US3161150A

US3161150A - Load receiving, supporting and cushioning apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3161150A
Application number: US74120A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald E Sable
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-12-06
Filing date: 1960-12-06
Publication date: 1964-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 1981-12-15

Description

Dec. 15, 1964 D. E. SABLE LOAD RECEIVING, SUPPORTING AND CUSHIONING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 6, 1960 INVENTOF DOA/ALQ- E. 545:5

ATTORNEYS oak: ca 0 D. E. SABLE Dec.- 15, 1964 LOAD RECEIVING, SUPPORTING AND CUSHIONING APPARATUS m H m M w 5 y w i m \NW 0 4 W m M 0 q VWVAI VZWZWKQ w w 6 c m w m ATTORNEY-5' Dec. 1 5, 1964 D. E. SABLE 3,161,150

LOAD RECEIVING, SUPPORTING AND CUSHIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 6, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 24 a V4, INVENTOR flan/A40 E. 548w w- M ZLMORNEYS D. E. SABLE LOAD RECEIVING, SUPPORTING AND CUSHIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 6, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS DEX 2L0 E. 50545 BY Luz United States Patent 3,161,1ltl LQAD REQEEVWG, AND CUrlllll ilNh lG AEWARAYCUS Donald E. Sable, 2519 Tomahawk Road, hhawneolldission, Katie. Dec. 6, 196b, Senl lo. 74,125 20 Qlairns; (til. Elfi 156) new, per se, and at the present time there are at least three different approaches which'a're used rather extensively. One prior-art approach includes the end-loading of railway fiat cars by driving the trailers on their bogie wheels up on inclined planes, over the end of the last railway car, and then driving them along the length of the train so that they are all loaded on the train in a fixed sequence of arrival. This means of loading has a severe drawback based on the fact that a trailer body near the center of the train cannot be removed from the train at an intermediate station without breaking the train or else unloading the train down to the location of the desired trailer body. Moreover, the longitudinal guide channels on the platforms or" the railway cars'severely damage the tires on the bogie wheels during positioning of the trailers on the fiatcars, and the inclusion of the bogie wheels raises the center of gravity of the load to an extent requiring slowing of the transit speed.

Another known type of piggyback transportation includes the use of traveling gantry cranes which straddle the railway cars and which load the trailer bodies onto the railway cars one at a time. This is a slow process considering the fact that. only one body can be loaded at a time in locations where only one or two gantry cranes are available, and the crews of all the trucks stand around uselessly and wait. In View of the great expense of these cranes, on a practical basis there are seldom more than two working on a train at a time. Assuming that it takes an estimated six minutes to load each trailer body on the train, a train including 50 flatcars (which is not at all unusual) with two trailer bodies on each would require hours to load it not one minute were wasted and every body were loaded in optimum time.

In order to overcome this defect, still another type of loading has been proposed in which the tractor vehicle towing the trailer bodybaclts thebody up to the railway car, loads one end of the body on the car and then proceeds to manipulate the body until it lines up with the center of the car. It is to improvements in this latter type of loading that the present invention is addressed.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide improved loading and load-supporting apparatus to receive and support a load which is transferred from a truck vehicle to a railway car using the power available in the truck and requiring only a niinirnurn amount of special apparatus. This is a very important object of the invention in view of the fact that some of-the other loading systems require very expensive and highly specialize'd equipment to accomplish their purpose.

It is another very important object of the present inventi'on to provide a railway car loading apparatus capable of transferring a load between a trucl: vehicle and a railway car from either side of the railway car and without requiring a large working area on the op- 3 ,lhl,l5 ?atented Dec. 15,- 1964 ice posite side or" the railway car in order to temporarily receive excessive overhangs of the load while. it is being transferred.

It is another important object of the invention to provide load-receiving means on the railway car which means automatically aligns the box as it is transferred from the bugle wheels onto the railway car without causing damage to the box even though the box may approach the load-receiving means somewhat out of alignment therewith.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a load-transferring system in which a plurality of loadreceiving means on a railway car are each adjustable longitudinally of the car in order to accommodate'various lengths of boxes and various numbers of boxes on the railway car. This provision permits the flexible and convenient handling of a plurality of boxes which may cornprise any combination of trailer bodies, such as 40-h.

bodies, ZO-ft. bodies, or IO-ft. bodies, and which can stance, loads which are not trailer bodies at all.

It is a further important object of the invention to provide adjustable load-receiving means on a plurality of railway cars which means are not only adjustable lengthwise of the cars to accommodate various loads on the same car, but which are also adapted to receive rela tively long boxes wherein one end of the box is supported on one railway car and the other end is supported on the next adjacent railway car with the box spanning the railway car couplers.

It is another important obiectto provide load-receiving means on railway cars which means are adjustable longitudinally of the railway cars so that they may be mu tually spaced apart by a proper distance to support the various sizes of boxes. Although the shorter boxes can be supported near their centers, many of the longer trailer bodies must be supported near their longitudinal ends because of the fact that these boxes were originally constructed to \yithstand internal loads when the boxes are supported at one'end on the fifth wheel of an articulated vehicle and at the other end on bogie wheels. In view of the fact that these longer trailer bodies are not designed to be supported intermediate their ends, it is important when they are heavilyloaded that they never: be subjected to support only in the center.

