Railway hopper car gate valve and operating assembly

A gate valve and frame assembly having an elongated valve member with a generally rectangular configuration for controlling a discharge opening on a railway hopper car comprising:

• an upper hopper portion having four slanted surfaces extending inwardly to form the discharge opening;
• the discharge opening having a generally rectangular configuration defined in part by the inwardly slanted surfaces of the upper hopper portion and the generally rectangular discharge opening displaced vertically from the bottom of the railway hopper car;
• a plurality of supporting members extending vertically from the upper hopper portion and spaced from the generally rectangular discharge opening;
• a gasket disposed on the exterior of the upper hopper portion between the supporting members and the perimeter of the generally rectangular discharge opening;
• a pair of tracks attached to and extending longitudinally from the supporting members;
• the tracks disposed on opposite sides of the rectangular discharge opening in the upper hopper portion and aligned generally parallel with each other to allow longitudinal movement of the elongated valve member between a first position blocking the generally rectangular discharge opening and a second position allowing flow through the generally rectangular discharge opening;
• at least one set of ramps disposed respectively on the elongated valve member and the frame assembly for positioning the elongated valve member in contact with the gasket;
• and
• the supporting members cooperating with each other to allow displacement of the elongated valve member vertically from the gasket as the elongated valve member moves longitudinally from its first position to its second position.

A gate valve assembly for mounting on a discharge opening of a railway hopper car comprising:

• a frame assembly for mounting the gate valve assembly with the discharge opening;
• the gate valve assembly having an elongated valve member slidably disposed within the frame assembly for movement between a first position blocking the discharge opening and a second position closing the discharge opening;
• a shaft rotatably secured to the frame assembly with a pair of gears mounted on the shaft for rotation thereby;
• a plurality of teeth formed on the exterior of each gear;
• the elongated valve member having a generally rectangular configuration with an upper surface and a lower surface;
• a lock striker slidably disposed on the lower surface of the elongated valve member;
• a locking mechanism attached to the frame assembly having a first position blocking movement of the elongated valve member from its first position to its second position and the locking mechanism having a second position allowing movement of the elongated valve member from its first position to its second position;
• a pair of tracks formed in the lock striker disposed generally parallel with each other and aligned respectively with the pair of gears mounted on the shaft;
• each track having a plurality of slots to receive the teeth from the respective gear;
• a first stop carried by the elongated valve member and a second stop carried by the elongated valve member with the first stop and the second stop longitudinally spaced from each other;
• and
• the second stop limiting movement of the lock striker towards the locking mechanism and the first stop limiting movement of the lock striker away from the locking mechanism.

A railway hopper car comprising:

• a plurality of hopper sections for carrying material with a discharge opening at the lower portion of each hopper section;
• a plurality of frame assemblies for respectively mounting a gate valve assembly with each of the discharge openings;
• an elongated valve member slidably disposed within each frame assembly for movement between a first, closed position blocking the flow of material from the respective discharge opening and a second, open position allowing material to flow from the respective discharge opening;
• an operating assembly disposed on each frame assembly for longitudinally moving the respective elongated valve member between its first position and its second position;
• a locking mechanism attached to each frame assembly having a first position which blocks movement of the respective elongated valve member from its first position to its second position and each locking mechanism having a second position which allows movement of the respective elongated valve member from its first position to its second position;
• and
• a lock striker slidably disposed on the elongated valve member to provide a portion of the operating assembly whereby the lock striker may be extended longitudinally from the elongated valve member to move the respective locking mechanism from its first position to its second position prior to the operating assembly moving the elongated valve member from its first position to its second position.

A method of controlling a gate valve assembly mounted on a discharge opening from a railway hopper car carrying material and the gate valve assembly having an elongated valve member with a first position for blocking the flow of material from the discharge opening and a second position allowing the material to flow from the discharge opening comprising the steps of:

• providing a frame assembly for mounting the gate valve assembly with the discharge opening;
• slidably disposing the elongated valve member within the frame assembly for movement between the first position and the second position;
• moving the elongated valve member between its first position and its second position by an operating assembly secured to the frame assembly;
• attaching a locking mechanism to the frame assembly with the locking mechanism having a first position blocking movement of the elongated valve member from its first position to its second position and the locking mechanism having a second position allowing longitudinal movement of the elongated valve member from its first position to its second position;
• slidably attaching a lock striker with the elongated valve member to provide a portion of the operating assembly;
• and
• extending the lock striker longitudinally from the elongated valve member to move the locking mechanism from its first position to its second position prior to the operating assembly moving the valve member from its first position to its second position.

A gasket for forming a material barrier around the perimeter of a discharge opening from a railway hopper car in cooperation with a gate valve assembly mounted on the discharge opening, comprising:

• a generally rectangular configuration corresponding approximately with the perimeter of the discharge opening;
• a generally trapezoidal cross section with a longitudinal bore formed in and extending along each side of the gasket;
• each longitudinal bore having a generally circular cross section with a uniform inside diameter;
• at least one reinforcing member disposed in each longitudinal bore;
• each reinforcing member having a generally circular cross section with an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the respective longitudinal bore;
• and
• a plurality of gasket retainers disposed in each side of the gasket for installing the gasket at a desired position relative to the discharge opening and the gate valve assembly.