Other

Railcar Innovations, LLC

Vertex Railcar Corporation

Johnstown America Corporation

Jac Patent Company

Fred J Taylor

William E Kurtz

Robert H Dorian

David A Lohr

A door operating mechanism for operating longitudinal doors of a railroad hopper car. The mechanism includes operating members that are coupled to ends of the doors. These operating members are each actuated by a separate actuating device that is coupled to a top surface of a sill of the hopper car. Door supports have one end coupled to a door and an opposite end coupled for rotation to an actuating device. When a power cylinder coupled to the operating member is activated, the actuating devices are rotated. This rotation causes the door supports to shift in opposite directions and to open the longitudinal doors.

Longitudinal door operating mechanism

The present invention provides a system for automatic operation of a top hatch cover for a container, comprising a hatch cover, a cylinder mount, a main operating lever, a connecting link, and a hatch locking lever. The cylinder mount is configured for pivotally connecting a piston to the container. A lower portion of the main operating lever is connected to a cylinder rod of an air cylinder. A first extension of the connecting link is rotatably connected to an upper portion of the main operating lever and a second extension of the connecting link is coupled to the hatch cover. The main operating lever and the hatch locking lever are rotatably coupled to a main shaft mount, where the hatch locking lever is configured to pivot around the main shaft mount to move between a locked position and an unlocked position.

Automatic hatch cover for a container and methods of operation thereof

A left hopper door and a right hopper door are associated with a hopper of a railroad hopper car that includes an operating beam which is longitudinally moveable within a center sill. A door operating mechanism for such doors includes an operating arm that includes a longitudinal slot, and a fulcrum that is attached to the operating beam. The fulcrum includes a pin that is adapted to slide within the slot of the operating arm. A V-lever is pivotally mounted on the center sill. The V-lever includes a left arm that is attached to the left hopper door and a right arm that is attached to the right hopper door. The right arm of the V-lever also include an intermediate pivot mount to which the operating arm is pivotally attached. An arming assembly is configurable in an armed configuration in which longitudinal movement of the operating beam will cause the left hopper door and the right hopper door to move between opened and closed positions, and in a disarmed configuration in which longitudinal movement of the operating beam will not cause the left hopper door and the right hopper door to move.

Actuating system for transverse doors of railroad hopper car

Methods and systems are provided for a door-actuating assembly that utilizes a pick-up shoe and a rechargeable battery to minimize the occurrence of rail sparks inside dump sites. The door-actuating assembly includes a pick-up shoe, a battery electrically connected to the pick-up shoe, a hermetically sealed switch electrically connected to the battery, and an electro-pneumatic valve electrically connected to the hermetically sealed switch. The battery is rechargeable via the pick-up shoe when the pick-up shoe is biased into an active position having physical contact with a wayside conductor rail; the electro-pneumatic valve actuates the bottom discharge door between an open position and a closed position, after the battery is charged beyond a pre-determined state of charge, and after the pick-up shoe is biased into an inactive position not having physical contact with the wayside conductor rail. Railroad hopper cars comprising such door-actuating assemblies, and methods of operation are also provided.

Method for actuating discharge doors of railroad hopper cars

Methods and systems are provided for a railroad hopper car bottom discharge door having two door plates, where at least one is rotatable between open and closed positions for the bottom discharge door. A seal member is fixedly connected to a distal end of each door plate, respectively, and each seal member has a seal lip protruding from the corresponding door plate. One seal lip comprises a first obtuse angle on a lower surface of the seal lip, while the other seal lip comprises a second angle smaller than the first obtuse angle on an upper surface of the seal lip. When the bottom discharge door is closed, the two angles on the two seal lips interlock to form a seal. Methods and systems for a door-actuating assembly that utilizes a pick-up shoe and a rechargeable battery to minimize the occurrence of rail sparks inside dump sites are also provided.

Railroad hopper car with bottom discharge doors having angled seals and actuating assemblies

An actuating system for operating transverse doors of a railroad hopper car. The mechanism includes an operating member which is coupled to a door or doors of the car by a shaft and a linkage which couples a power source to the operating member, where the operating member rotates to move the door away from the hopper. The mechanism can operate doors which open in opposed direction with a single power source. The mechanism can be used in new car construction, and can be retrofitted onto existing hopper cars.

Railroad hopper car transverse door actuating mechanism

A mechanism for selectively operating hopper doors of a railroad car. A fulcrum coupled to the operating cylinder includes channels within which levers can be selectively activated to open specific doors of the car, thus allowing the contents of the railcar to be sequentially emptied. The mechanism can be installed on railcars having either transverse hopper doors or longitudinal hopper doors.

Mechanism for selectively operating hopper doors of a railroad car

A door position indicating mechanism for use with a railroad car. The mechanism includes a shaft which extends across the longitudinal direction of the car. An offset section of the shaft has a roller which contacts a lever which is shifted by an air cylinder when operating the door mechanism. At least one counterweight biases the roller into constant contact with the door operating lever. Indicators are mounted on either end of the shaft such that the position of the doors can be noted from either side of the railroad car.

Door position indicating mechanism for a railcar

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.

Manual railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism

An actuating system for operating longitudinal doors of a railroad hopper car. The mechanism includes an operating member which is coupled to each end of the door set of the car by a shaft and a linkage which couples a power source to the operating member, where the operating members rotate to move the doors away from the hopper. Reversing the rotation of the operating members closes the door set of the hopper. The mechanism can be used in new car construction, and can also be retrofitted onto existing hopper cars.

Railroad hopper car longitudinal door actuating mechanism

A manual discharge door operating system for a hopper railcar includes a door actuation shaft coupled to the railcar extending across the width of the railcar. The door actuation shaft has distal ends accessible from opposite sides of the railcar with each distal end adapted to be engaged with a handle for rotation of the actuation shaft by the operator. Rotation of the actuation shaft opens and closes the discharge door of the hopper railcar through linkage assemblies. Preferably, a door operating linkage assembly is provided with an over-center closed position to hold the door in the closed position.

Manual discharge door operating system for a hopper railcar

A wayside electrical pick-up shoe for operating the discharge, or the like, of a railcar includes a spring biased electrical contact pivotally attached to a base plate with a mechanism for electrically insulating the base plate from the electrical contact. The mechanism for electrically insulating the contact may include insulating material forming at least part of the pivot between the contact and the base plate. The mechanism for electrically insulating the contact may further include insulating material supplied on a spring member which biases the contact.

Railroad car pick-up shoe

An actuating system for operating the doors of a railroad hopper car. A plurality of levers for each hopper operate to rotate the doors of the hopper between an open and a closed position. The mechanism applies a tension force, rather than a compressive force, to push the doors closed. The mechanism also provides an over center latch to positively close each door. The mechanism may be used on either single or double hopper doors.

Growing community of inventors

Burlington, KY, United States of America

Fred J Taylor