US3041099A - Locking means for car roof hatch covers - Google Patents

Description

June 26, 1962 F. G. STEWART E'l 'AL 3,041,099

LOCKING MEANS FOR CAR ROOF HATCH COVERS Filed June 14, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 22.1mm; I

REDERICK G. STEWART MORR 1s WARSHAL June 26, 19.62 F. G. STEWART ETAL 7 3,041,099

LOCKING MEANS FOR CAR ROOF HATCH COVERS Filed June 14, 1960 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

MORRIS WARSHAL ATTORNEY United States Patent I 3,041,099 LOCKING MEANS FOR CAR ROOF HATCH COVERS Frederick G. Stewart, Washington, D.C., and Morris Warslral, Woodbridge, N.J., assignors to Magor Car Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 14, 1960, Ser. No. 35,982 2 Claims. (Cl. 292259) This invention relates to means for locking car roof hatch covers.

One object of the invention is to provide a two-stage locking arrangement for hatch covers for added security and safety of operation.

A more specific object of the invention is to prevent a sudden and uncontrolled opening of the .hatch cover upon release of the primary locking means.

Another object of the invention is to provide secondary locking means which also serves as a safety catch device and automatically is self-positioning during the locking of the hatch cover.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view partly broken away showing the roof of a railway car with a plurality of batch covers installed therein.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of one of the hatch covers shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing the safety catch in its operative position after initial release of the latch bar.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing the hatch cover in its closed position with the latch bar depressed and the safety catch in inoperative position.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View showing the latch bar released so as to permit opening of the hatch cover.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, R designates a railway car roof having a plurality of hatches H there- The hatches and the related locking mechanism are all similar in construction, hence only one of them will be described. Each hatch comprises a frame F designed to fit around an opening in the car roof R as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. The frame F includes an annular flange 1 having hinge butts 2 and 3 located on opposite sides thereof. A resilient strap 4 is pivotally mounted at one of its ends in the hinge butts 2 and is secured substantially medially thereof to the top surface of a hatch cover 5. The free end of the strap 4 is bent downwardly and outwardly to form a tongue 6 which is disposed adjacent the hinge butts 3 when the cover is in closed position.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 4, 5, and 6, a latch bar or lever 7 is provided with a handle 7a at one end and at its opposite end is pivotally mounted in the hinge butts 3. When cover 5 is to be locked in a closed position, lever 7 is moved downwardly across tongue 6 into a bifurcated keeper member 8 on frame F. The keeper member 8 includes a pair of parallel, spaced apart, vertically disposed arms 8a and 812, both of which are provided with aligned openings, 9, 9a in their upper portions. The lower portion of arm 8b is provided with a projection or toe 10 having an opening 10a therein. A bolt 11 of substantially J-shape has its longer leg 11a slidably fitted within the opening 10a and is prevented from being completely removed therefrom by means of a cotter pin 12. The shorter leg 11b of bolt 11 is adapted to pass through the openings 9, 9a in arms 8a and 8b to lock the lever 7 when it is in its downward or closed position.

The construction thus far described is suflicient to initially lock the hatch cover in position and serves as the primary locking means. Nevertheless, in actual practice when the leg 11b of bolt 11 is removed from its locked position in arm 8b, the lever 7 and cover 5 have a tendency to swing upwardly with considerable momentum, thus creating a hazard which might result in injury to the workman or possible damage to the car roof. This sudden acceleration of the hatch cover and lever is due to large deflections and built up potential energy in the hatch lock components, particularly when the latter are made of aluminum alloys, although a somewhat similar condition may also occur when other materials such as steel or plastics are used.

In order to overcome this problem a secondary locking means in the form of a safety catch 13 is pivotally secured at its upper end to the lever 7 by means of a pin 14. The catch .13 comprises a shank 15 having a hook 16 at its lower or free end. The tendency of the catch to swing counterclockwise as when bar 7 is being elevated or lowered is limited by means of a stop or lug 17 secured to the side of the lever 7 adjacent the shank 15 of the safety catch. Thus the catch 13 is so disposed that it is self-positioning in the locking cycle as will hereinafter appear.

When it is desired to lock the hatch cover in closed position, said cover is moved downwardly over the hatch opening so that the tongue 6 of strap '4 lies between the hinge butt 3 and the keeper 8. With the bolt 11 in its outward position as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2, the lever 7 is moved downwardly into engagement with tongue 6 of strap 4. As the lever 7 is depressed against the spn'ng resistance of the strap 4 the book 16 of safety catch 13 is held in position by lug 17 so that it will engage and slide down the inclined surface of member 8b until it passes the toe 10 thereof at which point it will swing by gravity in a counter-clockwise direction to a position beneath and slightly spaced from the toe 10. The bolt 11 is then moved inwardly so that the short leg 11b thereof will bridge the space between members 8a and 8b and, by hearing against the upper edge of lever 7, will retain it in its downward locked position.

When it is desired to unlock the hatch cover the workman drives the bolt 11 outwardly with a maul or hammer so that the leg 11b of the bolt will be moved away from the upper edge of lever 7. Due to the inherent resiliency of the strap 4, the built up energy therein as well as in the lever 7, will cause both to have a tendency to spring upwardly when the bolt 11 is removed. However, such upward movement will be restricted when hook 16 of the safety catch 13 grips the protruding toe portion 10 of member 8b. Thus, the initial stored up energy in the hatch lock components is substantially dissipated, thereby eliminating the hazards previously mentioned. By the operator pressing downwardly on the handle 7a of the lever 7 with one hand and moving the safety catch 13 in a clockwise direction with his other hand, the lever 7 may be safely moved away from tongue 6 so that the hatch cover 5 may be opened.

While we have disclosed our invention in accordance with certain specific structural embodiments thereof, such is to be considered as illustrative only, and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A hatch construction comprising in combination a frame having an opening therein, a cover for closing said opening, a strap pivotally mounted at one end on said frame and secured to said cover substantially medially thereof, the free end of said strap forming a tongue, a lever pivotally mounted on said frame and engageable with said tongue, keeper means mounted on said frame to receive said lever, said keeper means comprising a pair of spaced apart vertically disposed arms, each of said arms having an aligned opening adjacent its top edge, a toe portion extending downwardly and outwardly from one of said arms and having an opening therein, lever engaging means associated with said keeper means to retain said lever in locked position against said tongue, said lever engaging means comprising a bolt having a long leg, a short leg and a web portion therebetween, the legs of said bolt slidably disposed in said keeper means, safety catch means pivotally secured to said lever and engageable with said keeper means to prevent sudden acceleration of said lever and said hatch cover upon the unlocking of said lever, said safety catch means com- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,302,957 Rhodes Nov. 24, 1952 2,735,709 Thompson Feb. 21, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 552,822 Canada Feb. 4, 1958

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