Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to railroad cars. More
particularly, this invention is concerned with an improved
center beam railroad freight car having a reduced tare
weight which does not sacrifice load carrying capacity.
Background of the Invention
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Center beam railroad freight cars have been
in use hauling lumber, plywood and other sheet materials
for about 20 years. This type of car is disclosed in
Taylor U.S. Patent No. 3,244,120. Wagner U.S. Patent
No. 3,734,031 discloses an improved center beam car.
Although center beam railroad cars built according
to the Taylor patent and the Wagner pa~ent, supra, are
relatively lightweight and have been used commercially
with great success, the high cost of fuel has made it
essential that all car structures be further reduced in
weight if at all possible. Because center beam cars were
already considered to be lightweight, a further reduction
in car weight without sacrificing load carrying capacity,
car life or safety has presented a formidable problem.
However, even though the problem has been very difficult,
the need for a suitable solution has lead to my development
of an improved center beam freight carrying railroad car
having less weight per load carrying capacity than previous
cars of this type
Summary of the Invention
According to the invention a freight carrying
railroad car is provided comprising a body supported at
each end by wheel-containing truck means; the body having
a vertical center beam extending longitudinally the length
of the car between bulkheads at each end of the car; the
center beam comprising a cen-ter sill, a top sill paral-
lel to and spaced above the center 5ill, and a plurality
of vertical spaced apart columns rigidly connected at
their lower ends to the center sill and at their upper
ends to the top sill; and at each end of the car, a vertical
plate extending from the center 9ill to the top sill,
and from the bulkhead at that end inwardly along the center
sill; the vertical plate being joined to the center sill,
top sill, bulkhead and a plurality of said columns and
having a width no more than about 20% and generally less
than 10~ of the distance between the bulkheads.
l'he railroad car desirably includes a pair of
side sills and cross bearers extending from each side
of the center sill to the adjacent side sill. Furthermore,
many of the cross bearers advisably have a vertical web,
a bottom lateral flange joined to the web and a top lateral
flange joined to the web, with said top flange sloping
inwardly from the side sill to the center sill.
The vertical plates extending from the center
sill to the top sill will generally have vertical inner
edges and the area between those edges is to be maintained
open to keep the car lightweight. The area between the
inner edges of the vertical plates at each end of the
car can be free of bracing between any adjoining columns.
Furthermore, the vertical plates desirably extend through
the central portion of the columns to which they are joined.
The railroad car can include a shear plate at
each end of the car extending between the side sills and
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adjacent bulkhead and be connected to the center sill~
Also, a body bolster can be connected to the center sill
and shear plate~ The wheel-containing truck means can
be a four wheel truck having a truck bolsteL operatively
associated with the body bolster.
The shear plate is desirably supported in a
horizontal position by the center sill and cross bearers
beneath the shear plate, and the top of the shear plate
~as wedge shaped load supports lateral to and sloping
downward towards the center sill.
While a prior art center beam car with side
sills 63 feet lvng would weigh about ~3,000 pounds, it
is expected that a car according to the invention having
side sills the same length will weigh about 58,000 pounds,
for a weight reduction of 5,000 pounds.
A railroad car manufactured according to my
invention can be made about 5,000 pounds lighter than
a car of the same length now in commercial use. This
reduction in weight permits increased load capacity as
well as production of a car of greater length than was
possible previously.
Brief Description of the Draw~
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Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lightweight
center beam railroad freight car according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is a side elev~tional view, partly broken
away, of the center beam car shown in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the
line 3-3 of Figure 2;
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Figure 4 i5 an enlarged view of the left end
of the car shown in Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the
line 5-5 of Figure 3; and
Eigure 6 is a sectional view taken along the
line 6-6 of Figure 3.
D_tailed Descriptlon of the Drawings
To the extent it is reasonable and practical~
the same numbers will be used to identify the same or
similar elements or parts in the various views of the
drawings,
With reference to Figure 1, the center beam
railroad freight car 10 has a center beam 12 comprising
a lightweight center sill 14 fabricated from two Z-shaped
structural members, a top sill comprising rectangular
tube 70 and chord 72, and columns 46 and 69. Body bolsters
(not shown) are ]oined to the bottom opposite ends of
the center sill and they in turn mate with truck bolsters
in trucks 16 and 18 to support the car body.
