Open top hopper railcar with biased door seal and enlarged contoured end door

Abstract

A railroad open top hopper car comprises a pair of spaced trucks a railcar body, the body comprising a pair of side structures railcar, wherein each including (i) a top chord extending the side structure length, (ii) a plurality of upper side stakes extending from the top chord, (iii) an intermediate side chord extending the side structure length and below the top chord and coupled to the upper side stakes, (iv) a plurality of lower side stakes extending from the intermediate side chord, and (v) a side sill extending the length and below the intermediate side chord and coupled to the lower side stakes. The body forms discharge chutes forming pockets for the body with a plurality of intermediate doors and end doors, wherein the end doors are larger than the intermediate doors. Each door may include a biased door seal.

Claims

1. A railroad open top hopper car comprising: A pair of spaced trucks; A railcar body supported on the trucks, the body comprising a pair of side structures on opposed sides of the railcar defining an interior hopper filled from above with lading, wherein each side structure includes a top chord extending the length of the side structure and a side sill extending the length of the side structure; and A railroad car body bottom which forms a plurality of discharge chutes forming pockets for the body which open to the hopper interior with a plurality of intermediate doors and end doors for discharging lading from the interior hopper, wherein the end doors are positioned on end pockets and are larger than the intermediate doors.

2. The railcar of claim 1 wherein each door includes a biased door seal, with each door seal including a door seal member secured within a chamber for movement toward and away from a respective door, and a biasing member biasing the sealing member toward the door.

3. The railcar of claim 1 wherein the top chord has a top surface angled toward the interior of the hopper car so that lading landing on the top of the top chord will be directed by gravity toward the interior of the hopper.

4. The railcar of claim 3 wherein the top chord and side sill are formed of closed section aluminum extrusions.

5. The railcar of claim 1 further including a door operating mechanism operating on opposed sets of doors.

6. The railcar of claim 5 wherein the end doors are configures to provide an increased opening size of about 75% larger than the throat of the opening for the intermediate doors.

7. The railcar of claim 6 further including a contoured side structure construction of the side structures of the rail car.

8. The railcar of claim 1 further including an intermediate side chord extending the length of the side structure, wherein the top chord, intermediate side chord and side sill are formed of closed section aluminum extrusions.

9. The railcar of claim 8 further including a door operating mechanism operating on opposed sets of doors.

10. The railcar of claim 1 wherein the top chord and side sill are formed of closed section aluminum extrusions.

11. The railcar of claim 10 further including a door operating mechanism operating on opposed sets of doors.

12. The railcar of claim 1 further including a door operating mechanism operating on opposed sets of doors.

13. A railroad open top hopper car comprising: A pair of spaced trucks; A railcar body supported on the trucks, the body comprising a pair of side structures on opposed sides of the railcar defining an interior hopper filled from above with lading, wherein each side structure includes a top chord extending the length of the side structure, and intermediate side chord extending the length of the side structure and a side sill extending the length of the side structure, wherein the top chord, intermediate side chord and side sill are formed of closed section aluminum extrusions; and A railroad car body bottom which forms a plurality of discharge chutes forming pockets for the body which open to the interior hopper with a plurality of intermediate doors and end doors for discharging lading from the interior hopper.

14. The railcar of claim 13 further including a contoured side structure construction of the side structures of the rail car.

15. The railcar of claim 13 wherein the end doors are positioned on end pockets and are larger than the intermediate doors.

16. The railcar of claim 15 wherein the end doors are configures to provide an increased opening size of about 75% larger than the throat of the opening for the intermediate doors.

17. The railcar of claim 15, wherein each door includes a biased door seal, with each door seal including a door seal member secured within a chamber for movement toward and away from a respective door, and a biasing member biasing the sealing member toward the door.

18. The railcar of claim 17 wherein the top chord has a top surface angled toward the interior of the hopper car so that lading landing on the top of the top chord will be directed by gravity toward the interior of the hopper.

19. The railcar of claim 13 wherein each door includes a biased door seal, with each door seal including a door seal member secured within a chamber for movement toward and away from a respective door, and a biasing member biasing the sealing member toward the door.

