Railroad car with lightweight center beam structure
AssigneeGunderson LLC
InventorGregory J. Saxton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A railroad freight car of the center beam type, in which the upright center beam has a top chord interconnected with a bulkhead at each end of the body of the car, and spaced-apart upright columns and diagonal structural members interconnect the top chord with the center sill of the car body. At each end of the center beam an upper end of a diagonal bulkhead brace included in the center beam is attached to the bulkhead at an intermediate height, and a lower end is attached to the center sill adjacent one of the columns. There is no solid plate extending from the top chord to the center sill and from the bulkhead toward the other end of the car. In one version of the car a second diagonal bulkhead brace extends upward from a location at an intermediate height on the bulkhead to the top chord.
Claims7
A railroad freight car, comprising:
- (a) an elongate body having upstanding transverse bulkheads located at opposite ends of said body and including a vertical center beam extending longitudinally of the car between said bulkheads, the center beam including
- (i) a center sill, extending the length of said body;
- (ii) a top chord extending parallel with and spaced upwardly apart from the center sill;
- and
- (iii) at each end of the car, an elongate diagonal structural member having a first end interconnected with one of said bulkheads at an intermediate height between said center sill and said top chord and a second end interconnected with said center sill at a location spaced apart from said one of said bulkheads.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.