US788628A - Car. - Google Patents

Description

No. 788,628, PATENTED MAY 2, 1905. J.- R. BOWLING.

UAR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.FIG. 1.

No. 788,628. PATENTE'D MAY 2, 1905.

J. R. BOWLING.

GAR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 19M.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mine U66 lnveizi'alf (QWfi /M (R M No. 788,628. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

J. R. BOWLING. I

GAR.

APPLICATION FILED mm: 6. 1904.

a sums-sum a.

STATES Patented May 2, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH R. BOIVLING, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE IN- GOLDSBY AUTOMATIC CAR COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF W'EST VIRGINIA.

CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,628, dated May 2, 1905.

Application filed June 6, 1904. Serial No. 211,235.

To (1.7], 11/71/0111, it 'nuty concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrii It. BOWLING. a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to convertible cars which may be employed interchangeably for the transportation of ordinary merchandise or for carrying dumpable material, and has for its object the construction of a car of this type which may be readily converted from a car of one character to a car of the other, which will when used either as an ordinary freight-car or as a dumping-car utilize substantially the entire space within the body of said car for cargo-carrying purposes, which will as a d um ping-car permit of the convenient opening of some of the di'lmpingdoors without affecting the others, and which will effectually prevent the leakage of finely-divided material between the doors.

The invention may be defined generally as consisting of the combinations of elements embodied in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, through a car embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of said car. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. I is a corresponding view on the line 4c 4 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is an end elevation on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1, a portion of the rear of the car being broken away and showing the folding members in the position which they occupy when the car is employed to carry ordinary freight. Figs. 6 and 7 are bottom plans on the correspondingly-munbered lines of Figs. 3 and 4, showing the hinge-supports.

Describing the parts by letters, A represents the side of the car, said car being shown as of the box-car type and having a door a car may be a gondola. The car has the usual longitudinal center sills B, end sills B, and side sills B.

The bottom of the car is composed of two sets of doors C and C, the former beinghinged at or near the longitudinal center of the car and extending to the sides thereof. These doors, as is common with the doors of the Ingoldsby type of car, are provided with floorbeams c, the ends of which extend beyond the side sills B and are there engaged by the pivoted hooks (Z to hold the doors in closed position. These hooks are operated by means of a lever l) and a link (5' in the manner usual with the lngoldsby type of car.

The doors C instead of being pivoted at each side of a central ridge are pivoted at the center of the car, preferably to brackets F, carried by the longitudinal beams B. A convenient manner of pivoting these doors consists in staggering the angle-iron floor-beams c in the manner shown in Fig. 7, so that the top of the bracket is between and adjacent to the extensions (2 and c of the vertical flanges 0' ofsuch beams. The hinge-pintle 0 extends through holes in said extensions and in the top of said bracket.

In order to prevent finely-divided material from sifting through the joint between the doors C, I provide one of said doors with a plate a, the top of said plate being flush with the top of said door and being curved around the axis of the hinge center in the manner shown in Fig. I. The opposite dooris provided with a plate 0 which, like the plate 0", is flush with the top of said door, but is not curved at its inner edge, said inner edge abutting against the curved portion of the plate a. As shown in Fig. I, the curved portion 0* of the plate 0" extends somewhat more than ninety degrees around thehinge center, thereby enabling said doors to be dropped to their full extent until the doors engage the beams B or suitable bumpers carried thereby without opening up a joint between the plates 0 and 0 In order to provide for'dumping the portion of the load carried at the ends of the car withoutany material reduction of the cargo-carry ing space, I employ vertical ends a? for the car and separate dumping-doors C for said ends. Owing to the interference with the dumping of said doors by the wheels, it is necessary in order to discharge the load properly to hinge said doors C at a point far enough from the center of the car to permit them to open to sufficient distance to discharge the load readily. I accomplish this in the manner shown in Fig. 3, wherein G represents a yokeshaped bracket which is supported on the center sills B and, as shown, is provided with eyes to which the doors 0 are pivoted. Two such brackets may be employed for each of the doors G and may be attached to the sills B in any convenient manner, as by means of lugs g, having bolts g extending therethrough. The central space between the doors 0 is bridged by two folding members H, which when the caris used for carrying ordinary merchandise are in the position shown in Fig. 5 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, constituting a continuation of the floor-surface formed by the members C C. When the members H are in this position, the flooring of the car presentsasmooth unbroken surface for the storing of merchandise, providing the parts K and the members M and M have been removed.

