US3082888A - Vehicular tippler - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1963 H. EICHLER 3,082,888

VEHICULAR TIPPLER Filed July 19, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 26, 1963 v H. EICHLER VEHICULAR TIPPLER Filed July 19, 1960 5 Sheets5heet 2 7 v r Herbe'r t Eichler INVENTOR.

March 26, 1963 H. EICHLER VEHICULAR TIPPLER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 19. 1960 March 26, 1963 "H. EICHLER VEHICULAR TIPPLER 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 19. 1960 INVENTOR: Herberr Eichler March 26, 1963 H. EICHLER VEHICULAR TIPPLER 5 Sheets-Sheet s MMHH INVENTOR.

Herbert Eichler Filed July 19, 1960 United States Patent "ice 3,982,888 VEIHCULAR TLPPLER Herbert Eichler, Leipzig, Germany, assignor to VEB Schwermaschinenhan S. M. Kirow, Leipzig, Germany, a corporation of Germany Filed July 19, 1960, Ser. No. 43,776

13 (Ilaims. (Q1. 214-55) My present invention relates to dumpers, such as rotary tipplers and side dumpers, for freight vehicles such as open-top railroad cars.

In railroad-car tipplers employed heretofore, an opentop car (e.g. coal, ore, mine or hopper car) was seized between two movable walls which were urged against the sides of the car by hydraulic pistons. When the tippler was rotated the entire weight of the car and its contents rested on one of the movable walls, thereby transmitting an increase in pressure throughout the hydraulic system.

' The components of the hydraulic system had to be designed to withstand the increase in pressure and, therefore, were relatively expensive, while the walls could be safely used only with straight-walled cars.

Other rotary tipplers and side-dumping devices made use of jaw clamps and similar locking members to secure the cars while they were tilted to one side or rotated for emptying. The clamps and locking members were usually complex and costly to maintain and, frequently, were not adaptable to outsized railroad cars.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved railroad-car tippler adapted to dump open-top cars of virtually any size or shape.

It is another object of my invention to provide a rotary tippler for railroad cars which is adapted to operate at relatively high speeds with a minimum of maintenance.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved automatic control system for a railroad-car dumper.

According to a feature of the invention, a railroad-car tippler or dumper comprises a movable tiltable unit, generally in the shape of a cage, including a platform provided with track-s alignable with the tracks of a siding or the like and adapted to carry the open-top car. The platform is displaceable along the bottom of the cage in a direction transverse to the rails whereby one of the longitudinal sides of the car carried thereon may be brought into contact with a first wall rigid with the cage while 'a second 'wall, opposite the first wall and transversely movable with respect thereto, is brought into contact with the other longitudinal side of the car. This unit is then rotated about a horizontal axis so that the weight of the car and its contents rests on its fixed wall which may be suitably reinforced to carry the load.

According to another feature of the present invention, I provide each of the walls with clamping members which are displaceable thereon into engagement with the upper edges of the car whereby the latter may be secured as the tippler rotates through car-tilting angles in excess of 90. The tippler may accommodate cars of any width between its movable wall and its fixed wall, and of any height between the platform and the clamping members. The latter may be elongated bars which are maintained parallel to the edges of the car as they are displaced into engagement therewith. V

A more specific feature of the invention resides inthe provision of hydraulic working cylinders, fed by one or more motor-driven fluid-pressure pumps, for the purpose of displacing the tiltable unit as a whole, its movable wall and the clamping members ill-response to the se quential actuation of regulating valves which may be operated manually or by automatic valve-control apparatus preferably including follower means responsive 3,982,888 Patented Mar. 26, 1963 to the motion of the angular portion of the tippler. Conversely, the tilting mechanism may be so interlocked with the clamping means as to prevent any rotation of the tippler beyond a safe angle of tilt until the car is secured.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of my present invention will become more readily apparent from the following specific description of a rotary tippler, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top-plan view of the tippler;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IH-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4'is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the car thereof engaged by the walls and clamping members of the tippler;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a hydraulic control system for the tippler; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an electrical actuating circuit for the control system of FIG. 5.

