US1974686A - Means for tying containers to freight cars - Google Patents

Description

P 1934 (5. R MEYERCORD 1,974,686

MEANS FOR 'IYING CONTAINERS TO FREIGHT CARS Filed D80. 21, 1931 Patented Sept. 25, 1934 Par-Em omen I iunsnsfron'rvmo communes 'ro FREIGHT 1 ,(i fse "Ru Meye oril. Gliicago, 111-, s-

, gne y e ne ass nm nts, to, Reconstruc- 1 tion Finance Corporation, a Feder'al corpora- Application nam 21, 1931, Serial No. 582,382

'ZCla'ims. 01. 105 -36 "The. Pres nt invention relates to the art of shipping goods, in lcontainers that form units of; ieet onalcar bodies, which units, may be removed rom the. arstand. e transp rted to discharge :3?! points or to receiving points. The object of the P es nt invention isi'toiseoure such'containersto ease s -Masimn emanner. 1 i

1,; A; fur her object of thepresent, invention is to nmyide m ans for eiiectivelrholdingthe afore- 219.5 mi. ooo e nersvupon o dinary fiat cars. without: requ rina'any considerable chaneest-o be made in shatters, a

.pue to, rough handling of cars or trains, where'- haters are causedtoston suddenly, or due tojthe M2:- brineina, a oeethen. oi, wo c rs rwhose relative movement toward ieaohwothera is ;at;,ancomn 1fativeir'hi h. speed, thefastenings between; heavily loaded:conta nersresting onifla cars and th c rs have enormous stresses imposed on the same. I If;

89 he iest ninss are ri id. 1 they are apt to fail or elsecausethe-oontainerstob dama ed: Viewed mom of its aspects, the present invention may be,

d to have, for its object toiprodnce simp and novel means for tying containers upon a flat car, $5.551 or a similar bed or floor of a freight car, in such a manner that they will yield and cushion the shocks imposed upon the containers during rough handling of the cars; thereby causing the shocks or blows gradually to be absorbed without injury Qfitafto the fastenings or to the containers or their contents, and without permitting the containers to shift their positions to an objectionable degree.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be *figjf'pointed out with particularity in the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had i to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a side view of a fragment of a flat car, showing portions of two containers tied to the car in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the bed of i fiathe flat car, at one side, showing the anchor on one of the ties, partly in section; Fig. 3 is a section taken approximately on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, the anchor being inclined, as in Fig. 1, instead of upright, as in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modification.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawing, 1 represents a side sill and 2 the floor of a fiat car which, together, may be termed the bed of the car. On the bed rest containers which, as is Wticustomary, are long enough to extend from one side of the car to the other. In the drawing, I haveshown only two of such containers, B and 4, as my invention will'readily be understoodfrom a description thereofin' connection with one or two containers.

Each container'is preferably tied to the car at four points, namely, in the vicinity of the. four corners-between the upright walls. In the arsl rangemen't shown,- the end walls of the'container are provided with eyes 5at "opposite sides of the end walls at a considerable distance above the floor of the car. The eye shown on theccntainer 3 corresponds in position to the-eye on the righthand side of the container which is'not shown in the drawing; and, similarly, the eye shown on thecontainer 4 corresponds to the eye on the lefthand side of the container 3, alsoomitted from the drawing. In any event, long ties 6 are 0011- nected to the eyes, preferably in such a manner that each tie ispermanently attached at one end to a container and is free to swing about 'its point of attachment. On the free endoi each tie is a head or anchor 'Tadapted tobeinterlocked with a part of the car body. Each tie is also show as containing a turn buckle 8 by means of which it may be lengthened and shortened.

After the containers have been properly positioned on the car, the ties, suitably elongated, are engaged with the car body at their lower ends, and the turn buckles are then tightened so as to draw the ties taut.

In accordance with one feature of my invention, I provide each tie with a section in the form of a strong spring 9 that must be stressed in order to elongate .the'tie. Therefore, when two cars are brought together at a comparatively high speed, or when the brakes are suddenly applied to a car, the tendency of the containers to shift their positions on the car or cars is not completely resisted, but the ties may yield and thus cushion the shocks that would otherwise be harshly imposed. At the same time, the containers will not be allowed to shift their positions enough 0 be objectionable.

When in their holding positions, the ties may be upright or be inclined at any desired angle to the vertical. I prefer, however, to place the ties at an angle to the vertical, those on each container on the same side of the car being inclined in opposite directions. In this way the pulling force of each tie has a horizontal component, tending to hold the container against shifting lengthwise of the car, as well as a vertical component that serves to hold the container down.

The heads or anchors on the ties are preferably so fastened that they may rock and thus permit the ties to swing about their points of attachment to the car. The capacity of the anchors to rock, while enabling them to be quickly attached to and detached from the car, may be provided by forming each anchor with a segmental toothed bar 10, the teeth 11 of which mesh with rack teeth 12 fixed to the car and overlying the segment'on the anchor. The rack teeth 12 are distributed lengthwise of the car in any desired order or arrangement. As shown in the drawing, the rack teeth are formed on a rail 13 extending lengthwise of the car just underneath the floor and welded or otherwise secured to the side sill. The rail has at the top an outwardly projecting flange 14 that is preferably curved so as to form an inverted trough. The rack teeth are located within this trough, extending transversely across the interior thereof. The toothed segment lolies on one side of the shank or stem of the anchor so as to form with the latter a device in the nature of a hook. Therefore, when the anchor is engaged with the rail, as shown in Fig. 2, it cannot slip 01f in the lateral direction or slide lengthe wise of the rail, but is free to rock on the rail.

If desired, the flange on the rail may be formed as indicated at 15 in Fig. 4, being provided with holes 16 extending therethrough and distributed lengthwise thereof. The anchor must also be modified somewhat for cooperation with'the rail. Thus, the anchor 17 may have a plain curved bar 18 corresponding to the toothed segment 10, but having thereon simply a single tooth or projection 19 adapted to enter any one of the holes 16 in the rail. By making the tooth or projection 19 frusto-conical, the anchor is notronly locked against slipping but may rock back, and forth on the rail.

It will thus be seen that I have provided extremely simple and novel means for quickly and easily tying the containers securely to the car. It will, also be seen that, in the most highly. developed form of my invention, the containers and their contents are'protected, to'a large extent,

against the shocks to which they would be subjected if the containers were rigidly fastened to the cars, during rough handling of the cars.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, with a single modification, Ido not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with the bed of a car, of a container resting loosely thereon, a longitudinal rail on the side of the car, a tie connected at its upper end to the container at a considerable distance above the bed, the under side of the rail being in the form of an inverted trough, rack teeth distributed along the trough, an anchor on the lower end of the tie, and a toothed segment on said anchor meshing with the teeth on the rail, the parts being so constructed that the segment rocks on the rail and maintains a straight line connection through the tie member from the container to the rail.

2. The combination with the bed member of a car, of a box-like container member resting loosely on said bed member, ties at opposite sides of said members connected at their upper ends to the container member at a considerable distance above the bed and at their lower ends to said bed member, the connection between each of said ties and one of said members consisting of a horizontal rail fixed to that member and an anchor on the tie hooked over the rail, said rail being provided with rack teeth distributed along the same, and said anchor having thereon a toothedsegment meshing with the teeth on the rail, the parts being so constructed that the segment rocks on the rail and maintains a straight line connection through the tie member from the container to the rail. I I

GEORGE RUDOLPH MEYERCORD.

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