EP2739787B1

EP2739787B1 - Container, railway truck using such a container and process for loading or unloading aggregates from railway transport truck

Info

Publication number: EP2739787B1
Application number: EP12759263.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giuseppina Moratti
Original assignee: SRT A RESPONSABILITA' LIMITATA CON UNICO SOCIO Soc
Current assignee: Srt A Responsabilita' Limitata Con Unico Soc
Priority date: 2011-08-03
Filing date: 2012-08-02
Publication date: 2015-10-14
Anticipated expiration: 2032-08-02
Also published as: EP2739787A1; ITMI20111485A1; WO2013018052A1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a container particularly suitable for containing aggregate materials, such as for example gravel, a railway truck which can mount one or more of the containers and a corresponding process for managing the loading and unloading operations of the aggregate materials (in particular gravel) by railway transport trucks.

TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

As is known, in processes of constructing railway lines one of the constructional steps includes transport to the site of gravel and laying thereof on the rails and sleepers with the aims of completing the railway bedding. In normal situations the gravel necessary for realising the bedding is extracted from the pits and loaded on a predetermined number of lorries such as to be transported to the despatch site (for example a port).
The gravel is then unloaded from the lorries and loaded onto ships which transport it to the destination port.
The gravel is then unloaded from the ships and re-loaded onto lorries for transport to the railway worksite.
The unloaded gravel is then loaded onto special railway transport trucks which, running on the new track, take the gravel to the unloading zone so as to enable operatives to lay it on-site See US 3 756 469 A . From research conducted by companies working in the realisation of rail tracks, it emerges that about 20% of the gravel generally loaded at the pit is lost during the transport stages.
Since, for realising a few hundreds of kilometres of railway, various thousands of cubic metres of gravel are required, it is absolutely clear that the losses incurred during transport of the 20% of the useful material corresponds to an economic loss generally rising beyond a million Euro. This makes the logistical question of the transport of the gravel an economical problem as yet unresolved.
To the above can obviously be added the environmental pollution deriving from the loss of the material.
Also, for some applications material requiring special elimination to be transported, such as for example asbestos, the need to load and unload from the various transport means involves the requirement of neutralising before the movement operations.
Therefore, generally, asbestos is removed from the neutralising site and before being loaded on the transport systems it has to be properly bagged or in any case neutralised such as to make the loading and unloading operations secure and non-polluting.
Also known, from patent EP 1836081 is a railway transport system which comprises the adopting of transport modules provided with a containing cavity on the bottom of which a conveyor belt is positioned, specially inclined such as to enable unloading (and possibly also the loading) of gravel contained therein.
This model, though enabling transport both on-road and on-rail, is extremely complex to construct, is expensive and delicate to operate.

SUMMARY

The aim of the present invention is to substantially obviate all the drawbacks and limitations present in the prior art.
A first aim is to provide a container for transporting aggregate materials having modest costs and simple to realise, which can be universally used for road, sea and rail transport.
A further aim is to provide a container which enables simple loading and unloading operations of the gravel, especially on rail-borne systems.
A further aim is to provide a transport truck that mounts the container, which is simple to set up according to needs and requirements.
A further aim is to provide a process for loading and unloading aggregate materials to and from railway trucks which is simple to actuate, has extremely contained costs and which enable a good and correct arrangement of gravel on railway bedding.
A still further aim is to eliminate loss of material during the various transport steps, thus reducing the costs of the raw materials required for realising the railway bedding tract, and also providing ecological results.
A further and auxiliary aim is to provide a container which offers secure storage of aggregate material, whether gravel or asbestos or another material, without any need to lay the materials quickly and/or a further step of neutralising dangerous material.
These and other aims which will better emerge during the course of the following description are substantially attained by a container, a railway truck mounting the container and a process for loading/unloading aggregates from railway trucks according to one or more of the accompanying claims.
Further characteristics and advantages will emerge in fuller detail from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a container, a railway truck mounting the container and a process for loading/unloading aggregate materials from the container according to the present and illustrated embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description will be carried out with reference to the accompanying tables of drawings, in which:

