Acf Industries, Incorporated

Robert F Needham

Robert W Randolph

A top-operated, outside unloading device for a bottom discharge railway tank car is disclosed. The tank car has an outlet valve in its bottom which is opened and closed by an operating rod connected to the valve and which extends up through the interior of the tank car. The operating rod projects out through the top of the tank car and is rotated by means of a hand wheel. The upper end of the operating rod is sealed with respect to the tank car by compressible packing seals carried by a packing body surrounding the upper end of the operating rod. The packing body has a part-spherical lower end which mates with a seat surrounding the opening in the top of the tank car through which the operating rod extends. The packing body may universally, angularly (or swivel) move with respect to the seat within a cone of movement so that any misalignment (within a limited range) of the operating rod from the valve at the bottom of the car to the top opening may be accommodated, and so that the packing seals within the packing body may be concentrically aligned with the operating rod thereby to assure proper sealing of the rod to the packing body. After alignment of the packing body with respect to the operating rod, the packing body is sealably secured (preferably welded) to the tank car. A method of aligning and sealing the operating rod relative to the tank car is also disclosed.

Coaxial operating rod and packing seal for top-operated, bottom outlet

In accordance with the present structure, in a railway hopper car a corrugated bolster web extends vertically between a bolster cover plate and the end hopper slope sheet. The vertically extending corrugations act as reinforcements in the web which web has at least some of the corrugations positioned over the side bearings and center plate.

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St. Charles, MO, United States of America

Robert F Needham