Railway hopper car closure actuating mechanism
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for a railway hopper car that opens and closes a door hinged on a bottom of a hopper comprising:
- an operating linkage slidably mounted on the bottom of the car,a pivoting lever and link arrangement pivotally connected between the operating linkage and the door for pivoting the door between open and closed positions in response to sliding movement of the operating linkage,a locking bar slidably mounted on the bottom of the car hopper for moving between locked and unlocked positions,said locking bar in the locked position engaging the door in the closed position to hold the door closed, anda lock actuator assembly having a drive connection that is separate from the connection between said lever and link arrangement and the operating linkage and being operated by the operating linkage for moving the locking bar to the unlocked position attendant to having the operating linkage move and operate the lever and link arrangement to subsequently open the unlocked door.
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Abstract
An apparatus for pivoting and locking a door on the bottom of a rail hopper car includes a locking mechanism for locking the door when closed and a lever mechanism for pivoting the door between closed and open positions. The locking mechanism and lever mechanism are separate but are operated by a single sliding operating linkage on the bottom of the car.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An apparatus for a railway hopper car that opens and closes a door hinged on a bottom of a hopper comprising:
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an operating linkage slidably mounted on the bottom of the car, a pivoting lever and link arrangement pivotally connected between the operating linkage and the door for pivoting the door between open and closed positions in response to sliding movement of the operating linkage, a locking bar slidably mounted on the bottom of the car hopper for moving between locked and unlocked positions, said locking bar in the locked position engaging the door in the closed position to hold the door closed, and a lock actuator assembly having a drive connection that is separate from the connection between said lever and link arrangement and the operating linkage and being operated by the operating linkage for moving the locking bar to the unlocked position attendant to having the operating linkage move and operate the lever and link arrangement to subsequently open the unlocked door. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for opening and closing a door hinged on the bottom of a railway car or the like comprising:
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an operating linkage slidably mounted on the bottom of the car, means connected between the operating linkage and the door for pivoting the door between open and closed positions in response to movement of the operating linkage over a first range of movement thereof, a locking bar for engaging the door in a closed position to hold the door closed, means connected between the locking bar and the operating linkage for moving the locking bar between door locking and unlocking positions in response to movement of the operating linkage over a second range of movement thereof, a drive pivot lever extending transverse to the operating linkage and pivotally connected at one end thereof to the operating linkage, means for applying a pivoting force to the other end of the drive pivot lever, a fulcrum mounted on the car for engaging the lever at a first point which is located so that a relatively small pivoting force is required to move the lever through said second range of movement of the operating linkage, means providing another fulcrum mounted on the car for engaging the lever at the second point which is spaced from said first point toward the other end of the lever, said lever engaging said other fulcrum after the operating linkage has been moved through said second range of movement.
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8. For a railway hopper car having a bottom discharge opening and including a pivotally mounted hopper door movable between a closed position covering said discharge opening and an open position away from said discharge opening, a door operating mechanism for moving said door between said open and closed positions comprising:
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an operating linkage slidably mounted on the bottom of the car, linkage means operatively connected between said operating linkage and said door for pivoting said door between said open and closed positions attendant to sliding movement of said operating linkage, door locking means including a locking bar movable between a door engaging locked position and an unlocked position, said door locking means including lock actuating means operatively connected between said operating linkage and said locking bar for moving said locking bar between said locked and unlocked positions attendant to sliding movement of said operating linkage, and means for moving said operating linkage. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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Specification