Special railway container car

Abstract: A railway container car, comprising a couple of trucks (1) supporting a loading platform (2), which presents a central section (2c) which is lower than the end sections (2a, 2b) placed in correspondence to the trucks (1). Along the edges (3) of central section (2c) supports (4) are mounted having reference and clamping pegs (5, 6) for the containers, said supports being arrangeable in a leaned position, in which the pegs (5, 6) are substantially at the level of the lower section, and in a lifted position in which the pegs are substantially at the level of the end sections.

Description: The present invention concerns a special freight railway car, namely for the transportation of road-truck size intermodal containers without exceeding the allowed clearance gauge. The possible achievement and development of railway freight using modular containers are at present strongly restrained by the problem of the size of the containers, in relation with the car gauge. In fact, existing railway cars allow a narrow loading gauge, with the consequence that the use of road freight is often unavoidable, the container size limits being in this case broader. The problem is mostly concerned with the allowable load height, for in existing container cars the loading plane is usually placed at an height of 1050÷1200 mm with respect to the rolling plane, as it lies above the needed space for the trucks to operate. As a consequence the height of a transportable container can not actually exceed 2745 mm (9'), not to achieve a wider overall gauge than that allowed for a good functionality of the railway traffic. In order to make the railway freight successfully competitive with road freight, the main object to achieve is to permit the transport of a superior load than that presently allowed, moving from the statement that in many cases it is the load volume that has to be maximized, even to the detritment of its mass. It has to be furthermore ponted out that existing railway cars have very different technical features for what concerns carrying capacity, weight and volume, and for this reason they are not on the whole useful to satisfy the needs of a big railway junction, which requires very versatile modular means, having the shortest pre-selection, loading and unloading times, in order to make the costs of these operations the lowest. Patent publications EP 576852 and GB 22909767 discloses railway container cars in which a loading platform, supported by a couple of trucks, comprises a central section which is lower than the end sections. Supports are mounted on the central section, having respective reference and clamping pegs for the containers, the supports being arrangeable in a lifted position in which the pegs are substantially at the level of the end sections, thus being fit to engage with respective containers placed thereon, and in a leaned position, in which the placement of a single container on said central section is allowed. These cars can transport the containers above two different, alternative, loading planes, the lower section allowing the placement of higher containers. The object of the present invention is to provide a railway car of the above mentioned kind, having a even improved loading versatility. This object has been achieved with the railway container car according to the present invention, characterized in what set forth in appended claim 1. According to the invention, it is possible to have a higher useful volume to choose different loading combinations, to transport containers having the largest allowable size: containers up to 3050 mm (10') high, controlled temperature boxes for food products (2600x3000x13500 mm) and jumbo road-truck bodies (2550x3000x13500 mm) for the transport of complete or combined loads. Besides, the swinging supports permit the loading level to be raised up to the end section height, a single loading plane being available at the reference height of about 1100 mm for other loading combinations (e.g. for the contemporaneous transport of two lower containers). Other features and advantages of the railway container car according to the present invention will be apparent from the following description of one of its embodiments, which has to be intended only as an example and not a limitation, with reference to the attached drawings in which: figure 1 shows a side view of the railway car according to the present invention, with an intermodal container loaded on the lower section of its platform; figure 2 shows a side view of the railway car according to the invention with two containers loaded on its higher plane; figure 3 represents an intermediate plane section, according to a plane perpendicular to the car longitudinal axis, of an embodiment of a movable support of the car according to the invention, in its lifted position; figure 4 represents a partially sectioned view, according to a plane perpendicular to the car longitudinal axis, of the support of figure 3, in its leaned position; figure 5 shows a side view of the movable support of figures 3 and 4, in its leaned position; figure 6 represents a plan view of a part of the car with some movable supports of the kind shown in figures 3, 4 and 5, in its leaned position; figure 7 represents am intermediate plane section, according to a plane perpendicular to the car longitudinal axis, of an alternative embodiment of a movable support of the car according to the invention, in its lifted position; figure 8 represents an analogous intermediate section to the one of figure 7 of the same support, in its leaned position; figure 9 shows a side view of the movable support of figure 7 and 8 in a leaned position. With reference to figures 1 and 2, a railway car according to the invention comprises two trucks 1 supporting a platform 2 which is formed by three sections 2a, 2b and 2c, the central one 2c being lower than the end ones 2a and 2b. Swinging supports 4 are mounted along the longitudinal edges 3 of platform 2. Supports 4 can be displaced in different working positions along the platform, and each of them can be placed in a lifted position, substantially perpendicular to the platform, as shown in figure 2, or in a leaned position as shown in figure 1, to allow the transport of containers C using respectively a higher loading plane, as shown in figure 2, or a lower one as shown in figure 1. Reference and clamping pegs 5 and 6, schematically represented in the drawings, are provided on supports 4, to block the containers on platform 2. Other reference and clamping pegs 