US2142320A - Refrigerator car floor - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 3, 1939. .1. s. LUNDVALL REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR Filed Nov. 15, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l Q gag fix mm 1 mw 1 5 w J? F 2a Q \s 1 N 2. M Q MS R% day;

Jan. 3, 1 939. I J 5 LUNDVALL 2,142,320

REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR Filed Nov. 13, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 3, 1939. J. s. LUNDVALL REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR Filed Nov. 13, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR John S. Lundvall, Chicago, 111., assignor to Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Illinois Application November 13, 1936, Serial No. 110,571

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to refrigerator car floors, and is particularly concerned with the provision of an improved refrigerator car floor construction, which is adapted to prevent all leakage of drippings through the floor into the insulation.

A large number of perishable products shipped in refrigerator cars require a top icing; that is, ice is usually placed on top and between the perishable product, in order to keep the product fresh and in an unwilted condition. The drippings from this top icing fall directly on the main floor of the car, which is usually of wood.

After the car has been in service a limited length of time, the moisture from the top icing drippings seeps through the main floor boards at the joints, and through the boards around the nails, into the insulation, causing the insulation to become soggy and wet and practically worthless as insulation, thus impairing the temperature holding efiiciency of the car.

In the devices of the prior art, relatively heavy and closely fitting boards have been used in an effort to eliminate such leakage, as well as waterproof fabric coverings for such fioor boards,

with the result that such prior constructions are not durable or'capable of keeping the insulation in suitable condition as described above.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved watertight refrigerator car floor which eliminates the necessity for the usual heavy one and three-fourths inch floor boards, the waterproofing fabric, and the labor involved in applying these elements of the prior constructions.

Another object is the provision of an improved waterproofed floor which may be constructed of steel and which is adapted to extend upward on the sides of the car to a sufficient distance so that there is no possibiilty of the water ever rising above the edge of the steel flooring.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved steel floorconstruction which is adapted to be laid in sections so that the insulation and flooring may be applied to the framework of the car after the roof has been put on and after the car is sufficiently complete to prevent any damage to the insulation by the 5 water.

Another object is the provision of an improved sectional refrigerator car floor construction by means of which various portions of the car floor may be removed and repaired, if necessary, or by 0.. means of which access may be had to the insulation, if necessary, to determine its condition, or repair and replace the insulation of the floor.

Another object is the provision of an improved fioor construction of the type described, having provision for suitably securing floor racks, 5 without any possibility of leakage through the securing devices.

Another object is the provision of an improved refrigerator car floor construction in which there is greater uniformity of insulating value of the 1 insulation over the complete floor area.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the three sheets of drawings accompanying this specification,

Fig. 1- is a top plan view of the floor of a refrigerator car, with the wall of the car shown in 20 section, and constructed according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the plane of the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; 25

, Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of the floor,

showing the preferred mode of dividing the floor up into sections for the purpose of application of the steel flooring;

Fig. 4 is a transverse, sectional view, taken on 30 the plane of the line l i of Fig. 1, loohng in lal the direction of the arrows;

Fig; 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a floor 40 rack hinge, with a part of the wall in section at the upwardly turned edge of the steel flooring;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the floor rack hinge construction shown in Fig. 7, taken on the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; 45

Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 6, showing a modified form of joint betweensections of the metal flooring;

Fig. 10 is a similar view of another modification;

Fig. 11 is a similar view of another modification.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, 20 indicates, in Fig. 4, the longitudinally extending wooden stringers v which run lengthwise of the car and rest on the cross bearing members of the steel under-frame of the refrigerator car. These stringers are usually approximately seven inches deep, and in the devices of the prior art are used to support the relatively thick wooden floor, the insulation being disposed upon the stringers and below the floormg.

According to the present invention, a sub-flooring 2| of wood is nailed directly to the stringers, and the insulation, comprising the layers 23, is placed above the sub-flooring 2|. Where the insulation consists of bats or sheets of area too small to cover the entire floor, as is generally the case, the joints are, of course, broken between the successive layers of insulation.

This insulation may consist of any suitable form of heat insulating material, preferably in the form of a felt, and may comprise any of the suitable insulating fibers, vegetable, mineral or animal, the vegetable fiber being the more economical.

