Railway Hopper Car Side Wall Construction

Abstract

A railway hooper car having a folded plate side wall girder construction incorporating full length longitudinally extending corrugations having a generally trough shaped cross section to thereby form a side wall beam having vertical shear strength, transverse beam strength, as well as a high resistance to compressive stresses imposed by high buffing loads. Intermediate hopper partitions have stepped end portions to fit within the side wall corrugations.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention deals with the car framing of a railway hopper car and in particular to the side wall construction.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Prior art wall cross sections which have departed from the conventional sheet and vertical wall post construction generally include corrugations extending vertically to provide a cantilever beam member which is intended to direct lading bulging forces into the side sill and under frame units. Where horizontally extending depressed portions or corrugations have been utilized the side sheet also included a combination of flat portions for use in attaching reinforcing members and also for use in providing resistance to shearing stresses which occur at a right angle to the direction of the horizontally extending corrugation (see W. P. Murphy U. S. Pat. No. 1,058,784). The present invention provides a pressed or corrugated side wall configuration having integral strength both in a horizontal and vertical shearing direction and also providing a wall beam giving compressive strength to the side wall unit to resist buffing loads during car movement.

SUMMARY

This invention relates to a novel side wall construction for use in a railway hopper car wherein the side wall includes a plurality of adjacent longitudinally and horizontally extending corrugations with inclined and vertical portions providing a trough shaped cross section and giving resistance to both horizontal and vertical shear forces without the use of vertical wall posts or other stiffening members.

The railcar of the present invention also includes a generally sloped roof section having a stepped cross section and thereby forming a plurality of Z-shaped bending beams which combine with the side wall assembly to resist horizontal bulging forces which are imposed upon the side wall unit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a side wall sheet having a corrugated cross section and extending in a generally straight vertical plane to provide maximum volumetric efficiency and maximum capacity for the hopper car while yet providing an intergrally sound wall unit having a lightweight construction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a side wall unit having longitudinally extending and integrally formed trough shaped corrugations of such dimension to adequately resist both horizontally and vertically imposed shearing stresses.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a railway hopper car having a corrugated side wall construction and a stepped roof construction which combines with the side wall unit to provide a Z-shaped bending beam capable of resisting the bulging tendency of the side wall unit and also to impart vertical strength to the roof unit.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from reference to the following description, attached drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a railway hopper car having the side wall construction of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the railway vehicle illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the side sheet of the present invention removed from the railway vehicle;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of one half of the car illustrated in FIG. 1 and taken generally along lines 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a removed cross sectional view taken along lines 5--5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there is disclosed a covered hopper car designated generally by the numeral 10 and having a center sill 12 extending between the spaced trucks 14. Longitudinally extending side sill units 16 extend the length of the vehicle and transmit forces from the body bolsters (not illustrated) into the car body. End sill units 18 extend transversely of the hopper car 10 and are positioned on top of the center sill 12. Corner posts 20 extend vertically from the end sill 18 to form a rigid car end section. Additional connecting and reinforcing angle post members 22 extend vertically from the end sill 18 to the end wall or end bulkhead 24 to further rigidify the car end portion.

The corrugated side wall unit is designated by the numeral 26 and is illustrated removed from the vehicle in FIG. 3 to clearly indicate the continuous corrugations. These corrugated side wall units 26 are transversely spaced about the covered hopper car 10 and are joined midway of the car 10 by the partitions or intermediate bulkheads 28 which extend vertically and transversely of the vehicle to join the side wall units and to form the adjacent hoppers of the hopper car. The top portion of the intermediate bulkheads 28 is illustrated in FIG. 6 which shows a partition stiffener 29 which is a modified U-shaped member attached to the top of the bulkhead 28 to prevent bulging of the bulkhead 28 and also to prevent bulging of the corrugated side wall unit 26. Thus it is noticed that the stiffener 29 is subjected to a tensile load in resisting the outward movement of the side wall units 26 and also undergoes a bending and compressive type of loading during car impact as the lading within the hopper surges against the bulkhead 28 and tends to cause membrane displacement of the bulkhead. Stiffener 29 also combines with the roof unit 36 to form a reinforcing beam positioned atop the partition unit 28.

As noticed in FIG. 4, the wall connecting side portions of each bulkhead 28 include a generally stepped profile to permit the bulkheads to be inserted into the corrugations of the side wall unit 26. A connecting plate 30 extends the height of the side wall unit 26 and at the connecting point of the bulkheads 28 with the side wall unit 26 to provide a convenient and efficient connecting plate for the joining of these two members. When a series of side wall plates are abutted together to form the longitudinally extending side wall unit the connecting edges may be positioned at the transversely extending bulkheads 28 and the connecting plate 30 may be positioned over the welded connection to rigidify the connection of the side wall plates.

