US3146009A - Screw type door lock for railway cars - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 25, 1964 F. P. ADLER 3,146,009

SCREW TYPE DOOR LOCK FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Oct. 20. 1961 United States Patent 3,146,009 SCREW TYPE DOOR LOCK FOR RAILWAY CARS Franklin P. Adler, Michigan City, Ind., assignor to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 146,649 4 Claims. (Cl. 292115) This invention relates to an improved door locking means for vertically sliding doors and is particularly well adapted for use in connection with a roll up type door used in open side railway cars or the like.

As pointed out in my copending application, Serial No. 134,259, filed August 28, 1961, the weight of the door is taken up by the threshold. Therefore it is desirable to lock the door with respect to the threshold rather than with respect to the door post.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved door lock which clamps the door against a reinforced threshold structure and which also serves as a door lock and a car seal. By using a clamping type of door lock, the problem of the hammering of the door on the threshold is avoided, which hammering would otherwise occur when the car is in transit.

Another object of my invention is to provide an arrangement in which the door locking means is loosely mounted on the car structure for purposes of manipulation, but which is nevertheless connected thereto so that it cannot be completely separated therefrom. Thus, there is no possibility of the locking mechanism becoming mislaid during the loading of the car.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

With referencenow to the drawings in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a fragmentary portion of a car, showing a preferred embodiment of my invention; and

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 22 of FIG. .1.

The reference numeral designates a portion of the side sill of a railway car, and the reference numeral 11 designates the bottom section of a roll up door. The manner in which the roll up door is mounted on the car is disclosed in greater detail in the aforementioned copending application.

The door section 11 includes a roller 12 which cooperates with a door post, not shown.-

Mounted on the side sill 10 is a threshold plate 13 against which the door abuts when in its closed position, the threshold being at about the same level as the floor structure 17.

The door section 11 may be formed of aluminum alloy extrusions, and is provided at its lower part with a reinforcing angle 14, preferably of steel, and which preferably runs for the full width of the door. The door section 11 also is provided with a flexible seal 15 of neoprene or the like, and this is mounted on an angle 16 which depends from the lower edge of the door section 11. Thus, the angle 16 is the door element which abuts the threshold plate 13.

The door locking device comprises a draw bolt 20 having a lower shank portion 21 which is threaded. A nut 22, in the form of a hand wheel cooperates with the threaded shank portion 21. The upper end of the draw bolt 20 is provided with a hook 23 which extends through an opening 24 in the door so that the door can be urged downwardly by the draw bolt 20. The reinforcing angle 14 serves to distribute the stress of the draw bolt 20 over the width of the door section 11.

A reaction plate 25 is welded at one end to the threshold plate 13, and at the other end to the side sill 10. The

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threshold plate is provided with a slot 26 and the reaction plate with an opening 27 through which the draw bolt 20 extends, and the dimensions of the slot 26 and opening 27 are sufficient as to receive the draw bolt loosely so that it can be manipulated; that is, so that the hook can be inserted in ,or removed from the opening 24.

Thus, when the hook 23 is inserted into the opening 24 and the hand wheel 22 is tightened up, the door section 11 and angle 16 will be clamped against the threshold plate'13.

In order to provide some positive connection between the locking mechanism and the car structure, the upper shank portion 28 of the draw bolt 20 is provided with a slot 29. A retainer 36 extends through the slot, and is in the form of an L-shaped rod which is welded at either end to the reaction plate 25. Thus, the draw bolt is loosely mounted on the threshold plate for purposes of manipulation, but nevertheless it cannot be separated therefrom. The lower end of the threaded shank 21 may be upset by staking 38 to prevent separation of the hand wheel 22 from the draw bolt 20.

Car seal means are provided to give an indication that the lock has been tampered with. The hand wheel 22 is provided with a plurality of projections 32 any one of which may be engaged by a slotted seal arm 33 which is pivotally mounted on a bracket 34 secured to the side sill 10. Thus, when the parts havebeen drawn up into the operated position so that door section 11 is tightly clamped against the threshold plate 13, the seal arm 33 is swung up into engagement with one of the projections 32 which looks the hand wheel against further rotation in either direction. Each projection is provided with a hole 35 through which a suitable car seal 36 is threaded, thus preventing disengagement of the seal arm 33 and the hand wheel 22. As shown in FIG. 1, the width of the slot 37 in the seal arm 33 is substantially the same as the width dimension of the projections 32 so that it is not possi'ble'to swing the seal arm 33 outwardly and downwardly without first removing the car seal 36; in other words, the clearance between the projections 32 and side walls of the slot 37 is relatively small with the result that the presence of the transversely arranged band element, from which the car seal 36 is fabricated, will prevent outwardly swinging movement of the seal arm 23.

The threshold plate 13 and the reaction plate 25 cooperate with each other to provide a reinforced threshold plate structure which, at the point of the clamping means is strong enough to take up the clamping forces.

As shown in FIG. 2, a hollow casting 39, which provides an edge for hooking the door lock, is provided on the inside of the opening 24 to prevent the entrance of moisture, dirt, etc. into the hollow lower door section 11.

To summarize the operation which has been pointed out in detail in connection with the description of the parts, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the door lock in its operative position. To unlock the door, the car seal 36 is first cut and removed, then the seal arm 33 is swung outwardly and downwardly to disengage the hand wheel 22, and then the hand wheel 22 is unscrewed to permit elevation of the draw bolt 20 and removal thereof from the opening 24 in the door section 11. A finger piece 31 is provided to facilitate manipulation. Then the draw bolt is permitted to drop downwardly through the slot 26 in the threshold plate so that the finger piece 31 rests on the retainer rod 30. Thus, when in its unoperated position, no part of the draw bolt projects above the threshold plate. This permits the door and door post assembly to be swung outwardly as a unit when the door lock is used with the type of door construction shown in my aforesaid copending application.

