Hatch cover

Claim 2

A railway hopper car having a hatch opening and a cover member positioned thereon, said cover having a locking mechanism, the improvement comprising: a hand wheel positioned centrally of the hatch cover and having an operating shaft projecting through said cover and said shaft having a threaded portion; locking stop means positioned about said hatch opening; a cover locking spider assembly having a hub threaded on the shaft and also having hold-down arms extending from said hub and engageable with said locking stop means; said locking mechanism including guide surface means rigidly connected to said cover and projecting downwardly into said hatch opening, and follower finger means supported on said hub to thereby provide vertical and rotational movement of the spider assembly during rotation of said hand wheel and the associated threaded operating shaft; said guide surface means including an inclined portion to provide limited rotation of the locking spider assembly during vertical movement of the hub on said threaded portion of the operating shaft, said limited rotation of the locking spider rotating the hold-down arms and moving the same vertically into and from vertical alignment with the locking stop means.

Claim 3

The invention according to claim 1, and: said hopper car having hatch coaming defining said hatch openings and said locking stop means attached to the inner periphery of said coaming; each cover hold-down arm forming a cantilever beam extending from said hub and having a horizontally extending tab portion engageable with the coaming mounted stop means to thereby provide cantilever bending of the hold-down arms during closing of the hatch opening.

Claim 4

The invention according to claim 1, and: said guide surface means comprising a slotted member attached to said hatch cover; said finger means attached to said hub and having a portion extending into said slotted member.

Claim 5

The invention according to claim 1, and: a handle stop latch pivotally attached to said hatch cover member and rotatable from an inoperative position below said handle to an upright position intersecting a portion of said handle; said stop latch having a car seal attaching opening.

Claim 6

A railway hopper car with a plurality of adjacent hoppers and a roof unit having circular latch openings for admitting lading into the hoppers, and hatch coaming extending upwardly of the hatch openings and forming seating and sealing means for pivotally movable hatch covers to open and close said hatch openings, the improvement comprising: operating shaft means extending through the central portion of said hatch cover and said shaft having a threaded portion and an operating handle attached thereto; a hatch locking spider assembly having a centrally disposed hub attached to the operating shaft and having a plurality of locking arm means extending outwardly therefrom and said spider mounted for vertical reciprocable movement upon rotation of said operating shaft means; a spider guide attached to said hatch cover and having guide surface means including a vertically extending portion and also including spider rotating angled guide surface portions; locking arm engaging lug means attached to the inner periphery of said hatch coaming; said locking spider assembly having a follower finger portion co-acting with said hatch cover mounted spider guide to thereby provide guided rotational movement of the spider assembly as the follower portion moves cooperatively along the angled portion of the guide surface means, said rotational movement of the spider assembly aligning the locking arms of the spider with the associated locking lugs, and further, sealing of the hatch cover being provided through engagement of the spider assembly with the coaming mounted lug means as said spider mounted follower finger portion moves cooperatively along the vertically extending portion of said guide surface means during rotation of the operating shaft means.

Claim 7

A railway hopper car with a plurality of adjacent hoppers and a roof unit having circular latch openings for admitting lading into the hoppers, and hatch coaming extending upwardly of the hatch openings and forming seating and sealing means for pivotally movable hatch covers to open and close said hatch openings, the improvement comprising: operating shaft means extending through the central portion of said hatch cover and said shaft having a threaded portion and an operating handle attached thereto; a hatch locking spider assembly having a centrally disposed hub attached to the operating shaft and having a plurality of locking arm means extending outwardly therefrom and said spider mounted for vertical reciprocable movement upon rotation of said operating shaft means; a spider guide attached to said hatch cover and having guide surface means including a vertically extending portion and also including spider rotating angled guide surface portions; locking arm engaging lug means attached to the inner periphery of said hatch coaming; said locking spider assembly having a follower finger portion co-acting with said hatch cover mounted spider guide to thereby provide guided rotational movement of the spider assembly as the follower portion moves cooperatively along the angled portion of the guide surface means, said rotational movement of the spider assembly aligning the locking arms of the spider with the associated locking lugs, and further, sealing of the hatch cover being provided through engagement of the spider assembly with the coaming mounted lug means as said spider mounted follower finger portion moves cooperatively along the vertically extending portion of said guide surface means during rotation of the operating shaft means.

Claim 8

The invention according to claim 5, and: said operating handle having a plurality of spokes extending radially from the shaft connected portion; a handle stop means attached to the hatch cover and comprising a pivoting latch movable upward from a position on the hatch cover to a generally vertical position intersecting the spokes; said stop means having car seal connecting opening.

Claim 9

The invention according to claim 5, and: said hub including a threaded portion and having said locking arm means extending radially therefrom; said locking arm means having lug engaging tab members to thereby provide for cantilever beam bending of the spider arms.

Claim 10

The invention according to claim 5, and: hinge means connecting each hatch cover with the associated coaming and said hinge means including a hinge pin positioned in an enlarged hinge opening to thereby allow limited vertical movement of the hatch cover.

Claim 11

The invention according to claim 5, and: said spider guide means being a slotted member extending downwardly from the hatch cover and having a guide slot formed therein; said guide slot including a first vertically extending portion and a second inclined portion; said follower finger positioned within said guide slot to thereby provide limited rotation of the spider arm assembly during vertical movement of the follower finger in the second inclined portion of the guide slot.

Claim 12

The invention according to claim 5, and: a horizontally disposed spider arm reinforcing plate interconnecting the spider arms and having a portion connected to said hub.