Gunderson, Inc.

Fmc Corporation

Burlington Northern Railroad

Gary S Kaleta

Gregory J Saxton

Charles C Hill

Gareth R Thomas

Marvin Gordon Rains

Thomas Gareth R

David J DeBoer

Roger P Hawkins

William K Berry

Robert J Landregan

A multi-unit articulated railway freight car defining a container well in each of the several units, with container support members attached to the side sills of each unit to support standard intermodal cargo containers at a location low enough to permit a second tier of containers to be stacked atop a bottom tier without exceeding the maximum height restrictions of most main railroad lines, although ample clearance is preserved beneath the bottom of the car when fully loaded. Each container support member is constructed of thick plate steel of high strength, formed cold to include residual internal stresses in order to resist failure when subjected to the loads imposed by supporting loaded containers carried in the container well. The side sill structures are of box tube and formed sheet construction of small enough width to permit carriage of newer, larger, sizes of intermodal cargo containers without the car or containers protruding outside the clearance available along most railroad lines. A truss structure interconnects the bottom chords of the side sills and interconnects the cargo container support members. Members of the truss structure are attached to the cargo container support members by hinges. Roller-assisted, constant-contact side bearings and softer springs are used in a single-unit version of the car.

Railroad freight car with well for stacked cargo containers

A multi-unit articulated railway freight car defining a container well in each of the several units, with container support members attached to the side sills of each unit to support standard intermodal cargo containers at a location low enough to permit a second tier of containers to be stacked atop a bottom tier without exceeding the maximum height restrictions of most main railroad lines, although ample clearance is preserved beneath the bottom of the car when fully loaded. Each container support member is constructed of thick plate steel of high strength, formed cold to include residual internal stresses in order to resist failure when subjected to the loads imposed by supporting loaded containers carried in the container well. The side sill structures are of box tube and formed sheet construction of small enough width to permit carriage of newer, larger, sizes of intermodal cargo containers without the car or containers protruding outside the clearance available along most railroad lines. A truss structure interconnects the bottom chords of the side sills and interconnects the cargo container support members. Members of the truss structure are attached to the cargo container support members by hinges.

An adjustably positioned container guide and spacer device to be mounted on a side wall defining a container well of a railroad car for receiving intermodal cargo containers of different widths, the device acting as a guide during loading of a container into the container well, and acting to restrain a container, particularly one narrower than the width of the container well, to prevent such a container from moving laterally too far once it has been placed within the container well. A sloping guide surface and a blunt, convexly curved spacer nose surface of the guide body are presented so as to guide a container to the proper location within a container well, and the nose surface thereafter prevents the container from moving an excessive distance laterally within the container well when the guide body is latched in the correct one of the available inner and outer positions, as determined by the width of the container. A latch bar permanently but movably held in the guide body is ordinarily held in a selected latching position by the force of gravity, but is upwardly movable to disengage the latch and permit relocation of the guide body.

Device for changing the effective width of a container well of a freight

A multi-unit articulated railway freight car defining a container well in each of the several units, with container support members attached to the side sills of each unit to support standard intermodal cargo containers at a location low enough to permit a second tier of containers to be stacked atop a bottom tier without exceeding the maximum height restrictions of most main railroad lines, although ample clearance is preserved beneath the bottom of the car when fully loaded. Each container support member is constructed of thick plate steel of high strength, formed cold to include residual internal stresses in order to resist failure when subjected to the loads imposed by supporting loaded containers carried in the container well. The side sill structures are of box tube and formed sheet construction of small enough width to permit carriage of newer, larger, sizes of intermodal cargo containers without the car or containers protruding outside the clearance available along most railroad lines. A truss structure interconnects the bottom chords of the side sills and interconnects the carbon container support members. Members of the truss structure are attached to the cargo container support members by hinges.

A hitch (10) for releasably connecting a double stack trailer to a road railer car having a tongue (14) having an opening (15) includes a top wall (16), bottom wall (24) and first and second walls (28) and (30) cooperatively connected to form a housing (12) for receiving the tongue (14) of the road railer car. The housing (12) has an upper pin receiving opening (18) in the top wall (16), and a lower pin receiving opening (26) in the bottom wall (24). The upper and lower pin receiving openings (18) and (26) are in alignment. A shaft (42) is positioned below the bottom wall (24) and cooperatively connected between the first side wall (28) and the second side wall (30). A lever (22) has an upper arm (44) cooperatively connected to a lower arm (46) with a pivot point (48) positioned between the arms (44) and (46 ). The lever (22) has a portion of the upper arm (44) extending above the top wall (16), and the lower arm (46) is positioned below the bottom wall (24). A pin (50) is cooperatively connected to the lower arm (46). When in a disengaged position the pin (50) is in the lower pin receiving opening (26). When the upper arm (44) is depressed the pin (50) moves upward through the upper pin receiving opening (18) thereby securing the tongue (14) through its opening (15) which has been positioned in the housing (12).

Trailer hitch for use with a railroad car

An improved multi-unit railway car adapted to carry several intermodal cargo containers stacked in two tiers, with each of the several car units having substantially smooth side surfaces and including aerodynamic drag-reducing devices located at respective positions between adjacent car units and at each end of the multi-unit car. Between units are pairs of slender posts and, optionally, a slender crossbar, located so as to interrupt the gap between containers carried on adjacent units. At each end of the car, where there is a lengthier space, because of a four-wheeled truck and a coupler, is a pair of vertical panels with a small frontal area and an optional horizontal top member. For use on a car unit intended to carry short containers, the aerodynamic devices may be without the crossbar and horizontal top panel to provide clearance for a loader to handle lower tier containers.

Aerodynamic drag reduction for railcars

A stack supporting container car includes a plurality of car units interconnected by articulating connector with the end units provided with conventional railroad couplers. Each car unit includes side sills and body bolsters supported on trucks. The side sills and body bolsters are spaced apart sufficiently to allow the bottom portion of a short lower container to pass therethrough with the weight of the stack of containers being supported only by four corner feet connected to and projecting below the side sills. Bulkheads with fixed side and end container restraining walls and with movable corner engaging mechanisms are provided on the car unit to selectively restrain either a short or a long container supported upon the lower container in transport position on the car unit. The upper and lower surfaces of containers provide ample clearance to safely move over the rails and under bridges or the like.

Stack supporting container car

A drop center railway car is provided with a continuous center sill having a depressed portion between the wheel assemblies. The continuous center sill is disposed between a pair of light weight side walls which include side sills that are connected to transverse bolsters for proportionally distributing longitudinal and vertical loads between the two walls and the continuous center sill with the center sill supporting about three-quarters of the longitudinal load. Crossbearers cooperate with the bolsters to prevent injurious bowing of the commodity confining surfaces of the light weight side walls, side sills and bolsters, which light weight is made possible by the forces being proportionally distributed between the three, rather than two, longitudinal members. The drop center portion of the center sill is secured within a flat bottom portion of the car body thus lowering the lowermost cargo supporting surface the maximum amount permitted by government regulations thereby providing a very low center of gravity to the car.

Growing community of inventors

Warren, OR, United States of America

Gary S Kaleta