US3894495A

US3894495A - Box car for transport of large elongated articles and method of loading the same

Info

Publication number: US3894495A
Application number: US474999A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy R Dare; James C Hammonds; Walter E O'leary
Original assignee: ACF Industries Inc
Current assignee: ACF Industries Inc
Priority date: 1974-05-31
Filing date: 1974-05-31
Publication date: 1975-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-15

Abstract

Articles of generally cylindrical cross section, such as paper rolls, plastic rolls, and coiled metal sheets, are placed in a railway car with the cylindrical axis extending longitudinally in the car. Articles may be stacked one upon another in this fashion and some of the articles may be stacked vertically. With longitudinal loading a significantly more effective utilization of the box car cube is obtained. To facilitate longitudinal loading of the box car a hoist is provided in the box car which is longitudinally movable within the car and preferably is also transversely movable within the car. While the hoist may be mounted anywhere in the upper portion of the side or the roof of the car, it is preferred to provide a trackway as part of the side plate. Thus the side plate comprises a channel section having a horizontal surface upon which the hoist rollers may ride and preferably a vertical surface upon which guidance rollers may ride. The side plate also comprises appropriate upper and lower flanges for engaging the box car roof and the box car side sheets respectively.

Description

United States Patent [191 Dare et a1.

1 1 BOX CAR FOR TRANSPORT OF LARGE ELONGATED ARTICLES AND METHOD OF LOADING THE SAME [75] Inventors: Roy R. Dare, O'Fallon; James C.

Hammonds, St. Charles; Walter E. OLeary, Creve Coeur, all of Mo.

[73] Assignee: ACF Industries, Incorporated, New

York, N.Y.

[22] Filed: May 31,1974

2] Appl. No.: 474,999

[52] US. Cl 105/366 R; 105/367; 105/422 [51} Int. Cl B6Id 17/00 [58] Field of Search 105/366 R, 367, 368 R,

105/376, 412, 414, 422', 214/105 R, 6 M, 6 N, DIG. 4, DIG. 3; 206/65 451 July 15, 1975 Primary Examiner-M, Henson Wood, .Ir. Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church Attorney, Agent. or FirmHenry We Cummings 57 ABSTRACT Articles of generally cylindrical cross section, such as paper rolls. plastic rolls, and coiled metal sheets, are placed in a railway car with the cylindrical axis extending longitudinally in the car. Articles may be stacked one upon another in this fashion and some of the articles may be stacked vertically. With longitudinal loading a significantly more effective utilization of the box car cube is obtained. To facilitate longitudinal loading of the box car a hoist is provided in the box car which is longitudinally movable within the car and preferably is also transversely movable within the car. While the hoist may be mounted anywhere in the upper portion of the side or the roof of the car, it is preferred to provide a trackway as part of the side plate. Thus the side plate comprises a channel section having a horizontal surface upon which the hoist rollers may ride and preferably a vertical surface upon which guidance rollers may ride. The side plate also comprises appropriate upper and lower flanges for engaging the box car roof and the box car side sheets respectively.

14 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures ll ll Il Il Ill 11H III Il 11 ||1| nu nu llll llll FIG.

Ill 16 QQ FIG. I.

FIG. 2A.

m4 llll A A 2 "2 h H m- F [lm FIG.3A.

||l HI HI [WWW- IH H" m FIG.

I u up |||l H m FIG. 5. 5A HQ SHEET FIG. 6A.

FIG. IO.

FIG. ll.

1 BOX CAR FOR TRANSPORT OF LARGE ELONGATED ARTICLES AND METHOD OF LOADING THE SAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Over a period of many years the railway industry has sought to control distribution costs by developing more efficient methods of loading products in freight cars.

Generally cylindrical articles (having a diameter in excess of about 3 feet) have presented unique problems in handling and loading. An example of this is rolled paperboard because of its large cylindrical configuration (about 3 to 6% feet in diameter and about 10 to 100 inches in length) and because of non-uniformity of roll sizes. Innovations in loading patterns and methods and in material handling equipment have produced substantial economies through faster loading, reduced damage and increased payloads per car.

