US2643855A - Car door opener and closer - Google Patents

Description

June 30, 1953 s. WIMERRITT 2,643,855

CAR DOOR OPENER AND CLOSER Filed Nov. 16, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Glenn W'Merrz'fi ATTORNEY G. w. MERRITT CAR DOOR OPENER AND CLOSER June 30, 11953 2 She ets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 16, 1950 FIG. El-

ATTORNEY Patented June 30, 1953 UAR DOOR OPENER AND CLOSER Glenn W. Merritt, Bowerston, Ohio, assignor to The Nolan Company, Bowerston, Ohio, a. corporation of Ohio Application November, 16, 1950, Serial No. 196,038

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved dooropening and closing device, the invention being concerned particularly with a device for opening and closing sliding doors of the typeemployed on railway boxcars.

Boxcar doors are mounted commonly for sliding movement between positions of doorway opening and closure. Often considerable difliculty is experienced in operating these doors, as strains and stresses in the door frames, guides, and in the boxcar itself often cause the doors to bind and stick, a condition which presents severe mechanical difiiculties in obtaining the desired sliding movement on the part of said doors. 1

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of being readily connected or associated with a car door so that the latter may be quickly and easily operated by one man and moved between opened and closed positions.

It is another object of the invention to provide a boxcar opening and closing device comscription and the prising a pulley block around which a pawl-controlled operating chain is passed, the block being formed with a hook adapted for attachment to a door to be opened or closed, and the chain, in turn, being anchored at one end to a stationary part of the boxcar with the opposite end thereof free for manual operation, where-by when the chain is tightened from its free end, powerful forces, in an effective and properly applied manner, are set up to actuate the door.

It is another object of the invention to provide the pulley block of a car door-opening and closing device with an improved safety hook adapted for attachment to an associated car door, the hook being turnable in relation to the pulley block through an arc of approximately 180 degrees and yet is locked positively against such turning movement when in place and before pulling forces are applied thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a car door opener and closer of this character in which the pulley block is formed with a chamber having mounted therein a chain-engaging pawl, the walls of the chamber serving to enclose and protect the pawl, whereby to eliminate any interference in the operation of the pawl through its engagement with the adjoining sides of plain or corrugated boxcar doors.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a car door opener and closer which is of relatively light and compact construction so that it may be .easily' :carried, conveniently app-lied with expedition and facility, and which will open a door from completely closed position so as to avoid all necessity for preliminary opening of the door before application of the opener thereto.

Still a further object is to provide an opener of the character stated by means of which relatively great power can be applied to a door for opening or closing thelatter, and to accomplish this end even when the doors and their guides are in a poor mechanical state.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed deaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a door opener and closer embodying the present invention, the same being partly broken away and shown in cross section to' disclose underlying structure;

Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary side elevational View of the adjoining portions of the swiveled hook and pulley block extension of my improved door-opening and-closing device, the hook being shown in position in which turning movement thereof about its swiveled connection with the block extension may be effected;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken ont-he line IIIIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1;

Fig.- 5 is a detail fragmentary perspective view.

disclosing the construction of the swiveled end of the movable pulley blockhook;

Fig. 6 is a similar view disclosing the forwardly located pulley block extension .to which the movable .hook is swiveled;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in side elevation, of the pawland sheave construction of my improved door-opening and closing device, with the pawl shown in its position providing for the application of pullingforces to the operating chain of the device;

Fig. -8 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. '7;

Fig. v9 is a side elevational view disclosing the application of the device to the sliding door of a boxcar.

My improved door opening and closing device comprises a pulley block which includes a hous ing ll], having spacedside walls It. Between these walls, there is formed a pulley chamber H2, in which is rotatably mounted a chain pulley or sheave t3, the latter being supported for rotation in connection with an axlepin M carried by the side walls H and passing transversely through the chamber l2. Alink chain it hasits intermediate .portion trained around the grooved while the opposite end I! of the chain may be held by the hands for manual pulling.

Also formed between the side walls ll of the block housing 10 is a pawl chamber 2 I, the latter being in communication as at 22 with the pulley chamber l2. Positioned in the pawl chamber 2! for pivotal movement about an axis 23 is a pawl 26. On one side of the axis 23, the pawl is weighted as at 25, while the opposite end of the pawl engages with the links of the chain 15. The chain-engaging end of the pawl is disposed immediately adjacent to a transverse web 26, forming a part of the housing 10, the pawl serving automatically to hold the car-anchored end of the chain under tension when the ring I! is released, or pull on the outer end of the chain relaxed.

To connect the pulley housing with a car door, the housing, in this instance, is formed at one end, on its under side, with an extension 21, the opposite end thereof being formed with a stationary hook 28. The extension 21 is provided with a bore 29 in which is mounted for rotation and limited longitudinal sliding movement the cylindrical shank 38 of a turntable hook 3!, the latter being adapted for attachment to a fixed bail-type handle 32 provided on the side of a conventional slidably mounted boxcar door 33. The turning movement allowed the hook 3! provides for convenience in applying or removing the hook relative to the door bail 32 and, also, the quick and ready alignment of the pulley block, and the pulley carried thereby, with the chain i when the latter is tightened. One end of the shank 38 is provided with a retaining nut 3011.

