Transport and lifting apparatus for railway cars
OwnerDon Norvellinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A trailer for lifting and transporting a railway car minus its usual wheeled trucks utilizes a pair of independently positioned wheeled frames in the form of front and rear units that can be located at opposite ends of the railway car. Each wheeled frame supports a forklift assembly having transversely spaced protruding arms capable of fitting under the floor of the railway car while straddling the central longitudinal beam extending from its one end to the other. The forklift assemblies are selectively secured to the railway car to form an integral trailer capable of transporting it on a highway within normal height limitations. The front and rear units can be used to maneuver the railway car into place above a foundation, and can raise or lower the railway car as necessary to remove or place it as desired.
Claims5
An apparatus for facilitating the lifting and the transporting of a railway car following removal of its supporting wheel trucks from beneath a pair of transverse frames that are located inwardly adjacent to the outer ends of the railway car and are attached to a central longitudinal beam extending beneath the railway car, comprising:
- first and second independently movable wheel-supported frames;
- an elevationally adjustable forklift assembly movably mounted on each wheel-supported frame, each forklift assembly having an upright member adapted to abut one outer end of a railway car located between them, and also having a perpendicular protruding lower member adapted to be engaged beneath the outer end of a railway car for lifting purposes;
- power means operably mounted between each wheel-supported frame and its forklift assembly for selectively imparting elevational movement to the forklift assembly relative to the frame;
- releasable securing means on the wheel-supported frames engageable with a railway car for preventing longitudinal movement of it relative to the abutting forklift assemblies;
- the perpendicular protruding member comprising a pair of longitudinally hollow horizontal arms spaced transversely from one another by a distance sufficient to straddle the central longitudinal beam beneath a railway car while engaged beneath one of its outer ends;
- and
- the securing means including an extendible member entrained through at least one arm and having one end adapted to be selectively secured to a transverse frame member of the railway car adjacent the outer end engaged by it, the remaining end of the extendible member being secured to one of the arms to maintain an operative section of the extendible member between the transverse frame member and the forklift assembly in tension.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.