US2638062A - Latching device for hopper cars - Google Patents

Description

///5 ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR A LBIERT E Z lMMER A E ZTMME'R LATCHING DEVICE FOR HOPPER CARS May 12, 1953 Flled July 21, 1949 May 12, 1953 A. E, YZIMMER LATCHING DEVICE FOR HOPPER CARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 21, 1949 IN VEN TOR A LBERT E Z/MMR? B) fl/S A770 Patented May 12, 1953 LATCHING DEVICE FOR HOPPER CARS Albert E. Zimmer, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 21, 1949, Serial No. 105,915

This invention relates, generally, to latching devices and particularly to such devices for use in holding closed the doors of hopper cars.

Among the objects of this invention are: To provide new and improved means for latching a vertically suspended door in an inclined closed position; to arrange and construct the latch mechanism so that the necessary car clearance limitations are met; to provide a shouldered locking latch below the sloping floor of a car hopper and to extend it through the plane of the floor to engage a seat on an outer portion of the door; to construct the latch so that it clears a wall of a frame member underlying the floor of the hopper; to provide for manually releasing the latch; and to lock the latch in the closed position.

Other objects of this invention will, in part, be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

This invention is disclosed in the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, and it comprises thefeatures of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of this invention, reference can be had to the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a View, in side elevation, of a hopper door in the open position and showing how it is mounted on a hopper of a hopper car and latched thereto, the view being taken through the lower portion of a hopper car, certain parts of which are shown in section, and the view illustrating approximately one-half the width of the car;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the latch assembly including the shouldered latch, operating shaft and operating handle assembled apart from the car; i

Figure 8 is a view, in side elevation, of the shouldered latch shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view, in side elevation, of the hopper and door shown in Figure 1;

Figure fi'is a' view similar to Figure 4 except the door isshown closed and certain partsare shown in section, the section being taken along the line 5-5 of Figure l; and i r 2 Claims. (Cl. 105-308) 2 Figure 6 is a detail sectional view taken along the line 6-6 ofFigure 5..

Referring now particularly to Figure 1 of the drawings, it will be observed that the reference character It designates a conventional center sill of a hopper type railway car, only a portion of the-sill being shown. Spaced from the center sill Hi and parallel thereto is a car side wall ll between which is located a hopper I 2. The hopper 12 is formed by an upper sloping floor I3, a lower sloping floor M, a vertical inner side wall l5, Figure 6, and an outer sloping side wall IS. The floors I3 and I4 and the side walls l5 and i6 together define a trapezoidal hopper opening l1, Figures e and 6, which is bounded by a frame that is indicated, generally, at I8.

The frame 18 includes an upper beam portion l9 which is secured along the lower edge of the upper sloping floor l3 and a stirrup portion 20 which is generally T-shaped in cross section. As shown in Figure 6 the stirrup portion 20 includes a flat flange 2| which is positioned along the outer edges of the side walls l5 and I6 and also along the outer edge of the lower sloping floor H. A web 22 extends outwardly from the flange 2|. The upper beam portion l9 and the stirrup p rtion 20 may be secured in position by suitable means such as rivets 23. g

As shown more clearlyin Figures 1, 4 and 5 of the drawings, hinge butts 26 are formed integrally with and extend outwardly from the upper beam portion 19. Hinge pins 21 extend through the hinge butts 26 for interfitting with the upper ends of hinge straps 28 that may be secured by rivets 29 to the door 30. It will be noted that the door 30 is generally pan-shaped and that it completely closes the trapezoidal hopper opening IT with its edges 3| turned inwardly so as to overlap the side walls I5 and I6 and the lowermost edge of the lower sloping floor I 4. it

In considering means for holding the door 30 in the closed position, attention must be given to the allowable clearances which must be maintained between the parts of the car, the road bed and the rails. With these factors in mind provision is made for latching the door 30 closed and permitting it to be opened by providing a shouldered latch which is indicated, generally, at 33 inFigure 3. The shouldered latch33 includes a support portion 34 which has a hub 35,

Figure 2, formed integrally therewith. The hub 35 may be secured by a rivet or pin 36 to a shaft 3'! which may be journaled in suitable bearings 38 and 39, Figure 6, that are carried by the portion of the stirrup 2t which underlie the lower sloping floor i l. Any suitable means may be provided such as rivets so for securing the bearlugs 33 and 39 in position.

Referring again to Figure 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the shouldered latch 33 has a reentrant portion 32 extending from the support portion 34. The purpose of the reentrant portion tars to clear the rearwardly extending portion of the hat flange 2| as illustrated more clearly in Figure 5 of the drawings.

