US635074A

US635074A - Freight-car door.

Info

Publication number: US635074A
Application number: US69876898A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter G Minier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1898-12-09
Filing date: 1898-12-09
Publication date: 1899-10-17
Anticipated expiration: 1916-10-17

Description

Patented out. 17 |399. P. s. MINIER. FREIGHT GAR noon.

(Application med Dc. 9, 189s.)

(No Model.;

j wm m nmH N1 N s co., .wm-ru wrm.. wAsmNa'roN, b. cA

No. 535,074. Patented ont. I7, IsIsI.v

P. e. MIIIIEII.

FREIGHT CAR noun.

(Application led Dec. 9, 1.898.) (No Model.)

I kum* III Wigses I InOcgTrI mr, mums PUsns oo.. PI-Ioaumo.. wAsI-Imccrow. n. c.

llwrrnn Sra'rns e'rnrrr @rinca- PETER G. MINIER, OF HUNTINGTON, l/VEST VIRGINIA.

FREIGHT-CAR DOOR.

s rEcIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent no. 635,074, 'dated october 17, 1899. Application filed December 9, 1898. Serial No.698,768. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER G. MINIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Huntington, in the county of Cabell and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and useful Freight-Car Door, of which the following is a specication.

The invention relates to improvements in freight-car doors.`

The objects of the present invention are to improve the means for -hanging freight-car doors for enabling the same when closed to be fiush with the side of the car and to permit them in opening to swing outward from the car to clear the side thereof, to increase their strength, durability, and efficiency, and to enable a door to move freely in opening and closing.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and

. pointed out-in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a car constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a ver tical sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sectional views on the lines 8 3 and 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view illustrating the manner of journaling the upper end of the rock-shaft on the adjacent hanger of the door. Fig. 6 is ahorizoutal sectional viewof the rear hanger. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail Views of the 'front and back plates of the rear hanger. Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views of the front hanger. Fig. 11 is a detail view of the bottom guide. Fig. 12 is a detail view of the lower portion of the rock-shaft. Fig. 13 is a detail sectional view illustrating the construction of the gravity-latch. A

Like numerals of reference designate correspending parts in all the figures ofthe drawings.

1 designates a sliding car-door suspended by front and rear hangers 2 and 3 from an upper track 4 andhaving its bottom connected by a guide 5 with a lower track 6, and the said door when closed is adapted, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings, to fit within the door-opening of the car 7 and have its outer face flush with the outer face of the side of the same. The upper and lower tracks 4 and 6 have their front portions 48 and 9 extended inward toward the car-body at an angle to guide the front end of the door .into the door-opening, and the upper track 4 is preferably secured to the outer edge of a horizontal bar or cleat 10 and connected with the car by horizontal bolts passing through it and the said bar or cleat. The lower track 6 is supported by brackets l1, arranged at intervals and secured to the car by horizontal bolts passing through them and the track 6.

The front hanger 2, which is secured to the top of the sliding car-door near the front end thereof, has its lower portion 12 inwardly offset, and it is provided at its upper portion with a casing 13,` forming a curved cap, and provided at its front and back with perforations for the reception of a bolt 14 upon which a roller or wheel 15 is journaled. The

roller or wheel 15,` which runs on the upper track 4, is provided at its front and rear faces with hubs, and the front and back of the casing 13 are provided with vertical grooves 1G and 17, receiving the said hubs and permitting the roller or wheel to be readily introduced into and removed from the casing. The vertical groove 16 of the front side of the casing extends down to the bend of thel offset portion 12, and the rear side of the casing 13 terminates short of the same to provide an entrance for the roller or wheel 15. The back of the casing 13 is provided with a pair of depending projections or lugs 1S, and the track 4 is arranged between the same and the front of the casing. The space between the depending projections or lugs 18 and the bend of4 the inwardly-offset portion 12 permits the hanger 2 to be readily arranged on and removed from the track 4. The hanger is preferably supported at the bend of the inwardly-offset portion 12 by a rib, and the sliding car-door, which is suspended from the track 4 by thebracket 2, is offset inwardly sufficiently to extend within the opening of the side of the car when the bracket 2 is arranged at the front end of the track, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The space between the lugs or projections 1S and the front side of the casing is slightly greater than the thickness of the track to permit the hanger IOO to move freely on the angularly-disposed portion of the same. v

The rear hanger 3 is composed of

front'and back plates

19 and 20, connected by suitable fastening devices, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings, and provided with registering' perforations for the reception of horizontal bolts 2l, upon which a pair of wheels or rollers 22 is mounted, and the said plates 19 and 2O are provided at their inner faces with annular recesses receiving the hubs of the rollers or wheels 22 and formed by offsetting the adjacent portions of the casing. The back plate, which is provided with depending projections or lugs 23, terminates short of the lower edge ofthe front plate and fits against a stud 24 and enlargements 25 and 26 located, respectively, at the top and ends of the front plate. The enlargement 25 is arranged at the center of the top,

which is provided with a fiange 27, and the stud 24 is located near the center of the casing at a point between the lower portions of the rollers or wheels 22. The flange 27, which also lits against the rear plate, forms the top of the casing and extends from the central to the end enlargements. The rollers or wheels 22 are arranged on the track 4, which is located between the lower portion of the front plate and the depending projections or lugs 23 of the back plate. The front plate is provided with an integral centrally-arran ged Vertical sleeve forming a bearing for the upper end of a rock-shaft 29, and this sleeve 28, which is located between the bearings of the rollers or wheels, as clearly shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, is preferably provided at its front with a longitudinal opening 30. The vertical rock-shaft, which passes through bearings 3l and 32 of the sliding door, is provided at its upper end with an L-shaped crank-bend 33,. which has its vertical arm or portion arranged in the bearing-sleeve 28 of the rear hanger and threaded at its upper end to receive a nut 34. Thelower end of the rockshaft is angularly bent to form a horizontal L-shaped portion 35 and a vertical depending portion 36, extending downward from the outer end of the horizontal L-shaped portion 35 and adapted to engage the lower track, as hereinafter described.

