US2537247A

US2537247A - Door mechanism for gondola cars

Info

Publication number: US2537247A
Application number: US621897A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lambert J Tillman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-10-12
Filing date: 1945-10-12
Publication date: 1951-01-09
Anticipated expiration: 1968-01-09

Description

L. J. TILLMAN DOOR MECHANISM FOR GONDOLA QARS Jan. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Oct. 12, 1945 Jan. 9, 1951 L. J. TILLMAN Y 2,537.:247

' DOOR MECHANISM FOR GONDOLA CARS Filed Oct. 12; 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFMIE DOOR MECHANISM FOR GONDOLA QARS Lambert J. Tillman, Toledo, Ohio Application October 12, 1945, Serial No. 621,897

9 Claims. 1

My invention relates to railway freight cars and particularly to gondola cars having doors hinged to the car body in a manner requiring that their swinging movement from open position to closed or lading retaining position be performed in opposition to the action of gravity incident to the weight of the door.

In many gondola cars these hinged doors are large and cumbersome and the combined strength of several men is usually required to raise one of them to its closed position from its open position. Should the men accidentally lose control over the door While moving it toward closed position the resultin sudden swinging movement of the door to open position not infrequently causes serious injury to one or more of the workmen.

The object of the invention is to provide an effective and compact mechanism, capable of practical application to a railway car, for imparting to a hinged car door whose swinging movement from open position to closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, a force gener- 'ated by the opening movement of the door which tends to move the door towards closed position. A principal feature of the invention consists in providing, in a railway car having hinged doors 'whose swingin movement to closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, a plurality of torsion rods extending transversely of the door adjacent the hinge axis thereof, a plurality of spaced brackets rigidly mounted on the door for respectively preventing rotation of one end of each of said rods, and a plurality of spaced brackets rigidly mounted upon a fixed part of the car for respectively securing the other ends of said rods against rotation relative to the car body.

Another feature of the invention, generally stated, consists in providing, in a railway gondola car having a hinged door whose hinge axis is disposed below the car floor adjacent the car center sill and whose swinging movement towards closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, a plurality of torsion rods disposed below the floor adjacent the hinge axis of the door, a plurality of means carried by said door for respectively securing one end of each of said rods against rotation with respect to said door, and spaced means fixed with respect to the car center sill for respectively preventing rotation of the other end of each of said rods with respect to the car center sill.

A further feature of the invention consists in providing in a railway gondola car havin a floor formed with a lading discharge opening which is adapted to be closed by a hinged door whose hinge axis is disposed below the floor adjacent the center sill of the car and whose swinging movement to closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, a plurality of spaced brackets rigidly secured to the door, a plurality of bracket members rigidly attached to the center sill of the car and cooperating with the brackets secured to the door to constitute means for hingedly mounting the door on the car body, and torsion rod means disposed below the car floor adjacent the hinge axis of the door and having at one end a portion fixed against rotation relative to the door and being provided at the other end with a portion fixed with respect to the underframe of the car.

There are other features of the invention residing in relationships of parts and advantageous details of construction, all as will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, the scope whereof is pointed out in the claims:

Figure 1 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section illustrating the invention as embodied in a drop bottom gondola car, the drop door being in closed position with a portion thereof adjacent the hinge axis broken away to clearly show the relationship of the torsion bars.

Figure 2 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a detail plan view of one corner of the hinged edge of the door shown in Figure 1,

a part of the door plate being broken away to disclose the underlying structure.

Figure 4 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

In the drawings, l indicates the side wall of a railway gondola car and 2 is thecar floor. The floor is provided with suitable openings 3 for the discharge of lading and is supported by the car spectively engaging the outer ends of the door arms 8 secured to the under side of the door.

The hinged door 6, which advantageously may be formed as a corrugated steel plate, has its hinge axis disposed below the floor 2 adjacent the center sill 4. Rigidly mounted upon the under side of the door are spaced brackets 9 which afford means for hinging the door to the car body, each of said brackets being preferably provided for that purpose with substantially parallel spaced jaws ill which form an open-ended slot or recess for receiving the neighboring hinge pin member ll. At their connected ends, the inner faces of the jaws Iii are curved to provide a suitable bearing for the hinge pin.

Each of the I bracketS 9 is also formed with a polygonal, prefer= ably square, socket I2 for receiving the correspondingly shaped end I3 of one of the torsion rods I4, to thereby hold one end of each torsion rod-against rotation with respect to the hinged door.

