Trackside railcar door opener and closer
OwnerRalph A. Marchiori, Frank J. Marchioriinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automated and semi-automated trackside railcar door opener and closer for use with railcar doors located on or near the bottom of the railcar including a tool carriage, a controller and a support substantially parallel to a railroad track. A railcar door opener includes an alignment sensor for aligning the opening tool with a railcar door latch and a railcar door latch opener for releasing the railcar door latch. A railcar door closer includes at least two closer arms configured to close railcar doors on or near the bottom of a railcar. The opening and closing tools are each coupled to the tool carriage, and the tool carriage is moveably attached to the support. A controller controls movement and operation of the tool carriage, opening tool and closing tool.
Claims13
A trackside railcar door opener for a railcar door latch, the railcar door opener comprising:
- an elongated railcar door opener support substantially parallel to and extending along a railroad track;
- a tool carriage movably mounted on the support and configured to move along at least a portion of the support;
- a railcar door opening tool mounted on the tool carriage, the railcar door opening tool comprising:
- an opener alignment tool having at least one sensor configured to sense a position of a portion of the railcar in relation to the railcar door opening tool;
- and
- at least one railcar door latch opener moveably extending from the opening tool and configured to release the railcar door latch, wherein the railcar door opening tool is pivotally mounted on the tool carriage, the railcar door opening tool having a lowered position in which the railcar door opening tool opens the railcar door latch, and a raised position in which the railcar door opening tool is clear of interference with a moving railcar on the tracks;
- and
- at least one controller operatively associated with the tool carriage and the railcar door opening tool, the at least one controller configured to cause the railcar door opening tool to move into alignment with and release the railcar door latch.
A trackside railcar door opener for a railcar door latch the railcar door opener comprising:
- an elongated railcar door opener support substantially parallel to and extending along a railroad track;
- a tool carriage movably mounted on the support and configured to move along at least a portion of the support;
- a railcar door opening tool mounted on the tool carriage, the railcar door opening tool further comprising:
- an opener alignment tool having at least one sensor configured to sense a position of a portion of the railcar in relation to the railcar door opening tool;
- and
- at least one railcar door latch opener moveably extending from the opening tool and configured to release the railcar door latch;
- at least one controller operatively associated with the tool carriage and the railcar door opening tool, the at least one controller configured to cause the railcar door opening tool to move into alignment with and release the railcar door latch;
- and
- a sensor associated with the railcar door latch opener and configured to sense whether a cam lock portion of the door latch has been opened and to prevent the railcar door latch opener from attempting to open the door latch if the cam lock portion of the door latch has not been opened.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.