1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to rail car door closures. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system of rail car door closing wing assemblies that enable the simultaneous closing of multiple rail car hopper doors.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention relates to an apparatus for the closure of rail car doors, specifically, the discharge doors of a coal or aggregate hopper car. These doors are extremely heavy and when open, extend vertically downward on hinges from the car frame. When closed, the doors are latched to the car frame and thus secured to prevent opening. When an aggregate or coal car reaches a delivery site, the doors are opened and the contents of the car emptied into receiving areas below the tracks. The car doors must be closed, of course, prior to departure from the site and reloading. The doors are extremely difficult to close manually and such an undertaking is very dangerous to the workers involved in such an operation. Severe injuries may result if a car door fails to latch, swings back open, and strikes a worker.
Various efforts have been made in the past to provide a mechanized system to close these rail car hopper doors. The present invention makes significant improvements to the type of rail car door closer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,473, Issued; May 3, 2005, to Marchiori and Clark; Entitled: Rail Car Door Closer, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The above effort to provide a rail car door closer suffers from excessive complexity and/or difficulty of use. Although the wing shaped closer arm of the above cited disclosure provides an effective structure for directing the closure of pairs of rail car hopper doors, the mechanisms for manipulating the closer is complex and prone to misalignment. It would be desirable to have a rail car door closer that is relatively inexpensive, operationally simple, and safe to use.
The present invention therefore provides an improved rail car door closer system wherein the lifting of a plurality of appropriately positioned door closer wings is accomplished with hydraulic cylinders and motors. The system incorporates components that direct both the rotation of the wing closers around a cylindrical frame so as to move them in and out of position for door closure, and a translational movement along the longitudinal cylindrical frame so as to effect the actual closing of the hopper doors. The system is arranged to handle more than one door at a time and in the preferred embodiment includes three door closer wing structures. The heavy duty cylindrical frame incorporates a number of concentric cylindrical outer sections that are directed to rotate and translate on the inner cylindrical frame. The heavy duty cylindrical frame incorporates a number of cylindrical outer sections sized to fit around and on the inner cylindrical frame and that are directed to rotate and translate on the inner cylindrical frame. Heavy duty coil springs are used to link the movable outer sections one to the other and serve as force dampening structures during operation. A double acting hydraulic cylinder is arranged to direct the translational movement of the closer wings while a low speed hydraulic motor is used to direct the rotational movement of the closer wing sections. The system may operate manually through the manual operation of a number of hydraulic valves or may be operated semi-automatically through a programmed sequence of closer wing movements.
A better understanding of the rail car door closer improvements of the present invention may be had by reference to the drawing figures wherein:
Reference is made first to
Rail car door closure system 10 is comprised of a string of linked components positioned in association with a section of track onto which may be moved a typical three hopper rail car 12. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations on the structure of the rail car 12 and the number of hopper doors associated with the rail car may be anticipated. Modifications to the system of the present invention would likewise follow from such variations and the standard structures of such rail car aggregate cargo haulers. In
The primary fixed component of the rail car door closer system 10 of the present invention is inner tubular main frame 20 which is a cylindrical frame (pipe) that extends the length of the system, onto which are positioned, rotated, and slid, the various moving components of the system. At one end of the system 10, opposite from the control mechanisms described in more detail below, is a first outer tube end segment 22. Although this cylindrical end segment 22 may rotate on tubular main frame 20 it is intended to act as an end stop for lateral translational movement (sliding) axially along tubular main frame 20. This end stop function can be achieved through the use of a large stop plate or pin positioned through tubular main frame 20 to the outside edge of outer tube end segment 22.
Interspersed between the active sections of the system are a number of coil springs 24a-24d. In each instance these coil springs 24a-24d may rotate around tubular main frame 20, but are laterally fixed in association with the various end segments 22 and 28 as well as with the various door closer plate segments 26a-26c. The series of components thus linked by welding or other means of permanent attachment, one to the next, comprises outer tube end segment 22 to which is attached coil spring 24a followed by door closer plate segment 26a followed by a further coil spring 24b. Coil spring 24b is fixed to door closer plate segment 26b which is in turn fixed to a further coil spring 24c. Coil spring 24c is in turn fixed to door closer plate segment 26c which is followed by permanent attachment to a final coil spring 24d. Coil spring 24d is fixed to control tube end segment 28. Each of these linked components is capable of rotating on tubular main frame 20 as a function described in more detail below and further to move longitudinally along the axis of tubular main frame 20 in some cases against the residual tension in coil springs 24a-24d. Coil springs 24a-24d likewise will provide some rotational dampening as well as the aforementioned translational motion dampening.
