Articulated railcars

Abstract

Means and method for producing a device capable of articulating individual railcars in the railyard as needed in real time and without need of fixed shop tooling is disclosed.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An articulated railcar comprising the following elements: 
 A railcar body;    A support plate;    Means for mounting said support plate upon said railcar body;    At least one set of railroad trucks;    Mounting means attached to said least one set of railroad trucks;    At least one bearing;    said at least one bearing mounted upon said mounting means;    railroad couplers;    all said elements disposed in vertical fashion having said at least one set of trucks on the bottom in contact with rails, said mounting means, said at least one bearing, said support plate, said means for mounting said support plate and said railcar body situated on top, all in contact when said railcar is coupled to other ones of said railcars via said couplers; and    said railcar is separably supported at the juncture of said support plate and said at least one bearing:    
     
     
         2 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein, said elements disposed lower in said vertical fashion than said at least one bearing are generally placed into tension when said railcar and said support plate and said means for mounting said support plate rests all weight of said elements upon said at least one bearing.  
     
     
         3 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein, said elements disposed lower in said vertical fashion than said at least one bearing have the properties of lightweight, ultra-strong materials.  
     
     
         4 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein said mounting means has stands having bumpers mounted thereupon.  
     
     
         5 . The railcar of  claim 4  wherein said stands having bumpers are retractable from their working position.  
     
     
         6 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein said at least one bearing is mounted horizontally upon said mounting means.  
     
     
         7 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein said trucks have cooling fins attached thereto for heat dissipation.  
     
     
         8 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein said mounting means is made to clear said support plate.  
     
     
         9 . The railcar of  claim 1  wherein said couplers are mounted first upon said railcars and are equivalently mounted upon said mounting means as desired.  
     
     
         10 . A method of supporting a railcar and coupling same into a train comprising the steps of: 
 Placing a support plate into position on the bottom of said railcar to support said railcar;    Providing means for fastening said support plate onto said railcar in said position to support said railcar;    Providing separate rail truck means;    Providing on said truck means, means for mounting said railcar upon said truck means;    Providing at least one bearing for supporting said railcar;    Mounting said at least one bearing between said support plate and said means for mounting said railcar;    Providing coupling means; and    Coupling said railcar into a train via said coupling means, while separably supporting said railcar via said support plate upon said trucks through said means for mounting and said at least one bearing.    
     
     
         11 . The method of supporting a railcar of  claim 10  wherein said steps further include mounting said coupling means onto said railcar and equivalently mounting said coupling means onto said means for mounting as desired.  
     
     
         12 . The method of supporting a railcar of  claim 10  wherein said steps further include designing the structure of said means for mounting to be in tension when the weight of said railcar is placed upon said at least one bearing.  
     
     
         13 . The method of supporting a railcar of  claim 10  wherein said steps further include designing the structure of said means for mounting so to have the properties of lightweight, ultra-strong material.  
     
     
         14 . The method of supporting a railcar of  claim 10  wherein said mounting means is provided with stands having bumpers mounted thereon and said stands as desired are made retractable from working position.  
     
     
         15 . The method of supporting a railcar of  claim 10  wherein said at least one bearing is designed to be mounted horizontally.  
     
     
         16 . The method of supporting a railcar of  claim 10  wherein said trucks are designed with cooling fins mounted thereupon for heat dissipation.  
     
     
         17 . The process of making individually articulated railcars, comprising: 
 fastening a support plate onto the bottom of said railcars to support the weight thereof;    mounting at least one bearing on a mounting bracket;    attaching said mounting bracket to railroad trucks;    providing means for maintaining the position of said railroad trucks between said railcars; and    providing means for said at least one bearing to support said support plate in a separably successive manner that facilitates railroad operations.    
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 17  providing coupling means as needed and mounting said coupling means upon said railcars and upon said mounting bracket as desired.  
     
     
         19 . The process of  claim 17  wherein said process provides horizontal mounting means for said at least one bearing upon said mounting bracket and can also provide vertical mounting means for said at least one bearing as desired.  
     
     
         20 . The process of  claim 17  wherein said process provides differing configurations of said means providing said manner that facilitates railroad operations as in the following: 
 means for coupling differing railcar and engine configurations together;  
 means having differing truck configurations with standard appearance and as desired having cooling fins;  
 means having landing gears of differing configurations with wheels and also having pads as desired;  
 providing said mounting bracket as completely unconnected to said railcars and as partially connected to said railcars as desired;  
 means having stands capable of mounting thereupon bumpers and couplers placed upon said mounting bracket as desired;  
 Said stands capable of taking multiple positions upon said mounting bracket as desired;  
 Said support plate is mounted directly upon the underside of said railcar and as desired is mounted upon the sidewalls of said railcars;  
 Said support plate is of differing configurations having normal underside mounted form and as desired, plate design extended beyond the boundary of the railcar sidewalls;  
 Said support plate is of a flat design and as desired of a curved extension design; and  
 Said trucks having standard configuration and having six wheels as desired.