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Pilferage deterrent device for lading, carrying vehicles, such as boxcars and the like

  • US 4,598,941 A
  • Filed: 08/04/1983
  • Issued: 07/08/1986
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/02/1981
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A pilferage deterrent device for a door assembly for a lading carrying vehicle having a floor and vertical side and end walls upwardly therefrom to form an enclosure and a door opening leading through at least one of said walls a door movable from an open position into a position in alignment with the door opening and into the door opening in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the side of the door, a keeper recessed in a side wall of the vehicle adjacent the door opening and extending parallel to the plane of the door, a latch extending along the door and parallel thereto beyond the door opening, a pivot for said latch eccetric of the center thereof, enabling said latch to drop to a latched position by gravity, said latch having a free end portion extending at right angles to the plane of the door and having an advance strike surface engageable with said keeper, a camming surface extending from said strike surface in a direction toward the outer side of the door when the latch is in its locked position and a latching surface engageable with said keeper to retain the door from outward movement relative to the door opening, a trigger pivoted for movement about an axis outside of the limits of said latch but within the extended margins thereof and parallel to the pivotal axis of the latch, said trigger serving as a hidden release for the latch and having a camming end depending from its pivot, a counterweight forming the upper end of said trigger and spaced along said latch from the pivotal axis of said trigger to a position above the pivotal axis of said latch and biasing the camming end of said trigger out of engagement with said latch, said latch having a portion at its rear end adapted to be engaaged by the camming end of said trigger, upon movement of said trigger about its axis toward the rear end portion of said latch, to raise said latch relative to said keeper and to release said latch from said keeper upon movement of the door in a direction to open the door, and a casing for said latch and trigger mounted on the door at an elevation closer to the top than the bottom of the door whereby the trigger cannot normally be reached except from an elevated platform, and preventing access to said counterweight except from the top thereof, said casing for said latch including parallel spaced plates, an inner plate of which is secured to the door, at least one spacer bar spacing said plates apart and preventing access to said latch from beneath the body of said latch, and a guard plate extending from the outermost of said plates upwardly along the outside of said trigger close to the upper end thereof.

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