US2815721A

US2815721A - Drop bottom mine car

Info

Publication number: US2815721A
Application number: US235254A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert A Shields
Original assignee: American Car and Foundry Co
Current assignee: ACF Industries Inc
Priority date: 1951-07-05
Filing date: 1951-07-05
Publication date: 1957-12-10
Anticipated expiration: 1974-12-10

Description

Dec. 10, 1957 R. A. SHIELDS 2,315,731

DROP so'r rouiuma-cm' Y Filed Jul 5', 1951 fisncnwneep 1' Dec. 10, 1957 R. A. SHIELDS 2,315,721

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* Filed. July 5. 1951 w s Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 10, 1957 V R. A. l-nsLns DROP BOTTOM MINE CAR" Fina July 5. 1951 5 Sheets-Shyet 5 J I INVENTOR nited States Patent DROP BOTTOM MINE. CAR

Robert A. Shields,'Bloomsbui-g, Pa., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New York,'N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 5, 1951, Serial No. 235,254

Claims. (Cl. 105- 286) This invention relates to mine cars invgeneral and in particular to drop bottom mine cars of the automatically tripped type.

For a good many years-drop bottom mine-cars-have been built with the doors tripped by means of .arrns e-xtending to the side of the car. These arms are extremely vulnerable to damage from "striking a track side obstruction or by being run into the face in the mine. Also, the latch arms have been damagedbycoal loading machinery, which is now used extensively in substantially all mines. It is an object therefore of the presentxinvention toprovide door latch operating mechanism carried by the car in a position where it cannot be readily damaged.

A further object of theinvention is theprovisionof a drop bottom mine car having a latch operatorpart carried beneath 'the wingportions and fully protected by housings connected to the car. 7

A still further object of the inventionis :the provision of a drop bottom .mine car in which the latch control mechanism is protected, yetfully accessible forrcpair.

Another object of the invention istthe provision of latch controlling mechanism which can be, readily applied to existing cars with. anrninimumro'f modification and expense.

These and other objects. of. thertinvention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the 'artfromrastudyoffthe following description and accompanying. drawings, fin which Fig. l is an elevational view of substantially the rear half of the mine car;

Fig. 2 is an end view of slightly more than one-half the car;

*Fig. 3-is a bottom view of .theminecar; Fig. 4 is an end view similar to"Fig. 2, but showing 1 a "modification; and

Fig. '5 is-a'rside elevation similarntci-Fi'g. l, but showing "the construction of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawingswin'detailgitvwillibe seen that the mine caris supported onwheels W adapted to run on rails R. The wheels'through their axles (not 'shown) support angular-shapedside*sills 2" extending longitudinal of the car and having their ends connected by end sills 4. The side and end sills enclose a space adapted to be closed by drop bottom doors 6 pivotally carried by the car and adapted to swing downwardly between the rails to discharge the lading. As clearly shown, the side walls 8 extend outwardly and upwardly beyond the rails and terminate in a vertical portion 10. The side walls are connected at their ends by end walls 12, which are also connected to the end sills 4. Gussets 14 connect the side sills and the side wing or side Walls 8 to prevent distortion or sagging of the side walls.

The rearmost door 6 is provided with a latch tongue casting 16 adapted to be engaged by latch hook 18. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, this latch hook is pivoted, as at 20, to the car and is adapted to be moved out of engagement with the latch tongue to drop the door for ice discharge of lading. Pull rod 22 is connected to the latch hook and extends upwardly and outwardly for pivotal connection to the lower end of abell crank 24 pivoted to thelcar end .wall, as at26. The second arm 28 of the bell crank extends outwardly. and downwardly for pivotal connection to a push rod 30 extending downwardly through the side walls for connection to the rear end of a treadle 32. :The forward end of this treadle is pivoted, as'at 34,-.tothe car structure on'a substantially horizontal -axis,:thus permitting the treadle to move in a vertical direction. .Since the belIHcrank 28 is positioned within the.:c.ar.zat;the rear corner, a housing 36 is welded or otherwise secured to the end wall and side wall, As clearly shown in-Fig. 2, a Z bar-3,8 is welded or otherwise secured beneath the sidewall 8 and is positionedwitn-its web horizontal1 and the outerflange 40 directed vertically upward for attachment to the side ,wall. The, depending inner flange ;42 is preferably welded or other wise secured to the outer ends of gusset 14. This Z bar serves as a stiffener for the side wall outwardly oi the rails, .andtalso serves as a trackway for the tripping mechanism 'later to. be described. In order to protect the treadle 32-against damage :or accidental tripping, an-outer protecting plate 44- is welded or otherwise secured to the rear .end of the 2 bar, thus; placing the treadle in effect within a channel-shaped portion.

order to trip the latch through moving the treadle, specialtrackway equipment-generally indicated at T is provided. ,This tripping equipment generally consists of an .upwardly -open- U,-shaped"base housing 46 pivotally connected to the :track side structure, as at 48. The sides of the base member are, pierced to receive bolts or other means 50 extending. through slots of spaced side mem- 'bers: 52. The.s ide.,members .52 are joined together by .58, bearing ,on ,the base member and the webbingof-the ,top member,.constantly urge the,.roller upwardly-and in guided ,into contact with, treadle, 32. .thatflthe treadle 32, is vprotected against damage or accidental tripping,.rand connotbemoved exceptby a narrow jpos'it'ion rtoycontact and .roll.. .along .the horizontal web of. the 2 bar. The. springsare of .suflicient strength as to .foricefltreadle 32 upwardly, therebypulling the latch 18 outof engagement withdoor latchtongue 16.

