 130 span the door space, andJ a gravity-action locking bar carried by the door post adapted to engage said panels behind said aligned lugs to hold said panels in their closed positions and to pass inward in front of the aligned free ends of said panels to hold the same in their open or idle positions within their supporting rack.

4. A door space closure for freight cars, suitable for retaining grain or animals, comprising a plurality of panels adapted to span the door space, and mounted for move-. ment crosswise of said door space, and independently or two or more thereof while jointed together, and eye-lugs, one set on their outer vertical faces and another set projecting from the front edges to facilitate the handling of the panels by hand or with the aid of a power device and a door frame having a plurality of recesses therein with which the latter eye lugs co-operate to support the panels when only alternate panels are closed, substantially as described.

The combination with a car body, of a guide rack made up of a series of longitudinal sections secured to the interior of the car lengthwise thereof adjacent to one end of the car door space and vertically spaced apart from each other to afford guiding channels, a corresponding series of panels adapted to span the door spac, jointed together and provided withguide' blocks and guide rollers spaced therefrom which travel in the said channels of said rack, and an abutment fixed to and projecting from the opposite door post against which the ends of said panels abut when in their closed position, said guide blocks also constituting locking means for the panels when in closed position, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a car body, of a guide rack secured to the interior thereof adjacent to one end of the car door space and lengthwise of the car, a plurality of panels adapted to span the doorspace and mounted in said guide rack for movement crosswise of the door space, independently or two or more thereof while jointed together, and provided with lock lugs adapted to be vertically aligned with each other when the panels are in position to span said door space and the free ends of WlllCll panels are adapted to align with each other when in their open or idle position within said rack, and a locking bar vertically supported on the door post by slot and pin connections therewith with the slots diagonally disposed in the bar, whereby, under the action of gravity, said bar will engage automatically with said lock lugs, when the panels are in their closed positions, and will pass inward in front of the free ends of the panels, when the latter are in their open or idle positions, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a car body, of a guide rack secured to the interior thereof adjacent to one end of the car door space, lengthwise of the car, a plurality of panels adapted to span the door space and mounted in said guide rack for movement crosswise of the door space, independently or two or more thereof while jointed together, and provided with lock lugs adapted to be vertically aligned with each other when the panels are in position to span said door space, a long staple projecting from the profile face of the door post, and a locking bar vertically disposed on the said profile face of said post and provided with inclined slots running downward and inward crosswise thereof and engaged by the ends of said staple, whereby, under the action of gravity, the bar will automatically engage with said aligned lock lugs to hold said panels in their closed positions and pass inward in front of the free ends of the panels to hold the Same in said guide rack, when in their open or idle positions, substantially as described.

8. The combination with the car body of a guide rack made up of a series of longitudinal sections secured to the interior of the car lengthwise thereof, adjacent to one side of the car door space and arranged to form longitudinal guide channels, a corresponding series of panels adapted to span the door space, jointed together and provided with spaced guiding means which travel in the said channels and a handle on the outside of said'panels', said handles being in alignment with and ada ted to enter said channels.

9. The com ination with a car body, of a guide rack secured to the interior thereof adjacent to one end of the car door spacelengthwise of the car, a plurality of panels adapted to span the door space mounted in said guide rack for movement crosswise of the door space, independently or two or more thereof while jointed together, the free ends of which panels are adapted to align with each other, when in their open or idle positions, and which panels are provided with lock lugs adapted to be vertically aligned with each other when the panels are in osition to span the door space, a gravityactmg locking bar vertically su ported on the profile face of the door post Ey slot and pin connections therewith, the slots running diagonally downward and inward crosswise of the bar, said bar being thereby adapted to automatically engage said aligned lugs to hold the panels in their closed positions or to pass in front of the free ends of the anels to hold said panels in their open or idle positions, and means for locking said bar in a neutral or idle position or in either of its two panel holding positions, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOHN W. RUSGH.

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