US1289153A - Valved dumping-car. - Google Patents

Description

1. T. GILMAN. JMVED DUMPING CAR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 0. i915- Paten'ted Dec. 31, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. T. (MLIVHHL VALVED DUMPING CAR.

APPLICATION FILED 050.10.1915.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

n1: NORRIS "1: co. Fumunm. WANINQION J. T. GILMAN.

VALVED DUMPING CAR.

APPLICATION FILED uc.1o,19|5.

1,289 1 53 Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3- J. T. GILMAN.

VALVED DUMPING CAR.

AL'PLICATION FILED nsc. 10. 1915.

s SHEETS-SHEET 4.'

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

\faa 6 .5.

1. T. GILMAN.

VALVE!) DUMPING CAR.

APPLICAHON FILED 02c. 10, 1915 Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

5 SHEETS SHEET 5.

I: mum; Flynn 60,-4010 ulna. mm,

rair rare.

JOSEPH '1. GILMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

GOODWIN CAR & MFG. COMPANY, INC., OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A COREO- RATION OF DELAWARE.

VALVED DUMPING-CAB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

B it known that I, JOSEPH T. GILMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented the following described Improve ments in Valved Dumping-Cars.

The invention, in its general objects, is an improvement in that particular type of hopper bottom vehicles commonly known as the Goodwin dumping car, wherein drop doors or side valves are combined with center detent valves and underlying detent mecha nism to allow the car to be readily dumped of its entire cargo, without careening, in either direction and either outside or between the rails, but certain features ar also included in the invention which may be use ful in other types of cars or hopper-bottom valved receptacles. The improved construction provides a steeper pitch for the discharping aprons and hopper sides than has hitherto been obtainable in this type of car except by unduly increasing the height of the car or raising its center of gravity when loaded, changes which are obviously restricted by conditions of use and safety. Such increased pitch is made possible according to the present invention by a reorganization and general condensation and lowering of the detent mechanism, and is accompanied by alterations in the valved cargo-carrying receptacle and discharge chutes and in the structural elements of'the car body, wherebv. nOtWithStanding the steeper pitch, the carrying capacity per standard car length can be maintained. The advantage of the steep pitch, as will be understood. is to enable a wider range of materials to be completely and cleanly discharged on either side of the track or between the rails, as desired. The improved detent mechanism is formed of three superposed sections to support the load and such sections collapse compactly in accommodating the steep pitch of the opened detent valv and without en.- croaching on the space required for adequate sill support of the car. The changes in respect to the cargo receptacle and side aprons and their relation to the supportinv structure are described more particularly hereinafter. The invention further includes improvements in the means for selectively releasing the detent valves, and for replacing them and the side doors, by power, in the proper sequence and from the end of the car or car platform, thereby additionally enhancing th utility of the-combination, as will be evident. Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the specification proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a side elevation showing approximately one-half of the length of the car, portions being shown broken away and in section for clearness of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the car, the valves at one side being shown open;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section showing the car in the condition of Fig. 2, the section being. taken on th line 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation with parts broken away and in section;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view with parts in section and broken away;

Fig. 7 is a detail elevation looking from the central part of the car toward the right in Fig. 3, the detent valve and other parts at the left being removed and the center sill for the major part of its height being indicated only in dotted lines in order to reveal the detent mechanism at the opposite side;

Fig. 8 is a section taken in a vertical transvers plane through the center sill, showing in end elevation the longitudinally mounted aircylinder for replacing one of the detent valves, the said valve being in its dropped position;

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the said replacing means in fully actuated condition and the detent valve restored thereby to normal position;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the complete car with the valves at the near side in dumped condition and with the bumpers re moved from their connection to the ends of the center sill; and

Fig. 11 is a detail showing a modification and preferred form of the detent restoring mechanism.

The car is carried by a single center sill 1, extending from truck to truck and constituted by-a deep vertical web, deeper between trucks than at the truck bolsters and suitably reinforced with flanges. The hopper superstructure is comprised of upper side girders 3 joined at the ends by cross-girders 3 and carried on the center sill by heavy upright plates 2, and also by various other supplementary supporting members as may be seen from the drawings. The uprights 2 are disposed between and close to the trucks, and between them and the cross girders 3 the fixed floor of the hopper body is constituted by three triangular plates converging toward the plane of said upright, and forming the overhanging hopper end designated 7 in Figs. 1 and 2. All of these plates and parts are to be understood as securely oined and reinforced by corner and angle irons as common in steel car construction, and wherever necessary. To avoid confusion in illustration, many of the obviously-desirable reinforcin details are omitted and certain parts are shown as of single pieces, whereas in the actual car they are best structually formed of united plates. The heavy angle irons for securing the uprights 2 to the web of the center sill are designated by 2 in Fig. 6.