Any suitable number of layers may be used to insulate the car to any degree desired, and in some embodiments of the invention, as, for example, in that shown in Fig. 5, an upper layer of insulating board 24, such as Celotex or other insulating board may be used. The insulating layers 23 may be clamped in place by means of a plurality of sub-stringers 25, comprising wooden members extending longitudinally of the car and located above the main stringers 20.

The sub-stringers 25 not only comprise clamping members, but are supports for the main floor of steel, and they are preferably bolted to the substringers 20 by means of through bolts, lag screws, or the like. They are also preferably suitably spaced from the stringers 20 by means of spacers which definitely predetermine the spacing between the members 20 and 25 and support the substringers 25 in the same position, irrespective of the tendency of the clamped insulating layers, which might give.

The car is, of course, provided with suitable steel framework for supporting the stringers 20 and including the side angles 26 as well as the vertical framework which supports the walls 21.

The flooring of the car may then comprise a layer of sheet steel 28, which extends over the full area of the floor of the car from one drip pan at one end of the car to the other drip pan at the other end of the car and also overlapping the sill at the door of the car.

In some embodiments of the invention the" steel flooring 28 might be made in one continuous sheet, but this is subject to the disadvantage that it is difficult to apply such large sheets; and to have them purchased and shipped. The sheet steel flooring 28 is preferably of sufficient thickness so as to be substantially rigid and provide adequate support for the products which are shipped in the car. It preferably not only covers the floor, but extends upward at each border of the floor, that is, at the car walls, a sufficient distance, such as approximately seven inches, which will carry the flooring up above the floor racks andpositively eliminate any possibility of water accumulating on the floor to a sufficient height to over-run the upwardly turned edge of the flooring.

The sub-stringers 25 are preferably so arranged with respect to the main stringers 20, which are level, that there is a suitable slope provided on the floor to cause the floor to drain toward ea h end from the middle of the car. This may be done either by tapering the sub-stringers 25 or by increasing the spacing of the sub-stringers with respect to the main stringers 20 toward the middle of the car.

In order to eliminate the difiiculties involved in securing and handling steel sheets of sufiiclent width and length to cover the entire car floor in one piece, I prefer to form the steel flooring in suitable sections. For this purpose the car floor is shown in Fig. 3 as being divided up into a plurality of sections, each of which is covered by a piece of sheet steel of suitable size. In this diagram 29 indicates the drip pan at the right end, and 30 the drip pan at the left end of the 'car. 3| indicates the floor section immediately adjacent the door-ways, preferably so located that it may be most conveniently installed and arranged in connection with the door sills, which require a slightly different form of construction for the floor covering at that point. 32 is used to indicate the substantially identical intermediate floor sections between the door section and the drip pans, and 33 indicates a relatively narrow floor section which may be used to overlap the edges of the drip pans 29, 3B or which may form an integral part of the drip pan.

Referring to Fig. 6, this is a sectional view showing one of the preferred forms of joint between the steel sections 29-33.

It should be understood that any suitable steel alloy may be used, capable of withstanding corrosion, or the flooring may be covered with suitable galvanizing in order to prevent rust. In some embodiments of the invention the various sections 29-33 may be secured together by suitable welding processes, any of the forms of watertight welding known in the art being used; but I prefer to provide a joint substantially as shown in Fig. 6.

For this joint, each of the edges of the steel sections which extend parallel to the ends of the car is provided with a downwardly and slightly backwardly turned flange 34. The flanges 34 support a flange 35 in each case, which extends substantially parallel to the body 28 of the section. The flanges 35 are preferably narrower than the flanges 34, and preferably bear such a relation to the channelled cap strip 36 that they may be conveniently assembled with the cap strip by pressing the flanges 34 together.

The finished shape of the joint, however, is such that the flanges 34 form a rib on the bottom of the flooring 28, which grows wider toward its edge, and which is, therefore, adapted to retain the metal strip 36, which is complementary in shape.

