US1421105A - Stock-car door - Google Patents

Description

R. L. SMITH.

STOCK CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY11.1921.

P tented June 27 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

ATTORNEY R. L. SMITH. STOCK CA R DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED- JULY 11, 1921.

Patented June 27, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET}.

ATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT LEE SMITH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

STOCK-CAR DOOR.

Application filed July 11,

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, ROBERT LEE SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and I State of California, have invented a new and useful Stock-Car Door, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to animproved door construction for railway cars and is particularly directed to a door construction having special advantages when applied to stock cars.

The object of the invention is to provide a door construction including a hinged drop 15 section adapted to cooperate with a loading chute or platform as an apron thereby eliminating the use of the individual loading I aprons with which such chutes or platforms are equipped. I

Another object is to provide a door construction having vertically hinged doors closing the upper portion of the doorway and a horizontally hinged drop section overlapping the lower edges of the doors when in. closed position. 7

A further object is to provide a drop section formed of two parts longitudinally hinged together, with means preventing the parts folding together in one direction.

Another object is to provide a drop section extending beyond the door casing to prevent live stock stepping off the side of the section when lowered for use as a loading I apron.

Another object is to provide a door construction consistingof one or more hinged doors closing theupper portion ofthe doorway and a horizontally hinged drop apron closing the lower portion of the door way, with means for simultaneously locking the doors and apron.

Another object is to provide a structure having two opposed vertically hinged doors normally closing the upper portion of the doorway and a cooperating horizontally hinged drop section normally closing the lower portion of the doorway and retaining the doors in closed position the doors being adapted to swing outwardly between the guard rails of a loading chute to function as continuations of said guard rails and the drop section adapted to swing downwardly to rest upon the floor of the chute to function as a loading apron.

Various other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1922.

1921. Serial No. 483,864.

Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of" a stock car having my improved door structure and showlng the door 1n closed position. Fig. 2 1s a section on line w -m of F 1g. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line m w of Fig. 1..

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the drop section down and resting on a loading dock, as a loading apron.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 showing the drop section engaging a loading dock which is higher than the floor of the car.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the door open and the drop section down.

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the structure as shown in Fig. 6, illustrating its cooperation with a loading chute.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail section on line w -a' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the lock bolt operating member.

In the drawings my improved door structure is illustrated as applied to a stock car and in the following description it will be described in this connection, but it will be evident that it can be applied to various other types of freight cars equally as. well as to stock cars.

The use of my improved door structure on stock cars is productive of functions and advantages beyond those incident to its use on other types of freight cars and to afford a clear understanding of such functions and advantages. it, is thought desirable to explain the defects of the standard type of stock car door andthe disadvantages and :loss resulting from the use of such standard doors.

The standard stock car door is of the one piece sliding type and the car is provided with a removable beam extending across the I door way on the inside of thecar and positioned approximately three feet from the floor. This is what is known as a bull-bar and is for the purposeof restraining the live stock when the door is opened and before the loading apron is placed imposition, further said bar protects the door against undue strain during crowding of the cattle. As herein referred to, the loading apron is the mechanical equivalent of what inother.

arts would be termeda gang-plank.

The general types of cattle chutes and loading docks are positioned at varying dis tances from the tracks, said distance varying from one to two feet and although the edges of such chutes or docks are usually of a height somewhat below the door sill of the average car, in some instances the relative heights are such that the car door sill will be somewhat lower than the edge of the loading chute or dock.

In loading or unloading cattle from such standard stock cars the sliding door must be fully opened before the loading apron can be placed in position resting on the door sill and bridging the space between the car and the chute or dock. Further, with said sliding door open and the loading apron in place there will be an open space on each side of the apron between the ends of the guard rails of the loading chute and the side of the car.

This standard door structure and loading equipment is productive of accidental injury and loss of a great number of cattle during each season, such losses occurring in the following manner and causing a large volume of damage claims to be filed with the various railway companies annually.

It is a well known fact that after being confined in a stock car for any length of time and especially after a rough journey,

cattle become excited and will bolt through the first opening they see. As soon as the door is opened they will crowd against the bull-bar which under ordinary conditions is of sufiicient strength to restrain them until Y the loading apron is in place. However. if, as is frequently the case. the bull-bar is not in place. through negligence or accident, the cattle will rush out the door long before the loading apron can be positioned andwill fall between the car and the loading chute or dock with the result that several will become severely injured or killed before the cattle can be controlled and the condition remedied. In some cases where the cattle are especially wild this. same result is brought about by a breaking of the bullbar.

