US2036170A - Drop bottom container - Google Patents

Description

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DROP BOTTOM CONTAINER Filed March 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l ooooooooooooloooooooooooooo INVENTOR- f7?" BW 1 Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DROP BOTTOM CONTAINER Frederick K. Fildcs, Altoona, Pa., assignor to The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 11, 1932, Serial N0. 598,1 82 10 Claims. (Cl. 294-71) My invention, while relating generally to a one-half of the container shown in horizontal manner of sealing doors at gravity discharge section.

openings to prevent Aleakage of material, is more Fig. IlI represents an end elevation of the same, particularly directed to drop-bottom containers with certain portions of the end wall and consuch as used for transportation purposes on railtainer frame broken away. 5 way vehicles and motor trucks. The invention Fig. IV represents a cross section of the same,

is especially adapted to shipping containers taken at the meeting edges of the bottom doors, as wherein grain, cement, sand or other granular indicated by the lines IV--IV of Fig. II; and material is transported, Fig, V represents a cross section of the same,

With a drop-bottom container of the character taken at the bottom door hinges, as indicated by l0 described, where the bottom doors are made to the lines V-V of Fig. II. t closely within the door frame to prevent leak- The container shown in the drawings comprises age of the contents, difouity is experienced in generally a rectangular body Consisting of end maintaining the accuracy of t throughout the walls I, sidewalls 2, a pair of hinged bottom doors life of the container. Inasmuch as the contain- 3, and a top Sheet 4. The top Sheet 4 is riveted to 15 ers are subjectl to rough usage and handling, the a rectangular COInbing 5 and iS DrOVided With a doors soon become distorted, or their hinges be- Central filling hatch 6 Comprising channel beams come sprung which prevents proper closure of the l and a removable hatch Cover 8. The hatch bottom discharge opening. Thus not long after cover 8 is fastened to one of the channel beams the containers have been put in service, the doors 7 by a Short length 0f chain 9. Metal battens 20 fail to close properly, and leakage of the contents l0 fastened t0 the tOD 0f the hatch COVer 8 and results. dogs II hinged to the sides of the hatch 6 are Accordingly, the principal object of the present empleyed t0= keep the hatch COVeI 8 tightli7 invention is to provide a drop-bottom container C10Sed- The end and Side Walls l and 2 of the wherein the bottom doors need not t with precontainer are joined together at the corners by 25 cision within the surrounding door frame, and angle bare l2 t0 WhiCh the WallS are riveted.

yet wherein the clearance spaces or crevices be- Securely riveted to the center of the upper edge tween the doors and door frame are effectively 0f each end Wall l, there iS a roller guide I3 havsealed against the escape 0f granular material. ing @Ornbined therewith a SllSDenS-On eye 0r 100D Another object of the invention is to provide a Ul- ThIOugh the I'Oller guide I3, dOOr Operating 30 drop-bottom container wherein distortion of the Chains l5 DaSS, the Chaine eXtending OWnWard bottom doors or springing of their hinges does not thrOllgh housings 0r Channels i6 in the end WallS destroy the ehiciency of the seal which is effected Each dOOr Operating Chain l5 terminates in at the discharge opening when the doors are a Span 0f Chain Il, the tWO` eIldS 0f Which are closed` secured to the free ends of the hinged bottom 35 A further object of the invention is to provide 1001's 3- in a container of the character described a re- At the base of the contamer the door frame de' fines a discharge chute or passage and includes Sment Sealmg Stm) for bndgmg the cleaJI.aim-e slope sheets I8 which are riveted to the end and 40 spaces between the doors and door frame, thls l 2 1. d 40 strip being so disposed with relation to the bot- .51de Wals and and ae in; ld dovnlvardtan tom discharge passage as not to be subjected to mwad Owad the CBE rfo gcotltn tto a' excessive wear from the discharge of the conpom near t e miler .a aces o e .o qm t t doors 3. From this polnt as clearly shown 1n Flg. tamer con e.n s' V, each slope sheet is sharply curved, as indicated other Oblects and advantages charactemstw at 20 and then directed horizontally outward, 45 of my nventin Wm befmne more fully apparent as indicated at 2 I, and then vertically downward rorfl the dallf elcrlptlgn Whlcl; CZIIOWS here' to form legs or sills 22 for the container to restA ma e1" an W 1C as Te @Tence 0 e accom upon. Each bottom door 3is provided with hinges panying drawings, in which there is illlustrated 23 of which the hinge pins 24 are Supported by one form or embodiment of the invention. Of brackets 25 which are riveted through the legs 50 the draWngSi or sils 22 to the side walls 2. The hinge pins 24 Fig. I represents a side elevation of a drop botare Shown secured in place by Cotter pins 26.

