Enclosed railway freight car or over-the-road trailer van having walls and roof movable in a vertical direction
AssigneeKaci Intermodal Systems, LLC
InventorsRichard C. Hathaway, M. Kent Bridges
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle includes a base, a pair of wheel sets mounted underneath the base in a spaced apart relationship to each other, at least one coupling members mounted on at least one end of the base along longitudinal axis of the vehicle, an enclosure upstanding on the base and having a pair of side wall structures, a pair of end wall members and a roof member joining upper edges of each of the pair of side wall members and the pair of end wall structures, the enclosure defining an interior compartment of the railway freight car and an apparatus configured to move the enclosure in a vertical direction relative to the base.
Claims21
A method of loading or unloading railway freight cars each having an enclosure positioned on a generally horizontally disposed base and defining an interior compartment, said method comprising:
- providing at least a pair of parallel rail tracks between a pair of elevated dock platforms;
- positioning said railway freight cars on said at least pair of parallel rail tracks;
- positioning floor surfaces of said railway freight cars planar with surfaces of said pair of elevated dock platforms;
- adapting each enclosure or a portion thereof to move in a vertical direction relative to said base;
- providing a plurality of devices, with each device from said plurality of devices being positioned, during use, external to one end of said each railway freight car, so that a pair of devices from said plurality of devices being configured to move said each enclosure or said portion thereof in said vertical direction;
- connecting said each enclosure or said portion thereof to said pair of devices;
- moving, with said pair of devices, said each enclosure or said portion thereof in said vertical direction;
- and
- accessing said interior compartment of said each railway freight car with a material handling apparatus moving in a direction being generally perpendicular to a length of said each railway freight car.
A method of loading or unloading railway freight cars each having an enclosure positioned on a generally horizontally disposed base and defining an interior compartment, said method comprising:
- providing at least a pair of parallel rail tracks between a pair of elevated dock platforms;
- positioning at least two consists of said railway freight cars in a parallel alignment with each other on said at least pair of rail tracks, each of said at least two consists comprising a plurality of said railway freight cars disposed in a series with each other along a length of each consist, where floor surfaces of said railway freight cars being positioned planar with surfaces of said at least pair of elevated dock platforms;
- raising each enclosure or a portion thereof in a vertical direction away from said base;
- accessing each interior compartment with one or more material handling apparatuses moving in a direction being generally perpendicular to a length of said each railway freight car and anywhere along said length.
A method of loading or unloading railway freight cars each having an enclosure positioned on a generally horizontally disposed base and defining an interior compartment, said method comprising:
- providing a pair of dock platforms, each with a surface elevated above a ground level;
- providing two parallel rail tracks below surfaces of said dock platforms and between said pair of elevated dock platforms;
- positioning two consists of said railway freight cars in a parallel alignment with each other on said two parallel rail tracks with floor surfaces of said railway freight cars being planar with said surfaces of said elevated dock platforms, each of said two consists comprising a plurality of said railway freight cars disposed in a series with each other along a length of said consist;
- positioning trailer vans adjacent an edge of each elevated dock platform and in a direction being generally perpendicular to a length of said railway freight cars;
- raising each enclosure or a portion thereof in a vertical direction away from said base;
- bridging a distance between parallel disposed railway freight cars and moving said one or more material handling apparatuses through said interior compartment;
- accessing each interior compartment with one or more material handling apparatuses moving in said direction and anywhere along said length;
- and
- moving said one or more material handling apparatuses in said direction between said freight railway cars and said trailer vans.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.