Thus the channel strip 36 has a flat yoke or body 31 and a pair of side flanges 38, which extend in the same direction from the body or yoke 31, but are each at an angle slightly less than ninety degrees, so that they extend diagonally toward each other. All of the parts of this joint described are resilient, and therefore adapted to give during the assembly.

The sub-stringers 25 are, of course, provided with suitably formed cut-outs 39 for receiving the channel strips 35 so that the body 28 of the flooring rests directly on the top of the substringers 25 and the yoke 31 of the channel strip 36 rests on the bottom of the groove 39. The member 40 in the assembly is a round edge flat steel, bar of sufficient width so that when it is assembled with the sections and channel strip, as shown in Fig. 6, it presses the flanges 34 into engagement with the side walls 38 of the channelled strip 36.

It preferably is of substantially rectangular section, but has rounded ends 4| so as to facilitate its installation. It is inserted into the groove 42 between the flanges 34 edgewise, one rounded edge 4| being placed in one of the comers, such as, for example, the corner 43. Thereafter suitable force is applied to force the steel bar 48 downward until it reaches the position of Fig. 6, where it has spread the flanges 34 out into tight engagement with the side walls 38 of the channelled strip 36.

' The steel bar 40 is then permanently secured in place by its engagement with the flanges 34,

which extend toward each other above the steel bar 48. A suitable, initially plastic seaming compound, such as a hot asphalt compound, is then poured into the groove 42 and finished off flush with the top of the steel flooring 28, thereby providing a water-tight joint.

It should be observed in Fig. 4 that not only do the wall portions 44 of the floor lining extend up on each side of the car, but the joints also extend upward, including the flanges 34,35 and the channelled strip 36, and all of these members are of suitable shape so that due to their resiliency they may be assembled, although the portions thereof at the side walls are not in the same plane as the floor.

A separate, short length of steel bar 40 may be inserted in the short portion of the joint which appears at each side of the car, or the hinge casting may alone be used to draw the flanges together.

With respect to the center section 3|, it is provided with suitable joint flanges 34 at each edge and the portions which extend upward on the wall at each side of the door sill 45. The door sill is preferably covered with a suitable pressed board covering 46, which fits into a groove formed in the depending flange 49, carried by the middle floor section. The depending flange 49 extends inward. downward, and again slopes down and outward on the sill 45. An angle iron 41 covers the outer face of steel 45, but is spaced from the edge of the sheet metal under the covering 46 so as not to provide a metal conductive path from the outside of the car to the inside. The edges of the flange 49 and associated parts are welded to the upwardly extending steel plates on the sides of the door so that there is a complete water-tight covering for the lower portion of the door frame, sill, and floor.

Referring to Fig. 5, this is another form of substringer 25a, which is similar in shape to that previously shown, but is mortised at 58, at the top, adjacent each edge, to receive the insulating floor board 24. This stringer is also grooved as shown in Fig. 6 at points adjacent the section joints, the numeral 5| being used to indicate a joint of the type described with respect to Fig. 6 or other modifications, Figs. 9-11.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, these flgures show the construction of the hinge fittings which support the floor racks. The refrigerator car floor is usually and preferably covered with sectional floor racks, shown in Fig. 1 in plan, and indicated by the numerals 52, 53. These floor racks comprise the longitudinally extending frame members 54 to which the slats 55 are secured by screws or bolts in spaced relation to each other to support the load, but to permit the drippings to pass through the racks.

At each end of the car, below the bulkhead 56 or adjacent thereto,.the flooring 28 is preferably provided with a stop member, which may consist of a sheet metal member 51 of substantially U shape, having suitable attaching flanges welded to the steel flooring 28, and located as shown in Fig. 1, to engage the two end racks at the middle of the car. The racks are held in place at their outer edges by suitable hinges, shown in Figs. 7 and 8; but since they bear the entire load, which might tend to cause the racks to shift at the middle, this is prevented by the stop 51 at each end of the car.

The rack hinges may consist in each case of a pair of members 58, 59 made of cast metal and secured respectively to the car wall and the rack. Hinge casting 59 has its vertical attaching flange 60 secured to the rack frame member 54 by a plurality of screw bolts 6|. It has a pair of pintle bearings 62, one located on each side of a pintle bearing 63, carried by the hinge casting 58. The pintle 64 secures these two members in pivotal iglation at a point spaced from the steel flooring The point of pivot is preferably located at the top of the rack so as to permit the rack to swing upward against the side of the car, where it may be secured by hooks, latches, or other securing devices when the racks are not to be used.