In FIGS. 14 I show a rotary tippler 4t) positioned in a pit 260' along a line of railway track 42 whereby an open-top railway car may enter and leave the tippler 40. A car of this type is shown in cross-section at 1 in FIGS. 3 and 4. The tippler 49' comprises a cage 41 consisting essentially of a base 55, inverted L-shaped uprights 41a, U-shaped upright 41b, a ring 43 at its entrance and a ring 45 at its exit end. Ring 43 is circumferentially supported and rotatably displaceable, along with the rest of cage 41, on a plurality of rollers 44, journaled in a support structure 46 below ground level, which engage the ring 43 along its periphery. Similarly, ring 45 is supported by rollers 47 which are journaled in a support structure 4-8. A ring gear 49 is secured to the ring 45 and is in mesh with the pinion gear 50 of a drive motor 51, adapted to rotate the tippler reversibly from its normal upright position to its dump position. A pair of longitudinal girders 41c, 41c interconnect the rings 43, 45 and the uprights 41a, 41!).

A car platform .3, in cage 4-1, is provided with a pair of rails 2 which are aligned with the external rails 42 when the tippler is in its untilted position; this platform is displaceable in a direction transverse to the axis of the tippler upon a pair of rollers 54 journaled in the base 55 'of the cage 41. Only the topmost portion of each roller 54 protrudes through the floor 5160f the base 55 to engage the bottom of platform 3. A hydraulic cylinder 7 is secured to the base 55 at 57 and has a piston 7a which is aifixed to the platform 3 whereby the latter may be displaced so that the car 1, carried on the platform 3, may be drawn against a wall 8 which is rigid with the base 55 and thus forms an integral part of the cage 41, and is constituted by the vertical positions of the uprights 41a, 41b and a lattice of longitudinal bars 8:: and 8b (best seen in FIG. 2).

. Opposite the fixed wall 8, on the other side of platform 3, I provide a movable wall consisting of two longitudinally spaced sections 11 each comprising a central external flange 59 and a pair of slotted uprights 63 rising from a horizontal beam 62. A pair of link bars 10 are provided on each side of each flange 59,.the bars 10 being individually pivoted thereto at 60. The other extremity of each bar 10 is pivoted at 61 to one of two extensions 55a of base 55, thereby forming a parallelogrammatic linkage between the movable wall sections 11 and the base which maintains these sections parallel to the opposing wall 8 as the sections are displaced toward car 1 which is positioned on platform 3 between the movable and stationary walls of cage 41. Two hydraulic cylinders 9, rigidly secured to the base portions 55a, have 3 pistons 9a (FIG. which bear upon their respective wall sections 11 in order to displace them parallel to themselves. Pistons 9a are secured to the flanges 59 via respective ball joints.

A clamping member in the form of a bar 14 is carried by two longitudinally spaced brackets 13 which are guided in the slots 68 before the respective uprights 63 for each wall section 11. The brackets 13 are pivoted to respective lever arms64 at one extremity thereof. Hydraulic cylinders '12, hingedly connected to the beam 62, have pistons 12a which are pivoted to the other extremities of the two levers 64 of each section 11. Each lever 64 is articulated at a point 66, intermediate its extremities, to a link 67 which is also hingedly connected to the beam 62 whereby the simultaneous advance of the pistons 12a will lower the clamping bar 14 while maintaining it parallel to the edge of the car 1.

A similar pair of clamping bars 14' are vertically displaceable along the stationary wall 8. Their brackets 13' are guided'in the-slotted uprights 41a of the stationary wall while their hydraulic cylinders 12' and their links 67 are hingedly connected to the base 55. The pistons 12a of cylinders 12 bear upon levers 64 which are articulated to links 67 so that the bars 14' operate analogously to the bars .14.

system ltil, will make one complete revolution for each forward and return stroke of the tippler 40.

