US2211963A - Car door fastener - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 20, 1940. s. J. STRID 2,211,963

can noon FASTENER v 7 Filed July 18, 19:58 2 Sh eets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Aug. 20, 1940. s. J; STRID 2,211,963

GAR DOOR FASTENER Filed July 18, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY JVf/V J dr/P/a A TTORNEYS Patented Aug. 20, 1940 ATENT OFFECE GAR DOOR FASTENER Sven J. Strid, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 18, 1938, Serial No. 219,904

2 Claims.

This invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to mechanism for automatically latching and holding swinging car doors when the doors are swung to open position.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a new door fastener mechanism having novel means for causing the interlocking of the parts of the latching mechanism on the car door.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improveddoor fastener mechanism having novel means for causing automatic interlocking of the parts and so constructed that accuracy in the application of the parts to the door and car are unnecessary.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved door latching mechanism in which both latch and keeper stand at right angles to the planes of the members to which they are attached and yet are so constructed that the latch and keeper properly cooperate to hold the door in open position at various angles to the side wall of the car regardless of whether the door is hinged at its front or rear edge.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved door fastener that is simple and rugged in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easily applied, and that is efiicient in operation.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a preferred form of the device;

Fig. 2 is a section on the broken line 22 of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the latch plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the keeper plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of construction;

Fig. 6 is a section on the broken line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the keeper plate shown in Figs. 5 and 6;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a further modified form of construction;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 99 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a further modified form of keeper;

Fig. 11 is a section on the line ll--ll of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a section on the line l2l2 of Fig. 13; and

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a portion of a railway car shown more or less diagrammatically, with parts broken away.

In refrigerator cars, as at present constructed, hinged doors are employed which swing outwardly. The Association of American Railroads rules require that means be provided for fastening the doors for securely holding the same when they are swung to open position. Door holding devices are designed to be applied to doors having hinges of various constructions so that the angularity of the door when held in open'position will vary more or less. Furthermore, the angle formed by the door and side wall of the car will vary depending on the position of the latch mechanism on the door. The closer to the free edge of the door the same is applied, the more acute will be the angle between the door and side wall. It is desirable that latching and keeper mechanism be provided that will cooperate to hold the door in open position regardless of variations in the angularity of the door relative to the car side wall.

The present invention is designed to accommodate variations in this angle and is an improvement on the construction shown in United States Letters Patent 1,936,921, granted to me on November 28, 1933.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character HJ designates a railway car which, for the purpose of description, may be regarded as a refrigerator car having the hinged doors H and 12 mounted on the side wall thereof. These doors are provided with conventional hinges l3 and 14 which permit the doors to be swung to closed position in alignment with the side wall l5 of the car or to be swung to open position for permitting access to the interior of the car in the conventional manner.

The present invention relates to mechanism for holding the doors in open position. In the form of the construction selected to illustrate one embodiment of the invention, a door fastener 15, Figs. 1 and 2, is employed for this purpose. The fastener comprises a latch mechanism I1 and a keeper device I 8. The latch mechanism comprises an attaching plate l9 having suitable apertures 21 and 22 in the ends thereof by means of which the plate is attached to the car door. This plate has a lug or stud 23 integral with, or attached to, its'outer face. This lug is provided with a substantially horizontal opening 24 for the reception of a hinge pintle, as will presently appear. A latch or latch member having its inner end bifurcated as at 26 is pivoted to the lug or stud 23. The furcations 26 are adapted to receive the lug 23 between them and they are provided with aligned openings which are adapted to register with the opening 24 in the lug for receiving the hinge pintle 2 The latch 25 comprises the rear or pivoted portion 28 having a portion 29 extending below the hinge pintle 21 for engaging the plate I! for limiting the downward movement of the latch 25 to a substantially horizontal position as shown in Fig. 2 whereby the latch is held in position to receive the keeper bar when the door is swung to open position, as will presently appear. The outer portion 50 of this extension projects beyond the end of the lug 23 when the latch is in elevated position whereby it is adapted to be engaged by the keeper bar when the door is opened for lowering the latch in event it should stick in its elevated position, for any reason whatever.