Some of the prior art piggyback transfer system currently in use employ a single turntable onto which the long trailer body is loaded during transfer from the truck vehicle to the railway car. These prior-art systems require that the entire trailer body be centered on the turntable and then pivoted to line up with the body of the railway car. These prior-art systems therefore require specially built trailer bodies which are reinforced to withstand central support by the turntable. Moreover, this central support on the turntable suffers from several other serious disadvantages. In the first place, a 40-ft. trailer box when supported in the center prior to pivoting to align the box with the railway car overhangs both sides of the railway car by lS-t-L, and therefore requires a large free space around the railway car before this system of loading can be used. It is an object of the present invention to overcome this disadvantage, as stated'a'oove, by providing a loading means in which the body being loaded on the railway car ordinarily overhangs the rear or the opposite side of the railway car only by a very small amount, or not at all, during the loading process. A second serious disadvantage of central support of the body during loading of long trailer bodies on the turntable of a railway car resides in the' fact that the truck body may not balance on the turntable unless the weight of the load inside the body is approximately evenly distributed. Obviously, it is entirely uneconomical to have to always pack the trailer bodies so that the weight is evenly distributed therein, and therefore when practicing the above priorart method of loading railway cars, it becomes necessary to provide additional fork-lift equipment to temporarily support the heavy end of the body to balance it on the turntable while it is being pivoted around its vertical axis to align the trailer body with the railway car. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide load-receiving means which support the longer trailer bodies near the ends thereof at all times during loading so that it is never necessary for the load inside of the trailer body to be evenly distributed; so that no special equipment is necessary to balance the trailer body during such loading; and so that substantially all of the overhang during loading occurs on the side of the railway car from which the loading is being accomplished.

According to some prior-art loading systems in which the trailer body must be first centered on a turntable on the flatcar and then pivoted around the turntable to align the trailer body with the flatcar, it is necessary for the tractor portion of the truck to push the trailer body onto the turntable of the flatcar all the way up to the center of the body. t is a relatively easy thing for the tractor to push only the extreme rear end of the trailer body onto a receiving means on a flatcar and thereby permit removal of the bogie wheels, but it is a very difficult thing for the tractor to push the trailer body halfway onto the receiving means of the railway car. The difficulty arises because of the fact that as the support of the trailer body by the turntable approaches the center thereof, the weight of the trailer transfers from the fifth wheel of the tractor onto the turntable of the railway car. quently occurs that the back wheels of the tractor lose traction and spin before the trailer body becomes centered on the turntable of the railway car. Efforts have been made to overcome this problem by using snow chains on the back wheels of the tractors, but such expedients are only partially successful. Moreover, as set forth above, fork-lift trucks are used to support the heavy end of the centered trailer, but if the heavy end is on the other side of the railway car when the trailer body is centered on the turntable, it may not even be possible to get a forklift truck around the fiat car to support the heavy end of the trailer body. At least, it would be necessary to drive the fork-lift truck all the way around the end of the train, which is a time-consuming and wasteful process.

It is another extremely important object of this invention to provide a cushioned ride for a box loaded onto a railway car and during transportation of the load by rail. The ordinary freight car is very strongly built and can withstand considerable shifting and vibration of the loads therein during transportation by rail. However, this is not true of trailer vehicle bodies which are constructed as lightly as possible so that heavier payloads may be transported over the highways in compliance with weight laws. The trailer bodies cannot stand excessive vibration and shocks without being seriously damaged. This fact is especially true of tank car bodies which are built to be towed behind tractors, but which may be loaded on flatcars for piggyback transportation. It is therefore a major object of this invention to provide effective cushioning means to give the trailer bodies as soft a ride as possible while at the same time supporting those bodies against excessive pitching and rolling motions.

Still another extremely important object of this invention is to provide a resilient trailer body cushioning means having incorporated as a part thereof torsion bar forceconverting means especially designed to convert longitudinal shocks which occur during humping of railway trains, during starting and stopping, into vertical downward components of force which can then be absorbed in the cushioning means in order to dissipate the energy and prevent excessive longitudinal shocks from being transferred to the trailer bodies and other boxes to be carried on the present load-receiving means.

It therefore fre- An extremely important object of this invention is to provide improved cushioning and load-elevating means which serve to level the load when it is being transferred between highway wheels and railway cars. The present cushioning means is an assembly comprising a plurality of symmetrically distributed pneumatic bags which can be inflated to raise and lower the load-receiving means and to cushion the load when it is supported for transport by such receiver means. These pneumatic bags can also be selectively inflated so as to tilt the load-receiving means at any desired angle. For example, if a trailer body is to be loaded onto a flatcar which is sitting level, but the wheels supporting the body are not sitting level, as with one set of wheels located in a pothole, the load-receiving means on the railway car can be tilted to assume any angle necessary to conveniently receive the body of the trailer as it is transferred from the truck onto the receiving means. Once the trailer body has been transferred to the receiver means, the air bags can then be further inflated so as to raise the end of the trailer body from the bogie wheels. According to the present system of loading, once the rear end of the trailer body has been transferred to the receiving means on the flat car and lifted ofI of the bogie wheels, the tractor is then jackknifed with respect to the trailer body and is backed up to the side of the railway car to place the forward end of the trailer body over a similar loadreceiving means also located on the railway car. This precise operation is more fully discussed hereinafter with respect to the accompanying drawings.

It is another important object of this invention to provide loading-cushioning means which cushion both ends of a trailer body substantially equally. In piggyback systems in which the trailer remains on the bogie wheels at one end and is supported on steel dollies at the other end after it is loaded on the freight car, the rubber tires of the bogie wheels provide a certain amount of cushioning for the rear end of the trailer body, but the front end of the body has a very hard ride on the dollies, and the entire load performs an undesirable springboard motion during acceleration or deceleration; According to the present system, both ends of the trailer body are supported on pneumatic cushions which provide uniform cushioning throughout the length of the trailer body.

It is another object of the present invention to pro VlClt: an efiicicnt pneumatic cushion assembly including torsion bars and load-receiving means which occupy a very much smaller vertical height than the bogie wheels and dollies on which bodies are frequently supported during rail transport in prior-art systems. This is an important feature because of the fact that permissible vertical clearances must be maintained if the train is to go under trestles and through tunnels which occur along the right-of-way. Not only is the vertical clearance a very serious problem where trailer bodies are left on the bogie wheels, but also the center of gravity of the entire load is raised to such a series extent that it is customary at the present time to reduce the speed of railway trains by about 10 percent if trailer bodies are being carried on flatcars and supported thereon by their own bogie wheels and dollies. Even the increase of air drag caused by the higher profile during such prior-art transportation noticeably increases the cost of the transportation by burnmg more fuel. The trailer bodies are generally not smooth on the outside but include a series of ribs which provide rough surfaces and high windage, which windage is aggravated when the trailer bodies are raised unnecessarily high on the fiatcars.

