Abstract:
A method and apparatus for loading tube bundles on a railcar includes placing the tube bundles lengthwise on the car and stacked above the car to form packs. These packs are spaced longitudinally one from another on the car. Spacing bags are placed within the longitudinally extending spaces. Plates are displaced one from another by the spacing bags to push against the ends of the packs.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/076,558, filed Jun. 27, 2008, entitled “SPACER USING SPACING BAGS AND METHOD FOR LOADING TUBE PACKS ON RAILCARS”, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The field of the present invention is related to systems and methods for loading railcars. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The rail industry has a great deal of experience in the handling materials on railcars. Particular requirements have been established for stacking materials on flat cars including dunnage, blocking and specific strapping requirements. 
     With bundled and elongate products such as tubing, wood beams are laid laterally across the car as dunnage to support the bundles as shown in  FIG. 1 . The tubes are in bundles and extend longitudinally on the railcar. Short stakes, blocking and strapping them retains the load in place.  FIG. 2  illustrates one such recommended stacking. 
     In spite of these carefully defined methods for retaining tube bundles, the natural vibration of the railcar can result in individual tubes in the bundle slowly working longitudinally outwardly from the bundle, telescoping outward. If left unattended, the individual tubes can extend into harms way or come into contact with adjacent tube bundles or bulkheads. This can make the bundles difficult to unload and cause damage to the tubing. Naturally, bulkheads can be placed against the ends of the tubing or the tubing against barriers. However, such tight assemblies create their own problems in terms of loading, unloading and damage from motion of the tubes relative to other tubes, the bulkheads and barriers. 
     Currently, a wooden spacing block is used to separate one bundle of tubes on a railcar from another bundle. The spacing block is constructed of two wooden plates with wood blocks between the two wooden plates. In order to use the wood blocks the distance between the two plates is measured and the wood blocks are inserted and hammered between the two plates. In many instances a significant amount of time and effort to nail down the wooden blocks. The spacing block system is described in greater detail are spent with regards to the methods of U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,021 entitled “Method For Loading Tube Bundles on Railcars”. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for securing tube bundles on a railcar. The tube bundles are placed lengthwise on the bed of the railcar and stacked conventionally above the bed to form packs of multiple tube bundles. Spaces are left between adjacent packs of tube bundles. An assembly using spacing, air filled bags and plates displaced from one another by the bags can be positioned in the space between adjacent ends of tube bundles. The spacing air filled bags are positioned on the bed between longitudinally adjacent packs and in one embodiment can be fixed to the bed of the railcar. Accordingly, the assembly can provide an improved method and apparatus for loading tube bundles on a railcar. Other and further objects and advantages will appear hereinafter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a railcar with tube bundles stacked thereon as in the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  is an end view of the prior art stacked tube bundles of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the apparatus of this invention using spacing bags. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of a railcar with tube bundles and one embodiment of the spacer apparatus of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A railcar, generally designated  10 , includes a bed  12  and bulkheads  14 ,  16 . The bulkheads  14 ,  16  are shown to be at either end of the bed  12 . The railcar also includes standard railroad trucks, couplings and equipment (not shown). 
     Tube bundles  18  are shown placed on the bed  12  in accordance with standard practice. One such example of approved tube bundle stacking is illustrated in  FIG. 2  which shows the packing of various sizes of tube bundles  18 . Typically the tube bundles  18  are placed on the bed  12  by forklifts, but can be placed using other suitable means. The tube bundles  18  are arranged with spaces extending longitudinally therebetween. Conveniently, the packs of tube bundles  18  are also spaced away from the bulkheads  14 , 16 . With this spacing, the bundles  18  can be easily and quickly loaded and unloaded from the bed  12  of the railcar  10 . Strapping  20  can be used tie each of packs of tube bundles  18  to the bed  12  of the railcar  10 . Stakes  34  can be used to prevent rolling of the packs of tube bundles  18 . 
     In a first embodiment of the present invention as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a spacer  80  can occupy the space between the packs of tube bundles. The spacer  80  can be constructed such that it cushions, protects and prevents damage to the packs of tube bundles  18 , bed  12 , bulkheads  14  and  16  and areas surrounding railcar as it travels. Another function of the spacer  80  can be to prevent telescoping of any one or plurality of tubes in the pack of tube bundles  18 . Spacer  80  can prevent loose tubes in the tube bundles  18  from interfering with adjacent structure or elements and prevent difficulties in offloading tube bundles. The spacer  80  may be configured to fit within the space between tube bundles  18  vertically in the railcar  10  between longitudinally adjacent packs of tube bundles  18  and between the bulkheads  14 ,  16  and the most adjacent packs of tube bundles  18 . 
     In the first embodiment, the spacer  80  can includes a plurality of plates  24  and  26 , and at least one spacing bag  48 . The plates  24  and  26  can be constructed of a plurality of separate plates that are rigid. For example plates  24  and  26  can be made from wood, metal, pressed wood, plastic or the like. Spacing bag  48  can be an inflatable bag created from a flexible material such as for example plastics, polymers, cloth or polyurethane. In other embodiments, the spacing bag  48  can be constructed out of a dual layer material, where the inner layer acts as the bladder receiving the air and the outer layer is constructed from a more resilient material to prevent puncturing. The spacing bag  48  can have a length and a width dimension and have an inseam running along the perimeter of the spacing bag  48 . The spacing bag  48  is not limited to the shape as shown and can be rectangular, circular, rounded or shaped to accommodate particular objects. 