The hopper car also includes a pair of downwardly and inwardly sloped end slope sheets 31 and similarly disposed intermediate slope sheets 32 which direct lading towards the discharge gate 34 for its efficient removal from the hopper car. The end slope sheets 31, like the intermediate bulkheads, have stepped or serrated ends to allow the sheets 31 to be received by the corrugations of the side wall units 26.

The hopper car includes a generally sloped roof 36 having a stepped cross section which imparts vertical and horizontal strength to the roof unit. A plurality of vertically extending webs or stiffeners 37, 37a combine with the generally horizontally extending flange portions 38, 38a and 38b to provide a pair of interconnected Z-shaped beam members having a common flange unit 38a. The roof 36 includes a box beam coaming member 40 which extends longitudinally of the roof to provide a torsionally reinforced trough hatch opening. The trough hatch cover 42 cooperates with the coaming 40 to seal off the trough hatch opening.

A top chord or side plate 44 is positioned at the juncture of the roof 36 and the side wall unit 26 to rigidify the connection between these two units. The top chord 44 also provides a side wall member for resisting the bulging tendency of the side wall 26 and serves as a transverse beam flange that also consists of the web 38 and Z-shaped beam 37.

FIG. 4 shows a side wall lower flat section 50 which connects with the side still 16 and permits easy attachment of the intermediate slope sheets 32 without contouring as would be required if the lower wall section was not flat. Likewise the upper wall portion 51 is flat for connection to the top chord 44.

The corrugated side wall unit 26 as shown in cross section in FIG. 4 includes a plurality of vertically extending outer portions 46 which are horizontally spaced from a similar plurality of vertically extending inner portions 47. The vertically extending portions 46 and 47 are interconnected by the diagonals 48 to thereby form a series of generally trough shaped corrugations to provide a side wall unit having sufficient strength to resist both horizontal and vertical shear loads. Traditionally all wall sheets having horizontally extending corrugations were in need of the addition or attachment of vertically extending reinforcing members because of the inherent inability of these corrugations to resist shearing stresses in a direction at right angles to the direction of the corrugations. By utilizing a corrugation which is comprised of a series of straight interconnected portions the side wall unit of the present invention has the stiffness to adequately resist horizontal and vertical shear stresses as well as a sufficient beam depth to resist compressive buckling stresses which are imposed on a side wall unit.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A railway hopper car having a plurality of hoppers for storage and transport of lading and having intermediate and end slope sheets for directing lading towards discharge openings and having a longitudinally extending side sill and having a top chord fixedly attached to a roof unit, the improvement comprising:

a continuous side wall unit having a corrugated girder construction comprising a plurality of trough shaped offsets;

said trough shaped offsets comprising a vertically extending inner portion having a pair of diagonally extending trough side portions extending therefrom;

vertically extending outer wall portions interconnecting the diagonally extending trough side portions of each adjacent trough shaped offset to thereby provide said corrugated girder construction having beam strength

2. The invention according to claim 1, and:

intermediate hopper partitions including a reinforcing channel extending to connect the top chord of each side wall unit and thereby combining with the roof unit to form a reinforcing beam atop said hopper car to provide rigidity to the upper portions of the side wall units and the partition.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and:

intermediate hopper partitions having vertically extending contoured side edges receivable in the trough shaped offsets of the adjacent side wall unit whereby bulging forces on the side wall unit result in tensile

4. The invention according to claim 3, and:

a connecting plate fitting the contour of the side wall unit and forming a connection between the side wall unit and the intermediate hopper

5. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said trough shaped offsets extending the length of the hopper car to

6. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said continuous side wall unit having upper and lower car attaching portions being attached to said hopper car top chord and side still units and said corrugated girder construction extending continuously of said

7. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said end slope sheets having serrated transverse edge portions receivable

8. A side wall unit for a railway hopper car and including:

continuous sheet means extending the length of said hopper car and having an upper car attachment portion and a lower car attachment portion;

said sheet means having integrally formed corrugations providing a plurality of longitudinally continuous trough shaped offsets providing beam strength to the side wall unit to resist horizontal and vertical shear loading;

said trough shaped offsets comprising a vertically extending inner portion having a pair of diagonally extending trough side portions extending outwardly therefrom;

vertically extending outer wall portions interconnecting the diagonally extending trough side portions of each adjcaent trough shaped offset to thereby provide a corrugated girder coonstruction resisting wall unit bulging in both a horizontal and vertical direction.