In carrying out the objects of this invention, I have provided a plurality of novel structures and combinations which will be more specifically described hereinafter, and thus other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent during the description of the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a railway car having four a load-receiving means according to the present invention spaced at equal intervals along the platform of the car;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the railway car and loadreceiving means of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the railway car illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and showing three trailer bodies supported on four load-receiving means, and showing the pneumatic cushions fully inflated in the transport position, the vertical extent of the cushions being exaggerated for the sake of clarity;

FIG. 4 is a side view of three railway cars mutually coupled together and supporting several different sizes of loads, the three railway cars being of three different standard lengths and the loads being illustrated as spanning the couplings between the railway cars;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of one of the loadreceiving and cushioning means;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the load-receiving and cushioning means of FIG. 5 illustrating the latter in deflated position;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of the load-receiving and cushioning means of FIG. 5, but showning the means in inflated load-transporting position, the vertical extent FIG. 9 is an elevation view similar to FIG. 7, but

showing the load-receiving means in two positions, the dotted position corresponding with the position shown in FIG. 7 and the solid-line position illustrating the position assumed by the load-receiving means when the entire assembly is traveling to the left and is sudently' decelerated; I

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional detail view illustrating one possible air bag structure and mounting means; FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional View taken through one "of the slide channels which serve to captivate the upper ends of the torsion bars, the sectional view being taken along line Ill-11 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 12 is a section view taken along line 12l2 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a view'similar to FIG. 11, but showing a modified cushion comprising a rubber member instead of a coil spring;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged side elevation of a slide channel showing the upper end of a torsion bar connected therewith by a sliding block and showing a stop means located inside the channel and secured in a selected position therein by means of a belt which transfixes the channeland the stop means;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a modified form of loadreceiving and cushioning means, differing from that shown, in FIG. 5 by the use of a different number of air bags serving as the cushioning elements and by a different form of load-receiving circle having two kingpin slots there,- in instead of a single kingpin slot as is shown on the load-receiving circle of FIG. 5; v

FIG. 16 is a plan view illustrating a portion of a railway car having two load-receiving means thereon and illustrating a truck tractor in the process of transferring a trailer body onto the railway car. The rear end of the trailer body is shown transferred onto one receiving circle, and the truck is shown in dotted lines in jackknifed position and transferring the forward end of the trailer body onto the other load-receiving circle using a rope and winch;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary section view taken along line 17-17 of FIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 ha view similar to FIG. 17, but showing somewhat modified structure.

Referring now to the first four figures of the drawings,

a plurality of railway cars are shown supported on tracks T, there being three different railway cars actually illustrated. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show standard 87-ft. railway cars bearing the reference numeral 1, and this same railway car is also illustrated as the lefthand car in FIG. 4. This figure also illustrates two other railways cars, the center car of the train of three cars bearing the reference numeral 2 and being 60-ft. inlength, and the righthand car bearing the reference numeral 3 and being 40-ft. in length. At the present time, these three railway car lengths are standard, although they by no means represent all of the possible railway car lengths.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3 inclusive, the railway car includes a platform 1a which serves as a load-supporting surface which is reinforced by a beam 1b forming a part of the railway car chassis. At each end of the railway car is a coupler 1c serving to connect the railway car to adjacent railway cars to form a train. Onthe platform of each railway car are mounted a plurality of load- 7 receiving and cushioning assemblies generally referred to by the reference numeral 10, the 87-ft. railway cars shown in FIGS. 1, 2,3 and 4 each having four such assemblies; although the number of assemblies can be varied, depending on the type of use to which the car is to be put, Detail views of these assemblies will be more fullyexplained I hereinafter. v

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8, each of the load-receiving and cushioning assemblies 10 comprises a bottom plate 12 which rests upon the platform 1a of the railway car and is rigidly secured thereto by any suitable means, for instance by bolts. Eachassembly 19 further includes a top plate 14 which is disposed parallel to the bottom plate 12 and is located in spaced relation thereabove. The top plate 14 is supported on the bottom plate 12 by one or more pneumatic cushions 16 which will be described in greater detail in connection with FIG. 10. As can be seen by observing FIG. 5, there are four such pneumatic cushions f6 employed in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 8 inclusive, and these cushions can either be circular as viewed from above in FIG. 15, or else can be oval as shown in FIG. 5. The oval cushions have the advantage of conforming better to the general" shape of the top and

bottom plates

14 and 12, respectively, but on the other .hand they have the disadvantage of being more expensive to manufacture and more difficult to mount. For this reason, a modification is shown in FIG. 15 which employs siX circular pneumatic cushions 17 instead of four oval cushions as shown in FIG. 5.

The cushions 16, and/or 1'7, are inflatable through a plurality of air ducts 18 which can be seen in FIGS. 10 and 15. A valve 2th is provided on each side of the loadrcceiving and cushioning assembly so that an air hose can be attached conveniently to either side, and the flow of air controlled by means of the associated valve 20. The air ducts l3 (shown only in FIGS. 10 and 15) extend through the lower plate 12 and include valves 22 which control the flow of air to the associated air bags, so that the inflation of each air bag can be individually controlled if so desired. it is not necessary that the ducts pass through the lower plate 12, for obviously they could be located either above or below the plate or off to one side. The exact details of the air duct system used for inflating the air bags is of minor importance, provided, however, that means is included for individually controlling the infiation of the pneumatic cushions 1.6 or 17 for the purposes hereinafter stated.

