US2682076A

US2682076A - Door lift mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2682076A
Application number: US270079A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sidney O Christensen
Original assignee: American Car and Foundry Co
Current assignee: ACF Industries Inc
Priority date: 1952-02-05
Filing date: 1952-02-05
Publication date: 1954-06-29
Anticipated expiration: 1971-06-29

Description

June 29, 1954 Filed Feb. 5, 1952 S. O. CHRISTENSEN DOOR LIFT MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sg NEY 0. CHR/S TENSEN June 29, 1954 s. o. CHRISTENSEN 2,682,076

DOOR LIFT MECHANISM Filed Feb. 5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fla- 5 INVENTOR.

; SggNEYQ Cu /s TENSEN Patented June 29, 1954 .Sidney O.'.Christensen, Jamaica, to American Car, and Foundry N. Y., assignor Company, New

York, N Y., a-corporation of NewJersey Application-February 5, 1952,.Serial No. 270,079 g 2' Claims. 1

This-invention relates, to lift mechanism for a -,car door and more particularly to mechanism for elevating, and-shifting the door. longitudinally by H .a single operation requiring littlev physical effort.

The invention-comprises, the novel structure -...and combination of partsthereinafterdescribed and moreparticularly pointed. out anddefined in .the appended claims.

.In the accompanying-drawings which illustrate a preferred form of the invention:

Fig. l is a side-;.elevation of a door. and lift .mechanismassociated with a portion-of aside taken online 4'4- of Fig. 3; showing a'portion of the actuator'for' the lift mechanism.

Fig; 5' is asectional view through. thedoor,

taken on--line 5 5 of F'ig. 3 showinguoneyofthe "door supporting rollers -a-nd-'lift 'leverstructures.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the door, taken on line E-'5 of Fig. 3, showing one of the lift lever structures and its guide.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the box car side wall is provided with opening ll. Door supporting track I2 is secured to the outside of the Wall and extends below the side wall opening and beyond the sides thereof. Door I3 is mounted to be lifted and moved longitudinally on the track into positions covering and uncovering the opening. Conventional guide and retainer structures I4 are associated with the top of the door and the adjacent car side wall.

The door can be formed in a conventional manner with a suitable frame and panel wall structure. The preferred form of door includes a hollow lower frame structure or housing having a bottom wall i5, for frictionally engaging the track, side flanges l6 and I! extending upwardly from the bottom wall and an inner closure plate 18. Corrugated metal panel I9 forms the vertical wall of the door and is secured along its lower edge to the top portion of the outer flange [6 of the lower frame housing by rivets 8. A T-shaped metal mounting plate 8 is arranged in the lower housing and its head portion is secured to the upper end of flange l6 by rivets 8. The leg portion of plate 9 extends adjacent cover plate l8, in spaced relation with flange l6, and the cover plate It is secured to flange I! and panel [9 by suitable means, such as welding.

2 U '1' The weight of the door normally causes the base wall; E of the lower housing to rest on. and frictionally engage track i2. "Manually; operable mechanism is associated with the door for lifting 5 .it above the track and for moving it along the track longitudinally of the car to cover or uncover the wall door opening.

"The lift structure is. mounted within the lower door base housing. and includes a shiftable T- 10 shaped bar 2%: providedwith endextensions each comprised of a pair of smaller spaced angle members or brackets 2! having a, horizontal arm secured torthe bar and a right-angularly upstanding arm- Lower rollers 22 are arranged between the .pairs ofv extensions and are provided with bearings 22 mounted on shafts 23 carriedby the outer, ends of the. horizontal arms, and upper camming rollers 26 are arranged between the pairs of extensions and are mounted onshafts 25carried bythe upperends of the vertical arms. The 7 lower housing base walli 5 is formedwith slots. 26 sothatrollers 22, which normally lie within the .base housing,.,can,be projected to-bcar on track l2; Bearing members 27 are secured by rivets 8 to panel 19 and each has a bottom flange formed with oppositely extending inclined angle bearing faces 28. Members 38 are secured by rivets 38 to flange I6 of the door base housing and are spaced to receive and guide the bar 20 adjacent its ends. The lift bar 20 is moved longitudinally in either direction by manually operable shift mechanism comprising hand lever fixed on a flat end 3| of shaft 32 from which arm 33 depends. This arm has an inturned lower end 34, or trunnion, pro- 35 jecting into central vertical slot 35 in the lift beam 20.

