US2509966A - Cargo bracing means for railway freight cars - Google Patents

Description

3 R W. max

CARGO BRACING MEANS FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT rams May 3% 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1947 ///AIV// INVENTOR. 1506008 74. 60.23,

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CARGO BRACING MEANS FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT CARS Filed July 5,' 1947 W 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 KO f 3 a a a "Q N 0| \Q\]\ N J l Q g 4 g 2 S i i w! .5

IN V EN TOR.

May 3 0, 1950 R. W. cox

CARGO BRACING MEANS FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT CARS i Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 5, 1947 I INVENVTOR.

Jihad/62W C055,

May 3% 1950 R. W. cox 9 9 CARGO BRACING MEANS FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT CARS Filed Jul 5, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. %5coe 144 C01,

Patented May 30, 1950 OFFICE CARGO BRACING lVIEAN S FOR RAILWAY FREIGHT CARS Roscoe W. Cox, Rensselaer, N. Y.

Application July 5, 1947, Serial No. 759,255

9 Claims.

The invention relates to railway freight cars and particularly to means to protect a lading in such cars by providing means to retain such lading in place after it has been stored in the car.

An object of the invention is to provide a construction or device which may be used to extend crosswise of the car to prevent the lading from shifting lengthwise of the car, or may be used to extend across a doorway (or the doorways) of the car to prevent the lading from shifting sidewise of the car against the door (or doors) of the car, thus causing such doors to bind and become inoperative. A further object of the invention is to form such construction or device that parts thereof may be used to prevent lengthwise shifting of the lading while simultaneously preventing sidewise shifting of the lading.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a construction or device comprising a plurality of flexible cables extendable crosswise of the car from side to side thereof or over one or both of the doorways of the car and wherein some of said cables may extend crosswise of the car while at the same time other of such cables extend over one or both of the doorways.

Another object of the invention is to provide means to equalize the tension on the several cables while extending across the car and/or across a doorway, which last mentioned means also allows one cable to slightly yield under lateral pressure until the adjacent cables come into play and assist the cable under lateral stress to carry the load.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of boards having interfitting edges, which boards are provided with means cooperating with said cables to hold said boards against the door post and thereby provide an efiective easily removable grain door when required.

Another object of the invention is to provide receptacles to store the cables when not in use, which receptacles are so positioned as not to interfere with the lading space of the car nor interfere with the loading or unloading of the car through either of the doorways.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic horizontal cross section of a railway car showing my invention applied thereto with the lading protectors extending between the door posts on the same side of the car.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 except that the lading protectors extend between the door posts on the opposite sides of the car.

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross section through a part of the side wall of a car including the doorway showing an anchor post and a winding post.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of part of a car with the lining removed for clarity and showing the anchor post and winding post each partially in section to show the elements contained therein.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section through an anchor post showing my lading protector and associated parts.

Figure 6 is a vertical section through part of an anchor post construction showing parts of my lading protector.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the anchor post bracket shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a section on line 88 of Figure '7.

Figures 9, 10 and 11 show the ratchet and pawl construction at the bottom of each winding shaft wherein- Figure 9 is a broken side elevation thereof;

Figure 10 is a section on line I0l0 of Figure 9 and Figure 11 is a sectional elevation of the lower end of Figure 9.

Figure 12 shows the swivel arrangement at the top of each winding shaft.

Figure 13 is a transverse section on line l3|3, Fig. 4 through a winding post construction showing the slidable movement of the vertical cable to the winding shaft.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the invention showing a means of holding a grain door in position against the door posts.

My lading protector comprises a plurality of horizontally disposed vertically spaced cables 2 which are stored in a plurality of tubular containers or pipes 3 when not in use, which containers are spaced slightly inclined within the side walls 4 of the car. These cables may be extended across the doorway; that is, between the anchor post construction 5 and winding post construction 6 on the same side of the car, as shown in Figure 1, to prevent the lading from shifting against the car door, or these cables 2 may be extended crosswise of the car; that is, between an anchor post construction 5 and a winding post construction 6 in the opposite sides of the car, as shown in Figure 2, to prevent the lading from shifting lengthwise of the car or some of the cables mayextend across one or both doorways 8 while simultaneously other cables may extend crosswise of the car. A conventiona1 door for a car is shown partially broken away and in partially closed position at 9 in Figure 4.

