Railway hopper car

Claim 2

A bottom discharge hopper which includes a horizontal frame, a container body mounted on the frame and having an opening in the bottom, doors with concave-curved inwardly directed faces pivotally suspended about a common horizontal axis and coactingly forming a closure across the open bottom of the container body said inwardly directed faces being eccentric with respect to said common horizontal axis and of increasing radius along a path extending from a point generally laterally outwardly of said comMon horizontal axis to a point directly beneath said axis, and devices extending outwardly from the doors for engagement by means adapted to control simultaneous outward and return swinging movements of the doors away from and towards one another for opening and closing of the open bottom of the container body; said concave-curved inner surface of the doors being arranged for movement in close spaced relationship to horizontal bottom edge portions of the container body and adapted to dislodge and remove material from such surfaces.

Claim 3

A bottom discharge hopper as claimed in claim 1 including means for gravitationally biassing said doors to the coacting closed position across the open bottom of the container body.

Claim 4

A bottom discharge hopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein the devices on the outside of the doors are at off-centred positions relative to the suspension axis and the meeting edges of the doors to assist self-closing actions of the doors.

Claim 5

A bottom discharge hopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein means are provided to lock the doors in the coacting closed position, and arranged to unlock the doors before an opening action is applied and to lock the doors after the final closing.

Claim 6

A bottom discharge hopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein both doors are of substantially similar shape and construction and have substantially perpendicular end parts of generally sector-shape with bearings at the convergent ends for pivotal mounting on horizontally disposed shafts outwardly of the container body.

Claim 7

A bottom discharge hopper rail car which includes an open horizontal chassis frame carried on spaced pairs of wheels, an open bottom container body of generally downwardly tapering shape rigidly mounted on the chassis frame, a pair of pivotally suspended doors having inwardly directed concave-curved faces swingably from shafts exteriorly of opposite ends of the container body and mounted on a common axis at a raised position relative to the open bottom of the body and parallel with an axis of the chassis arranged in the direction of movement of the mobile assembly, said inwardly directed faces being eccentric with respect to said common axis and of increasing radius along a path extending from a point generally laterally outwardly of said common axis to a point directly beneath said common axis, and outwardly extending devices on the exterior of the doors comprising cantilever-like brackets each having a wheel on the outwardly directed free ends, and wheels being adapted for rolling engagement on stationary cam-forming ramps mounted adjacent rail tracks on which the car is run for upward swinging displacement of the doors to the open positions whereas closing of the doors is gravitational and controlled by said stationary ramps.

Claim 8

A bottom discharge hopper rail car which includes an open horizontal chassis frame carried on spaced pairs of wheels, an open bottom container body of generally downwardly tapering shape rigidly mounted on the chassis frame, a pair of pivotally suspended doors having inwardly directed concave-curved faces swingably from shafts exteriorly of opposite ends of the container body and mounted on a common axis at a raised position relative to the open bottom of the body and parallel with an axis of the chassis arranged in the direction of movement of the mobile assembly, said inwardly directed faces being eccentric with respect to said common axis and of increasing radius along a path extending from a point generally laterally outwardly of said common axis to a point directly beneath said common axis, and outwardly extending devices on the exterior of the doors comprising cantilever-like brackets each having a wheel on the outwardly directed free ends, and wheels being adapted for rolling engagement on stationary cam-forming ramps mounted adjacent rail tracks on which the car is run for upward swinging displacement of the doors to the open positions whereas closing of the doors is gravitational and controlled by said stationary ramps.

Claim 9

A bottom discharge hopper rail car as claimed in claim 6 wherein the concave-curved faces of the doors are arranged for movement in close spaced relationship to horizontal bottom edges of the open bottom container body for dislodging material from such surfaces.