US656462A

US656462A - Refrigerator-car.

Info

Publication number: US656462A
Application number: US316000A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas B Kirby
Original assignee: Armour and Co
Current assignee: Armour and Co
Priority date: 1900-01-29
Filing date: 1900-01-29
Publication date: 1900-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 1917-08-21

Description

No. 656,462. Patented Aug. 2|, I900.

T. B.- KIRBY.

REFRIGERATOR CAR.

(Application filed Jay. 29, 1900.)

(No Model.) .4--$he'ets-Sheef l.

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Patented Aug. 2|, I900.

1'. s. KIRBY REFRIGERATOR CAR.

(Application filed Jan. 29, 1900.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

. (No Model.)

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No. 656,462. Patented Aug. 2l,.l900. T. B. KIRBY.

REFRIGERATOR CAR.

' (Application filed. Jan. 29, 1900.; (No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

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6 No. 656,462. Patented Au 2|, I900.

T. B. KIRBY. 6

REFRIGERATOR CAR.

(A nmm filed Jan. 29, 19001; (No llodel.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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1NITED' S PATENT OFFICE.

'rIIoMAs B. KIRBY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ARMOUR t 00., or SAME PLACE.

REFRIGERATOR-OAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 656,462, dated August 21, 1900. Application filed January 29, 1900- Serial No. 3,160. (No model.)

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS .B. KIRBY, of Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator-Oargof which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements in:

the car when not in use without occupying more than an insignificant amount of room, the intention being 'thata set of suchracks shall become a part ofthe regular equipment of the car totake the place of the temporary racks which are now commonly employed and which are customarily thrown away or discarded at the end of a single trip.

To this end the invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, and

will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to' the 'accompanying drawings, in which. I

Figure 1 is a plan view of the floor of a car equipped with my invention, the side walls of the car being shown in horizontal section. Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse vertical sectional views taken through fragmentary portions of a car, showing the racks collapsed and secured to the said side walls. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the end portion of a car equipped with my invention, and Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. t and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In its broader sense the present invention is not limited to anyparticular type of freightcar, and the general features of the invention may be used either in connection with a refrigerator-car or any ordinary freightcar, although certain of the specific features are capable of embodiment only in combination with a refrigerator-car of the type herein illustrated.

Referring to said drawings, 1 designates as a whole the body of a closed car comprising front and side walls 2 3, end walls 4: 5, respectively, and the usual fioor 6.

7 and 8 respectivelydesignate the two side doors arranged opposite each other, as usual. 1 "9 lOidesignate as a whole the several individualohes of a set-of folding or collapsible {floor-racks of slatted orskeleton construction designed to support the commodity undergoing shipment free from the floor of the car, so asto permit a circulation of air thereunder. Inasmuch as the construction of each of the several individual racks of the set referred to is substantially identical, a description of one will be'applicable to all.

' Referring then to Figs. 2 and 3, each rack is shown as made of a plurality of sections, twoin'the'present instance, as 11 12. 13 13 and-.14 14 designate the two longitudinal supports or joist members of each pair of racksections, the supports of each section being arranged parallel to each other and at a suitable distance apart to properly support a seflrie's of slats15, secured transversely thereon at slight intervals apart. The'pairs of longitudinalsupports of the two rack-sections are located at diiferentdistances apart,so that when the rack=sections are folded together they may overlap eachother or nest together closely, as indicated cl'earlyin Figs. 2 and 3, the two members which extend along the proximate sides of the two sections being desirably as near the edges of said sections as may be and still permit their folding together. In order to form a hinge or flexible connection with the said sections which while serving'to hold the sections securely together nevertheless alfords suflicient looseness of joint to permit the rack-sections to be folded together with their longitudinal supports facing inwardly, I preferably employ a plurality of elongated links 16, each arranged'to encircle the two proximate supports, said links being made of sufficient length toafford the requisite movement of the connected parts with relation to each other, and the portions of the supports encircled thereby being desirably rounded, as indicated at 17, to facilitate the hinge action. The racks constructed as described are in use permanently hinged in place in the car in such manner that they may be folded up and secured in upright position ting sections and side walls for holding them in position when resting upon the floor. Such hinge connections, as shown herein, comprise a plurality of links 18, secured by means of staples or screw-eyes 19-20, which are res-pectively inserted in recesses formed in the under sides of the longitudinal supports, which are arranged next to the side walls and into the floor of the car at such distance inwardly from the side walls as to permit the proper hinge action, enabling the sections to be tilted up fiat against the interior of the car-wall. By reason of the hinge connection between the two sections the inner section is at the same time that the outer section is raised caused to fold into avertical position,as shown in Fig. 2,with its longitudinal members nested in with the corresponding, members of the outer section and is conveniently held in this position and in suchmanner as to hold both sections securely by means of a hook and staple 22, located in a recess 23 in the side wall above the upper edges of the rack-sections, which hook engages an eye 24:, desirably arranged within a recess 25 in the uppermost supporting member of the pair of rack-sections.