The bearings 3l and 32, which are located at the top and bottom and at an intermediate point of the sliding door, consist of clips and metal wear-plates bolted to the door, as shown, the metal wear-plates 37 being interposed between the rock-shaft and the door to avoid wearing the latter. The rock-shaft is provided at a point directly beneath the intermediate bearing 32 with a collar 38, upon which the door rests when the nut 34 is tightened.

The collar 28 is provided with a flange, to which a hasp 39 is pivoted, and the hasp 39, which is adapted to engage a staple 40 in the usual manner, serves as a handle by means of which the rock shaft may be rotated. When the rock-shaft is rotated, the body portion, which is connected with the door, swings on the pivot portion, which is arranged within the bearing-sleeve of the rear hanger, and the door l is carried inward or outward, according to the direction of the movement of the rock-shaft. When the door is closed, the depending portion 36 of the lower end of the rock-shaft bears against the lower track 6 and holds the door firmly in the opening of the side of the car, and the upper crank-bend 33 operates similarly at the top of the door. When the hasp is swung outward, the rear end of the door is carried out of the dooropening of the car sufliciently to clear the side of the same and the lower depending portion 36 is carried inward to a point beneath the lower edge of the door. The hasp after being used as a lever or handle for rotating the rock-shaft may be swung downward against the same to arrange it coinpactly. As the hasp is pivoted, as shown, it is retained in its folded position by gravity, so that there is no liability of its swinging upward accidentally and offering an obstruction. When the rear end of the door is swung out of the door-opening, the door may slide freely on the track, and as it is opened the angularly-disposed portions 3 and 9 guide the front of the door outward, so that when the door is open it will be arranged in a plane parallel to the side of the car.

The guide 5, which engages the lower track 6, is secured to the bottom of the door, vnear the front end thereof, and it is provided with a lower engaging portion having a recess 4l to receive the track 6. The-recess 4l is formed by a substantially L-shaped arm 42 extending outward from the lower portion of the guide, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1l of the drawings. The width of the recess 41 is slightly greater than the thickness of the lower track, so that it will slide freely over the angularly-disposed portion 9 thereof. In order to prevent the car-door from sliding back and forth on the upper and lower tracks while a car is being shifted, the guide 5 is provided with a gravity-latch 43, consisting of a vertically-movable bolt mounted in a housing 44, formed integral with the guide 5. The upper end of the gravity-latch 43 is reduced and curved to form ahandle and to provide a shoulder 45, adapted to be engaged by a transverse fastening device 46 to limit the upward movement of the latch and prevent the same from being withdrawn from the housing. The lower end of the gravity-latch engages a recess 47 of the lower track 6 when the door is open and locks the door against movement. When it is desired to close the door, it is necessary to lift the gravity-latch out of engagement with the recess 47.

The invention has the following advantages: The means employed for mounting the cardoor on the car suspend the former from the latter, and the rolls or wheels enable the door to slide freely without friction. The lower guide prevents the bottom of the door from IOO IIO

swinging outward and does not retard the sliding movement of the door, as there is no pressure upon the lower track. The rockshaft, which extends from the'top to the bottom of the door, projects beyond both the u pper and lower edges of the same and is adapted to swing the rear portion ofv the door inward and outward. The lower angular bend of the rock-shaft engages theinner face ofthe lower track to force the bottom portion of the door inward, and it holds the door when closed firmly to its place. outward to open it, the engaging lower end is carried beneath the lower edge of the door, and it does not retard the sliding movement, and after the door is opened it is locked in such position and is prevented from sliding back and forth when the car is being shifted.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, such as constructing the crank-bends of the rock-shaft of separate pieces and reversing the parts to enable the dog to slide either to the right or left.

What is claimed is- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car having an upper track and a lower track, of a sliding car-door, a rock-shaft journaled on the door and having its lower end free and provided with a horizontal L.shaped portion and having a depending vertical portion extending from the outer end of the L-shaped portion and arranged to engage the lower track and adapted to swing beneath the door, and a hanger arranged on the upper track and having a bearing receiving the upper end` of the rock-shaft, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car havinga lower track, and a sliding door suspended from the upper Then the door is swung a sliding car-door, and a rock-shaft journaled on the door, of a hanger comprising front and rear plates or portions forming a hook to engage the said track, the front portion being provided on its exterior with a bearing to receive the upper end of the rock-shaft, and a roller journaled between the plates or portions and arranged to run on the track, substantially as described.

4. In a device ofthe class described, the combination with a car having a track, and a door, of a hanger composed of two detachable plates having horizontal bearings at their inner faces and forming a hook to engage the track, the front plate of the hanger being provided on its exterior with a vertical bearing, an antifriction-roller interposed between the plates and journaled in the horizontal bearings, and a rock-shaft journaled in the vertical bearing of the hanger and suspend-Y ing the' door therefrom, substantially as .de scribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as l my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses. i

PETER G. MINIER.

Witnesses:

P. A. RUTLEDGE, O. L. IIAGG.