US 11,731,668 B2Granted

Hopper car double doors

AssigneeTrinity Rail Group, LLC

InventorLee A. Reitz

Life of this patent

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Abstract

According to some embodiments, a railcar comprises a center sill extending along a longitudinal centerline of the railcar, and two side sills. The two side sills are on opposite sides of, and extend parallel with, the center sill. The railcar further comprises a first inner discharge door coupled to the railcar proximate the center sill on a first side of a longitudinal centerline of the railcar (first side); a second inner discharge door coupled to the railcar proximate the center sill on a second side of the longitudinal centerline (second side); a first outer discharge door coupled proximate the side sill on the first side; a second outer discharge door coupled proximate the side sill on the second side; a first linkage coupling the first inner discharge door to the second outer discharge door; and a second linkage coupling the second inner discharge door to the first outer discharge door.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A railcar comprising:

an underframe comprising a center sill extending along a longitudinal centerline of the railcar, and two side sills, the two side sills located on opposite sides of the center sill and extending parallel with the center sill;
a hopper coupled to the underframe;
a first inner discharge door coupled to the underframe proximate the center sill on a first side of a longitudinal centerline of the railcar;
a second inner discharge door coupled to the underframe proximate the center sill on a second side of the longitudinal centerline of the railcar;
a first outer discharge door coupled to the underframe proximate the side sill on the first side of the longitudinal centerline of the railcar;
a second outer discharge door coupled to the underframe proximate the side sill on the second side of the longitudinal centerline of the railcar;
a first linkage coupling the first inner discharge door to the second outer discharge door, wherein the first linkage is coupled to a forward-facing end of the first inner discharge door and a forward-facing end of the second outer discharge door;
and
a second linkage coupling the second inner discharge door to the first outer discharge door.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/132,089Filed 23 Dec 2020 · continuation
Priority: 2 Jun 2017
Published: US 2021/0107533 A115 Apr 2021
Granted: 22 Aug 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

B61D 7/02
Hopper cars: with discharge openings in the bottoms
B61D 7/06
Hopper cars: with openings capable of discharging both between and outside the wheels
E05Y 2900/51
For vehicles: for railway cars or mass transit vehicles
B61D
Body details or kinds of railway vehicles

Family

Application62/514,400Us provisional application · filed 2 Jun 2017
Application15/978,620Parent of this continuation · filed 14 May 2018
US 2021/0107533 A1Pre-grant publication · published 15 Apr 2021
US 10,875,548 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2018/0345997 A1Published application
US 11,731,668 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.