Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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APPI.ICATIO2~ FOR PATENT
TITL~ Railroad Tank Car Lift Lug
SPECIFICATIQN
Technical Field
Thi invention xelates to railroad tank cars. More
specifica~ly, ~his inven~ion relates to lift lug~ or rail
road tank cars.
5 Prior Art
Railroad tank cars for transporti~g 1 iguid and llke
substances form a major portion of thle Unit~d States materials
transportation system. t~en a tank car is derailed, it is
often necessary to lift the tanlc car to replac:e it on the
10 railxoa~ tra~:k. This is generally done by cran~s which are
attached in a number of ways to the tank cax an~ are used to
lift the tank car so tha~ it may be maneuYered back onto ~e
track. ~ railroad tank car is no~ d~signed ~or these types
of lift ~orce~3 and, thereore, may be su~jec~: ~o de~imental
15 orc:~s during re raili~g. The potential hasard~ o the
situa~io~ are yreatly increased when the ~a~ car con~ains a
dangerous cargo.
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For these reasons, the Association of American Railroads
has re~lired all railroad tank cars built to comply with
ta~k car sp~cifica~ions AAR 24-6 Lif~ing Provi~ion Tes~
which reguir~s that "ater applica~ion and relea~e of the
required load, visual inspection must rev~al no evidence of
p~rr~n~n~ defo~mation in the tanX car tank, bolster or
lifting provision except that local deformation is permitted
in the hook ~ea~ing area. Il So far as is known to the inven-
tors, no inexpensive, sim~le and workable solu~ion ~o this
problem has been found which meets ~he ~.A.R. regula~ions
and ensures the safety of ~he tank contents.
U.S. Patent Nos. 89,758; 127,095i 152,873; 76fi,521;
1,492,226; lr492,227; 1,438,~41: ~,251,311; 3,752,0~3; and
German Patent No. 481,906 all disclose means for lifting
railroad cax bodies. None of ~hese patents di~clos~ the use
o~ lift lugs, and with the exception o~ U.S. P~tent No.
3,752,083, all are designed for fi~ed placemen~ to unload
car bodies a~d n~t or re-railing. U.S. Pa~ent ~o. 3,752,083
discloses a locomotive bogie having liting dog~ by whieh
~he car and truck assembly may be lited. It do~ not
disclose any means of lifting the car body apart f.rom the
truck assembly.
Summary of the Invention
- The pre~ent invention is a railroad tank car lift lug
for receivi~g and securing a lifting device to tank car
having a bolster pad mounted adjacent an end o ~he tank car
and a vertically disposed bolster web, the bol~ter web
having a substantially hoxizo~tal ext~n~; ng upper edgs. A
substantially horizontal base plate i.s mounted on the ex-
t~nded upper edge of the bolster we~ wi~h an inner edge of~h~ horizontal base plate secure~ to the bolster pad. A
substantially vertical lift lug plate has its upper edge
secured to the bolster pad and its lower edge secured to th~
base plate. A pair of generally triangular lit lu~ webs
each ha~e their lower edges secured to the baRs plate, their
ou~er edge secured ~o the lif~ lug plate and their i~n~r
edge secured to ~he bols~er pad. The lift lug plate ha~ an
opening adjac~nt its lower edge.
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Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tank c~r showing the
lift lug of the present invention;
Fi~. 2 i~ an end view of the bolster assembly of Fig. 1
along lines 2-~;
Fig. 3 is a side view of the lift lug assembly along
lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is an end view of one lift lug of an alternative
embodiment of the present in~en~ion; and
Fiy. 5 is a side view of the lift lug of ~he present
invention as shown in Fig. 4.
Description o~ the Preferred Embodim~n~
In the dra~ings, Fig. 1 shows a railroad ta~k car T
ha~ing a lift lug L of the present invention. A bolster pad
10 is welde~ to ~he outer surface 12 of the ta~k car T.
