Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to bottom discharge hopper
structures. .
According to the present invention there is pro-
vided a bottom discharge hopper structure comprising a boay
bounded by two longitudinally extending side walls, sald
side walls both sloping downwardly and inwardly so as to
converge with one another to form a bottom discharge opening,
there being single pivotally mounted door for closing said
opening, said door having a first abutmen-t surface, a tipping
arm pivotally mounted on the door and having a second abut-
ment surface, the arm having a first position with respect
to the door i.n which first position said abutment surfaces . .
are spaced apart and a second position with respec-t to the
door in which second position said abutment surfaces are in
engagement, a fi~ed latching element, and a face on said
arm in engagement with said latching element while said arm
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is in its first position with respect to the door, the
latching element preventing pivotal movement of the arm and
door about the pivotal mounting of the door until the arm
has been pivoted suf~iciently far about its mounting on the
door towards said second position to take up at least some
of the gap which exists between said abutment surfaces
wùile the srm is in its first p~sition.
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Said face preferably lies laterally of the pivotal
mounting of the arm on the door.
The abutment faces can be an upper face of the arm
and a lower face of the door, the door and arm moving together
about the pivotal mounting of the door while said faces are in
engagement, and said arm being ~ree to move downwardly with
respect to the door about its pivotal mounting on the door
after the door reaches its fully closed position whereby said
abutment face on the arm moves to a position in which it is
spaced below the abutment surface on the door.
The door preferably comprises two end plates which
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hang from pivot structures and an elongated plate of arcuate
cross-section which ~oins said end plates, and the elongated
end plate is desirably generated about an axis offset with
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respect to the axis of the pivot structures of the door in such
-~ manner that said elongated plate moves both downwardly and
laterally with respect to parts which bound a discharge openiny
of the hopper thereby to cause a gap of progressively increas-
ing width to be created between said door and said parts during
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~ ~ ~ opening.
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While the end of the arm remote from i-ts pivotal
mounting on the door can slide on a cam track it is more
desirable to provide a roller on the end of the arm remote from
its mounting on the door.
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The invention also provides, in combination, a cam
track and a hopper structure as defined in the preceding
paragraph, said roller engaging on said cam track as the
vehicle moves past the cam track, the axis of rotation of said
roller being radial to the axis about which said door pivots
and the cam track being profiled so that the line of action of
the force exerted by the cam track on said element is always
tangential to the arc scribed by said arm and said door about
the pivotal mounting of -the door.
For a better understanding of the present invention,
and to show how the same may be carried into effect, refe:rence
will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying
drawings in which:
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~ ` Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bottom discharge
- hopper car,
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the hopper car of
; Figure 1,
Figure 3 is an underneath plan view of the door of
the car,
Figure 4 is a side elevation of a tipping arm,
: c~O Figure 5 is a top plan view of the arm of Figure 4,
Figure 6 is a side elevation of a ramp s-truc-ture,
Figure 7 is a top plan view of the ramp structure of
Figure 6,
F1gure 8 is an end elevation of a bracket structure,
and
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~ igure 9 is a front elevation oE the bracket
structure of Figure 8.
The hopper car illustrated in ~igures 1 and 2 is
generally referenced 10 and comprises a chassis 12, a hopper
body 14, and a door 16.
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The chassis 12 includes two sets of wheel bearings 18
which mount flanged wheels 20. A series of supports 22 extend
upwardly from a frame which forms a major part of the chassis
12 and which is itself constituted by a longitudinal channel
iron 24 and longitudinal and transverse I-beams 26. The
supports 22 are welded to the longitudinal channel iron 24~
An angle iron 28 is mounted on the supports 22 and
stiffeners 30 extend downwardly from the angle iron 28 towards
the free lower edge 32 of a sloping wall 34 of the hopper body
14.
In addition to the sloping wall 34, the hopper body
14 comprises two end walls 36, a vertical wall 38 extending
upwardly from the sloping wall 34, a further vertical wall 40
which is parallel to, and spaced laterally from, the vertical
wall 38, and a further sloping wall 42. The sloping wall 42 is
strengthened by stiffeners 44 which extend from the region of
the convergence between the vertical wall 40 and the sloping
wall 42 to the lower edge of the wall 42
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As will be clearly understood frQm the follpwing
: description, the door 16 swings between the full and dotted
~ line positions illustrated at 16.1 and 16.2 in Figure 2. To
; permit this movement to take place, while still providing some
support for the hopper body on this side of the car, two
vertically elongated supports 46 of I-section are provided.