The hinge casting 58 has its body secured to the upwardly extending steel flanges 44 by a plurality of screw bolts 65 which pass through the flange 44 and through the body 58. In order to assure a' water-tight joint, the casting is formed with a recess 66 on its back side, surrounding the screw bolts 65, and these recesses 66 communicate with the upwardly extending part of the groove 42 of the joint, by means of a chamber 61, which extends across the rear side of the casting 58.

The chambers 66 and 61 are completely closed at their edges by the side flanges 68 and by the fact that the body 58 of the casting engages flatly against the sheet steel 44 above and below the transverse recess 61. This also serves to close the otherwise opened inner side of the groove 42 of every joint where the joint extends upwardly on the side wall of the car. Thus the hot asphalt seaming compound may also be poured into the vertically extending grooves 42 of the joint, where they will run into the chambers 66 and 61, surrounding the securing bolts 65 and assuring a water-tight joint around the securing bolts on the hinges.

Referring to Fig. 9, this is a modified form of joint, which is also located in a groove in a stringer 25. In this case the stringer 25 extends longitudinally of the joint and transversely of the by means of a cap strip H, which may have a plurality of nails I2 welded to the inner surface of the cap strip. The nails 12 are long enough to extend downward into the sub-stringer 25, and the cap strip is provided with a flat upper body and with diagonallyand outwardly extending flanges 13 parallel to the flanges 18.

A metallic anchoring strip 14 may be welded to the top of the body of the cap strip II for the purpose of ,anchoring the compound 15 in place.

It will be observed that when the nails 12, carried by the cap strip H, are driven into the substringer 25, the flanges l3 engage the flanges I and tend to draw the two sections of steel together.

Compound is preferably placed below and above the cap strip H, in the manner previously described, and the hot asphalt compound is smoothed off flush with the top of the steel flooring 28.

Referring to Fig. 10, in this modification the edges of each floor section are provided with a downwardly extending flange 16, a horizontally extending flange TI, and an upwardly extending flange 18. The channelled edge portion formed by the flanges 16-18, when combined with the channel at the edge of an adjacent section, substantially fills the groove 39 in the stringer 25, and the flanges I8 engage each other.

The flanges 11 may be provided with apertures for receiving the wood screws 18, by means of which the sections are secured to the sub-stringers 25. The joint is also provided with a cap strip 80, which may comprise a substantially U-shaped member, the parallel flanges of which engage and clamp together the vertical flanges 18, having a drive fit with these flanges. Substantially horizontal foot flanges 8| on each edge of the cap strip may be used to cover the heads of the screw bolts 19. In other embodiments of the invention nails may be used, if desired, which will be welded to these foot flanges 8|. In this embodiment the joint is again finished and waterproofed by means of the seaming compound 15.

Referring to Fig. 11, this is another modification, in which the opposite edges of the steel sections are provided with different formations, which cooperate to make a joint. For example, the section 28a is provided with a downwardly extending flange 82,'a horizontal flange 83, and an upwardly extending flange 84. The steel section 281) is provided with a downwardly extending flange 85 which fits inside the flange 84, and with a horizontally extending flange 86 which engages the lower flange 83 and covers the heads of screw bolts 81. a

An angle member 88 may have one flange welded to the flange 82 for the purpose of locking the flange 86 in the groove provided by the flanges 82-84, and the joint is again waterproofed by means of seaming compound 15.

If desired, nails may be substituted for screws 81 in this embodiment, and may have their heads welded at 89 to the flange 86.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that the floor is thus built up of a plurality of sections provided with the joints The drip pan sections 29 and 38 are preferably formed with anv offset flange 90 below the bulkhead 56 so as to a place the main body of the pan slightly below the flooring 28.

This drip pan 30 may have a diagonally upwardly extending portion 9i engaging a cross beam 92 and providing a support for the frame members which bear the load of the bulkhead 56. The drip pan is provided with a suitable water trap 93, shown at the right end of Fig, 2, and with upwardly extending flanges 94 around all of the side walls.

