Background Of The Invention

Field Of The Invention: This invention is in the field of those devices heretofore provided for vibrating railway cars to effect the unloading of ladings which may be compacted during transit, in the case of bulk ladings, or frozen as with coal, or wet ladings. Description Of The Prior Art: Prior devices in this field have involved metal-to-metal contact between a vibrator mechanism and a railway car which have been utilized as a shake-out to dis¬ charge lading through bottom outlets. Such arrangements not only were extremely noisy and detrimental to the environment in this respect, necessitating workmen to wear ear protection in the vicinity of the operation, but in the case of such devices mounted on top of a hopper car for instance, which necessitated use of a crane, the pounding action on the car was so severe as to cause excessive damage to the car.

In the case of a riveted car structure observ¬ ers have seen the rivets loosen and shake visibly and where bolts were involved the nuts were seen to practically spin off the bolt during the vibra¬ tion. Some devices immediately preceding the de¬ velopment of this invention utilized non-metallic means between the vibrating structure and the car pfilPI

side wall but in actual practice the non-metallic means, while it reduced the noise level substan¬ tially, was unable to stand the various forces in¬ volved and due to the friction and heat developed during operation was incapable of functioning for more than a very brief period.

The non-metallic parts were found to last hardly more than a minute when they would begin to smoke and burn and ultimately were completely con- sumed. These elements were made of rubber strips and where they were pressed against the side of a car they became very hot at the point of contact and the more the rubber burned the higher the noise level became and of course, the unit became less effective in discharging the lading.

Various alternates to the rubber strips were tried in an effort to correct the problem — dif¬ ferent grades of rubber were tried, nylon corded strips were tested and even wooden beams 4" x 4" were tried, but all without success and without solving the problem of the short life cycle of the non-metallic elements. At no time was it recog¬ nized that the natural frequencies of the vibrating structure relative to the driving motor speed may have been a contributing factor to the problem.

Summary Of The Invention

The present invention utilizes a structure that better distributes the vibrating forces on the car structure in a -way that avoids concentrated areas of pressure and vibration in otherwise relatively small non-metallic units and utilizes face beams that are designed to have a natural structural fre¬ quency of at least the square root of two above the speed of the driving motors. The dri ^~ ving motors are fixed directly to the face beams and are located between the actuators

that move the face beams toward the car side and retract the beams, when inoperative, so that the linear actuators are disposed in parallel and out¬ board in relation to the motors with the motors located on the centerline of the race beams mid¬ way between the actuators.

For stability, the arrangement utilizes two rows of stabilizer struts to prevent excessive wear on the linear actuators during advancing and retracting movements, and one of the stabilizers is located directly under the motor mounting structure. This plurality of stabilizers struts not only affords added stability but assures a higher support natural frequency that provides greater stability on the face beam member when it is pressed against the car side by the linear actuators .

The entire vibratory apparatus is mounted on a foundation structure that includes a base block upon which everything is supported. In order to anchor the railway rails relative to this block in a manner to oppose the lateral forces imposed against the side wall of a car, structural beams are implanted in the block and extend under and are connected to both of the rails. The structural beams in the base block are connected by a cross beam, which may be of channel section, to more securely anchor the beams in the block for positive retention of the car rails in proper position. Each of the linear actuators is provided with separate structural support and even though the two structures are diagnoally braced, the indepen¬ dent mounting of the actuators enables the struc¬ tural natural frequency of the support structure to be maintained above the forced frequency of the driving means, or motor speed, to the same extent as with respect to the face beams, namely to the same ratio of at least 1.412 magnitude in the

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difference between the two

Objects Of The Invention

The primary purpose of this invention is to provide a railway car vibrator having non-metallic engagement with the car and wherein the face beams behind the non-metallic element have a structural natural frequency substantially higher than the speed of the driving motors.

The principal object of the invention is real- ized in the provision of a railway car vibrator where a face beam structure has a natural struc¬ tural frequency that is at least equal to the square root of two above the speed of the driving motors . An important object of the invention is to pro¬ vide a railway car vibrator having a face beam structure adapted to be pressed against a car side wall by linear actuators that are spaced apart and mounted in parallel with one or more driving motors disposed between the actuators and mounted on the centerline of the face beam structure.

Another object of the invention is the provi¬ sion of a railway car vibrator arrangement includ¬ ing a face beam, linear actuators and a driving motor, wherein stabilizing struts are provided in pairs under the actuators and at least one stabili¬ zer strut is provided under the driving motor.