However, in view of continually rising freight rates there is need to obtain further significant economies.

Studies have identified two major potentials for substantial savings; viz, (1) increased payload per car, resulting in reduced unit costs for transportation and, (2) the use of the largest diameters compatible with side by-side placement in a box car resulting in reduced material handling costs.

These studies also indicated that an optimum solution might well entail innovations in freight car design. Two categories of loading patterns are now in use:

1. Vertical loading.

2. Combination loading.

In vertical loading, as depicted schematically in FIG. 1A, articles 10 are loaded with the generally cylindrical axis vertical. In FIG. 2 articles 12 are stacked atop one another when clearance within the car permits. In some cases roll lengths can be combined favorably to obtain good utilization of the available cube. However, vertical stacking frequently results in poor cube utilization; when articles are too long for double-stacking, the space wasted above the load is substantial.

Combination loading is used whenever possible to improve cube utilization and payload. As depicted in FIG. 3, combination loading consists of placing a lower tier of articles 14 in the vertical position, with a second tier 16 loaded horizontally with axis transverse to the car. Combination loading is advantageous when lengths are too large for double stacking, yet small enough to leave clearance for the horizontal second tier.

With present methods of loading and securing large elongated articles it is not feasible to load a second tier in the door area of the box car. Furthermore, the horizontal articles of the second tier generally do not utilize a high percentage of the width of the car. As a result, combination loading produces cube utilization well below the theoretical maximum.

Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a method of loading large generally cylindrical articles to more effectively utilize the available box car volume.

A modified lift truck design would be required to implement the new loading arrangements of the present invention. It would appear that this can be accomplished by using a basically conventional truck with specialized attachments. It is likely that a larger capacity truck would have to be used to cope with the overturning moments encountered when handling long rolls. Since the overall length of the articles plus truck would be substantially larger than in current practice, wide-opening box car doors would be used to provide clearance for operation of the truck. The major disadvantage of a system requiring a new lift truck design is the size of the investment required to provide this capability at the large number of loading and unloading points.

It appears that a more economical solution can be obtained by utilizing a box car having inherent material handling capability for longitudinal loading.

Therefore it is another object of the present invention to provide a box car having inherent capability for longitudinal loading with presently available fork lift trucks and other conventional loading equipment.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a box car side plate which comprises a trackway for a longitudinally movable hoist.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention large articles of generally cylindrical cross section, such as paper rolls, plastic rolls, and coiled metal sheets (i.e., steel, copper, aluminum) are placed in a railway car with the cylindrical dimension extending longitudinally in the car. Articles may be stacked one upon another in this fashion and some of the articles may be stacked vertically. With longitudinal loading a significantly more effective utilization of the box car cube is obtained. To facilitate longitudinal loading of the box car a hoist is provided in the box car which is longitudinally movable within the car and preferably is also transversely movable within the car. While the hoist may be mounted anywhere in the upper portion of the side or the roof of the car, it is preferred to provide a trackway as part of the side plate, and preferably a vertical surface upon which guidance rollers may ride. Thus the side plate comprises a channel section having a horizontal surface upon which the hoist rollers may ride. The side plate also comprises appropriate upper and lower flanges for engaging the box car roof and the box car side sheets, respectively.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a prior art box car loading technique wherein elongated articles are shown loaded vertically in the car;

FIG. 1A is a sectional view along the lines IAIA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a box car illustrating a stacked arrangement of elongated articles;

FIG. 2A is a view along the lines 2A2A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of an alternative prior art stacking arrangement in which some elongated articles are loaded vertically and some are loaded horizontally;

FIG. 3A is a view along the lines 3A3A in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a box car illustrating the loading arrangement according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a view along the lines 4A4A in FIG. 4',

