Bottom outlet safety closure

A railroad tank car having a safety device for preventing escape of a fluid from its bottom outlet opening when a valve that normally regulates flow through said outlet opening is damaged, said valve discharging into a T-shaped pipe, the arms of said T-shaped pipe extending toward opposite sides of said tank car and permitting unloading of said tank car from either side, said safety device comprising:

• a saddle having a hole therethrough attached to the outside of said tank car and surrounding said outlet opening, a gasketed surface on said saddle around said hole, a hollow tube connected to said saddle and aligned with said hole, said valve being connected to and aligned with said tube, a shoulder on said valve around the inlet port of said valve facing the inside of said tube, a perforated disc resting on and being restrained from movement by said shoulder and surrounding said inlet port, a pair of rod segments connected to said disc and passing through said tube and said saddle and said outlet opening into said tank, a bracket attached to the inside of said tank and spanning said outlet opening, a hole through said bracket receiving an end of one segment of said rod which is threaded, a safety closure plate for seating against said gasket attached to said one rod segment between said bracket and said outlet opening, a spring coiled around said one rod segment between said plate and bracket for forcing said plate against said gasket, said pair of rod segments normally maintaining said closure plate in an open position, against to bias of said spring, a nut on the threaded portion of said one rod segment projecting beyond said bracket for tightening against said bracket and thereby permitting loading of said spring from the inside of said tank car, a collar surrounding said spring and providing a stop for said closure plate when said safety device is cocked, a fracture groove around said tube between said saddle and said shoulder for causing the portion of said tube connected to said valve and said valve to break away from said tank car on impact capable of causing leakage from said tank by damaging said valve, the breaking away of said valve removing the restraining effect of said shoulder and enabling said perforated disc and rod segments to move under the force of said spring so as to cause said closure plate to seat against said gasket and prevent excape of fluid from said tank car, the other of said rod segments being shorter than said one rod segment and separating after said safety device has been triggered, and said one rod segment being totally enclosed and protected within the remaining portion of said tube.