US787571A - Door arrangement for hopper-cars. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTBD APR. 18, 1905 J. M.H ANSEN. DOOR ARRANGEMENT FOR HOPPER CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.10. 1905.

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UNITED STATES Patented April 18, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

DOOR ARRANGEMENT FOR HOPPER-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,571, dated April 18, 1905.

I Application filed February 10, 1905. Serial Nb. 245.164.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HANS EN, a resident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have'invented a new and useful Improvement in Door Arrangements for Hopper-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to a door arrangement for hopper-cars, and more especially to the manner of mounting the same.

The object is to so mount the doors of hopper-bottom cars that when swinging open there will be the maximum clearance between the lower edges of the doors and track, thus permitting the hoppers of the car to be built closer down to the track and correspondingly increasing the cubical contents of the car.

In hopper-cars it is desirable to locate the doors down 'as low as possible, so as to either increase the cubical contents of the car or lower its point of specific gravity. The swinging doors, however, limit the closeness with which the hopper can approach the track. Usually such doors are placed inclined or horizontal and in swinging open the lower edge describes an arc, so that when the door has reached a vertical position the lower "edge thereof will be much closer to the track than when the door is closed. Heretofore such doors have usually been' mounted on hinged connections attached to and practically in the plane of the door.

The object of the present invention is to so mount the swinging doors that the clearance between the lower edges of the doors and track will be increased.

To this end the invention consists, generally stated, in locating the pivots of the door inside of the hopper, or at least inside of the plane of the door. As a consequence,wl1en the door swings open the lower edge thereof will not approach as close to the track as with prior door constructions, the portion of the are described by the lower edge of the door which approaches the track being much shorter than usual.

The invention also consists in details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the hopper of a car, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the hopper; and Fig. 3 is a section taken at right angles to Fig. 2 and on the line 3 3,

v Fig. 1.

My improved door arrangement may be applied to any construction of hopper-car, either wooden or metal, and irrespective of whether the doors are in inclined or horizontal position when closed. The drawings show only a small portion of the car. The center sill is shown at 1 and the car sides at 2,-these being of metal and the car side being strengthened at its bottom by the angle-rail 3. The inside hopper-sheet is shown at 4 and the out side hopper-sheet at 5.

6 and 7 represent the inclined hopper-plates, and 8 the door closing the hopper-opening. In the arrangement shown the hopper is arranged transversely of the car, but this is immaterial, as the invention is equally applicable to longitudinally arranged hoppers. The doors 8, as is preferable with this type of car, are arranged in pairs, one on either side of the car center, and are connected by the transverse beam 10, formed of bulb-angles or the like. The door operating or closing mech anism may be of any suitable type, either links 11 and 12, connected to a crank 13 on an operating-shaft 14:, or the usual chain and winding mechanism. The ,particular form illustrated is old and forms no part of the present invention.

The doors themselves may be either wood or metal, those shown in the drawings being metal plates flanged on their upper and two side edges. Connected to the doors are the hinge-straps 16, which are bent inwardly at an angle to the plane of the door, as at 17, and are provided at their inner ends with suitable hinge-eyes. The hopper-plates 7'are slotted, as at 18, and the bent ends 17 of the hinge-straps project throughthese slots to the inside of the hopper and are pivoted at 20 at a point a considerable distance inside of the plane of the door. The cooperating hingebutts may be of anysuitable form, but preferably being cast or pressed hoods 21, so as to cover the slot 19 and prevent the escape of the lading.

When the door swings open, its lower edge will describe the are shown in Fig. 2. The minor portion of this arcthat is, up to the point 22approaches the track, while the major portionthat is, the portion from the point 22-recedes from the track. This is due to the fact that the hinge pivot or axis is located inside of the plane of the door. The farther said axis is projected inside of the hopper the less will be the approach of the lower edge of the door to the track in swinging open.

The arrangement may be varied considerably in details of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is not material just how the hinging of the door is effected, providing that the axis of the hinge is located inside of the plane of the door. This arrangement can be applied to any character of car or hopper and even to a car having horizontal doors flush with the carbody. All such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is 1. The combination of acar-body having a door-opening, adoor therefor. hinges connected to the door and extending at an angle thereto, and cooperating hinge-butts to which the hinges are pivoted, the axes of said hinges being located inside the plane of the door.

2. The combination of a car-body havinga door opening, a door therefor mounted to swing on horizontal pivots, hinges connected to the door and extending at an angle thereto, and cooperating hinge butts to which the hinges are pivoted, the axes of said hinges being located inside the plane of the door.

3. The combination of a car-body having a door-opening and having slotted walls adjacent to said door-opening, a door therefor,

hinges connected to the door and extending at an angle therefrom and through the slots in the car-walls, and cooperating hinge-butts to which the hinges are pivoted, the axes of said hinges being located inside the car-body.

4. The combination of a car-body havinga door-opening and slotted walls adjacent to said opening, a door therefor, hinges connected to the door and extending at an angle therefrom and through the slots in the wall of the carbody, and hooded butts located inside the carbody and over the slots in the walls thereof, and provided with means for the attachment of the hinges thereto.

5. The combination of a car-body, a downwardly projecting hopper having inclined hopper-sheets and provided with a door-opening and with slots in the hopper-sheets, a door, hinges connected to the door and extending at an angle therefrom and through the slots in the hopper-sheets, and cooperating hinge-butts to which the hinges are pivoted, the pivots of said hinges being located inside the car-body.

6. The combination of acar-body, a downwardly-projecting hopper therefor having inclined hopper-sheets provided with a dooropening and with slots adjacent to said open ing hooded members secured to the hopperplates inside of the hopper and over the slots in the hopper-plates, a door, and hinges connected to said door and extending at an angle therefrom and through the slots in the hopper-sheets and into the hooded members and being pivoted to said hooded members inside of the hopper-sheets.

In testimony whereof I, the said JOHN M. HANSEN, have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN M. HANSEN.

Witnesses:

ROBERT C. TOTTEN, J. R. KELLER.

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