FIG. 5 is a side view of a box car illustrating another embodiment of the loading arrangement according to the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a view along the lines 5A-5A in FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is a side view of another embodiment of the box car loading arrangement according to the present invention illustrating a hybrid loading arrangement;

FIG. 6A is a sectional view along the lines 6A6A in FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the trackway in the box car according to the present invention and illustrating the use of a hoist to load the elongated articles according to the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view illustrating the means on the chain hoist for engaging the straps surrounding the elongated articles;

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the chain hoist mechanism;

FIG. 9A is a partial transverse sectional view illustrating one prior art type of side plate construction;

FIG. 9B is a partial transverse cross section illustrating another prior art type of side plate construction;

FIG. 10 is a transverse sectional view along the lines 10- 10 in FIG. 7 illustrating the side plate construction of the present invention and illustrating the use of dunnage to stack the cylindrical articles according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a partial transverse cross-sectional view illustrating a modification of the side plate construction shown in FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a partial transverse cross section illustrating another alternative to the side plate construction shown in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRlPTlON A. Loading Arrangements An orientation which has not been used in past loading patterns for large generally cylindrical articles is that of horizontal-longitudinal. Existing material handling equipment is unable to load rolls into box cars in this position. However, horizontal-longitudinal loading permits the introduction of several new loading patterns which would result in significant increases in payload for may generally cylindrical articles. By a generally cylindrical article is meant an article having a diameter of at least about 3 feet and a minimum cylindrical or longitudinal dimension of at least about 10 inches. Such articles generally will not exceed about inches in length.

The basic advantage of longitudinal loading lies in the fact that it is much less sensitive to article length variations. When articles 18 are loaded longitudinally as shown in FIG. 4, the space lost represents a percentage of the car length. Even a rather large gap, of several feet, represents a relatively small percentage of the car length. Dunnage D may be used to secure the articles in place.

By contrast, when using vertical stacking, adverse article lengths result in major losses in cube utilization. The space lost represents a percentage of the car height; a loss of even a few feet represents a large percentage of the cubic capacity. Even in cases in which combination loading can be used, the inefiiciency of vertical stacking is only partially overcome.

The use of longitudinal loading in combination with vertical loading affords added flexibility. FIG. 5 illustrates a pattern of longitudinal combination loading; the lower tier 20 is vertical, while the upper tier 22 is horizontal-longitudinal. In many cases this loading pattern permits more efficient utilization of upper tier space than is achievable with conventional combination loading.

FIG. 6, hybrid loading, illustrates another variant.

Articles

24 and 26 are loaded longitudinally horizontally and articles 28 are loaded vertically. When horizontal-longitudinal loading results in relatively large gaps in the doorway area, it would often be feasible to load articles vertically to fill out the car.

Optimum conditions are obtained by selecting the longitudinal loading pattern which is best suited to the size mix of the individual shipment. As an example, se-

TABLE A LADING WEIGHT ANALYSIS Average Weights of Different Stacking Arrangements 57 54" Dia. Rolls 183,000 lbs. max.

TABLE B LADING WEIGHT ANALYSIS Average Weights of Different Stacking Arrangements 50" Dia. Rolls Stacking Arran Maximum Standard Combination Car Size Longitudinal Fork Lift Of All Ft. Vertical Stacking Truck Arrangements 5300 Average Weight (lbs) 104,000 105,000 108,500 1 18,000

5300 Average Weight with 104,000 105,000 108,000 1 18,000

150,000 lbs. max.

7040 Average Weight (lbs) 140,000 172.000 147.000 175,000

7040 Average Weight with 140,000 172,000 147,000 175,000

183,000 lbs. max.

With regard to loading cylindrical metal sheets, it may be that in some cases AAR weight limitations may prevent complete utilization of the loading efficiency provided by the present invention, particularly in the case of steel and copper coiled sheets.

B. New Box Car Design The proposed box car design, depicted schematically in FIG. 7, provides within the car the material handling capability necessary to implement longitudinal loading.

