US2278827A - Refrigerated freight vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Ap 7, 1942. J. J. CHIARD'xo REFRIGERATED FREIGHT VEHICLE Filed Jan. l1, 1940 QN. Ww om 2. QN n. n w um NP., ma. ,n .0 Tm N W Q ww wm n Q ICN A Em J DE N MB n D \\H QN. d/ w IAu W 1//\ l/H, LW p \\\,NN .wn M Q 1.@ l l@ IIIIIIILW Wm om MN nm w qm NQNKN NIIY @VN HN .mw om menta @1,1942 2,273,827

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I I anr'nlcnnnnzzqrscnr VEHICLE Application January ,(01. 6,2*19

Claims.

.The object of the invention is to provide improvements in refrigerator cars broadly, and especially in those which are sub-divided into a plurality of compartments.v

Another and more specific object is to provide aV car of this class, in which the several compartments are'strictly independent of one an other, so far as they may be loaded and unloaded at will and without disturbing the contents of the remaining one or more compartments, but are so inter-connected by air ducts with their respective end and intermediate ice bunkers, or equivaient sources of co1d, that a remarkably uniform degree both of temperature and humidity is maintained throughout the car as a whole, thereby entirely eliminating so-called black rot, mildew, mold and similar forms of objectionable contaminating and destructive media.

A further and more specific object is to provide a car of this type, in which there are provided the usual end ice bunkers and in addition thereto at is shown as comprising a floor I, resting upon least one more centrally located bunker, it being understood that one such additional bunker may be located in the exact center, or spaced to one side thereof in order to provide compartments of diierent capacities, or a. plurality of such additional bunkers may be employed, but in any case there are provided apertures in the upper and lower portions of the bunker walls for the relatively free circulation of the air within the car.

There is also preferably provided a false inner ooring of slats, upon which the basket, box, barrel or other contents of the respective compartments rest, said inner flooring being spaced well above the oor of the car, and adapted to receive cracked ice both prior to the initial loading operation, and also to receive the cracked ice that eventually falls from above the packages, as the latter are unloaded in whole or in part from each of said compartments, following which the presence of such ice still further contributes to the low temperature of the interior of the car.

' In addition to the foregoing, there is provided a system oi' drains for leading the water of the meiing ice from the ice bunkers and also from the intervening storage spaces towards the exterior of the car, while the several discharge outlets of such drainage system are effectively closed by means of traps, against the intake of hot air from immediately above therailway tracks upon which the car is mounted.

With the objects thus briefly stated, the invention comprises further detalls of construction and operation, which are hereinafter fully brought out in the following description, when longitudinal trusses 2, in turn supported by the usual trucks 3, and provided with the usual coupling devices I ,for operatively connecting said car in a train. From the transversely opposite edges of said oor rise side walls 5 through each oi which. extend a plurality of doorways B, normallyclosed by any desired ype of door 1, while the adjacent ends of said sid ed by upwardly extending end walls 8. Finally, the upper edge portions of said side and end walls are spanned by a top wall or roof 9, which may be of any desired cross section, such for instance as that shown in Figs. I and II.

Within said car and spaced from the end walls B are vertically extending partitions l0, providing between them and the respective end walls bunkers II in which cakes of ice I2 are stored, access to said bunkers being through one or more apertures of lling ports I3 in the said roof, surrounded by iianges Il and adapted to be spanned in warm weather by removable and angularly adjustable closures I5. The lower portion of each of said bunkers is provided with a removable ialse oor I6, formed of spaced slats upon which the blocks of ice I2 directly rest, while each of said bunker partitions is provided with a set of apertures comprising airinlets I1 adjacent to the roof of the car, a second set of apertures comprising air outlets I8 adjacent to the bottom of the car but above the false bunker flooring I6, and preferably also a third set of apertures I9 beneath the level of the slatted flooring, each group of apertures being for a purpose hereinafter described.