It is the pneumatic cushions which provide the entire support for the top plate in the vertical direction. However, in order to discourage tilt of the top plate with respect to the bottom plate, including both swaying and pitching motions thereof, the present invention provides torsion bar means 2 3- and 26 respectively, differing only by virtue of the fact that the torsion bar means 24 is located at one end of the load-supporting and cushioning assembly while the torsion bar means 26 is located at the other end thereof. Each of the torsion bar means comprises a horizontal central portion labeled 24a and 26:: respectively. The central portions 24a and 26a are pivotally connected to the bottom plate 12 by means of bearing straps 28 rigidly secured to the bottom plate 12, as by welding, bolting, riveting or other suitable means. Thus, the arm portions 24]) and 26b are free to pivot around the bearing straps 28, and it is by virtue of this pivoting plus bending of the torsion bars that lateral stability is imparted to the top plate 14 with respect to the bottom plate 12.

The upper ends of the

arms

24b and 26!) are pivotally connected with the downwardly extending lugs 30a which each comprise a part of a sliding block 3t) located within a guide means which in the present embodiment takes the form of a channel 32, of which there are two, fixed to the lower surfaces of each top plate 14, as can best be seen in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13. The arms 24b and 26b can be secured to lugs 30a in any suitable manner, such as by providing bolts through holes in the upper ends of the arms, or alternatively by bending the upper ends of the arms inwardly and passing them through holes 3% in the lugs 30a. At any rate, it is only necessary that the upper ends of the arms 24b and 2st; be pivotally secured to the sliding blocks 30. The slide channels 32 can be welded to the top plates 14, and have openings 32a which extend downwardly to permit the lugs 39a to pass theretbrough. Inside of each of the channels 32 is located a stop block 34 which can be positioned longitudinally of the channel 32 and which has a tapped bore 34a, which bore can be lined up with one of a plurality of holes 32b in the channel, these holes being best illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and 14. When a bore 3411 has been lined up with a hole 32b, :1 bolt 36 is passed through the hole 32b and is secured into the tapped bore 34a to secure the stop block 34 in a selected position within the channel 32. Each stop block 34 serves to limit the travel of an associated slide block 30 in a manner to be hereinafter explained in greater detail.

The limiting of the sliding motion of each slide block 30 is cushioned by a resilient pad located between the stop block and the associated slide block. A plurality of different types of cushioning pads can be used, such elements including hydraulic means, pneumatic means, coil springs or rubber elements, the latter two means being illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 13, respectively. The coil spring means bears the reference numeral 38 and the rubber element bears the reference numeral 49, both types of pads serving the same basic purpose, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The same torsion bar means is used in the modification shown in FIG. 15 as is used in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. In FIG. 15, parts which are similar to those shown in the embodiment of FIG. bear the same reference numeral.

Each top plate 14 is provided with. a longitudinal groove 14a in its upper surface and this groove extends almost the full length of the plate 14. This groove receives downwardly extending guides 42a, FIGS. 5 and 6, which are rigidly connected with the under side of a load-receiving circle 42 which rests on the upper surface of the top plate 14. The guides 42a prevent lateral motion of the receiver circle 42, while permitting adjustment of the position thereof longitudinally of the top plate 14. Each circle 42 is provided with one or more holes 42b which line up with a longitudinal series of holes 14b in the top plate 14 and which receive locating pins 44- which pass through the holes 4212 and enter the holes 14b for the purpose of fixing the longitudinal position of the circle 42 with respect to the top plate 14.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 it will be seen that the load-receiving circle 42 comprises a relatively thick plate having an undercut lower portion 42c and an enlarged upper flange portion 42d with a chamfered end edge 42a. The upper surface of the receiver circle 42 is labeled 42 and this circle is greased to pro vide a slick load-receiving surface as will be hereinafter 12:) more fully explained. Each load-receiving circle 42 also includes at least one kingpin slot 42s, the slot extending all the way across the circle in the transverse direction and being narrower near the center of the circle 42. The two outer ends of the slots are flared so as to guide an approaching kingpin into the slot as will be more fully explained hereinafter. In the illustration of FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 a simple wishbone kingpin lock 46 is illustrated, the operating mechanism for this lock being omitted in this figure since the details thereof are not particularly important.

In the modification shown in FIG. 15, a somewhat different load-receiving circle 43 is illustrated, this circle having two kingpin slots 48a and 48b each of which is substantially equivalent to the slot 42s shown in FIG. 5. Otherwise, the receiver circle $8, per se, is the same as the receiver circle 42. FIG. 15 also shows a simple mechanism for operating two wishbone locks 50 and 52, this mechanism including a lever 54 which can be housed in a slot in the receiver circle 48 (this slot not being illustrated), and the lever 54 being pivoted at its center as at 54a. Two simple linkages 54b and 540 connect the lever 54 with the wishbone locks 59 and 52 respectively so that when the outer ends of the lever 54- are moved in the direction of the arrows A the locks 50 and 52 are withdrawn from the slots 48b and 48a respectively so that trailer kingpins can be moved in and out of said slots; however, when the outer ends of the receiver 54 are moved in the direction opposite to the arrows A, the wishbone locks 51 and 52 move across the slots 48b and 48a respectively in order to captivate the trailer kingpins therein, said kingpins not being illustrated in FIG. 15. Note that both ends of the lever 5'4 extend outwardly beyond the receiver circle 48 so that this locking means can be operated from either side of the load-supporting and cushioning assembly depending on which side the loading of the assembly is being conducted on.

Referring now to FIG. 10, this figure illustrates one possible means for supporting the pneumatic cushion elements 16 (or 17) in place between the

plates

12 and 14. In the pneumatic cushioning art, as well as in the rubber vehicle tire art, there are a number of different ways for securing an annular rubber bladder to shaped mounting members. The means shown in FIG. 10 is not intended to limit the means for supporting the air cushions between the

plates

12 and 14, but is merely intended to show one possible means for supporting these pneumatic cushions in order to illustrate a complete workable example.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the pneumatic cushion element 16 itself comprises an annular rubber-type member having thickened bead-type ends which can include wire or cord reinforcements. In fact, although the rubber members 16 and 17 are illustrated as being made only of rubber, it is contemplated that they will be built in much the same manner as a vehicle tire, to include reinforcing cords, wires or crossed reinforccrnent fabrics as may be necessary to provide them with sufiicient stamina to support the heavy loads which they must bear and to oppose forces tending to cause the top plate 14 to become skewed with respect to the bottom plate 12.

