Abstract:
A bi-level aluminum vehicle carrier railcar ( 10 ) includes an integrated aluminum roofing structure ( 30 ), aluminum side panels ( 18, 20 ), and aluminum decking structure ( 36, 50 ) attached to a steel underframe. The decking structure ( 36, 50 ) is supported on side stakes ( 18 ) of the side panels ( 18, 20 ) with the decking structure ( 36, 50 ) including overlapping extruded aluminum decking plates with ( 38, 52 ) anti-skid features. The anti-skid features include a media blasted finish to a portion of the surface of the decking and extruded ribs ( 64 ) in a portion of the decking. The roofing structure ( 30 ) includes overlapping, arched corrugated aluminum panels ( 30 ), wherein the roof panels ( 30 ) remain uncoated.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/380,643 entitled “Aluminum Vehicle Carrier Railcar” which published Feb. 10, 2005 as U.S. Publication number 2005-0031430 and which was the national phase for international application serial number PCT/US01/42207 filed Sep. 17, 2001 and that published as Publication number WO 02/22394 on Mar. 21, 2002 and which claimed the benefit of co-pending Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/233,027, filed Sep. 15, 2000, entitled “Aluminum Vehicle Carrier Railcar.” These publications are incorporated herein by reference. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/380,643 issued Aug. 22, 2006 bearing U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,013. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to railcars for transporting vehicles, typically also called vehicle carriers, and more particularly, directed toward aluminum vehicle carrier railcars. 
     2. Background Information 
     Railcars have long been used for transporting vehicles, in particular automobiles and light trucks, long distances generally from the point of manufacture or import location to dealerships or locations where the automobiles or trucks can be subsequently transported by truck. As with other freight, a vehicle carrying railcar is designed to carry a maximum number of motor vehicles in each railcar. This has lead to the development of a bi-level or tri-level vehicle carrier railcar. In addition to the desire to carry a maximum number of vehicles on each vehicle carrier railcar, the existing railcars have been designed to minimize damage or vandalism of the vehicles such that many vehicle carrying railcars are designed as an enclosed structure. 
     Conventionally, the existing vehicle carrier railcars are formed of steel. The steel enclosure found in conventional vehicle carrier railcars presents other problems for the railcar. Steel is susceptible to oxidation, i.e., rust or corrosion, which can be particularly damaging to the top coat and finish coat of new automobiles or trucks contained within the interior of the railcar. To avoid this problem, conventional steel vehicle carrier railcars are painted to provide a protected area between the steel and the automobiles carried in the railcar interior. The painting of the interior of the vehicle carrier railcar requires a certain amount of material and labor at manufacturing. More significantly, the painted surfaces introduce significant maintenance requirements for the vehicle carrier railcars. The vehicle carrier railcars must be periodically repainted to maintain the appropriate protection or barrier layer between the steel car and the carried vehicles. This repainting is labor-intensive, time consuming and holds the associated railcar out of service during the maintenance procedure. Some attempts have been made to address this solution such as a fiberglass panel articulated railcar disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,491 assigned to Trinity. 
     In addition to painting of the interior surface to provide a barrier layer between the steel vehicle carrier railcars and the automobiles carried in the interior, the prior art railcars often utilize an anti-skid paint on the decking surfaces to accommodate pedestrian traffic. This specialized paint further increases the cost of the prior art railcars. The non-skid paint is provided since the decking, at least selected portions of the decking, is utilized as a walkway for workers loading and unloading vehicles onto the vehicle carrier. 
     The object of the present invention is to address the problems of the above-cited prior art. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lightweight vehicle carrier railcar constructed from non-corroding materials adjacent to the load carrying interior. A further object of the present invention is to provide an efficient, cost-effective, non-slip area for workers loading and unloading vehicles from the vehicle carrier. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight uni-body vehicle carrier railcar. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above objects are achieved with an aluminum vehicle carrier railcar according to the present invention. The railcar according to the present invention utilizes underframe components constructed principally of steel and an upper body comprised principally of aluminum components to create a uni-body design. The steel underframe components that could potentially introduce ferrous components inside the railcar are covered with aluminum. Aluminum components that could be utilized as walkways are either blasted with media or incorporate non-slip surfaces in extruded sections to provide unpainted permanent walkways for workers loading and unloading the railcar. 
     Specifically, the aluminum vehicle carrier railcar will include an underframe utilizing a two-piece cast steel draft sill, a roll formed steel center sill with other steel underframe components. The aluminum upper structure includes aluminum side sheets, aluminum side stakes, aluminum curb plates and aluminum top chords forming the side panels. The side panels are mechanically fastened to the underframe and to corrugated aluminum roof sheets. Extruded aluminum deck sections extend between the curb plates to form the upper deck, to form the bi-level vehicle carrier of the present invention. Pivotable end doors are provided at both ends of the railcar. 