The weight of the door will normally cause the base wall it; to rest on the track and in such position of the door rollers it will lie in the apex of the camming faces 28 and rollers 22 will engage the track. As the hand lever 30 is shifted in either direction away from upright position, trunnion 34 will swing in an are against the adjacent bar wall and will shift the lift structure longitudinally in the door causing the lift structure rollers FM to ride longitudinally along inclined surfaces of members 21 and thereby cam the door upwardly. Due to the angularity of the bearing faces 28, rollers 24 will act uniformly on each end portion of the door when the lift structure is shifted longitudinally in either direction. While the door is lifted, it can be moved on rollers 22 along the track to desired position by manual pressure exerted against the lever 30.

The invention may be modified in various re- 3 spects as will occur to those skilled in the art and the exclusive use of all modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway box car having a door supporting track on one side wall beneath a door opening, the combination with a door having a nousing coextensive with the lower portion thereof formed with a bottom wall adapted to normally rest on the track and having slots therein, of a bar mounted within said door housing and shiftable longitudinally thereof, bearing members within the housing fixed to the door each having oppositely downwardly inclined cam faces, angle-shaped brackets fixed to the ends of said bar having horizontally extending arms and right-angularly upstanding arms, door supporting rollers carried by the horizontally extending arms of said brackets adapted to be projected through the slots in the bottom wall of said door housing to engage said track, camming rollers carried by the upstanding arms of said brackets normally engaging the apex of said camming faces of said bearing members, a rock shaft journalled in the door housing centrally above said longitudinally shiftable bar, said bar having a central vertical slot therein, an arm integral with and depending from said rock shaft, said arm being formed with an inwardly extending trunnion engaged in said vertical slot of the bar, and a hand lever fixed to said rock shaft and swingable in opposite directions to shift said bar longitudinally whereby said camming rollers will ride on said inclined cam faces of said bearing members to lift the door to a position in which it is supported on said track rollers engaging said track through the slots in the bottom wall of said door housing.

2. In a railway box car having a door supporting track on one side wall beneath a door opening, the combination with a door having a housing extending along the lower portion thereof formed with a bottom wall adapted to normal- 4 1y rest on the track and provided with slots therein, of a T-shaped bar located within the door housing and shiftable longitudinally thereof, bearing members secured within the housing on the door formed with inverted V-shaped camming faces, angle-shaped brackets fixed to the ends of said bar having horizontally extending arms and right-angularly extending upright arms, door,

supporting rollers carried by the horizontal arms of said brackets adapted to be projected through the slots in the bottom wall of said door housing to engage the track, angle plates fixed to the outer wall of said door housing and having depending spaced-apart guide portions between which said longitudinally shiftable T-shaped bar is arranged, camming rollers carried by the upright arms of said brackets normally engaging the apex of said camming faces on said bearing members, a shaft rotatably mounted in the door housing centrally above said bar, said bar being formed with a central vertical slot therein, an arm depending from said shaft formed with an inwardly extending trunnion engaged in the vertical slot of said bar, and a hand operating lever fixed to said shaft exteriorly of the door housing swingable in opposite directions to shift said bar longitudinally whereby to move said camming rollers in bearing engagement with said camming faces of the bearing members, said engagement of the camming rollers with the camming faces of the bearing members forcing said door supporting rollers through said slots of said door housing bottom wall into track engaging position to lift the door thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,720,898 Heinen et al July 16, 1929 2,047,421 Madland July 14, 1936 2,058,742 Tobin Oct. 27, 1936 2,090,189 Ditchfield Aug. 17, 1937 2,373,447 Beauchamp Apr. 10, 1945 2,494,467 Beauchamp Jan. 10, 1950