Abstract:
A clip or hook assembly for use with a pin-like anchor assembly mounted in the side of a railcar for grasping the anchor assembly. The hook is part of a restraining system used to restrain lading loaded and shipped in the railcar. The hook includes a body port having a central aperture for receiving a magnet assembly which can be positioned against the anchor assembly for securing the hook to the anchor and the railcar sidewall.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is based on U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/582,786 filed Jun. 25, 2004. The priority and benefits of said provisional application are claimed herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a web-type lading restraint for use in rail cars and more particularly to a mechanism for securing the restraint to the car and maintaining the restraint attached to the car when not in use.  
         [0003]     Lading of various types is shipped in railcars. In one common form, this lading is in large rolls of paper and in another form can be cartons of merchandise that is suitable for rail shipment. Commonly, lading is loaded into one end of the car (i.e., against an end wall and side walls of the car) and needs to be restrained against movement and damage that might occur during coupling, shipment and the like.  
         [0004]     One restraint system includes a web or strap-like member where a pair of web portions are buckled together at their inner ends at about the center of the lading. The other or outer end of each strap is secured to a clip or hook that engages an anchor in each sidewall.  
         [0005]     In operation, the strap extends across the exposed face of the lading, is secured to each sidewall by one of the clips or hooks engaging a sidewall anchor and thus restrains lading movement.  
         [0006]     Sidewall anchors of various kinds are frequently already installed in the car. One type of anchor is known as a dog bone anchor which includes a depressed well-like member positioned in the sidewall and secured to the car. Part of the anchor includes a central generally vertical post with enlarged ends. The hook fits about the post.  
         [0007]     With the hooks anchored, the strap is tightened against the lading using the center buckle arrangement.  
         [0008]     Upon arrival, the buckle is released, the web portions are released and the lading is off-loaded. The straps are stored by maintaining the hook-anchor securement and thus hang from the railcar sidewalls for future use.  
         [0009]     An issue is how to maintain the hook secured to the anchor as the hook and web portions can be lost or misplaced if not fixed in place. Another issue relates to the hook being usable with commercially available dog bone style anchors which are already installed in the railroad car by the railroad car manufacturer at his choice.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     A strap-type restraint system is provided for use in a railroad car to restrain lading therein. The strap-type restraint includes a clip or hook at each end that engages a dog-bone style anchor in the respective sidewall. The anchor includes a vertical post portion for grasping by the hook. The hook includes a magnetic assembly for securing the hook to the sidewall and the anchor.  
         [0011]     Additional objects and features of this invention will became apparent from the following description and appended claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of the end of a railcar with rolls of lading restrained by several straps;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of an entire railcar with lading and taken generally along a line such as  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is an elevational view of the dog bone style anchor;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a horizontal view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3  showing the anchor in a railcar side post;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a vertical sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is an elevational view showing a pair of hooks, each engaging an anchor and connected together with a web, and a ring-type connector or suspender mechanism for attaching the connector web to the main portion of the restraining belt;  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 6 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a hook;  
         [0020]      FIG. 9  is a sectional view of the hook taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 8 ; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 10  is a view like  FIG. 1  showing the car end empty and the straps in a stored position. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is seen a railcar  10  which includes a pair of sidewalls  12 ,  14 , a floor  16 , a roof  18  and an end wall  20 . Each of the sidewalls includes a plurality of vertical side posts such as  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28 ,  30  and  32 .  
         [0023]     Roll-type lading such as  34  and  36  rests on the floor and is loaded against the end wall and side walls. The lading is restrained in position by three strap systems  38 ,  40  and  42 , each of which is generally horizontal and parallel to the floor. Each strap system is secured at opposite outer ends to one of the side walls and includes strap portions such as  38   a  and  38   b  whose inner ends (not shown) are buckled together and tightened together by a buckle such as  38   c  at the center of the lading. Such buckles can be obtained from Kinedyne Corporation, 151 Industrial Parkway, P.O. Box 5207, North Branch, N.J. 08876-5207 and can be of the type sold as Part No. 804.  