Essentially, the system consists of an overhead trolley hoist indicated generaly at mounted on tracks 60 mounted in the upper portion of the car. The articles can be positioned in the car doorway using conventional clamp trucks, lifted by the hoist mechanism, traversed down the car, and stowed in proper position.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 the hoist indicated generally at 30 comprises transversely extending

beams

32 and 34 having mounted at opposite ends thereon

vertical rollers

36 and 38 adapted to move longitudinally in the car along tracks 60. Between

beams

32 and 34 are longitudinally extending

reinforcements

33 and 35. Tracks 60 may be affixed to the upper portion of the box car either to the sides, ends and/or to the roof. However, preferably, as shown in FIG. 10, tracks 60 comprise a portion of the side plate 62. Thus the trackway does not take up significant space in the box car or interfere with loading or unloading of the lading. In other words, tracks 60 is a part of the side plate, and the side plate is contoured as to include the track 60. Preferably

transverse beams

32 and 34 are provided with depending guide means 40 preferably comprising horizontal rollers 42 which engage the inside surface of the box car and maintain the

beams

32 and 34.

Mounted upon

beams

32 and 34 for transverse movement are

tubular members

44 and 46. These members may have any desired cross section, such as rectangular or circular, and have mounted therein rollers 50 and 52 to ride upon

beam members

32 and 34 in moving transversely across the car. A winch assembly indicated generally at 54 comprises a housing 56 comprising a gear reducer 57 having suitable rods 58 extending outwardly which are supported in brackets 70 which are mounted by means of welding or appropriate fasteners to

tubular members

44 and 46. A rod 72 has mounted on opposite sides of the housing 66, drums 74 and 76 for raising and lowering the articles. Ropes or chains 78 and 80 respectively, are affixed to a longitudinally extending member 82 which has depending lugs 84 and 86 with slots therein 88 and 90 into which straps 92 and 94 wrapped around the elongated object are engaged. An

operator for the winch arrangement is provided at 96 having a wheel 98 and a cable 99 which may be operated by an operator on the floor of the box car. A

motor M may be provided in the housing to further assist the operator in operating the winch.

It will be apparent that the hoist arrangement thus described may be moved throughout the entire length of the box car both longitudinally and transversely, and may load large articles longitudinally in the car as shown in FIG. 7 and I0. A conventional fork lift truck or other conventional equipment may be used to first deliver the articles into the box car doorway from where the articles may be positioned by means of the hoist.

In order to maximize the advantages of longitudinal loading it is desirable to use the large transverse dimensions i.e. diameters. Furthermore, wide box cars are preferably used to permit side-by-side stacking of the longitudinally extending articles.

As mentioned hereinabove, the trackway for the hoist arrangement is preferably provided as a part of the box car side plate.

Conventional box car side plates have taken the form of Z-shaped members indicated at 64 in FIG. 9A. An alternative prior art construction is a channel section shown at 66 in FIG. 9B in which the channel opening faces outwardly.

However, one feature of the present invention is to provide a side plate which is contoured so as to constitute a trackway for the hoist arrangement. Thus in FIG. 10 side plate 62 is in the form of a channel having horizontal portion 61 comprising a longitudinal trackway for a hoist and a depending flange 63 adapted to engage the side sheet 65 of a box car, for example, by welding as indicated at 65. The side plate also has an upwardly extending flange 67. Flange 67 preferably also comprises upwardly inclined section 69 adapted to be engaged by a car roof by fasteners or by welding. lf desired, a bracket 102 may be affixed to side plate 62 and/or side sheet 65 for supporting a door, for example, a plug door 104.

An alternative construction is illustrated in FIG. 11 wherein the inclined portion 69 of FIG. 10 is eliminated and the roof R extends over and is integrally joined to vertically extending flange 67. This may be done by welding or with appropriate fasteners as indicated at 67a.

