WO2009000707A1

WO2009000707A1 - Openable railroad car for transporting load units

Info

Publication number: WO2009000707A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/057635
Authority: WO
Inventors: Angiolo Barneschi
Original assignee: Angiolo Barneschi
Priority date: 2007-06-22
Filing date: 2008-06-17
Publication date: 2008-12-31
Also published as: EP2212177A1; ITAR20070031A1

Abstract

A railroad car which comprises a first structure (1) with a truck (3) for support and movement and at least means (6) for detachable connection to a second structure (2), the second structure being provided with a truck (9) for support and movement, with a mechanism with substantially vertical sliding ( 12) with wheels (13) or other elements for resting on the track (40) and at least one movable bed (14), which provides the ramp for accessing the bed (15), and coupling means (8), an extension of the lateral longitudinal members (25), for its connection to the first structure (1).

Description

OPENABLE RAILROAD CAR FOR TRANSPORTING LOAD UNITS Technical Field

The invention relates to an openable railroad car for transporting load units and particularly road semitrailers, to be used in the intermodal road- railroad transport of goods. Background Art

In order to make the transport of goods by rail economically convenient on short routes as well, including those shorter than 200-250 km, the times for loading and unloading on and from the railroad car the load unit or units, and particularly road vehicles or parts thereof such as semitrailers, must be short and must not require special equipped intermodal centers. For this purpose, various solutions of railroad cars have been studied. One of them is constituted by a chassis, which provides the bed, which is connected in a lower region, toward its ends, to two trucks, each with one or more axles, therefore with one or more pairs of wheels depending on the weight of the load to be transported.

Such chassis can assume various configurations depending on the nature and volume and particularly on the height of the load to be transported. When the product to be transported by rail is accommodated within a road vehicle, loading platforms arranged at the same level as the bed of the railroad car are used. In this case, the railroad car is supported by tracks which are anchored on a rotating platform which, from a position which is aligned with the tracks of the railroad line, turns in order to align the bed of the railroad car that it supports with the level of the platform and allow the wheeled vehicle to climb onto it and be fixed thereto, or leave the semitrailer or trailer thereon, where it will be then fixed to be transported, or to hitch to a tractor the semitrailer or trailer and transport it on the road.

This solution is possible whenever the road vehicle with the load has a height which is compatible with the maximum height of loads which can be transported by rail.

In the case of large tractor-semitrailer rigs, normally it becomes impossible to transport them on railroad lines by resorting to ordinary railroad cars. Another solution, known as Cargospeed, provides for railroad cars which are equipped to load semitrailers and are provided with movable decks to be activated by way of lifting mechanisms which are positioned between the rails of the tracks in the portion for road-railroad interchange, on which such railroad cars are arranged. These movable decks can turn and can be arranged flush within the bed of the railroad car once the vehicle loading-unloading operations have ended.

These movable decks are first lifted and then turned so that they are oriented transversely to the railroad car. Accordingly, they require a loading platform whose level is equal to the level of the load of the railroad car, so that once the movable deck has been lifted and turned, the vehicle can climb onto it. This system requires equipped loading platforms, in which the floor is at the level of the floor of the bed of the railroad car, in order to allow the loading-unloading movement of vehicles and particularly of road semitrailers.

Another solution, known as Automatic Loading System or ALS, uses suitable parking platforms, where the vehicle can be positioned, which are located adjacent to the track and at the level of the bed of the railroad car. It further uses pairs of caterpillar tracks which penetrate below the rear part and front part of the semitrailer, lift it, and then travel over the bed of the railroad car, lower the semitrailer again until it rests on the bed of such railroad car, and then return to the parking platform or loading/unloading platform.

The described systems require loading-unloading platforms at the level of the bed of railroad cars, which are therefore expensive and are normally built in locations with a high traffic vehicles and in particular of road semitrailers.

