US634702A - Refrigerator-car. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Oct. I0., |899.

No. 634,702. n

Y Y w. J. sHAw.-

BEFRIGERATOR CAB.

(Application tiled Apr. 13. 1899.)

2-Sheets--Sheet l,

cnn Model.)

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Patented Unt. I0, |899.

W. J. SHAW. -RE'FRIGERATOR CAR.

(Applicatioxi led Apr. 13, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

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i UNIT-ED VSTATES IVILLIAM J. SHAV, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PATENT OFFICE.

REFRIG ERATOR-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,702, dated October 10, 1899,

Application iiled pril Iii, 1899.l

serial No; 712,834. (No model.)

'To all w21/0m it may concern:

Beit known that'I, WILLIAM J SHAW, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of St. Louis and State lof Missouri, have invented a new and useful Refrigerator-Car, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to refrigerator-cars, and has for its principal object to maintain a proper circulation of air While the car is in motion.

To this 'end it consists principally in improved arrangements in the system of circulation and ventilation.

It also consists in a tension-equalizing device located in the Amechanism for transmitting the motion of the car-axle to the fan.

It also consists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they oc- Iour, Figure I is a longitudinal vertical section 'of one-half of a car. Fig. II is a horizontal l section thereof. Fig. III is a detail of the tension-equalizing shaft connected to the caraxle. Fig. IV is avtransverse section of the vbottom of the car, showing the tension-equalizing shaft connected thereto. Figs. V and VI are detail views of the pulleys mounted "on the car-axle. bearing of thete'nsion-equalizing shaft. Fig.

Fig. VII is a detail of the VIII is, a V horizontal detail of the drying- 'chamber and the air-distributing-head. Fig. IX is a vertical cross-section of the air-dryin g chamber, and Fig. Xis a detail of the ventilating device above the ice-box.

At each end of the car is an ice-box 1, Whose sides are preferably made of sheet metal corrugated to secure rigidity, to increase the surface thereof, and to form flues for the air. The other parts of such lues are formed by the sides or ends of the car or by separate plates arranged close kto the ice-box. These iiues communicate above with a chamber open to the outer air or to the upper interior part of the car, as may be desired,- -and below they open into' a chamber in which isajfan or blower a. The outlet-fine of the fauf'opens into a dryingchamber 5, located, preferably, below the icebox, and this drying-chamber communicates with a space between the true bottom 6 of the car and a perforated lfalse bottom 7, arranged above the true bottom. When the 'fan is in motion, the air is sucked from the space above the ice-.box down through the metal flues into the fan-chamber, from which it is forced through the drying-chamber and under the false bottom,whence it rises through the body of the car and either escapes from 'the car through ventilators provided therefor or else it passes back into the space above the ice-box. The air is thus cooled, dried, and circulated.

In order to distribute the l incoming air throughout the car, the true bottom is prol vided with a series of rifle-bars or deflectorplates extending upwardly therefrom and arranged to practically obstruct the draft, and thereby deiiect the air up through` the false bottom. Beginning at the end of the car each bar extends higher than the one preceding it, until at the middle of the car the space between the false and the true bottom is practically closed. The deflector bars or plates terminate near the medial longitudinal line of the car and are arranged at an inclination so as to present an obtuse angle to the draft, and thereby deiiect the air tow-ard' the sides of the car. By this arrangement the air is distributed with some degree of uniformity to all parts of the car. In order to facilitate such distribution, the outlet-pipe 9 from the drying-chamber is Vconnected to a distributinghead 10, extending across the car under the false bottom and having holes in itssides for the escape of the air into the space beneath the false bottom.

The fan or blower is driven by the car-axle 11. as follows: The car-axle is provided with a split pulley fixed thereon. At one end the two parts of the pulley are held together by hooked straps 13, countersunlr in theendsof said parts, whereby said pulley can be jammed close against the car-Wheel. At the other end said parts are provided with projecting flanges, through Which bolts 14 clamp them iirmly together. The driving-belt 15 on the axle-pulley passes over a pulley 16 on a tension-equalizing shaft 17, movably mounted on the under side of the body of the car.

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Another belt 18 transmits. the power-from the equalzing-shaft 17 to a counter-shaft 19,

mounted inside of the. car, and from this counter-shaft the shaft of the fan 4 is driven by means of an ordinary belt.

The journalboxes 2O of the equalizingshaft are not fixed, but are arranged to slide in slotted frames or channel-bars 2l, secured posed to a large surface of the chlorid.

to the car sill or body and curved in a practically circular'arc, whose center is the middle of the equalizing-shaft. In each of the frames is a compression-spring 22, arranged to bear against the journal-box, and thereby maintain a proper degree of tension on the belt connected to the oar-axle. When the vcar rounds a curve, however, and the position of the axle t relative to the car body changes, the springs automatically yield or expand to relieve the belt from excessive tension or to take up the slack, according as the change of position may require. As the counter-shaft is above the tension-shaftin a line practically perpendicular to the direction of motion of the tension-shaft, the latter may have a considerable range of movement without materially changing the distance between it and the counter-shaft. The necessary elongation of the belt between said shafts may be provided for by using an extensible belt. Thus the tension-equalizing shaft accommodates itself to the varying positions of the caraxle Without affecting the continuous vtransmission of motion to the fan.

In practice each end of the'car is preferably furnished with two fans arranged, respectively, to be driven by the car-axle according as the car is moving in one direction or the opposite. These fans are located on opposite sides of the drying-chamber and are connected to separate countershafts, but using the same equalizing tension-bar. The belts 24 inside of the car are properly boxed in and the counter-shafts are inclosed airtight to prevent the admission of dust.