When it is desired to use the car as a dumpcar, the members H are swung up into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, being maintained in such position by means of a ridge member K, having beveled faces 1;, against which the ends of the members H abut, said ridge member and said folding members H forming together an inverted-V-shaped deflector, by means of which the dumpable material is directed through the doors C. The rear ends of the members H abut against the end of the car and form a sufficiently tight joint therewith to prevent the loss of material between said ends and the end of the car. In order to prevent the loss of material through the space between the front ends of said members, I employ a closure L U, which may be attached to and carried by the member K and will fill the space between said members H. hen the members H are folded down, they may be supported in any suitable manner, as bya beam L resting on top of the brackets G, said beam being of sufficient thickness to receive the vertical flanges it of the floorbeams of the members H.

A convenient manner of hinging the doors C and members H to the brackets G is shown in Fig. 6, wherein it will be seen that the floor-beams h of the members H and the floorbeams c of the doors G are out of alinement a suificient distance to permit the insertion therebetween of the lug g on the upper end of the bracket G. The ends of the vertical flanges of the angle-beams c and h are extended in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 6 and are provided with eyes corresponding to the eye g in the lug g A hinge-pintle 72,

extends through the eyes of said three members. The above construction provides a simple and effective means for hinging the doors C and the members H to the yokes.

In order to prevent leakage between the doors C and members H, I employ therewith a construction similar to that employed on the doors C. The doors C, which are permitted to drop to the position shown in clotted lines in Fig. 3, are each provided with a plate 0", adjacent to the inner edge of the same and curved downwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 3. In the vicinity of the hinges it partially surrounds said hinges to protect the same from injury by the material carried in the car. The members H have each adjacent to the outer edge thereof a plate a corresponding to the plate 0 of the door C. This plate extends to the joint between the member H and the door C and is preferably curved downwardly at such junction, as shown in Fig. 3. As will be apparent from said figure, when the doors 0 are dropped an unbroken joint is preserved between said members C and H. Likewise when the car is used for purposes of ordinary transportation with the members H folded down, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, this unbroken joint is preserved.

In order to prevent leakage between the ends of the doors and the transverse beams, I employ covering members M and M. These members are all of inverted-V shape to shed the load and are of such width as to cover their corresponding cross-beams N N and bolster O and to extend over the edges of the doors adjacent to said beams and bolsters. These members may be secured in place in any convenient manner when the car is to be used as a dump car, as by means of lagscrews. The central member M extends all the way across the car; but themembers M may be made of two pieces, each extending from the side to its folding member H. In order to permit the members H to fold down and form a continuous surface with the doors 0. the beams N and bolsters 0 will be cut down in the manner shown in Fig. 5 beneath the same members H.

The intermediate doors H, forming the ridge over the trucks, may have their inner ends vertical or diagonal, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If they arediagonal, the floor-beam M carries apermanent triangular piece to fill the gap when the doors are folded down.

To close the doors 0 C, I may employ therewith operating mechanism similar to that shown in the application ofIngoldsby and Bowling, Serial No. 185,942, filed December 21, 1903. Such mechanism consists generally of longitudinal rock-shafts Q Q, journaled to the center sills and having at one end of the car rigid arms (1. Connected with these arms are chains R R, passing around a shaft 7*, which extends from a plate S to the end of the car.

Said shaft may be operated by means of a gear-Wheel r, rigid therewith, and a pinion i operated by a crank r there being a ratchet a" and pawl 0", as shown in said prior application.

In order to permit the opening and closing of some of the doors without interfering with the others, 1 have devised this construction. Rigid with the shafts Q is a series of arms T. Pivotally connected with the vertical flanges c a of the angle-iron floor-beams are the links U. A convenient manner of so connecting said links and flanges is by means of pins a, extending through said flanges and links. The lower end of each link is slotted, as shown at a, for the reception of a pin t, carried by the end of the lever T. The length of the slot w is sufficient to permit the dropping of one or more doors, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, before the pins on the arms reach the ends of the slots in the links attached to the closed doors. By rotating the shaft Q the doors may be closed and the operations of opening and closing such doors may be accomplished without interfering with the doors that have not been opened.

It will be noticed that the locking-hooks (Z, carried by the side of the car and engaging the floor-beams c, are made comparatively short in this car, so as not to ex tend above the floor-level. This allows the link d to continue along the side beneath the doorway a without obstructing the same. In order to allow the hooks (Z to be of the necessary length, I place the side sill B low, its upper edge being substantially on the floor-level, and I bend downward the floor-beams c to pass beneath it, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This is at once a simple and advantageous construction.