Even in cases where the cattle are relatively docile a heavy deposit of filth on the floor may cause one or more of the animals crowded against the bull-bar to lose their footing and slide out under the bar and down in the space between the car and the loading chute or dock.

Another cause of loss is brought about by an animal slipping or stepping ofl the side of the loading apron in the space between the car and the ends of the guard rails or fences of the loading chute or dock.

The structure of the present invention overcomes all of these disadvantages and eliminates each of the above mentioned causes of accident and loss. In my imary leaves 15 secured to the casing beam 0 proved structure each car is provided with a loading apron as a section of the complete door and which is first positioned for loading or unloading before the main doors are opened, and when the main doors are opened they constitute guard rail extensions spanning the space between the car and the rails of the loading chute or dock so that a continuous runway is provided with guard rails or fences extending all the way to the side of the car.

Vith reference to the drawings the details of coustructionof my preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described. The doorway of the car is defined by the sill beam 1, the top beam 2 and the vertical casing beams 3- 1. The upper portion of the doorway is closed by two doors 56 hinged to swing outwardly. Each door is constructed of vertical bars 7 and horizontal bars 89 at the top and bottom on opposite sides of the bars 7. At the free edge of the door and extending between the horizontal bars 9 is a filler strip 10 with its outer sur face flush with the outer surfaces of the bars 9 providing a plane surface throughout the height of the door upon which the lock mechanism is mounted. A diagonal brace member 11 is provided and all of. said bars, the brace member and the filler strip are secured together by suitable screws, bolts, or nails, to form a rigid door structure.

The door 5 is supported by two hinges, the stationary leaves 12 thereof being secured to the casing bar 4t with the movable leaves 13 extended to the free edge of the door and secured to the respective bars 9, the outer ends of the leaves 13 being provided with outwardly projecting eye members 14 which are adapted to receive the lock bolts of the locking mechanism, as will hereinafter be explained. The door at is similarly supported by two hinges having their stationand their movable leaves 16 secured to the respective bars 9 of the door and extended beyond the free edge of the door, the ends of the leaves 16 being provided with elongated apertures adapted to fit over the eye members 1 1 of the hinge leaves 13 when the two doors are closed.

It will be noticed that the bars 7 of the two doors extend below the lower horizontal bars 8-9. the purpose of this being later pointed out in connection with the description of the locking mechanism.

The lower portion of the doorway is closed by a drop section 20 which consists of two parts 2 1-22 horizontally hinged together with the part 21 horizontally hinged to the sill 1. The parts 2122 are formed of two layers of boards. the outer layer running lengthwise (see Fig. 1) and the inner layer running crosswise (see Fig. 6), the inner layer being of a Width approximately equal to the width ofthe doorway and the boards 'ofthe outer layer extending to overlap the respective casing beams 3 4. The upper corners of the overlapping portion of the part 22 arenotched as indicated at 23 and secured to eaclrcasing beam 34 is an eye memoer'24 positioned so that when the drop section isclosed,.they extend through said notches 23(see' Fig. 1). Each'of the'hinges of the drop section consists of a stationary .movable leaf 27 secured to the part 22 and hingedly united to the leaf member 26.

This provides a double hinge by, which the part 21 is hinged to the car and the pa'rt 22 hinged to the part 21. The upper free end of each of the leaf members 27 is provided with an elongated aperture through which the eye, member 24 extends, when the drop section is in closed position. Removable pms 28 are inserted through the eyememfber to retain the drop section in closed Y position, said pins being attached to the free 25 ends of chains, to prevent" their becoming lost.

The drop section may be provided with one or more transverse cleats 21 insuring a more secure foothold for thelive stock.

The drop section when loweredis adapted to: function loading. apron, its free edge in such instances engaging the edge of the floor of the loading chute or dock, as indicated at 30 in Figs. 4 and 5. Usually the drop section engages said floor as shown in Fig. 4 and in this instance it becomes necessary to provide .means for preventing the hinged parts 21-22 from folding together or collapsing under the weight of the llXB stock. Such means comprises metal abutment strips 29 secured to the inner surfaces of each of the overlapping portions of the part 21 (see Fig. 6) and extending over but not secured to the inner surface of the part 22 (see Figs. 4 and When, as in some instances, the floor 30 of the loading chute or dock is relatively close to and higher than the car floor, the drop section engages said floor 30 as shown in Fig. 5, the hinge connection allowing the part 22 to drop to the floor 30 so as not to present an appreciable obstruction to the passage of the live stock.