These rubber members 16 (or 17) are first laid on the lower plate 12 and are then clamped thereagainst by a clamping plate 13 which is bolted to the lower plate 12 by bolts 13a, these bolts being accessible from inside the pneumatic members 16 before the plate 14 is secured in place. When the bolts 13 have been tightened, the upper clamping plate 15 is then inserted inside the rubber mem ber 16 and the plate 14 is laid over the pneumatic cushions 16 and is bolted by means of the bolts 15a to the plate 15. The bolts 13a and 15a tightly clamp the bead 16a in the shaped peripheral recess of the plates 13 and 15 and thereby tightly secure the pneumatic cushion 16 to the

plates

12 and 14. The air duct 18 passes through both the plates 12 and 13 to the interior of the pneumatic cushion to. In addition, several abutments 13b and 1515 are provided on the inner surfaces of the plates 13 and 15 respectively, for the purpose of spacing the plates 13 and 15 apart by a desired spacing in order to prevent excessive side wall flexing of the pneumatic members rs which might cause damage thereto.

Operation The principal purpose of the structure described thus far is to receive and resiliently support a plurality of loads. Especially, it is the purpose to receive and support trailer bodies which can be transferred from vehicular trucks onto railway flatcars for rail transportation. FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 15, l6, l7 and 18 show trailer bodies of several different sizes. The long trailer bodies L are approximate1y40-ft. in length and are a little bit narrower than a standard flatcar. The shorter trailer bodies are approximately ZO-ft. in length and comprise one other substantially standard length of trailer body. These two lengths are, of course, by no means exclusive, and, as a matter of fact, the'present invention is not intended to be limited to trailer bodies per so, although its principal utility is based onthe piggyback transportation of such trailer bodies. The reason for thelongitudinal adjustability of the receiver circles with respect to the upper plates 14 is to permit a variety of odd sizes of containers to be transported conveniently and economically. FIGS. 3 and 4 show particularly well the manner'in which the load receiver circles are selectively positioned on the top plates 14 in order to accommodate diiterent loads. For instance, in FIGS. 2 and 3 the first and second receiver circles 42, reading from left to right, are moved respectively toward the outer ends of the top plates 14 in order to receive a long trailer box L as shown in FIG. 3. On the other hand, the two rightmost circles in FIGS. 2 and 3 are substantially centered with respect to their top. plates 14- in order to receive and centrally support short trailer boxes S, thereby accommodating several types of boxes on the same flatcar.

From FIG. 4, however, it can be seen that even'where different lengths of flatcars l, 2 and 3, respectively 87-ft., 60-ft. and 40-ft. are used in the same train, accommodation of two or more sizes of boxes is possible on a very economical basis, meaning that there are no large empty spaces on the train. For instance, the 87-ft. fiatcar 1 has rfour circles 42 mounted thereon in such a way that the second circle from the left supports a long box L near its ends. However, the last circle 42 on the railway car 1 supports the left end of a large box L which spans the coupler between the railway cars l and 2 and has its rightmost end supported on a circle 32 at the left end of the railroad car 2. It is also to be noted that the railroad car 2 carries three circles 42 and the railroad car 3 which is still shorter carries only two circles.

In a still further generalization of the carrying capacity of the present invention, in FIG. 15 there is shown a twoslot circle 43 which. supports the kingpin ends of two trailer bodies, respectively designated as L and S. Trailer bodies now generally have a kingpin location approximately 18 inches back from the forward end thereof. Therefore, on a seven and one-half foot diameter circle 48, two kingpin slots 43a and 4-31) can be located near the leading and trailing edges of the circle it; and thereby accommodate the ends of two different trailer bodies L and S both on the same circle. This adds to the flexibility of the system and is in many respects an improvement over the type of circles shown in some of the other figures of these drawings.

Trailer bodies in general comprise a long box having a door which is reinforced from below by some sort of longitudinal bracing. 7 Many of the trailer bodies are now built in the manner illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 16 wherein the trailer box L is provided with reinforcing beams R having various forms several of which are shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. 17 shows a generally L-shaped reinforcing beam R whereas FlG. 18 shows a generally V-shaped reinforcing beam V. These beams are used to center the trailer bodies L (or S) upon the circles 42 or 58. For instance, the tractor M of the truck backs the trailer up to the circle 4-2 such that the reinforcing beams R or V pass on either side of the circle and grip the undercut iiange portions thereof as shown in EEG. 17 or 18. The entire circle 42 is well greased, so that the bottom of the trailer body L can slide thereon in a relatively frictionfree manner. It is not necessary that the trailer be backed onto the circle 42 at right angles to the fiatcar.

As the truck M backs the trailer L toward the circle 452, the appropriate valves 2% and 22, FIG. 15, are opened so as to partially inflate the pneumatic cushions 16 to elevate the plate 14 and the circle 42 to the proper level and tilt to receive the lower surface of the trailer body L. Note especially that by individual manipulation of the valves 22, the various pneumatic cushions can be inflated to different degrees so as to tilt the plate 14 and the receiver circle to exactly match the position of the trailer bottom as it approaches the circle 42. The torsion bars and 26 present no resistance to the longitudinal tilting of the receivers 42, but do oppose transverse tilting thereof to a degree depending on the amount of the transverse tilt. However, the bars 2% and 26 have suflicient flexibility to permit transverse tilting that is adequate for practical purposes. Thus, if the bogie wheels B are located on non-level ground, or if the railway car is tilted, precise alignment can still be had between the receiver circle 4-2 and the approaching. trailer. Also, the

circle can be moved back and forth on the plate 14-:

in order to provide accurate alignment of the trailer body with the circle.

