US3520256A - Railroad car with movable load-reinforcing means - Google Patents

Description

July 14, 1970 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,520,256

RAILROAD CAR WITH MOVABLE LOAD-REINFORCING MEANS Filed Dec. 26, 1967 S Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JACK E. GUTR/DGE ATT'Y.

July 14,1970

RAILROAD CAR WITH MOVABLE LOAD-REINFORCING MEANS Filed Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 IN VEN TOR JACK E. GUTR/ DGE ATT'Y.

United States Patent 3,520,256 RAILROAD CAR WITH MOVABLE LOAD-REINFORCING MEANS Jack E. Gutridge, Dyer, Ind., assignor to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 693,405 Int. Cl. B61d 3/06; B65j N22 US. Cl. 105-366 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A railroad car having an open top and comprising a central container receiving well defined by end and side walls, container support means located in the bottom of the well including a pair of end corner container supports and a central support, a movable re-inforcing bulkhead being selectively positionable at said central support and at one of the end supports, means for carrying the bulkhead on the side walls between the center and end of the well and lock means on the side walls to lock the bulkhead at the center and at the end of the well stiffening the side walls torsionally and laterally when the well receives a pair of longitudinally extending tandem aligned container means supported at the ends and center of the well.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Field of invention This invention relates to improved railroad construction and in particular is directed to railroad cars that carry lading bearing containers where the car is of the open top type and the containers have been loaded into the car from an overhead position.

Description of the prior art The are of construction of high capacity containers cars is known, as for instance, from US. Pat. No. 3,319,583, wherein lading bearing containers are stored within an open top car that is provided with a central depressed lading area or well that receives multiple containers that exert vertical loading forces at the ends of the well, as well as in the central portions of the well, and it is necessary to strengthen the central portions of the car under certain loading conditions and yet under other loading conditions to adapt the car well for handling containers where there is no load force exerted on the central portion of the car well. It is in this problem area that the invention presents the solution.

SUMMARY This invention is related to an improved railroad car construction that is selectively adaptable to the storage of one continuous container within the well of the high capacity container car of the open top type car and in the alternate to be adapted to receiving a pair of longitudinally aligned tandem containers of more or less equal length which exert downward bearing forces at the central portion of the well, as well as at the ends of the well. In particular, the inventive construction provides for a movable reinforcing member or bulkhead that may be positioned medially of the end wall of the container well car or at one of the ends of the well of the container car, the movable bulkhead or gate being provided with means for carrying the bulkhead along or over the sides of the car well between a central locked position and an end locked or stored position. The bulkhead in the central position reinforces the sidewalls so that the sidewalls do not buckle or laterally sway or are not subjected to "Ice torsional force due to the lading forces of the tandem containers'exerting a force against the bottom central portions of the side walls. The movable reinforcing member is held in the central well position by pivotal locking elements mounted on the side walls at the centers thereof. The movable bulkhead is further provided with locking means located at the end of the well on the side Walls. The movable gate or bulkhead is secured at the center of the car with the lock elements to transmit torsional car body loads due to the tandem containers from the side walls and through the gate structure, the gate stifiening the car side stress members torsionally and laterally. Further roller means on the bulkhead or gate engage the tops of the sidewalls to permit movement of the gate between the center and an end of the car. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from reference to the following description, appended claims, and attached drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the railroad car provided with the novel movable load-reinforcing means;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 illustrating the movable bulkhead in the center of car well locked position;

FIG. 4 is a partial view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the locking of the end of car well locking means;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating the center of well locking means for the movable bulkhead;