In operation, switch 102, which may be operated manually when a laden open-top car 1 has entered the tippler 40 or which may be tripped by the car itself, is closed, thus completing a circuit through the coil of a relay 103 to close the switches 163a, 1031;, 1030 of that relay. Switch 103a closes a circuit which includes an A.-C. source 121 to activate the leader-follower synch'ro network 97 and 98 while switch 10311 activates the motor 70 which drives the hydraulic pump 71 and switch 1030 closes a circuit through switch 104a, operated by cam disc 100e, to the motor 51 which drives the tippler. Switch 162 must be held closed for a period sufficient to permit the rotation of the tippler and the simultaneous displacement of the cam shaft whereby cam disc 1001) may close a switch 10711 which establishes a circuit through a holding coil 109 to maintain the switch 102 in its closed position until. the completion of the tippler cycle. The circuit of motor 51 also includes the normally closed switch 122a of a time-delay relay 122, whose coil is energized via the series-connected, normally closed contact switches 'The tippler-control system shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 7 comprises a gear-type pressure pump 71, driven by an electric motor 70, which siphons fluid from a reservoir 72 and feeds a control valve 75 whose shiftable piston is connected to a solenoid 75a, adapted toactuate the valve. A pressure-regulating safety valve 73 is connected between the outlet of pump 71 and a return transmission tube 74 which empties into the reservoir 72. The valve 75' acts as a terminusfor a high-pressure transmission line 81 which is provided with a check valve 82'to prevent reverse flow, and for a fluid conduit 83 which terminates in a valve 76; the latter valve, having an actuating solenoid 76a, serves to distribute the fluid from this conduit to two outlet tubes 84 and 85. Another conduit 86 connects the valve 76 with the return tube 74. The highpressure line 81 feeds two identical valves 77 and 77' which are actuated by solenoids 77a and 77a respectively. Each valve 77, 77- is the terminus for a respective tube 89, 89' which may be selectively connected with its highpressure inlet 87, 87' or with a return tube 88, 88' connected with the return tube 74. Tube 89 feeds the hydraulic cylinders 12 behind their pistons 12a via shut-ofi valves 16 whereas tube 89' feeds the cylinders 12' behind.

their pistons 12a via shut-off valves 16'. The cylinders 12 and 1?. are provided with return- flow tubes 91, 91

and regulatable check valves 92, 92 respectively, along 7 these tubes.

The tube 84 is connected to. the cylinder 9 behind its.

piston 9a and tothe cylinder 7 in front of its piston 7a while the tube 85 is connected to the cylinder 9 viara regulatable check valve 93 and a throttle valve 94 in front of the piston 9a .and to the cylinder 7 rearwardly of its piston 7a via a regulating check valve 95.

The electrical control system for the tippler (FIG. 6) comprises a programming mechanism in the form of a sequence switch 100 whose cam discs 100a, with, 100g,

190d and 100s actuate associated switch members .to open and'close circuits through the solenoids from a battery 96. The cam shaft is rotated by a follower synchro 97 which is coupled with a leader synchro 98 ofla type well ;known per se. The shaft of theleader synchro is rotated 'unidirectionally by the reciprocatingmotion of the tippler 40 which makes a 180 revolution on its axis and then returns inthe opposite direction. The unidirectional mo-.

tion is accomplished via two pawls 99a, 99b, coupled to the ring gear 49 by a step-down transmission system 99,

' positions.

each of which engages a respectivetoothedwheel 161a,

1011) during each half of thereciprocating cycle of the tippler whereby the cam shaft'of synchro 9:7, geared to theishaft of wheels 101a, 101li'via a step-up transmission 120, 12% carried by the clamping bars 14, 14, respectively. A cycle-cut-off switch 130 is in series with coil 10-9.

