Railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism

Abstract

An actuating system for operating the doors of a railroad hopper car while dumping the contents outside of the rails. A main lever is rotatably coupled within the center sill with a rod extending from an arm of the lever to a door which covers the hopper. As the lever is rotated, the rods act to move the doors away from the hoppers.

1 ) An actuating system of actuating the doors of a hopper car of the type having a pair of doors closing each hopper; said car having a center sill, comprising: 
 a main lever, rotatably coupled within said center sill, said lever having a pair of arms extending from its central region;    a pair of rods, each coupled between an arm of said main lever, and a door which covers a hopper,    such that when said lever is rotated, said doors shift away from said hopper, allowing the contents of said car to be discharged outside of the rails.    
   
   
       2 ) The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an actuating lever coupled to said main lever for rotating said main lever.  
   
   
       3 ) The system of  claim 2 , wherein said actuating lever is curved.