Motor-vehicle carrying railcar with improved sidewall structure

Details Motor-vehicle carrying railcar with improved sidewall structure Motor-vehicle carrying railcar with improved sidewall structure

1999-06-01

2001-08-14

Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)

Railway rolling stock

Car framing and structure

Freight

C105S396000, C105S355000, C105S401000, C105S409000, C105S418000, C105S411000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06273004

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to railcars, and more particularly to an improved railcar for carrying motor vehicles.
One of the challenges in designing railcars for transportation of motor vehicles is to provide sufficient clearance in the railcar interior to permit the doors of the vehicles to be opened to a sufficient degree that drivers can easily enter and exit the vehicles in the course of loading and unloading operations. In the past, the large, heavy vertical posts that support the upper decks of typical auto rack railway cars have intruded significantly into the interior. The vertical posts, along with cross-braces, knee braces and gussets, restrict available interior clearance for opening of automobile doors, and also restrict movement of workers in the railcar interior. Contact with structural components of the railcar may damage the finish on the doors of new motor vehicles. Door edge protection comprising foam padding or the like is generally applied to the railcar interior to prevent such damage, but has the disadvantage of decreasing the available clearance for opening of the doors.
In recent years, clearance has been improved in certain railcar designs. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,486. However, there remains room for improvement in this area.
The width and height of railcar bodies are limited by industry regulations, based on spacing between adjacent tracks and clearance required to avoid trackside equipment, signals, tunnels, etc. Interior width is further limited by the need to include sufficient structure in the sidewalls to support one or more upper decks loaded with motor vehicles, and to accommodate the dynamic loads encountered in commercial rail service. In addition to vertical loads due to the weight of the upper decks and the motor vehicles supported thereon, such loads may also include substantial longitudinal impact loads, as well as lateral loads encountered due to rock and roll of the car bodies, and due to travel on nonlinear track configurations. Any effort to provide increased width must take these factors into account.
Another issue encountered in development of railcars for carrying motor vehicles is increasing the vertical dimension of the space available for motor vehicles on each deck. This is of particular interest with respect to tri-level railcars.
To increase vertical clearance on the bottom deck (“A” deck), the deck may have a lowered central portion, with ramps being provided to carry motor vehicles between the lowered central portion and the end portions. It is generally desirable to maximize the length of the lowered central portion of the A deck, and concomitantly to limit the lengths of the ramps. However, if the slope of the ramps is too great, the bottom clearance for the ends of certain motor vehicles may be insufficient.
The invention generally addresses these and other issues relating to increasing interior clearances in railcars for transportation of motor-vehicles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a novel sidewall structure for a motor-vehicle carrying railway car wherein at least one upper deck is supported principally by longitudinal beams that are themselves supported by end structures, without the need for large, heavy vertical posts to support the decks between the end structures.
The illustrated embodiment comprises a tri-level railcar wherein each sidewall includes first and second longitudinal beams disposed generally parallel to and spaced from each other, connected directly to respective middle and upper decks. The invention might alternatively be embodied in a bi-level car.
To provide a lightweight car body with sufficient strength and durability for commercial rail service, the car body may comprise a monocoque. Each sidewall preferably has a plate girder structure that employs the horizontal beams as its principal supports, with the beams tied together by sidewall panels or plates. A plurality of light stiffeners may be employed to limit flexure of the sidewalls.
Between the end structures, the invention preferably provides an interior width significantly greater than that of conventional auto rack designs.
Novel deck height settings are employed to provide each deck with sufficient vertical clearance to accommodate a variety of different types of motor vehicles. The bottom deck or “A” deck has a lowered central portion. To facilitate loading and unloading of vehicles to and from the central portion of the lower deck, each of the end structures preferably comprises an offset H frame that includes a draft sill joined to a sloped body bolster, and inner and outer cross bearers joined to the draft sill at different elevations. In the offset H-frame, at least a portion of the draft sill slopes downward and inward, with the inner cross bearer being at a lower elevation than the outer one. This arrangement enables a low ramp angle to be employed on the ramp segment between the inner cross-bearer and the central portion of the lower deck without the ramps unduly restricting the length of the lower central portion of the A deck. Vertical posts extend upward at the ends of the cross bearers to support end portions of the longitudinal beams.
The ramps may be of compound configuration, comprising a plurality of generally planar segments sloped at varying angles to provide increased bottom clearance for motor vehicle ends during loading and unloading.


REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 32189 (1986-06-01), Adler et al.
patent: 2934371 (1960-04-01), Warren
patent: 3801177 (1974-04-01), Fylling et al.
patent: 4889055 (1989-12-01), Jamrozy et al.
patent: 5701825 (1997-12-01), Peach, Jr.
patent: 5765486 (1998-06-01), Black, Jr. et al.
patent: 5794537 (1998-08-01), Zaerr et al.
patent: 5979335 (1999-11-01), Saxton et al.
U.S. application No. 09/575,895; Inventor(s) Klag et al.; Filed: May 22, 2000.

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