Other technical solutions have been devised in order to avoid the use of loading platforms which are raised at the plane of the tracks and therefore allow the transfer of a road semitrailer onto a railroad car even starting from stations with minimal traffic to reach destination stations which again have a low level of traffic, therefore with loading platforms at the level of the tracks and without equipment and facilities suitable for moving load units.

One of them, adapted to facilitate the transport of road trailers and semitrailers on railroads, provides for the manufacture of such vehicles with a supporting structure which is highly resistant to mechanical stresses so that they are certified by rail standards. These structures are provided, toward each end, with a center bearing coupling. They further resort to particular trucks, each provided with two center bearings to which the center bearings of two road vehicles arranged mutually adjacent, one after the other, are coupled.

This solution requires the vehicle, a semitrailer or trailer, to have means which allow first the lifting of its supporting bed on the road level, so as to allow to position two railroad trucks at its ends, and then its lowering in order to allow its coupling to the center bearings of such two trucks, and then the lifting of the tire-fitted wheels with respect to the track on which the semitrailer is transported by such two trucks.

This solution, in addition to requiring road semitrailers which have complex means for varying the level of the bed and for lifting the tires, requires them to have a very strong and heavy supporting structure, which entails a significant reduction of their useful capacity when they are used as road vehicles.

Another system, disclosed in EP1623851, provides for the use of a road-type semitrailer, provided with tire-fitted wheels capable of assuming different levels, with a very strong bed in order to meet the conditions prescribed for railroad vehicles. Toward its ends, such semitrailer is provided with center bearing means, each for mating with a truck provided with its own buffer means and with means for coupling to other railroad cars. The semitrailer is arranged above the rails with the bed raised so as to allow to position two trucks under it, one truck at each end, and is then lowered in order to allow their mating with such trucks, and then its tire- fitted wheels are raised so that during rail travel they do not touch the rails of the underlying track. Such system again requires a very strong and heavy supporting chassis of the semitrailer, which reduces its useful capacity when it is operated as a road vehicle. Finally, the trucks, which have a particular structure, must periodically be loaded onto ordinary railroad cars in order to redistribute them throughout the territory, with the disadvantages that can be easily imagined to derive from this.

In order to solve the problem of the transport of vehicles, particularly of road semitrailers, starting and arriving at stations which are not particularly equipped, yet another system has been disclosed in Italian patent application AR2006A000015, in the name of this same Applicant, and provides for a composite railroad car formed by two mutually opposite car sections which are joined together detachably. Each of the two car halves is U-shaped or fork-shaped, and has, at its ends, buffers, coupling means and equipment for combining with other cars of the composite and common type in order to form a train set. Each composite car is detached into its two components which, when moved apart, allow to position between them a road semitrailer; then the two parts are moved mutually closer, joined and ready to support the vehicle, which, having lifted its tire-fitted wheels, rests on the car and can be transported like a normal load. Such a composite railroad car, in order to be used, requires the track in the loading platform to be at road level in order to allow to position thereon the semitrailer to be loaded or unloaded. It further requires means which are easy to provide to support the vehicle and requires such vehicle to be provided with the means for lifting its wheels when it is supported by the railroad car. However, the described solution requires the construction of a structurally new railroad car which entails high design and testing costs. Disclosure of the Invention

The aim of the present invention is to provide an openable railroad car for transporting load units, particularly road semitrailers, which allows their bimodal road-railroad transport even when departing from, and/or arriving at, stations which lack particular facilities for moving loads.

Another object of the invention is to provide an openable railroad car for transporting load units, particularly road semitrailers, whose structure is derived directly from ordinary railroad cars in order to facilitate and make its production and testing inexpensive.

Another object of the invention is to provide an openable railroad car which allows to transport road vehicles, particularly semitrailers and trailers, so as to keep their highest part at a relatively low level in order to allow their transport on current railroads. Another object of the invention is to provide an openable railroad car which allows to load the road vehicle quickly and simply, without requiring the use of cranes or other lifting means, much less the need for particular loading platforms, such as those which are raised above the plane of the tracks and require large available spaces in addition to being very expensive and therefore feasible only in important centers with substantial goods traffic.