Concurrently with the actuation of motor 51, hydraulic fluid under pressure from pump 71 flows via valve through conduit 33 to the valve 76 whence it is transmitted to the hydraulic cylinders 7 and 9 by way of tube 84. A fluid-return path from these cylinders to the reservoir '72 is established by way of conduit 85, valve 76 and tube 86. The platform 3 carrying the car 1 is thus displaced until a side of the car encounters the fixed wall 8 and the movable wall sections 11 are displaced until they abut the other longitudinal side of the car. After sufficient time to insure the clamping of the car 1 between the movable and the stationary wall, cam disc 100a closes a switch 108 which energizes solenoid 75a to pressurize the fiuid-transmission line 81 while cam disc 10% closes a switch 14%6'11 to complete a circuit through one winding of solenoid 76a, thus blocking the tubes 84'and which terminate in valve 76 to lock the pistons 9d and 7a. At the same time, cam 'disc 163a closes switch 1 5a to energize the solenoids 77a, 77a which thereupon permits a pressurized flow of fluid through the valves 77, 77' to the cylinders 12, '12, while fluid flows from the cylinders to the reservoir 72 via tubes 91, 91' and 88, 88 so that the clamping bars 14, 14. are brought into engagement with the upper edge ofthe car 1. In series with solenoids 77a, 770', however, I provide a pair of switches 1-10, 110' which are respectively carried by the movable wall 11 and the stationary wall 8 and which close only when both walls engage the car so that the clamping bars 14, 14' are operative only when the two walls contact the'car. A

When cylinders 12, 12 are pressurized via tubesS9, 89', the check valves 92 and 92' block the tubes 91 and 91', respectively. The valves 92 and 92' also operate to permit only a limited flow of fluid under pressure to the forward chambers 12b, 12b of cylinders 12, 12' when the bars 14, 14 are to be raised from their clamping Thechambers 12b, 12!)" contain respective air spaces which are compressed by t'heaforward motion of the pistons 12a, 12a as-the clamping bars 14, 14' are lowered and which expand when the tubes 89, 89' are connected with the return tubes 88, 88 via the valves 77, 77'; When the cage'41 is rotated through an angle in excess of the undercarriage springs of car 1, previously compressed under the weight of its load, urge the walls of the car against the clamping bars 1-4, 14;, thereby compressing further the air contained in the chambers 12b, 12b' of clamping cylinders 12, 12. The air spaces thus permit at least partial relaxation of the undercarriage springs while the load is being dumped and, there 122a in order to halt the motor 51 and to cease the tippler cycle if, after a period sufficient to insure the engagement of the car by clamping bars 14, 14', the contact switches 120, 120, carried by these bars, are not open-circuited by contact with the top edge of the car 1.

Rotation of the tippler 40 and the cam shaft of the sequence switch 100 continues until cam disc 100*e opens switch 104a and closes switch 104b to reverse the motor; the continued rotation of the cam shaft during the return stroke of the motor 51 effects the opening of switch 105a and the closing of a switch 105!) to reverse the action of cylinders 12, 12'. Subsequently, the switch 1062: is closed to reverse the action of cylinders 7 and 9 and to restore the tippler to its normal position whereby the rails 42 and 2 are once more aligned so that the empty car 1 may be rolled out of the pit 200.

I also provide a valve 111 which is operated by a solenoid-111a whose energizing switch 107b is closed by cam disc 100b, after the movable wall and the stationary wall are embracing the car, to permit a flow of fluid under pressure via a regulating valve 112 to controlled throttle valves 16, 16'. The speed of the clamping bars 14, 14' may then be regulated by adjusting valve 112. The throttle valve 94 is actuated to block flow through the tube 85 from the cylinder 9, when the movable wall section 11 engages the car, by the rise in pressure behind the immobilized piston 9a. The adjustable valves 92, 92' serve to damp the displacement of platform 3 while the tippler is returning to its starting position.

