US2273156A - Journal box lid - Google Patents

Description

2 sheets-Sheet l Q lNVENTo'R BY Hbert L5' ATTORNEY Feb. I7, 1942.

H. l.. sPENcE JOURNAL Box LID Filed Jan. 13, 1940. 2- Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BYHwba-t LMS' ce fu-Jy A1'roRNEY Patented Feb. 17, 1942 UN ETEDk STAT JOURNAL BOX LID Application January 13, 1940, Serial No. 313,753'

Claims.

This invention relatesY to lids for covering the opening in the end. of railway journal boxes so as to prevent' entry of dust and other foreign matter into the interior of the box.

The two-part or articulated lid has been found to be a most successful type for use with the usual form of hinge lug on present-day journal boxes. In this type of lid one of the parts thereof is pivoted on the hinge lug and the other part, hereinafter referred to as the closure member, is fastened to the first part so as to enable universal movement between the parts. Thus the closure member may pivot so as to engage the outer face of the opening on all four sides. On some lids a series of ribs project from the inner side of the closure member and engage the face of the box opening when the lid is closed. After a short period of service these ribs cut grooves in the engaging surface of the box due to vibrations of the moving car. The ribs fitting into the grooves form a very effective seal for the journal box opening.

The lids are frequently opened for inspection of the interior of the box and, unless some means is provided to prevent it, the closure part of the lid may move slightly in a transverse direction relative to the other part so that upon closing the lid the ribs will not match with the grooves previously formed in the box. This will result in a new series of grooves being cut in the box or mutilation of the ribs or both.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means for simply and positively returning the ribs to their proper positions in the grooves upon successive openings and closings of the lid.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in side elevation of a part of a journal box having applied thereto a lid embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section through the lid and journal box.

Figure 3 is a sectional View on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the lid.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view showing a modification of the invention; and

Figure 6 isv a view of another'modication of my invention.

rThe journal box I0 is formed with a hinge lug II having surfaces I2 and I3 arranged at an angle to each other in the usual manner for contacting one end of a lever mounted in the lid. The lid is formed in two parts and comprises a housing I4 pivotally mounted on the hinge lug by means of a pin l5, and a closure member I6 pivotally connected to the lower end of the housing. Closure member Ii is provided with outwardly extending projections I'I which are adapted to receive a pin I8 that forms the pivotal connection between the housing and closure member. Pin I8 seats into a groove I9 in the housing for maintaining the housing and closure in assembled relation. The bottom of groove I9 is curved, as shown at 20- in Fig. 3, so as to provide for rocking movement between the pin and the housing.

A lever 2| is mounted in the housing for universal movement relative thereto by means of the ball projection 22' which is received in a socket 23 in the housing. One end of the lever is in engagement with surface I2 on the hinge lug when the lid is in closed position, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. When in open position the end of the lever is in engagementwith surface I3 of the hinge lug, as shown by the dot-dash lines of Fig. 2. At the opposite end of the lever is a l pocket 24 that receives one end of coil spring 25.

If desired, an inner coil 26 may be used to obtain the necessary spring pressure. The other end of the spring is received in a depression 21 of the closure member and bears against the closure member at approximately the center thereof. The pressure of the spring also serves to maintainy the bottom of groove I9 in engagement with pin I8 and thus up and down bodily movement of closure member I6 relative to housing I4 over surface 3l is prevented.

