Hopper gate mobile servicing apparatus
OwnerMelvin Mackeyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A manually manipulated apparatus supports the gate of a railroad hopper car during maintenance or removal of the gate. The apparatus has a frame and a support frame attached to the frame. The support frame is selectively raisable and lowerable between a lowered position adjacent to the frame to a raised position extending upwardly above the frame. The support frame has a gate engagement member which has an upwardly facing surface which is adapted to engage a downwardly facing surface of the gate when the support frame is in the raised position.
Claims20
An apparatus for supporting a gate of a railroad hopper car, the apparatus comprising:
- a frame comprising a front member, a rear member, and a plurality of interconnected rail members, wherein the front member is selectively pivotable from a first position to a second position, and the rear member is selectively pivotable from a primary position to a secondary position;
- a support frame connected to the frame, wherein the support frame is selectively raisable and lowerable between a lowered position adjacent to the frame to a raised position extending upwardly above the frame;
- a gate engagement member mounted to the raisable support frame, the gate engagement member comprising an upwardly facing surface which is adapted to engage a downwardly facing surface of the gate when the support frame is in the raised position;
- a first actuation mechanism for moving the front member from the first position to the second position, and from the second position to the first position;
- and
- a second actuation mechanism for moving the rear member from the primary position to the secondary position, and from the secondary position to the primary position.
An apparatus for supporting a gate of a railroad hopper car, the apparatus comprising:
- a frame comprising a front member comprising a pair of ground engaging wheels, a rear member comprising a pair of ground engaging wheels, and a plurality of interconnected rail members, wherein the front member is selectively pivotable from a first position to a second position, and the rear member is selectively pivotable from a primary position to a secondary position;
- a support frame connected to the frame, the support frame selectively raisable and lowerable between a lowered position adjacent to the frame to a raised position extending upwardly above the frame, the support frame selectively raisable by operation of a jack, the jack comprising a base member attached to the frame, the jack further comprising lower arms attached to the base member and upper arms attached to the support frame;
- a gate engagement member mounted to the raisable support frame, the gate engagement member comprising an upwardly facing surface which is adapted to engage a downwardly facing surface of the gate when the support frame is in the raised position;
- a first actuation mechanism for moving the front member from the first position to the second position, and from the second position to the first position;
- a second actuation mechanism for moving the rear member from the primary position to the secondary position, and from the secondary position to the primary position;
- and
- an upwardly extending handle attached to the frame adjacent to the rear member.
A method of supporting a gate of a railroad hopper car comprising the following steps:
- positioning a support apparatus beneath the gate of the railroad hopper car, wherein the support apparatus comprises a manually manipulable frame and a support frame attached to the frame, where the support frame is selectively raisable and lowerable between a lowered position adjacent to the frame to a raised position extending upwardly above the frame, the support frame further comprising a gate engagement member having an upwardly facing surface which is adapted to engage a downwardly facing surface of the gate when the support frame is in the raised position;
- and
- elevating the support frame to the raised position until the upwardly facing surface of the gate engagement member is in contact with the downwardly facing surface of the gate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.