US354973A - Adjustable attachment for freight-car doors - Google Patents

Description

v 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. H. DUZAN.

I ADJUSTABLB ATTAGHMBNT FOR FREIGHT CAR DOORS. No. 854,978.

(No Model.)

Patented'Deo. 28,'1886.

Illll I JYII. Il

III' 711 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I L I I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented Dec. 28, 1886,

(No Model.)

` T. lH.v DUZAN. ADJUSTABLB ATTAGHMBNT POR FREIGH-T CAR DO0RS. No. 354,973.

8511W, WWW

(No Model.) i v 5 Sheefis-'Shee't 4.

T. H. DZAN.

ADJUST'ABLE ATTAGHMBNT FOR FREIGHT CAR' DOORS MM,M4

Patn ted' Dec. 28 1886.

Cl. C. Ybwfimm,

5` Sheets-Sheet '5.

(No Model.)

T.H.-DUZAN.

.- w ADJUSTEBLE ATTAGHMENT FORFREIGHT CAR DOORS.

Paten'ed D60. 28, 1886.

Z f .ww7/ F C MLM' UNITED; STATES ATENT rriCEe THOMAS H. DUZAN, OF BALESTINE, TEXAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,973, dated December 28,1886. Appliration filed August 3, 1886 Serial No. 209,899. (No model.)

To all wwm it may concern:

Be itl known that I, THOMAS H. DUZAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Palestine, in the county of Anderson and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Attachments for Freight Car Doors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exaet deto make and use the same.

'adapted to the movement of the door.

scription of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains The object of this improvement is an adjustable attachmeut for freight-car doors, for pre- Venting sparks and other objectionable matter from getting into the cars, and means for Operating` the attachment that is adapted for use in securing the'door in different positious of adjustment, and for connection with the body of the car by means of aseal-support, in order that the fiXed adjustment of the door cannot be changed without breaking-the seal. These results are attainable by the mechanism illustrated in the drawiugs, herewith filed as part hereof, in which the same letters of reference denote the same parts in the different Views.

Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation of a freight-car and door provided with attachments embodying the features of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a transverse Vertical section of the same, taken on the line x x of Fig. 1, and representing the parts adj usted for preventing sparks or other obj ectionable matter from getting into the cars. Fig'. 3 is atransverse Vertical sectioual representation of a freight-car, taken on the same line as Fig. 2, and showing the parts in an adjusted position, Fig. 4 is a seotional side elevation of a freight-car provided with niy improvement, and representingthe door adj usted to and secured in a position for ventilat-ing the car and, contents' thereof. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of a freight-car provided with my improved attachment in a modified form, adapted to the cars in present use. Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional detail representations, more fully illustratiug the construetion'and relation of some of the parts. Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 are sectional detiil representations more fully illustrating the relation of the parts shown therein.

A is the body of the car..

B is the car door, suspended from the side of the car by means of ordinary hangers, B' B', and slide O.

O' C2 represent ordinary attachments to the lower part of the car-door and body of the car adjacent thereto, for securing the position of the door, independently of my improved attachment.

D is a cleat movably seeured to the car-door, and connected with and adaptcd to be adj usted by an operating-handle, in a manner hereinafter fully explained.

D' D' represent bifurcated eye-plates, provided with conntersunk perforations, for the reception of corresponding bolts or rivets, (Z,

for connecting the plates to the cleat in a secure mauner by the application of nuts 01' washers, and suitabl y clinching the same at the inside of either the cleat or bolt, as' ;may be deemed advisable.

E E are studs secu red to the car-door B by bolts or rivets d, snbstantially in the ulanner above set forth, for the plates fixed to the cleat D.

E' El are link-plates suitably connected to the eye-plates D' and studs E E, as shown at ff', for equalizing the motion of the cleat D. i

F is an eccentrically-formed casting fixed to the cleat D by bolts or rivets f2 in the same manner as the eye-plates D', aud provided with a corresponding slot. (Fully shown lat f in Fig'. 3.)

F' is a stud fiXed to the car-door B by bolts or rivels (Pin the same manner as the studs E E.

G is a lever or-operating-handle pivoted to the stud F', as shown at g, adj acent to which it is provided with a rectangular extension (more fully shown in Fig. 10) for connecting the handle G with the eccentric frame F by means of a pin or wrist, G', set iu atransverse perforatiou of and suitably secured to the lever-extension through the slot in the frame F. The outer end of the lever G is provided with a transversely-slotted bifurcated inward eX- tension, (also fully shown iu Fig. 10,) and adapted to fit over eyes or staples h h', suitably secured to the car-sill, and be connected thereto by a hook, H, inserted through the transverse slots in the lever-extension and through the staples or eyes h h'.

