AU741224B2 - Railway wagon discharge system - Google Patents

Description

'S

0,0.

0 0090 0 0* -1-

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT RAILWAY WAGON DISCHARGE SYSTEM THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS A FULL DESCRIPTION.OF

THIS

INVENTION, INCLUDING THE BEST METHOD OF PERFORMING IT KNOWN TO ME:- The present invention relates to a railway hopper wagon door operating mechanism for use with wagons having doors with hinges extending parallel to a longitudinal axis of the wagon (for example, so called 5 "bomb bay" doors) and in particular such wagons for use with a system for discharging:the contents of the hopper wagon using retractable trackside cams.

A system for the discharge of railway hopper wagons is described in Australian Patent No. 649883 and its related Patent of Addition 657639. This system uses separate opening and closing-cams located at the trackside to engage levers on a shaft transverse to the longitudinal axis of the wagon. The hopper doors of the wagon are also arranged with their hinges transverse to the longitudinal axis of the wagon, the doors opening towards the shaft.

The present invention seeks to utilise the trackside cams of that system while providing a wagon of the type having longitudinally hinged doors.

A number of prior disclosures have been made for wagons having longitudinally hinged doors operated by trackside devices whether of a retractable or a fixed nature. Most of these involve a complicated interaction between the cam and the mechanism controlling operation of the door.

Other prior art has used mechanisms employing pneumatic or hydraulic actuation of the doors, the doors held shut by an overcentre linkage arrangement.

Such mechanisms required the intervention of an operator at the discharge site and were difficult to operate if there was failure of the pneumatic or hydraulic actuator. The actuator is subject to deterioration from contamination by the discharge of the particulate material carried in such wagons.

15 The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art of complicated and mechanically sophisticated mechanisms with a simpler .and more reliable mechanism thereby to eliminate or to substantially ameliorate the disadvantages in the prior art or to provide at least an alternative S. thereto in wagons with longitudinally hinged doors.

Just as the prior art of Australian Patent Nos. 649883 and 657639 overcame the disadvantages of using hydraulic or pneumatic actuators by employing trackside cam devices engaging a mechanical system on the wagon for the opening and closing of the doors so does the present invention utilise such trackside devices to operate the opening and closing of the doors using a purely mechanical arrangement.

According to a broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a railway hopper wagon incorporating at least one particulate storage volume having a discharge opening covered by at least one door with a longitudinally extending hinge wherein the opening or closing of the door is controlled by a discharge -3mechanism having a shaft transverse to the longitudinal axis of the wagon rotatable by respective lever means engaging trackside cam means as the wagon moves along its track, said discharge mechanism including at least one overcentre linkage for keeping the at least one door shut, an operating shaft extending longitudinally of the wagon to which one end of the at least one overcentre linkage is attached, the other end of the at least one overcentre linkage being attached to the door, and motion effecting means rotating said operating shaft with rotation of said :....transverse shaft to move said at least one overcentre linkage to effect opening or closing of said at least one door.

Preferably the motion effecting means rotating said operating shaft with rotation of said transverse shaft includes a bevel gear. Preferably the longitudinal shaft extends along the wagon centreline and the 20 opening of the door or doors may be either towards, or o ~outwards of, the wagon centreline.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be :described with respect to the following figures, in which: Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention in schematic plan view; Figure 2 shows an elevation view in the direction AA of figure 1 with some elements omitted for clarity; Figure 3 shows an elevation view from the direction BB of figure 1 showing the overcentre linkage arrangement; Figure 4 shows a view of figure 3 with the doors open; Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the invention in a view similar to that of figure 3; Figure 6 shows the embodiment of figure 5 in a fully open position; and Figures 7 and 8 show schematically a third embodiment of the invention in plan and elevation views respectively described with reference to Figures 1-4.

0.0 One embodiment of the invention is shown in figure 1 0.

15 in schematic form. A pair of hoppers 40,42 extends longitudinally of the wagon. A wagon may include one or more such pairs of hoppers carrying the particulate ":.load. The longitudinal axis of the wagon is identified as 44.