Still another alternative is illustrated in FIG. 12 wherein the vertically extending flange 67 is modified and is inclined upwardly as indicated at 67b. Again, the

roof extends over and is joined to the flange with appropriate fasteners or welding.

It will thus be apparent that in FIGS. 10-12, the side plate functions in the usual manner to provide structural integrity as the upper chord in the box car while at the same time providing a trackway and support for a hoist for loading and unloading lading, including but not limited to the generally cylindrical articles described hereinabove.

If it is expected that the cars will be more numerous than the loading and unloading points, the hoist may be a piece of plant equipment rather than car equipment. Thus the hoist would be installed on the car trackways for loading and removed once loading is completed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway box car an improved side plate comprising a channel member located outwardly from the inner surface of the box car side sheet, said channel member having a horizontal surface upon which a box car hoist is adapted to ride; said channel member having a generally vertically extending lower depending flange located inwardly from said horizontal surface and adapted to be engaged by the side sheet of a box car; and an upper flange also located above said horizontal surface at least a portion of which upper flange is adapted to be engaged by the roof of a railway box car.

2. A box car side plate according to claim 1 wherein said upwardly extending flange comprises a substantially vertical first portion and a second portion which is inclined upwardly and wherein a box car roof is adapted to be joined to said second portion.

3. A box car side plate according to claim 1 wherein said upper flange is inclined upwardly and wherein a box car roof is adapted to engage said upper flange.

4. A box car side plate according to claim 1 wherein said upper flange portion extends substantially vertically and wherein a box car roof is adapted to engage said upper flange portion.

5. A box car side plate according to claim 1 wherein said lower flange is adapted to provide an engagement surface for guide means for said chain hoist.

6. A railway box car comprising:

spaced apart box car sides, at least one of which has a door opening therein; spaced apart box car ends;

a floor portion joining said spaced apart sides and ends; a roof joining said spaced apart sides and ends; said box car sides comprising a lower side sill,

a side sheet integrally affixed to said side sill and a box car side plate engaging said side sheet; said box car side plate comprising:

a channel section having a generally horizontally extending surface which is adapted to be engaged by a longitudinally movable hoist in said box car; a generally vertically extending lower flange located inwardly in said car from said horizontal surface which engages one of said side sheets and an upper flange located above said horizontal surface at least a portion of which engages said roof.

7. A box car according to claim 6 wherein said upper flange portion is inclined upwardly and wherein said roof engages said upper flange portion.

8. A box car according to claim 6 wherein said upper flange portion extends substantially vertically and wherein said roof portion engages said upper flange portion.

9. A box car according to claim 6 wherein said hoist is provided with guide means which engage said side plate lower flange.

10. A box car according to claim 9 wherein said guide means comprise horizontal rollers.

11. A box car according to claim 6 wherein said upper flange portion is inclined upwardly and wherein said roof engages said upper flange portion.

12. A box car according to claim 6 wherein said upper flange portion extends substantially vertically and wherein said roof portion engages said upper flange portion.

13. A box car according to claim 6 wherein said hoist further comprises transversely extending beams between rollers engaging said horizontal surface; at least one longitudinally extending reinforcing spacer engaging said beams; a winch assembly mounted between said beams; said winch assembly comprising support members having means thereon adapted to move back and forth along said transversely extending beams; said winch assembly having means adapted to engage lading to be loaded and unloaded into and from said box car; said winch comprising a gear reducing unit and further comprising means for operating said winch assembly by an operator standing on the floor of said box car whereby said lading can be loaded and unloaded longitudinally in said box car.

