Railraod hopper car door actuating mechanism
CROSS REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 07/407,412, filed Sep. 14, 1898, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for opening the rotating doors of a railway hopper car, and in particular, to a novel apparatus for either simultaneously or sequentially opening the rotating hopper car doors from a single power source. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A common type of railroad freight car in use today is the open top freight car of the type wherein the load is discharged through hoppers on the underside of the body. Such cars are generally referred to as covered hopper cars and are used to haul coal, phosphate, and other commodities. 
     After hopper cars are spotted over an unloading pit, the doors of the hoppers are opened, allowing the material within the hopper to be emptied into the pit. There are several methods available for opening and closing these U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,609, issued to Ortner et. al., describes a system for simultaneously opening rotating hopper doors using a longitudinally extending operating rod connected to actuating shafts extending transversely below the hopper car body Each door operating lever rotates an actuating shaft, which in turns actuates a linkage mechanism to open and close the doors. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,274, issued to Ferris et. al., also describes a system for operating dump doors on a railway hopper car The lever of this invention is comprised of a single plate body portion with thru pivotal connections, with the pivotal connections coplanar with the door operating struts in a substantially vertical plan passing through the vertical transverse centerline of the center sill of the car to eliminate unnecessary rotational movements of the mechanism. 
     Other prior art references which teach operating mechanisms for opening and closing hopper doors include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,187,684; 3,339,500; 3,815,514; 3,818,842; 3,872,796; 3,994,238; 4,222,334; 4,542,701; 4,601,244; 4,688,488; and 4,829,908. 
     There are several disadvantages to the hopper door operating mechanisms which are in use today. One problem is that the prior art mechanisms are designed such that each actuating mechanism is connected to doors from two separate hoppers. Thus, if the mechanism fails, it affects the operation of two hoppers. 
     Another disadvantage of the present day hopper door mechanisms is that, since the mechanisms are designed to operate doors from two adjacent hoppers, the mechanisms must push the doors closed, with compressive forces being delivered to the mechanisms. This design makes it necessary to periodically adjust the mechanism as the system wears. In addition, the compressive forces applied to the hopper doors in closing may cause buckling problems. 
     A further disadvantage of present day hopper cars is that current operating mechanisms limit the distance of the door motion, thus limiting the open area of the car bottom, slowing down the unloading process and causing additional costs and potential damage to the car in certain situations, such as longer periods of time in thaw sheds. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for actuating the doors of a multiple hopper car which has independent control of the doors of each separate hopper. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide a door actuating mechanism which does not need periodic adjustment to allow for wear of the parts. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide a door operating system for a hopper car in which the closing and lockup of the hopper doors are in tension, as opposed to compression type mechanisms. 
     It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a system which will provide a greater opening in the bottom of a hopper car than is now available in order to allow quicker and safer discharge of its contents. 
     It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a door operating system in which each door assembly has a positive over center locking mechanism. 
     It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanism which can be retrofitted into existing hopper cars as well as incorporated into new construction. 
     These and other objects may be accomplished by use of a shifting mechanism mounted on the underside of the center sill of the hopper car which operates upon each pair of gates of a respective hopper to close the gates by the use of levers under tension forces pulling the gates closed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a standard four pocket hopper car incorporating the door actuating system of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an end view, partly in cross-section, of the door actuating mechanism of the present invention in its closed position. 
     FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, taken along section line 3--3 of FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 4 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of the hopper doors and actuating mechanism as they are travelling from the closed to the open position. 
     FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of the hopper doors and actuating mechanism of the present invention in their fully open position. 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, illustrating the activating means of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 6. 
     FIG. 8 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of a second embodiment of the present invention installed on a hopper car with standard size doors. 
     FIG. 9 is an elevational view of a six pocket hopper car incorporating the door actuating system of the present invention. 
     FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the hopper car of FIG. 9 with its doors in the open position. 
     FIG. 11 is an elevational view of a three pocket hopper car incorporating a third embodiment of the door actuating system of the present invention. 
     FIG. 12 is an end view, partly in cross-section, of one pocket incorporating the door actuating system on the hopper car shown in FIG. 11 in its closed position. 
     FIG. 13 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of the pocket of FIG. 12 taken along section line 13--13. 
     FIG. 14 is an end view, partly in cross-section, of a reverse pocket incorporating the door actuating system on the hopper car shown in FIG. 11 in its closed position. 
     FIG. 15 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of the pocket of FIG. 14 taken along section line 15--15. 
     FIG. 16 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of the pocket shown in FIG. 13 in its open position. 
     FIG. 17 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, of the pocket shown in FIG. 15, in its open position. 
