Protective housing assembly for a tank car manway
AssigneeTRN Business Trust
InventorsThomas Dalrymple, Wade Woodall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A railway tank car is provided having a manway formed in a body of the tank car. The tank car includes a manway cover plate coupled to the body of the tank car and disposed over at least a portion of the manway. A protective housing assembly is coupled to the body of the tank car and disposed around the manway cover plate. A plurality of structural supports are arranged around an outer perimeter of the protective housing assembly and are coupled to the protective housing assembly and to the body of the tank car.
Claims24
A railway tank car having a manway formed in a body of the tank car, the tank car comprising:
- a manway cover plate coupled to the body of the tank car and disposed over at least a portion of the manway;
- a protective housing assembly coupled to the body of the tank car and disposed around the manway cover plate;
- a plurality of structural supports arranged around an outer perimeter of the protective housing assembly;
- and
- the plurality of structural supports being coupled to the protective housing assembly and to the body of the tank car.
A protective shield for a tank car manway, comprising:
- a cylindrical sidewall configured to be coupled with a tank to generally surround at least one valve of the tank;
- a lid configured to be removably disposed over the cylindrical sidewall;
- a plurality of structural supports arranged around an outer perimeter of the cylindrical sidewall;
- the plurality of structural supports being coupled to the cylindrical sidewall and to the tank;
- and
- an external reinforcement disposed around, and coupled to, the cylindrical sidewall.
A method of fabricating a protective shield for a tank car manway, comprising:
- coupling a cylindrical sidewall with a tank such that the cylindrical sidewall generally surrounds at least one valve of the tank;
- removably disposing a lid over the cylindrical sidewall;
- arranging a plurality of structural supports around an outer perimeter of the cylindrical sidewall;
- coupling the plurality of structural supports to the cylindrical sidewall and to the tank;
- and
- coupling a generally tubular external reinforcement with the plurality of structural supports around the cylindrical sidewall.
A railway tank car having a generally circular manway formed in an upper portion of the tank car, the tank car comprising;
- a studding flange welded to a body of the tank car around the circular manway;
- a manway cover plate bolted to the studding flange;
- at least one valve coupled to the cover;
- a cylindrical portion of a protective housing assembly welded to the studding flange and disposed around the cover plate and valve;
- a plurality of gussets arranged around a circumference of the cylindrical portion of the protective housing assembly;
- the plurality of gussets being welded to the cylindrical portion of the protective housing assembly and to the body of the tank car;
- an angled external reinforcement coupled to the plurality of gussets such that the external reinforcement encircles the cylindrical portion of the protective housing assembly;
- at least one porthole formed in a side wall of the cylindrical portion of the protective housing assembly;
- the porthole providing access to operate the at least one valve;
- at least one cutout formed in a side wall of the external reinforcement;
- and
- the cutout aligning with the porthole and providing access to operate the at least one valve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.