20. The railcar of claim 19 wherein the top chord has a top surface angled toward the interior of the hopper car so that lading landing on the top of the top chord will be directed by gravity toward the interior of the hopper.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a pair of side contoured open top hopper railcars each with biased door seals and enlarged contoured end doors in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a cross section view of one of the railcars of FIG. 1, illustrating the contoured side structure according to one aspect of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 3A is an enlarged section view of a lading shedding top side chord coupled to one upper side stake forming part of contoured side structure of the railcar of FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a portion of the side top chord of FIG. 3A;

(5) FIG. 3C is a sectional view of the side top chord of FIG. 3A;

(6) FIG. 4A is an enlarged section view of an intermediate side chord coupled to one upper side stake and one lower side stake forming part of contoured side structure of the railcar of FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present invention;

(7) FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a portion of the intermediate side chord of FIG. 4A;

(8) FIG. 4C is a sectional view of the intermediate side chord of FIG. 4A;

(9) FIG. 5A is an enlarged section view of an offset bottom side sill coupled to one lower side stake forming part of contoured side structure of the railcar of FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present invention;

(10) FIG. 5B is a perspective view of a portion of the side sill of FIG. 5A;

(11) FIG. 5C is a sectional view of the side sill of FIG. 5A;

(12) FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of an intermediate pocket door and an enlarged contoured end pocket door with associated operating mechanism of the railcar of FIG. 1;

(13) FIG. 7A is a perspective view of an intermediate door of the railcar of FIG. 1;

(14) FIG. 7B is a side elevation view of the intermediate door of FIG. 7A;

(15) FIG. 7C is a plan view of the intermediate door of FIG. 7A;

(16) FIG. 8A is a perspective view of one side contoured end door of the railcar of FIG. 1;

(17) FIG. 8B is a side elevation view of the end door of FIG. 8A;

(18) FIG. 8C is a plan view of the end door of FIG. 8A;

(19) FIG. 9A is a perspective view of another side contoured end door of the railcar of FIG. 1 which is opposite of the door of FIG. 8A;

(20) FIG. 9B is a side elevation view of the end door of FIG. 9A;

(21) FIG. 9C is a plan view of the end door of FIG. 9A;

(22) FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating only the doors and associated operating mechanism for the railcar of FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present invention;

(23) FIG. 11 illustrates a modified door according to another aspect of the present invention for use with the railcar of FIG. 1;

(24) FIG. 12 is a side elevation of biased door seals for the intermediate doors of the railcar of FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present invention;

(25) FIG. 13A is a perspective view of the intermediate door seal housing member of FIG. 12;

(26) FIG. 13B is a side elevation of the intermediate door seal housing member of FIG. 13A;

(27) FIG. 14A is a perspective view of an end door seal housing member of a biased door seal for one pair of end doors of the railcar of FIG. 1;

(28) FIG. 14B is a side elevation of the intermediate door seal housing member of FIG. 13A;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(29) The present invention provides a side contoured open top hopper railcar 10 each with biased door seals and enlarged contoured end doors as will be described hereinafter. Each railcar 10 includes a number of conventional features that need not be described herein in detail as they are well known in the art, including an under frame structure (including center sill 46) formed on a pair of spaced trucks (not numbered) and couplers for connecting adjacent cars 10. These conventional elements can be formed in a variety of known methods. For example the Assignee's proprietary cold formed center sill provides numerous advantages to the center sill 46 structure of the car 10, but other known sill designs can be utilized.

(30) The railcar 10 is described as a side contoured railcar because the structure of the side walls of the car allow the car 10 to easily accommodate other clearance envelopes with other than a straight down side wall. As will be further described hereinafter the term contoured side within the meaning of this patent application defines a side that does not follow a straight line from the side top chord (e.g., top chord 12) to the bottom side sill (e.g., bottom side sill 22). Every railway governing authority around the world has established a clearance envelope in which cars must fit in order to safely operate on the designated lines. The clearance envelope likewise will establish where trackside accessories, tunnels, bridges, etc. need to be in order to not interfere with the railcars. Further, within a jurisdiction or on a specialized line, such as a car in captive service for a utility, there may be an alternative clearance envelope. Obviously, there is a desire to have any car fit within the envelope as closely as possible to maximize the potential carrying capacity of the resulting car. Additionally, the car must do so while maintaining the required or desired center of gravity and minimizing the overall weight of the car.

(31) The sides of the railcar 10 of the present invention include a lading shedding side top chord 12 coupled to extruded upper side stakes 18 as best shown in FIG. 3A. The top chord 12 is lading shedding as this profile has a top surface angled toward the interior of the hopper car 10 so that lading landing on the top of the top chord 12 will be directed by gravity toward the interior of the hopper as can be seen in FIGS. 3A-3C. Additionally the attachment web of the top chord 12 will be spaced from the outside edge of the top chord 12 by the approximate depth of the upper side stakes 18 as shown in FIG. 3A. The top chord 12 may be an aluminum extrusion.

(32) The upper side stakes 18 can be aluminum supports formed in a hat shaped arrangement in a manner similar to existing side stakes. The depth and width of the side stakes 18 will primarily be determined by the required strength for each support, however other design characteristics may be considered, such as altering the cross sectional shape to improve the aerodynamics of the moving railcar 10. However the main difference between the upper side stakes 18 of the railcar 10 and conventional side stakes is that the upper side stakes 18 do not extend from the top chord 12 to the bottom side sill 22. In contrast to this conventional arrangement the upper side stakes 18 extend from the top chord 12 to an intermediate side chord 16 as best shown in FIG. 4A.

