Railcar cleaning apparatus

An apparatus for cleaning particulate materials from a railcar having side and end walls surrounding a chamber for holding particulate materials and an open top comprising:

• a vehicle adapted to be moved to a location adjacent the railcar, vacuum cleaner means mounted on the vehicle for collecting and storing particulate materials, said vacuum cleaner means having an enclosed particulate material collection box, an elongated hose connected to the box for carrying particulate materials to the box, said hose having a remote end with an air inlet opening to allow air to move particulate materials into the hose, means for drawing air from the box and moving air through the air inlet opening and hose into the box, said air flowing into the air inlet opening picking up particulate materials from the chamber and the air flowing in the hose transporting the particulate materials to the box, a lift device mounted on the vehicle, a work person carrier, said lift device having a first boom having an inner end and an outer end, a second boom having an inner end and an outer end, a member secured to the inner end of the second boom extended over a portion of the outer end of the first boom, arm means secured to the member extended toward the outer end of the first boom spacing the member from the outer end of the first boom, pivot means connecting the arm means to the outer end of the first boom, toggle linkage means pivotally connected to the member and outer end of the first boom for controlling the movement of the second boom, a first hydraulic cylinder connected to the first boom operable to swing the first boom between up and down positions, a second hydraulic cylinder connected to the first boom and toggle linkage means operable to selectively fold and expand the toggle linkage means to pivot the second boom relative to the first boom and locate the outer end of the second boom in the chamber of the railcar, and means mounting the work person carrier on the outer end of the second boom whereby a work person positioned in the work person carrier can be located in the chamber of the railcar and move the remote end of the hose in the chamber to pick up particulate materials located in the chamber of the railcar.

An apparatus for cleaning particulate materials from a chamber of an open top container comprising:

• a vehicle adapted to be moved to a location adjacent the container, vacuum cleaner means mounted on the vehicle for collecting and storing particulate materials, said vacuum cleaner means having an enclosed particulate material collection box, an elongated hose connected to the box for carrying particulate materials to the box, said hose having an end with an air inlet opening, means for drawing air from the box and moving air through the air inlet opening and hose into the box, said air moving in the hose transporting the particulate materials to the box, a lift device mounted on the vehicle, a work person carrier connected to the lift device, said lift device having boom means movably mounted on the vehicles means connected to the boom means for moving the boom means to locate the work person carrier in the chamber of the container, said boom means comprises a first boom having an inner end and an outer end, a second boom having an inner end and an outer end, a member secured to the inner end of the second boom extended over a portion of the outer end of the first boom, arm means secured to the member extended toward the outer end of the first boom spacing the member from the outer end of the first boom, pivot means connecting the arm means to the outer end of the first boom, toggle linkage means pivotally connected to the member and outer end of the first boom for controlling the movement of the second boom, said means connected to the boom means comprising a first extendable and contractable means connected to the first boom operable to swing the first boom between up and down positions, and a second extendable and contractable means connected to the first boom and toggle linkage means operable to selectively fold and expand the toggle linkage means to pivot the second boom relative to the first boom and locate the outer end of the second boom in the chamber, and means mounting the work person carrier on the outer end of the second boom whereby a work person positioned in the work person carrier can be located in the chamber and move the end of the hose having the air inlet opening in the chamber to pick up particulate materials located in the chamber.