Hydraulically actuated railway car dumping system
OwnerEdwin Sneadinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hydraulically operated side dump railroad car that operates by utilizing high pressure hydraulic fluid from delivered by a pneumatic to hydraulic converter pump located on the railroad car. On the railroad dump car, the hydraulic fluid is pumped from a hydraulic fluid reservoir to the hydraulic ram assembly of the car, without the use of an accumulator for storing pressurized hydraulic fluid. On the other hand, an existing railroad dump car having existing pneumatic equipment can easily retrofitted with the hydraulic system of the present invention with the use of standard train air brake piston and cylinders.
Claims14
An improved railroad dump car for transporting bulk material in a side operated dump bed of the car, the improvement comprising:
- a hydraulic reservoir including hydraulic fluid;
- a converter pump driven by a source of pressurized air associated with the dump car, said pump for pressurizing hydraulic fluid received from the hydraulic reservoir;
- a hydraulic ram assembly for tilting the dump bed of the dump car to cause dumping of the bulk material from the dump bed;
- a valve assembly connected between the converter pump and the hydraulic ram assembly to selectively communicate pressurized hydraulic fluid from the converter pump to the hydraulic ram assembly to cause operation of the ram assembly and tilting of the dump bed;
- wherein the hydraulic fluid does not communicate with means for storing pressurized hydraulic fluid.
An improved hydraulically operated side railway dump car for transporting bulk material, the improvement comprising:
- a converter pump driven by pressurized air from an air source associated with the dump car, said pump for pressurizing hydraulic fluid received from a hydraulic reservoir, said converter pump including
- at least one standard train brake air piston and cylinder modified to selectively receive the pressurized air;
- and
- a hydraulic pump operated by the train brake air piston and cylinder;
- at least one hydraulic ram for tilting a portion of the dump car to cause dumping of the bulk material from the dump car;
- and
- a valve connected between the hydraulic pump and the at least one hydraulic ram to selectively cause pressurized hydraulic fluid to flow from the hydraulic pump to the at least one hydraulic ram.
A side dumping railway car for transporting bulk material comprising:
- a plurality of wheels;
- a car frame carried on said wheels;
- a dump bed rotatably connected to the car frame;
- at least one hydraulic ram pivotally connected between the car frame and the dump bed, to permit tilting of the dump bed relative to the car frame;
- a reservoir carried by said dump car for and including hydraulic fluid;
- a control valve assembly connected between the converter pump and the hydraulic ram for selectively providing pressurized hydraulic fluid directly from the converter pump assembly to the hydraulic ram to operate the hydraulic ram and tilt the dump bed;
- and wherein the hydraulic fluid does not communicate with means for storing pressurized hydraulic fluid.
A method for converting an existing railroad dump car having pneumatically operated tilting rams to a dump car having hydraulically operated tilting rams, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a hydraulic reservoir for supplying and receiving hydraulic fluid;
- providing a converter pump;
- powering the converter pump with pressurized air from a source of pressurized air associated with the dump car, the pump providing pressurized hydraulic fluid from the reservoir;
- replacing the pneumatically operated tilting rams with hydraulically operated tilting rams;
- selectively providing the pressurized hydraulic fluid from the converter pump to the hydraulically operated tilting rams;
- and arranging a flow of the hydraulic fluid such that the hydraulic fluid does not communicate with means for storing pressured hydraulic fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.