tom Shipping container with one-half of the con- It will be noted that the bottom doors 3 at their tainer shown in vertical section. outer edges 21 are spaced at a considerable dis- Fig. II represents a plan View of the same, with tance from the side walls 2 and that their iat 55 faces I9 clear the sharply curved portions 20 of the slope sheets I8 by an appreciable distance.' This open space is bridged by sealing strips 28 which may be made of rubber impregnated canvas or other material which satisfies certain requisites as to flexibility and resiliency as hereinafter explained. The sealing strips 28 are secured to the slope sheets I8 along their curved portions 20 and flat portions 2| by complementary binding strips 29 and by bolts 30. The binding strips 29 cause the sealing strips 28 to -be normally directed downward at such an angle, as indicated by the broken lines at 3I in Fig. V, that the projecting ends thereof will substantially clear the path of the discharge when the doors are open.

The sealing strips 28 are of such width that they present a large area at their bottom surfaces adapted to overlap the flat faces I9 of the bottom doors. Thus the pressure of the contents of the container on the top surfaces of the sealing strips 28 presses such strips tightly against the upper faces I9 of the bottom doors, regardless of distortion or other causes affecting alignment of the doors, and serves to maintain an effective seal against leakage all around the door edges. When the bottom doors 3 are allowed to open, the resiliency of the sealing strips causes them to return to the normal angle with the slope sheets I8 and to be withdrawn from the path of the discharging contents, and hence not subjected to severe abrasion which would otherwise take place. Furthermore, the normal position of the sealing strips 28 is such that there is no danger of the margins thereof curling around the outer edges 2'I of the doors. If the sealing strips were permitted thus to be bent outwardly, it is obvious that their efiicacy would be lost.

At the center of the container near the meeting edges 32 of the bottom doors 3 there is a transverse partition in the form of an inverted V comprising oppositely sloping sheets 33 and a connecting member 34 formed as shown in Fig. IV. The slope sheets 33 and connecting member 34 may be welded or otherwise joined together, and they form a triangular partition which divides the door frame into two discharge chutes or passages. In the example illustrated, considerable clearance is provided between the adjacent edges 32 of the bottom doors, and there is also appreciable clearance between their fiat faces I 9 and the transverse partition. The latter open spaces are bridged by a sealing strip 35 similar to the sealing strips previously described. The sealing strip 35 is held in place by a curved binding strip 38 which is complementary in shape to the connecting member 34 and secured thereto by bolts 3l. The normal position of the sealing strip 35 when the doors are open is indicated at 38.

Accordingly, the seal effected at the meeting edges 32 of the doors 3 is generally similar to that at the hinged ends of the door. At both regions the sealing strips are adapted to be flexed or bent to overlapping relation with the fiat faces I9 of the doors by the closure of the same, and the sealing strips are adapted t0 spring substantially clear of the discharging contents when the doors open.

The operation of the above described container will be apparent from its description and need therefore be only briefiy referred to. When the container is filled and ready to be shifted from one place to another, such as from platform or car to platform or car, the bottom door operating chains I5 are attached to one hook of the hoisting apparatus and the container is lifted by the chains. Additional suspension cables are used to connect the eyes I4 of the roller guides I3 with a second hoisting hook of the hoisting apparatus. After the container has been transferred to the destination at which the contents are to be discharged, the additional suspension cables attached to the eyes I4 are pulled taut and the bottom door operating chains I5 are slacked off by lowering the first hoisting hook above mentioned. This permits the bottom doors 3 to swing downward, and the contents to fall by gravity through the two discharge passages of the door frame, while the suspension cables attached to eyes I 4 support the container body in position. The rapidity of discharge may be controlled by the speed and amount of slacking off of the bottom door operating chains i 5. In order to close the bottom doors 3 after the contents of the container have been discharged, the described operation may be reversed. The closing of the bottom doors 3 may also be accomplished by holding the bottom door operating chains I5 and slacking off on the additional suspension cables attached to the eyes I4 until the bottom doors 3 are closed and the weight of the container body is again suspended on the bottom door operating chains I5. With the opening of the bottom doors 3, the sealing strips 28 and 35 by reason of their resilient nature spring clear of the path of the discharging contents. When the doors 3 are again closed, the sealing strips 28 and 35 are flexed upward into overlapping engagement with the faces I9 of the doors and into overlaping engagement with each other at the corners of the container. They are thus subjected to the pressure of the container contents when the container is filled, preventing escape of material around the door edges.