Located at any desired position within said carA and spaced from and between the bunker partitions IO is a third bunker 20, deiined by and between spaced bunker walls 2l and adapted to normally contain blocks of ice 22. This third bunker is deemed suilicient to illustrate the principles of operation herein involved, but is intended to represent any desired number of bunkers in addition to those positioned at the ends of the car. This third bunker space, like those first mentioned, is similarly provided with a false slatted ilooring 23 spaced above the iloor I of the car,

walls are connectwhile the partitions 2I are provided in each case with at least three sets of apertures 24, 25 and 26,

corresponding with the apertures I1, I8 and I9;V

respectively, in the rst mentioned bunker par- `titions I0. On the other hand, if desired each other closure 20h.

Within said car and upon the opposite side of the intermediate bunker 20 are storage spaces 21, which are accessible entirely independently of i one another throughy the doorways 6, upon the opposite sides of the car and leading into each of said spaces respectively. Within the lower part of each storage space sa, false flooring 28 of spaced slats is provided, preferably in substantial alignment with the corresponding slattedl fioorings of the respective ice bunkers, each of said floorings, both for storage spaces and bunkers being removable at will for the purpose of cleaning beneath them, and when in operative position being spaced from about 4 to 6" above the upper surface of the car floor I. As indicated in Fig. I of the drawing, the several storage spaces within the car may be filled either partially or entirely with either thesame or entheir place of origin to the particular metropolitan center or centers, where they are unpacked *from the car andfromV which they are distribpair of partition apertures I8 and I8 in the paruted to the various dispensing agencies. Having once lowered the temperature within each storage space, the ice blocks within the bunkers Il and 20 will tend to insure the maintenance ofl the desired low temperature for a considerably tirely different commodities, which for purposes ofL illustration, are here represented as comprising goods contained in baskets 29 in one compartment and in boxes or crates 30 'in the compartment. These baskets, boxes,

crates, or other form of containers may be packed either in spaced relation, as indicated in the left hand compartment, or may be packed closely together, as indicated in the right hand space. In either arrangement loose, broken or cracked ice 3| may be thrown loosely over the top of the containers when closely packed,

or both over the top and between the several `containers when loosely packed. In addition,

smaller particles of cracked ice may be initially placed beneath the slatted ooring, as also indicated in Fig, I, or may be initially omitted from this latter location as desired.

In the operation of a car of this type, the same may be loaded in each of its storage spaces at a single location, or one storage space may be loaded at one place and the car then shifted to another place before the other of the said storage spaces is loaded. In any such case, it is well recognized that the fruit, vegetables, or the like placed within the car are characterized by a considerable degree of so-called eld or ground heat. It is for the elimination of this initial heat that the ice 3l is frequently thrown over and about the containers 29 and 30, and during the elimination of such heat most of this ice melts, but in the meantime the`temperature both of the containers with their contents, and the surrounding atmosphere of the storage space will have been lowered to the desired degree, at which the particular perishable commodities being transported will be preserved, for at least a sufficient time to permit them to be carried from greater period. Furthermore, bypositioning an additional one or more ice bunkers intermediate of the ends of the car, and interconnecting such additional bunker in the air circulating system of the car, the heretofore objectionable and in fact minous black rot of certain perishable fruits and vegetables is entirely eliminated.

In addition to the foregoing, it is to be noted that the natural circulation of air through bunkers and storage spaces isv maintained to a far greater degree than in the absence of the intermediate bunker 20. In fact, in refrigerator cars of present-day construction, the center of the car is so remote from the ice bunkers at its opposite ends, that the air at such central point remains practically static, thus in time absorbing heat andpermitthg a substantial rise in temperature oi' the products in the center of the car, and simultaneously tending toencourage the growth of mildew, mold and such objectionable developments and growths. Furthermore,

vrelatively warm air rising within a given storage space, if unable to flow freely into the adjacent end compartment Il by way of the upper aperture I1, and thence downwardly past the ice I2 and again into said storage space by way of either or both of the apertures IB and I9, or their equivalent vertically enlarged aperture, will be enabled to flow into the intermediate bunker 20 through the upper aperture 24, and upon coming in contact with the ice blocks 22 will .be enabled to pass downwardly, and thence into the storage space through the lower apertures 25 'and 26 or their equivalent vertically enlarged aperture, as hereinbefore described.