Moreover, it is tobe specifically noted that since the receiver circle is circular as viewed from above, a slight misalignment between the reinforcing beams R of the trailer body and the receiver circle 42 will cause the beams to contact the receiver circle somewhat displaced to one side, but in a position where the natural curvature of the circle deflects the trailer body into proper transverse alignmcnt. Goes the end of the trailer is over the circle, more air is added to the pneumatic cushions throu h the

valves

20 and 22. to raise the trailer off of the bogie wheels B which can then be taken away. The truck M then jackknifes and backs the trailer body, L onto the circle approximately to the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 16 so as to place the front of the trailer over the front circle 42 when the kingpin Kof the trailer in alignment with the kingpin slots 42s of the front circle 42. Note that the rear of the trailer body L is free to reciprocate somewhat on the right circle 42 to facilitate manoeuvering of the truck while jacknifing. A rope i3 is then used to winch the trailer body L squarely onto the forward receiver circle 42 and off of the tractor portion of the truck M; This type of manipulation is common practice in the handling of trailers and presents no difficulty. Incidentally, it is not necessary for a winch W to be incorporated on the tractor portion M of the truck, for hand-manipulated tools or external winches can be used. In particular, a tool resembling an ordinary fence stretcher works very satisfactorily for this purpose.

Removal of the trailers from llatcars can be accomplished by simple reversal of the above process.

Where a short trailer box S is used, a similar approach can be made, simply by backing the truck up to the flatcar so asto deposit the trailer body on one of the circles, the short trailer body then being winched to the center of the circle and rotated into longitudinal alignment with the fiatcar.

When the trailer body has been rotated on one or more of the receiver circles 42. or 43, the pneumatic cushions are then fully inflated to the desired pressure. Note, that the air compressor system in the tractor portion of the truck M can be used to ccomplish inflation of the pneumatic cushions.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 9, it is apparent that in FIG. 6 the cushions 16 are fuily deflated, meaning that the abutments 13b and 15b in FIG. are in mutual contact with each other. FIGS. 7 and 9 show the pneumatic cushions fully inflated to vertical heights which are somewhat exaggerated, and it will be noted that when fully inflated the torsion bar arms 24b and 26b extend upwardly approximately at 45-degree angles. It is also to be noted that the sliding blocks 39 to which the upper ends of the arms 24b and 26b are attached approach each other when the air cushions 16 are deflated as shown in FIG. 6, but move further apart and toward the stop blocks 34 in the channels 32 when the pneumatic cushions 16 are inflated. The stop blocks 34 serve the purpose of limiting the outward movements of the slide blocks 39.

When the railway car is in motion, the pneumatic cushions can yield downwardly so as to permit downward relative motion of the load carried on the receiver circles 42 with respect to the bottom plates 12. However, upward motion of the top plate 14 and circle 42 and the load thereon is limited by the stop blocks 34 which limit further separating travel of the slide blocks 30 which are attached to the upper ends of the torsion bar arms 24b and 26b. It is for this reason that resilient cushioning'means such as the springs 38, FIG. 11, or the rubber pads 40, P16. 13, must be used. Otherwise, there would be too abrupt a snubbing of upward bouncing motions of the loads carried on the circles 42.

The torsion bars 24 and 26 also serve the important purpose of preventing side sway of the top plate 14- with respect to the bottom plate 12. If such side sway occurs, for example by depressing the rightmost arms 24b, 26b and raising the leftmost arms E i-b, 26b, such swaying can occur only by torsionally bending the arms and the portions 24a and 26a of the torsion bars. Thus, there is a continuous corrective tendency serving to eliminate side sway of the load with respect to the platform in of the railroad cars.

These torsion bars serve another and very different purpose which is extremely important to the present invention, namely the purpose or" force conversion serving to convert longitudinal acceleration and deceleration into up and down forces that can be dissipated in the cushions. For instance, when a train is humped, meaning the successive stopping and starting of the railway cars by taking up slack in the couplers 1c, severe jerking in longitudinal directions results. It is desirable that these forces be dissipated by converting them into vertical motion, if possible.

Referring now to FiG. 9, assume that this figure is the side view of a load-receiving and cushioning means which is supporting a trailer body load L thereon. Also, assume that the load is traveling leftwardly. If the brakes on the flatcar are suddenly applied, the load L will tend to continue to the leftward direction with respect to the plate 12 which is braked and rapidly stopping. The inherent rigidity of the pneumatic cushions 16 caused not only by their inflation, but also by fabric reinforcements embedded therein, will attempt to slow the top plate 14 at the same rate as the bottom plate, but the cushions 16 will be distorted from their normal dotted position 16 to the solid-line positions 16, FIG. 9. In other words, the inertia of the road L will drag the top plate 14, the circle 42 and the channels above the torsion bars 24 and 26 leftwardly. The leftmost torsion bar 26 does not oppose this tendency because of the fact that its slide block 39 can simply slide inside the leftwardly moving channels 32 and away from the adjacent stop blocks 34. However, the rightmost torsion bar 24 serves as a force converter because it cannot slide much further toward the stop block 34', only to the extent that it can compress the spring 38 or the rubber 49, FIGS. 11 and 13. When this small amount of resiliency has been taken out of the system, the sliding block 30 then becomes solidly positioned with respect to the channel 32 and no further relative motion therebetween is possible. At this point, both of the torsion bars shift their positions shown in dashed lines 2 into the position shown in solid lines 24' by pivoting around the rightmost bearing straps 28. The bars 24 are under tension and oppose the leftward motion of the top plate 14 with respect to the bottom plate 12. The leftward horizontal force vector FL is then converted into a downward force vector FD by the arms 24 of the torsion bar. Thus, the inertia-created leftward motion of the top plate 14 with respect to the bottom plate 12 is arrested, and the forces go into compression of the pneumatic cushion 16 rather than into continued forward motion of the load L. Thus, the torsion bars 24 arrest the inertial motion of the load L when the entire assembly is moving to the left and decelerating. On the other hand, if the forces occur in the opposite direction, as when the entire assembly is moving to the left and accelerating, or when the assembly is moving to the right and decelerating, the torsion bars 24 do nothing by way of force converting, and such force conversion is accomplished entirely by the leftmost arms 26. This entire procedure, of course, assumes that the load L is prevented from sliding on the circle 42, which is true at the kingpin end of the trailer, and which can be made true at both ends of a load, for instance by providing chains (not shown) to prevent any relative motion between an upper plate 14 and the load it supports. The chains are not shown in the present disclosure because of the fact that they are old and well known when used for the securing of loads to vehicles. These chains may also be replaced by lading straps of any other desired form.

