Manual railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism
OwnerFred J. Taylorinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An actuating system for manually operating the doors of a railroad hopper car. An operating shaft having a handle is rigidly coupled to an actuating lever. A door opening lever, which is rotatably coupled to the actuating lever, is rotatably coupled to the door for a hopper chute. To operate the system, an operator rotates the handle of the operating shaft, rotating the actuating lever and the door opening lever, shifting the door from the closed to the open position.
Claims20
A manual operating mechanism for actuating doors of a hopper car including a body having an underside, at least one discharge chute having an underside positioned along the underside of the body, and at least one door coupled for rotation to the body to open and close each discharge chute, said mechanism comprising:
- a door opening lever rotatably coupled at its first end directly to said at least one door for shifting said at least one door between a first chute closed position and a second chute open position;
- an actuating lever, rotatably coupled to said door opening lever at its second end;
- and a first operating shaft, coupled for rotation to the underside of said at least one chute, rigidly affixed at a first end to said actuating lever and having a first handle rigidly affixed at a second end on a first lateral side of said car,
- whereby when said first handle is manually rotated by an operator, said first operating shaft rotates said actuating lever to cause said door opening lever to shift said at least one door from said first chute closed position to said second chute open position.
A manual operating system for actuating the door of a hopper of a railcar from a closed to an open position, comprising:
- an operating shaft, coupled for rotation to the underside of said hopper, having a handle rigidly affixed to said shaft and engageable for rotation by an operator at one end;
- an actuating lever, rigidly affixed at a first end to said operating shaft at its end opposite said handle, and having a bifurcated second end;
- and
- a door opening lever, rotatably coupled at its first end directly to the outer side of a hopper door and at its second end between said bifurcations of said second end of said actuating lever, wherein when said handle is rotated by the operator, said actuating lever rotates in the same direction as said handle, causing said door opening lever to shift the hopper door from its closed to its open position.
A manual operating mechanism for actuating doors of a hopper car, said car including a body having an underside, a first lateral side and a second opposite lateral side, a pair of discharge chutes, each having an underside, arranged side by side in a transverse direction across the underside of the body, and a pair of doors, each having an inner surface and an outer surface and each coupled for rotation to the underside of the body, to open and close each discharge chute, said mechanism comprising:
- a door opening lever, rotatably coupled at its first end directly to the pair of doors, for shifting each door between a first chute closed position and a second chute open position;
- an actuating lever, rotatably coupled to said door opening lever at its second end, having a first end containing a first and a second cylindrical extension, with each extension containing a bore, and a bifurcated body section connected to said first end, said body section having a pair of arms each containing an aperture for use with a first pin to rotatably couple said door opening lever between said arms;
- a first operating shaft, coupled for rotation to the underside of one of said discharge chutes, rigidly affixed at a first end within said bore of said first cylindrical extension of said actuating lever, and having a first handle rigidly affixed at a second end on a first lateral side of said car;
- and a second operating shaft, coupled for rotation to the underside of the other of said discharge chutes, rigidly affixed at a first end within said bore of said second cylindrical extension of said actuating lever, and having a second handle rigidly affixed at a second end on a second lateral side of said car;
- whereby when either said first handle or said second handle is manually rotated by an operator, said first and second operating shafts rotate said actuating lever to cause said door opening lever to shift said pair of doors from said first chute closed position to said second chute open position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.