Patent ID: 6227124
Filing Date: 2001-05-08
Classification: B61D,Y02T

Abstract:
A locking mechanism for a hinged door attached to a railroad hopper car such that said door moves outwardly from a closed position to an open position, said railroad hopper car having an underframe supported on wheels for movement over tracks, said hopper car further having a hopper supported on said underframe for holding particulate matter there within, said hopper defining a discharge opening relative to which said door moves between the open and the closed positions, said locking mechanism comprising:a lock carried by said underframe;a lock lever carried by said door for limited pivotal movement and movable into engagement with said lock to releasably hold and lock said door in the closed position; anda door release mechanism including an actuator rotatable about a fixed axis for urging said lock lever out of locked engagement with said lock thereby permitting said door to gravitationally move toward the open position from the closed position.