US485198A - jennings - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 8 Sheets- 8mm; 1.

S. A. JENNINGS.

OAR GONSTRUGTION.

' N0. 485,198. Patented NOV. 1, 1892.

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GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 485,198. Patented Nov.- 1, 1892.

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s. A. JENNINGS. GAR CONSTRUCTION.

Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

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GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 485,198. Patented Nov. 1, 1892 (No Model.) 1 8 Sheets-Sheet e. S. A. JENNINGS. GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 485,198. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

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S. A. JENNINGS.

I GAR CONSTRUCTION. No. 485,198. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

THE "cums runs co. PHOYKXLITHON WASHINGTON, n. c.

(No Model.) 8vSheets-Sheet 8.

S. A. JENNINGS. CAR CONSTRUCTION v Patented Nov. 1,1392.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN A. JENNINGS, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR S.

' KIRK, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,198, dated November 1, 1892.

Application filed June 30, 1891. Serial No. 398.005. (No model.)

To whom it may concern: have devised a peculiar fastening for secur- Be it known that I, STEPHEN A. JENNINGS, ing the outside covering and the sheathing a citizen of the United States, residing at together at the top of the car. This fasten- Evanston, in the county of Cook and State of ing consists of a split key, the stem of which 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and useis passed through apertures in the covering ful Improvements in Car Construction, of and sheathing and the ends separated or which the following is a specification. spread so as to securely lock the two together My invention relates to certain improveand thereby clamp the filling in place. The ments in car construction and may be emlower ends of the plates forming the walls 1o ployed in the building of passenger, freight, are riveted to the flanges of the side sills, or street-railway cars; but is particularly the rivet-holes being elongated so as to pro adapted to freight-cars, and hence I have vide for sufficient play to prevent sheaiing illustrated such a car in the accompanying of the fastenings and for the expansion and drawings. contraction of the metal. I employ longi- [5 My improvements relate to a novel contudinal ribs at about the location of the struction of the carbody. The sills are steel usual plates and diagonal braces or struts, channel-beams, and the posts metaltubes, and which tie these plates to the floor-sills. The the covering and sheathing metal plates. roof-frame has also a tie-rod. The floor is The sills are steel channel-beams presenting preferably made of metal plates. The draw- 2o outwardly, and the margins of the flanges of gear consists of metal plates disposed edgethe beam are offset. Face-plates are secured wise beneath the floor, the forward ends of over the open sides of the sills and are rivthese plates projecting beyond the car end eted or bolted to the flanges of said sills. The and being turned out, so as to embrace the side and end sills are joined at the corners of dead-wood. The forward ends of the draw- 25 the car, while the face-plates are unsevered gear plates are parallel to each other and sepaat the corners or without joints. In the prerated, so as to provide between them a spring ferred construction I do not employ intermepocket, and their rear ends are spread and diate longitudinal sills, but instead thereof I project diagonally until they meet the side use transverse tie-rods and floor-beams, which sills, to which they are secured. The draw- 30 are preferably I or T beams having their gear plates are preferably twisted toincrease heads riveted to the side sills, so as to tie or their strength. Diagonal brace-rods support anchor them together'and prevent buckling the middles of the draw-gear plates against or bending under the shocks of service. The buckling. I have also provided an inside or posts are formed by bending metal tubesinto grain door of improved construction. This 35 an arch, the legs of which form two posts, door is made of thin sheets of metal stayed atone on either side of the car, while the middle intervals by longitudinal strengthening-ribs of the arch forms a carling to support the and adapted to bend between said ribs. These roof. The ends of these posts project bedoors have counterbalancing weights and neath the side sills and are inturned so as to cords and are adapted to be shoved up in suito secure a bearing for the posts on the lower able ways beneath the roof. The cords are sides of the sills and thereby anchor or sefastened at the bottom of the doors and the curely tie the frame together. The covering weights move within the hollows of the tubuof the car is made of metal plates, which are lar posts forming the door-jambs. I have also preferably of such size as that a single secprovided an improved lock for these doors. 5 45 tion will cover the side of the car from the Other novel details of construction will be end to the door, the ends being also made hereinafter more fully described,and particufrom a single section and the roof from two larly pointed out in the claims. or more sections. The sheathing 0f the car In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is is also of metal plates, and I employ a filling a side elevation of the car, the outer covering I00 50 of straw pulp or equivalent material between being broken away at one end and the figure the outside covering and the sheathing. I being partly in section through the drawgear. Fig. 2 is a plan view with the roof broken away, the side walls in section, and the floor removed. Fig. 3 is an end elevation partly in section. Fig. 3 is a detail for the transom-fastening. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail through one of the side sills. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail of the end sill, showing the dead-wood in elevation and a part of one of the draw-gear plates. Fig. 6 is a detail of one of the posts, the upper end of the brace or strut, and of the stiifening-plate applied to the car-frame at its top. Fig. 7 is a sectional plan of the parts shown in Fig. 6, with the covering, sheathing, and filling added. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the transverse floor-beams, showing the side sills and face-plate in section. Fig. 9 is a similar view of a tie-rod for the side sills at the rivets where the draw-gear plates are connected to them. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the braces for the draw-gear plates shown joined to the side sills. Figs. 11 and 12 are detail views of the means for fastening the covering, sheathing, and filling together. Fig. 13 is a detail view, in elevation, of the door, some of the parts showing by dotted lines. Fig. 14 is a sectional detailon the line 14 14 of Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectional detail of the roof, showing ways for the sliding door at the upper limit of its travel. Fig. 16 is an enlarged detail view of one of the corners of the car, showing the face-plate continuous at the corner. Figs. 17 and 18 are details showing the manner of connecting v the rear ends of the draw-gear plates to the sills. Fig. 19 is a detail plan view of the roof, showing the carling, separators, and roof tierod. Fig. 20 and 21 are detail views of the grain-door lock, and Fig. 22 shows a blank from which one of the transverse floor-beams are made.