During the melting of the ice while in said bunkers, and also in said storage spaces, the resulting water will gravitate downwardly through the slatted flooring and upon reaching the upper surface of the bottom wall or floor I, will eventually find its way into longitudinally extending gutters 32 in and adjacent to the laterally opposite limits in said floor. From said gutters the water can then drain downwardly through outlet pipes 33, which terminate within and below the upper level of cup-shaped traps 34, which cooperate with said pipes to provide a liquid seal, operative to prevent the intake of the much hotter air normally in the region above the railroad track, upon which the car is characteristically mounted and moved. Other types of seals may of course be used as desired. Thus, the water from the melting ice is free to flow from the bottom of` the ear, but air of any sort and particularly hot air, is purposely and effectively prevented from entering through the said bottom wall or flooring. On the other hand, during cold weather in particular, that is, when the outside temperature is at 32 F., or lower, and during a substantial portion of any trip, the several closures I5 and 20h of the respective bunkers may be opened at such desired angle and in such direction, that the outside air will be drawn-into the car during and as a result of the cars movement. Likewise, by proper arrangement of the several closures in opposite directions, the cold outside ai'r may be taken into a. bunker at one each compartment is independent of that in the end and forced through the car and thence out of the bunker opening at the other end, or out of an intermediate bunker opening, at the other end, or out of an intermediate bunker opening, exactly as desired.

Having described one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the broad principles involved anticipate numerous variations in the details of construction, without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims, while additional renements may be added, if desired, as for instance the provision of exterior means of identification for the interior compartments, as for instance the use-of such symbols as A and B, which when used upon bills of lading readily denote which compartment is to be opened by a given consignee, and thus precluding the necessity of opening each in order to determine their contents.

Also, it is to be understood that the present invention is equally adapted to automobile trucks and trailers, wherefore the term vehicle is employed to include any devices of this class, which are propelled from place to place either upon railways or highways.

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

1. A refrigerator vehicle, comprising end ice bunkers and an intermediate ice bunker separated by independent storage compartments having independent closure-controlled openings providing access thereto, a false apertured ooring in each of said compartments and a false apertured oor in each of said bunkers, the inner walls of said end bunkers and both walls of said intermediate bunker beingprovided at I other compartment, and the chilling effect of the intermediate bunker bolsters that of the end bunkers independently, a longitudinally extending gutter provided in the oor of each of said compartments, and a drain aperture for said gutter.

3. A refrigerator vehicle, comprising end ice bunkers and an intermediate ice bunker separated by independent storage compartments having independent closure-controlled openings providing access thereto, a false flooring composed of spaced slats in each of said compartments and a false floor composed of spaced slats in each f of said bunkers, the inner walls of said end bunkers and both walls of said intermediate bunkerbeing provided at their upper extremities with inlet apertures, and adjacent to their lower extremities with outlet apertures both above and below said false floorings, a longitudinally extending gutter provided in the oor of each of said compartments, and a drain aperture for said gutter.

4. A refrigerator vehicle, comprising an end ice bunker, a second ice bunker within. and spaced from the ends of said vehicle to provide independent storage compartments, the-walls of' said bunkers being built unitarily into the structure of the vehicle as rigid partitions and provided in their upper and lower portions with apertures, independent means of access to said compartments, and a false ooring having spaced apertures, whereby the circulation of air within each compartment is independent of that in the other compartment and flows beneath as well as above objects resting uponl said ooring.

5. A refrigerator vehicle, comprising end ice bunkers and an intermediate ice bunker separated by independent storage compartments having independent closure-controlled openings providing access thereto, the walls of said intermediate ice bunker being rigid and forming an 'integral part of the vehicle structure, a fal'se flooring having apertures in each of. said compartments, the inner walls of said end bunkers and both walls of said intermediate bunker being provided adjacent. to their upper and lower extremities with air-circulating apertures.

JAMES J. CHIARDIO.

Images