     The spacing bag  48  and the plates  24  and  26  are initially adjusted to be thinner than the space into which the spacer  80  is placed, specifically to facilitate placement of the spacer  80  on the bed  12  between packs of tube bundles  18  and/or bulkheads  14 ,  16 . The spacing bag  48  may be employed to define the displacement of the rigid plates  24  and  26 . A deflated spacing bag  48  or a partially inflated spacing bag  48  can be inserted between the plates  24  and  26 . Inflating or filling the spacing bag  48  can displace the two plates  24  and  26  away from each other and against the wall of the tube packs. The spacing bag  48  can be inflated using a gas or a fluid, such as but not limited to, compressed air, helium, water or the like. In the first embodiment the spacing bag  48  is inflated with air until it exerts pressure on the pates  24  and  26  and thereby the spacer  80  exerts pressure on packs of tubes  18 . The pressure inside the spacing bag can be about 7 to 12 P.S.I. In an alternative embodiment the spacing bag can be inflated to about 10 P.S.I. 
     In a second embodiment the spacer  80  can include plates  24  and  26  covered on at least one side with a cushioning material  32 . To ensure that the ends of the tubes coming into contact with the spacer  80  will not be injured by vibrations against the plates  24  and  26 , a cushioning material  32  can be placed on the surfaces of the plates  24  and  26 . These cushions may be applied by any means including gluing or stapling or placement without begin affixed to the plates. The cushioning material  32  can be made of a plurality of material, for example, foam, plastic, carpet or burlap. In an alternative embodiment, the cushioning material  32  can be on both sides of the plates  24  and  26 , to provide a cushion for the spacing bag  48 . 
     In a third embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , strapping  30  can extend over the spacing bag  48  which lies along the peripheral edge of the plates  24 ,  26  and set in adjacent to the bed  12  of the railcar  10 . 
     The overall process of loading tube bundles  18  includes placing the tube bundles on a flat car  10 . Stakes  34  on the edges of the flat car  10  and blocks  36  against the bundles  18  insure the bundles  18  do not roll from the car  10 . Wood beams  38  are placed between bundles as dunnage. Strapping  20  can tie the load down. The spacer  80  can be positioned on the bed  12  of the railcar  10  in the longitudinal space between bundle ends. The entire load may be covered by using covering  50 . The covering  50  can be a flexible material, such as but not limited to, tarp, plastic, polymers, polyurethane, capable of deflecting debris during transportation of the rail car  10 . The covering  50  can protect the spacer  80  and the spacing bag  48  from being struck by various objects during transport. 
     In a fourth embodiment, plates  24  and  26  can be placed along the sides of two adjacently spaced tube bundles  18 . The rigid plates  24  and  26  can be covered on both side with a cushioning material  32 . Next a deflated spacing bag  48  can be placed between the two plates  24  and  26  and placed near the railcar bed  12 . The spacing bag  48  can include a value  52  to allow a device, such as a pump or compressor, to insert gases or fluid into the spacing bag  48 . The pump can insert air into a spacing bag  48  to about 8 to 12 P.S.I., preferably 10 P.S.I. The inflated spacing bag  48  can exert pressure against plates  24  and  26 . If needed, spacing bag  48  can be further inflated to exert greater pressure against rigid plates  24  and  26 . In one embodiment the spacing bag  48  can exert sufficient pressure against the tubing bundles so that when they are tied with strapping  20  this creates a single unit out of a plurality of tubing bundles  18 . In an alternative embodiment a second spacing bag  48  can be placed on top of the first spacing bag if the rigid plates  24  and  26  height allow space for the second spacing bag  48 . The second spacing bag  48  can be inflated using a valve  52 . In another embodiment, the rigid plates  24  and  26  can be coupled to the railcar for further security by nails, screws or the like (not shown). 
     The inflation of a spacing bag  48  can take up to 3 minutes depending on the pump used, preferably less than 2 minutes. To disassemble the spacer  80  created by the inflation spacing bag  48  the valve can be opened to release the air out of the spacing bag  48 . Deflating the spacing bag  48  reduces the pressure against plates  24  and  26  allowing their removal and access to the pack of tube bundles  18 . 
     According to a fifth embodiment of the current invention, each component of the spacer  80  can be assembled away from the railcar  10 . The spacer  80  can have two plates  24  and  26 , coupled to one another using a flexible means, such as but not limited to, a cloth, plastic or tarp which would wrap around or over the plates (not shown). The flexible means can be attached to each of the plates at the perimeter of the plate. At least one spacing bag  48  can be inserted between plates  24  and  26  and inside the perimeter created by the flexible means. A valve to allow the inflation of the spacing bags  48  can be located outside the flexible means. The plates  24  and  26  can be covered on both sides with the cushioning material  32 . In an alternative embodiment the cushioning material can be used as the flexible means to connect the plates  24  and  26  (not shown). For example, plastic could be nailed to the bottom outer surface of each plate and extend over the top to encompass the bags  48 . 
     The spacer  80  can be partially inflated prior to its placement on the railcar bed  12 . After the placement of the packs of bundles of tubes  18 , the spacer  80  of the fifth embodiment can be inserted into the space between the bundles of tubes  18 . A pump or compressor can be connected to the valve and the spacing bag  48  or plurality of spacing bags can be inflated to the appropriate pressure. During the inflation the flexible means can stretch or be sufficiently loose to allow the plates  24  and  26  to exert pressure on the bundles of tubes  18  when fully inflated. Using this method can reduce assembly time. 
     In a sixth embodiment, the spacer  80  can have spacing bags  48  that are affixed to the plates  24  and  26 . The spacer  80  with partially deflated spacing bags  48  can be inserted into the space between two sets of packs of bundles of tubes  48 . Next the spacing bags  18  can be inflated to exert outward pressure on the packs of bundles of tubes  48 . In alternative embodiments multiple spacing bags can be used in one spacer  80 . 
     Accordingly, an improved system for loading tube bundles on a railcar has been disclosed. While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.