Generally, a similar bolster pad will be mount~d a~ ~he
opposite end (not shown~ of the railroad tank car T. A
vertically disposed bolster web 14 depends from the bolster
pad 1~. The bolster web 14 has a horizontally ex~n~i ng
~0 upper edge 14a on which is mounted a horizon~al base plate
16 with ~n inner edge 16a secured to ~he bolst~r pad 10. A
substantially vertical lift lug plate 18 is secured to ~he
horizontal base pla~e 16. The lift lug plate 18 has an
upper edge 18a secured to the bols~er pad 10 a~d a lower
edge lBb secured to the base plate 16 adjacent the base
plate outer edge 16b. The strength of the lift lug L is
increas~d by a pair of generally triangular lift luy webs 20
each having a lower edge 20a s~cured to the ba~e plate 16,
an outer edge 20b secured to the lift lug plate 1~ and an
inner ed~e 20c secured to the bolster pad 10. Formed in the
lift lug plate 18 is an invexted V-shaped opening 22 adjacent
to ~he lowQr edge 18b of lift lug plate 18.
Thereby is formed a lift lug L of ufficient s~reng~h
so ~hat a lifting device such as a crane hook may be in
serted and secured in the opening 22 and the railroa~ tanX
car T may be lifted and re-railed without deformation.
The materials of the lift lug L are prefe~ably steel of
sufficient strength for lifting of the tank car T fully
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loaded. The parts o the li:Et lug L are preferably walded
together and weldad to tank car T. Generally ~ach tank car
ha~ four similar liEt lugs; lift lug L as shown, a lit lug
L~ on th~ opposite side of the ~ank car T on the bolster pad
5 10, and two more lift lugs (not shown) similarly situated on
a bolster pad on ~e other end of the tank car T.
In more de~ail, th~ bolster pad 10 is a generally rec-
tangular steel plate which is curved along its length to
conform to the bottom of the outer surface 12 of railroad
10 tank car T. The bolster pad 10 ~erves to reinor~e the
railroad tank car T at the point where th~ weight is carried
by a bol~ter a~sembly 15. The bolster web 14 as viewed irl
Fig. 2 is formed with a lef~ por~io~ 14~ and a ris~ht por~ion
14c, generally ha~ing mirror symme~:ry. The bolst~r web 14
15 is a vertically disposed plate d~pending from ~3 bolster
pad 10. The main upper edge 14d of bolster w~b 14 i~ general-
ly contoured to fit the bolster pad 10 with the exception of
passages 24 formed in the ~olster web 14 to allow cooling
coils or electrical wiring to be run through ~he bolster w~b
14 along the length of tank car T. Bol~ter web upper edges
14a are gen~rally horizontal and extend out from ~he bolster
pad 10. A bolster asfiembly is a s~n~rd part of most
railroad tank cars and if i~ is desired to retrofi~ a t~nk
car with the present in~en~ion, then its bolster web may b~
cut to form the desired horizontal extended upper edge 14a.
Mounted to the bolster web exte~e~ upper edge 14a is
the hori20ntal base plate 16 which is~ generally rectangular
and is mounted along its inner edga ].6a ~inner referring to
the edge nearest the tank car T~ to ~he bols~er w~b 10, and
its outer edge 16b (outer referring to the edge furthe~t
from ~he tank car T) is ad~acent the outermost portion o
bolster web 14. The ba~e plate 16 is mounted pe~pendicular
to the bolster web uppex edge 14a and substantially along
~he base plate cen~er line 16e to equalize forces ~uri~ re~
railing. ~ounted adjacent the base plate out~r edge 16b on
the base plate upper surface 16f is the lif~ lug plate 18.
Lift lug plate 18 lower edge 18b is weld~d to ~he upper
surface 16f of base plate 1~ adjacent its outer edge 16b and
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2 L~
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is subs tantially perpendicular ~o the base plate 16 . The
lif~ lug pla~e upper end 18a is wel~e~ ~o the bolster pad 10
adj acent the bolster pad end :L4a . To increase ~tru~tural
strength, t~e lit lug plate upper edge 18a is curved so
5 that it joins bolster pad 14 sub~;tantially at a right angle.