The inclined sides of the hopper between the supporting uprights are formed entirely of the side-doors 4L, hinged to the side girders, and the detent valves 5, the said side doors being normally held against opening or outward swinging, by the detent valves, and when said valves and doors are closed, they represent the steep pitch above referred to, which is 15 in the present case. The walls of the hopper ends 7 have the same pitch, so that material in such ends is under the same influence to discharge as that in the center of the car. When one of the detent valves is released and allowed to drop to open position, the discharging surface is continued beyond the said valve by the apron (58 as shown at the right hand side of Fig. 3. The apron has the same pitch as the unopened side door and the dropped detent and sufiices to carry the discharged material well overboard.

The steep pitch involves, as stated, a general lowering or carrying downward of the valves, detent mechanisms and aprons as compared with previous practice, the car as a whole being as high or slightly higher than heretofore, and because of this lowering the valve doors and aprons extend only between the trucks, or to the uprights 2, while additional carrying capacity over the trucks is furnished by the stationary hopper ends 7 Beneath these hopper ends are platforms 6 supported on the ends of the center-sill and associated framework, the detatil of which is not important. On these platforms the operator stands while releasing and replacing the valves and is not required to leave it for either operation, the car being thus adapted to be dumped and restored to condition for receiving the next load while in motion. While only one end of the car has been shown, it will be understood that the opposite end of substantially the same construction, with or without a duplication of the operating and controlling mechanism.

The hinging of the drop side doors 4: is accomplished by longitudinal rock-shafts 9, which are journaled in brackets 10 on the undersides of the longitudinal side girders 3 and to which the side doors are made fast in any suitable manner, as for instance by the brackets 11, riveted to the doors. At the end of the car (Figs. 1 and 5) theseroclc shafts extend beyond the ends of the side doors and slightly beyond the hopper ends 7, at which point they are provided with crank arms 12, whereby the doors can be swung to closed position as will presently be descr1bed.

The reinforcement of the vertical web 13 of the center sill is preferably formed by marginal angle irons forming upper and lower flanges 14 and 15, and the said upper flanges are desirably dropped below the top of the web, leaving a central rib 16 composed of the upper portion of the web plate and the upwardly directed flanges of the angle irons. Such construction provides clearance for a number of parts as will presently appear. Secured at intervals along the center sill and projecting from the opposite sides of its central web are a series of brackets, each constituted'by a pair of adjacent, substantially triangular, skeletonized plates 17, seen most clearly in Figsn3, f, 6 and 7. These bracket members form the means whereby the load transmitted by the detent valves is imparted to the center sill, for which reason they are spaced at equal intervals along said sill and symmetrically on both sides thereof.

The detent mechanisn'i forms the direct support for the detent valves between the same and the sill brackets and comprises members 18 and 19, for each bracket, carried thereon and normally supported one upon the other in load-sustaining relation to a strut or leg 20, fixed to the under sides of the said detent valves 5. The members 18, 19 and 20, in their supporting position, one above and upon the other are shown at the lefthand side of Fig. at and are adapted to collapse to low-lying positions adjacent the side of the center sill as shown at the right of the same figure. Together they form a sectional supporting column or strut, and may be appropriately termed sectional strut members.- The lowermost members 18 may be regarded as the detents proper, these be ing carried by the detent shaft 21 and located between the plates 17 of the sill brackets. The detent shafts 2-1, are rock-shafts journaled in the said bracket plates at about the level of the middle of the center sill. When in valve-supporting position, the detents 18 are disposed upright with their pivotal centers substantially in the line of thrust, but, in order that they may be self-holding under load, the detents are carried slightly beyond the line of thrust and release stop abutments are provided for them, formed in this in stance, by the lugs 22 projecting from the inner face of the plates 17 of the sill bracket. The intermediate strut members 19 are pivoted on the substructure independently of the detents 18 and have their pivots 23 located well inward of the lines of thrust, so that when the detent sections are collapsed these members swing compactly downward and inward below their centers of move lnent, as shown in righthand side of Fig. 1-. To this end the intermediate members may be of approximately the elbow formation illustrated in the drawings, their outer strut portions 19 only being on the direct line of thrust, and their normally horizontal lower portions 19 serving merely as shanks for the thrust or strut portions. The pivots 23 are preferably mounted in the upper portions of the bracket plates 17 beneath the overhang of the top flanges 14 of the center sill and close to the web thereof, whereby the said member projects the least distance therefrom when collapsed.

The upper ends of both of the members 18 and 19 are preferably equipped with antifriction rollers 24 and 25, and the shank portions of the members 19 are slotted, as represented at 26 in Fig. 7, in order to accommodate the depending strut members .20 on the detent valves. When the latter are dropped the ends of these members swing inward beneath the center sill flanges 15L, penetrating the slots 26 to positions beneath the pivots 23, and close to the web of the sill, as shown at the right of Fig. st.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the several sections of the three-part struts or columns are adapted to collapse in com pact form well beneath the plane of dis charge and between the same and the center sill.

