EP1034105B1 - Rail transport unit for transporting palletised or high volume loads - Google Patents

Abstract

A transport unit, particulary a rail wagon or swap body, for transporting a palletised load (7); the unit has a body frame (5) for mounting on wheels (3) above which is a roof (25); the roof has longitudinal edge structures (30) at each side, the edges of which can be raised or lowered to obtain the maximum loading volume of the unit; the edge structure can also be used to stabilise upper loads in the unit.

Description

This invention relates to a rail transport unit particularly but not exclusively being a part of a rail freight vehicle or being a swap body for a rail vehicle. The unit is useful for transporting palletised or high volume loads.

Rail vehicles for transporting palletised or high volume loads are often restricted by the shape of the rail structure gauge. Britain is extremely disadvantaged because the rail structure gauge is curved at the top to accommodate tunnels and bridges and is very narrow at the bottom to provide clearance for passenger platforms.

Road vehicles are typically square in section and permitted heights allow vehicles to accommodate high volume loads. Many such vehicles have curtain sides which allow full height side access.

The normal rail structure gauge in Britain is called W6. There is also an enhanced rail structure gauge running from the Channel Tunnel to Intermodal Terminals. This gauge, called SB1 (Swap Body One), and also W9, is the W6 gauge plus "ears" in the top corners to accommodate containers or swap bodies or flat wagons. The SB1 gauge however is provided only for de-mountable loads. After the load is removed the wagon remains in the W6 gauge and can therefore travel unrestricted to workshops and so around the British rail network. There is a problem in providing a rail transport unit which can use SB1 gauge to its fullest extent and then when unloaded to use the more restricted W6 gauge. Whilst documents such as DE-A-195 13 144 propose releasing the curtain sides of a rail vehicle and then winding up the longitudinal roof edge structure when the vehicle is stationary to facilitate loading and unloading, there has never been with knowledge a proposal to provide arrangements to do the reverse, that is, by lowering the roof edge structure. Indeed such a reverse arrangement requires adaption to any such arrangement as that in DE '144 above.

According to the present invention there is provided a rail transport unit for transporting a load comprising a body for mounting on wheels, the body comprising an under-frame, a roof and vertical roof support means mounted to the under-frame for supporting the roof, the roof having a longitudinal edge structure on each side, and curtain sides suspended therefrom, the height of the outer longitudinal edge of the structure being adjustable with respect to the roof, whereas the outer longitudinal edge of the structure is adjustable to a desired position with respect to the roof and is positively stopped from falling below the desired position and characterised in that the curtain sides are arranged to be tensioned against the edge structure stopped at a positive stop location.

By adjusting the outer edge of the roof upwards it is possible to load up the unit to the roof to the full SB1 or UIC B+ gauge and then after unloading to lower the roof edge so that it can negotiate British W6 gauge which is lower at the edges than the SB1 gauge. For explanation of the SB1 and W6 gauges see Figure 1.

The unit can be either a rail/road carried unit such as a swap body or else can be part of a rail vehicle or wagon.

In one embodiment the outer edge of the roof can have a dependent portion or members so that by raising the outer edge loading to the roof is possible. Then when loading is complete, the edge is lowered to clamp a top load unit (e.g. a small container) within the wagon's structural limits. After use the outer edge can be lowered again to negotiate a small gauge.

The edge structure can be pivotally mounted or else be detachably dismountable.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows W6 and SB1 rail structure gauge;

Figure 2 shows the side elevation of the rail vehicle according to the invention;

Figure 2a shows a section through the rail vehicle of Figure 2;

Figure 3 shows a side elevation of two rail vehicles assembled as a close coupled twin set. One body has a side curtain removed to illustrate a double stacked palletised load unit;

Figure 4 shows the W6 and SB1 rail structure gauge and the profile of the unit of Figure 2 and its bulkheads;

Figure 5 shows a section through the unit of Figure 2 shown here as a wagon frame illustrating the pivoting roof and double stacked palletised loads;

Figure 6 shows a detail of a top corner of the rail wagon of Figure 5 illustrating a pivoting roof in SB1 and W6 gauge positions;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a longitudinal edge structure for the roof of the rail wagon of Figure 5; and

Figure 8 shows a detail of a top corner of the rail wagon illustrating the pivoting roof in the SB1 gauge, but modified in order to retain the top portion of the load. The roof is also shown "raised" - to provide full side access during loading.

Figure 1 illustrates the W6 UK rail structure gauge 1 which is curved at the top. Superimposed is the SB1 structure gauge 2 for de-mountable load units - showing the additional space available.

Figure 2a illustrates a section through the wagon showing the palletised load 7 and the roof 25 in the SB1 rail gauge 2.