Fixed to the inside of the cleat D, as show-n IOO in Fig. 3, is a metal plate, D2, having an integral V-shaped or half-round projection, dt, which, when the cleat is adjusted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, enters corresponding grooves at a' a'2 in thecar-wall and prevents the longitudinal movement of the door. The side of the cleat D next to the car-wall is cut away at a slight inclination in a manner to cause the same to lean toward and bear against the edge of the door when the cleat is `moved against .the car-wall by the operation of the lever G,

and a joint-ure is thus attained that Will effectually exclude the admission of sparks or ot-her matter into the car.

My improv'ement may be adapted to the cars in present use by the modification shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7,in which the car-wall isprovided with half-round plates at K K', appropriately fixed thcreto, and the cleat D is provided with a groove, d, for receiving the same when the parts are adjusted, as shown in Figs. 2, 4, 5. The car-wall should also be provided with a series of half-inch washers, or a plate of the same thickness adjacent to the slide O, as shown at 03, and also a washer', e13, of similar thickness, adjacent to the end and lower edge of the door between the end of the latter and the plate K', in order to cause the door to clear the similar plate, K, when adjusted, as occasion may require.

Bolted to the car-sill from theinside thereof and adjacent to the plate K' is an additional eye or staple, h', in position to be connected with the Operating-handle G by the hook H, which is provided with slots ht, (fully shown in Fig.9,) for the insertion of Wire or tin strips for the application of a seal, H'.

To prevent loss the hook I-I should be connected by means of a chain (not shown) to the handle G, or to the car door or wall, in a position adapted to its application, as shown, for

`connecting the handle G with either of the staples h h'.

The cleat D may be raised and lowered by the handle G and the car-door adjnsted either way, and by reason of the stapleh' and groove a* the V-shaped projection of the cleat-plate inserted into the groove a, and the car-door thus be conveniently secured ina partly-open position. This is often necessary to give ventilation to meat, vegetables, and other matter frequently shipped in box-cars, and with cars having doors of ordinary construction the doors are seeured in partly-open positions by means of strips nailed to the car-wall behind the door, and pieces from the door to the casing, to prevent the door from changing its position. I w

All cars loaded with cotton, hay, or other combustible material reqnire the car-walls to be provided with a cleat behind and immediately adjacent to the door, from the top to the bottom of the latter, to prevent the admission ofsparks and destruction of the contents of the car that would otherwise belikely to accrue therefrom. When cars are thus cleated, the cleats must be nailed at the top, center, and bottom. This requires the per' son doing the cleating to have a ladder or get on top of the car to nail the cleat at the top of the same, and often, owing to the surface of the ground where the cars are located, the eleats cannot be nailed at the center without using 'a ladder for reaching the part, unless `the car is adjacent to a platform. By theimprovement herewith illustrated these inconveniences and difficulties are entirely ohviated, as all the desired results-are quickly attaiued by the proper adj ustment ot' the handle G, and securing the position of the same by the hook and seal, as shown, and the seal, instead of being located atv or near 'the longitndinal center of the car-door, as with the oldstyle hasps and fastenings now in usc,'is near the bottom 'of the car, where it is rcadily accessible to conduetors or others who are required to take record of the seals, which by the old construction is often a matter of diificulty when the cars are on level ground, and cannot be r` achedat all without the use of a ladder when the car is located on a fill, and sometimes when the fills are high and steep there is no suitable support for a ladder, and the seals cannot be reached at all. By reason of the seal being located as shown it is easily accessible under all circumstances.

Having explained the features of my improvement, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi 1. In combination with the door and wall of a freightcar, the cleat adj ustably connected to the car-door in the manner set forth and adapted to engage with the car-wall, as shown and described, the Operating-handle pivotally connected to the car-door and arranged to op- IOO erate the cleat toward or away from the carwall, and provided with a recessed extension for receiving a staple fixed to the car, and' slots for receiving a looking -hook, and the locking-hook provided with recesses for the reception of means for snpporting a sea-l, substantially as specified, for the purpose set forth. 2. The combination, with a car-door, of the sliding cleat thereon, and the lever for operating said cleat secured to the car-door, the staples fixed to the car, the detachable hook, and means for supporting a seal on said hook, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature in presence 'f two witnesses.

` THOMAS I-I. DUZAN. Vi tn esses: E. H; NALL,

O. B. SAWYERs.

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