A further object of the invention is to pro¬ vide a railway car vibrator arrangement including a face beam and a pair of spaced apart linear ac¬ tuators wherein each such actuator has a separate support structure.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a railway car vibrator arrangement wherein the"" apparatus is supported on a base foun¬ dation with structural beams extending from the

foundation beneath adjacent railway rails and con¬ nected thereto with a cross-beam embedded in the foundation connecting the structural beams.

Description O ; .The:_Drawings

The foregoing and other and more. specific ob¬ jects of the invention are attained by the vibra¬ tor construction and arrangement illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of a car vibrator structure in accordance with this inven¬ tion showing the structure mounted on a base foun¬ dation connected to the car supporting rails and with a face beam pressed against a car side by linear actuators each stabilized by a pair of stabilizer struts;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the vibrator struc¬ ture showing the full length face beam engaged by widely spaced linear actuators for advancing and retracting the beam with the actuators backed up by separate supporting structures and revealing the driving motors midway between the actuators and in fixed direct association with the face beam; and

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the vibrator structure showing the face beam with front mounted non-metallic strips for engagement with a car side wall with the spaced apart support¬ ing structures separately formed for the linear actuators and the arrangement of stabilizer struts beneath the actuators and centrally below the drive motor mounting and with all of the parts supported from a slab comprising a base foundation.

Description of Preferred Embodiment

In the drawings, the reference 10 represents a base foundation for a trackside railway car vibrator mechanism of this invention, which is in the form of a heavy block, or slab, that may be constructed of poured concrete having a pair of embedded structural members 11 projecting outward¬ ly therefrom and extending under a pair of rails 13 to which they are securely fastened to hold the rails in fixed relation to the foundation slab against the lateral reaction of the vibrator mech¬ anism engaged with a car side wall of a hopper car 18, or the like, on the rails. The structural members 11 are connected together by one or more cross-members 12, which may be in the form of chan¬ nel sections, also embedded in the slab and which securely anchors the structural members against displacement relative to the slab. A pair of bed plates 14 are mounted on the top surface of the slab 10 and secured by anchor bolts 15 embedded in the slab.

The vibrator mechanism includes a face beam structure 16 having non-metallic strips 17, secured on the face of the beam and which may be comprised of rubber having a suitable durometer reading, or made ^' from a synthetic material having the desired properties necessary to operation in a service of the kind to which the vibrator is subjected in shaking a railway car to densify the lading during loading, or to break up a compacted lading, or one that may be wet, or frozen, during unloading opera¬ tions at a terminal. The face beam 16 may be con¬ structed from rolled sections having the required properties but, as shown, is fabricated from flat plates welded into an assembly having the natural structural -frequency necessary to the successful operation of a car vibrator of the type disclosed

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herein .

By fabricating the face beam as a welded assem¬ bled structure the desired frequency can more or less be built into the beam and in accordance with this invention the frequency incorporated in the face beam is designed to exceed the frequency re¬ presented by the speed of the motors driving the vibrator. Preferrably, the natural-structural frequency of the face beam 16 is designed to be above the forced frequency of the vibratory means as represented by speed of the driving motors, by at least the square root of two (1.412). As dis¬ closed herein, the driving motors for vibrating the beam 16 have a speed of 1800 RPM while the natural structural frequency of the face beam assembly is 2700 CPM. By this means, any relative motion between the face beam and the car side 18 will be eliminated and localized heat generation due to friction between the rubber bumper strips 17 and the car side will be eliminated so that the life span of the bumper strips is extended far be¬ yond the period experienced in previous vibrators of this general type.

The face beam 16 is vibrated by driving motors 19 and 20 mounted directly thereon by means of bracket structure 21 secured to the back side of the beam. It will be noted from Figure 2 that the beam 16 is of considerable length for extended en¬ gagement with the railway car side wall 18 and the driving motors assembly is mounted midway of the length of the beam on the centerline of the face beam. The driving motors 19 and 20 are each pro¬ vided with a pair of eccentrics 22 mounted on the drive shafts of the respective motors. The motors are disposed between top and bottom brackets 21 and have their axes disposed vertically and the motor shafts extend through the opposite ends of the motors and the eccentrics 22 are mounted on both

ends of each shaft whereby maximum vibratory action is obtained.