•o .As described above, the wagon according to the invention can be operated by trackside cams such as ~described in Australian Patent 649,883. The wagon (as .shown in figure 1) includes opening lever 46 and closing lever 48 fixed to the opposite ends of a shaft substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis or centreline 44 of the wagon. Levers 46,48 carry wheels 47 and 49 respectively to engage the associated cam for opening or closing thedoor(s) as described more completely in Australian Patent 649,883.

As the wheel 47,49 of lever 46,48 engages its respective cam it rotates shaft 50 to which it is fixed. A driving arrangement 52 located approximately between the hoppers 40,42 converts the rotation of the transverse shaft 50 into rotation of the shaft 54 which runs longitudinally of the wagon between the hoppers 40,42 substantially along the centreline 44.

The driving arrangement 52 in this embodiment comprises bevel gears 56,58 on the respective shafts 50,54.

As shown in figure 2, the shaft 50 is supported at either end on bearings 60,62 attached to the body 63 of the wagon by supports 64,66. Overcentre linkages are provided, as best shown in figure 1, at either end of the hoppers 40,42 to operate each of the pair of *hopper doors 80,82. In figure 2, for ease of illustration, the overcentre linkages are not shown in full but the figure merely shows the long arm pivot connection 68,70 by which the associated overcentre linkage is attached to the doors 80,82.

Referring to figures 3 and 4, the overcentre linkages, as seen at one end of the hoppers 40,42, are shown in 20 more detail in their closed (figure 3) and open (figure 4) configurations. The overcentre linkages, as seen at the other end of the hoppers 40,42 are substantially the same. Each overcentre linkage comprises two articulated separate lever arms 74,77 and 76,75. First (short) lever arms 74,76 of the overcentre linkage are fixed rigidly to the longitudinal shaft 54, and are made, in this embodiment, as a single member 72. The second lever arms, bent long arms, 75,77 of the overcentre linkages are pivoted at one end to the free end of the short lever arms 74,76 and at their other end 68,70 to the hopper doors 80,82 which are pivoted on longitudinally extending hinges 84,86.

Rotation of the longitudinal shaft 54 anti-clockwise through approximately 180 degrees (from the position shown in figure 3) unfolds the linkages 74,75 and -6- 76,77 in co-operation with the overcentre linkages (shown schematically in figure 1) at the other end of the hoppers 40,42 and pivots the doors 80,82 to their open position, the position shown in figure 4.

Conversely rotation of the shaft 54 in a clockwise sense draws the doors to their closed position as illustrated in figure 3.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in figures 5 and 6 where the longitudinally hinged doors are hinged towards the centre line of the wagon rather than towards the outside as described above with respect to figures 1-4 15 Figure 5 shows the doors in the closed position.

Lever arms 102,104 are fixedly attached to the longitudinal axis 100 of the wagon (equivalent to 54 in figures To the free ends of the lever arms 102,104 are pivotally attached respective levers 20 106,108 which are in turn fixed at their other remote ends to pivots 110, 112 fixed to doors 114,116 respectively. The doors 114,116 are hinged to the wagon by their longitudinal hinges 120, 122.

*.i To open the doors the longitudinal shaft 100 is rotated in a clockwise sense orbiting pivot 115 clockwise about the longitudinal shaft 100 and drawing the door 114 open in an anti-clockwise direction.

Similarly as pivot 117 rotates in a clockwise sense it draws the door 116 open in a clockwise sense.

Figure 6 shows the doors 114,116 of figure 5 in an open configuration. In this configuration, the doors 114, 116 would be designed to allow the discharge to fall outside the area of the rails 130,132. In the embodiment shown with respect to figures 1-4 the discharge is designed to fall between the rails.

-7- As shown in either embodiment the levers 102,104; 74, 76 are a singular integral component rather than two separate parts. It is contemplated that these lever components may be made as separate elements rather than as the singular integral element as shown in the above described embodiments. There would be little or no difference in the operation of these alternate constructions if, for example, the separate levers are located close to and adjacent each other on the longitudinal shaft 54 (100) If the clearance between the'base of the hoppers 40,42 and the longitudinal shaft 100 is sufficient to allow operation of the overcentre linkage, the linkages with their first lever arms 102,104 and their associated second lever arms 106,108 may be located anywhere along the shaft 100 rather than simply at the ends of the shaft and between the pairs of hoppers as has been shown.