From ,thepreceding it is seen .that the caris provided .with the outwardly;projecting .side wings or side walls .sti'lfened by. the longitudinally extendingZ bar. This 2 bar serves .notonlyas a. stifteningmember, but also asja ,tr ackwaylalong which rol-ler-56- may move and be 1 It will also be seen object projecting upwardly into the channel-like .endportion, ofthe stilfening member.

.Referringlnow to Figs. 4 .and 5,,wherein like reference nurnerals-havehecn applied to like par-ts, itwill be seen ,Jthatlthe latch 'hook 11'8 .is,connected to a latch arm n6ll pivoted, as at62, 'to the end wall and having an extension urged upwardly by spring 64, thus keeping the latch engaged with the door. The latch arm 60 which corresponds to the conventional latch arm of present cars has its end cut off adjacent the side of the car and is pivotally connected to the lower end of pull rod 66, the upper end of this rod being pivotally connected to inturned end 68 of a rock shaft 70, which corresponds in function to the pivot or rock shaft 26. As clearly shown, the rock shaft '70 extends longitudinally of the car and preferably to a point forward of one of the supporting wheels. Adjacent this wheel the rock shaft is provided with a downwardly directed crank end 72 adapted to bear upon a treadle 74. As clearly shown, this treadle is pivoted to the car, as at 76, and extends downwardly through a slot in the web 78 of a 2 bar shaped stiffener. This Z bar stilfener is 3 attached to the car beneath the side wing portions and may extend from end to end of the car but preferably spans the space between adjacent gusset 14, to which it is rigidly attached. A protecting plate 80 is welded or otherwise secured to the Z bar, thereby forming a housing and trackway protecting the treadle 72 and providing a guide surface along the tripping roller 56 which may move to release the door for opening. Upward movement of treadle 74 will cause a clockwise rotation of rock shaft 70, thereby lifting the outer end of latch arm 60 and releasing the door for dropping. From the preceding it will be seen that the stilfening member and trackway member, together with the rock shaft and connection 66, may be fabricated as a unit and applied to existing cars by merely cutting off the end of the latch arm and applying the stiflener and rock shaft members to the overhanging side walls of the car.

While the invention has been described more or less in detail with specific reference to the drawings, it will be obvious that various modifications and rearrangements of parts other than those shown and described may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wheel carried drop bottom mine car having side sill members between the wheels and lading retaining side walls projecting outwardly therefrom, gussets connected to said side sills and side walls, a Z bar side wall stiffener extending longitudinally of the car and secured to at least one of said side walls beneath the same and connected to at least two of said gussets, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch assembly carried by the car and including a part adjacent an end thereof mounted for movement relative to the car and normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position, said latch assembly also including an operator part carried by said Z bar adjacent the wheels on the same side of the car, and also means operatively connected to said first named part and operator part and movable to release the door for opening.

2. In a wheel carried drop bottom mine car having side sill members and lading retaining side walls projecting outwardly therefrom, gussets connected to said side sills and side walls, a longitudinally extending Z bar side wall stiffener secured to at least one of said side walls beneath the same and connected to at least two of said gussets, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch assembly carried by the car and including, a latch hook mounted adjacent the rear end of the car for movement relative to the car and normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position, a treadle pivotally mounted on said Z bar forwardly of a wheel on the same side of the car for vertical movement relative thereto, and means connecting said treadle and latch hook for joint operation.

3. In a wheel carried drop bottom mine car having side sill members and lading retaining side walls projecting outwardly therefrom, gussets connected to said side sills and side walls, a longitudinally extending Z bar side wall stiffener secured to at least one of said side walls beneath the same and connected to at least two of said gussets, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch assembly carried by the car and including, a latch hook mounted adjacent the rear end of the car for movement relative to the car and normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position, a treadle pivotally mounted on said 2 bar adjacent the wheels on that side of the car for vertical movement relative thereto, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the car adjacent said 2 bar and having bearing engagement on said treadle, and means connecting said latch hook and rock shaft.

4. In a wheel carried drop bottom mine car having side sill members and lading retaining side walls projecting outwardly therefrom, gussets connected to said side sills and side walls, a longitudinally extending Z bar side wall stiffener secured to at least one of said side walls beneath the same and connected to certain of said gussets, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch hook pivotally carried by the car and normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the car beneath one of said side walls and formed with cranked ends, means connecting one of said cranked ends to said latch hook, a treadle pivotally carried by said car beneath said one side wall for upward movement relative thereto and adapted to contact said other cranked end.

5. In a wheel carried drop bottom mine car having side sill members and lading retaining side walls projecting outwardly therefrom, gussets connected to said side sills and side walls, a longitudinally extending Z bar side wall stiffener secured to at least one of said side walls beneath the same and connected to certain of said gussets, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch hook pivotally carried by the car and normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the car beneath one of said side walls and formed with cranked ends, means connecting one of said cranked ends to said latch hook, a treadle pivotally carried by said car beneath said one side wall for upward movement relative thereto and adapted to contact said other cranked end, and a housing connected to and depending from said one side wall to protect said treadle from accidental movement, said housing acting as a guide for treadle moving means mounted independent of the car.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,370,998 Schroeder Mar. 6, 1945 2,451,406 Pancake Oct. 12, 1948 2,458,738 Sanford Jan. 11, 1949 2,548,395 Sanford Apr. 10, 1951 2,645,368 Sanford July 14, 1953 2,686,605 Kepner Aug. 17, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 192,964 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1923