US859793A - Stock-car. - Google Patents

Description

No. 859,793. I 'PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.. G. w. WINTERS. I

STOCK GAR. APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 10, 1908- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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gji v/wyw m: NBRRIS PETERS co, WASHINGTON. B4 c No. 959.793. PATBNTED JULY 9, 1907.

G. w. WINTERS.

STOCK GAR.

APPLICATION FILED NOY.10,1906.

'3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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w Rm NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. WINTERS, OF WIOHITA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ARMlN R. FRIEDEMAN, OF GREAT BEND, KANSAS.

STOCK-GAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

Application filed November 10,1906. Serial No. 342,846.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WINTERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wichita, in the county of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stock-Oars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stock cars of the type employed for transmitting live stock and resides chiefly in providing the cars with end doors to be opened for throwing the cars into communication one with another whereby the animals may be entered at one end of a train and driven therethrough from one car to another, thus facilitating the loading operation, the invention further residing in equipping the cars with foldable end platforms through the medium of which the spaces between the cars may be bridged for insuring ready and safe passage of the animals from one car to another and also in providing the tops of the cars with openings through which prods or other implements may be manipulated for driving the animals through the train during the loading operation.

The invention has for its objects to provide a comparatively simple form of door which may be inexpensively installed for use, one wherein the doors may be conveniently opened or closed, one in which the doors will when in open position serve to effectually vestibule the train, and one in which the platforms may be quickly and properly manipulated and will when in normal, closed position serve to lock the doors in closed position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and efiicient mechanism through the medium of which the doors may be readily opened or closed, and one wherein the movements of the parts will be controlled by a single operating-memberdisposed for convenient operation at the top of the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement of doors for closing the openings whereby the doors will, when in open position, conjointly form upon the top of the car a wide, level platform on which the attendants may safely travel while driving the animals through the train.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises the novel features of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a'pair of cars equipped with devices embodying the invention and showing the doors and platforms in open position for vestibuling the cars. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of one of the cars, showing the parts on a larger scale and with the doors closed and the ings or doorways 4 adapted to be closed by means of a l plurality of doors 5, 6 and 7, of which the doors 5 and 6 are hinged respectively to the opposite, adjacent frame members or stiles 8 through the medium of vertical pin= ions or rods 9 entered through hinge members 10 and 11 and equipped at their upper ends with fixed sprocket pinions 12, the hinges 11 being fixed for movement with the rods, while the intermediate door 7 is hinged to the adjacent edge of door 6 by means of a vertical pintle or rod 13 extended through hinge members l4, l5, and equipped at its upper end with a toothed pinion 16, the hinge members 15 being fixed for movement with the pintle rod 13, as in the instance of the hinge l1 and for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

Arranged for travel on the pinions 12 and connecting the rods 9 for operation one from the other is a sprocket chain 17, crossed as shown to adapt the rods for relatively reverse rotation, while the pinion 16 is in mesh with the teeth of a rack bar 18 fixed between its ends to the top of the door 6 and having journaled at its inner end a guide roller 19 arranged for travel in a curved guide slot or way 20 formed between a pair of correspondingly curved guide rails 21 terminally attached to the frame work of the car above the door 6 J ournaled in suitable bearings on the frame work of the car and above the doorway is a vertically movable, rotary operating' member or shaft 22 provided at its upper end with a hand wheel 23 and having at a point between its ends a squared portion 234 on which is fitted a pinion 24 in mesh with a gear 25 in turn fixed upon the upper end of the adjacent rod 9, there being fitted on the portion 23 of the shaft 22 near its lower end a worm 26 in mesh with a worm gear 27 fixed on a rotary druln shaft 28 extended horizontally across the car above the doorway 4 and journaled at its ends in suitable bearings 29.

Journaled at 30 on the sill 3 to swing in a vertical plane toward and from the end of the car is a platform 31 provided at its ends and in line at its upper edge with perforated ears 32 adapted, when the platform is folded,-

to seat over keepers 33 in the form of staples fixed on the car frame in position to receive the lower ends of vertically movable locking members or bolts 34 slidably disposed in bearings 35 and engaged at their upper ends with flexible operating elements or cables 36 in turn engaged at their upper ends with a hand piece or ring 37 through the medium of which both elements may be actuated for effecting a simultaneous movement of the locking bolts, it being noted that one of the elemeiits is led over suitable guide pulleys 38 to its point of engagement with the ring 37 which may be normally engaged with a suitable supporting member or hook 39 fixed at the top of the car. It is to be observed in this connection that the bolts 34 serve to lock the platform in normal, vertical, edgewise position and that the platform, when in such position, stands in front of and in contact with the outer faces of the doors for maintaining the latter in closed condition.