The pair o substantially identical, generally triangu~
lar li~t lug we~s 20 are each mounted by the insler edge 20c
to the bolster pad 10, the lower edge ~Oa to the lbase plate
16 and by the outer edge 20b to the lif~ lug plat~ 18, One
10 lift lug web 20 is mounted adjac:ent the orward (for.irard
meaning the end shown i~ Fig. 1~ edges of horizontal base
plate 16 and lit lug plate 18 and the other adj ac:ent the
rearward ~meaning the end not shown in Fig~ 1) edge~; of ba~;e
plate 16 and lift lug plate 18. Thereby a ~o~ i~ for~ed by
the bolster pad 14, the hori20ntal base plate 16, ~he lift
lug platP 18 and the t~o lift lug webs 20. The lift lug
pla~e 18 has fonmed in i~ an inverted V~shaped opening 22
a~jacent lift lu~ plate lower end 18b which will accept and
se~ure the liting device to re-rail the tank car T. I~ the
~0 preferred embodiment, the verte~ of the V will be ro~nded.
The strength of the lift lug L is increa~ed by a
generally rect~ngular ~ide cover plate 26 mounted by its
upper edge 2~a beneath the base plate ou~er edg~ 16b and at~
tached along its center line 26b ~o ~he outer edge 14e o
bolster web 1~. The side cover plat~ lower edge~26c i5
mounted to a bottom horizon~al member 28 which is mounted
perpendicular to the lower edge l~f of bol~ter wab 14.
Other portions of ~he bolster assembly 15, which are
typical ea~ures of railroad ~ank cars, include the center
filler box 30 mounted between the left 14b and right 14c
portion~ of bolster web 14 and center plate 32, joined to
the bottom o center filler box 30, which rides in ~he ~ruck
assembly ~not shown~ o the railroad tank car T. A center
plate pin 34 e~tends through the cen-ter filler bo~ 30 c~nd
the center plate 32 to rotatably guide the ta~k car T on the
truck assembly. A~ end framing 36, of generally rectc~ngular
shape, extends around the tank car T, moun~ed ~o the hori-
zontal bolster bottom member 28 and is used for safe~y
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purposes on the tank car T. Gusset 38 is mounted between
the side cove~ plate 2~ and the end fxaming 36 to increase
stxuctural strength.
In an alterIlative embo~nen~ of the present inven~ion,
5 as shown in Fig. 4 And 5, using identical number~ for iden-
tical par~s, a bolster pad 10 is mounted to the outer sur-
face 12 of a tank car T. A ~rerti~ally dispo~ed bol~ter web
~14 depends from the bolster pad ~. Tha bolster web 14 has
a horizontal upper edge 14a f:rom which iB mounted a hori-
10 20ntal base plate 16 with an inner edge 16a secured to the
bolster pad 10. A vertical lift lug plate 18 is secured to
the horizontal base plate 16. ~he lift lug plat~ 18 has an
upper edge 18a secured to the bolster pad 10 and a lower
edge 18b secured to ~he base plate 16 along itS oUter edge
15 16b. A generally triangular lift lug web 40 has a lower
edge 40a secured to the~ base plate 16, an outer edge 40b
secured to the lift lug plate 18 and an iImer edge 40c
~ecured to the bolster pad 10. Formed in t:he lift lug pla~e
18 is an in~terted V-shaped opening 22 adjacen~ to the lower
20 edge 18b Of lift lug pla~e 18. The lift lug web 40 has
formed in i~s outer edye 40b a semicircular sectio~ ~2. The
opening 42 allows easy placement of a hook through li~t lug
plate opening 22. The lift lug web 40 is mounted substan-
tially along the center line 18c of lift lug plat~ 18 and
the horizontal plate center line 16e and ~hereforP is substan-
tially coplaner with bolster web 14.
Except for the changed lift lug web 40, the two embodi-
ments are substantially identical. The ope~ing ~2 has a
rounded vertex. The lift lug plate 1~3 is curved adja~ent
its upper edge 18a to meet bolster web 10 at substantially a
right angle. A ~ide cover plate 26 is mounted pe~pendicu~
larly by an uppex ed~e 25a to ~he base plate outer edg~ 16b
and the bolster web outer edge 14e.
The foregoing disclosure and description o~ the inven-
tion are illustrated and explanatory thereof, and variouschanges in the size, shape materials as w~ll a~ in the
details of the illustrated construction may be made without
departing from the spirit of the invention.
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