Untitled record

Application filed February 19,1883. (No model.)

Io all whom it may concern :

Be it known that I, John P. C. Foster, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven, and in the State of Connecticut, have invented 5 certain new and useful Improvements in Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in io which—

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of my improved convertible car arranged for use as a platform or lumber car. Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the same arranged for use as 13 a coal or ore car, with the bottom shutters closed. Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal section of Fig. 2 on the line x x,. with the shutters shown open in dotted or broken lines, and the end boards and their braces shown in dotted 20 lines as folded down. Fig. 4 shows a plan view of my car arranged as in Fig. 2, but with the shutters open.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

The object of my invention is broadly to provide a convertible car which, as occasion requires, may be readily changed from a platform to a dumping coal car and back again without the use of tools; and to this end it 30 consists principally in a car-body having sides made in several sections and hinged thereto so as to fold inward, and end boards likewise hinged, but adapted, to swing backward and outward, substantially as and for the purpose 35 hereinafter specified.

It consists, further, in combining with the dumping car-bottom the hinged side boards adapted to fold down upon the car-bottom to make an even and continuous floor over the 40 same, substantially as hereinafter shown.

It consists, further, in combining with the car-bottom, w⁷ith its upright side stakes, the hinged side pieces and hinged end boards, with their supports, said end boards being adapted, 45 when raised, to keep in an elevated position firmly against the said stakes the end sections of the hinged sides, substantially as hereinafter described and set forth.

It consists, further, in the combination of the 50 hinged end boards, with theirhinged supports, with the hinged side sections having abutting edges beveled, as described and shown, so that the end boards will not· only keep the end sections of the sides in an elevated position, but also the middle sections, substantially as here- 55 inafter more fully set forth.

It consists, further, iu providing the car-bottom with hinged side pieces and end boards so attached that the end boards fold down below the end sections of the sides, so that the 60 side sections shall make a continuous and even floor for the support of lumber, &c., substantially as hereinafter specified.

It consists, further, in combining with the dumping bottom of the car an opening and 65 closing device applied to the center one of the series of shutters which are connected together by connecting-rods, and operating upon the other shutters of the series through the medium of such rods, substantially as hereinafter 70 shown and set forth.

It consists, further, in combining with the shaft of the center shutter of the dumping bottom a segmental rack on the same, a pinion gearing with the rack, and an operating hand- 75 wheel, substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

It consists, further, in combining with the shutter-bottom having opening and closing devices attached, and operating as hereinafter 80 described, a locking device consisting of a hook orother device on the car-body, engaging with a pin, staple,orothersuitablecorresponcling part attached to the shutters or their connecting-rod, at or near the center of the series 85 of shutters, substantially as hereinafter more fully described; and it consists, finally, in the general and special combinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter described, and specifically pointed out in the claims. 9c

In the drawings, in which I have only shown so much of the car as is necessary to illustrate my invention, A A designate the external frame-work of the bottom or body proper of the car. The longitudinal brace-beams A' A' 95 are beveled off on their upper sides, as are also the cross-pieces 0, to facilitate the discharge of the contents of the car when it is used for carrying coal and the like. The spaces between the end beams, A and A, and the pieces 100

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Ο Ο are closed below, as shown, so as to form receptacles It, into which the hinged braces F F fold down out of the way of the hinged end boards, 0 C. These braces are hinged at their 5 lower ends to the bottoms of the receptacles.

The body of the car is provided with the usual upright side stakes, E E,and to the side beams the boards or side pieces, B B, are hinged so as to rest against the stakes when io swung up into an elevated position, as shown in Fig. 2.

To the body of the car, at some distance from the ends, are hinged the end boards, C 0. They are so binged at S S, below the plane of 15 the upper edges of the end and longitudinal brace-beams, and at such a distance from said end beams,that they fold down below and out of the way of the end sections of the hinged sides of the car, as shown in dotted lines in 2c Fig. 3. The end sections of the sides can then, when folded down, rest directly and evenly upon the upper surfaces of the beams A A and A' A'. The brace-beams A' A' are cut down, as shown in Fig. 3, from S to their ends to al25 low the end boards to lie below the plane of the upper surface of the ear-frame, as described.

As will be seen in Fig. 2, the end boards will, when raised, keep the end sections of the sides firmly in position against the upright 30 side stakes, and with the abutting edges of the side sections beveled, as shown in Fig. 4, the middle sections will be kept up firmly in place by the end sections, and tight joints made, whether the sides are up ordown. By this 35 arrangement I avoid any necessity for braces or supports to keep the sides from falling in- I ward. The end boards, when thus elevated, serve to keep all the side pieces also in an elevated position. The braces F F are therefore 40 the only ones needed for the whole car.

In my convertible car it is especially desirable to use the slat or shutter form of dumping bottom. The shutters G G are of the ordinary form, with their upper and lower edges 45 correspondingly beveled, so that they will slightly overlap and make a tight bottom for the car when the shutters are closed. (See Fig. 2.) They are journaled, pivoted, or hinged at their upper edges in the usual way to the 50 longitudinal beams of the car, and near their lower edges, at their ends, are connected together by rods Η Η. I have shown the shutters as hinged to the beams A' A' only; but I do not limit myself to such construction. The 55 rod or rock-shaft upon which the center shutter swings has attached to it a segmental lever-arm, N, carrying segment-rack L.. Gearing with this rack is a pinion, K, on the shaft M of the hand-wheel I. Said shaft is suit60 ably journaled in the frameof the car. Where the shutters are for any reason to be made large and heavy, I prefer to extend this shaft M through the frame of the car and place on the other end a second pinion, to gear with a 65 corresponding segmental rack on an arm on that end of the pivot or rock shaft of the center shutter, as shown in Fig, 4. To lock the shutters in a closed position I provide a hook on the side of the car-body, adapted to engage with a staple on theconuecting-rod, about mid- 70 way of the length of said rod, or to take over the rod at that point. A pin passing through a staple on the connecting-rod and into a hole in the side beam can be used, or any such as a sliding bolt engaging with the center shutter 75 or the segmental arm, or a spring-ratchet device to catch in a notch of the shutter or segmental arm as soon as the shutters are closed. Asingleoneor a number of these devices can of course be used, as desired. In the drawings I 80 show three on a side—one near the middle and one at each end of the connecting-rod.

The double arrangement of operating pinion and segment, as shown in Fig. 4, together with the arrangement of two connecting-rods—one 85 at each side of the series of shutters—I find especially desirable where a close-fitting and a positive movement of all the shutters is wished.

With my improved car, as described and 90 shown, the change from a coal-car to a lumbercar and back again can be made very easily and expeditiously without the use of tools or the removal of any of the parts. As the different parts are all attached to the car, none 95 can be lost or misplaced. The multiplication of props or fastenings, where the sides are made in sections, is avoided, and an even and closefitting floor isobtained when the sides are folded down. Because of the attachment of the clos- 100 ing mechanism for the dumping bottom directly to the center shutter of the connected series, all the shutters are closely and accurately closed, and the springing or bending of the connecting-rods is avoided. 105

Where, as heretofore, the closing devices are attached at or near the end of the connected series of shutters, those at the end of the car farthest from the said closing devices fail to be closed properly on account of this bending no or buckling of the rods and the yielding or play of the parts throughout the length of the car. By my arrangement I avoid all this, and, if desired, I can adjust the shutters to any angle and be sure that they are all parallel. 115 The pinion and segment-rack connection enable me to make any such adjustment easily and positively, whether in opening or closing the shutters. Thus the rate of discharge of the contents of the car can be regulated and 120 made uniform throughout the length of the car.