This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by the openable railroad car according to the present invention, constituted by: - a first structure, which is provided with a support and movement truck which has: on one side, buffers, mechanical coupling means and system connections; in an upper region, toward the center, normally a center bearing device; toward the opposite side, connecting means and means for stabilizing said connection to the second structure; - a second structure, also provided with a support and movement truck, which has: on one side, buffers, mechanical coupling means and system connections by means of which it is connected to another railroad car; toward the opposite side, at least one mechanism with substantially vertical sliding which has its own elements for resting on the rails of the track and a movable bed which is adapted to provide the ramp for accessing the bed of said second structure, and finally with coupling means for its connection to the first structure, when it is proximate thereto, in order to combine and form a composite railroad car.

A railroad car thus structured is advantageous, because in its two parts it uses trucks, buffers, system connection assemblies and braking assemblies which are all of a known type and are therefore tested and safe and cheap.

It is advantageous because the center bearing device, which is normally present in the first structure, and the mechanisms that drive it, are also of the known type and are therefore safe and cheap.

It is advantageous because the coupling means and the means for locking-releasing the coupling in the two structures are simple and easy to provide.

It is advantageous because the mechanism with substantially vertical sliding on the second structure is easy to provide and conceptually simple and is intended to ensure that the bed is substantially horizontal when such second structure is detached from the first one and therefore acts in static conditions or in any case when such structure is required to perform limited movements on the track. It is advantageous because the bed of such second structure is normally of the lowered type in order to allow to load thereon even loading units, particularly road semitrailers, which are relatively high, this allowing a relatively short loading ramp and a simplified assembly for driving it.

It is advantageous because the loading of road semitrailers onto the second structure requires a maneuvering base which is coplanar with respect to the rails, on which the vehicles to be loaded-unloaded move and are positioned, entailing very low costs and thus allowing the use of the invention even in railroad stations, or proximate thereto, where there is very limited goods traffic. Brief description of the Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of an openable railroad car for transporting load units, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation view of the two structures that provide the openable railroad car according to the invention, shown rather schematically and in the mutually separated (uncoupled) state;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the two structures of Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a side elevation view, in a different scale, of the engagement part of the second structure, highlighting therein the mechanism with substantially vertical sliding and the ascent ramp in the state in which it is raised on the track;

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the structure shown in Figure 3, with the mechanism with vertical sliding and the ascent ramp in the position adapted to allow the vehicles to climb on and off the bed;

Figure 5 is a side elevation view of the engagement part of the second structure, illustrating therein the contrast lifting assembly for the stabilizers of the road semitrailer shown in the lowered position; Figure 6 is a side elevation view of the engagement part of the second structure, illustrating therein the contrast lifting assembly in the raised position and, in broken lines, a stabilizer of a road semitrailer which rests thereon.

Ways of carrying out the Invention It is understood that the drawings are schematic and exemplifying and are provided only for the purpose of facilitating the comprehension of the preferred embodiment of the invention, without constituting any limitation thereof.

Substantially, therefore, the invention consists of an openable railroad car for transporting load units, particularly road semitrailers; it is structured so as to allow easy and quick loading thereon or unloading of road semitrailers without requiring particular equipment and/or auxiliary systems, so as to allow loading and unloading even in locations with minimal goods traffic, which currently are not provided with such service. The railroad car according to the invention, which allows to achieve the above-mentioned aim and objects, consists of the combination of a first structure 1 and of a second structure 2, which are provided with means 6 and 8 for their detachable connection.

The first structure 1 is provided with its own truck 3 for support and movement. At one end, it is provided with buffers 4, with mechanical engagement means 5 and with systems connections (not shown in the drawings) by means of which connection to the corresponding ones on other railroad cars having any structure is possible.

On the opposite side, the one oriented toward the second structure 2 of the railroad car being considered, such first structure is provided at least with connection means 6 and with assemblies 7 for stabilizing the detachable coupling with the corresponding coupling means 8 on the second structure 2.

