Patent ID: 8534204

Claim:
A hatch assembly for use with a railway hopper car, the railway hopper car including sidewalls, end walls, and bottom walls for defining an interior volume, the bottom walls defining a cargo well having an opening for discharging materials transported by the hopper car, said hatch assembly comprising: a support frame coupled proximate to a bottom of the cargo well; a hatch slideably coupled to said support frame, said hatch moveable between a closed position and an open position for selectively covering the cargo well opening; a locking bar coupled to said support frame for locking said hatch in the closed position; and a hatch positioning system comprising a drive shaft coupled to said support frame, a locking assembly coupled to said drive shaft and configured to selectively engage said locking bar, a positioning assembly coupled to said drive shaft, and a drive assembly coupled to said drive shaft, wherein said hatch positioning system is configured to unlock said hatch when said drive shaft is rotated through a first angle of rotation causing said locking assembly to disengage said locking bar, and to move said hatch to the open position when said drive shaft is further rotated after the first angle of rotation.