         [0024]     The dog bone anchor assembly  44  generally is seen in  FIGS. 3, 4  and  5 . The assembly includes a well-like member  46  and an upright or vertical post  48 . The well-like member  46  is positioned in a side-wall such as  12  and within the recess formed by a vertical side post such as  24 . The well-like member includes side webs such as  50  and  52  which join to the back wall  54  and the railroad car side wall  12 . Positioned in the well-like member is the vertical post member  48  that includes a central hook-grasping body section  58  and enlarged ends  60  and  62 . The post  48  has a dog bone or bar bell-like shape.  
         [0025]     The post  48  also includes a pair of rear strut-like formations  64  and  66  that engage the back wall  54  and space the post from the back wall and relative to the side wall  12 . The post&#39;s enlarged ends  60  and  62  are welded to the webs  50  and  52  so as to position the post  48  within the well-like member  46 .  
         [0026]     The clip or hook  70  is seen in  FIGS. 6, 7 ,  8  and  9 . It will be appreciated that the hook  70  is secured to the strap portion, such as  38   a , at the straps outer end.  
         [0027]     In  FIG. 6  an alternative lading restraining system is shown whereby two (2) hooks  70  and  170  are secured together by a connector web such as  171  which is connected to a single (I) lading restraining strap system, such as  38 . This use of two (2) hooks effectively divides the load and reduces the load carried by each hook. The hooks are the same whether used in (a) the primary system as in  FIG. 1  (where there is one (1) hook at each end of the strap) or the alternative system of  FIG. 6  (where there are two (2) hooks at each end of the strap).  
         [0028]     In some situations, such as a heavy load or wide principal web, it is desirable to employ two hooks at each end of the restraint. This alternative approach is shown in  FIG. 6  where two hooks such as  70  and  170  are connected to each other by a connector web  171  that passes through a ring-like suspender  172 , that is secured to the end of a primary strap such as  173  which can be wider than a connector strap. As indicated above this is a system whereby the load is split between two hooks rather than being carried by one hook. Thus the retainer system is secured in place by two hooks per side. That would be four hooks (two on each side) per lading restraining system. Using this system the principal straps can be larger so as to restrain a larger load. However, whether the system was one (1) or two (2) hooks per side, the hooks are essentially identical.  
         [0029]     A clip or hook such as  70  includes a body portion  72 . At one end of the body portion  72  is a web receiving slot  74  and at the other end is a reverse bent or curved portion  76  that forms the grasping portion of the hook. It is noted that the body adjacent the curved portion  76  is tapered so that the grasping portion is smaller than the body portion.  
         [0030]     The hook  70  and particularly the curved portion  76  is constructed to grasp the post  48  as seen in  FIG. 7 , fit around the post  48  with part in the space defined by the post  48  and back wall  54  and between the strut-like formations  60  and  62 .  
         [0031]     The center of the hook body  72  defines a hole or aperture  78  in which is positioned a disk-shaped magnet assembly  80 . The assembly  80  includes a round steel cup  82  within which is positioned a doughnut shaped magnet  84 . The cup can be pressed into the hole  78  and/or welded to the body  72  so as to secure it in position. The magnet  84  can be of a ceramic material that exhibits 30 pounds nominal force. Such a magnet can be purchased from Dexter Magnetic Technologies, Inc., 1050 Morse Avenue, Elk Grove Village, Ill. 60007 as model RB-50. It is understood that the magnet is attracted to the steel dog bone anchor assembly  44 , the well-like member  46 , the post  48  and the sidewall  12  so as to securely position hook  70  against the anchor and sidewall when in use and when not in use. The magnet  84  is recessed in the cup  82  so that the magnet face  84   a  is positioned behind the edges of the cup and thus protected. The magnetic attraction is between the cup, the anchor and the sidewall. At the end of the trip after the lading has been off-loaded, strap portions such as  38   a  and  38   b  are unbuckled and can be stored by hanging in place with the magnet  84  holding the strap and hook  70  against the well-like member  46  and side wall  12 . Moreover, it will be appreciated that this hook  70  can be used with many different anchors so long as they are of a general construction as described above.  
         [0032]     While a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, numerous modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.