(33) The form of the intermediate side chord 16 is best illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C. The intermediate side chord 16 is mechanically coupled to upper side stakes 18 on one side thereof and lower side stakes 19 on an opposite side thereof as best illustrated in FIG. 4A. The intermediate side chord 16 is an important component of the contoured side structure of the railcar 10 and is best illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C. The attachment webs for the side chord 16 are not aligned (i.e. co-planar) which allows for easy construction of the contoured construction (i.e. non-linear) of the sides of the rail car 10. The distance between the attachment webs of the side chord 16 and the outside edge of the side chord 16 will roughly be equal to the depth of the upper and lower side stakes 18 and 19. The side chord 16 may be an aluminum extrusion.

(34) The lower side stakes 19 may be formed aluminum sections the same as the upper side stakes 18 in cross section, although other alternative shapes may be used. The lower side stakes 19 extend from the intermediate side chord 16 down to an offset bottom side sill 22. The offset side sill 22 also is designed to assist in accommodating the contoured side structure of the railcar 10. The side sill 22 is best illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5C. The side sill 22 may be an aluminum extrusion. The distance between the upper attachment web of the side sill 22 and the outside edge of the side sill 22 will roughly be equal to the depth of the lower side stake 19.

(35) Upper aluminum sheets or plates 14 and lower aluminum sheets or plates 20 complete the side structure. The upper and lower sheets 14 and 20 are attached to respective side stakes 18 and 19 in a conventional fashion. The upper sheets 14 can also be attached to the top chord 12 and the side chord 16, while the lower sheets 20 can be attached to the side sill 22 and the side chord 16.

(36) The interior of the railcar 10 includes bracing structure as shown in FIG. 2. The bracing will be in k bracing format including cross members 32 extending between the sides and diagonal members 34 extending to the center of the railcar 10. Mounting brackets 34 and 38 accommodate the bracing members. The intermediate side chord 16 allows the mounting brackets 34 to be easily attached thereto rather than off of the upper side chord 12, providing additional structural advantages to the present design.

(37) The contoured design of the side structure of the railcar 10 as shown and described allows the car to be easily designed to fit within a wide variety of envelopes. The envelope shown is well suited for applications in the Australian and Asian markets. The term contoured within this application when associated with the side structure intends to construe that the side structure is not vertical or straight from top chord to side sill. Slight changes in the geometry of the side chord 16 and possibly in the geometry of the side sill 22 allows alternative envelope configurations to be closely matched. It should be noted that the present side wall construction could be utilized in a non-contoured arrangement in which the attaching webs of the side chord 16 would be effectively parallel or coplanar and aligned.

(38) A further alternative design contemplated with the side structure of the railcar 10 of the present invention is an all inside stake car design or, more providing greater design flexibility, alternating between inside and outside stakes on the same side wall design. An inside stake configuration for the railcar 10 would simply require changing the location of the attaching webs for the top chord 20, side chord 16 and bottom side sill 22, and reversing the orientation of the side stakes 18 and 20. Additionally the top surface of the side sill 22 and side chord 16 may be angled to prevent lading from collecting thereon. The inside stake position may alter some cross bracing locations as well. A particularly interesting alternative is to have the upper side stakes 18 be formed as inside stakes and the lower side stakes 19 be outside stakes, or vise versa. This alternative allows designers to mix the advantages of outside and inside stakes to best accommodate carrying capacity and center of gravity issues with greater flexibility. These advantages stem mainly from the use of the intermediate side chord 16.

(39) The top chord 12, intermediate chord 16 and side sill 22 of the present invention are shown as closed section members that can be formed as aluminum extrusions. Open section shapes are also possible but the closed sections offer some structural advantages. Additionally the interior of the various sections can be used as protected conduit space if needed for electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic lines running the length of the car. Although the space within the center sill 46 is usually convenient and sufficient and desirable for many uses.

(40) Another alternative design for the contoured side railcar 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention is the use of bent side stakes (not shown) that conform to the designed shape for the outer envelope and having the bent side stakes extend from the top chord 12 to the side sill 22, thereby omitting the intermediate side chord 16. This alternative design raises some concerns regarding the strength of the bent side stakes, but may offer some weight savings without having the additional intermediate chord.

(41) The railcar 10 includes endwalls 24 that are conventional and will extend from an end top chord similar to top chord 12 described above. Wear plates or corner caps can be provided to easily accommodate rotary unloading.