-. The supports 46 extend between the transverse I-beams 26 of the
frame 14 and are secured to the walls 36.
.~ The door 16 comprises two approximately triangular
end plates 50 which are carried pendulum fashion by overhead
pivot structures 52. The overhead pivot structures 52 mount
the end plates 50 on the end walls 36 of the hopper body 14.
~ The door 16 further includes a curved base plate 54
.~ (the concave face of the base plate being uppermost) which
extends between and is secured to the end plates 50. The base
plate 54 is strengthened by a pair of channels 56 which extend
downwardly from the underside thereof. The edges 54.1 of the
. base plate 54 are turned downwardly which also enhances its
strength.
0~O Centrally of the door, that is, midway between the
plates 50, the door is provided with two curved, transversely
extending stifEeners 58. A pivot pin 60 is mounted on the
parallel stiffeners 58 and the pin 60 pivotally mounts an arm
62. The arm has a roller 64 rotatably mounted at the outer end
thereof.
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The upper face of the arm 62 is shown at 66 and it
will be seen that this, in the closed position of the door, is
spaced from the turned-down edge 54.1 which lies thereabove.
The face of the edge 54.1 constitutes an abutment surface of
the door and the co-operating portion of the arm constitutes an
abutment face on the arm. When the outer end of the arm 62 is
lifted upon the roller 64 encoun-tering a ramp (see Figures 6
etc.), there is some lost motion between the arm 62 and the
door 16. More specifically, the arm 62 lif-ts, pivoting about
~O the pin 60 with respect to the door 16, until the gap between
this turned~down edge 54.1 and the arm has been taken up.
Thereafter, further swinging movement of the arm 62 in an
upward direction towards the dotted line position shown in
Figure 2 causes the door 16 to lift. It will be noted that in
this position the arm 62 i9 in engagement with the turned-down
edge 54.1. Discharge of the material in the hopper body then
takes place, the material sliding downwardly over the walls 34
and 42 and through the rectangular frame constituted by the
channel 24 and I-beams 26.
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o2 0 The arm 62 includes two plates 68 which are parallel
to one another but spaced apart in the longitudinal direction
of the car. Each of these plates has a stepped undersurface,
the arrangement being such as to provide two faces 70 which, in
the closed condition of the door, are vertical.
The upper face 66 of the arm 62 is constituted by the
paral]el, allgned, ~pper ~aces " the plates 68.
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As will be seen from Figure 2~ the faces 70 engage
one edge of the upper flange 72 of the longitudinal I-beam 26
so that, in the closed condition of the door, lateral movement
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of the arm and door towards the open posit~on is prevented.
During the upward lost motion of the arm 62 with respect to the
base plate 54, the faces 70 clear the edge of the upper flange
~ 72 of the I-beam 26. Consequently, by the time the arm engages
` and commences to lift the door in its outward swinging
movement, the vertical faces 70 are clear of the I-beam which,
/0 as a consequence, does not hinder such movement.
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During the closing movement of the door, the door and
arm swing downwardly together until the door reaches its fully
closed posi-tion. Thereafter the arm moves downwardly away from
the door and the faces 70 are re-engaged with the flange 72.
Downward movement of the arm 62 ceases when the surfaces 62.1
of the arm come to rest on the I-beam 26.
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The axis of rotation of the roller 64 is shown at X
in Figure 2 and it will be seen that this passes through the
~ common axis of the pivot structures 52. The curved base plate
.: ~?o 54 of the door 16 is generated about the longitudinal axis Y.
.
By off-setting the axis Y horizontally from the
common axis of the pivot structures 52, the motion imparted to
: the door 16, while being a true pendulum motion, includes a
;.~ downward componen-t with respect to the stationary par-ts of the
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hopper. This means that those portions of the door which are
in sealing engagement with the lower edges of the walls 34 and
42 of the hopper body do not simply swing laterally with
respect thereto which can cause ore or other material to be
trapped therebe-tween. Instead, said portions simultaneously
swing laterally and move downwardly with respect to said
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stationary parts so that gaps of progressively increasing width
are created. This obviates the possibility of ore wedging the
door solidly to the body and thereby prevents the car being
tipped over by the ramp.
The chassis 12 incorporates, on each side thereof, a
skirt 74 which prevents spreading of the load when it is being
discharged. The skirts 74 are themselves stiffened by angle
irons 76.
