MANUALLY OR AUTOMATICALLY ACTUATED CLOSURE OPERATING MECHANISM LOCK

• US 3,625,159 A
• Filed: 07/02/1969
• Issued: 12/07/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pullman Standard, Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Charles R. Radey, James J. Schuller
• Inventors: Schuller, James J., Radey, Charles R.
• Primary Examiner(s): La Point, Arthur L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Beltran, Howard
• Application Number:
  US04/838,713
• Time in Patent Office: 888 Days
• Field of Search: 105/241,241C,250,251,286,296,304,309,310,313
• US Class Current: 105/91
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 7/30 controlled by means external to cars

Abstract

In a railroad hopper car, hopper door-operating means operable automatically between open and closed positions by ground-mounted door-actuating structure and/or opened by manually operated railroad car-mounted means, the door-operating mechanism including a crank mechanism and drive lever therefor rotatably mounted about a vertical axis of the car, said crank mechanism in the closed position being overcenter against a stop and being swingable past the overcenter position to the open door position, and pivotally mounted auxiliary lock bar means automatically positionable from an elevated out-of-way position to a horizontal position obstructing movement of the crank mechanism past the overcenter position, and vice versa with manual means for raising the lock bar to the inoperative position and lowering the same to the operative position, said manual means including a handwheel and gear means operable upon a cam element engageable with a push rod for pivoting the lock bar between raised inoperative and lowered operative positions.

Claims

1. In a railroad hopper car, a door-operating mechanism for opening and closing the hopper doors including a crank means adapted for engagement with a ground-mounted cam track adapted to open and close the hopper car doors, said crank means being provided with a car-mounted overcenter stop against which the crank means rests in the door-closed position of the door-operating mechanism, lock means being mounted on the car for movement between an outof-use or inoperative position to an operative position in the path of movement of the crank means for preventing movement of the latter to the door-open position, cam means carried by the car, means engageable with the cam means and moving the lock means to the out-of-use position, said lock means including a lock bar pivotally mounted for swinging movement about a horizontal axis from an elevated outof-use position to a horizontal operative position in the path of movement of the crank means, said means engageable with the cam means including a push rod mounted on the car and engageable with said lock bar and manual means including a manual drive structure operatively connected with the cam means for rotating same for engaging and moving the push rod into engagement with the bar attendant to pivoting the lock bar between horizontal operative position, blocking movement of the crank means, to an elevated inoperative position.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and said crank means including a drive lever mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and engageable with the cam track.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and said crank means including a crank arm engageable with said overcEnter stop in the closed-door position of the door-operating mechanism.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and said manual drive structure including a handwheel and transmission means operatively connected therewith, said transmission means including a gear for rotatively connecting with cam means for rotation of the latter for movement of the push rod.