The latch is also provided with a nose portion 3| which extends downwardly for engaging the keeper bar and the bar engaging surface is curved about a vertical axis as shown by dotted lines at 32 in Fig. 1. The latch is also provided with an upstanding projection 34 constituting a thumb piece for elevating the latch manually for releasing the same. The outer portion or nose 3| of the latch is provided with an inclined or cam like surface which, as shown, is in the form of a curve in a vertical plane or about a horizontal axis. This cam surface is adapted to engage the keeper for causing the latch to be forced upwardly for engaging the keeper bar, as will appear hereafter.

The attaching plate I9 is elongated and has its longitudinal axis arranged at an angle to the vertical plane of the latch 25 in order that the attaching bolts or screws that extend through the openings 2| and 22 may be readily applied, that is, by arranging the attaching plate at an angle to the plane of the latch, the latch will not interfere with the insertion and removal of the attaching bolts or screws. 4

The keeper l8, Figs. 1, 2 and 4, comprises an attaching or base plate 35 having the openings 36 and 3! therein for receiving the attaching screws or bolts by means of which the device is attached to the side wall of the car. The plate 35 has integral therewith the forwardly extending arms 38 and 39 spaced apart as shown in Fig. l which are connected at their outer or forward ends to a keeper bar 4| which is preferably integral therewith. The bar 4| is provided on its inner side with a; surface 42, which may be on the arc of a circle, curved about a horizontal axis and provided with a flat face 60 which is adapted to be engaged by the curved surface 32 on the inner side of the nose SI of the latch. The bar 4| is preferably, though not necessarily, circular in cross-section except for the flat face 60. By means of this arrangement, it W11]. be seen that in any angular position of the latch mechanism, the flat portion 60 of the latch bar 4| will be engaged by the latch and this flat surface will be tangent to the curved surface 32 on the latch member. This arrangement obviates the necessity for arranging either the latch plate I! or the keeper plate H3 at an acute angle to the plane of the latch 25 or the arms 38 or 39 of the keeper. In other words, the plate I! is at right angles to the axis of the lug 23 and the plate I8 is parallel with the bar 4 I.

The keeper bar 4| may be angular in crosssection, as shown, or it may be fiat on its upper and lower surfaces, but in any event, its inner surface, or the surface that is engaged by the curved portion 32 of the latch, is fiat so that irrespective of the angularity of the door, the curved portion 32 of the latch will engage the fiat portion of the keeper bar in the same manner. The outer surface 4|) of the keeper bar 4| is curved so that when the curved portion 30 of the nose 3| contacts the same, it will cause the latch to move upward to pass over the bar and fall by gravity behind this bar 4| for holding the door in its open position.

When it is desired to close the door, the handle portion 34 is manually forced upwardly and toward the door for releasing the latch and then the door may be swung to closed position.

In all forms of the device, the latch bar is adapted to engage the lug to which the latch is attached forlimiting the opening movement of the door. In all forms of the construction, the latch is provided with a downward projection inwardly of the pivot pin for limiting the downward movement of the latch when the same is released from the bar and for holding it in position to be engaged by the latch when the door is opened. In all forms of the construction, the keeper has its latch bar so constructed that it may be used inconnection with either the right or left door of the car.

In the form of the construction where the latch bar is parallel with the attaching plate, it is immaterial whether it is turned upside down when used with a door that swings to the right as compared with one swinging to the left but in the forms where the keeper bar is arranged at an angle to the base or attaching plate, the keeper must be inverted in changing from one to the other but since the keeper bar is circular or at least curved on its inner and outer surfaces, the device will operate equally as well in either position.

In Figs. 5, 6 and '7 is shown a modified form of construction. In this form of the device, the latch mechanism I7 is substantially the same as that already described and its description need not be repeated.

