Trough hatch locking device

A device for securing a hatch cover has a locking strap pivotally attached at one end and adapted to overlap adjacent end portions of trough hatch covers. The locking strap has a free end engaged by a locking bar which pivots at right angles thereto. The locking bar is part of a unit or module which includes a shackle and a latch hook for holding the locking strap. The shackle is pivotally attached to the locking bar and is weighted with ballast to always be disposed in a vertical position for locking. The latch hook is also weighted and allowed a small amount of rotation to compensate for wear of the sealing gaskets to insure continuous locking engagement between the shackle and the latch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
(1) Field of the Invention 
This disclosure relates to a locking and securing device for holding down 
the covers on a trough hatch type of hopper arrangement. 
(2) Description of the Prior Art 
Prior art patents have disclosed a number of arrangements for closing 
hoppers and in particular for closing trough hatch hopper covers. These 
arrangements have included locking bars which engage a portion of the 
cover engaging strap and include a variety of ways in which the locking 
bar is secured to the car in a locked position. While satisfactory, the 
prior art arrangements did not disclose a locking arrangement which would 
compensate for wear of the hatch cover sealing gaskets in such a fashion 
as to automatically compensate for the wear to insure that the locking 
handle would remain in a locked position and remain securely closed as 
gasket wear occurs. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This disclosure pertains to hoppers and in particular covered hopper cars 
used in railroad service and which have elongated trough hatch openings 
covered by suitably shaped covers. The covers are securely held in a 
locked down position by transversely extending hinge straps which are 
engaged at a free end by a locking bar. The locking bar includes a 
pivotally attached shackle member which swings into locking connection 
with a pivoted latch hook. Generally, locking engagement is maintained 
between the shackle and latch hook through a spring force provided by the 
hatch cover gaskets. The shackle includes a heavy weighted portion which 
insures that it is always maintained in a generally upright position when 
the locking bar is in a horizontal position. Similarly, the associated 
pivoted latch hook is provided with a small degree of rotational movement 
in order that it may compensate for gasket wear and the loss of locking, 
spring forces, and move closer to the roof of the car to maintain locking 
contact with the associated shackle at all times. With this arrangement 
the shackle and hook remain in contact and cannot be shaken or vibrated 
apart during transit even after gasket wear has occured. 
The shackle and locking hook have cooperating cam surfaces to allow the 
shackle to pivot and proceed under a portion of the latch hook in order 
that locking may occur easily and automatically. 
The locking bar and associated hook are constructed to be attached to the 
hopper or the railway vehicle as a unit. Thus, the unit is assembled away 
from the vehicle and then may be easily welded to the roof sheet as a 
modular unit. This construction allows for not only ease in the initial 
manufacturing but also ease of replacement and maintenance in the event 
such is necessary. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hopper locking device 
wherein a locking bar member engages a locking strap which is pivotally 
mounted at one side of the hopper cover and includes an extension 
extending over and past the cover to engage the locking bar pivotally 
mounted at right angles to the strap. The locking bar carries a pivoted 
shackle which cooperates with the pivoted latch for automatically engaging 
the two members. The latch and shackle are weighted or arranged in such a 
fashion to compensate for wear and insure that locking engagement is 
continuous between the latch and shackle. 
These and other objects of the disclosure will become apparent to those 
having ordinary skill in the art from reference to the following 
description, drawings and appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The drawings illustrate a trough hatch hopper car designated by the numeral 
10 which includes a roof structure 12 having a pair of longitudinally 
extending walkways 14 joining transversely extending end walkways 16. The 
walkways provide a convenient platform for operators who are opening and 
closing the hatches. Roof structure 12 generally includes roof sheet 18 
which may be a continuous metal sheet extending from side to side of the 
car. In the configuration illustrated in the drawings the roof sheet 18 is 
a stepped sheet having a number of surfaces at different heights in order 
to provide both increased volume capacity to the car and an integrally 
rigid structure which resists stresses. Sheet 18 is provided with a 
continuous coaming 20 which is an upstanding portion having a rounded top 
flange and which provides an opening extending the length of the car for 
conveniently filling the car with material. Hatch covers 22 are pivotally 
mounted on the roof structure 12 to move easily from an open position to 
allow the car to be filled to a closed position to seal off the trough 
hatch and prevent entrance of moisture or other contaminants into the car 
interior. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the hatch covers 22 include a 
generally flat top portion 24 extending between downwardly extending sides 
26 which form the longitudinally extending edges of hatch covers 22. Each 
end hatch cover includes a transverse and downwardly extending end portion 
28 which insures that the ends of the trough are adequately covered. 
Spaced inwardly from the end flange portions 28 are upturned, intermediate 
ends 30 (FIG. 2) which are located adjacent one another when the covers 
are in a closed position. A sealing gasket 31 extends along the length of 
each hatch cover 22 and forms a complete seal between the hatch covers and 
the coaming 20. Sealing gasket 31 is secured to the under side of the 
hatch cover 22 and extends around the outer periphery of the hatch cover 
22 to form a water and air-tight seal with the upper, round portion of the 
coaming 20. The gaskets 31 provide a spring, locking force when compressed 
which maintains locking engagement of the hatch cover locking elements. 
A number of hinged locking straps 32 are positioned for pivotal movement in 
the area adjacent the upturned ends 30 of the trough hatch covers 22. Each 
hinged locking strap 32 includes a locking extension 34 which extends 
outwardly of the coaming for locking engagement with a car mounted locking 
unit. Locking straps 32 provide an inverted U-shaped cross section member 
36 which extends across the hatch covers 22. Positioned within the 
U-shaped portion is a gasket 38 which is adapted to engage the upturned 
ends 30 of the hatch covers 22 and thereby provide a complete air and 
moisture tight seal. 
