US800691A - Car-door. - Google Patents

Description

BATENTED 0011.3, 1905.

GA'R DOOR.

W, D. THOMPSON.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 19, 1904.

meow 6M 4 FFICE.

l/VILLIAM D. THOMPSON OF DETRO [T, MICHIGAN.

CAR-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed December 19, 1904. Serial No. 237,436.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM D. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of \Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates generally to sliding doors for freightcars; and it consists, primarily, in novel and simple mechanism for hanging or suspending the door whereby its top joint will be effectively guarded to exclude rain, snow, dust, &c., the track and roller parts of 'the hangers protected from the weather, permitting the door at all times to be readily opened or closed and, finally, the door held by friction against swinging movement in either direction when unfastened.

The invention further consists in certain details of construction and in the peculiar arrangement and combination of the various parts, as will be hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a sectional view, in front elevation, of a car and door and my improved means for suspending the door. Fig. 2 is a section taken on line w w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the door-hangers, and Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective view of the guard.

The reference-letter A represents a freight-* car of any ordinary construction, provided with suitable door-opening B.

C represents the door, E the door-hangers, and F the track upon which the hangers travel.

The preferable construction of the track is in the form of a housing, which I have here shown as consisting of a filler-block G, extending longitudinally of the car immediately above the doorway, and an angle-plate H, one side a of which is connected to the outer face of the filler-block, and the other side or tread portion 7) extends inwardly toward the car at some distance below the block forming the space or housing within which the rollers of the hangers are adapted to travel. By this method of construction it will be obvious that the track and roller members of the hangers are covered, and thus protected from the weather, while at the same time the housing itself forms an effective joint-guard for the purpose previously set forth.

As a matter of reference, the filler-block has its outer face recessed, as at c, and the vertical member a of the guard-plate H is fitted within this recess, as plainly indicated in Fig. 2.

The hangers E comprise each a door-plate (Z, attached in any suitable manner to the door C, a roller-supporting bracket 6, carrying a yoke member f, in which is journaled a roller g and preferably a wear-plate it. The parts of the hanger are so constructed that when in place the roller will engage the transverse or tread portion 6 of the guard-plate, while the wear-plate 7L will frictionally engage the vertical member 0. Suitable stop-blocks (4', arranged within the housing ends, limit the travel of the door in either direction.

To prevent the swinging of the door from side to side when unfastened, I preferably taper or incline the track so that the door will tend normally to contact with the side of the car, thereby bringing the wear-plate h in contact with the guard and the lower portion of the door in contact with the car side. This frictional engagement is sufficient to produce the results desired. Where a downwardlyinclined tread, as Z), is used for the purpose set forth, the yoke member f of the hangers is correspondingly inclined, so that the rollers Q will make proper contact with the track.

From the description of my invention as set forth it will be readily seen that the housing may be formed with but a single angleplate, which simplifies the construction and reduces the expense materially; also, that this plate will constitute an effective guard for the door-joint, and thus dispense with the necessity of having an additional hood or cover for the joint, as is required in the present construction of cars.

As shown in the drawings, the Wear-plate extends on the outside of the guardplate above the tread, so that there is no tendency for the wear-plate to act as a fulcrum to throw the door out of the vertical plane. The rollers are substantially in a vertical plane with the weight center of the door, and thus the whole construction tends to keep the door in a vertical plane, which is of course a most desirable feature.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination of a car provided with a suitable doorway, a vertical guard-plate arranged above said doorway, to protect the upper joint of the sliding door, a tread member extending inwardly and "inclined downwardlyfrom the guard-plate, the sliding door, and hangers for the door, cylindrical rollers IIO therein engaging the inclined tread journaled parallel thereto.

2. The combination with a car provided with a suitable doorway, a vertical guardplate arranged above said doorway protecting the upper joint of the sliding door, a tread member extending inwardly and inclined downwardly from the guard-plate, a sliding door, hangers for the door, rollers therein engaging the inclined tread and journaled parallel thereto, and means for limiting the inward lateral movement of the door.

3. The combination with a car provided with a suitable doorway, of a sliding door therefor, a vertical guardplate arranged above said doorway and protecting the upper joint of the sliding door, a tread member extending inwardly and downwardly from the guard-plate, and hangers for the door comprising a door-plate attached to the outer side of the door, a roller-supporting bracket, a yoke member thereon, a rollerjournaled therein parallel with the tread member of said guard-plate and substantially above the center of Weight of said door whereby said door tends to hang vertically.

4. The combination with a car provided with a suitable doorway, asliding door therefor, a vertical guard-plate arranged above said doorway and protecting the upper joint of said door, a tread member extending inward] y and downwardly from the guard-plate, hangers for the door, rollers therein engaging the inclined tread and journaled parallel thereto, and wear-plates on said hangers engaging said guard-plate and extending above said tread for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM D. THOMPSON.

WVitnesses:

H. 0. SMITH, ED. D. AULT.

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