Rail Car

Abstract

Provided is a rail car that is capable of efficiently transmitting vibrational forces that have been transmitted from a bogie via a yaw damper and a yaw damper support to an underframe to a rail car shell, and that is of a simple structure, sufficient mechanical strength, and light weight for reducing the amount of heat applied to perform welding and for allowing a nondestructive inspection to be performed with ease. The rail car includes a rail car shell, a bogie that supports the rail car shell, a yaw damper having an end connected to the bogie, and a yaw damper support to which another end of the yaw damper is connected. The rail car shell includes an underframe including a floor assembly providing a floor and a bolster beam joined to the floor assembly, and a pair of side structures erected at both transverse ends of the underframe. In this rail car, the yaw damper support is fixed to a transverse end of the bolster beam.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A rail car comprising:
 a rail car shell including
 an underframe including a floor assembly providing a floor and a bolster beam joined to the floor assembly, and 
 a pair of side structures erected at both transverse ends of the underframe; 
   a bogie that supports the rail car shell;   a yaw damper having an end connected to the bogie; and   a yaw damper support to which another end of the yaw damper is connected,   wherein the yaw damper support is fixed to a transverse end of the bolster beam.   
     
     
         2 . The rail car according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the bolster beam is larger in transverse dimension than the floor assembly.   
     
     
         3 . The rail car according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the bolster beam includes
 a horizontal assembly that is held against a lower surface of the floor assembly, and 
 a protrusive assembly that protrudes upwardly from a transverse end of the horizontal assembly. 
   
     
     
         4 . The rail car according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the transverse end of the horizontal assembly and the protrusive assembly are integrally extrusion-molded along a longitudinal direction of the rail car as a hollow extrusion-molded structure.   
     
     
         5 . The rail car according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the protrusive assembly is joined to a lower end of each of the side structures.   
     
     
         6 . The rail car according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the yaw damper support is connected to a lower surface of the transverse end of the horizontal assembly.   
     
     
         7 . The rail car according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the protrusive assembly includes
 an inner side plate near a transverse end of the underframe, 
 an outer side plate spaced from the inner side plate, and 
 a joint plate joining the inner side plate and the outer side plate to each other. 
   
     
     
         8 . The rail car according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein a cross-sectional shape across a longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the floor assembly and a cross-sectional shape across the longitudinal direction of upper surfaces of the horizontal assembly and the protrusive assembly of the bolster beam are essentially identical to each other, and the bolster beam and the floor assembly are assembled together such that the upper surfaces of the horizontal assembly and the protrusive assembly of the bolster beam are held in engagement with the lower surface of the floor assembly.