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US 6,374,546 B1Granted
Fiberglass railcar roof
AssigneeAmerican Composite Materials Engineering, Inc.
InventorsJoseph V. Fecko, Paul L. Packer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fiberglass railcar roof that includes a fiberglass surface with a central portion and a peripheral portion adapted to be joined to the upper edge region of a railcar. In some embodiments, the roof includes plural elongate fiberglass ribs extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the fiberglass surface. In some embodiments, the roof is adapted for use on refrigerated, high cube and cryogenic railcars. Methods for forming the invented roofs and roof panels are also disclosed.
Claims45
A railcar, comprising:
- a body having a floor from which spaced-apart end walls and side walls extend to define a storage area terminating at an upper edge region bounding an inner perimeter of the storage area;
- and
- a roof separately formed from the body and mounted on the upper edge region, wherein the roof includes a composite fiberglass surface sized to a least substantially cover the inner perimeter of the storage area, the surface includes a peripheral region that is mounted on the upper edge region and a central region extending upwardly from the peripheral region, and no portion of the roof extends more than 3 inches above the upper edge region.
A railcar, comprising:
- a body having a floor from which spaced-apart end walls and side walls extend to define a storage area terminating at an upper edge region bounding an inner perimeter of the storage area;
- and
- a roof separately formed from the body and mounted on the upper edge region, wherein the roof includes a composite fiberglass surface, is sized to at least substantially cover the upper perimeter of the storage area, and includes a central region and a peripheral region adapted to be mounted on the upper edge region, and further wherein the roof has a thickness that is greater at the central region than at the peripheral region and the thickness of the central region decreasingly tapers as it extends to the peripheral region.
A railcar, comprising:
- a body having a floor from which spaced-apart end walls and side walls extend to define a storage area terminating at an upper edge region bounding an inner perimeter of the storage area;
- and
- a roof separately formed from the body and mounted on the upper edge region, wherein the roof includes a composite fiberglass surface sized to at least substantially cover the inner perimeter of the storage area and a weldable portion extending from the fiberglass surface and joined to the side walls by welding.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.