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US 7,252,039 B1Granted
Ballast discharge car
AssigneeBNSF Railway Company
InventorJohn H. Bosshart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ballast discharge car having at least one non-pivoting transverse conveyor disposed beneath a hopper for distributing the ballast between the rails, near the outside of the rails, and well beyond the outside of the rails in a stockpiling application. The speed, direction, and angle of each conveyor is adjustable so that the ballast can be selectively cast a wide range of distances from the outside of the rails.
Claims19
A railcar for discharging ballast along a railway, comprising:
- (a) a ballast compartment defining a volume of space for carrying said ballast;
- (b) a deck which is coupled to said ballast compartment;
- (c) railcar wheel assemblies secured to said deck for engaging rails on said railway;
- (d) said ballast compartment having a central longitudinal axis which is generally aligned with said railway and a vertical axis which is generally perpendicular to said longitudinal axis;
- (e) at least one hopper coupled to or integrally formed with said deck for directing downwardly ballast within said ballast compartment;
- (f) at least one discharge gate, each being operatively associated with a particular one of said at least one hopper, which may be selectively opened and closed to permit a downward passage of ballast;
- (g) at least one conveyor subassembly coupled to said railcar and located generally below said at least one discharge gate, said at least one conveyor assembly having first and second ends both substantially fixed with respects to rotation about the vertical axis of said ballast compartment and including:
- (1) a conveyor belt;
- (2) a motor;
- (3) a roller system for moving said conveyor belt in response to activation of said motor;
- and
- (4) at least one actuator member coupled to each of corresponding ones of the first and second ends of said conveyor belt for selectively raising and lowering in concert said first and second ends of said conveyor belt relative to one another which determines an amount of pivot of said conveyor belt relative to said central longitudinal axis;
- (h) wherein, during operation, ballast is discharged laterally a distance which is at least in part determined by a speed of operation of said at least one conveyor subassembly and said amount of pivot of said conveyor belt relative to said central longitudinal axis, said amount of pivot of said conveyor belt allowing discharge of said ballast onto the ground in an area adjacent to a selected rail on said railway, said adjacent area separated by said selected rail from an area defined between a pair or rails on said railway on which said railcar wheel assemblies are engaged.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.