US3557710A

US3557710A - Container vehicle and adjustable bracket means therefor

Info

Publication number: US3557710A
Application number: US773932A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy W Miller
Original assignee: Pullman Inc
Current assignee: Pullman Standard Inc; Pullman Inc
Priority date: 1968-11-06
Filing date: 1968-11-06
Publication date: 1971-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 1988-01-26

Abstract

In a container-carrying flat deck railroad car, a plurality of adjustable container corner brackets mounted on the deck, each bracket having a support leg pivotally and slidably attached to the car side sill for longitudinal movement and a member pivotally mounted with said support leg, said member being provided with a container corner bracket seat being provided with a base portion couplable in one position to the deck and in another position foldable into a recess within the deck and having guide means for locating the member into the recess, the member and the support leg lying flush with the deck.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Roy W. Miller Highland, Ind.

Appl. No, 773,932

Filed Nov. 6, 1968 Patented Jan. 26, 1971 Assignee Pullman Incorporated Chicago, 111. a corporation of Delaware CONTAINER VEHICLE AND ADJUSTABLE BRACKET MEANS THEREFOR 6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 105/366, 248/1 19, 248/361 Int. Cl B6ld 45/00 Field of Search 105/366,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,160,117 12/1964 Willison et a1. 105/366(.8) 3,354,838 1 1/1967 Mowatt-Larssen 105/366 3,391,654 7/1968 Grob et a1. 105/366 Primary ExaminerDrayton E. Hoffman Attorneys-Hilmond O. Vogel and Wayne Morris Russell ABSTRACT: In a container-carrying flat deck railroad car, a plurality of adjustable container corner brackets mounted on the deck, each bracket having a support leg pivotally and slidably attached to the car side sill for longitudinal movement and a member pivotally mounted with said support leg, said member being provided with a container comer bracket seat being provided with a base portion couplable in one position to the deck and in another position foldable into a recess within the deck and having guide means for locating the member into the recess, the member and the support leg lying flush with the deck.

- PATENTEU JAN26 l97l sum 1 OF 2 III 5 Illllll lnvenror Roy W. Miller wgw Attorney PATENTEDJAN26|97| 3,557,710

SHEET 2 [IF 2 Inventor Roy W. Miller AHornev CONTAINER VEHICLE AND ADJUSTABLE BRACKET MEANS THEREFOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to container cars and particularly to railroad flat cars having bracket means for storing the containers on the flat deck of the railroad car. Containerization or the shipping of lading in containers via land, sea and air travel is becoming increasingly more popular. Containers may vary in size and it is desirable to provide for container-carrying structure on the vehicle which will permit acceptance of various size containers. It is this area with which the invention is concerned.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many types of container brackets for supporting and carrying containers have heretofore been provided. With the variation in container sizes, development of various types of container comer brackets has occurred but it is desired to provide for adjustable type comer bracket means for accepting different sized containers and yet to be placed in an out-of-way position when not in use so that the flat car may receive other types of lading without being obstructed by the container comer bracket arrangement. It is this objective the invention purports to provide.

SUMMARY The invention relates to an improvement in the type of mounting on a flat deck car for receiving a container. The invention in particular relates to a type of comer bracket arrangement which is movable lengthwise of the flat deck to adjust to various containers and yet which may be stored out of sight and clear and free of the flat deck when not in use so that other types of lading may be stored on the railroad car or permit the driving of a motorized unit over the surface of the flat deck without hitting the container bracket.

These and other objects, advantages and purposes of the invention will become more readily apparent by reference to the following description and attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a flat deck railroad car employing the subject invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the flat deck embodying the subject invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the novel container corner bracket arrangement and receptacle therefor;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a portion of the flat deck 2 of a railroad car 3 which is also provided with the usual trucks 4 and side sill or side structure 5. The flat car 3 may be of the cushioned underframe type and provided with coupling means 6. The flat deck is provided with a plurality of container comer bracket structures 7 disposed along the sides of the car and intermediate the ends thereof which corner brackets are adjustable and is further provided with fixed end comer brackets 8.

The

container comer brackets

8, 8 of the fixed type may be recessed in the deck, as shown in FIG. 1, or elevated into an in-use position, as shown in FIG. 2, to cooperate with the adjustable container comer bracket 7, as shown in FIG. 2, for supporting a container 9.

