Railways – Terminals and stations – Freight
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-15
2001-08-28
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways
Terminals and stations
Freight
C105S355000, C105S370000, C414S333000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279483
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the transport of trailers suitable for road haulage by rail.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The concept of using rail transport for transporting loaded trailers which would otherwise be imoved by road transport is not a new one. There are clear advantages in being able to transport trailers over long distances by train. For example, only one driver may be required to transport as much as 100 loads or more of trailers compared with the corresponding situation on the road where 100 or more drivers would be required. As the trailers can be detached from their prime movers during these rail transporting operations, there is also significant reduction in wear and tear on the prime movers and savings in fuel costs as well.
Furthermore, the fact that the. trailers which are often quite heavy are not travelling along long stretches of roads between capital cities means that road damage between those cities can be substantially reduced. In addition accidents involving heavy vehicles should be reduced.
Because of the obvious advantages of combined road/rail transporting systems, various approaches to achieving such transport have been proposed. For example, in one approach, trailers are driven onto a “basketp” and detached from their prime mover. The baskets are then lifted by crane onto a railway flat car and secured thereto. At the receiving depot, the baskets are again removed by cranes and the trailers are driven off the baskets by a prime mover provided at the depot. Whilst this type of approach is workable, it suffers from the disadvantages that there is a considerable amount of handling involved in locating the trailers in the baskets and moving them by crane onto the individual flat cars of the train. Furthermore, this same amount of handling is duplicated at the receiving depot. In addition, the capital and labour costs associated with this approach all add to the overall cost of transport which can be quite high as a result.
In another approach, railway wagons are aligned over a revolvable vertically movable platform which moves to align wagons with the height of the platform to allow trailers to be driven directly thereon. Again, whilst such an approach does work, it has the limitation that each wagon must be individually located above the moveable rotating platform after being disconnected from the train prior to loading or unloading and must then be rejoined with the train on a wagon by wagon basis. This represents a major limitation which slows the loading and unloading process requiring considerable labour and results in a high overall transport cost.
In yet another approach, individual bogies are constructed so that they are able to support the ends of trailers and hold them above a railway line. Thus the trailers themselves interconnect successive bogies to form a train. The obvious disadvantages with this approach arc that the strength of the train is limited to the strength of the individual trailers. As road transport trailers are generally not as robustly constructed as railway wagons, there is a severe limitation on the length of any train-which can be put together in this fashion as the length of a train is dependent on the weakest link in a train i.e. the weakest trailer. In addition, there are difficulties in connecting up the trailers in this fashion because of the degree of handling involved.
Generally speaking, most approaches are limited in terms of the height of the load a train can carry because of the height restrictions imposed by existing bridges and tunnels under which and through which the train must travel and the limitations a high load center of gravity may present in travelling around bends at speed.
Because of the disadvantages of the various approaches which have been taken to transport road haulage trailers, there is a need for an integrated approach to the problem which involves being able to haul large numbers of trailers on the one train, requires relatively easy handling at both the loading and unloading stages, and is capable of accepting trailers of variable height and centre of gravity.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect the invention provides a method for transferring road trailers to a train having a plurality of elongate load bearing tops, including the steps of bringing said tops into close parallel registry with a loading platform, the region of the loading platform adjacent to the tops being arranged at substantially the same height as the tops, and driving trailers directly from the loading platform onto the tops.
Suitably the road trailers will be driven onto the tops by a prime mover. Each trailer may be backed onto a top, and the prime mover decoupled to drive away and bring a further trailer, the operation being repeated until sufficient trailers are located end to end along the tops.
The trailers may be supported at one end by support means such as one or more stanchions. They may be clamped to the tops or to rail wagons or bogies supporting the tops. The wheels of the trailer may be lowered below the level of the tops to reduce the overall height and to lower the centre of gravity. Any supporting stanchions may be lowered as well.
The tops may be supported by railway wagons or bogies. The construction of the train may be such that trailers may be driven along the length of the train. Thus, intermediate plates may be provided between adjacent tops to facilitate driving trailers along and between tops.
Suitably the edges of the tops adjoining the platform are supported against tilting, when the trailers are driven thereonto.
The trailers may be reinoved from the train (n to a receiving platform arranged in a fashion similar to the loading platform. During unloading the trailer wheels may be raised to the level of the tops. Subsequently a prime mover may be used to remove them from the train one by one by driving them directly onto the receiving platform.
A receiving platform and a loading platform on opposite sides of the train may suitably be arranged at each train stop to facilitate rapid loading and unloading. Thus trailers on the train may be rapidly driven directly off the train to be parked at unloading bays provided in association with the receiving platform. Subsequently, trailers parked at loading bays associated with the loading platform on the opposite side of the train may be moved directly and rapidly onto the train.
Alternatively the train may be loaded and unloaded from a single platform on the side of the train.
In a second aspect the invention provides a trailer loading facility for trains including a train having a plurality of load bearing tops, and a loading platform with an edge region running closely adjacent to, parallel to and at substantially the same height as said load bearing tops. The arrangement and construction being such that trailers may be driven directly onto said tops from said loading platform.
Suitably the tops are mounted upon railway wagons or bogies.
A plate may be provided between each adjacent top to allow trailers to be driven thereover. The plate may be mounted between adjacent railway wagons to form a bridge there between. Alternatively, the plate may be mounted on bogies located between and supporting adjacent tops. It may form part of a pivot region between adjacent tops. It may take the form of a part circular turntable. The plate may lie flush with the level of the tops. Alternatively, it may beat a higher level. For example, it may overlie adjacent tops.
Height adjustment means may be provided with one or more tops. The height adjustment means may include one or more movable support segments. Suitably there are at least two movable support segments. The movable support segments may be arranged to support the wheels of a trailer. They.may be arranged to sit flush with the level of the top in an elevated position. They may be movable to a lowered position to lower the height of trailers and hence the centre of gravity of the trailers supported on the train. These support segments may be lowered into wells provided beneath the
Dransfield Peter
Knight John K.
Kuhnell Bruce T.
Murray Noel W.
Randell Robert E.
McCarry, Jr. Robert J.
Morano S. Joseph
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
Railroad Technologies Pty. Ltd.
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