Engaged at their upper ends with and to be wound upon suitable drums 40 provided adjacent the ends of the shaft 28 is a pair of flexible connections preferably in the form of chains 41 having their lower ends engaged with the outer edge of the platform 31 and respectively at points adjacent the ends of the latter, the chains being arranged for travel between their ends over guide rollers 42 journaled in bearings fixed to the framework of the car, it being understood that when the shaft 28 is rotated in one direction the chains will be wound on the drums for raising the platform, while a reverse rotation of the shaft will unwind the chains for lowering the platform to horizontal position.

Provided in the top of the car, which is equipped as usual with a central, longitudinal footboard 43, is a series of openings 44 arranged in two rows at opposite sides of the footboard and spaced in a direction longitudinally of the car, said openings being surrounded by marginal, upstanding frames 45 and adapted to be closed by trap doors 46 hinged at their inner edges as at 47 to the frames and adapted when opened to swing inward to a horizontal position and rest at their outer edges on the footboard 43 whereby the trap doors will conjointly form a wide, level platform on which the attendants may travel while prodding the animals, through the openings 44, to drive them from one car to another.

In practice, when arranging the cars to be loaded, the ring 37 is grasped and upward traction exerted on the flexible connections 36 to withdraw the bolts 34 from the keepers 33 and release the platform, after which the operating shaft 22 is rotated from left to right, thereby serving through the gear connections 26, 27, with shaft 28'to rotate the latter in the direction for unwinding the chains 41 and lowering the platform. During the operation of the shaft 22 the pinion 24 will act upon gear 25 for rotating the adjacent rod 9 to swing the door 5 outward, motion being transmitted from said rod to the other rod 9 through the medium of the chain 17, thereby swinging the door 6 outward to open position. As the door moves outward the rack bar 18 will, owing to the roller 19 traveling in the curved guideway 20, be carried to the position seen in Fig. 3 and will, during its movement, act upon the pinion 16 for rotating the rod 13 and folding the door 7 inward against the inner face of the door 6, it being understood, of course, that a reverse rotation of the operating shaft 22 will change the direction of rotation of the rods 9 and 13 to close the doors and at the same time rotate the shaft 28 in the proper direction for winding the chains 41 and raising the platform 31. Should it prove desirable at any time to close the doors without moving the adjacent platform, the shaft 22 is moved vertically upward for carrying the squared portion 23 thereof out of engagement with the worm gear 26, whereby of engagement with pinion 24, whereupon the worm 26 I alone will turn with the shaft and the pinion 24 remain I idle. When the doors and platform areto be moved ed simultaneously the shaft is adjusted with its squared portion in engagement with both the pinion and worm gear, as will be understood. It will be observed that the door sections when moved to open position, as in Fig. 1, serve to vestibule the cars, thus to insure safe travel of the animals from one car to another, and further that the platforms will, when lowered, properly bridge the spaces between the ends of the car, thereby forming floors for the vestibules and enhancing the safe passage of the animals from car to car. Furthermore, it is apparent that an entire train of cars may, under this construction, be loaded by entering the animals at one end of the frame and causing them to travel from car to car, in which operation the attendants on top of the cars may manipulate suitable prods through the openings'44 for driving the animals through the train.

It is to be understood that while the invention is described herein for use especially on cattle cars, it is equally adaptable to other freight cars to facilitate loading thereof with lumber, rails, ties and the like. Also it will be understood that the doors will be maintained properly closed by the platforms 31, and furthermore in the event of the door operating mechanism becoming disordered the doors may be conveniently opened by hand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A car having a doorway, a plurality of doors for closing the same, a pair of said doors being hingedly connected one with the other, and means adapted when one of said pair of doors is moved to open position to fold the other door thereagainst.

2. A car having a doorway, a plurality of doors for closing the same, a pair of said doors being hingedly' connected one with the other, and means including a rack and pinion connection adapted when one of said pair of doors is moved to open position to fold the other door thereagainst.

3. A car having a doorway, a plurality of doors for closing the same, means including a rod or pintle for hingedly connecting a pair of said doors one with the other, said pintle being fixed to and for swinging one of the doors and adapted for rotation relative to the other, a pinion fixed on said pintle, a rack in mesh with the pinion and adapted for movement with one of said pair of doors and to act with the pinion for folding the doors relatively one upon the other.

4. A car having a doorway, a plurality of doors there for, means for simultaneously opening and closing the doors, a platform hinged to fold up against the outside of the doors when the latter are in closed position, bolts on the car adapted to lock the platform in raised position, flexible elements connected with the bolts, pulleys on the car for guiding the elements, and a common means for simultaneously actuating the elements.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. WINTERS.

Witnesses: I

Jos. Tnolusox, CL. WILcKnNs.

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