Particular attention is directed here to the adjustable type comer bracket 7 which, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, is in the recessed or out-of-use position belowv the top of the flat deck 2 or in the abovedeck or in-use elevated position, as shown in FIGS. 58. The corner bracket 7 is composed of a pair of intercoupled hinged portions pivotally connected to the overhanging portion of the deck 2 adjacent the side sill 5, as, for instance, shown in FIG. 7. The first hinged portion of the container bracket 7 is comprised of a support and connecting leg or plate 10, the lower outer end of which is provided with a curved or looped eye or end portion 11 about a rod or hinged structure 12 welded to the lower outboard side portions of the deck, the hinge pin structure 12 extending substantially the length of the deck for pivotally supporting the support leg or arm 10. The deck has such a rod I2 on either side thereof. The support element 10 is free to move longitudinally of the car along the rod 12. The upper portion of the support leg 10 is provided with a pivot pin structure 13 on the inside thereof and pivotally carries the upper or container-supporting corner bracket element 14. To this end, the support arm 10 is slotted as at 15 for receiving lugs 16 of the upper container bracket element or member 14, the hinge pin 13 passing by the lug portions 16. I

The upper container-supporting bracket element 14 is provided with side and transverse

indexing wall portions

17 and 18 for guiding 'the comer of the container onto seat 19 which is provided with load-bearing

support members

20 and 21, and 22 transverse to

members

20 and 21, the

members

18, 17, 20, 21 and 22 being attached to the base or bottom wall 23 of the upper element 14. Lugs or feet 24 extend from the base 23 and are L-shaped in cross section, as seen in FIG. 6, and extend through enlarged elongated openings 25 in the deck 2 and are movable to the edge of the opening for preventing removal of the upper hinged element 14 from the deck, as seen in FIG. 6. It will be noted in FIGS. 1 and 3, for instance, that there are a plurality of such apertures 25 extending longitudinally along each side of the deck to permit the pair of

feet

24, 24 of each upper hinged element to be placed at a plurality of locations.

The downwardly extending vertical wall portion of the indexing element part 18 is provided with a spring loaded removable container locking pin 26 extendable out of opening 26a of member 14, the pin 26 having a spring 27 for holding the pin in container aperture 28, as seen in FIG. 8. It is to be noted that the container indexing or pin element 26 is located above the hinge pin 13. The housing 27a for pin 26 and spring 27 is carried by the lower part of the upper hinged element 14. As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the indexing element 18 which carries the hinged journals 33 is attached to the seat 19 and the base 23 and side 17 and comprises an upper sloped portion 18a and a lower backing portion 18b which forms a passage 30a for the hinge pin 13 and the upper lug portions 15a of the lower hinge plate 10. As seen in FIG. 5, the pin 13, fixed to the support arm 10, is joumaled in side portions 33 of the upper hinged element 14 for pivotal movement of same inwardly and outwardly of the deck relative to the support arm 10. The below-deck receptacle 30 is generally rectangular in shape and receives the

container bracket portions

10 and 14 for storing purposes, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. The corner bracket structure 7 may be moved from the stored position by grabbing the recessed lid portion 31 of the upper hinged element 14 (see FIG. 3) to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 4 to the upright or in-use position with feet 24 in the deck apertures 25, as seen in FIGS. 5-8. The hinged container bracket structure 7 may be pivoted about longitudinally extending support structure 12 from the receptacle 30 and moved longitudinally onto the deck 2, the feet 24 of the upper bracket 14 extending into the deck apertures 25 or through the openings 35 (see FIGS. 4 or 5) of the side sills 5.

As seen in FIG. 3, the hinged

portions

10 and 14 of the bracket 7 lie flush with the deck 2 and in the raised position are at an angle with one another to present the seat 19 in a horizontal position. The storage pocket 30 is provided with a sloping guide edge portion 30a for guiding the base 23 of the upper hinged portion 14 of the bracket 7 into the recess for storing the bracket 7 in the closed position.

Thus, what is provided is a double hinged corner bracket pivotally mounted on the side of the car and movable therealong and having feet interlocking with the flat deck in the in-use position or stored when recessed below the deck when in the out-of-use position, the pocket being provided with a guiding edge for recessing the corner bracket. The folded corner bracket in the stored position is flush with the deck and assumes an upright position when slidable along the longitudinally extending guide rod or pipe. The flat deck so constructed is capable, with the fixed and movable corner brackets, to carry a plurality of containers.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto since those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

lclaim:

1. In a railroad car having a flat deck for carrying a plurality of container support brackets to support the container at its comer:

a support bracket comprising a container support member having a first upright wall and a support leg being pivotally connected at one end to said first wall;

longitudinally extending guide means mounted on the laterally outboard portion of the side of the car and pivotally connecting with the other end of the support leg for transverse pivoting of the support bracket from a container supporting position to a stored position;

said container support member having a second upright wall transverse to the first upright wall and generally horizontal seat means connecting with each of the walls;

said container support member having a base disposed below the seat means and catch means extending upwardly from said base portion; portion;

said deck having on its side edge portion aperture means for receiving said catch means while said support leg braces the container support member in the container supporting position; and

said deck having recess means extending below the deck and spaced in longitudinal alignment with the aperture means, the longitudinally extending guide means being outboard of the aperture means and the recess means whereby the support bracket may be swingable inboardly to the container supporting position or moved longitudinally and moved inboardly to the container stored position within the recess means below the deck with the support member being generally flush with the deck.

