US3608500A

US3608500A - Tandem toggle hopper door operating mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3608500A
Application number: US758927A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter L Floehr
Original assignee: Midland Ross Corp
Current assignee: Midland Ross Corp
Priority date: 1968-09-11
Filing date: 1968-09-11
Publication date: 1971-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-28

Abstract

An operating mechanism for a hinged door or a railway hopper car having a manually or motor operated drive linkage providing in closed position a plurality of locks in tandem against opening of the door and in an opening operation a quick release permitting the door to swing open by gravity beyond a vertical position, while decreasing the resultant movement of an actuating member, the linkage conveniently being mountable on and swingable in a center sill of the car and for manual operation having an operating shaft fitted with one or more automatically releasing operating heads coacting with the reduced movement of the actuating member for preventing injury to an operator.

Description

I United States Patent [1113,608,500

[72] Inventor Walter L. Floehr 3,291,071 12/1966 Dorey 105/304 X Toledo, Ohio 3,316,857 5/1967 Floehr 105/290 X [211 App]. No. 758,927 3,434,433 3/1969 Floehr 105/290 X [22] Filed Sept. 11, 1968 3,440,761 4/1969 Floehr 105/304 X [45] Patented Sept. 28, 1971 3,450,065 6/1969 F loehr et al.. 105/290 X [73] Assignee Midland-Ross Corporation 3,469,539 9/ 1969 Damy 105/290 X Cleveland, Ohio 1,705,952 3/1929 Zimmer.... 105/301 1,977,308 10/1934 Hindahl.... 105/239 X 2,730,967 1/1956 Gunnison. 105/311 TANDEM TOGGLE HOPPER I 001! OPERATING 2,749,770 6/1956 Dorey 105/305 MECHANISM 14 claims, 11 Drawing Figs Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Assistant Exammer--Howard Beltran [52] U.S. Cl 105/240, A"omey wi|mer Mechlin 74/548, 74/552, 105/253, 105/290, 105/299, 105/304, 105/308 E, 105/311 R t [51] Int. Cl B6ld 7/18,

. Bl M 7/26 361d 7/28 ABSTRACT: An operating mechanism for a hinged door or a of Search ailwa ho er ar having a manually or motor operated drive 282, 2901 304v 31 l, linkage providing in closed position a plurality of locks in tan- 305, 308 31 l R; 74/548 552 dem against opening of the door and in an opening operation a quick release permitting the door to swing open by gravity References cued beyond a vertical position, while decreasing the resultant UNITED STATES PATENTS movement of an actuating member, the linkage conveniently 731,525 6/1903 Trapp 105/290X being mountable on and swingable in a center sill of the car 974,097 10/1910 Seaberg..... 105/290 X and for manual operation having an operating shaft fitted with 974,470 11/1910 Campbell 105/299 X one or-more automatically releasing operating heads coacting 1,204,543 1 l/ 1916 Campbell 105/290 X with the reduced movement of the actuating member for 2,859,707 1 l/ 1958 Dorey 105/282 X preventing injury to an operator.

i i i I I Inventor:

Walter L. Floehr his A'Horney PATENIED SEP28 WI SHEET 1 [IF 4 PATENTED sP28|sm 3,608,500

SHEET 2 [If 4 III III 111 I 11 1/1/1111) Inventor:

Walter L. Flo e h 1 his Attorney PATENTED SEF28 l9?! SHEET 3 OF 4 Inventor Walter L. Floenr his AHorney PATENiEusiPzema SHEET U 0F 4 FIG. 5

FIG.6

FIG. 7

FIG. 8

Inventor: Walter L. Floehr his Attorney TANDEM TOGGLE HOPPER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The design of an operating mechanism for a hinged door of a railway hopper car presents a number of problems. Among these are ensuring that the door when closed is effectively locked against opening, protecting the mechanism from damage in transit, for manual operation, protecting the operator against injury from violent swinging of the door in opening under force of the lading, and quick release for rapid discharge of the lading, and quick release for rapid discharge of the lading. Previously proposed mechanisms have solved some of these problems, notably that disclosed in my copending application, Ser. No. 686,254 filed Nov. 28, 1967, now' Pat. No. 3,440,761, issued April 29, 1969 which has a drive linkage providing in closed position a plurality of locks in tandem against opening of the door and in an opening operation protecting an operator against injury by delaying opening of the door for a considerable interval after the mechanism has been unlocked, but at the expense of quick release. Also, as in. the mechanism of that application, prior mechanisms generally permit the door to open to only a substantially vertical position under force of the lading, with corresponding restriction on discharge. It is with the solution of these several problems that the present invention is particularly concerned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved hopper door operating mechanism having a drive linkage which can lock the door against opening without interfering with quick release in opening.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved hopper door operating mechanism, which, while maximizing the extent of opening of the door, minimizes the movement of an actuating member consequent upon the violent opening of" the door under force of the lading.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a manually operated hopper door operating mechanism, an operating,

head, which, while adapted to receive an actuating bar for applying leverage to open or close the door, prevents application to the bar of an opening force received at the head from the door. I