The placement, orientation, and positioning of these various components linked along tubular main frame 20 is such as to appropriately place the door closer plate segments 26a-26c immediately below the rail car hopper doors as shown. It is in the process of rotating these components (radially around tubular main frame 20) and longitudinally sliding or translating these components along the axis of tubular main frame 20, that allows the system to carry out the progressive closure of each of the various hopper doors on rail car 12.
Initially, the door closer plate segments 26a-26c are in a rotated position 90° to the position shown in
After such rotational motion, the system directs the longitudinal or translational movement of the linked assembly along the long axis of tubular main frame 20. It can be seen in
With the above described motions in mind, the control system of the present invention as shown to the right side of
On the opposite end of hydraulic cylinder 34 is the piston shaft that translates in and out of the cylinder to direct the longitudinal or translational motion of the system. A second ball joint comprises floating end ball joint male component 30 and floating end ball joint female component 32. These two ball joints, one fixed and one floating, allow for the necessary movement of hydraulic cylinder 34 during the translational and rotational motions of the components of the system. It is the hydraulic cylinder 34 that directs the lateral movement of door closer plate segments 26a-26c which thereby accomplish the actual closing of the rail car hopper doors.
The rotational motion described above, which primarily achieves the function of moving the door closer plate segment wings in and out of position for the door closing action, is accomplished by way of follower chain sprocket 40 combined with motor drive chain sprocket 42 and a loop section of drive chain 44 shown in dashed outline form in
It is recognized that standard hydraulic control systems may be utilized to direct the operation of both hydraulic cylinder 34 and low speed hydraulic motor 46. The coordinated rotation and translation of the components of the system may therefore be easily programmed and controlled, either automatically or through a series of coordinated manual actions with standard hydraulic control valves. In either case, the process described above whereby the door closer plate segments 26a-26c are alternately raised and lowered into position by rotational movement directed by hydraulic motor 46, in conjunction with the translational motion imparted to the linked system by way of hydraulic cylinder 34, achieve the full sequence of door closure steps and actions.
Reference is now made to
Reference is finally made to
Hydraulic cylinder 34 is fixed at a first end with a ball joint connection comprising fixed end ball joint female component 36 and fixed end ball joint male component 38. Fixed end ball joint male component 38 is preferably mounted or welded onto tubular main frame 20. In this manner the expansion and contraction of hydraulic cylinder 34 directs the translational motion of the linked components of the system as described above.
On the opposite end of hydraulic cylinder 34 is the piston shaft that moves (under the influence of the pressurized hydraulics) in and out of the cylinder to direct the translational motion of the system. A second ball joint makes up the “floating” end ball joint and comprises male component 30 and female component 32. These two ball joints, one fixed and one floating, allow for the necessary movement of hydraulic cylinder 34 during both the translational motion (which itself directs) and the rotational motion of the components of the system (directed by the hydraulic motor). As indicated above, it is the hydraulic cylinder 34 that directs the lateral movement of door closer plate segments 26a-26c which thereby accomplishes the actual closing of the rail car hopper doors.
The rotational motion described above is accomplished by way of the combination of linked follower chain sprocket 40 and motor drive chain sprocket 42 connected with drive chain 44 shown surrounding the sprockets in
The system has therefore been disclosed herein by reference to a preferred embodiment and a number of alternate embodiments. It is anticipated that those skilled in the art will recognize further modifications and extensions of the present invention described above that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. There may, for example, be alternate methods for directing the rotational and translational motions required by the system. The hydraulic motor could be replaced by a second hydraulic cylinder that directs the movement of a lever arm fixed to the control tube end segment, thereby imparting a rotational motion to the cylindrical segment (and the balance of the linked segments as described). Likewise, the hydraulic systems described could be replaced by pneumatic systems or electric drive systems to achieve the motions described, although hydraulics tend to deliver greater work to the heavy duty components of the system thus constructed. While it is anticipated that most of the structural components of the system would best be made from steel and/or iron stock, other materials may exhibit the necessary structural strength to accomplish the forces required by the system functionality.
This application claims the benefit under Title 35 United States Code §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application 61/150,110 filed Feb. 5, 2009 the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100258030 A1 | Oct 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61150110 | Feb 2009 | US |