2. The invention according to claim I, and said recess means being provided with wall means having catch receiving means in the side thereof and said catch means extending in the catch receiving means in the stored position of the support bracket.

3. The invention according to claim I, and indexing and 5 tying means being on one of said walls and spaced above said seat means and said leg.

4. The invention according to claim I, and said longitudinally extending guide means being generally in the same plane as said deck and said support leg extending diagonally upwardly therefrom in the container supporting position.

5. In a railroad car having a flat deck for carrying container means: i

a plurality of movable supporting brackets in longitudinal and lateral spaced relation with respect to one another for supporting one or more containers at the container comer;

each supporting bracket comprising a container support member having a first upright wall and a support leg being pivotally connected at one end to said first upright wall; longitudinally extending guide means mounted on the laterally outboard portion of each side of the car and pivotally connecting with the other end of the support leg, for transverse pivoting of the support brackets from a container supporting position to a stored position; said container support member having a second upright wall transverse to the first wall and generally horizontal seat means connecting with each of the walls;

said container support member having a base portion disposed below the seat means and catch means extending outwardly from said base portion;

said deck having on each side edge portion thereof aperture means for receiving said catch means while said support leg braces the container support member in the container supporting position; and

each side of said deck having recess means extending below the deck spaced in longitudinal alignment with the aperture means, the longitudinally extending guide means being outboard of the aperture means and the recess means whereby the support bracket may be swingable inboardly to the container supporting position or moved longitudinally and moved inboardly to the container stored position within the recess means below the deck with the support member being generally flush with the deck.

6. The invention according to claim 5, and each guide means including a longitudinal rod member attached on a respective lateral end of the deck and each rod member being generally below the top surface of the deck and said bracket for each rod member having a hinged portion being slidable 50 generally along the length of its respective rod member.

Claims

1. In a railroad car having a flat deck for carrying a plurality of container support brackets to support the container at its corner: a support bracket comprising a container support member having a first upright wall and a support leg being pivotally connected at one end to said first wall; longitudinally extending guide means mounted on the laterally outboard portion of the side of the car and pivotally connecting with the other end of the support leg for transverse pivoting of the support bracket from a container supporting position to a stored position; said container support member having a second upright wall transverse to the first upright wall and generally horizontal seat means connecting with each of the walls; said container support member having a base disposed below the seat means and catch means extending upwardly from said base portion; portion; said deck having on its side edge portion aperture means for receiving said catch means while said support leg braces the container support member in the container supporting position; and said deck having recess means extending below the deck and spaced in longitudinal alignment with the aperture means, the longitudinally extending guide means being outboard of the aperture means and the recess means whereby the support bracket may be swingable inboardly to the container supporting position or moved longitudinally and moved inboardly to the container stored position within the recess means below the deck with the support member being generally flush with the deck.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and said recess means being provided with wall means having catch receiving means in the side thereof and said catch means extending in the catch receiving means in the stored position of the support bracket.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and indexing and tying means being on one of said walls and spaced above said seat means and said leg.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and said longitudinally extending guide means being generally in the same plane as said deck and said support leg extending diagonally upwardly therefrom in the container supporting position.

5. In a railroad car having a flat deck for carrying container means: a plurality of movable supporting brackets in longitudinal and lateral spaced relation with respect to one another for supporting one or more containers at the container corner; each supporting bracket comprising a container support member having a first upright wall and a support leg being pivotally connected at one end to said first upright wall; longitudinally extending guide means mounted on the laterally outboard portion of each side of the car and pivotally connecting with the other end of the support leg, for transverse pivoting of the support brackets from a container supporting position to a stored position; said container support member having a second upright wall transverse to the first wall and generally horizontal seat means connecting with each of the walls; said container support member having a base portion disposed below the seat means and catch means extending outwardly from said base portion; said deck having on each side edge portion thereof aperture means for receiving said catch means while said support leg braces the container support member in the container supporting position; and each side of said deck having recess means extending below the deck spaced in longitudinal alignment with the aperture means, the longitudinally extending guide means being outboard of the aperture means and the recess means whereby the support bracket may be swingable inboardly to the container supporting position or moved longitudinally and moved inboardly to the container stored position within the recess means below the deck with the support member being generally flush with the deck.

6. The invention according to claim 5, and each guide means including a longitudinal rod member attached on a respective lateral end of the deck and each rod member being generally below the top surface of the deck and said bracket for each rod member having a hinged portion being slidable generally along the length of its respective rod member.