Hopper railcar with automatic individual door system
AssigneeFreightcar America, Inc.
InventorsRobert Dorian, Todd Lydic, Michael Selapack
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The door operating system of the present invention can be applied to new railcar or retrofitted to existing railcar designs. The hopper car will have a pair of doors on opposed sides of the center sill which are connected through a door spreader. The pneumatic, individual door operating system is connected to the door spreader through an adjustable spreader fulcrum in which the sliding adjustment may add in a proper connection force or tension between the door operating system and the individual doors.
Claims19
A hopper railcar comprising:
- A plurality of hopper sections spaced along a center sill of the railcar, wherein each hopper section has a pair of hopper doors positioned on opposites sides of the center sill, wherein the hopper doors pivot between an open and closed position;
- and
- A plurality of automatic railroad hopper door actuating mechanisms, each mechanism associated with at least one pair of hopper doors, each mechanism including:
- i) a frame mounted to the center sill,
- ii) an actuating piston/cylinder rotationally mounted to the frame,
- iii) a cylinder lever rotationally mounted to the frame, the cylinder lever coupled to and rotated by the piston/cylinder, and
- iv) a door lever extending between the cylinder lever and the hopper doors for opening and closing the doors through actuation of the piston/cylinder.
An automatic railroad hopper door actuating mechanism for operating at least one pair of hopper doors of a hopper railcar, the mechanism comprising:
- A frame configured to be mounted to a center sill of the railcar;
- An actuating piston/cylinder rotationally mounted to the frame;
- A cylinder lever rotationally mounted to the frame, the cylinder lever coupled to and rotated by the piston/cylinder;
- and
- A door lever coupled to the cylinder lever and configured to be coupled to the hopper doors for opening and closing the doors through actuation of the piston/cylinder.
A method of retrofitting a railcar having a plurality of hopper sections spaced along a center sill of the railcar, wherein each hopper section has a pair of hopper doors positioned on opposites sides of the center sill, wherein the hopper doors pivot between an open and closed position, the method comprising the steps of:
- A) Providing at least one automatic railroad hopper door actuating mechanism for operating at least one pair of hopper doors of a hopper railcar, the mechanism comprising:
- i) A frame configured to be mounted to a center sill of the railcar;
- ii) An actuating piston/cylinder rotationally mounted to the frame;
- iii) A cylinder lever rotationally mounted to the frame, the cylinder lever coupled to and rotated by the piston/cylinder;
- and
- iv) A door lever coupled to the cylinder lever and configured to be coupled to the hopper doors for opening and closing the doors through actuation of the piston/cylinder;
- B) Mounting the frame to the center sill of the railcar;
- and
- C) Attaching the door lever to the hopper doors of the railcar.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.