FIG. 8 is a view of the movable bulkhead and the end of car lock means locking the movable bulkhead at the end of the car well as shown in dotted line position in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a partial plane view of the car showing the movable bulkhead in the end of car position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawings there is shown a railroad car 1 of the high capacity container type or open gondola construction wherein the upright wall structures of the car body are skeletal in nature and wherein the car is provided with a central depressed well for receiving containers therein as well as elevated end sections for receiving containers (see FIG. 1). Such a construction is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,319,583 and comprises a car body 1a carried by a car underframe 111 provided with a pair of ribbon sills 1c and trucks 1d (see FIGS. 1, 2, 8 and 9). The car body 1a is of a skeletal framework construction 2 provided with end frames or walls 3, 4 and sideframes or walls 5, 6, end open elevated floor sections 7, 8, slope sections 9, 10 and a central section 11. The central section 11 comprises a container well 12 as defined by the central portion of the side walls 5, 6 and intermediate or end well walls or end frames 12a and 12b (FIG. 1). A novel movable bulkhead for structure reinforcing means 13 is located centrally within the well and defines two separate central well compartments 12'a and 12'b (FIG. 9), each well section 12a and 12'b being provided with a pair of vertically stacked, longitudinally extending containers 14 (FIG. 1) which, for purposes of illustration here, are 20 feet in length. Should the movable bulkhead 13 be moved to one end of the well 12 leaving an elongated unobstructed central well compartment, then a pair of doubly stacked 40 foot containers could be placed in the well. The container storage space or well 12 is provided with a centrally located container support connected to the central bottom portions of the side wall and 6 and is designated as 15. The four end corners of the wells have at their bottoms corner end supports 16 (FIGS. 1 and 9) for support of container means. Further container support means are provided for storage of containers 14 in the ends or elevated sections 7, 8 and are designated as 17. Center of well bulkhead or reinforcing structure lock means 18 is provided at the center of car or well 12 and includes, as best viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, top left lock means 19, top right lock means 20, bottom left lock means 21, and bottom right lock means 21, all of which are mounted on the upper and lower portions of the side walls 5 and 6 as indicated. Each of the lock means 19, 20, 21 and 22 is identical in construction to the other and cooperatively locks into the upper and lower laterals of the movable bulkhead 13 and, therefore, a description of the top right lock means 20 will suflice for the other lock means, appreciating that the collective purpose of these lock means is to tie the reinforcing means or bulkhead 13 into the side wall structures 5 and 6 of the car in order to prevent lateral deflection or torsional loading on the side walls when the half-size or 20 foot containers are placed in each of the well compartments 12a and 12b such that the containers exert a downward force on the central support 15 and thereby tend to deflect the side Walls. The deflection is prevented by physically rigidly tying the cross member or bulkhead 13 into the side walls of the car. The top right lock means as seen in FIGS. 2-5, 7 and 9, comprises a bi-legged upright support structure 20a pivotally carrying a support arm 20b that extends downwardly and carries gate lock 200 that has an outwardly tapering latch cone 20d extendable into conical opening 20d in the top beam of the bulkhead 13. The cone 20d extends out perpendicularly from the pivotal arm 20b that carries it. At the end of the arm 20b and above the large cone 20d and mounted on the arm 2% is a pivotal over-center catch 20@ that is pivotally mounted on the arm 20b. The catch 20e is provided with a catch support 202, in the form of a pair of trunnions, that pivotally carries it and is mounted on the arm 20b. An eccentric lever 20 is fixedly mounted eccentrically on journals 20f which are rotatively carried in the trunnions of support 202. The eccentric lever 20 is fixedly attached to latch arm 20g. Movement of lever 20] moves latch 20g in an eccentric path relative to rotatable journals 20 The latch arm 20g has a hook end 2011 that engages over the abutment or stop 40 on top of the beam 25 of the gate or bulkhead 13 (see FIG. 5). As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, U-shaped lock 20i has one of its legs always inserted into guide hole 20m and the other leg inserted into fixed hole 201 and then into either position hole 20 or 20k for locking of the lock means 20 in the down or solid line position or in the elevated or dotted line position, as shown in FIG. 4. The components and arrangement described in this paragraph are similarly found on the other locks 19, 21 and 22.

The movable bulkhead or reinforcing means 13 comprises diagonal intersecting strut members or cross beams 23, 24 and top and bottom transverse chord beams 25, 26 and left and right upright beams 27 and 28 (as best seen in FIG. 8). When the movable bulkhead is locked to the central portion of the well 12, it lies adjacent the center left and right side posts 29 and 30 of the car body which is further provided with left and right topside chords 31 and 32 and left and right bottom chords 33 and 34- to define the side walls 5 and 6 (see FIG. 8).

End well lock means 35 are located at one end of the well 12 and comprise a plurality of four locks, top end well locks 36 and 37 and bottom end well locks 38 and 39 mounted on the side walls 5 and 6 at the end of the well 12 as seen in FIGS. 1, 6, 8 and 9 and description of the end lock 36 will suffice for the lock 37 since each 4 is similar to one another. The lock 36 comprises a pivotally mounted U-shaped locking arm 3611 that moves from the dotted line or stored position to the solid line or locked position in slot 43 in the bulkhead 13 (see FIG. 6). The arm 36a is held to the top chord 32 by the pivotal mounting or anchor 36b.

The end well locks 38 and 39 are located at the bottom of the end of the well as distinguished from the end locks 37 and 36 which are located at the top of the side wall. Each lock 38 and 39 is similar to the other and therefore, description of lock 39 will suffice for lock 38. The lock 39 comprises a bolt and latch type lock with the bolt 39a on the car side wall slidable in car side wall mounted latch 39]; having latch grooves 39c for holding the bolt locking pin 39d in position in a bottom opening 39e in bulkhead or gate 13.