In the drawings, 25 represents the side sills, which are steel channel beams with their openings presenting outwardly and their flanges having offset margins 25, which form bolt-flanges. These side sills may each be made from a single beam,and they arejoined at their ends to end sills 26, which are of similar construction. At the junction of the side sills and end sills at the corners of the car the offset margins 25 of the flanges are bent up from the body of the flange and are united at an angle of forty-five degrees.

27 represents a face-plate, which is fitted over the opening of the sills and the margins of which are bolted or riveted to the flanges 25 of the sills. These face -plates are nnsevered at, the. corners ofthe car, the. joints being preferably made at the ends of the transom, as seen at 2'7 of Figs. 2 and 6.

28 represents the posts. These are made from metal tubes, which in a freight-car I prefer to have of three-inch diameter. The posts are formedby bending the tube into arched shape, the legs of the arch each forming a post and the middleof the arch forming a carling 29. In order to secure a proper connection between the lower ends of these posts and the side sills I prefer to insert in the ends of such pipes or tubes solid steel-rods 30, of a diameter which will exactly fill the opening of the tubes, the rods being inserted while the metal is hot. The ends of the posts with the rods inserted are then placed in a suitable form and severed longitudinally a distance slightly greater than the width of the face-plates. The lower end of the post containing the remnant of the rod is then inturned, as seen at 28, to adapt it to bear upon the lower edge of the face-plate and the flange of the sill. The posts are then secured with the sill and faceplate by means of the through bolts or rivets 31. Below the roof-line the posts are strengthened by a continuous rib or plate 32, the posts being preferably slotted transversely for the passage of the plates, and keys 33 are applied on each side of the posts so as to hold them against lateral movement.

34 represent diagonalstruts or braces which are secured at their lowerends to the side sills and at their upper ends are halved into the plates 32, and then apertures are drilled at each edge of the strut and filled with Babbitt metal 35,which,afterit cools, makes astrongand tight joint between the ends of the struts and the posts and plate. The carlings are spaced by means of the tube-sections 36,whose ends are fitted to embrace the sides of the carlings, and a roof-tie rod 37 passes through these separating-tubes and through apertures in the carlings, one or both of its ends being provided with a nut whereby the whole may be chorded up. The roof-structure is 'thus rigidly tied together.

In the preferred construction I do not employ intermediate sills, but instead thereof employ transverse floor-beams and tie-rods. In order to adapt the beams to receive and brace the draw-gear, two of them are of special construction, and in order to securely tie the side sills together at the point where the rear ends of the draw-gear plates are connected thereto, I'employ a special tie-rod.

38 represents the transverse floorbeams, which may be steel T- beams and having their heads bolted or riveted to the side sills of the car. By reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings it will be seen that the webs of these beams are cut away. The blank is shown in Fig. 22 and the parts to be removed are indicated at'38 and 38 A considerable saving of material and weight is thus effected and a beam is produced whichforms within itself an efficient truss. The beam-is straight on its top to. receive the floor and the depending arms 38 form the lower chord of the truss member, the upper chord members being secured with the upper flanges of the side sills and the lower members with the lower flanges thereof.