While I have described one particular example of a container embodying my invention, it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a container, a door frame defining a discharge chute, a door hinged on said frame, and a sealing strip of resilient material secured to the door frame, said strip extending substantially clear of the path of the discharge when the door is open, but being adapted to be moved by closure of the door to overlapping relation with a portion of the inner face thereof subjected to the pressure of the container contents, whereby the space between said door and door frame is sealed against leakage when the door is closed.

2. In a container, ,a door frame defining a discharge passage and including a slope sheet at the inside thereof, a door hinged on said frame, and a sealing strip of rseilient material secured to the door frame and forming a continuation of said slope sheet, said sealing strip extending substantially clear of the path of the discharge when the door is open, but being adapted to be moved by closure of the door to overlapping relation with the inner face thereof, whereby the space between said door and slope sheet is sealed `against leakage when the door is closed.

3. In a container, a door frame defining a discharge passage and including a slope sheet at the inside thereof, a door hinged on said frame, a sealing strip of resilient material forming a continuation of said slope sheet, and a binding strip for securing said sealing strip to the door frame and causing said sealing strip to be directed substantially clear of the path of the discharge when the door is open, said sealing strip being `adapted to be exed by closure of the door to overlapping relation with the inner face thereof, whereby the space between ysaid door and slope sheet is sealed against leakage when the door is closed.

4. In a container, a door frame dening a discharge passage and including a slope sheet at the inside thereof, a door hinged on said frame, and a sealing strip of resilientl material secured to the door frame and forming a continuation of said slope sheet, said sealing strip normally extending downward from such slope sheet at such an angle therewith as to clear substantially the path of the discharge, but being adapted to be flexed upward by closure of the door to overlapping relation with the inner face thereof, whereby the space between said door and slope sheet is sealed against leakage when the door is closed.

5. In a container, a door frame including side slope sheets, a pair of drop doors hinged at the sides of said frame, a partition extending transversely of said frame at the meeting edges of said doors, said partition comprising oppositely sloping sheets for dividing the door frame into two discharge chutes, and sealing strips of resilient material forming continuations of said side and partition slope sheets, said sealing strips extending substantially clear of the paths of the discharge when the doors are open, but being adapted to be moved by closure of the doors to overlapping relation with the door faces to prevent leakage of the contents when the doors are closed.

6. In a container, a door frame defining a discharge chute, a door hinged on said frame, and a sealing strip of resilient material secured to the door frame, said strip being adapted to be moved by closure of the door to overlapping relation with a portion of the inner face thereof and subjected to the pressure of the container contents, whereby the space between said door and door frame is sealed against leakage when the door is closed.

7. In a drop bottom shipping container, de-

signed to discharge from the bottom, drop doors hinged to the end sills of the container at a point materially above the bottom edge of the said walls and out of Contact with the under side of the end sills of the container, a housing extending from the top of the container downward to a point below the to-p plane of the closed doors, and door locking and operating means extending through said housing and connected with said doors.

8. In a drop bottom shipping container designed to discharge from the bottom, drop doors hinged to the end sills of the container walls at a point materially above the bottom edge of said walls, ,and sills whereby the bottom edge portions of the walls and sill of the container depend below the hinges of the doors and function as drips and deectors to shed moisture away from the hinges of the door to prevent entrance of moisture into the container, a housing extending from the top of the container downwardly to the bottom of the container below the top plane of the doors in their closed position, and door operating and locking means extending downwardly through said housing and connected to the doors.

9. In a drop bottom shipping container, side and end sills secured to the bottom of the walls of the container, drop doors set up inside the end sills above and out of contact with the under side of the end sills, the lower edge portions of the end sills functioning as drips to prevent moisture entering the container around the door joints, a housing extending from the top of the container downwardly through the container to the bottom thereof below the top plane of the doors, and door operating and locking means extending through said housing and connected to the doors.

l0. In a shipping container designed to discharge through its bottom, drop doors secured to the bottom of the container, locking means for holding the doors in closed position and permiting them to open, a housing within the container completely housing said means within the container and open .at both ends, the lower open end extending below the top plane of the said doors, whereby moisture in said housing will be discharged through ts lower open end outside of the containers.

FREDERICK K. FILDES.

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