Such second structure is provided, toward one end, with its own truck 9 for support and movement and, at such end, with buffers 10, mechanical coupling means 11 and assemblies for systems connections, not shown in the drawings, for connections to the corresponding assemblies in the railroad cars or passenger cars with which the invention can be combined to form a train set. The second structure 2, toward the side that lies opposite the one where the buffers 10 are located, is provided with a mechanism with substantially vertical sliding 12, which is equipped with wheels 13 or other elements designed to rest on the rails of a track 40. In this manner, when the second structure 2 is separated from the first structure 1, it is rendered particularly stable on the rails, regardless of the distribution of the load therein. It is further provided with a movable bed 14 which is adapted to provide the ramp for accessing a bed 15. The movable bed 14 is contoured and normally has a flexible lip 28 for contact with the ground which is adapted to facilitate the ascent thereon of the road vehicle and such that the vehicle, when it begins to climb onto the bed 15, applies a minimal longitudinal thrust to the second structure 2 to which the movable bed 14 belongs. The means 12 with substantially vertical sliding for resting on the rails of the track 40 are sized so as to bear the weight that affects them when the center bearing means are separated from corresponding ones 20 on the first structure 1. The second structure 2 further has, in the preferred embodiment shown in Figures 5 and 6, a lifting assembly 30-32, which is activated after the semitrailer has climbed onto the bed 15 of the second structure 2 and before it is detached from its tractor. Such lifting assembly comprises a contrast surface 30, which is activated by a jack 31 and is controlled in its movement by levers 32, which form a parallelogram system suitable to reach stabilizing feet 36 of the semitrailer and keep it in such position when it is separated from the tractor that has pushed it onto the bed 15, at least as long as the center bearing coupling means 20 of such semitrailer do not interact with any coupling means provided on the first structure 1. The first structure 1 is therefore normally provided with one center bearing device 20, with a corresponding activator jack 21 or with other mechanical means with manual activation. In the preferred embodiment, shown in Figure 2, the center bearing 20, capable of vertical sliding motions for adaptation which are normally activated manually, can slide on guides 29 under the action of the activator jack 21. In this solution, after coupling the first structure 1 to the second structure 2 of the railroad car according to the invention, the center bearing 20 is pushed toward the second structure 2 and therefore toward the semitrailer supported thereby until the center bearing 20 is coupled to the corresponding component on the semitrailer. With this solution, the semitrailer can also have different lengths or in any case its loading position on the second structure 2 can vary in a longitudinal direction.

The first structure 1 also comprises the connecting means 6, which are adapted to join to the corresponding coupling means 8 located in the second structure 2, and the stabilizer assemblies 7, normally of the hydraulic type, by means of which the coupling of the first structure 1 to the second structure 2 is locked-released.

The locking-release stabilizer means 7 are located on either side of the first structure 1 and, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, are constituted by two pairs of sliding pins and coupling holes 26, which lie transversely to the direction of relative sliding between the first structure 1 and the second structure 2. The pins are normally constituted by the stems of hydraulic cylinders actuated by stabilizer assemblies, two or more for each side, so as to distribute the coupling stresses in addition to ensuring such coupling.

The two structures 1 and 2, which compose the railroad car according to the invention, are therefore each provided with its own truck, which allows them to run on the tracks 40, in addition to giving them balance and stability. For this reason, in addition to the one required to bear heavy loads, each truck is normally of the two-axle type.

The balance of the second structure 2, when it is detached from the first one, is ensured also by the mechanism 12 with substantially vertical sliding. In its vertical movement, such articulation normally carries a transverse shaft 23 to which the wheels 13 for resting on the rails of the track 40 or other equivalent supporting elements, preferably with a high friction coefficient, are applied.

The wheels 13 or other resting elements therefore predominantly have the function of giving balance and stability to the second structure 2 when it is detached from the first structure 1.

The mechanism 12 with substantially vertical sliding is normally connected to the movable bed 14 which provides the loading ramp, i.e., to the structure that connects the floor of the loading platform, which is coplanar to the tracks, to the bed 15 located in the second structure 2 of the railroad car according to the invention.