figure 1a illustrates a railway convoy constituted by two railway trucks each carrying two respective containers;
figure 1b illustrates a single railway truck carrying two respective containers;
figure 2 illustrates a detail of the convoy of figure 1;
figure 3 illustrates the convoy of figure 1, in which the first truck is represented without containers and without including a conveyor belt and the second truck has been illustrated with the conveyor belt installed and with only one container mounted thereon;
figure 4 illustrates a partial lateral view of the convoy of figure 1;
figure 5 shows a transversal section of the convoy of figure 1 in a transport situation of the aggregate material;
figure 6 is a transversal section of the convoy of figure 1 in an unloading condition of the aggregate material;
figure 7 is a perspective view, partially from above, of a container according to the present invention and lacking the covering element;
figure 8 is an exploded view of a container according to the present invention;
figure 9 is a plurality of containers according to the present invention, appropriately stacked in a freight terminal zone;
figure 10 and figure 11 illustrate, in cross section, a container according to the present invention, respectively in an open condition and a closed condition;
figure 12 illustrates a container according to the invention during road transport;
figure 13 is a detail of a distributor for discharging and depositing the gravel usable in the convoy of figure 1;
figure 14 is a further embodiment of the convoys of figure 1 in a loading condition of the material;
figure 15 illustrates a single railway truck of the convoy of figure 14;
figure 16 shows the truck of figure 15 in a perspective view, partially from above;
figure 17 is an enlarged detail of the truck of figure 16; and
figure 18 schematically illustrates a conveyor belt usable on transport trucks of the type illustrated in the preceding figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes in its entirety a railway convoy destined for the transport of aggregates, as described below.
Figure 1a illustrates in particular two transport trucks 2 consecutively engaged and suitable for defining, in cooperation with further trucks 2, a locomotive and an unloading system of the aggregates, a railway convoy 1 in accordance with what is described below.
Figure 1b shows a single transport truck equipped with a suitable conveyor organ 27 and two containers 3, described in more detail herein below.
Figure 2 shows a detail of a coupling area between two consecutive trucks while figure 3 illustrates the convoy of figure 1 a in which the first transport truck 2 is shown without the conveyor organ 27 and the respective containers 3, while the second transport truck 2 has the conveyor organ 27 superiorly engaged thereto and only one of the two containers 3 engaged, so as to more fully illustrate the structure of the convoy.
The main elements that define the convoy are constituted by a railway transport truck 2, for example of the type shown in figure 3, having a support frame 24 with the conveying surface being substantially flat, the frame 24 being mounted on a predetermined number of wheels 25 configured to enable motion of the trucks along a track 26.
In particular, the truck can be a common container carrying truck or a truck equipped with a simple platform with specific hooks for receiving and engaging the containers.
In general, this truck is commonly used for containers for intermodal transport.
In a further detail, the trucks 2 can be generally of two types, namely 2-axle or bogey-type.
The two-axle trucks have only four wheels, while the bogey trucks can have 8 or more (even though normally there are two bogeys for a total of 4 axles).
Of course there are different types of trucks too, such as special trucks used mainly for mineral transport, or for metallurgical or special loads, having 12 or more axles on four or eight-axle bogeys on two trucks with eight wheels each.
In any case the trucks 2 should be suitable and configured for transport of containers and will not be further detailed as they are of a type known to those skilled in the art.
Turning now to the description of the container 3 that the truck 2 is destined to supportingly receive, the container 3 constitutes a specific transport apparatus, in particular for intermodal transport.
The container used and described in the present invention is generally an ISO container, i.e. a parallelepipedmetal box the measurements of which are internationally-established.
With a common width of 8 feet and a common height of 8 feet 6 inches, containers are generally distributed in a two standard lengths of 20 feet and 40 feet.
In the present description reference is mainly made to the 20-foot container, while obviously also 40-foot containers can be used, or in any case containers suitable for intermodal transport will be included in the concept of containers in the appended claims.
Note also that the containers 3 described below in detail exhibit rapid-couplings present on the corners of the container, specific for fastening to the various means of transport; these attachments are generally standardized.
In this way, with the use of forklifts, bridge cranes, straddle carriers and cranes, the containers are easily transferable between a ship (on which they can also be vertically stacked as shown in figure 9), a railroad truck or a road truck.
The characteristics of these attachments, combined with the inherent strength of the container, enable them to be vertically stacked on one another, maximising use of piers, docks and warehouses.
In particular, figures from 7 to 11 illustrate in detail the container 3 used on the railway convoys mentioned above.