     FIG. 18 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, illustrating the activating means of the third embodiment 
     FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 19--19 of FIG. 18. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical four pocket railway hopper car, designated at 1, equipped with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Car 1 is provided with a plurality of hopper units 2 and a longitudinally extending center frame member or sill 4. Each of hoppers 2 consist of two opposing door assemblies 5 having a pair of doors 5a and 5b on either side of center sill 4 (only one pair of doors is shown for each hopper in FIG. 1; there is a corresponding pair on the opposite side of sill 4). An air cylinder 6 is mounted to car 1 on the underside of sill 4 to provide power for the mechanism of the present invention. The operation of air cylinder 6 is well known in the art, and it is within the scope of the present invention to use any suitable power source (electric, liquid, steam) to operate cylinder 6. 
     The mechanism of the present invention is most clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Sill 4 is of inverted U-shaped cross-section with outwardly depending legs 4a and 4b. A pair of supports 6a and 6b are affixed to sill 4 at legs 4a and 4b respectively. Supports 6a and 6b are linked together by a square shaft 8 which is rotatably affixed between said supports. 
     A plurality of levers are affixed to shaft 8 to operate the door opening mechanism of the present invention. A connecting lever 10, affixed to shaft 8, is coupled to an actuating extension member 12 by a drive pin 14, which is slidably received within a slot 16 of lever 10, thus allowing lever 10 to rotate about shaft 8 as member 12 travels in a horizontal plane. Actuating extension member 12 may consist of two extending arms 12a and 12b between which lever 10 is received (FIG. 2). At its opposite end, extension member 12 is rigidly affixed to an actuating beam 15, which beam is coupled to air cylinder 6 to provide the operating force for the present invention, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter. 
     A V-shaped lever 16 is also affixed to shaft 8. One arm 16a of lever 16 is linked to a door opening lever 18 by connecting pin 20, while the other arm 16b is coupled to a door opening lever 22 by a connecting pin 24. Levers 18 and 22 each have a cutaway section 18a and 22a respectively in its central region to accommodate shaft 8 when the mechanism is in the closed position. The opposite end of opening lever 18 is affixed to a left hopper door 5a (FIG. 3) by a pin 28; the opposite end of opening lever 22 is affixed to a right hopper door 5b by a pin 32. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, air cylinder 6 and its operation will be described. Cylinder 6 is rigidly affixed to the underside of sill 4 at leg 4b by a series of rivets 40 (one of which is shown) or a similar mounting means. A clevis 42 is attached to the operating rod of cylinder 6, which clevis is coupled to a downwardly depending extension number 44 of actuating beam 15 via a pin 46. In operation, when air is applied to cylinder 6, its operating rod forces clevis 42, and consequently actuating beam 15, in the direction indicated by arrow A. 
     The operation of the door actuating mechanism of the present invention may be described as follows. As the mechanism is activated by applying air to cylinder 6 (FIG. 6), clevis 42 forces extension member 44 and actuating beam 15 to begin to move in the direction indicated by arrow A. This, in turn, causes actuating extension member 12 to shift in the direction of arrow A, causing drive pin 14 to move along in slot 16 of lever 1a. As pin 14 moves along in a straight line in slot 16, which is angled upwardly (FIG. 3), lever 10 rotates in a counterclockwise direction. Square shaft 8, upon which lever 10 is fixed, is thus forced to rotate in the same direction. Lever 16, which is affixed to shaft 8, also begin rotating about shaft 8. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4, the opening of the hopper doors has progressed. As extension member 12 continues its movement in direction A, lever 10 continues its counterclockwise rotation about shaft 8. The continued rotation of shaft 8 caused by lever 10 forces V-shaped lever 16 to continue to rotate. As arm 16a rotates about shaft 8, pin 20 moves in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 8. Door opening lever 18, which is coupled to arm 16a by pin 20, begins to rotate about pin 28 on left door 5a as extension member 12 begins its movement in direction A. As the center line between pins 20 and 28 passes through the center of shaft 8, the action of the over center latch is released, allowing the weight of door 5a (and also aided by the weight of contents of the hopper) to force pin 28 downwardly, causing lever 18 to begin to rotate in a clockwise direction. 
     As arm 16b rotates about shaft 8, pin 24 also moves in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 8. Door opening lever 22, which is coupled to 16b by pin 24, begins to rotate about pin 32 on right door 5b. As the center line between pins 24 and 32 passes through the center of shaft 8, the action of the over center latch is released, allowing the weight of door 5b (and the contents of the hopper) to force pin 32 downwardly, causing lever 22 to begin to rotate in a clockwise direction. 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, the door actuating mechanism of the present invention has completed its operation. The force of the contents of the hopper, along with the weight of doors 5a and 5b, has pushed doors 5a and 5b to their open position, in which the doors are almost perpendicular to the rail 33. This force has caused lever 16, through the action of levers 18 and 22, to rotate to its final open position in cooperation with the movement of actuating beam 15. It is important to note that in the fully open position, the open area at the bottom of the hopper is significantly larger than any presently known system, allowing the contents of the car to empty more quickly than any prior art hopper cars. In a train which contains many hopper cars, this can add up to a significant time and cost saving. 