The two skirts are cut away to provide clearance for
the wheels of the vehicle and the wheel arches thus formed are
strengthened by welding on elements 80 (see Figure 1~.
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As will be seen from Figure 1, there are, at -the
upper ends of the end walls 36 of the hopper body 14, diverging
o20 guide walls 82 and 84 which constitute overhanging portions of
the body. The guide wall 82 slopes at an an~le of less than 45
degrees and terminates in a downwardly direc-ted lip 86. The
wall 84 slopes at about 45 degrees and also terminates in a lip
r~veals
88. A comparlson of the wall 82 with -the wall 84/-that, when
two hopper cars are coupled end-to-end in a train, the wall 84
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and i-ts lip 88 overhany the wall 82 and its lip 86. Thus, when
the car is filled while moving under a continuous discharge of
ore or the like, the overhanging walls 82 and 84 ensure that
material cannot be dumped between the cars onto the track.
When the hopper cars negotiate a bend in the track,
the laterally outer ends of the wall 82 move one forwardly and
one rearwardly with respect to the overhanging wall 84. To
prevent engagement of the wall 82 with the wall 84, the end
portions of the wall 84 are formed with vee-shaped notches 90
as shown in Figure 2. Wi-th this arrangement the ends of the
wall 82 swing into these notches so that the train can round
the bend safely without any of the trucks being de-railed.
Turning now to Figure 6 to 9, these Figures show a
ramp structure 144 having an upwardly sloping, door-opening
section 146, a flat apex section 148 and a downwardly sloping
door-closing section 150. The ramp structure 144 comprises a
cam track 152 mounted on an angle iron 154 which is itself
supported on uprights 156 braced by a longitudinal bar 158.
The lower ends o~ the uprights include pivot arrangements by
means of which the entire ramp struc-ture can be swung away
from the railway tracks to permit non-hopper traffic to pass
freely. Stiffeners 160 arranged at intervals along the ramp
struc-ture support the contoured cam track 152 on the angle iron
154.
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A bracket structure 162 is provided adjacent the
lower end of the door-closing section 150 for the purpose of
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forcing the arm 62 downwardly to -the position in which the
.faces 70 lie adjacent the upper flange 72 of the I-beam 26.
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The bracket structure 162 includes two supports 164
which have vertical slots 166 therein. The vertical flange of
the angle iron 154 has apertures 168 therein, this arrangement
permitting a degree of adjustment of the bracket structure 162
with respect to the cam track 152. A plate 170 is mounted on
the supports 164, the plate 170 having a major face 172 which
is parallel to and spaced from the face of the cam track 152.
The end portions of the plate 170 are bent outwardly to provide
lead-in and lead-out sections to the slot defined between the
cam track 152 and the major face 172.
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As the roller 64 engages the door-opening section
;146, the arm 62 is lifted, the initial upward movement freeing
the faces 70 from the I-beam 26 and subsequent movement fully
opening the door. After passage across the ramp apex, during
which period the door is held fully open, the door begins to
close and is fully closed when the roller 64 encounters the
bracket structure 162. The roller 64 passes between the cam
G2~ 152 and the ~ajor face 172, and the major face 172 acts on the
wheel to force the arm 62 downwardly to re-engage the faces 70
with the I-beam 26.
The profile of the cam track 152 is such as to apply
a force -to the roller 64 which is at a tangent to the arc
scribed by the door and wheel about the door pivot structures
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52. Stated another way, the l.ine of force between the wheel
and the cam track is at right angles to a line which is itself
at right angles to the pivotal axis of the pivot structures 52
and co-incides with the axis of rotation of the rol.ler 64.
Thus, while the roller 64 is engaged with the cam track, the
opening force is at all times at right angles to the rota-tional
axis of the roller 64. If reference is made once more to
Figure 2, the cam track 152 is shown in chain-dotted lines in
that Figure, and the direction of the force exerted on the
/O roller 64 is indicated by the arrow A. It will be seen that
this is at right angles to the axis X which is the axis of
rotation of the roller 64 and passes normally through the
common axis of the pivot structures 52.
`` In practice the arrangement described means that
ideally the sections 146 and 150 are helical in shape, the
generating axis of the helix being the common axis of the pivot
~- structures 52. In practice, because of the radius of the roller
64, the generating axis is offset downwardly from said common
. axis.
c~ The ramp structure 144 has been described as it
operates when a train of hopper cars moves from right to left.
~owever, it will be understood that by providing a further
bracket structure 162 in conjunction with the section 150, the
ramp structure can handle trains running in either direction.
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