     These and other advantages of the present invention will be clarified in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment together with the attached figures in which like reference numerals represent like elements throughout. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an aluminum vehicle carrier railcar according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a left half elevational side view of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a right half elevational side view of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of a connection between a side stake of a side panel and a side sill of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a lower deck of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a left half plan view of the lower deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a right half plan view of the lower deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the lower deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of a portion of the lower deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of a portion of the lower deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a sectional view of a portion of the lower deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of an upper deck of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a left half plan view of the upper deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 12 ; 
         FIG. 14  is a right half plan view of the upper deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 12 ; 
         FIG. 15  is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the upper deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 14 ; 
         FIG. 16  is a sectional view of a portion of the upper deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 15 ; 
         FIG. 17  is a sectional view of a portion of the upper deck and side panel attachment of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 15 ; 
         FIG. 18  is a sectional view of a portion of the upper deck of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 12 ; 
         FIG. 19  is a perspective view of a corrugated roof panel of the vehicle carrier railcar shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 20  is a plan view of a left half of the roof panel shown in  FIG. 19 ; 
         FIG. 21  is a side elevation view of the roof panel shown in  FIG. 19 ; and 
         FIG. 22  is an end view of the roof panel shown in  FIG. 19 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     An aluminum vehicle carrier railcar  10  according to the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-22 . The aluminum vehicle carrier railcar  10  of the present invention utilizes a steel underframe (not completely shown) supported on a pair of spaced trucks  12 . The steel underframe may be formed with a pair of two-piece cast steel draft sills  14  (also called draft arms), a roll formed center sill (not shown) extending between the trucks  12  and other steel underframe components. The center sill is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,345, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     An aluminum upper structure  16  is attached onto the steel underframe. The aluminum upper structure  16  includes a pair of spaced side panels shown in detail in  FIGS. 2-4 . The side panels include a plurality of spaced aluminum side stakes  18  extending the length of the aluminum vehicle carrier railcar  10 . Perforated aluminum side sheets  20  extend between and are attached to each adjacent pair of side stakes  18  to form the side panel structure. The side sheets  20  are attached by mechanical fasteners to the side stakes  18 , or possibly by other coupling mechanisms such as welding. The side sheets  18  are perforated allowing ventilation to the cargo area of the railcar  10 . Additionally, the invention anticipates utilizing the perforations to provide identifying indicia  22  on the vehicle carrier railcar  10  which may be in the form of a logo or other text or graphical information. 
     The side stakes  18  and the side sheets  20  extend between a side sill  24  and a top chord  26 . The side stakes  18  are attached to the side sill  26  by mechanical fasteners as shown in  FIG. 4 . The side panel is attached to the top chord  26  through mechanical fasteners as well. Other coupling mechanism may be also be utilized. The top chord  26  and side sills  24  extend the length of the vehicle carrier railcar  10 . The ends of the side panels include access ladders  28 . 
     The aluminum vehicle carrier railcar  10  additionally includes a roof structure or roof system formed of overlapping corrugated and rolled aluminum panels  30  extending between and attached to the top chord  26  through mechanical fasteners. The details of the individual roof panels  30  are shown in  FIGS. 19-22 . The overlapped ends of adjacent panels  30  may be fastened together with mechanical fasteners through the aligned holes. The ends of the roof structure may include roof latch strikers  32  as shown in  FIG. 1  to assist in the closure of end doors  34 . 
     Corner posts are provided at the end of the side panel structure extending between the side sill  24  and the top chord  26  to provide a mounting position for the pivotable end doors  34 . The doors  34 , the side panel structures and the roof structure combine to form an enclosed cargo area for the aluminum vehicle carrier railcar  10 . The interior compartment of the aluminum vehicle carrier  10  includes an aluminum decking and other aluminum components to prevent any substantial ferrous material from being exposed to the vehicles in the cargo area. 
     The details of a lower deck  36  (Also referred to as a decking or decking system) are shown in  FIGS. 5-11 . As shown in  FIGS. 5-7 , the lower deck  36  includes a plurality of aluminum deck panels  38  secured to components of a sub-floor  40 . Ramp panels  42  are provided at the ends of the lower deck  36 . The lower deck  36  includes tire guides  44  to assist the loading of vehicles and light trucks. A key feature of the present invention is that the top surface of the panels  38  and  42  are blasted with media, e.g., grit or the like, to provide a non-slip surface or walkway for those walking in the cargo area of the railcar  10 . The roughened surface provided by media blasting eliminates the need for preparing the deck surface for painting with a non-slip paint or otherwise applying a non-slip tread. This is believed to decrease the manufacturing and maintenance cost of the railcar  10 . The upper surface of the draft sill  14  may be thermo-sprayed or otherwise coated or covered to protect the cargo area of the railcar. 