In practice the two sections of each rack will be made to cover approximately onehalf the width of the car-floor, so that the two double sections, one at each side, will serve to completely cover the car-floor. Obviously when folded up against the sides of the car they occupy but a trifling amount of space, andwhile thus held in a vertical position they are not likely to meet with accident and at the same time leave the interior of the car in good condition for shipping commodities not requiring the use of the racks. The middle rack-sections 10, which are located opposite the door-openings, are picked up bodily, folded together in the same manner as are those previously described, and then stored in vertical position against the sides of the car above and resting upon some of the attached sections, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In order to secure these sections in this latter position, hooks and staples 26 are provided, constructed and arranged substantially like those hereinbefore referred to.

In addition to the racks hereinbefore described adapted for use in cars generally I have provided certain auxiliary racks especially adapted for a car having the peculiarities of construction shown herein-that is, one having ice-receptacles arranged to extend across the end or ends of the car in the upper part thereof and leaving a space or recess 27 belowthe said receptacle. This space is used or not in the shipmentof perishable commodities, depending upon the character of the same, said'space being available when shipping small fruits and the like, which may be readily packed within this recess, but beingunavailable when shipping bulky com- -modities. For the purpose of flooring this space I provide a rack 28, desirably comprising a series of short supporting members 29, arranged to extend longitudinal of the car, and supporting-slats 30, which may conveniently extend across the full width of the car. This rack is hinged by means of a flexible link connection, comprising eyepieces 31, se cured to the supports 28, link-bars 32, secured to parts of the tank or receptacle structure elevated slightly above the car-floor and located at the opposite ends of the rack, and links 33, connecting said eyes and link-bars, all as shown clearly in Fig. 4, the connection being such that the rack may be tilted up into vertical position against the end wall of said recess 27 and secured in this position by means of turn-buttons 3% or allowed to rest upon the fioor at one end and with its opposite or hinged end held elevated slightly to accommodate the structural part-s of the tank. In order to provide means for partitioning off said'recess, I provide another auxiliary rack 35, which is constructed generally like the rack 28 and is hinged to the lower projecting angle 36 of the tank by means of eyes 37, se cured to one of its margins and engaging eyebars 38, arranged at each end of the tank structure and which are severallysecured at one end to bracket-pieces 39 and extended at their opposite ends some distance beneath the tank into the recess 27 and there secured to the bottom of the tank, as indicated at 40. The purpose of this hinged connection is to enable the rack 35 to be lifted up into approximately-vertical position and secured against the end wall of the tank conveniently by means of retaining-hooks 41 when out of use or to be dropped down and carried bodily some distance back into the recess 27, so as to partition off only the non-available space at the inner end of the recess, the position of the rack when in use being indicated clearly in dotted lines in said Fig. 4.