The face beam 16 is movable toward and away from the car side wall 18 by means of a pair of spaced apart linear actuators 23 and 24, which al¬ so act as isolators between the face beam and back¬ up structure and which advance and retract the vi¬ bratory beam 16 under the control of an operators- panel 25. The linear actuators are operated by air and an air compressor assembly 26 provides the power for effecting the linear movements of the actuators in advancing and retracting the face beam with its attached motor assembly toward and away from a car side wall. The driving motors 19 and 20, mounted in the bracket structure 21, are located between the linear actuators 23 and 24 with the actuators disposed in parallel relation to the vibratory action of the motors and respectively out¬ board of the motors. The linear actuators 23 and 24 are each com¬ prised of flexible air chambers 27 and 28 with a central supporting plate 29 and outer flanged col¬ lar members 30 and 31. The collar members 31 are each engaged behind and secured to the back side of the face beam 16 in position to exert pressure against the beam and maintain the beam in contact with the car side 18 through the medium of the rub¬ ber bumper strips 17. The rear collar members 30 are engaged with and secured to a rigid frame structure 32 mounted on and secured to the bed plates 14 and it will be noted that a separate rigid frame structure 32 is provided for each lin¬ ear actuator, as best indicated in Figure 2.

The rigid frame structure 32 acts as a back-up for each of the linear actuators and against which the forces of the air operated actuators react in pressing the face beam 16 and rubber bumpers 17 against the car side 18 and holding this engagement

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during the entire operation of vibrating the car to densify a lading being loaded into the car, or to loosen up a lading and cause it to flow through bottom discharge outlets during unloading opera- tions. Each rigid frame assembly includes a pair of spaced apart rearwardly extending base members 33 secured to the respective bed plates 14, up¬ right members 34 secured to the base members ad¬ jacent what may be described as the front end of the rigid structures 32 and a pair of diagonal members 35 extending rearwardly and downwardly from adjacent the top ends of the verticals 34 to the rear ends of the respective base members 33 thus effectively to brace the structures 32 against the forces exerted by the linear actuators 23 and 24 during the vibrational periods when the units are in operation. The uprights 34 of each struc¬ ture 32 are connected across the top by horizon¬ tal members 36 affording structure acting directly as the back-up for the respective linear actuators

23 and 24. The rigid structures 32 are separate and independent whereby each linear actuator has its own structural support so that the natural structural frequency of the structural support for each actuator can be maintained above the forced frequency of the vibrating mass as determined by the speed of the driving motors and to the same extent of 1.412 difference in magnitude. A dia¬ gonal bracing member 39 extends downwardly at an angle from the top of each structure 32 and con¬ nects with the base structure of the assembly to lend greater stability to the separate structures 32 in a direction laterally of the independent back-ups for the linear actuators 23 and 24. As best shown in Figure 1, it will be seen that two rows of stabilizing arms, or struts 37 and 38, are provided beneath the linear actuators 23 and

24 and extending between the actuators and the bed

plates 14. The stabilizer struts 37 are connected at.their upper ends to the intermediate plate 29 of the actuators but the stabilizer struts 38 are connected beneath the under side of the face beam structure 16 in line with each of the linear actua¬ tors so that greater stability for the actuators and contribute to a higher natural frequency in the support structure and in turn affords greater sta¬ bility of the face beam when it is advanced and pressed against the car side 18. By the added stability thus provided for the linear actuators excessive wear on the actuators also is prevented as they advance and retract between the operative vibratory position and the inoperative position at rest.

At least one stabilizer strut 40 (see Figure 3) is disposed midway between the struts 37/38 un¬ der the respective linear actuators and this strut is mounted directly under the driving motor support ing bracket assembly 21 and this adds further to the stability of the face plate member 16. The stabilizer struts 37/38 and 40 respectively are mounted at the bottom by means of brackets 41 on the bed plates 14 and by means of bracket 42 on a central bed plate 43.

From the foregoing it will be seen that an im¬ proved railway car shaker device has been provided in the form of a trackside vibrator mechanism that eliminates relative motion at the face beam of the unit between the surface of the car engaged by the face beam and the unit to avoid generation, of lo¬ calized heat that otherwise would be developed by friction due to any relative movement between the parts during vibrational operation. The improve- ments are best realized by separating the linear actuators in widely spaced relationship and provid¬ ing a natural structural frequency of the face beam structure of 1.412 magnitude above the forced

frequency provided by the driving motor RPM. A similar natural structural frequency in the supporting struc¬ ture of the unit above the driving motor speed by 1..412 also contributes to the improvements realized

> by this invention and mounting of the driving motors directly on the face beam structure adds further to the efficiency of this trackside unit. All of these features are enhanced by the stability afforded by the multiple stabilizer struts under the linear actuators and by

10 the stabilizer strut arrangement under the driving motor mounting.

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