39 represents atie-rod having bifurcated ends which pass through the flanges of the side. sills and are fastened with a nut or by being headed over. These tie-rods are apin Fig. 9.

plied, as will be observed, at the junction of the draw-gear plates and the side sills, and only two of them need be employed. Their purpose is to prevent buckling or bending of the side sills under shock or strain.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a special form of tie'beam, (marked 40,) which is cut away on its lower side and shouldered, as at 41,to provide side bearings or stays for the draw-gear plates 42. These plates are disposed edgewise, their forward ends being bent to embrace the dead-wood 43, as seen in Figs. 2 and 5. These plates are parallel to each other for a sufficient distance to provide between them a spring-pocket, and their rear ends are separated and project diagonally until they meet the side sills. These extensions are preferably twisted, as seen at 42, and the ends are ends lapping upon each other, as shown in Fig. 3. These overlapped ends have a bearing upon the under sides of the side sills and are secured thereto by means of U-bolts 47, the legs of which pass through the lower flange of the side sill and through registering apertures in the overlapped endsof the transom-plates and are secured by nuts. The

manner of fastening the transom ends to the side sills is illustrated in detail in Fig 3.

.no immediate sills are employed, I dispense As in the preferred construction of my car with the usual needle-beams and modify the bearings and braces for the body truss-rod 48 and its bearing 49. These truss-rods extend to the ends of the car and pass through the lower flange of the end sills and face-plates and have tightening-nuts or are riveted. They extend back alongside the sills and pass through keepers 48*. Struts 50 rise from the lower end of the body truss-rod bearing and are connected to the lower sides of the side sills. These provide adequate bracing against longitudinal strain; and in order to prevent lateral movement of the body truss-rods I employ the tie-rods 51, which are joined to orintegrally formed with the supports 49, as seen These tie-rods have a free joint to permit of their connection with the side sills. This construction, while equally efficient, is much more simple than the common construction.

The outside covering is made from sheetmetal plates 52, and I prefer to have the side plates of such size as to cover the car from the bottom to the roof-line and from the end of the car to the door. The side and end plates are duplicated on the inside of the structure to provide a sheathing, the intervening space being filled with straw pulp 52 or equivalent material. The ends of the car will each be made of a single sheet of metal. The roof for convenience may be made in partsjoined centrally of the car, and the roof-sections are lapped down upon the sides and riveted thereto. The run-board is made of wood and secured to brackets 53,the latter being secured to the carlings in any convenient manner. The metal covering-plates are provided at their lower extremities with elongated slots 54, through which rivets 54: pass, and the rivets also pass through holes in a continuous strip 55 and through the flanges of the sills and face-plate. The elongated apertures allow for contraction and expansion of the metal and for vibration of the car-structure without injury to the rivets or plates. The root is made of a single outside covering and joined to the sides and ends of the car by split pins 56, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The covering and sheathing plates are vertically flutedto adapt them to fit over the posts, so as to give the wall-coverings a bearing upon said posts, thus adding to the rigidity of the structure and also reducing the thickness of the wall and economizing spacein the interior of the car.

The inner or grain door 57 is made from a single sheet of metal, preferably provided at intervals with stiffening or strengthening ribs 57 secured horizontally to the inner face of the door. Secured to the lower corners of the door are weight-cords passing over pulleys 60 and provided with the weights 61, saidweights moving in the hollow of the posts. These doors are sufliciently elastic to conform to the curvature of the roof when not in use, the design being to elevate them by means of the cords and weights to a position beneath the roof of the car, as clearly shown in Fig. 15.

Pivotally secured to the outer face of the door toward its lower edge are locking-bars 62, having on their under side studs 63, which fit into sockets in the floor. The ends of these locking-bars in their locked position project through apertures 64 in the door-posts. The inner ends of these bars are upturned, as at 62, and above them are pivoted the gravitylatches 65. These latches are slotted horizontally, as shown in the sectionaldetail of Fig. 21. The double T- headed key 66 couples these gravity-latches together andin its normal position-that is, when the dooris lockedconfines their ofiset ends upon the upturned ends 62 of the pivoted locking-bars. The outer edges of the latches are cut away near their pivots, as shown at 65 in Fig. 13, and when the locking-key is raised it will rest in said cut-away portions when the lower ends of the latches are separated, soasto clear the bars are thus unlocked, the door mayberaised,

and in this movement the .studs63 will be lifted out of their sockets and the outer ends of the locking-bars 62 will be withdrawn from the apertures 64: in the door-posts, the bars swinging on their pivots sufficiently to permit this clearance. 'When the door is lowered to place, the outer ends of the locking bars will enter the apertures 64 in. the doorposts and they will thus be straightened again, the studs 63 entering their sockets. The key will drop down and the latches will swing into a vertical position, so as to lock the bolts. This device not only serves as a lock, which in its principal action is automatic, but it also serves as a strengthening-bar for the lower edge of the door.