In its preferred embodiment in which it is adapted to operate a pair of doors hinged mounted abreast at opposite sides of a center sill, the improved mechanism has a drive linkage mounted between the doors on and swingable in the center sill. Forming the drive linkage are a plurality of pivotally connected members, which, in their closed positions, form a plurality of locks in tandem against opening of the doors and enable the weight of the doors, when closed, and any lading in the related hopper to be applied through an adjoining part of the linkage to the center sill. Using, forsupporting that weight, members together forming a toggle and having an actuating lever for swinging the toggle, the drive linkage has the toggle and the lever fulcrumed on the center sill andthe lever pivotally connected to the toggle eccentrically of the toggle joint thereof, with the joint and the eccentric pivot so positioned as to swing in opposite directions over the range of movement of the linkage, with the pivot swinging toward as the toggle joint swings away from the lever and consequent reduction in the movement of the latter. lmmediately upon unlocking, the linkage permits the door to swing open by gravity and considerably beyond a vertical position.

The foregoing characteristics of the drive linkage are obtained whether it is driven manually or by a motor, and, for manual operation, the mechanism combines with the reduced movement of the lever an operating head at one or either end of the operating shaft for receiving an actuating bar from either side in a single tangentially disposed through opening, which, by causing the bar to follow the part of the head to which it applies leverage, effectively prevents transmission to the bar of the violent force transmitted to the head from the door in an opening operation.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appear hereinafter in the detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along lines l-l of FIG. 2, showing one and part of the other of a pair of hinged doors operated by a preferred embodiment of the operating mechanism of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. I, with the door in the partly open vertical position;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 1, but a larger scale and with the door in fully open positron;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on the section of FIG. 4, but on the scale of FIG. 1, showing a modification in which the mechanism adapted for operation by a fluid motor;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along lines 7- 7 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 7 taken along lines 8-8 of that figure and with a part of one of the hold bolts removed to show the slotting therefor of the mounting bracket;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view taken along lines 9-9 of FIG. 1, but on the scale of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is an elevation of the operating head viewed along lines l0--l0 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along lines 1ll1 of FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now in detail to the drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts, the improved operating mechanism of the present invention is adapted to operate one or a plurality of hinged, drop-bottom doors of a railway hopper car and, as exemplary of the invention, has been illustrated applied to the operation of a pair of doors I, mounted or hinged abreast or in juxtaposition on the body 2 of the car, at opposite sides of the center sill 3, for swinging about a common hinging axis 4 between positions to open and close associated hoppers 5. While otherwise locatable, the illustrated hinging axis 4 is located or positioned between and adjacent the upper of the vertical limits of the center sill 3.

For swinging in unison between open and closed positions, the doors 1 are connected by a channel or other suitable crossbeam 6 extending therebetween below and across or transversely of the center sill 3 and laterally along and fixed to or rigid with the doors" outer or front faces 7. In the improved mechanism, designated as 8, the doors 1 are limited in their opening movement only by direct or indirect engagement of the channel 6 with the bottom of the center sill 3 and the channel is so positioned vertically relative to the center sill as to permit the doors in opening to swing considerably or substantially beyond the usual approximately vertical open position.

The operating mechanism 8 is comprised of a drive linkage 9 mounted on and swingably vertically and longitudinally in the center sill 3and largely contained therein. The drive linkage 9 is formed of a plurality and preferably four pivotally connected members, one an actuating lever 10, through which operating forces are applied and a pair of the others, the pivotally connected sill or body and

door arms

11 and 12, respectively, of a toggle 13 pivotally connected at opposite ends to the sill 3 or, more generally, the car body 2 and, through the channel 6, to the doors I. The fourth member of the preferred linkage is a link 14 drivably or operatively connecting the lever 10 to the toggle 13. The lever 10 and the sill arm 11 of the toggle 13 are fulcrumed at longitudinally spaced positions on the center sill 3, suitably longitudinally beyond opposite sides of and bracketing or straddling the hinging axis 4, each conveniently pivotally mounted on a pair of bearings 15 bolted or otherwise secured to and suspended from the bottom flanges 16 of the sill. The sill arm 11 may be journaled in its bearings 15 by a pair of integral trunnions 17, while the lever preferably is keyed against relative rotation to a shaft 18 journaled in its bearing and, for manual operation of the mechanism, extending therefrom to one or each side of the car. If desired, the bearings may be shiftably or adjustably mounted on the flanges 16, but it ordinarily will suffice to fix them against adjustment or shifting after the initial assembly. In any case the sill pivots or