Rigidlysecured to the-center sill dare brackets I5 having spaced arms I6 between which the jaws I O of the respectively adjacent brackets 9 mounted on the door are received. These-arms I6. are

formed with open-ended polygonal recesses I! which provide jaws for engaging the-correspondingly shaped polygonal heads I8 of thehinge pin members II to prevent rotation thereof with respect to the brackets I5 by which they are carried. Each hinge pin memberis provided at one end withgapolygonal socket I9--for receiving the correspondingly shaped end I 3. ofone of the-torsion Toprovide means whereby the-hinge pin rods;- member-I I may be:-rotated prior to itsapplicationtoitheabracket I5, so that the torsion: rod: I41

socketed. therein may be under initial torsionalstress when the parts are in assembled relation and ithe door is in closed position, the other end of-therhinger-pin member-may also be provided with afpoly flmal socket Zilto receive a suitable wrench-cor bar for imparting torsion to the rod I 4 ,through the hingegpin member in which itjis socketed The socket-20 is preferably of the same form as the socket I9.

While the ..-construction is such that 'the' door isheldin hinged relation: with the; car. by the weight of the door itse1f,; a cotter-pinn2I or the like-:which extends through the-jaws IIlof-the bracketSxmay, if desired, bewemployed to lock thevhinged :edge-of the door; against any accidental upward movement. To protect thebracketszfi and -15 and the torsion rods It against pos siblerinjury when the door 4-is.open and lading is being discharged from the car, the edge of the:

door adjacent its-,hingeaxis is preferably curved as indicated at 22, the centercfcurvature substantially corresponding to the hinge axis :of -;the door.

Theztorsion rods are disposed adjacent the hinged edge of the door and may conveniently be of circular cross section except fortheirend portions I3, one of the square ends. I3. of each ,rod

being-positioned in the corresponding socket: I2

of one of the brackets 9 carriedbythe door and the othersquare end portion l3 of the same torsionrod being positioned in the socketl9 formed in theadjacentend of the-hinge pin member I I.

rodsl l by causing-theends; thereof which are socketed inpthe bracketsv 9 secured, to the. door tobe: twisted or: rotated,: with respect. to 1 the ends of :th'BuIOdS which are held in 1fixed position by reason:of their; socketed: engagement'with the hinge pimmembers I I carried by the brackets serves materially to.- decrease the force necessary tobe exerted-by workmen when, thedooris moved; to;- los d. p9 ition-manual1y:;: nd in-..0rder.:to:. I'Gr i I5 rigidly mounted on the car enter sill I. The: stress- .so imparted,to;thetorsion rods I l-thusduce as far as practicable the force required to move the door from open position to closed position, while still enabling the door to open fully under the influence of gravity, it is preferred that the torsion rods I4 be of such strength and elasticity that'the force to close the door which they exert as the result of the initial torsional stress imparted to them and that additionally generated in themduring an'opening movement of the door shall together be only somewhat less than the force with which gravity opposes the swinging movement of thedoor from open position towards closed position.

What I claim is:

1. A door mechanism for railway car hinged doors whose: swinging movement from openposition towards closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, saidmechanism comprisinga pluralityof torsion rods extending transversely of the door adjacent its hinge axis, a plurality-of brackets rigidly mounted on the door adjacent said axis and spaced from each other, a corresponding-plurality of spaced brackets rigidly secured to a fixed part of the car adjacent said axis,

each of said last named brackets having mounted thereon a pin member for forming a hinged connectionawith the adjacent bracket mounted onthe door, each of said hingepins and the brackets upon' which they are respectively mounted being provided with engaging portions preventing'rotation of said pins relative to their respectivebrackets, said rods being provided at each end with aqpolygonal portion held against rotation with'respect to one of said'brackets adjacent thereto, the saidbrackets which are mounted on the door each being provided with means for engaging oneof said polygonal portions to hold itagainst rotation, and each of said hinge pin I. members-being formed with a. portion for-cm. operating with-said polygonal portion .of one off said-rods to preventrotation of said portion of said rod with respect to said pin member.

2. A' door mechanism for railway car hinged,

doors whose-swingingmovement irom open pOSi-r tion. towards closed position is-opposed-by the,v

action :of gravity; said-mechanism comprising a plurality of torsion rods extending transversely of.the dooradjacent its hinge axis, said torsion rods having their adjacent ends spaced from-each other. in a direction substantially normal to the hinge axis of the door and their ends being of polygonal cross section, a plurality of spaced.

brackets rigidly mounted on the door adjacent said axis and each-provided with a polygonal recess'for receiving the adjacent end of one of said rods, a plurality of spaced brackets rigidly secured to a fixed'part of the car adjacent said axis, each.

of said last named brackets having mounted thereon a pin member for forming a hinged con-,. nection with the adjacent bracket mounted on the'door each of said hinge pinmembers and the brackets upon which they are respectively" mounted beingprovided with en aging portions which coact to prevent'rotation of said pin'members relative to their respective brackets, each of said hinge pin members being formed witha socket for receiving the poly onal end portion of one cream rods'to thereby prevent rotation of said endp-ortion with respect to said pin-meme ber,.a-nd each of said brackets mounted on the door being provided with spaced jaws forming a;

recess for receiving said hinge pin member.