The drying-chamber is preferably located directly below the ice-box and contains a series of pans or shelves 25, containing chlorid of calcium arranged in vertical series. These shelves or pans extend horizontally acrossthe chamber exceptfor a short space left at alternate ends thereof, whereby a long tortuous passage is formed through the chamber and the air passing therethrough is eX- The openings from the respective fans or blowers are located over the top of the drying-chainber and are covered by hanging shelves 26, which close automatically when the draft through them ceases. The pans are preferably removable. So, likewise, the false bottom of the car is made in sections in order to be removable.

A convenient arrangement for Ventilating the car isshown in Fig. I. In this construction the door 27 in the roof of the car above the ice-box is held partly open by means of a folding prop, which also serves to deflect the exhaust-draft to the outside. This prop consists of two or more plates or boards 28 29,

hinged together, and the lower one, 29, also hinged to the framework below the air-fine in the top of the car, such a flue being formed bya perforated false ceiling arranged slightly below the roof of the car. In the open position the upper plate 28 rests against a block 30, provided therefor at the side of the hole in the roof. Below the lower plate is pivoted or hinged a third plate 3l, which is provided with a curved ratchet-bar 32, and a pawl 33 is arranged on the framework to engage this ratchet. The pawl and the plate to which the ratchet is attached are both provided with chains for manipulating them. The operation of this apparatus is as follows: In the position shown in the drawings fresh air is sucked in through the top of the car, circulated through the car, and when it gets back to the space above the ice-box is deiiected into the openair bymeans of the plates which prop up the door. When these plates are folded, the door is closed and the air again circulates, as before. As shown in Fig. X, the plates in their folded position are suspended vertically beneath an overhanging shoulder, whereby they are protected from the ice as it drops into said box, and do not obstruct the draft. To raise these plates, the third plate is raised by its chain to the proper height, carrying the others with it, and then the upper prop-plate is unfolded by hand. In loweringthese platesthe ratchet is released from the pawl by manipulating its chain, and at the same time the plates are lowered by the other chain.

What I claim isl. Aventilated carcomprisinga perforated false bottom arranged above the true bottom, a distributing-head extending across said car under said false bottom and having perforations opening into thespace beneath said false bottom, a closed fan-chamber commu` nicating with said distributing-head and having an opening near the top of the car, and a fan in said chamber, substantially as described.

2. A ventilated car comprising a true bottom having riffle-bars thereon and a perforated false bottom arranged above the true bottom, a perforated distributing head extending across said car and communicating with the space between said bottoms, a closed vfanchamber in the end of the car and communieating with said distributing-head and having an opening near the top of the car, and a fan in said chamber, substantially as described. 1

3. A ventilated car comprising a true bottom having riffie-bars therein, said riffie-bars being arranged in-a series of successively-increasing height away from the fan-chamber, a 'perforated false bottom arranged above the true bottom, a fanohamber in the end of the car and communicating with the space between said bottoms and having an opening near the top of the car, and a fan in said chamber, substantially as described.

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lwith the space above the false ceiling and a device for 'cuttin g oif the communication between the space beneath the roof and the fanchamber; and opening said space and said chamber to the outer air, and afan in said chamber, substantially as described.

5. A ventilated car coinprisinga perforated false bottom arranged above the true bottom, a perforated false ceiling arranged-below the roof of the car, .a fan-chamber communicating with the outlet air iiue or space beneath said false bottom and with the space above the lfalse ceiling, and a fan in said chamber, a

hatch-door in the roof and a folding defiectorprop therefor, said prop consisting of broad plates hinged together below the outlet-due' formed by the space above the false ceiling, whereby said prop constitutes a defiector for the incoming and the outgoing air, substantially as described. Y

6. A ventilated car comprising a perforated false bottom arranged above the true'bottom,

a perforated false ceiling arranged below the' roof of the car, a fan-chamber communicating with the spaces below the false bottom and above'the yfalse ceiling respectively, a hatchdoor hinged at one end tothe roof of the car, and a prop therefor consisting of a board hinged on one side to the frame of the car b e-i low the due formed between the roof andthe false ceiling and hinged on the opposite side to a second board, whereby said prop con-1l stitutes adeflector for the incomingandl the outgoing air, substantially asdescribed.

V7 A ventilated car comprising a perforated false bottom arranged above the true bottom,

a drying-chamber communicating with the space between saidbottoms, fan-chambers car and communicating with said drying chamber, an automaticallyeacting valve in the connection between each of said fan-chambers and the drying-chamber, and a fan in each of saidfan-chambers, said fans being connected to the car-axle and geared to run in opposite directions, substantially as described. l

8. A ventilated car comprising a perforated a drying-chamber communicating with the spacebetween said bottoms, a fan-chamber having an opening near the top of the car and communicating with said drying-chamber, an ice-box having spaces at its sides constituting flues of the fan-chamber, and a fan in said chamber, substantially as described.

9. In a ventilated car, a Ventilating device consisting of a hatch-door hinged to the roof of the car and a folding deliector-prop therefor consisting of a plate hinged to the frame of the car and having a second plate hinged vto its opposite side, .a third plate pivotally mounted below said first-mentioned plate and having also a curved ratchet-bar, and a pawl mounted on the frame to coperate with said ratchet-bar, and means for manipulating the same, substantially as described.

10.v In a ventilated car having an outlet-Hue, a Ventilating device consisting of a hatch-door Qhinged to the roof ofthe car, and a folding defiector-prop therefor consisting of a board hinged on one side to the frame of the car belowsaidoutlet-flue and a second'board hinged to the rst, whereby said prop 'deflects both tially as described. l

v v WILLIAM J. SHAW.V Witnesses? j f f n W. S. SHAW, v WILLIAM P. CARR.

each having an opening near the top of the I false bottom arranged above the true bottom,

having means for manipulating the same and c the incoming and the outgoing air, substany

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