pivotal axes

19 and 20 of the lever and the sill arm, respectively, will be stationary or fixed except during adjustment. As with the axes of all of the pivotal connections of the linkage 9, the

sill pivots

19 and 20 are horizontal and extend transversely of the center sill 3 so as to permit the desired vertical and longitudinal swinging of the linkage.

Folded in door-closed position with its

arms

11 and 12 then substantially aligned and together disposed substantially normal to the common plane of the front faces 7 of the doors 1, the toggle 13 in that position supports the weight of the doors and any lading in the hoppers 5 on the center sill by transmitting that weight to the sill through the bearings 15 mounting the sill arm 11 and thus locks the doors against opening so long as their arms remain in that position. A second lock, in tandem with the first, against opening of the doors, is provided by the other pair of members of the linkage, the lever 10 and link 14, which, in the closed position of the door, are substantially longitudinally aligned. Thus, any tendency of the force of gravity on the doors in their closed position to swing the drive linkage 9 in an opening direction, is resisted first by the lock formed by the toggle and second, by that formed by the lever and link and both must release before the doors can open, a possibility effectively prevented by having the joint 21 of the toggle and that between the distal end 22 of the lever and the link slightly overcenter in their closed positions so that any force from the door will act in a closing rather than an opening direction on the linkage. A stop 23 on the sill arm 11 back of the door arm 12 and stops 24 on the adjoining ends of the lever and link, limit the movement of the drive linkage 9 in a closing direction.

The sill and

door arms

11 and 12 of the toggle 13 are of such length relative to the distance they span when the doors are fully open that the toggle is always broken upwardly and the toggle joint 21 thus at all times is above the sill pivot 20 of the body arm 11 or at least any plane through that pivot and the pivot of the connection between the door arm and the channel 6. The lever and sill arm cannot be the opposite sides of a parallelogram in view of the closed positions they must occupy and, because of the resultant insufficient leverage for holding the doors in closed position, it is impractical to position the sill pivot 20 of the sill arm 11 as to align the axis of the toggle joint 21 in its open position with the hinging axis 4 of the doors. Thus, for a given range or are of movement of the doors, the lever will have a greater range. However, the difference in these ranges is very markedly reduced by connecting the link 14 to the toggle 13 eccentrically of the toggle joint 21, with the joint 25, or more precisely, its axis or pivot, at all times on the lever or lever pivot side of that of the toggle joint. This relation is obtained by making the door arm 12 the lower arm of a bellcrank 26, whose upper, angularly related arm 27 projects upwardly or upstands from the lower arm toward the lever and is pivotally connected at its outer end to the link 14 to form the joint 25. With the radial spacing between the axes of the toggle joint 21 and link joint thus fixed and the latter always on the same lever side of the fonner, not only will the link joint swing or turn about the toggle joint as the latter swings or turns in the arc fixed by the sill arm 11 but they will move longitudinally relative to each other or swing in opposite or counterdirections, the link joint toward the lever as the toggle joint moves away therefrom and vice versa. Consequently, as the toggle joint swings away from the lever, the link joint 25 will be at progressively less distance from the distal or linkconnected end 22 of the lever 10 than the toggle joint, with corresponding reduction in the range of movement of the lever.

For manual operation of the improved mechanism 8, the operating shaft 18 preferably has a capstan or operating head 28 fixed against rotation to each end so as to be operable from either side of the car. As opposed to the usual radially socketed capstan, the improved capstan 28 of this invention has a hub portion 29 and an arm portion 30 integral or rigid with and projecting or outstanding radially from the hub portion and interrupted intermediate its ends by a tangential or tangentially disposed slot, aperture or opening 31 extending through the arm portion and having at or bounding the inner end of the slot a double-sided, radially outstanding laterally centered tongue or septum 32 presenting on opposite sides oppositely facing, side-opening seats 33 and at its outer end a crossbar 34. So constructed, a suitably turning tool (shown in dot-and-dash line in its alternate positions in FIG. 11) can be inserted from either side into the slot, depending on whether the doors are to be unlocked or closed and, when so inserted, will have its inner end in the seat 33 on the opposite side of the tongue 32 and, outwardly thereof, will engage the adjoining side of the crossbar 34, the latter on the side opposite that in which the capstan 28 is to be turned. Consequently, in applying a turning force, the turning tool will always follow the capstan and the force will always be a pushing force, with the result that the capstan in an opening operation will fall away from and not carry the turning tool, thus rendering the capstan automatically or self-releasing and protecting the operating from injury.