The gate or bulkhead may be moved between the central lock means 18 or the end well lock means 35 by gate rollers 41, 41 on each top side of the lateral ends of the bulkhead 13. The rollers 41, 41 are held by their respective roller supports 42, 42 (FIG. 7) mounted on the lateral top ends of the bulkhead 13. The rollers ride over the inner flanges of the side top chords 31 and 32 respectively between the center and the end of the well 12 for placing the bulkhead or reinforcing member 13 either in the central position, as shown in solid line in FIG. 1, or in the end stored position in dotted line in FIG. 1. When the bulkhead is centrally located and locked to the side walls it permits half-size containers to be stored on either side of the bulkhead in the compartments 13a and 13b with the tandem aligned container being supported on supports 15 and 16. If it should be decided to carry containers of twice the length than, say, the 20- foot containers, such as 40-foot containers, then the reinforcing means for the bulkhead 13 is moved to the end of the well and locked there by lock means 35 and then the 40-foot container which spans the length of the well is placed within the well held by the corner supports 16 only.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto, since those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A railroad car of the open top type comprising:

a central container receiving well being defined by the end and side walls,

container support means being located in the bottom of the well including a pair of container end supports and a container central support connecting with the side walls,

a movable container load reinforcing bulkhead being selectively positionable substantially at the central support and substantially at one of the end supports,

central lock means mounted on the upper and lower portions of the side walls substantially adjacent the central support whereby the upper and lower portions of said bulkhead may be locked to the upper and lower portions of the side walls stiffening the side walls torsionally and laterally for the well to receive a pair of longitudinally extending tandem aligned pair of generally half well length containers supported at the center and ends of the well, said central lock means having upper and lower releasably locking means extending longitudinally of the car for engagement with the bulkhead and clamping transversely of the car with said bulkhead in the in-use locking position for the stiffening of the side walls torsionally and laterally, and

end lock means mounted on the side walls substantially at the end thereof for receiving and locking said reinforcing bulkhead at the end of the well in the stored position for accommodating substantially full well length containers supported by the end supports.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

said lock means substantially at the central support being pivotally mounted and swingable vertically about the longitudinal axis of the car from the outof-use position to the in-use locking position.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

said locking means comprising a plurality of pivotal lock arrangements for stiffening being pivotally mounted on the upper and lower parts of said side wall and centrally thereof,

said bulkhead having a plurality of lock receiving means for complemental cooperation with the lock arrangements, and

each lock arrangement being pivotal in transverse planes and carrying at its end a bulkhead coupling structure extending in the longitudinal direction of car movement and adapted for engagement with the lock receiving means on said movable bulkhead.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and

said bulkhead coupling structure being a cone-shaped member and said lock receiving means having aperture means for receiving said cone-shaped member.

5. The invention according to claim 1, and

said means for moving the bulkhead from the central to the end position comprising roller means carried on the upper portion of the lateral ends of said bulkhead and engageable with the top of the side walls for movement of the bulkhead from the central to the end position.

6. The invention according to claim 1, and

said bulkhead having top aperture means,

said end lock means comprising pivotal hook elements mounted on upper portion of said side wall adjacent said well end and swingable from unlocking to locking positions into said bulkhead aperture means on top of said bulkhead.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and

said bulkhead having bottom portion openings,

said end lock means comprising end latch means mounted at the bottom portion of the side walls and receivable in openings in the bottom portion of said bulkhead and having means for locking said end latch within said bulkhead openings.

8. A railroad car of the open top type comprising:

a central container receiving well being defined by the end and side walls,

container support means being located in the bottom of the well including a pair of container end supports and a central support,

a movable container load reinforcing bulkhead being selectively positionable substantially at the central support and substantially at one of the end supports,

central lock means mounted on the side walls substantially adjacent the central support whereby said bulkhead may be locked to the side walls stiffening the side walls torsionally and laterally for the well to receive a pair of longitudinally extending tandem aligned pair of containers supported at the center and ends of the well, and

end lock means mounted on the side walls substantially at the end thereof for receiving and locking said reinforcing bulkhead at the end of the well in the stored position for accommodating substantially full well length containers supported by the end supports,

said central lock means comprising a pivotal lock means comprising a pivotal lock arrangement pivotally mounted on the upper and lower parts of said side wall and centrally thereof,

said bulkhead having a lock receiving means,

said locking structure being pivotal in transverse planes and carrying at its end a bulkhead coupling structure extending in the longitudinal direction of car movement and adapted for engagement with the lock receiving means on said movable bulkhead,

latch means being carried on said central lock means adjacent said bulkhead coupling structure for moving the bulkhead coupling structure carried thereby into tight locking position with said bulkhead.

9. The invention according to claim 8, and

said latch means being movably mounted to be moved into tight locked engagement with the bulkhead.

10. The invention according to claim 8, and

said latch means being eccentrically mounted on the central lock means and being longitudinally movable for tight engagement with the bulkhead.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,007,423 11/1961 Maharick -376 3,112,712 12/1963 Cisco 105376 3,319,583 5/1967 Gutridge 105366 3,389,663 6/1968 Gutridge 105366 DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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