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US 5,373,792 AGranted
Railway gondola car incorporating flexible panels of composite sheet material
AssigneesGunderson LLC, State of Oregon
InventorsJames D. Pileggi, Ernest G. Wolff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gondola railway car with a structural frame of metal has panels of lightweight composite tension-bearing sheet material attached to the frame by clamps which grip the margins of the panels. The panels thus are structural components of the car body, while also acting to contain bulk cargo such as coal. The panels may be of aramid fiber cloth coated with a wear-resistant polymeric material, and particles of hard material may be embedded in the polymeric material to enhance resistance to mechanical erosion.
Claims18
A body for a railway car for carrying granular or lump-type bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) a pair of longitudinal lower side sills;
- (b) an upstanding side wall extending above each said lower side sill;
- and
- (c) a tension-bearing, cargo-supporting bottom panel of a textile-based sheet material having a longitudinally-extending margin attached to one of said lower side sills.
1 more element
A body for a railway car for carrying granular or lump-type bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) a structural frame having a pair of opposite ends;
- (b) means including respective portions of said structural frame, for defining a cargo container, said cargo container including:
- (i) a pair of opposite upstanding longitudinally-extending side walls;
- (ii) a pair of opposite upstanding transversely-extending end walls;
- and
- (iii) a tension-bearing bottom panel of a textile-based sheet material defining a bottom of said cargo container, said bottom panel including a longitudinal margin portion interconnected with one of said side walls.
3 more elements
A body for a railway car for carrying granular or lump-type bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) a pair of longitudinal lower side sills;
- (b) an upstanding side wall extending above each said lower side sill;
- and
- (c) a plurality of tension-bearing cargo-supporting bottom panels, of a textile-based sheet material, each of said bottom panels defining one of a plurality of curvilinear troughs, each said trough having an axis of curvature extending transversely of said body and having an arcuately curved longitudinal margin thereof supported by one of said lower side sills.
1 more element
A body for a railway car for carrying granular or lump-type bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) a pair of longitudinal lower side sills;
- (b) an upstanding side wall extending above each said lower side sill;
- (c) a clamp assembly associated with one of said lower side sills;
- and
- (d) a tension-bearing, cargo-supporting bottom panel of a textile-based sheet material having a longitudinally-extending margin attached to said one of said lower side sills by said clamp assembly, said bottom panel including a tubular margin and a locking bar located within said tubular margin, and said clamp assembly including a clamp bar adjustably attached to and extending along said one of said lower side sills, said clamp bar and a portion of said one of said lower side sills cooperatively defining an elongate slot and an elongate cavity, said locking bar and said tubular margin being located within said elongate cavity and said clamp bar retaining said locking bar and said tubular margin of said bottom panel between said clamp bar and said one of said lower side sills, with said bottom panel extending through said slot.
2 more elements
A body for a railway car for carrying granular or lump-type bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) a structural frame having a pair of opposite ends and a center sill interconnecting said opposite ends;
- (b) means including respective portions of said structural frame, for defining a cargo container, said cargo container including:
- (i) a pair of opposite upstanding longitudinally-extending side walls including a pair of lower side sills spaced laterally apart from said center sill and located respectively on opposite sides of said center sill;
- (ii) a pair of opposite upstanding transversely-extending end walls;
- and
- (iii) a bottom panel of a textile-based sheet material, said bottom panel including a longitudinal margin portion interconnected with one of said side walls, said longitudinal margin portion of said bottom panel being attached to a respective one of said side sills, and said bottom panel including another margin portion attached to said center sill.
3 more elements
A body for a railway car for carrying granular or lump-type bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) a structural frame including a plurality of structural frame members and having a pair of opposite ends;
- (b) means including respective portions of said structural frame, for defining a cargo container, said cargo container including:
- (i) a pair of opposite upstanding longitudinally-extending side walls;
- (ii) a pair of opposite upstanding transversely-extending end walls;
- and
- (iii) a plurality of tension-bearing panels of a textile-based sheet material, including a bottom panel having a longitudinal margin portion interconnected with one of said side walls, said body including a panel clamp assembly attaching one of said plurality of tension-bearing panels to a respective one of said structural frame members, said one of said tension-bearing panels including a tubular margin, and a locking bar being located within said tubular margin, said panel clamp assembly having a clamp-retaining rail fixedly attached to said one of said structural frame members and including a clamp bar having a hooked heel side and a toe end margin, said hooked heel side matingly engaging said clamp-retaining rail and said toe end margin cooperating with said one of said structural frame members to define an elongate slot and an elongate cavity, said locking bar and said tubular margin of said tension-bearing panel being held within said elongate cavity and said panel extending through said slot.
3 more elements
A railway car body for carrying bulk materials, comprising:
- (a) a pair of side walls;
- and
- (b) a suspended tension-bearing floor of flexible textile-based material, each of said side walls having a bottom margin and said floor having a pair of opposite parallel side margins, each one of said side margins being attached to the bottom margin of a respective one of said side walls, suspending said floor between said side walls.
A railway car for carrying bulk cargo, comprising:
- (a) an elongate car body having opposite ends each supported on a respective wheeled truck;
- (b) a pair of opposing upstanding side walls extending longitudinally of said car body;
- (c) a pair of opposing upstanding end walls extending transversely of said car body;
- and
- (d) a tension-bearing connecting panel of flexible textile-based material having respective margin portions attached respectively to one of said upstanding side walls and to an adjacent one of said end walls.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.