The detent valves are hinged on pintles 27, mounted in brackets 29 secured to the upstanding sill rib above described. The inner edges of these valves are necessarily separated somewhat from the hinge axis; and, in order to fill in the gap in the chute which would otherwise result when the valves are in the discharging condition, an inverted angle bar 28 is secured to the tops of the brackets 29 above the sill rib 16, this bar being interrupted at intervals to accommodate the cleat or hinge members 30 on the under sides of the valves. The strut members 20 arepreferably integral with these cleats, which are united rigidly to the valve plates. By virtue of the provision of this ridge, or of equivalent stationary, gap-filling chute sections of appropriate width, it is permissible to remove the hinge pivot at such distance from the valve edges as may be desirable for the purpose of accommodating a strong and advantageous hinge construc tion, or for flexibility of design in other particulars. With the valve plates spaced substantially from the pintles, as shown, the plates when open extend downward farther than would otherwise be the case, thus permitting the upper edges of the aprons 68, hereinafter described, to be located at a correspondingly lower level, and thereby enabling the intermediate strut members 19 to be made proportionately long and still clear the aprons in their swinging movement. The relations are also such that when the valves are dropped the reinforcing angle irons on their under sides adjacent the hinge are accommodated in the angle between the rib 16 and flange 1% of the sill.

At the end of the hopper car the detent shafts 21 pass through the uprights 2 and are provided each with an outwardly projecting crank arm 31, by which the shafts may be rocked to swing the detents toward the center sill and thereby trip and collapse the strut members. This rocking is performed by compressed air taken from the air-brake train-line and stored in a suitable tank, not shown, and introduced under the control of the operator, into a cylinder 32, secured to the framing upright 8. The piston rod 36 of this cylinder moves vertically and carries a yoke at its end which embraces the inward overlapping ends of two levers 33 fulcrumed on brackets 34 on the crossgirder 3 The outboard ends of these levers are equipped with devices 38 adapted to engage optionally with the pins 39 on the ends of the side-door levers 12 or with linkage connections reaching to the crank arms 31 on the detent shafts 21. The air cylinder serves to replace the side doors 4 as well as to rock the detent shafts. The said devices 38 may take the form of hooks as shown and as so formed are arranged to hang by gravity in position to engage the pins 39 when the side doors are hanging open as shown in Fig. 5. By hooking, or allowing the hook 38 at either side, or the hooks at both sides, to engage, with one or the other crank arm 12, or with both of them, as the case may be, the air cylinder may be operated to replace one or both the side doors as presently described. The linkage connections with the cranks 31 of the detent' shafts, preferably comprise, foreach detent shaft, and hook 38, a pull rod 40guided .behind a retainer 41 having at its upper end a pivoted shackle 42, which may be caught over the hook catch device 38 as'indicated inv dotted lines in Fig. 5. The lower end of this pull rod is pivoted to a lever arm 43 which is fast ona rock-shaft 44 journaled in appropriate brackets marked45 and 46 respectively (Fig. 6). The said shaft is provided inwardly of the arm 43, that is to say at a point adjacent the upright 2, with a second arm 47, which is connected with the crank arm 31 of the detent shaft by. a second link 48 passing through an opening 49 in the platform. Either of the catches 38 may be held out of operative relation with both the replacing levers 12 and the shackles 42 by the chain retainers 50 hanging from the levers 33, as indicated at the left of Fig. 5, but when connected with the linkage above described the air cylinder rocks the detents 18 on the corresponding shaft 21 and thereby dumps the load.

Replacement of the detent valves 5, after dumping, is effected by separate air cylinders 51, one for each side, which c re secured in horizontal positions alongside the opposite sides of the center sill, somewhat below and inward of the detent shafts 21 and faced in opposite directions in the car shown. The piston rods 52 of these cylinders are loosely connected with the clownturned arms of bell-crank levers 53, which are journaled with a loose fit on fulcrumpivots 54 carried by brackets'55 secured to the web of the sill beneath the top flanges 14. The operating arms of these bell cranks are provided at their extremities with rollers 56 adapted to engage with and roll in channeled tracks "57 and in such manner that the actuation of the bell crank, notwithstanding its longitudinal arrangement will serve to lift the detent valve from dropped to closed position.

