US1553645A

US1553645A - Open-top freight-car end

Info

Publication number: US1553645A
Application number: US698667A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Tatum
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1924-03-12
Filing date: 1924-03-12
Publication date: 1925-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 1942-09-15

Description

Sept. 1551925.

' I J. J.-TATUM OPEN TOP FREIGHT CAR END Filed "arch 12. 1924 attorney xii!!!15311514514455I n Patented Sept. 15, 1925'.

UNITED STATES JOHN J. TATUM, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

OPEN-TOP FREIGHT-CAR END.

Application filed March 12, 1924. Serial No. 698,667.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. TATUM, a citizen of the United States of America, re-

siding at Baltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Open-Top Freightthe brake wheel could be operated, and by extending the brake staff above th top end walls the staff and wheel were exposed to damage by the clam shells and other unloading devices hitting the staff and making the brake inoperative, which condition resulted in a Federal safety appliance V10- -lation, for which the road was penalized. Another expedient object in connection with the old practice of heap end walls was the use of a brake ratchet lever which is located below the end of the car, lower down BO than the top of the side walls of the car as well as the end of the car, and on such cars the brake shelf is necessarily located so low on the ends of the car that the brakeman is denied of an opportunity of seeing across the car when it is being switched, making it very diflicult for him to gauge or tell when the car he is riding will hit standing cars in the yard or train, which results in serious damage to property and sometimes bodily injury.

The object of my invention is toprovide a heap end wall for open top cars which overcomes all of the objections incident to the heap end wall heretofore in use.

My invention consists in providing an open top car with the heap end wall, which is offset, to provide a space for the brake wheel and permit the brake wheel to be located below the top of the heap end of the car whereby it is protected from being damaged by being hit with clam shells and other unloading devices.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the end of an open top car embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a detail view of the end wall of an open top car showing my invention.

Figure 3 is a detail side elevation of Fig ure 2.

Figures 4; and 5show other embodiments of my invention.

The reference numeral 1 designates an end wall of a car, and 2 a side wall of a car, said walls having at their proper edges angle plates, 3 and 1-, which rigidify the upper ends of the walls and angle plate 4 being secured to the top of the end wall 1. This is standard construction.

The heap, or extension end wall 5 is made from plate metal of the same grade as the side and end walls of the car, and has a fiat top edge 6 and sloping side edge 7, the body of the wall sheet 5 being bent outwardly as at 8 to constitute a shelf, the

outerredge of which is secured by suitable rivets to the angle iron 4 at the top of the endwall 1. This heap end 5 is further secured to the side and end walls'by means of gusset plates 9 which are riveted to the shelf 8 and to the angle irons 3 and 4 of the side and end walls 1 and 2, thereby rigidly securing this heap end wall 5'to the car structure. In order that the heap end wall 5 may be rigid I bend the metal of said wall into flanges 10, which function as rigidifying members to enable the plate 5 to resist the end thrust of the cargo while the car is under service conditions. I secure the hand grab iron 11 to one of these flanges 10 to one side of the car, which grab iron is in convenient position to be grasped by an operator ascending or descending the ladder 12 on the end wall of the car.

It will be clearly seen from Figures 1 and 3 that with this offset in the heap end wall 5 space is provided for the brake wheel 13 on th brake stafi 14 and that, therefore, the brake staif need not be extended to any greater length than is now standard in open top cars, thus eliminating any extra expense of increasing the length of the brake staff. The wheel 13 has ample space over the shelf 8 in which to lie and in which to be operated.

This arrangement permits the location of the brake shelf 15 so that the brakeman can stand on the shelf and see across the top of the car when it is being switched and control the speed of the car he is riding to prevent it from making a violent impact against standing cars in the yard or trains,

thereby eliminating damage to the equipment, jolting of part of the lading off the car and resultant injury to the operator of the car from such jo-lting and from the shifting of the lading over the end of the car.

Further, this arrangement does away with the necessity of using a brake intchet'lever which is located below the end of the car lower down than the top of the side walls of the car, as well as the end of the car, which are mostly built with ends no higher than the sides. ()n such cars the brake shelf is located so low on the ends of the car that the brakeman is denied an opportunity of seeing across the car when it is switched, making it almost impossible for him to gauge the speed or to tell when the car he is riding will hit standing cars in the yard or trains.

From Fi nre 4 it will be seen that I may form the heap load extension 15 integral with the car end wall 16, the end wall having the floor flange 17.

In Figure 5 I have illustrated the end wall 18 and heap load extension 19 as being made of corrugated metal, the lower portion of the end wall in this figure being broken away on account of lack of space. Of course, it is obvious that these corrugations may extend vertically or as shown or they may be a combination of vertical and horizontal corrugations.

It is, of course, obvious that changes may be made in the details of construction shown herein, within the scope of the appended claims, withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

VVhat- I claim is:

1. An open top freight car having end and side walls, a shelf extending inwardly from the top of each end wall and a supplemental end wall extending upwardly from the inner end of said shelves.

2. The combination with an open top freight car having side and end walls, of a brake staff and wheel extending above the plane of the top of said walls, and a guard extending upwardly from the end walls above the plane of the upper end of said staff and wheel.

3. The combination with an open top freight car having sideand end walls, of a brake staff and wheel extending above the plane of the top of said walls, and a guard extending upwardly from the end walls above the plane of the upper end of said staff and Wheel, and a hand grab secured to said guard.

4. An open top freight car having end and side walls, a shelf secured to the top of each end wall, and extending inwardly from said end wall, a supplemental end wall extending upwardly from each shelf and having rigidifying flanges at its top edge.

5. An open top freight car having end and side walls, a. shelf projecting inwardly from the top of each end wall, gusset plates securing said shelves to the end walls, a supplemental end wall extending upwardly from the inner edge portion of each self, and a rigidifying flange at the free edge of each of said supplemental end walls.

6. As a new article of manufacture, supplemental end wall for an open top freight car, comprising a. vertical plate having an outwardly extending shelf adapted to be secured to the top of the end wallsof said type of car.

In testimony whereof I afrlx my signature.

JOHN J. TATUM.