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US 9,272,717 B2Granted
Rail road hopper car ridge fittings
AssigneeNational Steel Car Limited
InventorsJames W. Forbes, Mohamed A. Khattab, Tomas Bis, William R. Davis
Life of this patent
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AssigneeNational Steel Car Limited
InventorsJames W. Forbes, Mohamed A. Khattab, Tomas Bis, William R. Davis
Estimating the term…
A hopper car discharge section may be wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Outflow is controlled by movable closure members. The hopper car has a plurality of hoppers of which two hoppers share a common ridge assembly. The ridge assembly forms a common mating and fit up location for the upper margins of the slope sheets of two lengthwise adjacent hoppers. The ridge assembly includes an horizontal center section and two end plates that angle upwardly outboard toward the top chords of the sidewalls. The ridge assembly stands proud of the upper margin of the respective adjacent slope sheets. A gusset is mounted between the adjacent slope sheets below the ridge plate such that the slope sheets and gusset form a reinforcement tube running across the car, the end plates forming the stems of a vertical T-section attached to the sidewall and overlapping the top chord.
A ridge structure for a railroad hopper car, the hopper car having first and second lengthwise running sidewalls and first and second hoppers located between the sidewalls, the first hopper being lengthwise next adjacent to the second hopper, each of the sidewalls having an upper margin and a first top chord and a second top chord running therealong respectively, the first hopper including a first slope sheet, the second hopper including a second slope sheet, each of the first and second slope sheets having a respective upper margin running cross-wise between the sidewalls of the hopper car, the first and second slope sheets being inclined upwardly toward each other such that their respective upper margins are mutually proximate, the slope sheets then defining flanks sloped toward an apex at which said ridge structure is located, and wherein said ridge structure comprises:
A ridge structure for a railroad hopper car, the hopper car having first and second lengthwise running sidewalls and first and second hoppers located between the sidewalls, the sidewalls having a first and second top chord running therealong, respectively, the first hopper being lengthwise next adjacent to the second hopper, the first hopper including a first slope sheet, the second hopper including a second slope sheet, each of the first and second slope sheets having a respective upper margin running cross-wise between the sidewalls of the hopper car, the first and second slope sheets being inclined upwardly toward each other such that their respective upper margins are mutually proximate, the slope sheets then defining flanks sloped toward an apex at which said ridge structure is located, and wherein said ridge structure comprises:
A ridge structure for a railroad hopper car, the hopper car having first and second lengthwise running sidewalls and first and second hoppers located between the sidewalls, the first hopper being lengthwise next adjacent to the second hopper, each of the sidewalls having an upper margin and a first top chord and second top chord, respectively, running therealong, the first hopper including a first slope sheet, the second hopper including a second slope sheet, each of the first and second slope sheets having a respective upper margin running cross-wise between the sidewalls of the hopper car, the first and second slope sheets being inclined upwardly toward each other such that their respective upper margins are mutually proximate, the slope sheets then defining flanks sloped toward an apex at which said ridge structure is located, and wherein said ridge structure comprises:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.