Beneath the doorway the link (Z has a breakable joint similar to that shown and claimed in application, Serial No. 51,656, filed by F. S. Ingoldsby March 18, 1901. This breakable joint consists of a pair of downturned members (i pivoted at (i to the alined portions of the link and pivoted to each other at d. A

pin passed through holes (1 in these members makes them rigid, allowing the whole link to operate in unison, while if the pin is withdrawn the link buckles at that point and only the portion at the operating end of the car is thrown, the other portion being locked in a suitable manner.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that I have produced a car of the shape ordinarily employed for transportation of merchandise (one having straight ends) which may be readily and quickly converted into a dumping-car and which when so converted will retain practically the full capacity that it possessed before such conversion, the only encroachment upon the space within such car being that caused by the folding up of the membersH and the insertion of the transverse protecting members M M". Compared with the total capacity of the car the space so deducted is negligible.

lVhile I have shown and described my invention as applied to a box-car, it will be apparent that it may be applied equally well to other types of car, and while IV have also described my invention in detail it will be apparent that such details may be departed from or modified more or less without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not propose to be limited to such details unless the same are positively included in the claims hereto annexed or rendered necessary by the prior state of the art.

I claim-- 1. A convertible freight and dumping car, said car having dumping-doors for the bottom thereof, said dumping-doors extending only part of the distance between the sides and the center of the car, and means for closing the intermediate space unoccupied by said doors, said means being adapted to form an inclined load-discharging surface when the car is to be used as a dumping-car and to be folded down to form a surface flush with the bottom when the car is to be used for ordinary purposes, substantially as described.

2. In a convertible freight and dumping ear, end doors for said car extending from the side part of the distance to the center, folding members filling the space between said doorswhen the car is used as an ordinary freight-car, and removable means for supporting said folding members in an inclined position and for filling the space between theup per edges thereof whereby said members may serve as distributers for dumpable material, substantially as described.

3. In a convertible freight and dumping car, end doors for said car extending from the side part of the distance to the center, folding members lilling the space between said doors when the car is used as an ordinary freigl'it-car, a ridge member adapted to engage the inner edges of said folding members to hold said members in an inclined position and to form with said members an inclined surface for the discharge of dumpable material through said doors, substantially as described.

4. In a convertible freight and dumping car, end doors for said car extending from the side part of the distance to the center, folding members filling the space between said doors when the car is used as an ordinary freight-car, a ridge member adapted to engage the inner edges of said folding members to form with said members an inclined surface for the discharge of dumpable material, and means carried by said ridge member for closing the space between the ends of said members, substantially as described.

5. In a convertible freight and dumping car, end doors for said car extending from the side part of the distance to the center, folding members filling the space between said doors when the car is used as an ordinary freight-car and adapted to be folded up to form inclined surfaces for du m pable material, the outer ends of said members fitting closely against the end of the car, and means for closing the space between the inner ends of said members, substantially as described.

a 6. Aconvertible freight and dumping car, said car having intermediate dumping-doors and end doors, said intermediate doors extending from the sides to the center of the car and said end doors extending from the sides part of the distance to the center, foldable members for the central space between the end doors and folding down toward each other with their inner edges opposed to each other and their upper surfaces flush with the adjacent end doors when the car is used as an ordinary freight-car, and means for holdingsaid members in an inclined position to form a load-discharging surface for dumpable material, substantially as described.

7. A convertible freight and dumping car, said car having a plurality of doors in the bottom thereof, floor-beams uniting the sides of said car and extending across the car between said doors,sheddingmembers extending across said bottom above the cross-beams and the edges of the doors adjacent thereto, and means for removably securing said shedding mem bers to the cross-beams, substantially as described.

8. A convertible freight and dumping car, said car having floor-beams extending across the same, doors in the bottom of said car extending between said beams, members extending above said beams and covering the same and the edges of the doors adjacent thereto, and means for securing said members removably in place above said beams, substantially as described.

9. A convertible freight and dumping car, said car having a plurality of floor-beams extending across the bottom thereof, doors in the bottom of the car extending between said beams, some of said doors extending from the sides part of the way to the center of the car, foldable members adapted to close the space between the last-mentioned doors, and ridgeshaped protecting members extending from the sides of the car to the said foldable members and covering the crossbeams and the edges of the doors adjacent thereto, substantially as described.

10. A convertible freight and dumping car, said car having doors extending between the center of the car and the sides thereof and pivoted to swing laterally of said car, a crossbeam extending between the lateral edges of said doors, a ridge member above said beam, and means for removably securing said ridge member to said beam, substantially as described.

11. In a convertible freight and dumping car, in combination with the bottom thereof,

doors hinged between the center and the sides of the car and extending, when closed, to said sides, folding members hinged adjacent to the inner edges of said doors and adapted, when folded down, to close the space between said doors with their inner edges substantially in contact, and means for forming with said folding members an inclined surface for shedding dumpable material, substantially as described.

12. In a convertible freight and dumping car, in combination with the bottom thereof, doors hinged between the center and the sides of the car and extending, when closed, to said sides, folding members hinged at the inner edges of said doors and adapted, when folded down, to close the space between said doors, and a removable ridge member for forming with said folding members an inclined surface for shedding dumpable material and for retaining said members in their inclined position, substantially as described.