In particular, the movable bed 14 is normally connected mechanically to the transverse shaft 23, which can act as a support for it when its free end is sized so as to be arranged in contact with the floor of the platform, on which it rests by means of its flexible lip 28, which also acts as a braking means for the structure 2 when the road vehicle climbs onto it.

The bed 15 of the second structure 2 is normally of the lowered type, i.e., it lies at a lower level than the lower part of two lateral longitudinal members 25 that provide the supporting structure of the second structure 2.

In the end part oriented toward the first structure 1, the longitudinal members 25 provide the coupling means 8 and comprise the means for coupling thereto, i.e., the positioning abutment and the transverse locking holes 26 designed to be crossed by the pins of assemblies 27 that stabilize their coupling to the first structure 1.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the shapes and the dimensions, may be any according to requirements without thereby abandoning the scope of the protection of the appended claims. The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. AR2007A000031 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

1. An openable railroad car for transporting load units, characterized by the combination of a first structure (1) and a second structure (2), both provided with means for their connection-separation, the first structure (1) comprising a truck (3) for support and movement and, at one end, buffers (4), mechanical coupling means (5) and means for systems connections, at the opposite side comprising coupling means (6) and means (7) for stabilizing the detachable coupling with the corresponding means on the second structure (2); the second structure (2) comprising, toward one end, a support and movement truck (9) and, at said end, buffers (10), mechanical coupling means (1 1) and means for systems connections, and comprising, toward the opposite side, a mechanism with substantially vertical sliding (12) with its own elements (13) for resting on the rails of the track (40), a movable bed (14) which provides the ramp for accessing a bed (15) and, on said opposite side, lateral coupling means (8) for its detachable connection to said first structure (1).

2. The openable railroad car according to claim 1 , characterized in that the first structure (1) comprises a center bearing device (20) with corresponding activation means, of the type suitable to act with the corresponding means located on the front part of road semitrailers.

3. The openable railroad car according to claim 2, characterized in that said center bearing device (20) can slide on guides (29) and is combined with activator means (21) which allow the center bearing device (20) to work in positions which can vary in a longitudinal direction on the first structure (1).

4. The openable railroad car according to claim 1 , characterized in that said coupling means (6) are adapted to interact with coupling means (8) on the second structure (2) and in that said stabilizing assemblies (7) allow the coupling to the second structure (2) to be locked-released.

5. The openable railroad car according to claim 1 , characterized in that said coupling means (6) of the first structure ( 1 ), adapted to couple said first structure to said second structure (2), comprise at least, on each side, two sliding pins and transverse coupling holes (26).

6. The openable railroad car according to claim 1, characterized in that the railroad cars (3, 9), respectively on the first and second structures, are each of the two-axle type.

7. The openable railroad car according to claim 1, characterized in that said mechanism with substantially vertical sliding (12) conveys in its movement a transverse shaft (23) to which the wheels (13) or other elements for resting on the rails of the track (40) are applied.

8. The openable railroad car according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanism with substantially vertical sliding (12) is connected mechanically to the movable bed (14) which provides the loading ramp.

9. The openable railroad car according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable bed (14) that provides the loading ramp is combined with a flexible lip (28), which is sized so as to be arranged in contact with the floor.

10. The openable railroad car according to claim 7, characterized in that the movable bed (14) is connected mechanically to the transverse shaft (23).

11. The openable railroad car according to claim 1 , characterized in that said vertically sliding means (12) are sized to support the front part of the road semitrailer loaded onto the bed (15).

12. The openable railroad car according to claim 1 , characterized in that the bed (15) is of the lowered type.

13. The openable railroad car according to claim 1, characterized in that said second structure (2) comprises two lateral longitudinal members (25), at the lower level of which the bed (15) is located.

14. The openable railroad car according to claim 13, characterized in that said two lateral longitudinal members (25) have a part, oriented toward the first structure (1), that comprises the coupling means (8).