(42) The car bottom forms a plurality of discharge chutes 26 which open to the interior with a plurality of intermediate doors 28 and end doors 30. Between each pair of opposed doors 28 or 28 and 30 there is provided a door operating mechanism 40 operating on the doors. The details of the door operating mechanism are not discussed herein in detail and a variety of operating systems can be used. Pneumatically powered systems, hydraulically powered systems, manually operated or manual overrides can also be included. The preference stated herein is that the system operates on opposed doors as shown. Additionally it is a preference if the locking position is an over center locking position such that the weight of the laden on the door will work to secure the door in the closed position.

(43) As known in the art the interior of the chutes 26 and the endplates 24 form sloping floors to allow the lading or commodity to be discharged through the open doors in the bottom of the car 10. There has been a constant problem with the incomplete unloading of such hopper cars due to friction between the commodity in the container surface and/or cohesion between the commodity and the container surface, the latter often being caused by freezing.

(44) This incomplete unloading is a particular problem in the coal industry. Coal carry back, coal that is retained in the hopper cars after unloading, presents a multi-pronged productivity challenge because it results in an increase in the number of hopper cars needed to deliver a given-amount of coal, an increase in the fuel costs for the dead head return trip of the empty hopper car to the source of the coal, and minimized the amount of new coal in the subsequent loading.

(45) The present design attempts to minimize this problematic issue through the door design. In the chutes 26 between the end pockets of the hopper car 10 conventional opposed doors 28 provide easy freely flowing discharge. The intermediate doors 28 are shown in FIGS. 7A-7C and will be effectively uniform along the car except for the end pockets. The end pocket openings, also called door throats, for end pocket doors 30 are enlarged to better accommodate flow though these areas. The end pockets would otherwise be susceptible to bridging of the lading across the throat if the smaller door opening of the intermediate door 28 were used on the end pocket. With the increased opening size of about 75% larger than the throat of the opening for doors 28, the end doors 30 will now have one door 30 on each side of the center sill 46. The two doors 30 are shown in FIGS. 8A-C and FIGS. 9A-C respectively. There is believed to be no additional advantage to having the enlarged contoured doors 30 along the length of the car 10. Having the enlarged contoured doors 30 only on the end pockets is believed to provide the most efficient solution. The contour of the doors 30 is best seen in the plan views of the doors 30. The doors 28 and 30 may be formed of aluminum pans while the ridge structure may be formed of steel members.

(46) An alternative door spreader design is shown in FIG. 11 and represents a design intended to better spread the door operating forces across the door 28. As shown in FIG. 11 the door spreader includes a deep hat channel member extending across the door to which a plurality of door actuating arms 42 is coupled.

(47) Hopper cars of the type contemplated are frequently used to haul fine, granular commodities such as wet rock, sand, aggregates, grain, or the like. It has been found that such fine, granular, fluid-type commodities can, under some circumstances, seep between the hopper door and the lower edges of the adjacent inner and outer hopper sheets. When the hopper doors are in their closed position, a tight metal-to-metal seal in the prior art door designs is not always achieved between the hopper doors and the adjacent inner and outer hopper sheets. The over center locking or closed position definitely assists in having a tight seal, but such a door operating mechanism does not completely eliminate lading seepage.

(48) The present invention provides a tensioned or biased door seal for each door 28 or 30 as best shown in FIG. 12. The door seal includes an intermediate door seal housing 50 for the pairs of intermediate doors 28. Each housing 50 includes a door seal member 54 secured within a chamber for movement toward and away from a respective door 28. The door seal member 54 is preferably a rubber, polymeric or composite material to assist in the seal with the door. Further the sealing member 54 is under tension toward the door through a biasing member 52. The biasing member 52 may be a compressible tube, wherein the amount of force exerted on the member 54 can be adjusted by adjusting the pneumatic or hydraulic pressure within the tube. Alternatively a steel spring member, such as a leaf spring, or collection of leaf springs, or coil springs, could also form the biasing member 52. Further a solid compressible member could form the biasing member 52.

(49) The biasing member 52 and sealing members 54 combine to form a tight seal against the doors 28 or 30 when the doors are in the closed position. Additionally the biasing force against the doors keep the doors in the closed position when an over center linkage is used to operate the doors. In other words keeping additional tension on the doors prevent the over center doors from bouncing into the open position.

(50) The intermediate seal housing 50 is shown in FIGS. 13A-13B, while the end pocket door housing 51 is illustrated in FIGS. 14A-14B. There is no significant difference in the seal for the end doors 30 other than the housing 51 need only be for doors on one side and the sealing member 52 need only match the lengths of the adjacent doors 30.

(51) Although the present invention has been described with particularity herein, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment disclosed. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The scope of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereto.