Movable or removable closures – Mounted for multidirectional or oblique movement – Initial or terminal movement transverse to sliding movement...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-20
2001-05-08
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Mounted for multidirectional or oblique movement
Initial or terminal movement transverse to sliding movement...
C049S218000, C049S035000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226924
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a door for a rail car which is located on a train. More specifically the door is arranged to tighten towards the rail car so that the door is sealed and locked.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Freight, box, rail cars and the like are used to transport items across distances which vary in environment and topography. The doors on rail cars are generally mounted on rails which allow a door to slide horizontally to allow access to the inside of the rail car or to restrict access to the inside of the rail car. These doors are relatively large in stature and are made of metal since the loads carried within the rail cars can be large so the doors must be able to accept large items. The doors must also be durable due to the movement of the items within the rail car during transportation and due to the conditions surrounding the rail car during transportation. The conditions can consist of the elements such as rain, snow, wind and other weather conditions which can damage the items, and the conditions can consist of animals such as rodents entering the rail car which also can damage the items. A rail car door must also be able to be locked so that the items within the car are protected from theft and the like.
Some examples of doors of this type are found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,618 (Malo), U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,935 (Malo), U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,777 (Okamoto), U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,793 (Jenkins et al), U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,007 (Bailey), U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,570 (Favrel) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,823 (Brandenburg et al) which in general disclose a sliding door or the like arranged to enclose an area such as a rail car, each door being relatively unique in design but each does not adequately enclose the rail car door or the like. The doors do not seem to create a seal about an entrance so that water or the like may not enter, so that if a load such as paper is being hauled within the car, it is not protected and could be damaged. The doors have a locking device for locking the door either to close or to open an entrance.
Some examples of locking devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,918 (Allen), U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,385 (Furch et al), U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,283 (Acerra et al), U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,619 (Daugherty et al), U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,956 (Colombo) U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,835 (Johnson) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,072 (Stauffer et al).
There is a need for a rail car door which is creates a seal about the entrance, creating a complete seal by around such a large area by a large door is difficult. A door needs to be designed to ride on rails, as generally known, and needs to be able to be moved a relatively large distance inward by a relatively small force to create a seal on at the entrance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a sliding door arrangement comprises;
a door which is slidably moved and is arranged to enclose an opening;
a rail assembly coupled to the door allows the slidable movement of the door for opening and closing the opening;
and a securing mechanism which pulls the door inward so that the door engages the opening.
Preferably the rail assembly has a rail system which is positioned at a top end and at a bottom end of the door and the rail system is mounted on a housing, a plurality of guides coupled to the door, the guides engage the rail assembly such that the door is slidable in a substantially horizontal direction.
Preferably at least one shaft having a vertical axis is rotated about the vertical axis by the securing mechanism, the shaft has first end and a second end such that each end is respectively coupled to the rail assembly, the rail assembly has a rail system which is positioned at a top end and at a bottom end of the door and are mounted on a housing.
Preferably the securing mechanism has a rotation device, the rotation device pivots about a vertical axis such that a drive mechanism which extends outwardly substantially perpendicular to the axis of the rotation device and is coupled to a shaft which is generally parallel to the vertical axis of the rotation device.
Preferably a cam is mounted to a first end and a second cam is mounted to a second end of at least one vertical shaft and each cam is coupled to one guide of the plurality of guides, the cams are substantially coaxial and are parallel to a vertical axis of the shaft, each cam is mounted respectively to the guides wherein the vertical axis of the cams are off set in respect to the vertical axis of the shaft such that the shaft is arranged to rotate about the vertical axis of the cam, a first rotation of the shaft forces the door into the opening and a second rotation of the shaft forces the door away from the opening while the guides remain on the rail system, the shaft is driven by a rotation device of the securing mechanism, the rotation device pivots about a generally vertical axis such that a drive mechanism which extends outwardly substantially perpendicular to the axis of the rotation device and is coupled to the shaft.
Preferably two shafts are located at respective sides of the door, each shaft having a parallel vertical axis, a rotation device is arranged to rotate each shaft about the respective vertical axis, a drive mechanism is coupled to the rotation device and extends substantially perpendicular to the axis and is coupled to each of the shafts for rotating each shaft, the shafts have a cam at a top and bottom end for engaging the rail assembly, each cam is arranged to be mounted generally at a corner of the door and the respective top and bottom cams are coaxial and parallel to the shaft, the axis of the respective cams are off set to the shafts so that when the shafts are simultaneously rotated by the drive mechanism the shafts rotate about the axis of the cams which forces the door to engage the opening and when the cams reach a top dead centre the door is at its tightest position against the opening when locked.
Preferably the securing mechanism locks the door in the closed position and locks the door when in the open position.
Preferably the securing mechanism is located within the door for protection.
Preferably a receptacle is arranged to receive the door when opened and when closed.
Preferably the rail assembly has a rail system which is positioned at a top end and at a bottom end of the door and are coupled to a housing, the rail system is arranged to be self cleaning such that when the door moves along the rail system a scraping mechanism coupled to the door scrapes the rail system clearing any unwanted materials such as dirt and the like.
Preferably the rotation device is a handle.
Preferably the rotation device is a card activated lock system, a card is used to activate the lock system such that the drive mechanism rotates the shaft, a vertical shaft, defining a worm, which engages a horizontal shaft of the drive mechanism, defining a wheel, the horizontal shaft extends outwardly and has an outer end, defining a second worm, which engages a drive portion of the shaft, defining a second wheel.
Preferably the drive mechanism is a chain which is driven to rotate the shaft.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3720020 (1973-03-01), Bollinger
patent: 3788007 (1974-01-01), Bailey
patent: 3820283 (1974-06-01), Accerra et al.
patent: 3978618 (1976-09-01), Malo
patent: 4048755 (1977-09-01), Wolak et al.
patent: 4064810 (1977-12-01), Jenkins et al.
patent: 4091570 (1978-05-01), Favrel
patent: 4114935 (1978-09-01), Malo
patent: 4170845 (1979-10-01), Owen
patent: 4296956 (1981-10-01), Colombo
patent: 4608777 (1986-09-01), Okamoto
patent: 4751793 (1988-06-01), Jenkins et al.
patent: 4763385 (1988-08-01), Furch et al.
patent: 4776619 (1988-10-01), Daugherty et al.
patent: 4852918 (1989-08-01), Allen
patent: 5056835 (1991-10-01), Johnson
patent: 5142823 (1992-09-01), Brandenburg et al.
patent: 5302072 (1994-04-01), Stauffer et al.
patent: 5467558 (1995-11-01), Kober et al.
Battison Adrian D.
Degelman Industries Ltd.
Redman Jerry
Thrift Murray E.
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