14. A railway box car comprising:

spaced apart box car sides, at least one of which has a door opening therein; spaced spart box car ends, a floor portion joining said spaced apart sides and ends; a roof joining said spaced apart sides and ends, said box car sides comprising a lower side sill; a side sheet integrally affixed to said side sill and a box car side plate engaging said side sheet; said box car side plate comprising: a channel section having a horizontally extending surface which is adapted to be engaged by rollers of a longitudinally movable hoist in said box car; a generally vertical extending lower flange located inwardly in said box car from said horizontal surface which lower flange engages said side sheet; an upper flange located above said horizontal surface at least a portion of which upper flange engages said roof; said hoist further comprising transversely extending beams between said rollers; a pair of longitudinally extending reinforcing spacers engaging said beams; a winch assembly mounted between said beams; said winch assembly comprising support members having means thereon adapted to move back and forth along said transversely extending beams; and guide means engaging said side plate lower flange; said winch assembly having means adapted to engage large cylindrical articles to be loaded and unloaded into and from said box car; said winch comprising a gear reducing unit and further comprising means for operating said winch assembly by an operator standing on the floor of said box car whereby said large cylindrical lading can be loaded and unloaded longitudinally in said box car and the available cube of the box car most effectively utilized in transporting large cylindrical articles.

Page 1 of 2 UNITED QTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENE NO, 3,89 L, +95

DATED J l 15 1975 mvgmgmg Roy R. Dare, James C. Hammonds, Walter E. O'Leary ET is CdfIlIlELI that CHO! appears in the GLWOVGHIGEHHIIEG patent and that smd Letters Patent are hereby conected as shown below In the drawings, Sheet 2, Figure 10, should appear as 1 indicated on the attached copy of sheet 2. The title should read Box Car Having Improved Side Plate Col. line 39, after "An analysis of" should read the payload achievable using the new loading patterns of Col. 6, line 53, "as indicated at 65" should read as indicated at 65a E11 FATE??? UH HLEI UNTEFH ST N FATE?! i' NO.

fihi'ili) July 15, 1975 I IKfQNE'I Q(it? Roy R. Dare, James C. Hammonds, Walter E. O'Leary ;:i :-'3w.= .ier?;%

Signed and Salad this twenty-third Dz)? of March 1976 [SEAL] A Nest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN 8 fficer Commissioner nj'latentx and Trademarks

Claims

6. A railway box car comprising: spaced apart box car sides, at least one of which has a door opening therein; spaced apart box car ends; a floor portion joining said spaced apart sides and ends; a roof joining said spaced apart sides and ends; said box car sides comprising a lower side sill, a side sheet integrally affixed to said side sill and a box car side plate engaging said side sheet; said box car side plate comprising: a channel section having a generally horizontally extending surface which is adapted to be engaged by a longitudinally movable hoist in said box car; a generally vertically extending lower flange located inwardly in said car from said horizontal surface which engages one of said side sheets and an upper flange located above said horizontal surface at least a portion of which engages said roof.

14. A railway box car comprising: spaced apart box car sides, at least one of which has a door opening therein; spaced spart box car ends, a floor portion joining said spaced apart sides and ends; a roof joining said spaced apart sides and ends, said box car sides comprising a lower side sill; a side sheet integrally affixed to said side sill and a box car side plate engaging said side sheet; said box car side plate comprising: a channel section having a horizontally extending surface which is adapted to be engaged by rollers of a longitudinally movable hoist in said box car; a generally vertical extending lower flange located inwardly in said box car from said horizontal surface which lower flange engages said side sheet; an upper flange located above said horizontal surface at least a portion of which upper flange engages said roof; said hoist further comprising transversely extending beams between said rollers; a pair of longitudinally extending reinforcing spacers engaging said beams; a winch assembly mounted between said beams; said winch assembly comprising support members having means thereon adapted to move back and forth along said transversely extending beams; and guide means engaging said side plate lower flange; said winch assembly having means adapted to engage large cylindrical articles to be loaded and unloaded into and from said box car; said winch comprising a gear reducing unit and further comprising means for operating said winch assembly by an operator standing on the floor of said box car whereby said large cylindrical lading can be loaded and unloaded longitudinally in said box car and the available cube of the box car most effectively utilized in transporting large cylindrical articles.