The locking mechanism comprises lock bolts 3l32-slidable in bearing blocks 33 and axially alined to engage through the eye members 14 of the door 5, the bolt 31 being of suflicient length to extend through the upper eye member 14 and into a socket member 34 secured to the top beam 2 and the bolt 32 being of suflicient length to extend through the lower eye member 14 and into a socket member 35 secured to the free edge of the drop section 20. The two lock bolts 3l32 are, respectively, connected to a lock operating member 36' by links 37 said member 36v being journaled ona'pivot stud 38 (see Fig; securedto the door 5. .The

member 36 is turned down as at39 (see Fig.

9) to form pivot elements, and a'hasp 40 '7O has a bifurcated end with the furcations bent aroundthe pivot elements 39 of the member 36. This provides a rotative operating member 36 and a 'hasp 4O hinged thereto. The hasp has an elongated slot 41 and*" its freeend is bent over, to provide a handle 42. The door 4 has a-staple or eye 43 over which the hasp 4O engageswith. the staple 43 extending through the'slot41, a car seal 44,0r padlock being applied to sea-l the carr'80 When the doors are closed and the-"drop section is .in elevated position, the top free edge of the I drop section extends overthe projecting lower ends of each of the bars 7 of I the "doors This arrangement makes it unnecessary to provide the usual removable bull-bar. i 1

In the standard sliding type of stock-car door, the bull-bar?- is absolutely necessary u to keep the live stock. in the' car while the (Br-" dinary, detached. loading apron is removed, which it must be before the sliding door can be even started to b'elmoved; to closed posin In the present invention, the bull-bar is 9'5 entirely unnecessary for this, purpose for the reason that the doors 4, andfi, are closed first and before the apron section 2O is moved. Thereafter'the apron section, is closed and the three locked in closed position.

\Vhile the construction illustrated in the drawings is of a preferable form, it is realized that many other specific forms could be devised without departing from the broad scope of the present invention, as set forth in 05 the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stock car having a doorway, of a closure for the doorway comprising vertically hinged doors closing the upper portion of the doorway, said doors being constructed and arranged to act as extensions of the loading chute guide rails when swung open, and a horizontally hinged drop section closing the lower portion of the doorway and overlapping the doors and adapted when lowered to cooperate with a loading chute or dock to function as a loading apron.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stock car having a doorway, of a closure for the doorway comprising vertically hinged doors, closing the upper portion of the doorway, and a two-part hingedly united drop section horizontally hinged to the door-sill with both parts vertically aligned to close the lower portion of the doorway and adapted when lowered for cooperation with a loading chute or dock to function as a loading apron,

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stock car having a doorway, of a closure for the doorway comprising opposed vertically hinged doors closing the upper portion or" the doorway, and a two-part hingedly united drop section horizontally hinged to the door sill with both parts vertically aligned to close the lower .portion of the doorway and adapted when lowered for cooperation with a loading chute or dock to functlon as a loading apron,

the drop section being provided with means preventing its hingedly united parts folding together in one direction.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stock car having a door way, of a closure for the doorway comprising vertically hinged doors closing the up per portion of the doorway, said doors being constructed and arranged to act as extensions of the loading chute guide rail when swung open, and a horizontally hinged drop c on one of said hinged doors for simultaneously locking the doors and drop section in closed position.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stock car having a doorway, of a closure for the doorway comprising vertically hinged doors closing the upper portion of the doorway, a horizontally hinged drop section closing the lower portion of thedoorway, means retaining the drop section in closed position, and means mounted on one of said hinged doors for simultaneously locking the doors and drop section.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stock car having a doorway, of a closure for the doorway including opposed doors hinged to swing outwardly, said doors being constructed and arranged to act as extensions of the loading chute guide rail when swung open, and a drop section hinged to swing downwardly for cooperation with the loading chute to function as a loading apron, the drop section and doors closing in overlapping relation, and simultaneously operable means for retaining the doors and drop section in closed position.

Signed atLos Angeles, California, this 2d day of July, 1921.

ROBERT LEE SMITH.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE B. FOSTER, L. BELLE WEAVER.

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