Side Wall for Railway Hopper Car

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to open top railway hopper and gondola cars and in particular to an improved wall construction therefor.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The prior art is replete with a variety of railway hopper and gondola car wall constructions. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,140,268; 3,240,168; 3,772,997 each show side wall constructions and in particular a top chord or sill spanning the length of a railway car and thus supporting the upper portions of the car wall. The present invention is an improvement over these designs.

The present invention relates to open top hopper or gondola railway cars and in particular to cars used in rotary dumping operations. The present arrangement provides for an improved upper side wall construction for cars of a metal plate configuration including vertical side wall plates and a plurality of longitudinally spaced vertical side posts secured thereto. Top chord members are provided which span the outside top edges of the walls to rigidify and protect the upper portions of the walls as well as to abate lateral wall warping which in turn would reduce the vertical beam strength of the wall. Each of the chord members is of an easily fabricated lightweight formed plate construction and includes an upper essentially tubular closed box rigidifying beam section and an attachment flange depending therefrom. The attachment flange is sandwiched between and secured by mechanical fasteners or the like to a respective side plate and the associated posts. It should be particularly noted that the posts include outwardly offset upper end portions cooperative with the attachment flange so as to present a flat inner surface to which the side plate may be secured while at the same time providing for sandwiching of the attachment flange so as to essentially eliminate bending loads on the mechanical fasteners securing the posts, plate and flange.

FIG. 1 shows an open top railway hopper car embodying the novel side wall construction of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 2--2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view partially in section taken substantially as shown in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 4--4 in FIG. 2.

Turning to consideration of the drawings, thereshown is an open top hopper car 10 having conventional car trucks 11 and including spaced side walls 12 and end walls 13. Each side wall 12 includes an upper chord or sill member 14 spanning the outside top edge of the side wall and a complementary lower chord or sill 15 spanning the bottom edge of the wall and side wall plates 16 and longitudinally spaced side posts 17 extending vertically between and connected to the chords 14 and 15.

As shown in FIG. 2, the longitudinally extending upper chord 14 is of a formed plate tubular configuration which can be fabricated from a single plate and includes outwardly spaced inner and outer vertical wall portions 18 and 19 connected by upper and lower horizontal wall portions 20 and 21, the lower wall 21 being integrally united by welding as at w to the inner vertical wall 18 to provide an essentially closed box beam construction extending substantially throughout the length of the top chord 18. An attachment flange 22, which is a downward extension of the inner vertical wall 18, is also provided and is secured to the side plate 16 and posts 17 by rivets 25 or similar mechanical fasteners. As shown in FIG. 4 the posts are each of a generally rectangular hat-shaped cross-sectional configuration and include laterally extending upper and lower brim flange portions 23 and 24 and an intermediate channel portion 27 and includes an upper tapered portion 28. The upper brim flanges 23 are outwardly offset from the lower brim flanges 24 a distance equal to the thickness of the depending attachment flange 22 such that the latter flange may be sandwiched between the flat side plate 16 and upper brim flange 23 and secured by rivets 25. As indicated in the drawings, the invention further provides that the upper edge 26 of the post 17 abut substantially the breadth of the lower wall 21 such that the neutral axis of the upper chord 18 is horizontally intermediate of the engagement between the chord and the upper edge of the post, thereby cooperatively restraining twisting of the upper chord 18 and further enhancing the rigidity of the wall, particularly during rotary dumping operations.

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.