The said replacing cylinders '51 also effect the restoration of the detent mechanisms through connections between the latter and the detent valves. In the preferred embodiment of the invention chains 58 are suspended from the outer portions of the detent valves and are connected at their lower ends with cranlq arms 59 on the detent shafts (see Fig. 6) so that the raisingof the valves by the cylinder 51 also rocks the said shafts in the directions to erect the detents 18 from their recumbent inoperative positions to which they are forced by the dropping of the valves. Inasmuch as it is inexpedient to attempt'to make the connection 58 of the exact length completely to restore the detents, tension springs 60 are applied to the detent shafts for completing the detent-restoring movement, the said springs being connected at their inner ends toarms 61 on the said shafts and at their outer .ends to-fixed anchorages 62.

The construction is such that the detents in their movement from collapsed to normal positions also restore the intermediate members 19, this being ,accomplished by upward pressure exerted through the rollers 24. Inasmuch as this pressure would at the beginning be substantially in line with the centers 23, cam surfaces are provided on the members 18 and 19 for initiating the outward movement of the intermediate members, the said surfaces being shown as comprisingdiagonal shoulders 66 adjacent the angles of the members 19 and noses 67 on the detents 18 projecting beyond the rollers 24 (see Fig. 4).

I Means are provided, as is customary, whereby the detents may be locked in their operative positions by an extraneous agency, such as a pin or padlock,'the provisions in the present instance comprising an aperture 63 in the extremity of each arm 43 adapted to register with an aperture 64 in a fixed bracket 65 when the detent valve is closed.

The inclined side aprons 68, which constitute the lowermost sections of the discharging chutes for dumping beyond the track, are mounted upon the outer portions of the sill brackets 17, on which the detent mechanism is supported and the said aprons may be tilted to approximately upright positions, as indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 3, for the purpose of delivering material such as ballast between the track rails, and, in accordance with the present invention, the pivots 69 upon which the aprons are hinged are located intermediate the upper and lower edges of these tiltable sheets, orapproximately centrally, in order that the lower sections of the apron may be carriedinward in the center dumping condition, so as to prevent escape of material beyond the rails. The said pivots 69 are mounted in the outer lower portions of the pairs of plates 17, which latter are provided with abutment faces 70 and 71, (Fig. 6) respectively, for limiting the movement of the aprons in opposite directions and supporting them in their extreme positions. The aprons are further provided at their upper edges with lugs or projections 72, which underlie the lower outer edges of the detent valves 5 when the latter are dropped, thereby restraining the aprons against undesired upward tilting movement under the weight of the material chuted over them when dumping outside of the track.

The end plates 2 are also braced and tied together, inwardly of the aprons 68 and at opposite sides of the center sill by tubular members 73 and 74, which extend from end plate to 'end ,plate, to which they are united,

and which pass through and may afford additional upport to the brackets 17. These serve as protecting conduits for the brake rod 7 5 and the various air pipes 76.

In order to dump the cargo at either side of the car the shackle 42 of the tripping linkage at that side is hooked over the corresponding catch 38. The operator then opens the valve 80 in the piping 79, thereby admitting fluid pressure to the cylinder 32, which depresses the yoke 35, thereby swinging the transverse levers 33 to the dotted line positions of Fig. 5. The upward pull on the tripping linkage 10, 48, etc., of the selected side rocks the detents 18 inward toward the center sill. When the detents are carried inward past center, the load on the valves which previously acted to keep the detents erect against their stops 22, now forces them and the intermediate members 19 downward, in which movement the intermediate members ride upon the rollers 24 while the depending strut members 20 ride upon the rollers 25. In the collapsed condition the sections of the compound strut occupy transverse, closely adjacent, substantially parallel positions within the angle between the chute and the center sill and below the flange 1 1 of the latter. In this condition the downward movement of the mem-. ber 19 is limited by the contact of their rollers 2a with the hubs of the detents, while the movement of the depending strut mem bers 20 is limited by their valves 5 coming into contact with the projections 72 of the aprons 68, which latter are sustained by the abutment faces 70. It will be obvious that the detents mi ht be accommodated if they were to swing below the approximately horizontal position shown in Fig. 4, but a greater range of movement than that indicated is unnecessary, and in the present instance the positions to which the detents descend are determined by the extent of throw of the piston rod 36 and the leverage of the various intermediate connections. twill also be evident that the valves on both sides may be released simultaneously by connecting both levers to their detent shafts. Then the side door and detent valve which have thu been opened are to be replaced, the operator disengages the corresponding shackle as from its hook 38 and fluid pressure is again admitted to the cylinder 32, to the end that the catch 38 may engage and raise the arm 12 on the hinge portion of the side door 4-. While the ressure is kept on the cylinder 32, holding this door closed, the operator opens one of two valves 81 in piping 82, at the end of the car, thereby admitting pressure to the appropriate cylinder 51 on the ubstructure. This cylinder, through its bell-crank 53, thereupon raises the corresponding detent valve into supporting relation to the said side door and the chain 58 connected to the detent valve rocks the detents back toward normal position, to which they are completely restored by the springs 60. In this movement the detents also restore the intermediate members 19. In order to dump outside of the rails the aprons 68 are located in the full line positions, and for dumping between the rails they are disposed in the dotted line positions, as will now be evident.

