US 2026/0217282 A1Published application

Gondola railroad car with clean-out assembly

AssigneeGunderson LLC

InventorsPeter L. Jones, James T. Chambers, Joaquin Flores

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Abstract

A gondola railroad car with a clean-out assembly that: takes into account gravity and makes the pushing of the debris out of the opening in the floor of the gondola car easier for the person of the gondola car; takes into account water flow due to gravity and that allows water to flow out the opening in the floor of the gondola car; that takes into account the environment by providing a limited predefined path for the debris that falls out of the opening in the floor of the gondola car and that can be collected in a suitable container outside of the gondola car; is completely or mostly under the floor of the gondola car to protect the door thereof from snow and ice build-up; and that includes additional protective structures that function to limit snow and ice build-up on the door of the clean-out assembly.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A railroad car comprising:

a frame;
a containment structure supported by the frame, the containment structure including a floor defining an opening, a first side wall, a second side wall, a first end wall, and a second end wall;
and
a clean-out assembly including:
a door support positioned below the floor and fixedly connected to the floor adjacent the opening, the door support including a first door support and a second door support spaced-apart from the first door support, the first door support and the second door support partially defining a chute below the opening;
a door moveable from a closed position adjacent to the opening to an open position spaced from the opening, wherein in the open position the door also partially defines the chute;
and
a movable door lock, the door lock movable to:
a first position at which the door lock engages the door and lock supports the door in the closed position, and
a second position at which the door lock is disengaged from the door and enables the door to move to the open position.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.