This invention is not to be limited to the precise embodiments illustrated in the drawings, for obviously changes may be made therein within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a piggyback transport system for transferring a box load between a highway vehicle and a railway car and for resiliently cushioning said box load on the railway car while in transit, comprising at least one loadreceiving and cushioning assembly on the railway car, each assembly being supported on a bottom plate carried on said :car and comprising a top plate disposed above said bottom plate in spaced substantially parallel relation therewith; a plurality of symmetrically located infiatable pneumatic cushion means between said plates; box load-receiving and guiding means on the top plate; duct and valve means communicating with said cushion means for selectively inflating said cushion means to adjust the height and angle of the load-receiving and guiding means to receive said box load when the latter approaches the assembly for transfer from the vehicle to the railway car, and for fully inflating said pneumatic cushion means during rail transportation of the load; and each assembly having two torsion bar means located respectively near the front and near the rear of the assembly; each torsion bar means having two arm portions extending substantially longitudinally and respectively connected to opposite ends or" a central portion disposed transversely of one plate and pivotally fixed thereto, and the arm portions of one torsion bar means extending toward the arm portions of the other torsion bar means; longitudinally disposed guide means on each transversely opposite side of the other plate, and slide means on said guide means and each attached to the outer end of one of said arm portions; stop means attached to each guide means to limit the separating travel of the two slide means in each guide means, whereby each torsion bar means will act as a crank to convert longitudinal forces of acceleration in one longitudinal l3 direction and of deceleration in the opposite direction into downward forces.

2. In a system as set forth in claim 1, said box load having spaced parallel reinforcing beams thereunder, and each box load receiving and guiding means comprising a circular receiver plate on the upper surface of a top plate and extending the'reabove to support the box load between its reinforcing beams.

3.. In a system as set forth in claim 2, the box-load reinforcing beams having lengthwise flange portions extending crosswise toward each other, and said circular plate having an undercut periphery to form an annular flange therearound for interengaging with said longitudinal flange portions.

4. In a system as set forth in claim 2, said railway car having at :least two of said assemblies spaced longitudinally thereof and. respectively including first and second circular receiver plates, and said box load comprising a trailer body having a downwardly extending kingpin near the front. end thereof, the rear end of the body being supported onthe first circular receiver plate, and the front end of the body being supported on the second circular receiver plate and the. second plate having at least one transverse slot to receive said kingpin; and lock means in said slot for captivating a kingpin therein.

5. In a system as set forth in claim 4, at least one of said circular receiver plates having two transverse kingpin receiving slots thereacross, the slots being mutually spaced longitudinally of the car to receive the kingpins of two trailer bodies having their respective front ends both supported on the same two-slot receiver plate.

6. In a system as set forth in claim 4, each top plate of an assembly having at least one groove extending longitudinally of the plate, guide means on each circular plate and engaging a groove to maintain the circular plate transversely centered on the top plate; and means for fixing the circular plate to the top plate in a selected longitudinal position, whereby the relative spacings between adjacent receiver plates can be adjusted to accommodate Various sizes of box loads.

7. In a piggyback transport system for transferring a box load between a highway vehicle and a railway car for resiliently cushioning said box load on the railway car while in transit, comprising at least one load receiving and cushioning assembly on the railway car, each assembly being supported on a bottom plate carried on said car and comprising a top plate disposed above said bottom plate in spaced substantially parallel relation therewith; a plurality of symmetrically located inflatable pneumatic cushion means between said plates; box load receiving and guiding means on the top plate; torsion bar means having a central portion disposed transversely across one plate parallel therewith and pivotally fixed thereto and having two arm portions extending substantially longitudinally toward the other plate at an acute angle with respect thereto to resist tilting of the plates in a transverse direction; longitudinally disposed guide means on each transversely opposite side of said other plate and including slide meanson said guide means and each attached to the outer end of one of said arm portions; and stop means attached to each guide means to limit the travel of the slide means in each guide means, whereby each torsion bar means will act as a crank to convert longitudinal forces of acceleration in one longitudinal direction and of deceleration in the opposite direction into downward forces.

8. In a system as set forth in claim 7, said box load having spaced parallel reinforcing beams thereunder, and each box load receiving and guiding means comprising a circular receiver plate on the upper surface of a top plate and extending thereabove to support the box load between its reinforcing beams.

9. In a system as set forth in claim 8, said railway car having at least two of said assemblies spaced longitudinally thereof and respectively including first and second circular receiver plates and said box load compris ing a trailer body having a downwardly extending kingpin near the front end thereof, the rear end of the body being supported on the first circular receiver plate, and the front end of the body being supported on the second circular receiver plate and the second plate having at least one transverse slot to receive said kingpin; and lock means in said slot for captivating a kingpin therein.

10. In a system as set forth in claim 9, each top plate of an assembly having at least one groove extending longitudinally of the plate, guide means on each circular plate and engaging a groove tomaintain the circular plate transversely centered on the top plate; and means for fixing the circular plate to the top in a selected longitudinal position, whereby the relative spacings between adjacent receiver plates can be adjusted to accommodate various sizes of box loads.

