Exterior cover enclosing hopper gate and actuating mechanism

Claim 2

In a railway hopper car having hopper sheets sloping downwardly to a bottom opening, a housing extending around the bottom opening and including a plurality of connected sides, a gate supported by said housing and mounted thereon for sliding movement between open and closed positions for the discharge of lading, drive means for said gate including a drive shaft having pinions thereon operatively connected to said gate for opening and closing said gate, a capstan adjacent each end of said drive shaft adapted to be engaged manually for rotation of said drive shaft, a bottom generally pan-shaped cover beneath the gate and fitting in a closed position against said housing about said gate and said drive means including said capstans thereby to seal said gate and drive means against the entrance of foreign matter and the like when said cover is closed, and means mounting the cover for movement between said closed position and a position removed from beneath the gate to permit the discharge of lading upon opening of the gate.

Claim 3

In a railway hopper car having hopper sheets sloping downwardly to a bottom opening, a housing extending around the bottom opening and including a plurality of connected sides, a closure carried by said housing and mounted thereon for movement between open and closed positions for the discharge of lading, manually operable means to move said closure between open and closed positions, a pan-shaped cover for fitting about said closure and manually operable means, said manually operable means to move said closure including a drive shaft having a capstan on each end thereof, said capstans being mounted for movement between retracted positions and extended positions whereby said cover fits about said drive means when the capstans are moved to the retracted positions, cover sealing means secured to said housing and extending generally about the circumference of the closure in outwardly spaced relation thereto, and linkage means supporting said cover for movement between a position beneath the closure and fitting tightly against said cover sealing means and about said drive shaft and associated capstans, and a position removed from beneath the bottom closure to permit the discharge of lading when the bottom closure is opened.

Claim 4

In a railway hopper car having hopper sheets sloping downwardly to a bottom opening, a housing extending around the bottom opening and including a plurality of connected sides, a closure carried by said housing and mounted thereon for movement between open and closed positions for the discharge of lading, manually operable means to move said closure between open and closed positions, a pan-shaped cover for fitting about said closure and manually operable means, said manually operable means to move said closure including a drive shaft having a capstan on each end thereof, said capstans being mounted for movement between retracted positions and extended positions whereby said cover fits about said drive means when the capstans are moved to the retracted positions, cover sealing means secured to said housing and extending generally about the circumference of the closure in outwardly spaced relation thereto, and linkage means supporting said cover for movement between a position beneath the closure and fitting tightly against said cover sealing means and about said drive shaft and associated capstans, and a position removed from beneath the bottom closure to permit the discharge of lading when the bottom closure is opened.

Claim 5

In a railway hopper car as set forth in claim 2, said hopper car having an exterior layer of polyurethane foam material thereon extending to a position adjacent said sealing means, said cover being formed of a heat insulating material to insulate said bottom outlet structure when in closed position about the closure.

Claim 6

In a railway hopper car having hopper sheets sloping downwardly to a bottom opening, a housing extending around the bottom opening and including a plurality of connected sides, a gate supported by said housing and mounted thereon for sliding movement between open and closed positions for the discharge of lading, drive means for said gate including a drive shaft having pinions thereon operatively connected to said gate for opening and closing said gate, a capstan on each end of said pinion drive shaft adapted to be engaged manually for rotation of said drive shaft, means mounting said capstans between inward retracted positions and extended positions, sealing means secured to said housing and extending generally about the gate in an outwardly spaced relation thereto, a bottom pan-shaped cover beneath the gate and fitting in a closed position against said sealing means about said gate and drive means including said capstans when said capstans are moved to inward retracted position thereby to seal said gate and drive means against the entrance of foreign matter and the like when said cover is closed, and means mounting the cover for movement between said closed position and a position removed from beneath the gate to permit the discharge of lading upon opening of the gate.

Claim 7

In a railway hopper car having hopper sheets sloping downwardly to a bottom opening, a housing extending around the bottom opening and including a plurality of connected sides, a gate supported by said housing and mounted thereon for sliding movement between open and closed positions for the discharge of lading, drive means for said gate including a drive shaft having pinions thereon operatively connected to said gate for opening and closing said gate, a capstan on each end of said pinion drive shaft adapted to be engaged manually for rotation of said drive shaft, means mounting said capstans between inward retracted positions and extended positions, sealing means secured to said housing and extending generally about the gate in an outwardly spaced relation thereto, a bottom pan-shaped cover beneath the gate and fitting in a closed position against said sealing means about said gate and drive means including said capstans when said capstans are moved to inward retracted position thereby to seal said gate and drive means against the entrance of foreign matter and the like when said cover is closed, and means mounting the cover for movement between said closed position and a position removed from beneath the gate to permit the discharge of lading upon opening of the gate.

Claim 8

In a railway hopper car as set forth in claim 4, said means mounting the cover for movement comprising a parallelogram linkage mounting the cover for swinging movement in a generally vertical plane and means to releasably secure the linkage in an overcenter position at the open and closed positions of the cover.

Claim 9

In a hopper car as set forth in claim 4, said capstans being mounted on said drive shaft for pivotal movement and being folded inwardly when moved to retracted position for closing of the cover.

Claim 10

In a railway hopper car as set forth in claim 4, said hopper car having an exterior layer of polyurethane fOam material thereon extending to a position adjacent said sealing means, and said cover having a fiber glass body and an inner layer of polyurethane foam material secured to the body.