     The closing of the doors of the hopper car is the reverse of the above. As can be seen, on the closing of the doors, the system creates a double over center latch for each pair of doors, adding a positive locking force for each hopper, adding to the safety of the system. 
     On a standard four pocket hopper car with eight hopper chutes, the largest unobstructed opening which can be obtained with the present door opening systems available is approximately 39 inches by 25 inches for each hopper chute. Therefore, the largest total unobstructed bottom area opening obtainable for these cars is approximately 54 square feet. By using the present invention, which has shorter doors than on the present cars, the opening can be doubled for each hopper chute, as the doors will open to the vertical position, as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the total unobstructed bottom area opening which can be obtained using the present invention is over 108 square feet, twice the normal size. This allows the railroad cars to be emptied much quicker than is now possible, enabling an entire row of cars to be unloaded as they are in motion over the unloading pit. 
     Many other advantages of the present invention should now be apparent. The fact that the operating mechanism for each hopper is independent from the other hoppers (as compared to current systems in use where the mechanism operates two doors but on two adjacent hoppers) is important in that if one hopper chute is damaged, it can be disconnected by removing drive pin 14 from that particular hopper, and the remaining hoppers can still be safely operated. In addition, each independent door assembly has a double positive over center lock due to the fact that the doors of the present invention are pulled closed (a tension type mechanism), as opposed to the current systems which push the doors closed on adjacent hoppers (a compression type system). This also avoids any problem with doors buckling, which can frequently happen in compression type systems where the doors are pushed closed rather than pulled closed. The present system is designed so that directly prior to closing and snapping over center, the system is at its strongest point, whereas on the other systems available, they are at their weakest point just prior to closing, thus allowing small obstructions to possibly stop the doors from closing and locking properly. With the present invention being at its strongest point just prior to closing, small obstructions will not prevent the system from closing and locking properly. 
     Another significant advantage of the present invention is that once the mechanism is installed, there is never a need for periodic adjustments to allow for wear, as the independent hopper design and tension type closing action will always permit the system to operate and lock. In other current systems which operate doors of adjacent hopper using a compression type closing, as the components of the system wear, the mechanism must be readjusted to insure proper operation. This adjustment is time consuming and costly to the owner of the cars, especially when many cars are involved It is not uncommon for car owners to require annual adjustments. 
     Other obvious advantages are the interchangeability of parts from hopper to hopper, and the protection from damage in the event of derailment, as the mechanism is located between the inside hopper sheets 
     The embodiment of the invention described above is incorporated into a hopper car design which uses shorter doors than may be found in existing hopper cars. Although these short doors can be used on existing cars, the system of the present invention may be retrofitted onto existing hopper cars using the standard doors and hopper pockets. FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention mounted on an existing railroad hopper car. Note that similar parts have similar reference numbers as in the first embodiment. The operation of the mechanism is exactly the same as that of the previous embodiment. The only difference is that the doors will only open as far as they would on the present hopper car, as shown in FIG. 8, thus allowing only the standard 54 square feet of unobstructed door opening area. However, the other advantages of the present invention, such as the over center latching, the tension force door closing, the independent control of each separate hopper, and the lack of needed periodic linkage adjustment are gained by the retrofitting of current railroad hopper cars with this novel mechanism. 
     Using the concept previously described in FIGS. 1-7, since the hopper doors are smaller than those found on the standard four pocket hopper car, a new car containing six pockets consisting of two opposing door assemblies can be constructed which further increases the amount of unobstructed door opening area for even quicker unloading of a bottom dump railcar. This car can be seen in FIGS. 9 and 10. 
     Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a six pocket hopper car generally designated as 60. Car 60 contains a series of six hoppers 62 and a longitudinally extending center sill 64. Each of hoppers 62 consist of two opposing door assemblies 66 having a pair of doors 66a and 66b on either side of center sill 64 (only one pair of doors 66 is shown for each hopper in FIG. 9; there is a corresponding pair on the opposite side of sill 64). Using the mechanism shown in detail in FIGS. 1-7, all of doors 66 can be opened simultaneously to the position shown in FIG. 10, where all of doors 66 are substantially perpendicular to the rail 68. 