In locking the door, the process is reversed.

Although only a preferred embodiment of my inven- 3 tion has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the construction shown without departing from the spirit of my invention as pointed out by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A door lock for use in clamping the lower edge of the vertically sliding door of a swingably mounted door and door post assembly to the threshold of a railway car comprising, in combination, a draw bolt having a threaded shank portion, a nut cooperating with said threaded shank portion, a reaction plate mounted on the underside of said threshold and providing a cavity therebetween, said draw bolt extending through said threshold and through said reaction plate with said nut located below said reaction plate, means on the upper end of said draw bolt engaging said door to draw said door downwardly into engagement with said threshold plate when said nut is tightened up against said reaction plate, said draw bolt having a slotted upper shank portion, and retainer means mounted between said reaction plate and said threshold and extending through said slotted upper shank portion to prevent separation of said draw bolt from the car structure, said threshold having an opening formed therein of dimensions sufficient to receive said door engaging means whereby said door engaging means may be entirely received within said cavity with no part of said draw bolt projecting above said threshold plate in order to permit said door and door post assembly to be swung outwardly as a unit over said threshold plate.

2. A door lock for use in clamping the lower edge of the vertically sliding door of a swingably mounted door and door post assembly to the threshold of a railway car comprising, in combination, a draw bolt having a threaded shank portion, a nut cooperating with said threaded shank portion, a reaction plate mounted on the underside of said threshold and providing a cavity therebetween, said draw bolt extending through said threshold and through said reaction plate with said nut located below said reaction plate, means on the upper end of said draw bolt engaging said door to draw said door downwardly into engagement with said threshold plate when said nut is tightened up against said reaction plate, said draw bolt having a slotted upper shank portion, a retainer member mounted on said reaction plate and extending through said slotted upper shank portion to prevent separation of said draw bolt from the car structure, and car seal means for locking said nut against rotation, said threshold having an opening formed therein of dimensions sufficient to receive said door engaging means whereby said door engaging means may be entirely received within said cavity with no part of said draw bolt projecting above said threshold plate in order to permit said door and door post assembly to be swung outwardly as a unit over said threshold plate.

3. A door lock for use in clamping the lower edge of a vertically sliding door to the threshold of a railway car comprising, in combination a draw bolt having a threaded shank portion, a hand wheel cooperating with said threaded shank portion, said hand wheel having a plurality of outwardly and radially extending projections on its periphery, a reaction plate mounted on the underside of said threshold to provide a reinforced threshold structure, said draw bolt extending through said threshold structure with said hand wheel located below said threshold structure, means on the upper end of said draw bolt engaging said door to draw said door downwardly into engagement with said threshold structure when said hand wheel is tightened up against same, and car seal means including a slotted seal arm pivotally mounted on the car structure below said threshold structure and having a portion overlying said hand wheel interlocking selectively with one of said projections to lock said hand wheel against rotation.

4. A door lock as claimed in claim 3 in which said projections are provided at their outer portions with openings constructed to receive a sealing strap, said slotted seal arm when in its operative position, being located between said openings and the periphery of said hand wheel, whereby a sealing strap passing through said openings will lock said seal arm in its operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 774,439 Lloyd Nov. 8, 1904 1,313,687 Hellweg Aug. 19, 1919 1,719,272 Lee July 2, 1929 2,113,776 Smith Apr. 12, 1938 2,134,314 ODonnell Oct. 25, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,937 Great Britain of 1900

Claims (1)

1. A DOOR LOCK FOR USE IN CLAMPING THE LOWER EDGE OF THE VERTICALLY SLIDING DOOR OF A SWINGABLY MOUNTED DOOR AND DOOR POST ASSEMBLY TO THE THRESHOLD OF A RAILWAY CAR COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A DRAW BOLT HAVING A THREADED SHANK PORTION, A NUT COOPERATING WITH SAID THREADED SHANK PORTION, A REACTION PLATE MOUNTED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID THRESHOLD AND PROVIDING A CAVITY THEREBETWEEN, SAID DRAW BOLT EXTENDING THROUGH SAID THRESHOLD AND THROUGH SAID REACTION PLATE WITH SAID NUT LOCATED BELOW SAID REACTION PLATE, MEANS ON THE UPPER END OF SAID DRAW BOLT ENGAGING SAID DOOR TO DRAW SAID DOOR DOWNWARDLY INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID THRESHOLD PLATE WHEN SAID NUT IS TIGHTENED UP AGAINST SAID REACTION PLATE, SAID DRAW BOLT HAVING A SLOTTED UPPER SHANK PORTION, AND RETAINER MEANS MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID REACTION PLATE AND SAID THRESHOLD AND EXTENDING THROUGH SAID SLOTTED UPPER SHANK PORTION TO PREVENT SEPARATION OF SAID DRAW BOLT FROM THE CAR STRUCTURE, SAID THRESHOLD HAVING AN OPENING FORMED THEREIN OF DIMENSIONS SUFFICIENT TO RECEIVE SAID DOOR ENGAGING MEANS WHEREBY SAID DOOR ENGAGING MEANS MAY BE ENTIRELY RECEIVED WITHIN SAID CAVITY WITH NO PART OF SAID DRAW BOLT PROJECTING ABOVE SAID THRESHOLD PLATE IN ORDER TO PERMIT SAID DOOR AND DOOR POST ASSEMBLY TO BE SWUNG OUTWARDLY AS A UNIT OVER SAID THRESHOLD PLATE.

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