Even though the drive linkage 9 is self-locking in closed position, its release therefrom requires only a short throw of one of the capstans 28. To prevent accidental opening of the doors 1 by a force applied to either capstan 28, it therefore is desirable that the capstans be positively lockable in closed position and, for this purpose, the mechanism includes a lock shaft 35, paralleling and coterminous with the operating shaft 18 and conveniently supported at the center in the bearings 15 for the operating shaft and at opposite ends in side sill suspended brackets 36 also mounting the ends of the operating shaft. Lock heads 37 fixed to opposite ends of the lock shaft 35 and socketed to receive and be turnable by a suitable turning tool (not shown), are swingable in unison from either side of the car into interlocking engagement with the capstans in the latters closed position and the usual seal (not shown) through either lock head and the adjoining bracket 36, will visually indicate whether there has been any tampering with the mechanism between loading and discharge of the lading.

With only a short throw required for releasing the tandem locks of the drive linkage 9 and easy access to the slot 31 in either capstan 28, an operator can readily open the doors 1, even if the car is moving as much as three m.p.h. However, if it is desired to operate the doors by remote control or automatically, it usually will be preferred to replace or supplement manual operation by motor operation. As exemplary of such operation and particularly suited for the compressed air power readily available when the cars are connected in a train, an airactuated fluid cylinder unit 38 is pivotally mounted on the underside of the center sill 3 below the sill pivot from the doors 1 to prevent interference with the movement of the drive linkage 9. A lever arm 39 downstanding from that pivot and integral with or otherwise fixed against the rotation to the lever 10, carries on its distal end a pin 40 riding in a longitudinally elongated slot 41 in a coconnecting plate 42 mounted on the outer end of the piston rod 43 of the unit 38. With the fluid cylinder unit 38 and the drive linkage 9 so pin-and-slot connected and the piston retracted to hold the pin against movement in the outer end of the slot when the doors are closed, advance of the piston rod will first take up the lost motion and, when the pin reaches the inner end of the slot, push thereagainst and unlock the linkage. This is the extent of the stroke required of the unit 38 and the slot 41 is of sufficient length to accommodate the movement of the pin 40 from the point of release to the limit of opening movement of the doors 1.

some 20 in the illustrated embodiment for a total swing of 5 about 70. Again using the illustrated embodiment as the example, the toggle joint 21 will have an are or range of movement for such movement of the doors of about 90 and, to produce such movement and still retain the second or leverand-link lock, the lever will have a range of movement of about 120, as a result of its eccentric connection to the toggle l3 and as opposed to the movement of some 180 in the actuating lever or operating shaft of the conventional operating mechanism. Helpful in any case, this reduction in the movement required of the lever 10, when combined with the selfreleasing capstans 28, will effectively ensure against injury to an operator when the doors are manually unlocked.

While the sill pivots l9 and usually will be fixed after the initial installation, some subsequent adjustment in the linkage may be necessary to compensate for wear. This is obtained, with the legs 44 of the channel 6 downtumed, by mounting on the exposed flat upper surface of the web 44 of the channel a mounting bracket 47 having a flat base 48 engaging the web and ears 49 upstanding therefrom and pivotally connected to the door arm 12. A depending portion or detent 50 at the outer end of the base 48, presents below the base an inwardly facing, laterally extending groove 51 containing a correspondingly facing and extending wedging surface 52. A suitably U-shaped adjusting or wedging member 53 fits over and is slidable longitudinally along the outer of the downstanding channel legs 44 and carries on its outer upper end an outstanding tongue or rib 54 fitting in the groove 51 and presenting to the wedging surface 52 therein a correspondingly sloping wedging face 55. The adjusting member is slotted to receive a lock bolt 56, as is the base 48 to receive hold bolts 57. Thus, by loosening the

bolts

56 and 57 and driving or shifting the adjusting member in one direction or the other, the mounting bracket can be shifted normal to the plane of the doors for making any necessary adjustments in the fit of the doors in closed position on their hoppers 5.

It should be understood that the described and disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention and that all modifications are intended to be included that do not depart from the spirit of the invention and the claims.

I claim:

1. An operating mechanism for a hinged door of a railway hopper car, comprising a drive linkage connected between the door and a body of the car and including a plurality of tandemconnected pairs of pivotably connected members, the members of each pair in the closed position of the door being substantially aligned with the pivot therebetween overcenter for locking each pair and therethrough the linkage and door against movement in an opening direction under a force initiated at the door.

