Powered hopper door
OwnerGrady L. Johnsoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power actuated closure assembly for controlling the discharge of materials from an opening in the bottom of a hopper, the assembly including a frame having a sliding door support portion with a power actuator support portion extending longitudinally therefrom and supporting a cylinder whose piston rod is coupled to the door by a longitudinal bar which is guided by a fixed guide, the piston rod being connected with the door moving bar by a lost-motion coupling, the guide through which the bar passes having a latch for locking the door and bar in one of several selected positions and the guide also having a longitudinal slot capable of receiving a pin carried by the bar, the pin and slot limiting the movement of the door to a small increment suitable for spreading material over a large area such as a roadway.
Claims9
A power actuated closure assembly for controlling the discharge of materials from an opening in the bottom of a hopper, comprising:
- (a) a frame having a door support portion extending around the opening in said hopper and having a door receiving channel extending longitudinally of the frame, and the frame having a power actuator support portion fixed to the door support portion and extending longitudinally therefrom;
- (b) a door comprising a plate reciprocably slidable longitudinally in said channel from a closed position wherein said door closes said opening, through intermediate positions, to an open position wherein the door substantially underlies the actuator support portion of the frame;
- (c) power actuator means mounted on said actuator support portion of the frame and including a member longitudinally reciprocable toward and away from the door support portion of the frame;
- and including a longitudinal bar fixed to the door, guide means fixed to the frame and surrounding the bar, and means coupling the bar with said reciprocable member;
- and
- (d) manually controllable means operative between the bar and the guide means to arrest longitudinal reciprocation of the bar relative to the fixed guide means, said guide means having a wall surrounding the bar and the wall having an elongated slot therethrough extending longitudinally of the bar, said bar having a hole therein registering with the slot in some positions of the door;
- and said manually controllable means comprising a pin receivable in said hole and extending through the slot and limiting longitudinal movement of the door to the length of the slot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.