In the embodiment shown with respect to figures 1-4, a single gearing on the longitudinal shaft 54 is shown.

A gear ratio of, for example, 2:1 may be provided whereby the approximately 180 degree rotation of the longitudinal shaft 54 to open (close) the hopper doors is provided by the (approximately) 90 degree rotation of the opening (closing) cam lever.

In an overcentre linkage arrangement little movement of the levers is required to open the doors. A larger movement of the levers is necessary to close the doors. The opening cam need only supply sufficient rotational movement to overcome the overcentre action whereas the closing cam needs to provide the full rotational movement necessary to move the door from its open position to its fully closed position. This asymmetry between the opening action and the closing action of the overcentre linkage mechanism can be allowed for by providing separate gearing for the opening and closing actions.

For example, the longitudinal shaft 54,100 may carry separate gearings to be driven by separate gearing teeth on the transverse shaft each associated separately with the movement of the opening and closing cam and lever movement and employing separate gearing ratios.

In another embodiment as shown in Figures 7 and 8 the opening action is assisted or effected by a flipper 15 arm 200 attached to the transverse shaft 50 (see Figure The flipper arm 200 engages the overcentre linkage 220 as shown in Fig. 3 (comprising elements 74,75,76,77) at an extension arm 210 fixed to component 72 near the extremity of lever 76 of linkage -20 220 providing thereby sufficient leverage to overcome the locking action of the overcentre mechanism. This increased leverage (compared to the torque generated by the gearing arrangement of the above described embodiments) may be required with particular forms of lading such as iron ore because of the greater weight bearing on the hopper door(s) compared with other forms of lading.

As the opening lever engages the trackside cam and rotates the transverse shaft 50 the flipper arm 200 engages the linkage 220 at the arm 210 forcing the linkage 220 (see Figs. 3 and 4) undercentre and at the same time rotating the longitudinal shaft 54 thereby operating both doors and both ends of the doors (see Fig 1) at the same time.

Once the linkage has been driven undercentre the gearing (as described above) can complete the full opening of the door(s). Alternatively, the gearing may be discarded or disengaged from performing the opening action and reliance placed solely on the flipper arm 200 as the door(s) will tend to be forced fully open by the discharge of material once the linkage has been driven undercentre. To disengage the gearing during opening of the doors a joint 240 may be employed which permits rotation of the transverse shaft 50 during opening without transferring that rotation to the gearing 56 or the side of the transverse shaft 50 bearing the closing lever.

While this embodiment has been described with respect 15 to the embodiment of Figures 1-4 it is also contemplated that it is applicable mutatis mutandis to the embodiment described with respect to Figures 5 and 6.

"20 In some circumstances the overcentre linkage may not provide sufficient security against the forced triggering of the mechanism when travelling with the hopper loaded. In order to prevent inadvertent operation of the door a further biasing may be provided (apart from that of the overcentre linkage arrangement itself) by a suitable means biasing the door into the overcentre configuration and against which such biasing means the overcentre linkage must work to move to the undercentre position. Such biasing means may include a resilient means which further loads the door. Preferably, in the instant invention, a spring provides the biasing means for reasons of mechanical simplicity.

The above described embodiments of Figs 1-6 show a pair of discharge openings covered with respective doors. It is also contemplated that discharge may be P:\WPDOCS\iwspccs\7533400pg.doc-13/09/01 effected by a single opening covered by a single door (rather than a pair of doors). In turn a wagon may have a number of discharge openings of a paired or single configuration along the length of the wagon. For example, a wagon may include two or three sets of paired discharge openings.

