Composite insulated boxcar floor
AssigneeTrinity Rail Group, LLC
InventorsKenneth W. Huck, Marco A. Morales, Ricky A. Cribbs, Codrington E. Barzey, Scott M. Lewit
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Abstract
A floor section for an insulated railcar includes a floor plate and a composite section coupled to the floor plate. The composite section includes a plurality of composite beams aligned parallel to one another. Each composite beam of the plurality of composite beams includes an inner core and an outer material surrounding the inner core. The inner core includes an insulating material and is configured to support the outer material. An upper surface of each composite beam of the plurality of composite beams, which extends along a length of the composite beam, is coupled to an underside of the floor plate.
Claims19
A method for forming a primary floor section for an insulated railcar, the method comprising:
- forming a plurality of composite beams, each composite beam of the plurality of composite beams comprising:
- an inner core comprising an insulating material;
- and
- an outer material surrounding the inner core, wherein the inner core is configured to support the outer material;
- forming a composite section from the plurality of composite beams, the composite section comprising a top side and a bottom side opposite the top side, wherein the plurality of composite beams are aligned parallel to one another within the composite section, wherein forming each composite beam of the plurality of composite beams comprises folding a first end of at least one layer of a first fabric and a first end of at least one layer of a second fabric extending beyond a first side of a longitudinal depression over a first vertical side of a bottom portion of the outer material;
- and
- coupling a flat plate to the top side of the composite section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.