Preferably, the sequence switch coupled by the leaderfollower synchros "9-7 and 98 to the motion of the tippler 40 should be so designed that the motion of the movable wall sections 11 and the platform 3, in a direction transverse to the axis of the tippler, should cease when the tippler has been inclined at an angle of about 8 to the vertical from its rest position and that the downward movement of the clamping bars 14, 14' to engage the edges of the car should be completed when the tippler has reached an inclination of 60-". In FIG. 4 I show the tippler after a clockwise rotation to an inclination of 60. The tippler proceeds through a full 180, to discharge the contents of the car 1, and then rotates in the counterclockwise direction until it reaches an inclination of 70 to the vertical whereupon the tubes 89, 89' of the cylinders 12, 12' are communicated with the reservoir to permit the expansion of the air cushions within these cylinders against the pistons 12a, 12a, thereby withdrawing the clamping bars 14, 14' from engagement with the car.

It will be readily apparent that means (e.g. hand-operated switches) may be provided in place of or in addition to the automatic sequence switch so that the tippler may be operated in the event of failure of the control system or whenever a different sequence of operations is desired. The control system shown may be extended to any number of parallel installations for dumping railroad cars.

The invention described and illustrated may be readily modified in ways which will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art and which are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention, except as further limited .by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A vehicular tippler comprising a frame rotatable about a longitudinally extending horizontal axis, a first longitudinal wall rigid with said frame, a second longitudinal wall on said frame transversely spaced from said first wall and movable relatively thereto, a platform displaceably carried on said frame between said walls, said platform being provided with vehicle-supporting means, first operating means for transversely displacing said platform on said frame toward said first wall until a vehicle carried thereon abuts said first wal-l, second operating means for transversely displacing said second wall toward 6 said first wall until said second wall abuts said vehicle, thereby bracketing the latter between said walls, clamping means on said walls displaceable thereon for engaging the vehicle so bracketed from above, third operating means for lowering said clamping means into engagement with said vehicle, and fourth operating means for so rotating said frame with the vehicle thus bracketed and engaged that said vehicle comes to lie on said first wall.

2. A railroad-car tippler comprising a frame rotatable about a longitudinally extending horizontal axis, a first longitudinal wall rigid with said frame, a second longitudinal wall on said frame transversely spaced from said first wall and movable relatively thereto, a platform displaceably carried on said frame between said walls, said platform being provided with longitudinally extending rails for supporting a railroad car thereon, first operating means for transversely displacing said platform on said frame toward said first wall until a railroad car carried thereon abuts said first wall, second operating means for transversely displacing said second wall toward said first Wall pntil said second wall abuts said railroad car, thereby bracketing the latter between said walls, clamping means on said walls displaceable thereon for engaging the railroad car so bracketed from above, third operating means for lowering said clamping means into engagement with said railroad car, and fourth operating means for so-rotating said frame with the railroad car thus bracketed and engaged that said railroad car comes to lie on said first wall.

3. A vehicular tippler comprising a frame rotatable about a longitudinally extending horizontal axis, a first longitudinal wall rigid with said frame, a second longitudinal wall on said frame transversely spaced from said first wall and movable relatively thereto, a platform displaceably carried on said frame between said walls, said platform being provided with vehicle-supporting means, first hydraulic means for transversely displacing said platform on said frame toward said first wall until a vehicle carried thereon abuts said first wall, second hydraulic means for transversely displacing said second wall toward said first wall until said second wall abuts said vehicle, thereby bracketing the latter between said walls, clamping means on said walls displaceable thereon for engaging the vehicle so bracketed from above, third hydraulic means for lowering said clamping means into engagement with said vehicle, and means for so rotating said frame with the vehicle thus bracketed and engaged that said vehicle comes to lie on said first wall.

4. A railroad-car tippler comprising a frame rotatable about a longitudinally extending horizontal axis, a first longitudinal wall rigid with said frame, a second longitudinal wallon said frame transversely spaced from said first wall and movable relatively thereto, a platform displaceably carried on said frame between said walls, said platform being provided with longitudinally extending rails for supporting a railroad car thereon, first hydraulic means for transversely displacing said platform on said frame toward said first Wall until a railroad car carried thereon abuts said first wall, second hydraulic means for transversely displacing said second wall toward said first wall until said second wall abuts said railroad car, thereby bracketing the latter between said walls, clamping means on saidwalls displaceable thereon for engaging the railroad car so bracketed from above, third hydraulic means for lowering said clamping means into engagement with said railroad car, and means for so rotating said frame with the railroad car thus bracketed and engagled that said railroad car comes to lie on said first wa 5. A tippler according to claim 4 wherein said third hydraulic means comprises a cylinder with an air cushion enabling limited yielding of said clamping means in response to supporting-spring pressure tending to move the tilted railroad car away from said platform.

6. -A tippler according to claim 4, further comprising check means for correlating the operation of all of said hydraulic means and inactivating any subsequently operable hydraulic means pending completion of operation by a previously operable hydraulic means.

7. A tippler according to claim 6 wherein said check means comprises contact switches on said walls actuatable by said railroad car.

8. A tippler according to claim 6 wherein said check means comprises switch means on said clamping means engageable by said railroad car. 9. A tippler according to claim 4, further comprising flow-control means for said first, second and third hydraulic means adapted to retard the motions of said platform, said second wall-and said clamping means.

It A tippler according to claim 4, further comprising valve means for blocking said first, second and third hydraulic means in their operated positions.

11.' A tippler according to claim 4, further comprising program means establishing a sequence of operation for all of said hydraulic means, and check means for inactivating said program means upon improper operation of any of said hydraulic'means.

12; A tippler according to claim 4 wherein said clamping means comprises a horizontal bar on each of said walls, said walls being provided'with slots transverse to said bar, levers positioned externally of said Walls and connected with said third hydraulic means, and joint means linking said levers with said'bar, said joint means passingthrough said slots.

13. A tippler according to claim 4 wherein said second wall is provided with a parallelogrammatic linkage coupled with said second hydraulic means for maintaining parallelism between said walls during displacement of said second wall. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 758,191 Robertson Apr. 26, 1904 2,634,005 Criner et a1. Apr. 7, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,048,227 Germany Dec. 31, 1958

Claims (1)

1. A VEHICULAR TIPPLER COMPRISING A FRAME ROTATABLE ABOUT A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING HORIZONTAL AXIS, A FIRST LONGITUDINAL WALL RIGID WITH SAID FRAME, A SECOND LONGITUDINAL WALL ON SAID FRAME TRANSVERSELY SPACED FROM SAID FIRST WALL AND MOVABLE RELATIVELY THERETO, A PLATFORM DISPLACEABLY CARRIED ON SAID FRAME BETWEEN SAID WALLS, SAID PLATFORM BEING PROVIDED WITH VEHICLE-SUPPORTING MEANS, FIRST OPERATING MEANS FOR TRANSVERSELY DISPLACING SAID PLATFORM ON SAID FRAME TOWARD SAID FIRST WALL UNTIL A VEHICLE CARRIED THEREON ABUTS SAID FIRST WALL, SECOND OPERATING MEANS FOR TRANSVERSELY DISPLACING SAID SECOND WALL TOWARD SAID FIRST WALL UNTIL SAID SECOND WALL ABUTS SAID VEHICLE, THEREBY BRACKETING THE LATTER BETWEEN SAID WALLS, CLAMPING MEANS ON SAID WALLS DISPLACEABLE THEREON FOR ENGAGING THE VEHICLE SO BRACKETED FROM ABOVE, THIRD OPERATING MEANS FOR LOWERING SAID CLAMPING MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID VEHICLE, AND FOURTH OPERATING MEANS FOR SO ROTATING SAID FRAME WITH THE VEHICLE THUS BRACKETED AND ENGAGED THAT SAID VEHICLE COMES TO LIE ON SAID FIRST WALL.

Images