A locking unit designated generally 40 is positioned adjacent the locking 
extension 34 and includes a pivoted locking bar 42 which contacts the 
locking extension 34 to lock and hold the bar in a closed position. 
Locking bar 42 is positioned above the roof sheet 18 by a hinged lug 44 
and a suitable sized pivot member 46. Locking unit 40 includes a mounting 
plate 48 which is located to extend longitudinally and generally parallel 
with the locking bar 42. Mounting pods 50 have downward extending flanges 
52 which are adapted for direct attachment of the locking unit 40 to the 
roof sheet 18. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the flanges 52 are of such a 
length as to locate and provide a level mounting for the locking unit 40 
even though the roof sheets 18 may be irregular or sloped in shape. 
Further, the mounting plate 48 and associated pods provide a modular or 
unitary locking unit which may be easily attached to the hopper and which 
also provides an improved design for ease of maintenance and replacement. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the locking bar 42 has a handle portion 54 which may be 
manually engaged or which may be contacted by depressing with an 
operator's foot as shown in FIG. 9. Locking bar 42 also includes a 
so-called contacting section 56 which engages the locking extension 34 of 
locking strap 32. 
Locking unit 40 also includes a pivoted latch hook 58 which is mounted to 
the mounting plate 48 with lugs 60. Stop plate 61 extends upwardly from 
the mounting plate 48 to engage, and limit movement of, the top part of 
the latch hook 58. Latch hook 58 includes a sloped surface 62 and a notch 
or cut out 63 which is used for locking purposes. 
A shackle 64 is pivotally attached at 65 to the locking bar 42. Shackle 64 
includes a sloped bottom 66 which cooperates with the sloped surface 62 of 
the latch hook 58 to allow the shackle to slide over the nose portion of 
the latch hook 58. Latch hook 58 is normally in the position shown in FIG. 
5 and remains in such position until shackle 64 is positioned adjacent the 
underside of the notch 63 for locking the two members together. The lower 
portion of the shackle 64 includes a filler ballast 67 which is an 
addition of a weighted material or may be a heavy section by design to 
insure that the shackle always is extending downwardly when the locking 
bar is in an about-to-be locked position. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shackle may include a finger grip 68 which 
is used to disengage the shackle from the latch hook 58. The latch 58 and 
shackle 64 may include a pair of openings 69, 70, which are aligned when 
the two members are locked and which may receive a car seal 71 (FIG. 8). 
A stop 72 is located on the locking bar 42 in such a fashion to limit 
rotation of the shackle 64 to insure that the shackle always points 
downwardly and is in position to automatically lock with the latch hook 58 
when locking bar 42 is horizontal. 
The operation of the locking unit 40 is shown with reference to FIGS. 5-9. 
FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement of the members as contact is initiated 
between the sloped surface 62 of the latch 58 and the sloped bottom 66 of 
the shackle 64. When surfaces 62 and 66 contact as the handle 42 is urged 
clockwise, downwardly, a camming action occurs whereby the shackle 64 
rotates counter-clockwise until it clears the end of the latch hook 58. As 
shown in FIG. 6, the latch 58 proceeds from the end of the latch 58 and 
comes into alignment with the underside of the latch 58 as the handle 42 
proceeds downwardly (FIG. 7). In a fully closed position the gaskets 31, 
38 are compressed and the shackle 64 is in the position shown in FIGS. 2 
and 7 with the latch hook 58 in its uppermost position. At such time the 
lower portion 67 of the shackle 64 is fitted into the underside or notch 
63 of the latch 58 to insure that the handle remains in a locked, down 
position at all times. Stop plate 61 limits upward rotation of the latch 
hook 58. 
It is known that during use, gaskets become worn, thus while they generally 
have excellent dimensional stability, some compression or dimensional 
changes called set can occur. Resulting dimensional changes will cause the 
locking bar 42 to assume a position closer to the roof sheet 18. As 
locking bar 42 moves closer to the roof sheet as gasket wear occurs the 
dimensional change is compensated for by this design since latch hook 58 
is allowed to rotate downwardly and move closer to the roof sheet 18. 
Thus, it can be seen that although some wear may occur, latch member 58 
will remain in contact with the shackle and prevent unlocking which would 
otherwise occur if the latch hook 58 were permanently fixed. 
Thus it has been shown that the disclosure of this invention provides a 
unitary or modular hopper cover locking arrangement which may be easily 
aligned and attached to a hopper. While the design shown herein has been 
made with reference to a trough hatch hopper car, it is also contemplated 
that this locking arrangement could be used on stationary hoppers or 
circular hatch hoppers. It has also been shown that the device disclosed 
herein provides a new and unobvious arrangement for compensating for the 
ever present gasket wear which can and does occur from many openings and 
closings of the hopper hatches. Although normally the gaskets provide a 
spring type of arrangement which forces the locking bar 42 upwardly, if 
excessive wear occurs this self-locking spring feature provided by the 
gasket would disappear. The self-locking feature of this disclosure which 
insures continuous locking engagement between latch hook 58 and shackle 64 
becomes critical to be sure that the trough hatch does not open during 
transit. 
The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the 
invention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the 
appended claims are so limited, as those who are skilled in the art and 
have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and 
variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.