Vhile I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, yet it will be understood that the details thereof may be modified to some extent without departing from the invention, andI do not therefore wish to be limited to the precise details of construction shown, except as made the subject of specific claims. I claim as my invention I 1. As a new article of manufacture, a supporting-rack for cars, comprising a plurality of hinged sections, each comprising a plurality of longitudinally-arranged supportingpieces and a plurality of transversely-arranged slats secured thereon, flexible hinge connections connecting said rack-sections, the longitudinal supporting members of the rack sections being arranged to nest to gether when the rack-sectionsare foldedg l 2. As a new article of manufacture,asupporting-rack for cars, comprising a plurality.

of hinged sections,each section comprising a plurality of longitudinally-arranged support ing-pieces and aseries of transversely-an} ranged slats secured thereon and flexible hinge connections connecting said rack-sections, comprising links loosely encircling the proximate longitudinal supports of each pair ofyra'ck-sections, said longitudinal supports being suitably spaced apart to enablethem to nest together when the rack-sections are folded with the longitudinal supports facing rality of hingedsections,each comprising a plurality of longitudinally-arranged supporting-pieces and a plurality of transversely-an ranged slats secured thereon and flexible hinge connections connecting said rack-sections, securing devices flexibly connecting said rack to the body of the car adjacent to device for securing said rack in vertical position against said side wall, the hinge con-' nections between said rack-sections being arranged to permit the longitudinally-supporting members of sections to nest together when folded with the latter facing inwardly.

4. The combination with a freight-car, of a supporting-rack therefor, comprising a plurality of hinged sections, each section comprising a plurality of longitudinally-arranged supporting pieces and a series of transversely-arranged slats secured thereon, flexible hinge connections connecting said racksections, comprising links loosely encircling the proximate longitudinalsupports of each pair of rack-sections, link-and -staple connections connecting one edge of said rack to the floor of the car adjacent to the side wall thereof and hook-and-staple connections for securing said rack in'folded position against said side wall, the hinge connections between said rack-sections being adapted to permit thearack-sections to nest together when folded up against the side wall of the car, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a refrigerator freight-car, having a receptacle located in one end thereof and arranged to overhang the floor so as to leave a' space thereunder, of a movable rack hinged to the overhanging portion of said receptacle and adapted to depend therefrom to partition off the space between the receptacle, said hinge connection consisting of a plurality of eyes secured to one edge of the rack-section and eye-bars secured to the overhanging port-ion of the receptacle parallel with each other, one end of a each eye-bar being extended beneath the receptacle, whereby the rack-section is adapted 'to be carried bodily into said space beneath the receptacle so as to partition ofi a partonly of the space, and means for detachably securing said rack in folded-up position against the side of the receptacle, substantially as described. a 6; The combination with a refrigeratoncar having an ice-receptaclelocated in one end thereof, arranged in the upper portion of the car so as to overhang the floor and leave an open recess thereunder, vof a movable rack adapted to form an open flooring for the space within said recess, comprising a plurality of longitudinally-extending supports and a series of transversely-arranged slats secured thereon and means for flexibly hinging said rack to the body of the car, so as to permit it to be tilt-ed up into vertical position against the endwall of said recess, comprising a a plurality of eyepieces, secured to one edge of the rack, oorrespondinglink-bars, secured to the structure of-the car, adjacent to the end wall of the recess and parallel with each other, links connecting said eyepieces with the link-bars and means for detachably securing said rack in vertical positionagainst the end wall of the recess, substantially as shown and described.

tions of equal width hinged together to fold one upon the other with their end surfaces face to face along lines extending longitudinally of the car, the combined width of the two series of racks hinged to the opposite sides of the car being substantially equal to the width of the car so as to practically cover the fioor thereof when unfolded, and means for securing said racks in folded-up position against the side walls of the car, substantially as described.

8. A sectional supporting rack for cars, having a section thereof hinged at the angle of the side wall and floor of the car and an extensible section loosely hinged to said wallsection and adapted to be extended outwardly in prolongation thereof toward the opposite side'of the car, said hingedconnections adapting the supporting sill members of the wall and extension-sections to nest or interfold.

THOMAS E. KIRBY. Witnesses:

O. C. LINTHICUM, FREDERICK O. GooDwIN.