13. Inacar, in combination with the bottom of said car, oppositely-swingingdoors hinged at the center of the car, one of said doors having a plate at its inner edge, said plate having a curved inner edge portion, the center of curvature of which is the hinge of the door, a plate on the other door abutting against the former plate, said former plate being curved a sufiicient distance to permit the engagement of both of said plates when both doors are dropped to their dumping positions, substantially as described.

14:. In acar, in combination with the bottom thereof, a door pivoted between the center and side of said car and extending, when closed, to the side, a foldable member extending from the inner edge of said door to the center of the car, a plate adjacent to the inner edge of said door and having a curved inner edge portion, the center of curvature of which is the pivot of the door, and a plate on said foldable member adjacent to the outer edge thereof and bearing against the inner edge of the plate on the door, the outer edge of said plate being bent downwardly, whereby a tight joint is formed between said door and said member, substantially as described.

15. In acar, in combination with the bottom thereof, center sills extending longitudinally of said car beneath the bottom, brackets secured to said sills, said brackets having upwardly extending arms, folding members pivoted to the upper ends of said arms and adapted to swing inwardly to form a portion of the floor, and a supporting member resting on said brackets and supporting the inner edges of said folding members, substantially as described.

16. In a car, in combination with the bottom thereof, a door extending from the center of the car to the side thereof when closed, center sills below said bottom, a bracket supported by said sills, said bracket having a cen- IIO tral upwardly extending portion provided with an eye, and means for hinging said door to said eye, substantially as described.

17. In acar, in combination with the bottom thereof, center sills extending longitudinally of said car, a bracket supported by said sills and having a central portion with an eye adjacent to the upper end thereof, a door extending from the center of the car to the side thereof, an angle-iron floor-beam beneath said door, said beam having a vertical de pending flange, said flange being extended to the inner edge of the door and there provided with an eye, and a hinge-pintle extending through the eyes of the flange and bracket, substantially as described.

18. In a car, in combination with the bottom thereof, center sills extending longitudinally beneath said bottom, a pair of oppositely-disposed doors extending from the center of the car to the sides thereof when closed, a bracket supported by said center sills and having an upwardly-extending portion provided near its upper end with an eye, a floor-beam secured to each of said doors, each of said floor-beams having a depending flange at the inner edge of the door and there formed with an eye, said beams being arranged to receive between them the upper extremity of the bracket and being provided each with an eye in alinement with the eye of the bracket, and a hinge-pintle extending through said eyes, substantially as described.

19. In a car, in combination with the bottom thereof, center sills extending beneath said bottom, a bracket supported by said sills and having at each upper end an eye, doors hinged to said eyes and extending to the sides of the car, and foldable members also hinged to the eyes of said bracket and adapted to close the space between said doors, substantially as described.

20. In a car, in combination with the bottom thereof, doors for said bottom, an operatingshaft extending beneath said doors, means for operating said shaft, and connections between said shaft and said doors, said connections being constructed to permit one or more of said doors to be opened and'closed Without affecting the other door or doors, substantially as.

rigid with said shaft, and links connecting said arms and doors, said links being constructed to allow lost motion of said arms, whereby one or more of said doors may be opened and closed without affecting the other door or doors, substantially as described.

22. In a car, in combination with the bottom thereof, doors for said bottom, a shaft for said doors, means for rotating said shaft, arms rigid with said shaft, and links pivotallyconnected at one end with said doors, the other ends of said links being provided with a slot, and a pin on each of said arms engaging said slot, the length of said slot being suflicient to permit the dumping of one or more of said doors without affecting the other door or doors, substantially as described.

23. In a convertible freight and dumping car, the combination of side sills, a dumping door forming a portion of the floor of said car and having its upper surface when closed flush with the top of said sill, mechanism comprising hooks and a link carried by a side sill for holding such door elevated, said mechanism at the doorway being no higher than the side sill, and a doorway in the side reaching to the top of the side sill, substantiallyas described.

Qet. In a convertible freight and dump car having a doorway in the side, the combination of dumping-doors forming a portion of the floor of said car, hooks carried by the side sills of the car and having their upper ends at least as low as the floor-level, and floor-beams for the dumping-doors bent downward at their ends to pass beneath the side sills and be en gagcd by the hooks, substantially as described.

25. In a convertible freight and dumping car, the combination of side sills, dumping doors forming a portion of the floor of said car and having their upper surfaces when closed flush with the top of said sills, mechanism carried by a side sill of the car for holding such doors elevated, and a breaking joint in said mechanism located on the outer side of the sill and beneath the doorway and operating to allow one door to be dumped without the other, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aliix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH R. BOWLING.

IVitnesses:

ALLnN U. Onmox, (J1me. lrl. Muanoen.

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