US241927A - Freight-car door - Google Patents

Description

,-(No Model.)

J. CHRISTIANSEN. Freight Gar Door'.

Patented May 24, 188|.

UNiTED STAT-ns PATENT Ormea.

JOHN OHRISTIANSEN, OF ARORA, ILLINOIS.

FREIGHT-CAR DooR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,927, dated May 24, 1881.

Application led February 7, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN CHRIsTIANsEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements in Doors for Freight-Gars, of whichpthe following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates more especially to improvements in side and end doors for graincars, and on that class of doors which are placedvand open and close at the inside of the cars.

My invention is designed to meet the requirements ot' many roads which of late have increased the laverage load of' grain-cars from what it hasheretofore been-viz., twelve to ifteen tons per car to twenty tons per car. This increase of the average load of the car has involved the use of a higher door to retain the grain than has heretofore been employed; but it has been found that by increasing the height of pivoteddoors of existing patterns the door has been prevented from clearing the roof of the carin moving on its pivot, and that to swing such a door to the required height to retain twenty tons of grain it would be necessary to add to the height of the car.

My invention is designed to produce a door qualified to provide for such increased carrying capacity of a grain-car; and to this end the door is constructed of an upper and a lower part, each operated independently ofthe other, the upper part being loosely connected with and adapted to slide on an inclined track in such manner that the free end of said part or upper door may first be ,raised to remove it from the lateral press-ure of the grain and the door then slid upon the track, and afterward secured in a higher horizontal plane out of contact with the contents of the car. Other devices and combinations enter into the invention, as hereinafter particularly described.

In the further description of my invention which follows reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of aninner side of a grain-car embracing my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan ol' the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical transverse sections on lines X X and Y Y, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts inV all the views.

A represents the car, of which a is the floorsill and b the roof-plate. may be of any known pattern. It is here shown as pivoted at c and adapted to be opened by being swung on its pivot. Above the door B is placed an additional or supplemental door, C, ot' a height necessary to meet the requirements of the increased load. The door O is provided with a strap, d, which rests over and forms a loosely-jointed connection with an inclined track-rod, e, the higher end of which is fastened at e under the roof-plate of the car. A guide-bar, f, is attached to the roof-plate and side of the ear respectively by means ot' a projecting iron, f', and a bolt, f2. Sufticient space is left between the inner side ofthe guidebar f and the side of the car to receive and admit of the free movement of the upper door. The depressed end of the inclined track-rod e is secured to the guide-bar f, as shown. At the lower end of the bar is afoot, f the office of which is described below.

The operation of the upper door is as follows: The door is first lifted at one end, as indicated in dotted lines, to relieve it of the pressure of the grain, when the door is easily moved endwise, the strap d sliding up the inclined track-rod c until the door assumes the position shown in dotted lines at the left of Fig. 1, the lower rightl1and corner of the door resting on the foot f. The end of the door adjoining the door-openin g is now raised until the top edge of the door is brought under and parallel to the roof-plate, a hook, g, attached to the roof-plate being hooked in the staple g, secured on the upper edge of the door.

The full lines in Fig. 1 show the doors in their closed positions. They are kept closed by means of the swinging bar D, when situated as shown in full lines, the lower end of the bar being provided with a strap or shoe which lits over the top edge of the upper door. Before the doors can be opened the swinging bar D must be elevated to the position represented by dotted lines.

The top edge of the lower door and the bottom edge of the upper door-that is to say7 the engaging edges of both doors-are preferably rabbeted, tongued and grooved, or otherwise The lower door, B, 5 5

IOO

shaped to break the joint, and thus prevent the outflow of grain from between the doors. This construction also aids the upper door in its sliding movements, the rabbet or groove serving as a guide. A vertical rod, laextending from the pivot ot' the lower door to the roof, and which is removed a sufcient distance for the purpose from theinside ofthe car, connes the right-hand end ot' the upper door and prevents its lateral movement or detachment, when closed, from the lower door.

After the upper door, (l, has been brought to its open position in the manner above described, and has, in consequence, been removed from contact with the lower door, the latter is free to be opened by heilig swung 011 its pivot. When in its open position the upper edge oi' the lower door rests upon the door ol' the car,

3 and the end of the door adjacent to the pivot is brought even with the edge ot' the dooropening, leaving the doorway entirely nnohstructed.

I do not claim in a ireightear a door pivoted at one end at or near its vertical center combined with a device serving` the purposes oi' a supplemental door and :attle-bar, which device is adapted to slide in a horizontal plane above the pivoted door, and across and from the door-opening; neither will the objects of my invention be attained by such construction. In my invention it is essential that the upper sliding door shall he attached at one end to an inclined track in a manner which will allow the other or i'ree end ot" the door to be raised so as to remove it from the lateral pressure ot' the grain. My mode of attaching the sliding` door to its inclined track also admits of the raising of the door after ity has reached its open position, in order that it may be removed clear from contact with the contents ot' the car.

It is obvious that should the supplemental door slide to its open position in a horizontal plane it could not be removed from the lateral pressure ofthe grain,which pressure would thus prevent its free movement to its open position, and also that after it had reached such position it could not, unless the connection with its track were in substance such as is herein shown, be elevated after the opening of' the door, so as to remove it from contact. with the contents of the car.

I claim as my inventionl. Thecombination, in a grain-car, ofa lower door and upper independently-acting door, an inclined track, a loosely jointed connection between said upper door and track, and a guidebar, whereby the upper door may be raised, slid, and guided to its open position and away from the lower door, permitting the latter to be opened independently, substantially as specilied.

2. In a freight-car, a sliding door combined with an inclined track, a guide-har, foot-piece, anda loosely-jointed device connecting said door and inclined track, whereby the door may he slid and elevated to an open position, substantially as specified.

3. In a freight-car, the combination oi'a sliding door and inclined track, a loosely-jointed device connecting said door and track, a guide' har and means t'or securing the door when slid toits open and elevated position, substantially as speciiied.

4. The combination, in a i'reightcar, with lower and upper independently-moving doors, the latter sliding to its open position upon an inclined track, ol' a pivoted locking device adapted, when the said upper door is in its closed or depressed position, to be adjusted thereto, and thus secure or lock it and the lower door, substantially as speciied.

In testimony whereof I have hereto subscribed my name.

JOHN CHRISTIANSEN.

Witnesses:

R. C. ALLEN, H. F. COOPER.

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