On the side of the closure member facing the journal box opening is a rib or series of ribs 30 that extend around the four sides of the closure. These ribs are in engagement with surface 3I of the journal box which in the drawings is shown as a plane surface. As the car travels over the track a certain amount of vibration is transmitted to the journal box and lid which causes the projections 3i) to wear grooves in surface 3l. Since the parts of a railway journal box lid are usually rough castings or stampings, fairly liberal tolerances are permitted in making the parts so that the cost of the lid. will not be too great for the purpose intended. Relative movement between. the housing and closure members cannot therefore be limited to such an extent that projections 30 will always enter the grooves in surface 3| Without considerably increasing the cost of the lid. It will be observed that clearance 32, 32Y is present between the lower end of the housing and the inner surfaces 3-3 of projections Il. To permit the amount of movement indicated by clearance 32, 32 to take place between the mem-v bers would soon` destroy the eff-:ect of the: projec-A tions and grooves, for it is most unlikely that the position of the closure member on the housing would always be in the same place upon successive closing of the lid. In my invention I provide positive means for urging the closure member in one direction laterally relative to the housing so that certain surfaces of said parts are always in contact and the aforementioned free relative movement between the closure and housing does not result.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4 I obtain this result by tipping or offsetting the ends of the coil spring, which causes a component of the force of the spring to be exerted on the closure member in the direction of the arrow, as shown in Fig. 3. Th'e closure member is thus moved in this direction until lugs 34, 34' on the closure engage outer surface 35 on one side of the housing. It has been found that if these surfaces are not in engagement when the parts are first assembled the closure member will move until the aforementioned surfaces do engage upon one or two openings and closings of the lid. Moreover, in service, the vibration of the journal box would normally loosen the friction on the various parts so as to permit the pressure of the spring to urge the closure member in the proper direction to cause engagement of lugs 34, 34' and surface 35. If desired, lugs 34, 34' may be placed on housing I4, and projecting outwardly therefrom so as to engage rib 28 of the closure member.

It will be observed in Figs. 3 and 4 that the lower end of lever 2l is in engagement with the inner wall 3B of the closure member, as at 31. The force of the spring in its angled position tends to urge these surfaces into engagement. 'Ihe portions of the lever on either side of ball 22 are therefore slightly angled relative to each other. This angularity may be avoided by either placing a pad of metal on surface 36 so as to position spring housing 24 midway between the depending side walls of housing member I4, or placing a similar pad of metal on the contacting portion of spring housing 24 adjacent surface 36.

Another embodiment of my invention is shown in Fig. 5, in which the pin 4I] which pivotally connects the housing 4I with the closure 42, is tipped slightly in a direction transverse to the lid, so that the spring is at angle to a line normal to the pin. Hence the component of the force of the spring that is parallel to pin 4l) will cause closure member 42 to slide down the sloping curved surface 43 until lug 44 on the closure contacts the outer surface 45 of the housing. A lug, similar to lug 34 shown in Fig. 4, is provided at the upper end of housing 4I so as to limit lateral movement of the upper end of the closure member relative to the housing.

In both of these embodiments the relative movement between the closure and housing takes place either upon or soon after application of the lid to the journal box, and thereafter the surfaces -on the closure and housing are maintained in contact so that once the projections 30 start cutting grooves into surface 3I of the journal box, the closure member is returned to substantially the identical position each time the lid is closed.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a still further embodiment of my invention in which a spring 50, shown in the form of a leaf spring, is positioned between an outwardly extending rib I on the closure member 52 and side wall 53 on housing 54 so as to urge the closure member in one direction laterally of the journal box. A stop 55 on the lower end of the housing and a, similar stop (not shown) at the upper end thereof are adapted to be engaged by the closure member to limit this movement. between the lever and closure member need not be tipped as shown in Fig. 3, n or does the pin joining the housing and closure member need to be sloped as shown in Fig. 5, since the force of spring 50 is suiiicient to maintain the closure member in the desired relation to the housing. Of course, if desired, spring means similar to spring 50 may be used in either of the embodiments shown in Figs. 3 or 5.

It will thus be apparent that my invention provides means for urging the closure member in on'e direction relative to the housing member so that the box engaging surface of the closure (ribs 30) will be urged in one direction parallel -to surface 3| on the journal box until stop means on the members prevents further movement. At the same time, pivotal movement of the closure member relative to the housing may take place so that the closure member will bear on the journal box around the entire extent of the journal box v opening.

For purposes of assembly, a slot 46 is provided in the lower end of the housing member to admit a wedge (shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 2) so that the lower end or lever 2I may be forced toward the closure member, thus relieving the pressure of the upper end of the lever on the hinge lug, after which the hinge pin I5 may be readily removed and the lid taken off the box.

