Autorack railcar structure
AssigneeNational Steel Car Limited
InventorMohamed A. Khattab
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A railcar has a substructure, a superstructure and intermediate webwork sides joining the substructure and the superstructure to form a truss-like structure for carrying automobiles. The resultant truss-like structure does not have a straight through center sill, but does retain end stub sills. The main deck of this structure can be depressed between the railcar trucks, and, in combination with a vehicle supporting deck structure allows vehicles of a greater height to be carried in the depressed center than over the end structure above the railcar trucks. The integrated structure, including a structurally significant roof frame, is also used to support the vehicle carrying decking.
Claims39
An autorack railcar comprising:
- a support structure carried by a pair of longitudinally spaced railcar trucks;
- staging mounted to the support structure upon which vehicles are transportable, said staging including platformwork for carrying at least two layers of vehicles, one layer above another;
- the support structure having a superstructure mounted above the staging, a substructure mounted on the trucks, and a pair of side webworks extending between said substructure and the superstructure;
- the substructure acting as a lower flange, said superstructure acting as an upper flange, and said webworks acting as webs joining said upper and lower flanges, and
- the substructure, the superstructure and the webworks being co-operable to resist vertical bending of the support structure between the trucks.
An autorack railcar comprising:
- a truss suspended between two railcar trucks and staging mounted to the truss for supporting at least two layers of vehicles one layer above the other, the truss having an overhead frame structure located over said staging, a pair of first and second side sills, and a pair of side webworks joining each side sill to the overhead frame structure;
- said railcar having first and second ends, said first and second side sills extending between said ends, each of said ends being mounted to one of said railcar trucks;
- said webworks including first and second arrays of posts extending upwardly from said first and second side sills;
- said truss having
- first and second main bolsters each mounted transversely between said side sills above each of said trucks respectively;
- a main deck having first and second portions extending between said side sills above said first and second bolsters;
- first and second top chords mounted respectively upon said first and second arrays of posts;
- and
- said overhead frame structure of said truss having
- transverse frame members extending between, and upwardly of, said first and second top chords, and
- longitudinally oriented structural members extending longitudinally between said transverse frame members over said staging.
An autorack railcar comprising:
- a truss suspended between two railcar trucks and staging mounted to the truss upon which two layers of vehicles can be transported one layer above another;
- the truss having a pair of side sills, a pair of side webworks extending upwardly from said side sills, and an overhead frame structure mounted above said side web works and extending upwardly an inwardly thereof;
- said overhead frame structure extending from one side webwork to another over said staging;
- and
- said overhead frame structure has a longitudinally oriented structural load bearing member located over said staging.
An autorack railcar comprising:
- a support structure carried by a pair of longitudinally spaced railcar trucks;
- staging mounted to the support structure upon which vehicles are transportable;
- the staging including platformwork for carrying at least two layers of automobiles;
- the support structure having a superstructure mounted above the staging, a substructure mounted on the trucks, and a pair of side webworks, said side webworks each including a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart posts extending between said substructure and the superstructure;
- said superstructure including frame members extending upwardly and inboard of said webworks;
- said superstructure including stringers located upward and inboard of said webworks, said stringers extending longitudinally between said frame members;
- the substructure acting as a lower flange, said superstructure acting as an upper flange, and said webworks acting as webs joining said upper and lower flanges, and
- the substructure, the superstructure and the webworks are co-operable to resist vertical bending of the support structure between the trucks.
An autorack railcar for carrying vehicles, comprising a truss suspended between two railcar trucks and staging mounted to the truss for supporting the vehicles, the truss having an overhead frame structure located over said staging, a pair of side sills, and a pair of side webworks joining each side sill to the overhead frame structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.