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US 4,947,760 AGranted
Articulated flat car
AssigneeTrailer Train Company
InventorsRichard W. Dawson, Ronald P. Sellberg
Life of this patent
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AssigneeTrailer Train Company
InventorsRichard W. Dawson, Ronald P. Sellberg
Estimating the term…
An articulated railroad flat car for single-level loading of containers has five units or platforms. End trucks are disposed at the ends of the two end units and four shared trucks are disposed intermediate the five units at articulated connections between the units. Each unit has a center sill with bolsters at either end mounting outer container retention devices. Alternate units further include intermediate cross-bearers, with intermediate container retention devices mounted on the cross-bearer. This arrangement allows loading of full length containers (40, 45 or 48 feet in length) on each unit and either full length or 20 foot containers on alternative units. A container floor safety system includes a plurality of cross-ties connected to the center sill with longitudinal stringers fastened to the outer ends of the cross-ties. The container floor safety system prevents container lading from falling to the track in the event of a container floor failure.
An articulated flat car for carrying lading containers at a single level comprising first and second platforms supported at one end by end trucks and at the other end by trucks shared with an adjacent platform, and at least one intermediate platform supported on trucks shared with adjacent platforms, said platforms connected by articulated connections between adjacent platforms, said platforms having outer container retention means positioned adjacent opposite ends thereof, and additional container retention means fixedly attached only to alternate platforms intermediate said outer container retention means.
A flat car for carrying containers having a primary car structure comprising a center sill, a lateral bolster connected to the center sill adjacent each end thereof, and container retention means mounted at the outer ends of the lateral bolsters, the primary car structure defining at least one platform supported on trucks, and container floor safety means connected to the primary car structure for preventing container lading from falling to the track in the event of a container floor failure, the container floor safety means extending transversely of the center sill and having a width which is substantially equal to the width of the containers and positioned such that the container floor is normally retained in spaced relation thereto when containers are disposed on the container retention means.
A method of optimizing the loading of long and short containers on a multiple-platform, articulated container flat car without overloading its shared trucks, comprising the steps of:
An articulated flat car for carrying lading containers at a single level comprising at least first and second platforms supported at one end by trucks and at the other end by an articulated connection at a shared truck, both of said first and second platforms having outer container retention means positioned adjacent opposite ends thereof, and only one of said platforms having additional container retention means fixedly attached intermediate said outer container retention means.
An articulated flat car for carrying lading containers at a single level comprising at least first and second adjacent platforms supported at their outer ends by trucks and at their adjacent ends by an articulated connected at a shared truck, both of said platforms having container retention means fixedly mounted thereon and arranged such that only two short containers can be loaded on the first platform and only one container containers of a second, different load-carrying capacity can be loaded on the second platform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.