Referring now to the modification shown in Fig. 11, the discharge apron 68 and the center detent valve 5 in its dropped position, are shown broken away to expose the replacing lever 53 and the detent shaft 21, the lever and shaft being represented in the position immediately before the restoring of the detent valve and detent mechanism. A cording to this modification the working arm of the bell crank lever 53 is connected by a chain 58 with the end of the crankarm 59 which is fast on the detent shaft 21, extending inwardly thereon in the same relation and for the same purpose as the crank-arm 59 shown in Fig. 6 and above described. This crank-arm takes the place of the arm 59, and the chain 58 takes the place of the chain 58. Actuation of the replacing lever 53, as already described, serves to rock the detent shaft 21 in the direction to restore the several strut members coincidentally with the replacement of the detent valve 5, as represented by the dotted lines. The length of the chain 58 is of course predetermined to accomplish the restoration of the strut members coincidentally with the replacement of the detent valve, and in so doing the latter will be lifted somewhat above its normal closed position.

It will be apparent, however, that the invention is not confined to any particular construction or relation of the replacing means for the detent valves and members, provided the novel principles of operation hereinabove fully disclosed are utilized in whole or in par The coordination of the detent valves and their strut members, whereby the operation of a single agent restores all of them in proper sequence and automatically, will be recognized as an important feature of the present invention and as quite independent of the side-door replacing means and other structural arrangements of the illustrated car.

What I claim as new is: I

1. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a drop side door, a substructure, and a detent valve hinged on said substructure centrally of the receptacle and normally supporting the side door, of vertically extended means for supporting said detent valve in its raised position and permitting the same to swing clown- Ward to a steep discharging angle, the said means comprising three strut members normally superposed one upon another, sustalning the load on the detent valve from a low point on the substructure and adapted to collapse to inward and low-lying positions.

2. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a drop side door, a substructure, and a detent valve hinged on said substructure centrally of the receptacle and normally supporting the side door, of means for supporting the detent valve from a low point on the substructure comprising a strut projecting downward from the detent valve, a normally erect detent on the substructure, and an upward extending intermediate member independently mounted on the substructure.

3. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a dumping valve and a substructure, of a collapsible sectional column for supporting and releasing said valve, said column comprising a plurality of movable sections connected to the substructure and normally supported in a substantially erect manner one upon another, and a strut projecting rigidly clownward from the valve and separate from and normally bearing upon the upper of said substructure sections.

4. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a dumping valve and an underlying sill bracket, of means applying the load on the valve to said bracket comprising three strut members normally disposed in upright position one upon another in load sustaining relation to the valve, and being adapted to drop to low lying positions to release and clear the valve.

5. A valved dumping car of the kind described, eomprising drop side valves, center detent valves carrying downward projecting strut members, detent mechanism mounted on the substructure of the car comprising pivotal strut members normally supported one upon another in load sustaining rela tion to the strut members of the detent valves, and suitable tripping means adapted to act upon the lower of said strut members.

6. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a dumping valve and a suitable substructure, of a sectional column support for the valve comprising a plurality of pivotal sections carried by the substructure and normally supported one upon and above another, and a downward projecting strut section carried by the valve to rest upon the uppermost of said pivotal sections, said sections when collapsed dropping to low lying adjacent and generally transverse positions.

7. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of a single projecting top flanges and dumping valves hingedly mounted on the sill, in combination with downward projecting strut members on the said valves adapted to swing inward beneath said flanges when the valves are dropped, and detent mechanism comprising superposed strut members located at opposite sides of the center sill for sustaining said valves and the load thereon.

9. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, a center support, detent valves hingedly supported thereon, depending strut members on said valves, said parts being so constructed and organized that said strut members swing inward below the top of said center support when the valves are dropped, and detent mechanism comprising sections supported one upon another and in turn supporting saidstrut members, said etent mechanism being adapted to collapse alongside said center support.

10. In a valved dumping receptacle of the 4 kind described, the combination [with a substructure, and a normally upward inclined valve pivoted centrally of the receptacle on the substructure, of an elbow member pivoted on a fixed axis on the substructure for supporting said valve, the said member having an upwardly extending load-sustaining limb ofisetoutwardly from the pivot by the other limb, and means for supporting and releasing said elbow member, whereby the latter when released swings inward and downward about said pivot.

11. A valved dumping car of the character described, comprising drop side doors,

center detent valves, and a suitable substructure, in combination with members separate from the valves pivoted on said substructure adjacent the longitudinal center thereof and normally extending outward from their pivots and upward into load sustaining relation to the detent valves, and detents beneath said members mounted to rock on axes disposed approximately in the lines of thrust.

12. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of a bottom dumping valve hinged to swing inward and downward and having a downwardly projecting strut member thereon, a detent, and an intermediate downward swinging mem ber having its center of movement disposed inward of the line of thrust and its outwardly ofi'set load-sustaining portion extending upward above its center of movement, said downwardly projecting strut 'member on the valve being adapted to pass beneath said center when the valve and intermediate member are dropped by the tripping of the detent.

13. In a. valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of a clumping valve having a downward projecting strut member thereon, a pivoted elbow member having a normally upward extending portion offset laterally from its pivot and normally in load sustaining relation to said strut member and having a slot in its ofisetting portion, and means for supporting and releasing said elbow member and valve, said downward projecting strut member passing within the slot of said elbow member and beneath the pivot thereof when the valve is dropped.

14:. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of a dumping valve having a downward projecting strut member thereon, a detent member for supporting and releasing the valve, and an intermediate downwardly swinging supporting member having an opening to accommodate said downward projecting strut When the valve is dropped.

15. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of detent valves hinged centrally of the receptacle to swing inward and downward and having downward projecting strut members, rocka'ble detents mounted to turn inward to releasethe said valves, and intermediate supporting members normally interposed between the detents and the struts on the valves, the said members being pivotally mounted on the substructure of the car with their load-sustaining portions ofiset outward from and extending upward above their pivots and swinging inward and downward below their pivots when the mechanism is released.

16. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of a valve having a strut member on its under side, means for supporting and releasing said valve, and an intermediate pivoted. lbow member having a roller at its extremity normally supporting said strut member and a slot in its inner portion to receive said memher when the valve is dropped.

17 In a valved-dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with drop side doors and center detent valves, of means for supporting and releasing said detent valv'es comprising normally substantially erect detents arranged to swing inward to release the valves.

18. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a center sill and valves hinged on a central pivotal axis-above said sill, the same being normally upward inclined and adapted to swing downward and inward for discharge, of upward extending detents mounted on pivots carried by the center sill at opposite sides thereof, said detent-s adapted to turn inward toward the sill to release the valves, downward projecting struts on the valves, and in termediate strut members mounted to swing about pivots carried by the center sill substantially closer to the sides thereof than the pivots of the detents and above the detent pivots, the load-sustaining portions of said intermediate members being offset outward from and extending upward above their pivots, whereby the intermediate members when dropped are accommodated in the triangular spaces defined by the planes of the valves in their discharging positionsand the sides of the center sill.

19. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination with a dumping valve having a downward projecting strut thereon, of a detent strut and an intermediate strut member pivoted independently of each other on the substructure 01" the car, the intermediate member being offset outward from and rising above its pivot, and means whereby the detent when returned to normal position after dumping also restores said intermediatemember.

20. In a valved dumping receptacle of the kind described, the combination of a dumping valve mounted to swing downward and inward and having a downward projecting strut member, a detent bearing a roller, and an intermediate member adapted to rest on said roller and in turn to support the valve strut member, said intermediate member being pivoted inward of the line of thrust and having its load-sustaining portion rising above the horizontal plane of its pivot and adapted to swing inward and downward below said pivot, and means for restoring said detent to supporting position after dumping, the detent and the intermediate member being provided with surfaces whereby to move the intermediate member toward said supporting position.

p1. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with bottom valves hinged centrally of the car to swing downward and inward for discharging, of rock-shafts beneath the valves bearing normally substantially erect detents for sustaining the valves in th ir raised positions, means for rocking the shafts to release the valves, means {or replacing the valves, and chain connect-ions between the valves and the rock-shafts whereby the valves when raised restore the detents.

22. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with a drop side door and a center deten valve normally holding the door closed, of detents standing beneath the detent valve for sustaining the same, means for tripping the detents, and a single power means and connections for replacing the detent valve and at the same time positively restoring the detents.

23. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, comprisin drop side doors and center detent valves, rock-shafts bearing detents for supporting and releasing said detent valves, and chain connections whereby the detent valves when raised also erect the detents.

24. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with center valves, of detents for supporting and releasing said valves, intermediate pivoted supporting members, and means whereby said valves when raised also raise both the detents and the intermediate members.

25. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a valve, a rock-shaft bearing detents for supporting and releasing said valve, intermediate pivoted supporting members, and a connection whereby the valve while being replaced actuates said rock-shaft back toward normal position, the detent-s being adapted to raise the intermediate members.

26. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a valve, a rock-shaft bearing detents for supporting and releasing said valve, intermediate pivoted supporting members, a chain connecting the valve and rock-shaft for restoring the latter, and means whereby the detents when thus raised exert restoring thrust upon the intermediate members, p

27. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with drop side doors and center detent valves, of detent mechanism for supporting and releasing the detent valves, power means for replacing said doors and valves, and mechanical connections whereby the detent mechanism is restored in a positive manner simultaneously with the replacing of the detent valves.

28. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, a vertical flanged web member constituting a center sill and having laterally projecting supports, and center valves hinged upon said sill, in combination with detents mounted on rock-shafts journaled in said supports, and intermediate members to support the valves on the detents, said members being separate from the valves and having each a lower limb extending inward beneath the top flange of the sill and there pivoted and an outer, upright limb extend ing upward above the flange.

29. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, a center sill, upright members rising therefrom near the trucks, top girders mounted on said upright members, drop side doors hung from the said girders, and detent valves mounted on the center sill, in combination with sill brackets projecting laterally from the sill, detent means carried by brackets, side aprons mounted on the outer portions of the latter, and tie members uniting said end plates at opposite sides of the center sill and passing through said brackets.

31. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, a center sill, vertical bracket plates projecting laterally therefrom, valves on the center sill, and detent mechanism and side aprons supported by said bracket plates, in combination with upright members on the sill toward the ends thereof united by top girders, and conduit members uniting the lower portions of said upright members to said bracket plates.

32. In a valved dumping car of the kind I described, the combination with drop side doors and center detent valves of a. center sill, vertical sill brackets extending laterally therefrom beneath the detent valves and forming narrow compartments, and detent mechanism for supporting and releasing the detent valves adapted to collapse within said compartments.

33. In a valved hopper bottom dumping car having side drop doors and center detent valves, a center sill, brackets projecting laterally therefrom, and aprons tiltably supported on said brackets substantially midway between their upper and lower edges and constituting the sole chute surface exterior of said hopper bottom, said drop doors and detent valves operating independently of said aprons.

3%. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, a. center sill, end plates supported thereon and in turn supporting top girders, drop side doors hung from said girders, and center detent valves hingedly mounted on the center sill, in combination with side aprons tiltably mounted on supports projecting laterally from the center sill, and hollow conduits tying said end plates together inwardly of said aprons.

' 35. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of drop side doors, center detent valves, and side aprons tiltable as a whole about axes substantially mid-way between their upper and lower edges, whereby the lower parts of the aprons are swung inward when the'apronsare disposed for center dumping, the drop doors and detent valves being independent of the aprons.

36. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with center dumping valves, of side aprons adapted to constitute chute extensions of the said valves when the latter are in dumping position, said aprons being tiltable about axes intermediate their upper and lower edges, and means whereby the valves when down hold the upper portions of the aprons against upward movement.

'37. In a valve dumping car of the kind described, the combination with dumping valves, of side aprons adapted to constitute chute extensions of the said valves when the latter are in dumping position, said aprons being tiltable about axes intermediate their upper and lower edges, and having projections at their upper edges arranged to underlie the edges of the said valves in the outboard dumping positions of the parts.

38. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, asubstructure, center dumping valves hingedly mounted thereon, the hinge axis of said valves being spaced at a distance from and below the inner edges of the valves in their closed positions, and a stationary member adjacent the hinge and below the detent valve filling the gap when one or other of the valves swings downward to dumping position.

39. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of center dumping valves normally upward inclined, a ridge centrally below said valves, and a hinge pivot for the valves below said ridge.

40. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a center sill, a ridge mounted on the top thereof, and center dumping valves above the ridge hinged to swing downward about a pivotal axis beneath said ridge.

41. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a center sill having an upstanding top rib, members secured to said rib, a ridge mounted on said members, a hinge pivot mounted in said members below the top of the ridge, and center dumping valves having hinge members connected with said pivot.

42. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, drop side doors, center detent valves, detent mechanism beneath the detent valves, and tiltable side aprons, in combination with narrow stationary chute sections beneath the detent valves in their normal positions, the hinge axis of the detent valves being removed from the lower inner edges of these valves and disposed below said stationary chute sections.

43. In a valved dumping car of the character described, the combination of a center sill and normally upward inclined center valves hinged thereon to swing downward and inward, of power cylinders carried longitudinally by the center sill beneath said valves, and connections whereby said cylinders act upwardly against the under sides of the valves to replace the same.

44. In a valved dumping car of the kind described having drop side doors and center detent valves, power cylinders beneath said detent valves, and levers acted upon by the pistons of said cylinders to replace the valves. I

45. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a dumping valve, a horizontally-disposed power cylinder below the valve, and a bell-crank connected with the cylinder for upwardly swinging the valve.

46. In a valve dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a hinged dumping valve having a channeled track on its underside extending substantially parallel with the hinge axis, and longitudinally disposed bell-crank connected and adapted to operate upon said track to replace the valve.

47. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, a center sill, detent valves hingedly supported thereon, power cylinders arranged longitudinally adjacent opposite sides of the center sill beneath the detent valves, and connections whereby said cylinders may replace the detent valves.

48-. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of side valves and center detent valves, power cylinders and connections for replacing the said valves located at the under part of the car, and means at the end of the car for controlling said power cylinders.

49. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with drop side doors and center detent valves normally holding said doors closed, of longitudinal. hinge shafts at the top of the car from which said doors are hung, inward projecting replacing crank arms on the ends of said shafts, a power cylinder vertically disposed at the end of the car and having an upward extending piston rod, and transverse levers of the first order above said cylinder with their inner ends arranged to be actuated by the piston rod and their outer ends adapted to act upon said crank arms.

50. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of drop side doors and center detent valves to support the same, a power cylinder at the end of the car, and means alternately operable thereby by movement of its piston in one direction either to replace the side doors or to release the center detent valves.

51. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of drop side doors having replacing crank arms, a power cylinder, and means operated thereby constructed to engage automatically with said crank arms.

52. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with side doors having replacing crank arms, center detent valves and rock-shafts bearing detents for supporting and releasing the latter, of a power cylinder at the end of the car, transverse levers arranged to be operated by said power cylinder, and devices adapted for optionally connecting said levers with the detent shafts in order to trip the detents, or with said replacing crank arms to replace the said side doors.

53. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with a side valve and a center detent valve, and a rock-shaft bearing detents for supporting and releasing said detent valve, of a power cylinder at the end of the car adapted optionally to replace said side valve or turn the rockshaft, and a second cylinder adapted to restore the detent valve and reversely turn the rock shaft.

5 1. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with drop side doors, center detent valves, and means comprising rock-shafts bearing detents for supporting and releasing said detent valves, of replacing arms connected with the ends of the drop side doors, linkage for rocking said detent shafts to trip the detents, a power cylinder, and means for optionally connecting said power cylinder with either said door replacing arms or said detent tripping linkage.

55. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of a center sill, vertical end plates supported there-on, top girders mounted on the end plates, fixed hopper ends formed of triangular floor sec tions united to said end plates, drop side doors hinged to the top girders and center detent valves hinged to the center sill, together forming the side walls of the cargo receptacle.

56. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, a center sill, end uprights mounted thereon inwardly of the trucks, and top girders supported by said uprights, in combination with drop side doors, detent valves and side aprons extending between said end uprights, and stationary hopper ends secured to said uprights and disposed vertically over the trucks.

57. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination of side discharging chute members comprising side doors and center detent valves forming inclined side walls of the cargo carrying receptacle, and side aprons adapted to constitute extencle formed by drop side doors and center detent valves constituting movable side walls which extend downward into proximity to the top of the center sill and are included lengthwise within the distance between the trucks, the cargo-carrying receptacle being completed by stationary hopper ends supported vertically over the trucks, and aprons which slope downward below and between the trucks and constitute extensions of the chutes formed by the detent valves in their dropped position.

59. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with drop side doors and center detent valves forming a sloping walled cargo-carrying receptacle, the detent valves normally holding the side doors closed, detent means beneath the detent valves for sustaining and releasing the same, and a single agency and connections for restoring both the detent valve and the detent mechanism positively and in proper time.

60. In a valved dumping car of the kind described, the combination with a drop side door and a center detent valve normally holding the side door. closed, a collapsible detent structure beneath the detent valve, and a power means and connections therefrom to both the detent valve and the detent structure for restoring the same. I 61. In a valved dumping car, a longitudinally hinged dumping valve, detent. means for supporting and releasing the same, a lever fulcrumed on a transverse axis for restoring said valve, and connections whereby said lever restores said detent means.

62. In a valved dumping car comprising drop side doors and center detent valves and a rock-shaft bearing detent mechanism for supporting and releasing said detent valves, in. combination with a power-actuated restoring lever for saidvalve and connections from said lever to the rock shaft for restoring the latter.

63. In a valved dumping car of the kind described comprising drop side doors, center detent valves and detent mechanism for supporting and releasing the latter, the combination of an air cylinder for restoring said side doors, a second air cylinder disposed beneath the detent valves, and means for selectively operating said two cylinders from the end of the car.

64. In a valved dumping car of the kind described comprising drop side doors, cen- In testimony whereof, I have signed this 10 ter detent valves and detent mechanism for specification in the presence of two Witsupporting and releasing the latter, the nesses.

combination of an air cylinder adapted to restore said side doors and release the detent JOSEPH T. GILMAN. valves, a second cylinder adapted to restore the detent valves and their said detent mech- Witnesses:

anism, and means at the end of the car for J OHN T. CROWLEY,

operating said cylinders. K. L. GRANT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0."

Images