To close the opening of the bail-receiving jaw 34 of the hook 3! when the device is in use, so that the hook 3! will not become accidentally disengaged from the door bail, the extension 2! includes a forwardly projecting foot 35 which terminates adjacent to the outer end 36 of the hook 3!, so that insuflicient space will exist in the jaw opening formed between the foot 35 and the outer end 36 of the hook to permit of the passage of the door bail or handle therebetween.

When in this position, and to prevent rotation of the hook 3| about the axis of its swiveled shank 3B, the inner end of said hook is formed with a'laterally directed semicircular flange 31, the latter being provided midway between its ends with a notch 38, which is adapted to receive the upper end of a locking finger 39 integrally formed with and projecting upwardly from the foot 35. The finger 39 is of such width that when the hook 31 is forced inwardly, after release of chain tension, the shank 36 slides in the bore 29 of the extension 21 in a direction toward the pulley block, and the flange 31 will be moved to a position to the rear of the finger in which it registers with a notch 40 formed in the foot 35. With the flange 31 disposed in the vertical plane of the notch 40, the hook 3| may turn relative to the pulley housing or vice versa through an arc of approximately 180 degrees. The extent of this are is determined by the employment of arcuately spaced shoulders 4| which are integrally formed on opposite sides of a flange Ma. provided integrally on the hook 31 contiguous to its inner end and immediately adjoining the flange 31 of said hook. With the flange 3'! positioned in the notch M3 and the inner end of the hook in contact with the circular outer face 42 of the extension 21, turning movement between the hook 3i and the pulley block will be limited by the engagement of one or the other of the shoulders 41 with a side of the foot 35 adjacent to the notch 46.

The operation of the device may be conveniently accomplished by connecting one end of the link chain with a stationary part of an associated boxcar, and the turnable hook 31 with the bail handle 32 of the sliding door of such a car. When the other end of the chain is initially pulled by an operator, the pulley block slides on the shank of the hook 3i, so that the locking finger 39 of the housing foot enters the notch 38 formed I in the flange 31 on the inner end of the hook 3!.

By so occupying the notch 38 of the flange 31, the locking finger 39 prevents rotation of the hook 3! about the axis of the shank 33, and

, thereby maintains the outer end 36 of said hook 3! in the same plane as the foot extension 35 and the housing itself. By pulling on the free end H of the chain 15, to tighten the same, the chain rides around the circumference of the pulley or sheave l3, shortening the effective overall length of the chain and imparting sliding movement to the car door, efiecting movement thereof to an open position.

In this pulling operation, tension is maintained at all times in the length of the chain 15 located between the car-anchored end 16 thereof and the link or links engaged by the pawl 24, the operating or free end ll of the chain being free except when manually pulled. The Web 26 serves to allow the pawl, under the irregularities in the formation of the links of the chain IE, to limit rocking movement of the pawl in response to the action of the stresses thereon. Any tendency of the chain to lose its tautness between the block and the anchored end 16 thereof is resisted by the pawl when the device is applied to a car door and the chain actively tensioned. It will be observed that the side walls of the pawl chamber enclose the pawl or detent and prevent any interference with the operation of the pawl through engagement of the latter with the sides of the car door, particularly when such sides are composed of corrugated sheeting.

I claim:

1. A car door opening and closing device comprising: a pulley block including a housing formed at one end with a hook-carrying extension having a bore, an attaching hook for said block, a shank formed with and projecting longitudinally from the inner end of said hook, said shank being mounted for rotation and limited sliding movement in' the bore formed in said housing extension; a flange integrally formed with the shank-carrying end of said hook, said flange being provided intermediately thereof with a notch, and a rigid finger projecting laterally from the forward end of said extension and engageable with the walls of the flange defining said notch to restrain saidhook against turning movement when said hook and pulley block are subjected to oppositely directed pulling forces.

2. A car door opening and closing device as defined in claim 1 and wherein the shank of the swiveled hook is provided at its outer end with a head-forming member, the latter being engageable with said extension to limit outward sliding movement of said hook in response to pulling forces tending to separate said hook from said pulley block.

3. A pulling device comprising a pulley block having a housing; a pulley rotatably mounted in said housing, said block being formed at one end thereof with an integral extension provided with a longitudinally extending bore; a swiveled hook for said block; a shank projecting rigidly from the inner end of said hook for slidable and rotatable movement in said bore; a first laterally projecting flange integrally formed with said hook contiguous to the shank-carrying end thereof; a finger projection provided on the outer end of said hook extension, said projection being disposed for engagement with the walls of a notch provided in said flange to restrain said hook against rotation relative to said block when forces are applied to the block and said hook tending to separate the same, said extension being formed with a recess disposed for registry with the flange of said hook to admit of rotation of the latter relative to the block when the hook and block are forced together through longitudinal sliding movement of said shank; a

GLENN W. MERRITT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,199,690 Gillan Sept. 26, 1916 1,253,183 Jones Jan. 8, 1918 1,591,362 Cofiing July 6, 1926 1,977,396 Merritt et a1. Oct. 16, 1934 2,377,324 Cofling June 5, 1945

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