The terms and expressions which I have ernployed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a journal box having an opening in one end thereof and a hinge lug adjacent said opening, a journal box lid for closing said opening comprising a housing member pivoted to said hinge lug and a closure member pivoted to said housing member, a lever member pivoted on said housing member and having one end engaging said hinge lug, spring means between the other end of said lever member and said closure member for forcing the latter towards said opening, and means comprising sloping surfaces on certain of said members adapted to direct a component of force of said spring means in a direction at an-angle to the longitudinal axis of said spring means for urging said closure member in one direction transversely of said journal box, relative to said housing member.

2. In combination with a journal box having an opening with a lid engaging surface at one end thereof, a lid for closing said opening, said lid comprising a housing pivoted to said journal box and a closure pivoted to said housing and adapted to cover said opening, spring means urging said closure toward said opening, and means including said spring means acting on said closure and said housing for urging said closure in one direction` parallel to said surface relative to said housing so as to bring said closure into contact with said box in substantially the same position during successive closings of said lid.

3. In combination with a journal box having an opening with a lid engaging surface at one In this form of the invention the springl end thereof and a hinge lug adjacent said opening, a journal box lid for closing said opening comprising a housing member pivoted to said hinge lug and a closure member pivoted to said housing member, a lever pivoted on said housing member and having one end engaging said hinge lug, spring means between the other end of said lever and said closure member for forcing the latter towards said surface, said spring means being positioned in said lid so as to exert a component of force on said closure member in a transverse direction and urge said closure member transversely of said box relative to said housing member in a direction parallel to said lid engaging surface.

4. In combination with a journal box having an opening at one end thereof and a. plane surface surrounding said opening, a lid for said box, said lid comprising a housing member pivoted to said journal box and a closure member pivoted to said housing and having portions adapted to engage said plane surface for closing said opening, spring means between said members for urging said closure member toward said opening and means comprising surfaces disposed at an acute angle to said plane surface adapted to transmit a component of the force of said spring means in a direction parallel to said plane surface for urging said closure member in one direction relative to said housing parallel to said plane surface.

5. A journal box lid comprising a housing member and a closure member, said closure member having a surface adapted to engage a journal box for closing the opening in the end thereof, means for joining said members for universal pivotal movement and for a limited amount of transverse movement therebetween in a direction parallel to said surface, stop means on said members adapted to engage upon said amount of transverse movement, and spring means exerting a force on said members for maintaining said stop means in engagement.

6. A journal box lid comprising housing and closure members, said closure member having a surface adapted to engage a journal box for closing the opening in the end thereof, means joining said members for relative pivotal movement and transverse bodily movement in a direction parallel to said surface, stop means on said members for limiting said bodily movement, and spring means exerting a force on said members for urging said stop means into engagement.

7. A journal box lid comprising housing and closure members, said closure member having a surface adapted to engage a journal box for closing the opening in the end thereof, means joining said members for` relative transverse bodily movement therebetween, spaced stop means on said members for limiting said bodily movement, spring means between said members, and means comprising surfaces disposed at an acute angle to said box engaging surface adapted to transmit a component of the force of said spring means in a direction parallel to said box engaging surface for urging said stop means into engagement.

8. A journal box lid comprising a housing member and a closure member, means pivotally y joining said members, spring means acting on said members, said spring means being positioned in said lid relative to said joining means so as to exert a force on one of said members in a direction axially of said joining means adapted to urge said closure member relative to said housing Amember in onedirection only axially of said joining means.

9. A journal box lid comprising a housing member and a closure member, said closure member having a surface adapted to engage the end of a journal box, means joining said members and enabling relative pivotal and transverse movement therebetween, and spring means acting on said members, said spring means being positioned in said lid relative to said joining means so as to exert a force on one of said members in a direction axially of said joining means adapted to urge said closure member in one direction parallel to said surface relative to said housing member.

10. A journal box lid comprising a housing member, and a closure member having a box engaging surface, said members being joined for relative bodily movement in a direction parallel to said box engaging surface, and spring means between and acting on said members for urging said closure member in one direction parallel to said surface relative to said housing member.

HUBERT L. SPENCE.

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