B61D 7/00
Hopper cars
Official title: Hopper cars (flat bottomed cars convertible into hoppers B61D3/06)
B61D7/00 (Hopper cars) appears on 567 US grants and 306 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in B61D- Granted patents
- 567
- Published applications
- 306
- Assignees
- 188
- Inventors
- 663
- Latest grant
- 25 Aug 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 14 | 0 |
| 1977 | 17 | 0 |
| 1978 | 10 | 0 |
| 1979 | 10 | 0 |
| 1980 | 23 | 0 |
| 1981 | 23 | 0 |
| 1982 | 20 | 0 |
| 1983 | 7 | 0 |
| 1984 | 14 | 0 |
| 1985 | 11 | 0 |
| 1986 | 11 | 0 |
| 1987 | 12 | 0 |
| 1988 | 10 | 0 |
| 1989 | 9 | 0 |
| 1990 | 12 | 0 |
| 1991 | 11 | 0 |
| 1992 | 7 | 0 |
| 1993 | 19 | 0 |
| 1994 | 14 | 0 |
| 1995 | 15 | 0 |
| 1996 | 6 | 0 |
| 1997 | 5 | 0 |
| 1998 | 8 | 0 |
| 1999 | 3 | 0 |
| 2000 | 13 | 0 |
| 2001 | 13 | 2 |
| 2002 | 7 | 6 |
| 2003 | 5 | 3 |
| 2004 | 2 | 7 |
| 2005 | 6 | 11 |
| 2006 | 8 | 15 |
| 2007 | 7 | 12 |
| 2008 | 6 | 7 |
| 2009 | 6 | 9 |
| 2010 | 12 | 16 |
| 2011 | 12 | 12 |
| 2012 | 14 | 10 |
| 2013 | 13 | 8 |
| 2014 | 8 | 15 |
| 2015 | 10 | 13 |
| 2016 | 8 | 11 |
| 2017 | 11 | 10 |
| 2018 | 14 | 22 |
| 2019 | 15 | 14 |
| 2020 | 18 | 17 |
| 2021 | 6 | 17 |
| 2022 | 6 | 15 |
| 2023 | 21 | 15 |
| 2024 | 12 | 7 |
| 2025 | 15 | 16 |
| 2026 | 8 | 16 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
- B61D 7/14Adaptations of hopper elements to railways401
- B61D 7/02Hopper cars: with discharge openings in the bottoms172
- B61D 7/08Hopper cars: with openings capable of discharging only outside the wheels10
- B61D 7/12The hoppers being movable6
- B61D 7/06Hopper cars: with openings capable of discharging both between and outside the5
Recent patents
- Rail car modularized modification programs altering the nature of the center sill in the modified railcar and the modified railcars formed thereby25 Aug 2026US 12,715,483 B2Jac Operations, Inc.
- Railroad hopper car with flow through structure25 Aug 2026US 12,715,484 B2National Steel Car Limited
- Trolley launcher system for ziplines23 Jun 2026US 12,661,596 B2
- Opening stop device for railway freight car door outlet gates24 Mar 2026US 12,583,488 B2A. Stucki Company
- Covered hopper railcar10 Mar 2026US 12,570,333 B2Jac Operations, Inc.
- Devices and systems for articulating an outlet gate door24 Sep 2026US 2026/0285377 A1Transportation IP Holdings, LLC
- Gondola railroad car with clean-out assembly30 Jul 2026US 2026/0217282 A1Gunderson LLC
- Cold Formed Chord Segmented Panel Contoured Sidewall Hopper Car30 Jul 2026US 2026/0217284 A1
- Covered hopper railcar16 Jul 2026US 2026/0200506 A1
- Aerodynamic railcar panel21 May 2026US 2026/0138650 A1Composite Sign Products Inc.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Filament wound railway hopper car114US 4,608,931 AACF Industries, Incorporated · 1986
- Powered hopper door107US 4,359,176 A1982
- Railway hopper car gate valve and operating assembly97US 5,613,446 ATrinity Industries, Inc. · 1997
- Manual railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism97US 6,955,127 B22005
- Railcar unloading system93US 8,379,927 B2Concept Systems Limited · 2013