Firstly, the container comprises a containing structure 4 having a predetermined number of lower support elements 5 suitable for enabling engagement to the transport truck 2, optionally with the interposing of a further support structure 24 of a conveyor organ 27.
The container comprises at least two lateral walls 6, 7 opposite and facing one another, in general vertical and parallel, as well as being of the dimensions mentioned above, and two head walls 8, 9 also opposite and facing (vertical, parallel and perpendicular to the side walls 6, 7) to define a shape having a rectangular plan.
The side walls 6, 7 and the head walls 8, 9 in cooperation define an inner housing space 10 of the container.
The containing structure 4 also includes a separating wall 11 located internally of the housing space 10, and constrained to at least one (in general to all) of the side and head walls 6, 7, 8, 9 so as to divide the housing space 10 into at least a superiorly-located containing compartment 12 and an unloading compartment 13 positioned inferiorly.
As can be seen from figures 10 and 11 which show the container in cross-section view, the containing compartment 12 and the unloading compartment 13 are superposed and communicate with each other via a suitable central passage opening arranged below the containing compartment 12.
The container also includes an opening/closing device 15 for selectively placing the containing compartment 12 in communication with the unloading compartment 13.
In particular, the device 15 is movable between at least a first transport condition illustrated in figure 11 in which passage of any material contained in the containing compartment 12 towards the unloading compartment 13 is not allowed through the passage opening 14 and a second unloading condition illustrated in figure 10 in which passage of material from the containing compartment 12 to the unloading compartment 13 is enabled, by force of gravity, through the passage opening 14.
In detail, the separating wall 11 is constituted by a complex structure specially constrained to withstand the presence of loads bearing down in the containing compartment 12 and, in section, includes, for each side, a main container wall 16, 17 inclined with respect to the horizontal in such a way as to convey a material contained in the containing compartment 12 towards the passage opening 14 by gravity.
In particular, the passage opening is positioned at a lower end 16a, 17a of the main inclined wall 16, 17 so that the material supported in the containing compartment 12 can flow along the slope defined by the wall and is conveyed by gravity towards the passage opening 14 itself.
As can be seen in figures 10 and 11, the separating wall 11 is symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal vertical plane having two inclined walls 16, 17 with the same inclination, size and positioning.
Two respective lower walls 20, 21 branch off at the lower end 16a, 17a of the main walls 16, 17, and emerge distancingly from the corresponding main walls 16, 17 and are connected inferiorly to the respective side wall 6, 7.
In this way the cooperation between the lower walls 20, 21 and the side walls 6, 7 contributes to defining the lower support elements 5, which in fact consist of two respective feet which extend longitudinally along the entire extension of the container with the lower support surface 5a being flat and able to be received and coupled to a corresponding transport structure, which might be a road truck (see for example figure 12) or a train (see for example figure 4).
In this way, moreover, two further lateral interspaces 47 are defined (see figure 10) which are isolated with respect to the housing compartment 12 and the unloading compartment 13.
The closed structure in cross-section helps to increase the resistance to the load and to the stresses of the container.
As can be seen in figure 7, the main inclined walls 16, 17 and the lower walls 20, 21 are engaged at the respective lateral zones of the container, each to a respective side wall 6, 7, and to both of the head walls 8 , 9.
In particular, these walls 6, 7, 8, 9 are reinforced by suitable vertically-extending ribs.
Still observing figure 7, note that the containing compartment 12 is accessible from above through an appropriate upper access 18 laterally bounded by the side walls 6, 7 and by the head walls 8, 9 and inferiorly by the separating wall 11 and possibly by the opening/closing device 15.
Optionally, the container can also include a covering element 19 shown in figure 8 and in figures 10 and 11 and destined to close the upper access 18 so as to prevent the entry of further material into the housing compartment 12.
The presence of a covering element 19 is extremely advantageous when the contents of the container 3, such as gravel, are to be isolated from external agents that may for example be wind-borne.
Consider the construction of a railway in sandy or desert areas, where the wind might carry sand to inside the container.
Also the presence of a closure system, or of a covering element 19, enables storing, internally of the container 3, materials that must not leak from the container 3 during the transport stages, such as asbestos or like materials which therefore do not require additional neutralising systems.
Note that the figures illustrate only a closing panel, though the closing system may well be more complex and include hydraulic/pneumatically-commanded mechanisms or others besides, for opening/closing the upper access 18.
The opening/closing device 15 in general comprises at least a mobile shutter 22, mobile by sliding, rotation or rototranslation, such as to enable, or not, the passage 14 to be opened.
The shutter extends along the entire length of the opening 14, i.e. for about the entire longitudinal development of the container (figs. 7 and 8).
In the illustrated embodiment two shutters 22, 23 are exhibited, opposite and suitably hinged to the lower end 16a, 17a of the main inclined wall 16, 17.
The shutters 22, 23 are movable by rotation between a first operating condition in which occlude (at least partially and in general in its entirety) the passage opening 14; the first operating condition in fact coincides with the condition of transport.
The shutters are then movable into a second operating condition (figure 10) in which they leave the passage opening 14 free, allowing the material contained in the containing compartment 12 to fall by gravity.
The second operating condition coincides with the unloading condition.
The movement of the opening/closing device 15 can be either manual or automatic, or there may be (or not) hydraulic or pneumatic actuators or movement engines which selectively open/close the access 14.
In open conditions both the shutters 22, 23 are housed in the unloading compartment 13 as shown in figure 10; the shutters 22, 23 can also advantageously be identical, or not.
Observing now the same container 3 in the mounted conditions on a railway truck, see for example figures 5 and 6, it can be seen that in this configuration at least one conveyor organ 27 is present, which enables the load to be moved should it have to be unloaded along the direction of the longitudinal development 28 of the truck.
In particular, the conveyor organ 27 is mounted on the support structure 24 and is positioned at the position of the unloading compartment 13 of each of the containers 3 below the passage opening 14.
Looking in particular at figure 1b and figure 3, a single transport organ is present, having an active length that is greater than the length of the transport truck so as to enable the material contained in both the first and in the second container associated to the same transport truck to be moved along a predetermined longitudinal moving direction.
In particular, figure 5 illustrates a transport condition in which the aggregate material, in general gravel, to be deposited during the construction of a railway, is contained in the containing compartment 12.
Figure 6 illustrates the unloading condition of the gravel on the transport organ, through the opening of the opening/closing means 15.
In the particular illustrated embodiment the conveyor organ 27 comprises at least a conveyor belt 29 having a longitudinal extension that is equal to and in general slightly greater than the extension of the transport truck.
Obviously two or more of these conveyor belts can be used, coupled together to define the operating pathway for the gravel.
The conveyor belt optionally exhibits lateral abutments 30 which prevent the fall of the material loaded at the lateral ends of the conveyor belt.
In general terms, the conveyor belt 29 is mounted on a rigid frame 43 with support elements 44 on the transport trucks 2 and which superiorly receive the support elements 5 of the container. In particular (see figure 3), the support elements are longitudinal bars, for example having a rectangular section, which extend substantially the entire length of the truck on the respective supporting structure 24 thereof.
The conveyor belt has a corresponding end 29a that partially overlaps on the corresponding end 29b of a conveyor belt 29 associated with the successive transport truck. Figure 2 in particular illustrates this condition.
The configuration of partial overlap enables an optimal transport of the gravel for the passage from the end 29a to the end 29b without loss of material.
Obviously the whole conveyor belt can be slightly inclined along the entire development of the transport truck as shown in the accompanying figures; or only the terminal end 29a can tilt from the horizontal to slightly raise the transported material and allow it to fall onto the conveyor belt of the next truck (alternatively the end 29b can be lowered).
The movement of the conveyor organ 27 is obtained by at least a movement system 31 associated thereto to move it.
The movement system 31 is positioned at a longitudinally intermediate location 34 of the truck and in particular is interposed between two consecutive containers 3 (see figure 1 b).
In general, the movement system 31 includes a motor 32 and a corresponding transmission 33 for setting the conveyor organ 27 and in particular the conveyor belt in motion.
Obviously two or more motors can be used, according to requirements.
The conveyor belt 29 advantageously has at least one and in particular both ends 29a, 29b hinged to the central portion 29c about the substantially horizontal respective rotation axes 35 thereof so that the longitudinal dimensions of the belt 29 can be reduced during transportation thereof.
This is illustrated in figure 18.
Correspondingly, the belt 29 may include appropriate means 36 for varying the longitudinal development thereof, i.e. for increasing/decreasing the active length of the conveyor belt.
For example a return pulley 37 can be included such that the length of the belt can be adapted to that of the truck to which the belt is associated (see once again the diagram in figure 18).
It should also be noted that the conveyor belt 29 is removably mounted on the truck 2 in such a way as to be easily demounted therefrom.
The belt 29 is also configured to be coupled to the container 3 in the superposing configuration, i.e. mounted superiorly as shown in figure 14.
In still other terms the container can be directly mounted on the trucks 2 and the conveyor organs 27 superiorly associated to one or two containers.
In an alternative (not shown) the configuration of figure 2 can be maintained, with the conveyor organ positioned below the unloading compartment 13 and a further transport member positioned superiorly as in figure 14 for loading the containers. Once loaded, by simply removing the superior conveyor organ 27 the convoys can be brought to the gravel unloading area and work started immediately.
As can be seen from figure 15, when in the superposed condition, the belt 29 also includes a switching mechanism 38 configured with inclined side walls 46 for intercepting the material transported by the belt and causing it to fall from the conveyor belt itself to inside the containing compartment 12 of the container 3.
For reasons that will be more fully clarified below it should be noted that the switcher 38 is movable, with respect to the conveyor belt to which it is associated, along the longitudinal development of the belt (to and fro) and also in the vertical direction as clearly indicated by the arrows in figure 17 .
Following the structural description made, the container described above and the transport truck together with the conveying organs as described also contribute to the adoption of innovative procedures for loading/unloading of aggregate material and in particular of gravel from the rail transport trucks.
However, it is clear that the described convoys can be used for the transport of any cargo (also not of aggregate materials) that can be housed in the housing compartment 12.
In particular a predetermined number of containers 3 of the type described above can be prepared at the pits and the container can be filled directly on site.
In other words, the containing compartment 12 is filled with the appropriate quantity of gravel and the container can be closed by the covering element 19.
Then the various containers can be mounted on suitable transport trucks (see figure 12) and subsequent stored for example in a freight terminal zone where the containers can be unloaded from the road trucks and stacked (see figure 9) for subsequent loading, for example, on a transport ship.
Once unloaded at the port of destination, the containers can be mounted on trucks and transported to the worksite for loading on railway trucks of the type shown in figure 1a.
Then the train convoy is brought to the area where the gravel is to be deposited.
The opening/closing 15 means are activated at this point to enable the aggregates to fall onto the conveyor organ 27 as shown in figure 6.
The conveyor organ 27 is then set in motion such as to convey the gravel to the depositing area 39.
On the last truck of the train an appropriate distributor 40 can be present, illustrated schematically in figure 13.
This distributor comprises an internal cavity 41 superiorly open for receiving the material falling from an end 29a of a conveyor organ 27, for example a further conveyor belt.
The distributor 40 is also open at the bottom and shaped, for example, like a funnel so as to convey the material to the desired areas.
Further, the distributor 40 can be driven by wheels 45 resting on the rails, and then bringing the open lower end 42 to a predetermined distance from the ground that in general will be constant. Further, by properly configuring the distributor so that it substantially scrapes, it can be ensured that the correct quantity of gravel is deposited in the required zones, to avoid further waste of material during laying.
Turning now to figures from 14 to 17, in the case where a plurality of transport trucks and in particular of containers are to be filled at the worksite with the aggregate material, the upper conveyor organs 27 can be mounted to the container 3 themselves associating at least a switching mechanism 38 to the structure, in particular a switching mechanism 38 for each container to be filled.
By positioning the gravel or other aggregate material at an inlet 29b of the first conveyor belt of the convoy, the convoy will carry it along an advancement direction corresponding to the direction of longitudinal development 28 of the convoy.
The switcher organ 38 will be present at the first container 3, which switcher organ 38 is interposed along the active pathway of the conveyor organ such as to intercept the aggregate material and then switch it towards the containing compartment 12.
Observing figure 17 in particular, it can be noted that the material reaching the two inclined surfaces 46 of the switcher is in fact pushed to the open side edges which bear down on the containing compartment 12.
If during this switching the switcher organ 38 can move longitudinally advancingly along the entire development of the container, the whole housing compartment of the container can be filled substantially uniformly.
Once the container is filled the switcher 38 can be alternately mounted on the next container or the switcher 38 can be moved, raising it and enabling the aggregate material to pass without undergoing deviation, and then to reach the switcher organ 38 associated to the next container to be filled and to proceed with the filling thereof.
This solution enables a single conveyor organ 27 (or in any case two conveyor organs 27, even possibly identical) to unload the material on the bedding, and also to load the material on the convoy in a totally simplified way.
The invention achieves important advantages.
Primarily, a container is made available for universal use, with extremely modest costs which enable depositing of gravel and aggregate material or another load, preventing any type of loss during the various steps of intermodal transport.
Further, the container is closable and therefore avoids the problems of pollution of the material transported by extraneous foreign bodies and is also able to securely confine hazardous material or in any case material that should not exit into the same cavity.
The reversibility of the mounting of the conveyor organ enables loading and unloading operations to be greatly simplified.