The features of the bulkhead 56, shown in Fig. 2, are the subject of another of my co-pending applications, Case 4, Serial No. 115,107, filed December l, 1936, and therefore will not be described in detail herein.

The side walls of the car are preferably provided with an insulating construction of the type disclosed and covered by my copending application, Case 3, flled October 2, 1936, Ser. No. 103,735, and therefore will not be described in detail herein.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved floor construction for refrigerator cars, in which the floor may be completely covered with a layer of steel, which in the preferred form has water-tight joints that permit of expansion and contraction without leakage. The resilientflanges at the joints permit suflicient movement to take care of any expansion and contraction, and, if necessary, any section of flooring may be removed and repaired, or the insulation may be inspected and repaired. There is absolutely no possibility of leakage when the joints are properly filled with seaming compound as described, and therefore the insulation is kept in a dry and eflicient condition throughout the entire life of the car. The flooring is not only waterproofed over its entire area, but it extends up wardly on the wall of the car, and is waterproofed at the points of securement of the floor rack hinges, and the construction requires a minimum amount of attention after its initial insulation.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of myinvention, many modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a floor joint for metal refrigerator car floors, the combination of a channelled strip having side flanges bent toward each other with edge flanges carried by adjacent steel sections, said edge flanges being adapted to engage the side flanges of said channelled strip, and means for forcing said edge flanges into resilient engagement with the walls of said channelled strip.

comprising a narrow strip of predetermined width and thickness adapted to be inserted between said edge flanges and moved from inserted position into transverse relation to said edge flanges, said edge flanges having additional flanges engaging between said channelled strip and said narrow strip to retain said edge flanges in said channelled strip.

2. In a refrigerator car floor, the combination of a support with insulation carried by said support and a metallic floor covering located above said insulation, said metal floor covering being formed in a plurality of sectionscovering the floor of said car and extending upward on the walls thereof to a predetermined point, said sections having water-tight joints also extending upward on said walls, said water-tight joints being formed with a groove and a water-proofing compound filling said groove, said upwardly extending portions of said flooring having means I, for closing the upwardly extending portion of said groove to retain the compound in that por-- tion of the groove.

3. In a refrigerator car construction, the combination of a waterproofing layer for the floor extending upward on the sides of said car, a hinge fitting for a floor rack carried by said layer and having securing devices extending through said fitting and layer, said fitting being formed with a recess surrounding said securing said insulation and clamping said insulation to members whereby waterproofing compound may I be applied around said securing members in said recess.

4. In a metal floor joint for refrigerator cars, the combination of a stringer having a recess for receiving said joint with a pair of metal floor sections, each metal floor section being formed with downwardly projecting flanges extending into said recess, said downwardly projecting flanges being provided with upwardly turned edges, and a cap strip covering said upwardly extending edges, said upwardly projecting edges being parallel and said cap strip being of substantially U shape and having a drive fit over said latter flanges.

5. In a metal floor joint for refrigerator cars, the combination of a stringer having a recess for receiving said joint with a pair of metal floor sections, each metal floor section being formed with downwardly projecting flanges extending into said recess, said downwardly projecting flanges being provided with upwardly turned edges, and a cap strip covering said upwardly extending edges, said upwardly projecting edges being parallel and said cap strip being of substantially U shape and having a drive fit over said latter flanges, and a waterproofing compound covering said cap strip and said flanges to provide a watertight joint.

6. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudi nally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said sub-flooring, and a metal flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported thereby, said metal flooring comprising a plurality of flooring sections, each section extending across the refrigerator car and having upwardly turned ends extending above the water line, and each I section having at its edges a pair of downwardly turned flanges, a channeled member having upwardly extending converging flanges carried by said sub-stringers and embracing the downwardly extending flanges of two adjacent metal flooring sections, and ametal member between said downwardly extending sections and spreading said downwardly extending flanges into engagement with the flanges of said channeled member.