Each anchor post construction is shown in detail in Figures 5, 6, 'I and 8, and comprises an angular door post l0 and an angular casing secured together at 2 and I3 to cooperate as a hollow vertical post. The containers 3, preferably comprising pipes, extend through the door post l0 and are secured thereto by weldment l4. These containers 3 are also preferably secured to and partially supported by the side Wall framing posts I! and I8, as shown in Figure 3. An anchor bracket is secured -to theicasing II by the rivets 2| opposite each container 3, which bracket is provided with a pocket 22 for the reception of the hook 23 on the end of the cable 2, which pocket 22 is deep enough so that the hook 23 will not project into the doorway 8. The rear wall 26 of the pocket is provided with a key hole slot 21. The door post l0 and the casing II are bothsecured to the side sill and side late (not shown) "of the car in the usual manner.

A-pair of stops 55 and 56 are provided on each cable, the stops 56 bein of smaller diameter than that'of "the stops .55 so that when it is desired to extend the cables 2 transversely of the car, as shown in Figure 2, said stops 56 may be passed through the large part of keyhole slot 21, and the cablewithdrawn from the container 3 until the larger diameter stop 55 abuts against rear wall 26 of the bracket Stops '55 are positioned on the cables to allow sufficient length thereof to extend across the car.

When the cables are to extend across the doorway, stops 5% would engage the narrower part of keyhole slot 2] and prevent more than a sufficient length of cable to extend across doorway being withdrawn from the container 3.

Each winding post construction 6, as shown in Figure 13, comprises a door post 30 and a casing 3| secured thereto at 32 and 33 to cooperate as a vertical post. The winding and equalizing shaft 34 is contained within and protected by the post 3!] and casing 31. The upper end of the shaft 34 is ,pivotally held in place by the swivel plate 35 which is secured to the car in any convenient manner; for instance, by rivets or bolts passing through the holes 33. (See Figure 12.) The lower end of the shaft 34 is pivotally supported by the base plate 33, as shown in Figures 9, 10 and 11. This base plate 39 is secured to the car ,in any convenient manner; for instance, by rivets or bolts passing through the holes 40. A ratchet 4| is secured to the lower end of the shaft 34 which actually supports the shaft upon the base plate. The teeth of the ratchet 4| are engageable with the pawl 42 which is also mountedupon the base plate 39 by the bolt 43. The pawl 42 is provided with a finger grip 44 for release of the pawl from the outside of the car.

The winding shaft 34 is provided with a vertical cable '4"! (see Figures 4 and 13) extending substantially the length of the shaft 34 with the opposite ends thereof rigidly secured to the shaft,

as at 48; At several places intermediate the ends of the shaft :34 the vertical cable 41 is slidably secured to the shaft by the staples 48, as shown in Figures 4 and 13. Casing 3| is cut away, as at 49, each occurring approximately midway between each pair of staples 48, so that the hooks 23 may pass therethrough and engage cable 41.

Toqprevent any-material deflection of the windin post-34, a plurality of circular spaced cable guide :bearing :rin s may be secured to winding post 34 concentrically therewith, they being in diameter just sufficient to be able to rotate within the walls of the winding post construction 6.

In the application of the invention shown in Figure 14, a plurality of boards 50 having interfitting edges, such as shiplap, or tongued and grooved boards, are provided and of a length to extend :between the door posts of a car wall as a grain door, or to protect the car door if the lading is unusually heavy. A plurality of clips 5| are attached to each board, each clip having an outwardly extending hook 52, the hooks'of at least the clips near the ends of each board hooking over one of the cables 2, and the hook of the center clip hooking under the said cable 2, so

that the cable cannot easily become disengaged from the hooks. The hooks are not exactly in line with the cables when taut and are hooked over said cable when in slack position, so that when-drawn taut they will pull the boards tightly against the door posts and down so each grain door board is held tight against each other and against the floor, thereby providing an effective grain door when needed, and one that may be used over and over again. The direction of the hooks may be reversed, as is obvious without affecting the functioning of the invention.

The operation of the device is as follows:

When it is desired to' extend one, some or all of the cables 2 across the doorway 8 the desired cables are pulled by means of the hooks 23 out of the containers 3 and the hooks are hooked over the vertical cable 41, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. At about the same time the short stops 50 ,engage the anchors 20, asshown in Figure 4. Each shortstop 50 is too small to pass through the lower part 5| of the keyhole slot 21 but is small enough to pass through the large part thereof;

(See Figure '7.) The winding shaft 34 is then rotated by means of a bar projecting into one of the apertures 53, whereupon the cable 2 are not only partially Wound upon the shaft 34 but due to the slidability of the vertical cable 41 the tension upon the several cables is equalized so that they all work in unison to resist any horizontal thrust imposed upon them. When it is desired to release the tension .upon the cables .(and return them to their containers) the pawl 42 is trippl d.