Figure 3 illustrates the wagons arranged as a twin set for volume and length efficiency, showing conventional height couplings 4, low height semi-permanent coupling 8, palletised load 7 (curtain removed), and curtain sides 9.

Figure 4 illustrates W6 rail gauge 1, SB1 rail gauge 2, bulkhead profile 6 (inside W6 gauge) and wagon frame profile 5.

Figure 5 illustrates an enlarged section through the wagon showing the palletised load 7, the roof 25 having a longitudinal edge structure 30 in the SB1 rail gauge 2. The wagon frame is positioned in the lower narrow part of the W6 rail gauge 1 and together with the space provided by the top corners of the SB1 gauge 2 allows for the transport of double stacked palletised loads 7. The wagon suspension centres are adjusted to provide a wagon width similar to that of a road vehicle, thus enabling pallets to be loaded "two wide" over the entire length of the rail wagon frame 5. Similarly the curtains 9 hang in one plane from the edge structure 30 for the entire length of the wagon.

Figure 6 illustrates the top corner of the pivoting roof showing a pivoting roof edge structure 30 in the SB1 gauge 2 position and also in a lowered position with the W6 gauge 1. The wagon can therefore accommodate high loads within SB1 gauge and after the loads are removed the roof can be lowered to W6 gauge for transport to workshops if required. The curtain track 11 supports curtain 12. The fixed roof section 13 of roof 25 is supported by bulkheads 6. The longitudinal edge structure 30 shown in more detail in Figure 7 comprises a number of roof members 10 welded to hollow pivoting beam 32 at the inner side of the structure and a curtain 34 at the outer side of the structure 30. Beam 32 shown more clearly in Figure 7 is pivotally mounted at each end on bulkheads 6 at 34. Arms 36 are provided at one end of the beam 32 and suitable means 38 (here showing as a hand operated screw 40 and nut 42 arrangement mounted at trunnion 44) are provided to raise or lower the structure. The structure is covered by sheet material 35.

Figure 8 illustrates an optional roof detail for operation in the SB1 rail gauge 2. The pivoting roof is modified to positively retain the top section of the double stack pallets or unstable loads. The members 10 of the pivoting roof structure 30 is retained but the curtain track 11 is attached by a bracket 15 which forms a right angle with the roof 10. In this case the assembly 10, 15, 11 can be raised to provide unrestricted side access for loading or after removing the load can be lowered to W6 rail gauge 1 for movement to for instance workshops.

In this and all roof options the pivoting roof assembly has a positive stop or pin 50 (Figure 6) preventing the top section of the roof from falling below the desired position. The positive stop location is loaded by conventional tensioning devices (usually vertical straps and buckles) within the curtain 12.

The example mainly illustrates a rail wagon consisting of two platforms assembled as close coupled twin set, with two bogies under each platform. Although this arrangement is highly efficient, vehicles using articulated couplings, single wagons or wagons with single axle suspension can also be used.

The example illustrates a wagon with integral frame/body construction for efficiency in weight and volume. The body of the unit could be de-mountable as a swap body on a wagon chassis or flat bed rail vehicle.

The example illustrates a wagon body with two compartments per platform (with end and central bulkheads) for optimum roof strength/curtain operating length. The wagon body could contain any number of compartments.

Claims (9)

1. A rail transport unit for transporting a load comprising a body for mounting on wheels, the body comprising an under-frame, a roof (25) and vertical roof support means (6) mounted to the under-frame for supporting the roof, the roof having a longitudinal edge structure (30) on each side and curtain sides suspended therefrom, the height of the outer longitudinal edge of the structure being adjustable with respect to the roof, whereas the outer longitudinal edge of the structure is adjustable to a desired position with respect to the roof and is positively stopped (50) from falling below the desired position and characterised in that the curtain sides are arranged to be tensioned against the edge structure stopped at a positive stop location.
2. A unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the edge structure is demountable with respect to the body.
3. A unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the edge structure is pivotally mounted (34) to the body.
4. A unit as claimed in claim 3 wherein means (36, 40) are provided to cause the outer longitudinal edge of the structure to be adjusted with respect to a fully loaded condition of the unit.
5. A unit as claimed in claim 3 or 4 wherein the edge structure is provided at its outer longitudinal edge with normally vertically depending structure (15).
6. A unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the body further comprises sides (12) extending along each side of the unit.
7. A unit as claimed in claim 6 wherein the sides are curtain sides dependent from the edge structure.
8. A unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the body forms a part of a rail freight wagon.
9. A unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the body forms a part of or is a swap body for alternatively rail or road mounting.

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