In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudinally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said insulation and clamping said insulation to said sub-flooring, and a metal flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported thereby, said metal flooring comprising a plurality of flooring sections, each section extending across the refrigerator car and having upwardly turned ends extending above the water line, and each section having at its edges a pair of downwardly turned flanges, a channeled member having upwardly extending converging flanges carried by said sub-stringers and embracing the downwardly extending flanges oftwo adjacent metal flooring sections, and a metal member between said downwardly extending sections and spreading said downwardly extending flanges into engagement with the flanges of said channeled member, said latter metal member being rotatable during assembly in the space between said downwardly extending flanges and being turned into horizontal position to effect a securement of said-channeled member and downwardly extending flanges.

8. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudinally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said insulation and clamping said insulation to said sub-flooring and a met-a1 flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported thereby, said metal flooring comprising a plurality of flooring sections, each section extending across the refrigerator car and having upwardly turned ends extending above the water line, and each section having at its edges a pair of downwardly turned flanges, a channeled member having upwardly extending converging flanges carried by said sub-stringers and embracing the downwardly extending flanges of two adjacent metal flooring sections, and a metal member between said downwardly extending sections and spreading said downwardly extending flanges into engagement with the flanges of said channeled member, said latter metal member being rotatable during assembly in the space between said downwardly extending flanges and being turned into horizontal position to effect a securement of said channeled member and downwardly extending flanges, and an initially plastic composition in said channeled member between said downwardly extending flanges, and above said metal member, to effect a water-tight joint.

9. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudinally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said insulation and clamping said insulation to said sub-flooring, and a metal flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported thereby, said metal flooring comprising a plurality of flooring sections, each section extending across the refrigerator car and having upwardly turned ends extending above the water line, and each section having at its edges a pair of downwardly turned flanges, a channeled member having upwardly extending converging flanges carried by said sub-stringers and embracing the downwardly extending flanges of two adjacent metal flooring sections, and a metal member between said downwardly extending sections and spreading said downwardly extending flanges into engagement with the flanges of said channeled member, said metal member comprising a flat metal bar having rounded edges.

10. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudinally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said insulation and clamping said insulation to said sub-flooring, and a metal flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported thereby, said metal flooring comprising a plu-' turned ends extending above the water line, and

each section having at its edges 9. pair of downwardly turned flanges, a channeled member has ing upwardly extending converging flanges carried by said sub-stringers and embracing the downwardly extending flanges of two adjacent metal flooring sections, and a metal member between said downwardly extending sections and spreading said downwardly extending flanges into engagement with the flanges of said channeled member, said depending flanges being each provided with laterally turned flanges confined under said metal member.

11. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudinally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said insulation and clamping said insulation to said sub-flooring, and a metal flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported thereby, said metal flooring comprising a plurality of flooring sections, each section extending across the refrigerator car and having upwardly turned ends extending above the water line, and

- each section having at its edges a pair of downwardly turned flanges, a channeled member having upwardly extending converging flanges carried by said sub-stringers and embracing the downwardly extending flanges of two adjacent metal flooring sections, and a metal member between said downwardly extending sections and spreading said downwardly extending flanges into engagement with the flanges of said channeled member, and a cast metal fitting secured to the wall of said car on said upwardly extending portion of said metal floor layer at a joint between the floor sections, said fitting enclosing the inner open edge between said flanges of said floor sections for receiving composition between said flooring flanges behind said fitting.

12. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a plurality of main stringers extending longitudinally of the car, with a sub-flooring carried by said stringers above said stringers, a predetermined quantity of heat insulating material located above said sub-flooring, sub-stringers engaging said insulation and clamping said insulation to said sub-flooring, and a metal flooring located above said sub-stringers and supported 1 member, and a cast metal fitting secured to the wall of said car on said upwardly extending portion of said metal floor layer at a joint between the floor sections, said fitting enclosing the inner open edge between said flanges of said floor sections for receiving composition between said flooring flanges behind said fitting, said fitting being secured by through bolts, and said fitting having recesses surrounding said bolts between the upwardly extending portions of said flooring and said fitting and communicating with the groove between the floor flanges whereby composition also surrounds the bolts and seals them to effect a water-proof joint around the bolts.

JOHN S. LUNDVALL.

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