Suitable hoods 68 are provided over the outer doors 69, and these doors maybe made to slide upon tracks in the usual way. The roof is provided with scuttles 70, and one or both ends of the car with a door 71.

It is obvious that many of the features hereinabove described may be modified and that some of them may be employed in a car in which others are omitted; but it is my purpose to build car-bodies almost entirely from metal, as I thereby obtain a car having great carrying capacity, weighing much less than the ordinary wooden car, and which will much better withstand the shocks of service, as well as being practically fireproof.

Without limiting myself to the precise details of construction, I claim- 1. In car-construction, sills composed of channel-beams having their flanges ofiset or marginally bent and face-plates secured to said flanges, substantially as described.

2. In car construction, the combination, with sills composed of channel-beams presenting outwardly and having the margins of their flanges an gularly bent or offset, of face-plates riveted or otherwise secured to said flanges,

said face-plates being continuous around the corners of the car, substantially as described.

3. In car construction, the combination, with side sills composed of flanged metal beams, of transverse floor-beams composed of T-bars having portions of the ends of their webs cut away and the bifurcations thereof embracing the side sills and secured to the side sills by bolts or rivets, substantially as described.

4. In car construction, the combination, with sills composed of flanged metal beams, of tie-rods having their ends forked and secured with the side sills by being passed through the flanges thereof, substantially as described.

5. In car construction, the combination, with the frame of the car, of adraw-gear composed of metal beams disposed edgewise and having their outer ends projecting beyond the ends of the car and bent to engage the deadwood, substantially as described.

6. In car construction, the combination of a draw-gear composed of two metal plates separated toward theirforward ends to provide between them a spring-pocket and having their inner ends spread apart and connected to the side sills, respectively, substantially as described.

7. In car construction, the combination of. a draw-gear composed of metal plates disposed edgewise and separated toward their forward ends to provide a spring-pocket and having their rear ends spread and connected to the side sills and having their bodies twisted, substantially as described.

8. In car construction, the combination of a draw-gear composed of plates vertically disposed, their forward ends being separated and parallel to each other and their rear ends spread and connected to the side sills, and diagonal bracing-rods interposed between the bodies of the draw-gear plates and the side sills, substantially as described.

9. In car construction, the combination,with the floor-frame, of a draw-gear composed of two metal plates, disposed edgewise, and a transverse floor-beam 40, having its middle portion recessed and provided with shoulders to formside bearings for the draw-gear plates, substantially as described.

10. In car construction, the combination, with metallic side sills, of combined posts and carlings constructed integrally from tubes bent into arched form, the legs of the arch forming two posts for opposite sides of the car and the middle forming a carling, and the ends of the posts projecting along the faces of the side sills and inturned beneath said sills, substantially as described.

11. In car construction, the combination of the frame posts or uprights composed of metal tubes having their lower ends cut away to provide a scarf-joint with the side sill and their extremities inturned to engage the lower edge of the side sill, substantially as described.

12. In car construction, frame-posts composed of metal tubes cut away toward their lower ends to provide one member of a scarfjoint and the remaining portion being provided with a core or filler of metal, the parts being fused together and the extremities of the posts inturned to engage the lower edge of the side sills, substantially as described.

13. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metal tubes, of an outer covering and an inner sheathing or lining for the side walls, composed of metal plates fluted to embrace the posts, substantially as described.

14:. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metal tubes, of longitudinal plates passing through apertures in said posts and keyed thereto, substantially as described. 7

15. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metal tubes, of plates connecting said tubes, and struts or braces secured at their lower ends to the side sills and at their upper ends to said plates, the joints being filled with Babbitt metal, substantially as described.

ICC

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16. In car construction, the combination, a

gated apertures in the plates," and a continuous strip 55, through which thesecuring means alsopass, substantially as described.

17. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metal tubes, of an outer Wall covering and an interior sheathing fitted to said posts and an intermediate filling or lining of straw pulp or equivalent material, substantially as described.

18. In car construction, the combination, with posts and carlings composed of metal tubes bent into an arched form, of a tie-rod for the roof structure passing through the carlings and through interposed separating or spacing tubes, substantially as described.

19. In car construction, the combination, with the side sills composed of metals beams, of body truss-rods, a bearing interposed be- STEPHEN A. JENNINGS.

Vitnesses:

FREDERICK G. GooDWIN, N. M. BOND.

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