When it is desired to extend one or more of the cables crosswise of the car the hooks 23 are engaged with the vertical cable 41 on the winding shaft across the car, as shown in Figure 2. To do this the cable is moved upwardly so that the short stop '50 will pass through the large part 52 of the keyhole slot 21. (See Figures 6 and 7.) At about the time the hooks 23 are engageable with the vertical cable across the car the large stop 55engages the anchor 20. (See Figure 5.) Thelarge stop 55 will not'pass through any part of the keyhole slot 21. The anchor 20 is pro videdwith a rounded shoulder 56 to ease the bending of the cable 2. Figure 5 shows in dotted lines (51) the cable going across the doorway. Note the small stops 56 in Figure 2.

When it is desired to associate a grain door across the doorway with the cables when extended across a doorway, the bottom board is placed in positioniacross the doorway and the adjacent cable interlaced under and over the hooks to hold the same in place. Then the next succeeding board is similarly placed across the doorway and its cable interlaced under and over the hooks of h a d, nd-so on until the desired height of grain door is attained. Then, by manipulating the pawl and ratchet mechanism 4| which rotates the winding shaft and draws the cables taut, which in turn holds the boards tightly in grain tight relation against the door posts, I provide an effective grain door, or provide extra protection to the car door from shifting of an unusually heavy lading.

When a car is to be unloaded, and the cables have been extended across the car or across the doorway, hooks 23 are unhooked and the cables manually pushed back into containers or pipes 3.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A railway car cargo bracing means comprising an anchor post and a winding post, said posts adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of a doorway, vertically spaced cables extendable from one post to the other, means for attaching said cable to said posts, means for rotating said winding post to tighten said cables, and means for releasably holding said cables in tightened position.

2. A railway car cargo bracing means comprising an anchor post and a winding post, said posts adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of a doorway, vertically spaced cables extendable from one post to the other, means for attaching said cable to said posts, means for rotating said winding post to tighten said cables, means for storing said cables when not in use adjacent one of said posts, and means for releasably holding said cables in tightened position.

3. A railway car cargo bracing means comprising an anchor post and a winding post, said posts adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of a doorway, vertically spaced cables extendable from one post to the other, means for attaching said cable to said posts, means for rotating said winding post to tighten said cables, means for storing said cables when not in use in a wall adjacent said anchor post, and means for releasably holding said cables in tightened position.

4. A railway car cargo bracin means comprising a pair of posts adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of a doorway, vertically spaced cables extendable from one post to the other, means for attaching said cable to said posts, means for rotating one of said posts to tighten said cables, and pawl and ratchet means for releasably holding said cables in tightened position.

5. A structure substantially as set forth in claim 4, and means for storing said cables when not in use in a wall adjacent one of said posts.

6. A structure substantially as set forth in claim 4, and a grain door adjacent and overlapping said posts, and means on said grain door engageable with said cables to hold said grain door in position when said cables are tightened.

7. A cargo bracing means for a railway car having spaced walls, and a doorway and door in each wall, said means comprising anchor posts and winding posts, an anchor post and a winding post adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of said doorways, vertically spaced cables extendable from an anchor post to a Winding post, means for removably attaching said cables to said posts, means for rotating a winding post to tighten said cables, and means for releasably holding said cables in tightened position.

8. A cargo bracing means for a railway car having spaced walls, and a doorway and door in each wall, said means comprising anchor posts and winding posts, an anchor post and a winding post adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of said doorways, vertically spaced cables extendable from an anchor post to a winding post, means for removably attaching said cables to said posts, means for rotatin a winding post to tighten said cables, means for storing said cables adjacent said anchor posts, and means for releasably holding said cables in tightened position.

9. A cargo bracin means for a railway car having spaced walls, and a doorway and door in each wall, said means comprising anchor posts and winding posts, an anchor post and a winding post adapted to be positioned adjacent opposite vertical edges of said doorways, vertically spaced cables each extendable from an anchor post to a winding post, transversely or longitudinally of the car, means for removably attaching said cables to said posts, means for rotating a winding post to tighten said cables, and means for releasably holding said cables in tightened posi tion.

ROSCOE W. COX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 994,822 Daly June 13, 1911 2,361,081 Brandon Oct. 24, 1944 2,389,777 Harris Nov. 27, 1945

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