     The present invention encompasses a process that provides a surface condition on the aluminum panels  38  and  42  whereby the coefficient of friction between the metal surface and the material that contacts it is increased. This will create a permanent, non-skid or non-slip metallic surface for automobile and pedestrian traffic. The process can be utilized for other metal plates, extrusions and structural shapes to provide the rough and non-skid or non-slip surface. The proposed method is to impact the aluminum or other metal surfaces in a media blasting process, e.g. grit blasting or the like, to modify the surface condition of the metal. The exact surface profile and texture can vary in order to provide the proper frictional coefficient for the desired application. The media blasting can be performed by conventional, mechanical or pneumatic systems. 
     The lower deck  36  is attached to the side panels as shown in  FIGS. 6-11 . Specifically, the sub-floor  40  is attached to the inner web of each side stake  18  by mechanical fasteners as shown in detail in  FIGS. 9-11 . Mounting blocks  46  are provided above the lower deck  36  through which mechanical fasteners secure the mounting block  46  to the adjacent side stake  18  and the mounting block  46  to the sub-floor  40 . Guard plates  48  extend between the mounting blocks  46  and are attached by mechanical fasteners to the side sheets  20  and the lower deck  36  as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     An aluminum upper deck  50  is shown in  FIGS. 13-18 . The upper deck  50  includes corrugated deck panels  52  attached to longitudinal extending curb plates  54  through mechanical fasteners. Tire guides  56  are attached to the deck panels  5 . 2  to assist the loading and unloading of vehicles into the railcar  10 . A transition or bridge plate support  58  is provided at each end of the upper deck  50 . The upper deck  50  is attached to the side panels as shown in  FIGS. 13-17 . Specifically, the curb plate  54  and upper deck panels  52  are attached to the inner web of each side stake  18  by mechanical fasteners as shown in detail in  FIGS. 15-17 . Mounting blocks  60  are provided above the upper deck  50  through which mechanical fasteners secure the mounting block  60  to the adjacent side stake  18  and the mounting block  60  to the upper deck  50 . Reinforcing gussets  62  may also be provided to support the upper deck  50  and secure the upper deck  50  to the side stakes  18 . Adjacent panels  52  are overlapped as shown in  FIG. 18 . Additionally as shown in  FIG. 18  the upper surface of the extruded aluminum corrugated panels  52  includes ribs  64  to provide an anti-slip or non-skid surface for the upper deck  50 .  FIG. 18  also illustrates the use of splice plates  66  for connecting adjacent sections of the curb plate  54 . 
     The above-described lower deck  36  and upper deck  50  of the present invention provides significant advantages over the known prior art. As discussed above, conventional multi-level vehicle carrier railcars are constructed from steel with the steel deck assemblies becoming slippery as vehicles are driven over the deck surface. As discussed above, the rail industry has typically required the application of a non-skid/non-slip paint on the decking surfaces. However, in the present invention with the aluminum decking formed by aluminum panels  38 ,  42  and  52  rust is not a significant consideration. The provision of the media blasted surface and the ribs eliminates the other need for painting the respective surfaces. Consequently, in the present invention, there is no need to paint the any deck (also referred to as the rack portion). By blasting the deck panels  38  and  42  and by including extruded ribs onto the deck panels  52 , the present invention achieves a comparable anti-skid surface. When wet, the upper and lower decks  50  and  36 , respectively, will not become slippery due to the roughened surface condition of the deck panels  38 ,  42  and  52 . The process, of course, also avoids the need for repeat applications since it is relatively permanent. The present invention thereby provides an initial lower cost and significantly decreased maintenance cost. 
     Another advantage of the vehicle carrier railcar  10  of the present invention is that the interior is substantially all aluminum since the side walls, the decking, the roof and the doors are formed primarily of aluminum and, therefore, substantially non-corrosive. Other metal components within the interior can be formed of stainless steel or coated material or otherwise of a non-corrosive type material to essentially eliminate the rust problem in the cargo interior. The vehicle carrier railcar  10  of the present invention provides no steel facing the interior vehicle carrying cargo area. This will avoid the railcar  10  from damaging the cargo carried thereon. A further advantage of the present invention is the integration of the rack structure (i.e., decking) and the enclosed structure (i.e., the side panels, roof and doors) into a single aluminum upper structure  16 . This construction significantly decreases the weight of the railcar  10  for providing an approximately 20% lighter railcar  10  with associated savings. 
     It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The described embodiment is intended to be illustrative of the present invention and not restrictive thereof. The scope of the present invention is intended to be defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereto.