US1883149A - Sliding refrigerator car door - Google Patents

Description

Gct. 18, 1932. A. wAsBx-:RG ET AL SLIDING REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Filed Sept. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l b var n A N. T E l v v/ u l o W E W T l u V E 1 \\i|lll,lf www p M /N il A. \/Vn /ob VA Lf/M VUM 9K f wd/ O w 1M., L: Q /M mi n W Mltu. A r l M i u x W l v VA w v/i u Oct. 18, 1932. A. wAsBERG ET AL SLIDING REFRIGERATOR CAB DOOR Filed sept. '27, 1928 2 'Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. l,V i932 urm'rr-l) sTATEfs xl"A'lllslNlf OFFHCE AXEL WASBERG .AND KENNETH J'. TOBIN, OF CHICAGO', ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO CAMEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS SLIDING'r` REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Application filed September 27, 1928. Serial No. 308,693.

This invention relates to refrigerator-doors for refrigerator cars.

In the past, it has generally been the practice to provide two hinged refrigerator doors upon. cars that would swing together upon closing. It is always more or less diflicult to provide proper insulation for such doors for` the reason that their hinged relation with the car gives them a fixed relation thereto, consequently, the problem of efliciently insulating the perimeters of the door has never been satisfactorily solved. A further objection to these hinged doors resides in the fact, that if left open they would be knocked off when the cars were moved. Y

This invention seeks to avoid the above notedobjections inthe provision of a sliding refrigerator-car door having a beveled perimeter in combination with operating means for forcibly pressing the door into abeveled'opening in the car. Since such a door does not have a fixed relationwith the car, it can always be tightly forced into its beveled seat and no crevices or slack can occur between its perimeter and the car. With this construction, it is possible to use a door of less thickness than the wall of the car, thus resulting in considerable economy.

The invention comprises the novel struc'- ture and combination of parts hereinafter described and more particularly pointed outV and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illusv trate ar preferred form of'this invention and in which similar reference numerals refer to similarfeatures in the different views.

On the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a refrigerator car embodynga slidingdoor involving this invention. l Y

Figure 2 is a sectional Vview taken upon the line II-II of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure Sis an enlarged fragmentarysectional view taken upon the lineIII-III of Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrows illustrating tlie top of the door in closed position. Y

Figure 4- is a sectional view similar to F igure 3 illustrating the top of the door moved outwardly of its seat. i

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken upon the line VV of Figure l, looking in theA direction of the arrows and illustrating the bottom of the door in its closed position.

Figure 6 is aview similar to Figure 5 illustrat-ing the bottom of the door moved out from its seat.

Figure is enlarged fragmentary sectional viewrtaken upon the line VII-VII of Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrows.

F igure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view upon the line VIH- VIII of Figure looking in the direction of the arrows.

F igurc S is an enlarged fragmentary seetional view takenupon the line IXIX of Figure 8, looking in the direction of tli arrows.

Y the line X-X of Figure l looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

is shown on the drawings:

As illustrative of this invention, there is shown a portion of'a refrigerator car having a door opening provided with a beveled or tapered perimeter l in which a door 2 provided witha beveled or tapered perimeter 3 fits. The door may be constructed and insulated in any well known way.

Adjacent one margin of the door opening, in the pre-sent instance adjacent the upper margin thereof, tnere is a` track 4 which is shown as comprising the web of a Zfbar, one flange la of which is attached to the upper framework of the car with the other fiange il?) depending and serving as a guide for the door.

Upon the door, there is a roller support or hanger 5. This hanger comprises a lower attaching flange 5a that is cio-extensive with the car door. This attaching flange 5a merges into a horizontal portion 5b at right angles thereto. The horizontal portion 5b merges into a vertical portion 50 which extends in parallel relation with the guide flange 4b. The vertical portion 50 merges into an inwardly sloping vportion 5cl which in turn merges into an upper horizontal hood portion 5e. The hood portion 5e is integral with a depending flaring flange 5 f having an offset portion 5g directed toward the sloping portion 5cl. lt will be noted that the sloping portion 5d is of sufficient slope to bring the hood portion 5e sufficiently over the track 4.

A pair of ball retainers 6 are carried by the hood portions of the hangers. Each re-V tainer carries a plurality of rolling elements 7 which are in the 'form of anti-friction balls which are adpted to roll transversely as well as longitudinally of the track, and for this reason the upper end of the door can be more readily pulled outwardly. W'ithin the hood there is a ball race member 8 which cooperates with the flange 5f for forming a raceway for the balls. Each retainer 6 is also provided with an enlarged headk 9 located i above the race-way. lt will be noted that the race-way terminates in a restricted throat which prevents the heads 9 on the retainers from readily passingv therethrough. This feature provides ready assembly of the parts.

Means are provided for moving the doors inwardly and outwardly with respect to the tapered seat 1 of the door-way at both the top and bottom thereof. lVhile different means may be used to accomplish this purpose, as a matter of illustration, there is shown a pair of rods 10. rlhe yupper ends of the rods 10 are pivoted to door actuators 11. Each actuator 11 is pivoted to a casting 12 which is riveted or secured to the door. lt might be mentioned that the attaching flange 5a of the hanger 5 is provided with cutout portions t0 receive the castings 12. Each actuator 11 is in the form of a bifurcated member having an upwardly extending arm 11a, and an arcuate arm 11?) that is curved toward the arm 11a. tuator is pivoted at substantially the center part of the arcuate arm 11b as indicated at 13, and that the rod 10 is connected to the lower end of the actuator in a plane that passes through the bifurcation. Assuming that the door is in closed position, as shown in Figure 3, it will be obvious that the elevation of the rods 1() will cause the pivot points 14 of such rods to swingvv in the arc of a circle with the pivot point 13 as a center, with the result that the arm 11a will engage the depending flange 4b of the track Vand cause an outward pull upon the door forv opening the same as shown in Figure 4.

It will be noted that each ac-Y It will be noted that the hanger 5 is cut away in the plane of the arms 11a to allow the same to pass therethrough as indicated at 15 in Figures 3 and 4. Now if the rods 10 are moved downwardly from the position shown in Figure 4, the arcuate arms 11b will engage the interior side of the flange 4Z) of the track and push the upper end of the door inwardly into the position shown in Figure 3.

Yflange of Z-bars securedY to the lower framework of the car. i he bearing lon the lever 17 for the pivot stud 16fvhas an outwardly and downwardly inclined plate lug 20. Diainetrically opposite the plate lug 20, there is a lug 21 also integral with the lever 17, and this lug 21 is pivotally secured to the lower end of the rod 10 as indicated at 22.y A sliding keeper 23 is mounted upon each rod 10. Each slidable keeper 23 is provided with a socket Q4 for receiving the upper end of the lever 17 when the same is in its vertical position. Each lever 17 and its keeper 23 is provided with an apertured lug 25 forA receiving a sealing wire 26 whereby the lever v17 may be secured against unauthorized operation.

The insulation between Vthe door and the car may be. effected in various ways. ln thepresent instance, the upper and side members of the door opening are provided with grooves 27 in which leaf springs 28 are secured. IThese leaf springs 28 press against woodenA strips 29 which are provided with an insulated cover 30. The lowerv edge of the door is provided with an inset insulating member 31 which extends a short distance upon the inner side of the door, andwhen the door is in its Vclosed position the insulation upon the inner side of the door abut-s an angle member 32 which` extends over thevouter edge of the floor ofthe car. t will, however, be understood that anyother suitable form of insulation may be used if desired.

. rlhe manner of opening and closing the doors, and operating the same will vnow he more specifically set forth. ln Figure 17 the door is shown in its closed position with'the operating lever 17 confined against movement by the keepers and sealed thereto. lt is, therefore, necessary to brake the sealing wires and slidethe keepers upwardly for the purpose of releasing the lever 17 for operation. One of the levers 17 he actuated at a time, or both may be simultaneously actuated if desirable. In opening the door the Atwo levers are swungtoward each other with 'the result that the plate or blade arm 17a will swing out from under the guide'keepers 18, while the. plate or blade lugs 20 will engage the outer surface of the guide keepers 18, and due to their inclination, they will pull the lower end of the door outwardly. When the levers 17 are swung toward each other the arms 21 will naturally be elevated for elevating the rods 10. The elevation of the rods 10 will operate the door actuators 11 to pull the upper end of the door outwardly as shown in Figure 4r, and as previously eX- plained. In its pulled out position the door may be rolled along on the track'i in the same manner asother sliding doors to obtain access to the car.

When it is desired to close the door, it is first rolled into the position as shown inFigure 4. The levers 17 are then elevated into vertical position. This movement of the levers will bring the inclined blades 17a under the guide keepers 18, with the result that the door will be moved inwardly and the inclined blades 2O will be moved intoI a horizontal position at the same time the rods 10 will be drawn downwardly and through the instrumentalities of the upper door actuators 11, the upper end of the door will be pushed inwardly. It will, therefore, be apparent that both the upper and lower ends of the door are simultaneously moved inwardly Aby the` actuation of the levers 17.

It will be appreciated that with the foregoing mechanism it will be possible to force the door tightly against its seat, and that the j same will be maintained in such a position during transit without loss of temperature. Furthermore, the operating parts are so designed that they olfer no obstructions when the car passes through a tunnel. ItV will also be appreciated that when the door isin its closed position there is no appreciable load carried by the hangers.

We are aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and we, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon` otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a car having aV door opening, a track adjacent one margin of said opening, a door mounted uponsaid track, upper and lower guides upon said car, upper andv lower door actuators upon the door straddling said guides, and means for simultaneously operating said actuators.

2. In a car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of said opening, a door mounted upon said track, a forked door actuator pivoted to the `upper end of said door, a rotatable door actuator pivoted to the lower end of said door and embodying spacedinclined members, a rod connecting said actuators, .and means on the car for cooperatingAv with said actuators;

3. In a car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of.y saidopening, al door mounted upon said track, means for'moving said door. inwardly andV outwardly with re--.

spect to said opening comprising a forked Y member; upon the upper part'of said door, a two bladed member-pivoted to the lower part of said door, a connection between said members, means for actuating the lower member and imparting swinging movements to the upper member, and means on the door for tuators, a lever connected to said rotatable actuator, and means for sealing said lever in its operative position.

5. In a house car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of said opening, a door mounted upon said track for inward and outward movement with respect to said opening, a guide upon the upper portion of said car, a guide upon the lower portion vof said car, an actuator pivoted upon the door adjacent each guide and having means for engaging each side of said guide for moving the door outwardly or inwardly, and means` for simultaneously operating said actuators.

6. A door actuator comprising av forked member, a second member havingfparts at ,right angles to each other, and a rod pivotallyqconnecting said members for operating the same in planes at right angles to each other.

7. In a house car having a bevelled door opening, a track adjacent one margin of said opening, a door having bevelled edges mounted upon said track for inward and outward movement, a guide upon the Lipper portion of the car, a guide'upon the lower portion of the car, an actuator pivoted upon the door adjacent each guide and having parts for engaging each side of said guide for moving the door inwardly and outwardly, and means for operating said actuators.

8. In a car having a bevelled door opening, a track adjacent one margin of said opening, a door having bevelled edges to lit said opening mounted upon said track, guides upon the upper and-lower margins of said opening, and actuators upon said door and having parts for engaging opposite sides of said guides for moving the door outwardly or inwardly, and means for simultaneously operating said actuators.

9. In a car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of said opening, a door, a ball raceway mounted upon said door, balls in said raceway for engaging said track,

lill) guides upon the upper and lower portions of the car, actuators on'the door forengaging said guides for operating the door inwardly or outwardly upon said rollers said actuators having parts -for engaging opposite sides of saidk guides, and means for simultaneously operating said actuators.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names .at Chicago,V Cook County, Illinois.

. AXEL WASBERG.

KENNETH J; TOBIN.

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