Claims

A container (3) for transport of aggregate material comprising a containing structure provided with:
- a predetermined number of lower rest elements (5);

- at least two opposite lateral walls (6, 7) and

- at least two opposite head walls (8, 9), the lateral walls (6, 7) and the head walls (8, 9) defining, in cooperation, an internal housing space (10); characterised in that it further comprises

- at least a separating wall (11) located internally of the housing space (10) and constrained to at least one of the lateral and head walls (6, 7, 8, 9) for dividing the housing space (10) at least into a containing compartment (12) located superiorly and an unloading compartment (13) located inferiorly and in communication with the containing compartment by means of at least a passage opening (14); and

- a opening/closing device (15) for selectively placing the containing compartment (12) in communication with the unloading compartment (13), the device (15) being mobile between at least a first transport condition in which it does not enable passage of material from the containing chamber (12) to the unloading compartment (13) through the passage opening (14) and a second unloading condition in which it enables passage of material from the containing compartment (12) to the unloading compartment (13).
The container of the preceding claim, wherein the wall (11) comprises at least a main wall (16) that is inclined with respect to the horizontal such as to convey a material contained in the containing compartment (12) towards the passage opening (14), the passage opening (14) being positioned at a lower end (16a) of the at least a main inclined wall (16), optionally the wall (11) comprising at least two opposite main inclined walls (16, 17) for conveying the material contained in the containing chamber (12) towards the passage opening (14), the passage opening being positioned at the lower ends (16a, 17a) of the two main inclined walls (16,17), in particular the inclined walls (16, 17) emerging from and being constrained to the two opposite lateral walls (6, 7).
The container of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the containing compartment (12) is accessible from above through an upper access (18) and is laterally delimited by the lateral walls (6, 7), by the head walls (8, 9) and inferiorly by the separating wall (11) and possibly by the opening/dosing device (15), the container further comprising a removable covering element (19) suitable for selectively closing the upper access (18).
The container of claim 2, wherein the wall (11) comprises at least a lower wall (20) emerging from the at least an inclined main wall (16) and inferiorly connected to one of the lateral walls (6, 7) or head walls (8, 9) such as to define at least one of the lower support elements (5), in particular the lower wall (20) also being inclined with an angle of inclination opposite to the inclination angle of the main inclined wall, optionally the wall (11) comprising two lower walls (20, 21) opposite and inferiorly connected to two of the lateral walls (6, 7) or head walls (8, 9) in order to define at least two of the lower support elements (5), in particular both the lower walls (20, 21) being inclined with an angle of inclination opposite the angle of inclination of the corresponding main inclined wall (16, 17).
The container of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the unloading compartment (13) is superiorly delimited by the separating wall (11) and laterally by the opposite lateral walls (6, 7), the unloading chamber (13) being inferiorly open and at least partially open at the two head walls (8, 9), the support elements (5) being for example defined at the respective opposite lateral walls (6,7) and extending in particular along the whole length of the walls (6,7).
The container of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the opening/closing device (15) comprises at least a shutter member (22) and preferably two opposite shutter members (22, 23), mobile, for example by rotation, between a first operating condition in which the shutter member or members (22, 23) at least partially occlude the passage opening (14) and a second operating condition in which the shutter member or members (22, 23) leave the passage opening (14) unobstructed, the first operating condition coinciding with the transport condition and said second operating condition coinciding with the unloading condition, said shutter members (22, 23) in the second operating condition being in particular housed in the unloading compartment (13).
A railway truck (2), comprising:
a support frame (24);

a predetermined number of wheels (25) engaging the support frame (24) and configured such as to enable movement of the truck along a track (26);

at least a container (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, removably mounted above the support frame (24).
The railway truck of the preceding claim, further comprising:
a conveyor organ (27) for enabling movement of a load along a longitudinal development direction (28) of the truck, the conveyor organ (27) being mounted on the support structure (24) and being positioned at the unloading compartment (13) of the container (3) below the passage opening (14), the conveyor organ (27) comprising in particular at least a conveyor belt (29) longitudinally crossing the container (3), the conveyor belt (29) optionally exhibiting lateral abutments (30) for preventing a lateral falling of the load;

at least a movement system (31) acting on the conveyor organ (27) such as to set the organ (27) in motion, the movement system (31) for example comprising a motor (32) and a corresponding transmission (33) for setting the conveyor organ (27) in motion, the motor (32) being optionally housed at a longitudinally intermediate location (34) of the truck, in particular interposed between two consecutive containers (3).
The truck of the preceding claim, wherein the conveyor belt (29) exhibits at least one, in particular both ends (29a, 29b), hinged at the central portion (29c) thereof, about respective rotation axes (35) and substantially horizontal such as to reduce the longitudinal dimension of the belt (29) during the transport stage thereof, the belt (29) further comprising means (36) for varying the longitudinal development, such as a return pulley (37), for adapting the length of the belt.
The truck of claims 8 or 9, wherein the conveyor belt (29) is removably mounted on the truck (2) and is configured such as to be coupled to the container (3) in a superposing configuration thereto; in the said superposing configuration the belt (29) further comprising a deviator organ (38) which causes the load transported by the belt (29) to fall internally of the underlying container (3).
A railway convoy (1) comprising a plurality of transport trucks (2) as in claim 8, wherein at least an end (29a) of a conveyor belt (29) associated to a first transport truck is partially superposed on the corresponding terminal end (29b) of the conveyor belt (29) of an adjacent transport truck (2).
A process for loading/unloading aggregates from railway transport trucks, according to any one of claims from 8 to 10, the process comprising following steps:
loading a predetermined number of containers (3), for example two, on a corresponding railway truck (2), the container (3) exhibiting aggregate material contained in the container compartment (12):

activating the conveyor organ (27) positioned in the unloading compartment (13) of the container (3);

moving the opening/closing device (15) such as to enable the aggregate to fall onto the conveyor organ (27);

moving the aggregate by means of conveyor organs (27) of adjacent trucks (2) up to the depositing zone (39) on the railway track bed.
The process of the preceding claim, further comprising a step of depositing the aggregate at the depositing zone (39) by means of a scraper distributor (40) comprising a superiorly-open open cavity (41) for receiving the material falling from the end (29a) of a conveyor organ (27), the distributor (40) being inferiorly open and profiled in such a way as to maintain the lower opening at a predetermined distance, in particular a constant distance, from the ground.
The process of claim 12 or 13, wherein the step of loading can comprise sub-steps of:
mounting the conveyor organ (27) superiorly on the container (3);

positioning a deviator organ (38) along the active pathway of the conveyor organ (27) such as to intercept the aggregate material and deviate it towards the container chamber (12).