7 of a conventional type are provided at the edges of the high end sections 2a and 2b of the platform. The structure of a swinging support 4 is shown in further detail in figures 3, 4, 5 and 6. With reference to said figures, the support comprises a body 8, mounted on wheels 9 rolling along tracks 10 formed on the longitudinal edge 3 of platform 2 in its central section 2c. From body 8 a cylindrical, variable section shaft 11 outwardly extends, a cylindrical sleeve 12 pivotally engaging with the end part thereof. Sleeve 12 is formed by a main body 12a and by a central disk-shaped flange 12b, eccentric with respect to the axis of body 12a, which turnably engages within a cylindrical bush 13, integrally mounted on an arm 14. An operating lever 21 also engages with sleeve 12 at the external end thereof. Two handles 15 are formed on arm 14 to operate its displacement, and from its free end 14a reference peg 6 protrudes, while two locking pins 16 and 17 extend respectively from an intermediate face 14b and from the other end 14c of arm 14 to block it with respect to edge 3. Locking pins 16 e 17 engage with corresponding seats 18 and 19 formed respectively in plates 3a and 3b, welded along edge 3. A further locking pin 20 is provided at one side of arm 14 to engage with the same seat 19 when arm 14 is in its leaned position. On the opposite side of arm 14 a revolving element 22 is hinged, bearing reference peg 5 and a locking pin 23, engaging with seat 18 as well, to block arm 14 when it is in the leaned position. The passing from the lifted to the leaned position and vice-versa occurs by way of an angular displacement of arm 14 by about 90° with respect to body 8 around an horizontal axis, perpendicular to the longitudinal one of the car. This rotation, which can be manually or automatically operated, is carried out in the following way. If lever 21, integral to sleeve 12, is turned, the eccentric engagement between sleeve 12 and bush 13 causes the lifting of assembly bush 13-arm 14, so that pins 16 and 17 become respectively disengaged from seats 18 and 19, this engagement locking the support in its lifted position, as shown in figure 3. Arm 14 can be angularly displaced by way of handles 15, until the turning of lever 21, in an opposite direction than that above mentioned, driving the arm down once again, allows pin 20 to enter seat 19 to block the support in its leaned position, as shown in figures 4 and 5. Element 22 is then revolved on edge 3 to place peg 5 and contemporaneously engage pin 23 with seat 18. An alternative embodiment of a swinging support provided along the longitudinal edges of the lower section of platform 2 is shown in greater detail in figures 7, 8 and 9. With reference to said figures, the support comprises a tubular shaped body 24, having a quadrilateral transversal section, mounted on wheels 25 rolling along tracks 26 formed on edge 3 of lower section 2c of platform 2. From body 24 two parallel fins 24a outwardly project, the free ends of which support a pin 27, parallel to the car longitudinal axis. Two elongated through slots 29 are formed on the vertical sides 28a of an arm 28, having substantially the shape of a parallelepiped box. At the ends of slots 29, in which pin 27 inserts with a certain clearance, respective undercuts are formed, giving each slot a substantially U-shaped outline. A square-shaped projecting element 28b, in which two handles 30 are formed, is provided in correspondence of the free end of arm 28, on the external surface of which two pegs 5 and 6 are furthermore provided, for the reference and the clamping of the containers. Pegs 5 and 6 extend respectively from an external face 28c of element 28b and from a face 28b of the free end of arm 28. Four pins 31, 32, 33 and 34 protrude respectively from internal face 28e, opposite to face 28c, of element 28b, from an intermediate face 28f of arm 28, from its end face 28g, opposite to face 28d, and from a longitudinal face 28h, parallel to face 28c. Pins 31, 32, 33 and 34 are engageable in the following way, to block the arm in the two above mentioned positions. Pins 32 and 33 respectively engage with seats 35 and 36, formed in plates 3c and 3d welded along edge 3, when arm 28 is in its lifted position (figure 7), while when the arm is in its leaned position, the same seats house pins 31 and 34 (figure 8). Seats 37 are furthermore formed on edge 3 of platform 2, so that tubular body 24 can be placed substantially coaxially in correspondence thereof. The passing from the lifted to the leaned position and vice-versa occurs in this case by way of an angular displacement of arm 28 by about 90° with respect to body 24 around an horizontal axis, parallel to the longitudinal one of the car. This rotation, which can be manually or automatically operated, is carried out in the following way. Starting for instance from the lifted position as in figure 7, displacing upwards arm 28 by exerting a traction force on handles 30, owing to the particular outline of slots 29, pins 32 and 33 are allowed to disengage from seats 35 and 36, formed in the car frame in all the points in which the support has to be blocked. As a consequence, the rotation of arm 28 around pin 27 can be carried out, while a subsequent inwards displacement thereof, with slots 29 sliding on pin 27, can make the arm reach its leaned position as in figures 8 and 9. In this position arm 28 is housed within body 24, also penetrating a seat 37 of edge 3. To carry out the locking, the particular outline of the slots is once again exploited, since they keep pins 31 and 34 disengaged from seats 35 and 36 during their sliding on pin 27, while when the pin is in correspondence to the ends of the slots, the arm can drop down engaging the pins within said seats. The railway car according to the present invention can get various load combinations, i.e. it can take intermodal containers of different lengths. To achieve this aim, as shown for example in figure 6, two or three seats 18 and 19 can be provided on each plate 3a and 3b to allow the regulation of the position of supports 4 according to the size of the commonly used containers. The foregoing clearly shows how the invention achieves the fixed objects, namely solving the problem of carrying out a very versatile railway car, which can successfully be in competition with the road freight means. Variations and/or modifications can be brought to the railway container car according to the present invention, without departing from the scope of the invention itself as stated in the appended claims.