2. An operating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein one of the pairs is connected and acts between the door and the car body and the other pair is connnected and acts between the one pair and the car body.

3. An operating mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the connection of each pair to the car body is a pivotal connection having a stationary pivot, and said pivots are spaced in the direction of swinging of the door.

4. An operating mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the one pair is a toggle, and the other pair pivotally connected to said toggle eccentrically of a toggle joint thereof.

5. An operating mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the other pair are an actuating lever mounted on the body for pivoting about the stationary pivot of said pair, and a link between and pivotally connected to the toggle eccentrically of the toggle joint and to said lever.

6. An operating mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the eccentric pivotal connection of the link to the toggle is on the lever side of the togglle joint.

7. An operating mec anisrn according to claim 6 wherein the toggle has one arm connected to the car body for pivoting about the stationary pivot of the toggle and the other arm connected to the door, and said door-connected arm is one arm of a bellcrank having the other arm pivotally connected to the link eccentrically and on the lever side of the toggle joint.

8. An operating mechanism according to claim 7, including wedge means actable between the door and the pivotal connection of the door arm of the toggle thereto for adjustably shifting said pivotal connection in a direction substantially normal to a front face of the door.

9. An operating mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the door is mounted on the car body at a side of a center sill thereof for swinging longitudinally of the car body about a horizontal axis disposed transversely and within vertical limits of said center sill, the stationary pivots of the drive linkage are mounted on and spaced longitudinally of a bottom of said sill, and the drive linkage swings vertically in and longitudinally of said sill.

10. A door-operating mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the stationary pivots of the drive linkage are on opposite sides of the hinging axis of the door, the door on unlocking of the drive linkage is freed thereby for swinging to an open position substantially beyond a vertical position, and the toggle joint on said swinging of said door swings toward the hinging axis thereof.

11. An operating mechanism according to claim 10, including lever means connected against relative rotation to the lever, and motor means pivotally mounted on the car body and pin-and-slot connected to said lever means for closing and initiating opening of the door through the drive linkage while in an opening operation permitting free swinging of the door to open position on unlocking of the linkage.

12. An operating mechanism according to claim 10, wherein the stationary pivot of the lever is the axis of an operating shaft stationarily joumaled on and extending transversely of the center sill to at least one side of the car body.

13. An operating mechanism according to claim 12, including a capstan having a hub portion fixed to an end of the shaft at a side of the car, an arm portion rigid with and outstanding radially from said hub portion, a tool-receiving slot extending through said arm portion between sides and intermediate ends thereof and disposed tangentially and elongated radially of said hub portion and adapted to receive a turning tool from either side for alternate manual opening and closing of the door through the shaft and drive linkage.

14. In an operating mechanism for a hinged door of a railway hopper car manually operable through an operating shaft, an automatically releasing capstan, comprising a hub portion fixed against relative rotation to an end of the shaft, an arm portion rigid with and projecting radially from said hub portion, a radially elongated slot disposed tangentially of said hub portion and extending through and opening onto opposite sides of said arm portion, opposed seats at an inner end of said slot outwardly of said hub and on and opening onto said opposite sides of said arm portion, and a crossbar on and extending across said arm portion at an outer end of said slot, said arm portion accommodating in said slot a turning tool insertable thereinto from either side thereof, and faid tool on insertion in one side engaging the adjoining side of said crossbar and the opposite of said seats for turning said shaft in a direction away from said one side.

Claims

1. An operating mechanism for a hinged door of a railway hopper car, comprising a drive linkage connected between the door and a body of the car and including a plurality of tandem-connected pairs of pivotably connected members, the members of each pair in the closed position of the door being substantially aligned with the pivot therebetween overcenter for locking each pair and therethrough the linkage and door against movement in an opening direction under a force initiated at the door.

4. An operating mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the one pair is a toggle, and the other pair is pivotally connected to said toggle eccentrically of a toggle joint thereof.

6. An operating mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the eccentric pivotal connection of the link to the toggle is on the lever side of the toggle joint.

7. An operating mechanism according to claim 6 wherein the toggle has one arm connected to the car body for pivoting about the stationary pivot of the toggle and the other arm connected to the door, and said door-connected arm is one arm of a bellcrank having the other arm pivotally connected to the link eccentrically and on the lever side of the toggle joint.

12. An operating mechanism according to claim 10, wherein the stationary pivot of the lever is the axis of an operating shaft stationarily journaled on and extending transversely of the center sill to at least one side of the car body.