The keeper member 43 is of a different construction from that previously described and comprises an attaching plate 44 having openings 45 therethrough for receiving attaching screws or bolts and is provided at each side thereof with forwardly extending arms 45 and 41 spaced apart and connected at their forward ends by a latch bar 48 which is preferably, though not necessarily, circular in cross-section between the arms 45 and 4'! except for its latch engaging flat portion 70. The axis of the bar 48 is arranged at an acute angle to the plane of the base or plate r 44. In other words, one of the arms 46 is shorter than the other arm 47 but since the bar has a fiat surface 15 which is adapted to be engaged by the curved surface 32 of the latch 25, this flat surface is tangent to the curved surface 32 of the latch member in all positions of the latch and bar. The angle of the latch bar 48 is at an acute angle to the plate 44 and the bar is substantially parallel with the plate H of the latching mechanism. Consequently, the axis of the latch will be at right angles to the bar 48.-

In the form of the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9; the keeper member I8 is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and comprises the attaching plate 35 having the for- Wardly extending arms 38 and 39 connected together at their outer ends by the latch bar 4| as in the previous construction. In this form of construction, the latch mechanism is provded wth an attaching plate 49 having a laterally extending lug 5i rigidly attached to or integral therewith. The axis of the lug 5! is arranged at an acute angle to the plate Q9 and has pivoted thereto a latch member 52 which is of substantially the same construction as the latch member 25 of Fig. 2. The angle of the lug 5! is such that when the plate 49 is attached to the car door and the door is swung to open position, the axis of the lug will be at right angles to the bar 4!. The latch member 52 is pivoted to the lug 5! as described above and is provided with a nose 53 having its outer end curved as at 54 as in the previous construction. The bar engaging portion 55 of the nose 53 is also curved for engaging the curved surface 56 of the bar it in a manner similar to that already described.

In Figs. 18 and 11 is shown a further modified form of keeper member. In this form of construction, keeper member Bi is similar to keeper [8 in Figs. 1 and 2 except the keeper bar 62 is more or less oblong in cross-section and has its forward edge 53 on the arc of a circle with the latch member extending along the radius thereof. If desired, the inner edge 64 may also be on a similar arc whereby the latch member will also extend radially of the inner surface. The front and rear surfaces of the bar may be curved about a horizontal axis with a flat portion 55 on they rear surface of the bar, as shown in Fig. 11. This flat surface is adapted to be engaged by the curved surface of the latch as in the construction described above. The flat surface 65 may be omitted, if desired. 1

In the operation of the device, when the door is thrown to open position, the keeper bar engages the nose of the latch and forces the latter upwardly for permitting the latch topass over the bar and fall into position behind the same by gravity. The engagement of the lug 23 with the bar 4! limits the swinging movement of the door. When the door is to be closed, the latch 25 is manually lifted and the door swung to closed position.

It is thoughtfrom the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a railway car having a side wall member and a door member hinged to said wall member,

a keeper secured to one of said members, latch mechanism secured to the other of said members, said latch mechanism comprising an attaching plate, 2. lug extending outwardly from said plate, a latch member pivotally supported by said attaching plate and having a downward extension, said extension engaging said plate for limiting the downward movement of said latch member to a horizontal position, said extension projecting beyond the outer end of said lug only when said latch is in elevated position, for lowering said latch, said keeper being adapted to'engage said lug for limiting the opening movement of said door and to engage the extension on said latch member for lowering the same from its elevated position.

2. In a railway car having a side wall member and a door member hinged to said wall member, a rigid keeper secured to one of said members, latch supporting means secured to the other of said members, said latch supporting means comprising an attaching plate, a pivotally mounted latch carried by said means for engaging said keeper, a lug rigid with said plate for engaging said rigid keeper for limiting the opening movement, of said door, cooperating means on said latch and latch supporting means for limiting the downward movement of said latch beyond a horizontal plane and cooperating means on said latch and keeper for automatically lowering said latch into engagement with said keeper when the door is opened. I

SVEN J. S'I'RID.

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