Claims: A special railway container car, comprising a couple of trucks (1) supporting a loading platform (2), said platform comprising a central section (2c) which is lower than the end sections (2a, 2b) placed in correspondence to the trucks, supports (4) being mounted on the edges (3) of said central section (2c), said supports (4) having respective reference and clamping pegs (6) for the containers, said supports being arrangeable in a lifted position in which said pegs (6) are substantially at the level of said end sections (2a, 2b), thus being fit to engage with respective containers placed thereon, and in a leaned position, in which they allow the placement of a single container on said central section (2a), characterised in that said supports (4) are displaceable along the longitudinal edges of said central section (2c) and comprise respective further pegs (5) which in said leaned position are fit to engage with said single container placed on said central section (2c). The car according to claim 1, wherein each of said supports comprises a body (8, 24) displaceable along the longitudinal edge of said central section (2c) of said platform, a holding arm (14, 28) for said pegs (5, 6), pivotally and slidingly connected to said body to be arranged in said lifted and leaned positions, said arm comprising locking means engageable with said edge of the platform for locking said arm in'said two positions. The car according to claim 2, wherein said arm (14) is turnable with respect to said body (8) in a longitudinal plane perpendicular to said platform. The car according to claim 3, wherein a shaft (12) externally protrudes from said body, said arm (14) being pivotally mounted on said shaft, an eccentric crank mechanism being furthermore provided between said arm and said shaft to operate said locking means. The car according to claim 2, wherein said arm (28) is turnable with respect to said body (24) in a transversal plane perpendicular to said platform. The car according to claim 5, wherein said body (24) supports a longitudinal pin (27) slidingly engaging within at least one slot (29) formed along said arm (28), which is turnable with respect to said pin (27), said body having a tubular shape to house said arm in its leaned position, an undercut being provided at an end of said slot to engage with said pin when said arm is in its leaned position. The car according to claim 6, wherein through seats (37) are provided on the longitudinal edge of said lower central section (2c) of the platform, to house said arm (28) in its leaned position. The car according to claims 6 or 7, wherein said arm (28) comprises at least one motion and lifting handle (30), operating said locking means. The car according to any of the claims from 6 to 8, wherein an undercut is provided at the other end of said slot (29) to engage with said pin (27) and allow said arm (28), when the locking in its lifted position is removed, to carry out a little outwards displacement, permitting an easy rotation thereof. The car according to any of the claims from 2 to 9, wherein said locking means comprise pins (16, 17, 20, 23, 31, 32, 33, 34) protruding from external faces of said arm (14, 28), which are engageable with corresponding seats (18, 19, 35, 36) formed along the longitudinal edge of said platform (2), the appropriate seats being chosen for the engagement, according to the side of the container or containers which are loaded.

Inventors: BARLETTI FRANCESCO, CAIANI SERGIO, COSTANTINO DEMETRIO, GIUSTI ROBERTO, BARLETTI, FRANCESCO, CAIANI, SERGIO, COSTANTINO, DEMETRIO, GIUSTI, ROBERTO
Applicants: BARLETTI FRANCESCO, CAIANI SERGIO, COSTANTINO DEMETRIO, GIUSTI ROBERTO, BARLETTI, FRANCESCO, CAIANI, SERGIO, COSTANTINO, DEMETRIO, GIUSTI, ROBERTO
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B61D3
IPC codes: B61D3, B61D45