Portec, Inc.

James C Robertson

Chandrakant D Ravani

David A Stoller, Sr

Jaroslaw J Rostafinski

Tibor Matyas

An enclosure for the end opening of a vehicle having one or more interior elevated decks includes a pair of door assemblies each comprising a plurality of pivotally joined panels. The door assemblies are suspended in a vertical manner by means of hanger assemblies having tracking elements guided within a rail member disposed above the level of a vehicle elevated deck. Transverse movement of any panel concurrently displaces the entire associated door assembly, as a unitary articulated assembly, between a closed position sealing off the end opening, and an open position with the door assembly well-spaced from a lateral edge of the deck, in which latter position maximum lateral clearance is provided for lading carried by all decks or levels. With the vehicle provided with a raised top section or pitched roof, an enclosure is obtained for the upper portion of the end opening by the inclusion of inwardly directed top panel sections extending above each of the panels and which substantially conform to the pitch of the adjacent roof section when the door assembly is disposed in the open position.

Pivotal slidable vehicle end enclosure

A railway car having an end opening includes a swingable folding door assembly provided with a keeper mechanism carried by the door assembly and the adjacent side wall of the railway car. As the panels of the door assembly are folded from a flat, closed position overlying the car end opening to a collapsed, open position disposed substantially longitudinally extended away from the end of the car side wall, a guide rod carried by the door assembly is arcuately displaced to simultaneously horizontally shift a vertical locking pin to a position overlying an aperture in a lock plate whereupon gravity concurrently drops the connected rod and pin to secure the open door assembly in a fixed position.

Rail car end door positioning keeper assembly

An enclosure for a vehicle end opening disposed between two side walls includes a pair of bi-fold door assemblies, each comprising inner and outer panels hingedly connected to one another with the outer edges of the innermost panel in turn hingedly connected to a hinge rod normally disposed adjacent the outer limits of the end opening. Intermediate lock means are included with each pair of door panels for selectively precluding relative displacement therebetween and when actuated allows of folding of each pair of door panels to provide a collapsed juxtaposed relationship following which the folded door assembly may be pivoted about the hinge rod 90.degree. or until parallel to the vehicle side walls. The hinge rod supporting each door assembly is in turn supported and guided by hanger and track means extending longitudinally of the vehicle whereby the folded and pivoted door assembly may be displaced in a sliding manner to a retracted or stored position within the interior of the vehicle sides, at which point locking means are actuated to retain the door assembly secured.

Foldable slidable vehicle end enclosure

A lock mechanism for a railway car hinge-deck section includes a locking lever pivotally attached to a railway car and having an upper and lower wedge bar alternately engageable with a wedge plate carried by the hinge-deck section when the section is displaced to a raised or lowered position, respectively. Seat means affixed to the car restrict vertical displacement of the deck section and cooperates with mating inclined surfaces on the wedge bars and wedge plate to provide positive, tight retention of the hinge-deck section in either of its locked positions.

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Ypsilanti, MI, United States of America

James C Robertson