The shouldered latch 38 also includes a shank portion 43, preferably of I cross section, having a hook portion is at the outer end which has a locking face the center of curvature of which is the center of the opening through the support portion St or the longitudinal axis of the shaft '37 when the latch 33 is assembled thereon. The radius of the locking face 45 is indicated by the broken line 45 in Figure 3. lhe hook portion M has an inclined surface ll which facilitates the i with abeam 58, Figure 1, for holding the door .30 3

in the closed position. As her-e shown the beam comprises a flat plate portion or flange "5| which lie flat against the outer surface of the door 30 at its lower end and is secured thereto by rivets 52. An opening '53 is formed in the flange 5| which iscoextensive with the open 49 in the door .38. The opening 53 is defined by outstanding flanges 5d and a seat portion 5:5 along the upper edge having a curved surface for engaging the locking face 45 of the shouldered latch 33. The curvature of the .seat portion 55 which is engaged by the locking face A5 is the same as that of thi locking face, i. e., its center is at the center of the shaft 3? on which the latch 33 is secured.

With a view to preventing the escape of .lading from the bottom of the hopper l2 when the door '3!) is closed, an inverted U-shaped housing 56may be secured, as by welding, to the lower sloping floor 1| 2.. .Its out-turned end 52 .F taposed to the inner surface-of the door 30 when it is closed. In this .manner the openings 38 and "4.9 in the floor Hi and door 3!), respectively, are closed when thelatter is in the closed position. However, sufficient room is provided to permit the movement of the latch 33 to the unlatched position in a manner which will be described now. Any suitable means may be employed for rockthe shaft '37 for moving the shouldered latch 33 from the latched position shown in Figure 5.

.As illustrated in Figure "2, an operating handle for socket 58 is provided in accordance with the present invention havin a hub 59 which maybe .secured'by a rivet or .pin 5i! so that the assembly fast on the outer end of the shaft .A

provides the operator with sufficient leverag to rock the .latch 33 to the .unlatched position.

With .a View to locking the latch .33. in the Also, as shown in igure 5., i juxlatched position, a locking dog 62 which is gen erally semicircular in shape may be provided. The locking dog 62 is rockably mounted on a pin 63 which extend between brackets 64, Figure 6, which are secured on an extension 65 of the bearing 38.

The locking dog 62 may be provided with a laterally extending integrally formed stop 66 which, as shown in Figure 4, is arranged to bear against the nose portion 61 of one of the brackets 84 to hold the dog 52 in the unlatched position. As shown in Figure 5 the stop 66 engages the upper side of the bracket 64 to limit the move ment of the dog 62 therebetwen. As shown in Figure 5 the dog 62 holds the operating handle or socket 58 in the position where the shouldered latch .33 is in the latched position with the lockin face 45 in engagement with the seat portion 55.

When the door .30 is to be opened, the operator swingsthe locking-dog 62 from the position shown in Figure 5 to the position shown in Figure 4. Then he inserts a suitable bar in the socket opening l3! and rocks the operating handle or socket 58 together with the shaft 37 and shouldered latch 33 in a clockwise direction. Since the radius of curvature of the locking face 45 is such that the center is located-along the longitudinal axis of the shaft 37, the increments]? the shouldered latch 33 to the unlatched position is facilitated. As soon as the hook portion it clears the seat 55, the door 358 swings open under the influence of gravity and the force of the lading bearing against the same.

With the ,parts as illustrated in Figure 4, the door 36 can be swung to the closed position. The inclined surface ll first engages the underside .of the seat portion 5.5 and, on continued closing movement of the door ill], the latch 33 is swun downwardly in a clockwise position until th upper end of the incl ned surface t! clears the lowermost portion of the seat I55. Thereafter the weight of the operating handle or socket tit and the portion of thelatch 33 to the left of the longitudinal axis of the shaft Bl as viewedinFigure 2 is sufficient to counterbalance the portions to the right of this axis and to cause the latch 33 to be rocked in a counterclockwise direction to the latched position as .s'hownin Figure 5. Thereafter the locking dog G2 is rotated to the locked position shown in Figure 5.

Since certain changes can be made in the foregoing construction and different embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter shownin the accompanying -drawings and described hereinbefore shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in limiting sense.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a-railway car having :a hopper with :a discharge opening and .a door hinged along :one

side of said opening for closing :the same, said hopper including .a floor sloping downwardly .towards said Opening .for directing lading thereto and said door being swingabletomeet the :lower- .most edge of said floor in closed position, and a frame member having a .flat wall underlying :said floor; in combination, a shouldered latch for holding said door in "closed position, and support means pivotally mounting said latch beneath said frame member, said latch extending through the plane of said door :for engagement with said door and having a ,reentrant portion straddling said frame member.

2. In a railway "car .having'a hopper with a discharge opening and including :a floor sloping downwardly towards said opening for directing lading thereto, in combination, a door hinged along the upper Side of said opening and swingable to meet the lowermost edge of said floor in said latch away from the former when said door is closed, and biasing means urging said latch toward said seat portion whereby the same is engaged automatically on closure of said door closed position and having an opening near the 5 to lock the same.

side opposite the hinge side, a seat portion at the upper side of said opening in said door, a shouldered latch pivotally mounted beneath said floor and extending through the plane thereof for extending through said door opening and engaging said seat portion to hold said door closed, the portion of said latch which projects through said door opening having an inclined surface for cooperating with said seat portion to move ALBERT E. ZIMMER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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