3. A; door mechanismior railway car hingeddoors ;wh ose swinging movementfrom-open position tow losed: pos tion-. sopposed by the act o f:

ravity, said mechanism comprising a plurality of torsion rods extendin transversely of the door adjacent its hinge axis and each having at its opposite ends a polygonal portion, a plurality of spaced brackets rigidly secured to a fixed part of the car adjacent said axis, a plurality of spaced brackets rigidly mounted on the door adjacent its hinged edge, each of said first named brackets being provided with spaced arms for receiving a portion of the adjacent bracket secured to the door and being also provided with jaws forming an open-ended recess for receiving the correspondingly adjacent end of a hinge pin member, hinge pin members which are respectively disposed in the recesses between the jaw of their respective brackets and each of which is provided at one end with a socket for receivin the neighboring end of one of said rods to prevent rotation of said end of the rod with respect to the hinge pin member, and each of the brackets which are mounted on the door bein provided with means connected to the neighboring end of one of said rods and with spaced jaws forming an openended recess for engaging said hinge pin memher.

4. Door mechanism for the hinged door of a railway car of the type having a floor provided with an opening for the discharge of lading and anunderframe supportin said floor including a center sill, said mechanism comprising a plurality of torsion rods disposed below the floor adjacent the hinge axis of the door, spaced brackets rigid with the door adjacent the hinge axis thereof for respectively securing one end of each rod against rotation with respect to the door, and spaced means adjacent the hinge axis of the door for respectively preventing rotation of the other end of each of said rods with respect to the center sill, said brackets being respectively hingedly mounted on said spaced means.

5. Door mechanism for the hinged door of a railway gondola car of the type having a floor provided with an opening for the discharge of ladin and an underframe for supporting said floor including a center sill, said mechanism comprising a plurality of brackets spaced from each other and rigidly secured to the door, a plurality of torsion rods disposed below said floor adjacent the hinge axis of the door, said brackets and said rods being respectively provided with coacting means for securing one end of each rod against rotation with respect to the neighboring bracket, and spaced means adjacent the hinge axis of the door and rigidly connected to the center sill for respectively preventing rotation of the other end of each of said rods, said brackets being respectively hingedly connected to said spaced means.

6. Door mechanism for the hinged door of a railway gondola car of the type having a floor provided with an opening for the discharge of lading and an underframe for supporting said floor including a center sill, said mechanism comprising a plurality of brackets rigidly secured to the door in spaced relation to each other adjacent the hinged edge of the door, a plurality of bracket members rigidly secured to the center sill and I spaced from each other adjacent said hinged edge, and torsion rod means disposed below said floor adjacent the hinge axis of the door and extending in the direction of length of the center sill, said torsion rod mean being provided at one end with a portion secured to said brackets against relative rotation with respect to the door and being proat its opposite ends, a plurality of brackets rigidly secured to the door in spaced relation to each other and each provided with a socket for receiving .the neighboring head of one of said rods, a plurality of brackets each rigidly secured to the center sill in spaced relation-to each other and each provided with means engaging a hinge pin member to prevent rotation thereof, and a plurality of hinge pin members respectively carried by said last named brackets and each provided at one end with a socket for receiving the polygonal head of one of said torsion rods.

8. A door mechanism for a railway car hinged door whose swinging movement from open position to closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, said mechanism including a plurality of torsion rods provided with polygonal heads at their opposite ends, a plurality of brackets rigidly secured to the door adjacent its hinged edge in spaced relation to each other and each provided with a socket for receiving a polygonal head of one of said rods, a plurality of spaced brackets each rigidly secured to a fixed part of the car adjacent the hinged edge of the door and each provided with means engagin a hinge pin member to prevent rotation thereof, and a plurality of hinge pin members each having at one end a socket for receiving and prevening rotation of one of the heads of one of said torsion rods and each being formed at its other end for cooperation with means whereby it may be rotated before assembly with its cooperating bracket to cause the rod socketed therein to be under initial torsional stress when the parts are in assembled relation and the door is in closed position.

9. A door mechanism for railway car hinged doors whose swinging movement from open position tolclosed position is opposed by the action of gravity, said mechanism comprising a plurality of torsion rods extending transversely of the door adjacent its hinge axis, a pair of brackets rigidly mounted on the door, and a pair of brackets rigidly secured to a fixed part of the car and having hinge pins, said brackets secured to the door respectively having portions straddling said hinge pins for hingedly connecting the door to the car, the opposite ends of each of said torsion rods being respectively fixedly secured to one of said brackets on the door and to one of said brackets on the car.

LAMBERT J. TILLMAN.

REFERENCES CITED Theiollowing references are of record in the file 'Of;thi$ patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 59,414 Knight Nov. 6, 1866 199,383 Steinhofi Jan. 22, 1878 1,066,146 Priebe July 1, 1913 1,688,685 Campbell Oct. 23, 1928