11. In a system as set forth in claim 7, each assembly having two of said torsion bar means located respectively near the front and near the rear of the assembly; each torsion bar means having two arm portions respectively connected to opposite ends of a central portion and 'the arm portions of one torsion bar means extending toward the arm portions of the other torsion bar means.

12. Load supporting and cushioning apparatus for receiving and carrying a load, comprising a bottom apparatus supporting plate; a top plate'disposed above said bottom plate in spaced substantially parallel relation for carrying said load; inflatable pneumatic cushion means between said plates and resiliently maintaining the spacing therebetween; and at least one torsion bar means'including a central bar portion, means pivotally securing the central bar portion parallel to one of said plates and disposed transversely thereof, and the torsion bar means further including an arm portion at each end of, the central portion and extending toward the other plate in a direction substantially longitudinally of said one plate and at an acuteangle with respect thereto, mutually spaced guide means disposed longitudinally of the other plate and fixed thereto, and means slidably captivating the ends of the arm portions in said guide means.

13. In apparatus as set forth in claim 12 and including at least two torsion bar means secured to said one plate, said means for slidably captivating the ends of the arm portions each comprising a block slidable on said guide means and pivotally connected to one of said ends so that the blocks in each guide means slide away from each other when the cushion means is inflated, and stop means associated with each slide block and located on the side thereof opposite the other slide block in the guide means, said stop means being fixed to the guide means and limiting the separation of the plates as the cushion means are inflated.

14. In apparatus as set forth in claim 13, resilient pad means between each slide block and the associated stop means,.the pad means cushioning upward motions of the top plate and the cushion means cushioning downward motions of the'top plate.

.15. In apparatus as set forth in claim 13, said guide means comprising downwardly opening channels secured to the under side of the top plate, and said slide blocks each being slidably captivated in a channel; and each stop means comprising a block in the channel, and screw means transfixing the channel and the stop block to maintain its selected position in the channel.

16. In apparatus as set forth in claim 15, coil springs in each channel and disposed between each stop block and the adjacent slide block.

17. In apparatus as set forth in claim 15, pads of resilient material in each channel and disposed between each stop block and the adjacent slide block.

18. Load supporting and cushioning apparatus for receiving and carrying a load being transported on a car, comprising a bottom plate supported on said car; a top plate disposed above said bottom plate in spaced substantially parallel relation for carrying said load; inflatable pneumatic cushion means between said plates and resiliently maintaining the spacing therebetween; and two torsion bar means, each comprising a central bar portion pivotally secured parallel to one of said plates and disposed transversely of said car, an arm portion at each end of each central portion, said arm portions each extending toward each other and toward the other plate in a direction substantially longitudinally of the car, mutually spaced guide means disposed longitudinally of the car and fixed to said other plate, means for slidably captivating the ends of the arm portions in said guide means, each comprising a block slidable on said guide means and pivotally connected to one of said ends so that the blocks in each guide means slide away from each other when the cushion means is inflated, and stop means associated with each slide block and located on the side thereof opposite the other slide block in the guide means, said stop means being fixed to the guide means and limiting the separation of the plates as the cushion means are inflated; duct and valve means communicating with said cushion means for selectively inflating said cushion means to different degrees; and load-receiving means on the top plate. V

19. In apparatus as set forth in claim 18, resilient pad means between each slide block and the associated stop means, the pad means cushioning upward motions of the top plate and the cushion means cushioning downward motions of the top plate.

20. The apparatus as set forth in claim 18 including at least two spaced load receiving and cushioning apparatus, wherein each load receiving means slidably engages the associated top plate to permit adjustment of the positions of the receiving means with respect to each other longitudinally of the car; and means for locking each receiving means in a selected longitudinal position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Fredriks Dec. 11, 1962

Claims

7. IN A PIGGYBACK TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR TRANSFERRING A BOX LOAD BETWEEN A HIGHWAY VEHICLE AND A RAILWAY CAR FOR RESILIENTLY CUSHIONING SAID BOX LOAD ON THE RAILWAY CAR WHILE IN TRANSIT, COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE LOAD RECEIVING AND CUSHIONING ASSEMBLY ON THE RAILWAY CAR, EACH ASSEMBLY BEING SUPPORTED ON A BOTTOM PLATE CARRIED ON SAID CAR AND COMPRISING A TOP PLATE DISPOSED ABOVE SAID BOTTOM PLATE IN SPACED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL RELATION THEREWITH; A PLURALITY OF SYMMETRICALLY LOCATED INFLATABLE PNEUMATIC CUSHION MEANS BETWEEN SAID PLATES; BOX LOADING RECEIVING AND GUIDING MEANS ON THE TOP PLATE; TORSION BAR MEANS HAVING A CENTRAL PORTION DISPOSED TRANSVERSELY ACROSS ONE PLATE PARALLEL THEREWITH AND PIVOTALLY FIXED THERETO AND HAVING TWO ARM PORTIONS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY LONGITUDINALLY TOWARD THE OTHER PLATE AT AN ACUTE ANGLE WITH RESPECT THERETO TO RESIST TILTING OF THE PLATES IN A TRANSVERSE DIRECTION; LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED GUIDE MEANS ON EACH TRANSVERSELY OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID OTHER PLATE AND INCLUDING SLIDE MEANS ON SAID GUIDE MEANS AND EACH ATTACHED TO THE OUTER END OF ONE OF SAID ARM PORTIONS; AND STOP MEANS ATTACHED TO EACH GUIDE MEANS TO LIMIT THE TRAVEL OF THE SLIDE MEANS IN EACH GUIDE MEANS, WHEREBY EACH TORSION BAR MEANS WILL ACT AS A CRANK TO CONVERT LONGITUDINAL FORCES OF ACCELERATION IN ONE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION AND OF DECELERATION IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION INTO DOWNWARD FORCES.