RAIL TANK WAGON

Rail tank wagon

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a rail tank wagon intended for transport of liquid or gaseous materials.

Background of the invention

For railway transport of liquid materials, the rail tank wagons fitted with tank cylinders in horizontal position, which may be either flat or cranked with rounded bases (fronts) are used. The rail tank is placed on the underframe fitted with two bogies, usually with two axles, whereas the structure of the underframe consists of a narrow central part consisting of a pair of parallel longitudinal beams made usually of rolled L or U or I profiles with minimum distance each other in lateral direction and reinforced by lateral brace rods. These longitudinal beams turns into extended portals on both wagon ends and they form the wagon ends with two beams, of which the front beam called headstock is fitted with draw gear and buffers, and there are cross cradles for the tank above the rear beams. The cross cradles are weldments with upper convex areas rounding of which is selected so it corresponds to the radius of the tank sat to the cross cradles. Fixing of the tank to the underframe is usually provided by longitudinal cradles, i.e. four side fixing sheets, of which lower part is welded to the wagon ends and of which upper part, bent inside, is bolted to a counterpiece usually in T profile welded to the tank. Further known embodiments of rail tank wagons are those where the longitudinal cradle passes along the full length of the tank and the bolt joint of the tank and underframe is continuous along the full length of the tank.

A disadvantage of this known structure of rail tank wagons is that longitudinal tension of the tank coming from the longitudinal forces, which negatively influence overall strength of the wagon, are not eliminated to a satisfactory level. This disadvantage is obvious particularly for the rail tank wagons of higher volumes, e.g. over 80 m³. According to published patent application No. 2254-92, the embodiment, which improves connection between the tank and the underframe in the bed area is known and in the central part there is a straight section and the curved sections are on the sides. However, neither this improvement removes negative effects of longitudinal tension along the length of the wagon.

Therefore, the purpose of the invention is production of a rail tank wagon that would remove all the imperfections mentioned above.

Summary of the invention

The rail tank wagon according to the invention is fitted with cylinder tank in a known manner on the underframe, of which at least central part consists of two parallel longitudinal beams, and which is terminated by wagon ends with headstock and the main cross beam on both ends of the wagon. Above the main cross beams there are cross cradles arranged for placement of the tank and on the sides of the underframe there are longitudinal cradles for making a connection with the tank.

The substance of the invention is that each of the longitudinal beams has at least two brackets modified for connection with the tank on its upper part bent to the tank.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the brackets produce notches stepping out in regular spans above the upper edges of the longitudinal beams, which is favourable particularly from the production point of view.

In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the brackets are arranged in opposite pairs on the longitudinal beams, which improves deployment of both longitudinal and lateral forces transmitted to the underframe from the tank.

Furthermore, it is advantageous when there is a bearing plate between the bracket and tank shell, whereas the bracket and/or the bearing plate is favourably welded to the tank.

It is also advantageous when the longitudinal beams are made from bent L-profiles, which reduces production costs. Finally it is advantageous when also the longitudinal cradles are welded to the tank, which increases rigidity and stiffness of the rail tank wagon.

Welding of the tank to the structure of the underframe provides improved total loading capacity and rigidity of the assembly under vertical and horizontal forces load, which allows subtler dimensioning of the construction components and achieving of lower inherent wagon weight. The wagon reduced inherent weight improves the wagon utility parameter (proportion of inherent weight and loading capacity).

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be described in detail in the drawings, where Fig. 1 shows the rail tank wagon, Fig. 2 shows the underframe, Fig. 3 shows bottom view on the longitudinal beams connected to the tank, Fig. 4 shows view on the wagon end, Fig. 5 shows bottom view on the wagon end with a part of the longitudinal beams welded to the tank.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

It is understood that the specific examples of the invention embodiments described and depicted below are indicative only and not as a limitation of examples of the invention embodiments to the examples shown. The experts skilled in the art can find or will be able to find, with the use of routine experimentation, either lower or higher number of equivalents to specific embodiments of the invention described specially in this invention. These equivalents will be included in the scope of the following claims as well.

The rail tank wagon 1 of Zacns category is fitted with the tank 2 volume of which is 85.5 cubic metres, placed on the underframe 3 with two bi-axle bogies 4.

The structure of the underframe 3 consists of two parallel longitudinal beams 5, ί made from bent L-profile sheet connected with lateral bracing rods. On both ends of the underframe 3 there are extended portals consisting of welded wagon ends 6. Each wagon end 6 contains a headstock 7 and the main cross beam 10. On the headstock 7, there is the draw gear 8 and two buffers 9. Above the main cross beams 10 there are weldments forming the cross cradles Λ Λ where the tank 2 is placed without welding.

Each of the longitudinal beams 5, 5 is fitted with a series of vertical notches stepping out of the upper edge of the longer side of the L profile making up the longitudinal beam 5,ί . These notches are arranged in regular spans and they create the bracket 13 for welding to the tank 2. In fact, either flat or arc-bent bearing plates 14 are welded to the brackets 13 connected to the tank 2 shell by welding.

On each longitudinal beam 5, ί there are eight brackets 13 arranged on the longitudinal beam 5 and longitudinal beam 5^ in mutually opposite pairs.

In addition to the weldments on the longitudinal beams 5,51 the tank 2 is fixed to the underframe 3 with the use of four longitudinal cradles 12, which are in fact fixing sheets to which the tank 2 is welded as well.

Weight of the wagon is 22.3 tons, whereas the loading capacity is up to 67.7 tons.

Industrial applicability

The rail tank wagon according to the invention can be used for transport of liquid or gaseous materials on railways.

Overview of the positions used in the drawings

1 rail tank wagon

2 tank

3 underframe

bogie

5 longitudinal beam

6 wagon end

7 headstock

draw gear

buffer

10 main cross beam

11 cross cradle

12 longitudinal cradle

13 bracket

14 bearing plate