     By using the car of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, which contains 12 door openings measuring 43 5/8 inches by 50 inches, the total unobstructed door opening area obtainable using car 60 is 181.76 square feet, which is over three times the open area of the conventional hopper car in use today, greatly reducing the time necessary to empty the car of its contents. Thus, the car can move at a much faster pace than the current railcars when unloading in motion. 
     This same concept can also be applied to single door hoppers, which are usually found on automatic coal cars using 70 ton hoppers. FIGS. 11-19 show the use of the present invention on a single door three pocket hopper car. Referring now to FIG. 11, there is shown a three pocket hopper car generally designated at 80. Car 80 contains a series of hoppers 82 and a longitudinally extending center sill 4. Each of hoppers 82 has a pair of doors 84 associated therewith; only one of each pairs 84 is shown in these figures, as the corresponding door is located on the opposite side of sill 4. 
     An air cylinder 6 is mounted to car 80 on the underside of sill 84 to provide power to operate the mechanism of the present invention. The operation of air cylinder, shown in detail in FIGS. 18 and 19, is identical to that previously described in connection with FIGS. 6 and 7. 
     FIGS. 12-15 show the mechanism of the present invention in the closed position. Sill 4 is of inverted U-shaped cross section with outwardly depending legs 4a and 4b. A pair of supports 86a and 86b are affixed to sill 4 at legs 4a and 4b respectively. Supports 86a and 86b are linked together by a square shaft 88 which is rotatably affixed within supports 86a and 86b by conventional means, such as a bearing. 
     A plurality of levers are rigidly affixed upon shaft 88 to operate the door opening mechanism shown in this embodiment. A connecting lever 90, affixed to shaft 88 is coupled to an actuating extension member 91 of an actuating beam 15 by a drive pin 92, which is slidably received within a slot 94 of lever 90, thus allowing lever 90 to rotate about shaft 88 as member 91 travels in a horizontal plane. Also fixed on shaft 88 is an intermediate lever 96. The opposite end of lever 96 is pivotally connected to a door opening lever 98 by a pin 100. Lever 98, which has a cutaway section 98a to accommodate shaft 88 when the mechanism is in the closed position, is attached at its opposite end to door 84 by a pin 102. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 14 and 15, a connecting lever 104, which is rigidly affixed to a shaft 106, is coupled to another actuating extension member 91a of beam 15 by a drive pin 108, which is slidably received within a slot 110 of lever 104, thus allowing lever 104 to rotate about shaft 106 as member 91a travels in a horizontal plane. Also, fixed on shaft 106 is an intermediate lever 112, the opposite end of which is pivotally connected to a door opening lever 114 by a pin 116. Lever 114, which has a cutaway section 114a to accommodate shaft 106 when the mechanism is in the closed position, is attached at its opposite end to door 84 by a pin 118. 
     The operation of its door actuating mechanism of this embodiment may be described as follows. As the mechanism is activated by applying air to cylinder 6 (FIG. 18), clevis 42 forces extension member 44 and actuating beam 15 to begin to move in the direction indicated by arrow A. This, in turn, causes actuating extension member 91 to travel in the direction of arrow A, causing drive pin 92 to move along within slot 94 of lever 90. As pin 92 moves along in a straight line in slot 94, lever 90 is forced to rotate in a clockwise direction. Shaft 88, upon which lever 90 is affixed, is thus forced to rotate in the same direction. Lever 96, also affixed to shaft 88, also begins to rotate about shaft 88. As extension member 91 continues its movement in direction A, levers 90 and 96 continue to rotate, also causing pin 100 to move in a clockwise direction. Door opening lever 98, which is coupled to lever 96 by pin 100, begins to rotate about pin 102 on door 84. 
     As the center line between pins 100 and 102 passes through the center of shaft 88, the action of the over center latch is released, allowing the weight of door 84 (and the hopper contents) to force lever 98 outwardly, thus opening the hopper. 
     The operation of the reverse hopper mechanism is similar. As beam 15 moves in direction A, drive pin 108 of actuating member 91a moves along in a straight line in slot 110, causing lever 104 to rotate. As lever 104, and consequently lever 112, rotates, pin 116 also rotates, causing lever 114 to pivot about pin 118. Finally, as the center line between pins 116 and 118 passes through the center of shaft 88, the over center latch is released allowing door 84 to open. FIGS. 16 and 17 show the respective hoppers in the open position. 
     The closing of the hopper doors is accomplished by reversing the direction of actuating beam 15, causing the mechanism to operate in the reverse manner as has been described previously. It can be seen that the system creates an over center latch for each door, adding a positive safety to the system. 
     While the invention has been shown and described in terms of several embodiments, it will be understood that this invention is not limited to these particular embodiments and that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.