Although the invention has been described above with respect to preferred embodiments thereof it is contemplated that variations therein are possible within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of 15 suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

e o o *o o *o*oo*

Claims (14)

1. A railway hopper wagon incorporating at least one particulate storage volume having a discharge opening covered by at least one door with a longitudinally extending hinge wherein the opening or closing of the door is controlled by a discharge mechanism having a shaft transverse to the longitudinal axis of the wagon rotatable by respective lever means engaging trackside cam means as the wagon moves along its track, said discharge mechanism including at least one overcentre 10 linkage for keeping the at least one door shut, an operating shaft extending longitudinally of the wagon to which one end of the overcentre linkage is attached, the other end of the overcentre linkage being attached to the door, and motion effecting means .15 rotating said operating shaft with rotation of said transverse shaft to move said overcentre linkage to effect opening or closing of said at least one door.

2. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in claim 1 wherein said storage volume has a pair of discharge openings and a door covering each of said discharge openings, a pair of overcentre linkages with one end of each overcentre linkage attached to said operating shaft and the other end of the overcentre linkage attached to a respective door, said operating shaft being located between said doors, and said motion effecting means including gearing means. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in claim 2 wherein said storage volume has a pair of discharge openings and a door covering each of said discharge openings, two pairs of overcentre linkages, each pair located at either longitudinal end of said door, with one end of each overcentre linkage attached to said operating shaft and the other end of the overcentre -12- linkage attached to a respective door, said operating shaft being located between said doors, and said motion effecting means including gearing means.

4. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein each of said overcentre linkages includes a pair of hinged linkages, one of said pair fixed pivotally at one end to said door and.the other of said pair fixed rigidly at said other end to said operating shaft. r oo

5. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in any one of claims 2-4 wherein said gearing means is a bevel go• gearing.

6. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in any one of claims 1-5 further including means biasing said overcentre linkage overcentre. 20 7. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in any one of claims 1-6 wherein each said longitudinal hinge is adjacent the outside edge of said wagon such that each said door opens in a direction away from said a. operating shaft, said operating shaft being located- substantially along the centreline of said wagon.

8. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in any one of claims 1-6 wherein each said longitudinal hinge is adjacent said operating shaft such that each said door opens ina direction towards said operating shaft, said.operating shaft being located substantially along the centreline of said wagon.

9. A railway hopper wagon as claimed in any one of claims 1-8 wherein said motion effecting means includes a lever arm fixed rigidly to said transverse shaft for engaging said overcentre linkage to open -13- each said door when said transverse shaft rotates in a first sense, gearing means rotating said longitudinal shaft for closing said door when said transverse shaft rotates in the opposite sense to said first sense, and means for disengaging motion of said transverse shaft from said gearing means when said transverse shaft rotates in said first sense. A system for the discharge of bulk materials from a railway hopper wagon said railway hopper wagon being as claimed in any one of claims 1-9 and said lever means including a first lever means for opening said door, and a second lever means for closing said door, ego* with said first and second lever means being affixed 15 to and rotating said transverse shaft, a first cam means cooperable with said first lever means to open said door and a second cam means cooperable with said second lever means to close said door, said first and second cam means being separate from said wagon and 20 each having means to move said respective cam means between a first inoperative position and a second operative position and vice versa, whereby in said ~second position said first or second cam means is in a position to contact said first or second lever means respectively as the case may be so that relative movement of said wagon and said respective cam means opens or closes said door, and in said first position is retracted unable to contact said respective levers.

11. A system for the discharge of bulk materials from a wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1-4.

12. A system for the discharge of bulk materials from a wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5,6. P:\WPDOCS\Hjw\spcs\7533400.doc-13/09/01 -14-

13. A railway hopper wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1-4.

14. A railway hopper wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5,6. A system for the discharge of bulk materials from a wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1-4, as modified with reference to Figures 7 and 8.

16. A system for the discharge of bulk materials from a wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5,6 as modified with reference to 15 Figures 7 and 8.

17. A railway hopper wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1-4, as modified with reference to Figures 7 and 8.

18. A railway hopper wagon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5,6, as modified with reference to Figures 7 and 8. 25 DATED this 13th day of September 2001 EVANS DEAKIN PTY LIMITED By its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE *f% v-U t~ v^