US692937A - Freight-car door. - Google Patents

Description

No. 692,937. Patented Feb. H, I902.

S. J. SMITH.

v FREIGHT OAR DOOR. I (Ap pliatinn med mm 0, 1900.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT @EEICE.

STANSBURYJAOOB SMITH, or PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS.

FREIGHT-CAR coon.

IFIC forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,937, dated. February 11, 1902 I Application filed November 9, 1900; Serial ll'o. 35,935. (No model.)

To all whom it Hwy-concern.-

Be it known that I, STANSBURY JACOB SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pine Bluff, in the county of Jeiferson and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and useful Freight-Oar Door, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in freight-car doors.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of freight-car doors and to provide a simple and inexpensive one which will be spark-proof and which will not swing inward and outward in looking and unlocking it, but will be adapted to move over a smooth surface of the car in sliding it to and from the door-opening.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of this character which will not require the door-opening to be framed in order to secure a spark-proof structure.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts 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 provided with a car-door constructed in. accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views on lines 3 3 and 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the upper portion of the car, illustrating the arrangement of the beveled tongues of the door.

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

1 designates a sliding freight-car door supported by hangers 2 and 3 and suspended from a longitudinal track 4, extending horizontally along the side of the car 5, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings. The car 5 is provided with a dooropening, and it has an abutting strip or bar 6 at one side of the-opening to be engaged by the front vertical edge of the door when the latter is closed, and the rest of the exterior surface of the car over which the sliding doorv moves is smooth. The door overlaps the side of the car sufliciently at each side of i the door-opening to effect a tight joint and to obviate the necessity of framing the dooropening and the consequent swinging of the door inward and outward to arrange it within such a framework and to remove it therefrom. The track 4 is provided at its outer face with an upwardly-extending longitudinal flange 7, and the lower body portion of the track is provided at its inner edge with openings or recesses 8 and 9, arranged to receive beveled tongues or projections 11 and 12 of the door when the latter is closed, whereby the door is firmly interlocked with the track.

-When the door is closed, it is moved vertically by the means hereinafter described to carry the tongues 11 and 12 into the recesses of the track, and the beveled ends of the said tongues form guides for directing the tongues into the recesses,'and they cause the door to be drawn tightly against the track. The tongues also operate to resist any longitudinal movement of the door when the latter is closed, and they thereby relieve the locking device, hereinafter explained, of strain.

The hanger 2, which is secured to the door near the front end thereof, is provided with a rearwardlyextending hook-shaped upper portion 13, forming a housing for a roller 14 and extending downward and rearward behind the upwardly-extending flange 7 of the track 4. The roller is provided at its outer end with a beveled flange 15, which is arranged to engage the track and cause the door'through gravity to force itself outward sufficiently to clear the'outer face'of the track and prevent the hangers from binding'against the same when the door is opened and closed. The bevel of the tongues, whichare located at the inner face of the door, draws the latter inward'tightly when the said door is locked.

The hanger 3, which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, is provided with a hook-shaped upper portion 16', having a beveled inner face 17, arranged approximately in the same plane as the lower portionof the beveled flange of the pulley l4 and adapted to operate in a similar manner to free the door sufficiently to enable it to slide smoothly-on the track without binding against the same.

The door is provided at its lower edge with wear-plates 18 and 19, approximately L- shaped in cross-section and adapted to be engaged by arms -20 and 21 of a rock-shaft 22, which is adapted to force the door upward to carry the tongues of the top of the door into the recesses of the track. The rock-shaft, which is journaled in suitable bearings of the car at the bottom of the door, is provided with acentral operating-arm 22',and the plates 18 and 19 are arranged on the front face and bottom edge of the door, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. The arm 22 is provided at its outer end with a loop 23, and itis adapted to be arranged on a staple 24 and to be secured and sealed in any suitable manner.

The door is engaged at its lower edge by suitable catches 25, hinged at their rear ends at 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and provided at their outer ends with lips or flanges 27 for engaging the front face of the door when the latter is closed. The swinging catches 25, which may be mounted in any suitable manner and which are engaged by the arms at the ends of the rock-shaft, are preferably hinged to the side sill 28 of the car and are arranged in suitable recesses 29 v to provide the necessary play'or movement to engage the flange with and disengage it from the door when the latter is elevated and to also allow for the verticalmovement of the door. The rear or hinged end of the catch is preferably bent downward to form a flange 30 to engage the inner face of the sill to re lieve the pintle of the hinge of strain when the car-door is subjected to pressure from within the car. When the operating-arm of the rock-shaft is swung downward, the door is lowered sufficiently to disengage the tongues from the recesses or openings of the track and the hinged catches drop out of engagement with the lower edge of the door. The car is provided with suitable guide-brackets 31, arranged to prevent the door from swinging outward from the car.

It will be seen that the freight-car door is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to make a sparkproof joint or connection without framing the door-opening and without the swinging move ment incident to such construction, and that the side of the car presents a smooth surface to the door. It will also be apparent that when the door is closed it is firmly interlocked with the track and that when the door is unlocked its weight frees it from the track and prevents it from binding against the same in sliding longitudinally thereof. Furthermore, it will be apparent that when the door is unlocked and is moved away from the openings or recesses of the track the tongues or projections will lie below the said track and will prevent the door from becoming disengaged from the same; also, when the hinged catches at the bottom of the door move upward their engaging ends swing inward toward the car and cause the door to be clamped tightly against the same. When the hinged catches move downward or backward, their engaging portions swing outward, slightly to free the door and they drop out of engagement with the same.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims .may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a car, of a track mounted on the car and provided at its inner face with openings, a car-door provided with beveled tongues arranged to engage the inner faces of the track at the openings, and hangers suspending the car-door from the track, substantially as described. I

2. The combination with a car, of a track having an opening, a car-door capable of vertical movement and provided with a tongue arranged to engage the opening, a hanger suspending the car-door from the track, and means for raising the door, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a car, of a track having an opening, a door having a tongue to engage the opening, and a hanger having a beveled face arranged to engage the track whereby the said hanger is adapted to clear the outer face of the track, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a car, of a track mounted thereon, a vertically-movable cardoor, and a suspending device arranged to run on the track and carrying a beveled face located above the track when the door is closed and in an elevated position and arranged to engage the track and move the door outward when the latter is lowered, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination with a car having a track, of a door, and a hanger suspending the door from the track and provided with a roller having a beveled flange at its outer end arranged to force the hanger slightly from the track to preventbinding, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination with a car, of a track mounted thereon, a car-door provided with hangers to engage the track and capable of vertical movement, said door being provided with means for interlocking it with the track when it is raised, and means for raising the car-door, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a car having a outward from the interior of the car and 10-.

cated beneath and capable of engaging the bottom of the car-door, and a rock-shaft jourand provided with inner and outer flanges arranged to engage the car and the door, and means for operating the catch and the door, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my ownI'have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

STANSBURY JACOB SMITH.

Witnesses:

JNo. L; MILLS, HENRY ROBERTS

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