Extending laterally from each side of center
sill 14 are two different arrangements of ~ross bearers
20 and 22 (Figures 1, 5 and 6) joined at their ends to
side sills 24. The cross bearers 20 are located at each
end portion of the car above the trucks 16 and 18. Each
cross bearer 20 has a sloped lower flange 26 and an upwardly
projecting vertical web 28 ~Figure 6). A shear plate
30 rests on and is joined to the top of web 28. Shear
plate 30, furthermore, rests on the top of center sill
14 and extends or the full width o the car to the two
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side sills 24. The purpose of the shear plate is to trans-
fer some of the draft and buff loads from the center sill
to the side sills and to reinforce the car in the vicinity
of the body bolster.
Tapered sleeper members 32 are rnounted on shear
plate 30. Because of their inclined upper surface, sleeper
me~bers 32 tilt a load placed thereon towards center beam
12.
Each end of the railroad car has a bulkhead
34 between which center beam 12 e~tends longitudinally
in vertical or upright position.
The cross bearers 22 have a sloped bottom flange
36, a vertical web 38 and a sloped top flange 40 which
is in the same plane as the top of sleepers 32. Accordingly,
a flat bottom load, such as pre-packed lumber, can rest
inwardly tilted but in a straight line on the top of all
such supporting surfaces. Although not shown in the draw-
ings, it is within the scope of the invention to include
a floor plate supported by the cross bearers 22 and sleepers
32 for the length of the car between the bulkheads.
Cross bearers 22 are readily fabricated and
utilize a minimum of parts and bending. Since they require
no tapered sleepers 32, they are easily installed and,
in addition, provide excellent strength per weight.
Extending upwardly from center sill 14 in the
central 60 to 80% or so of the car, where the cross bearers
join the center sill, is a plurality of vertical columns
46 ~Figures 1 & 5) which have a web 48 lateral to the
center sill and two sloped flanges 50, 52 joined to the
3~ web edges. However, at the ends of the car and primarily
above each shear plate 30, a vertical plate 60 extendr,
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upwardly for a distance equal to the height oE columns
46 (Figures 1 and 6). Each plate 60 is joined to its
adjacent bulkhead. On each side of plate 60, where the
cross bearers join the center sill 14, it is reinforced
by a palr of channel-shaped members ~2 and 64 (Figures
1 and 6) identically shaped and placed opposite each other.
Each pair of channel-shaped members 62, 64 form a column
63 which is divided by the vertical plate 60. The stem
portions of channel-shaped members 62 and 64 are shorter
at the top than at the bottom, giving the members a taper
or slope which positions their outer surface in the same
respective planes as flanges 50 and 52 of columns 46.
As a result, the tops of the sleepers 32 and the tops
40 of cross bearers 22 intersect the columns 46 and channel-
shaped members 62 and 64 at a right angle thus providing
contact surfaces adapted to support goods packaged in
generally rectangular shapes. The plates 60 are further
reinforced against buckling by a pair of horizontal bars
66, 68 vertically spaced apart on each side of tbe plate.
It is an important feature of this invention
that the space between adjacent columns 46 is left open.
In other words, the plates 60 are of limited longitudinal
length and do not extend the length of the car. The plates
60 generally extend longitudinally of the car only a very
short distance beyond the end of the truck. The longitud-
inal distance between the vertical edges or ends 90, 92
(Figure 1~ of the two identical plates 60 will generally
be from 60 to 80% oE the distance between the bulkheads.
This arrangement permits a very significant reduction
in car weight.
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Extending the full length of the car between
and joined to the bulkheads is a rectangular tube 70 which
is joined to the top of columns 46 and channel-shaped
members 62 and 64. A wide chord member 72 is also mounted
on the top of columns 46 and the columns formed by adjacent
pairs of channel-shaped members 62 and 64. The wide chord
member 72 IFigure 5) is made of two separate plates 74
and 76 which extend between and are joined to the bulkheads
34. The inner longitudinal edges of plates 74 and 76
1~ are joined, such as by welding, respectively to the bottom
of tube 70. The plates 74 and 76 are each advisably tilted
or sloped upwardly at a slight angle of about 10. The
outer ends of plates 74 and 76 are desirably bent upwardly
to a vertical position and the edges then bent inwardly
to a horizontal position as shown in Figure 5 to thereby
form an integral structural channel member 78, 80 on each
plate. Lateral straps 82 are joined to the tops of the
opposing channel members 78, 80 to stiffen the resulting
wide chord 72.
The construction of bulkheads 34 is of conven-
tional design and thereEore is not described in further
detail. The important thing is that the bulkheads be
sufficiently strong to transfer forces to center beam
14 ~ithout yielding excessively. In addition, the ends
of the center beam and its top structure are joined to
the bulkhead by conventional means.
