OPERATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR A RAIL WAGON Technical Field The present disclosure generally relates to rail wagons and particularly but not exclusively to operational assemblies mountable on such wagons.

Background of the invention Rail wagons, such as articulated railway freight trains, trucks and wagons which utilise containers for carriage of bulk materials (such as mineral ores, grains and the like), typically include operational assemblies (such as braking assemblies or other apparatus) mounted on the wagons. These operational assemblies require regular maintenance, servicing and/or replacement. In the past the servicing of these operational assemblies can be difficult and time consuming often because of the complexity of the assembly and the difficulties in accessing the components of that assembly.

Summary

Some embodiments provide a rail wagon including a subassembly, and an operational assembly having interconnected components. The operational assembly is mounted on the subassembly. The operational assembly can be at least one of mounted by mounting the subassembly and removed by releasing the subassembly.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

Brief description of the Drawings

In order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the present invention embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in which:

Fig. 1 shows a side view of one example of a bulk material railway wagon; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view the wagon of Fig. 1 when viewed along line section line B-B;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the wagon of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of one example of a releasable rail wagon subassembly for mounting an operational assembly;

Fig. 5 shows the subassembly of Fig. 4 having mounted thereto components of a rail wagon braking system; and

Fig. 6 shows the subassembly of Fig. 5 fastened to the underside of a rail wagon such as that of Figs. 1 to 3.

Detailed Description

This disclosure is directed generally to railway wagons and while the disclosure is described generally in the context of freight wagons for the carrying of bulk material, it is not limited to such use, and may be used in rail wagons for other applications such as passenger rail cars.

Articulated railway freight trains and trucks which utilise containers for carriage of bulk materials (such as mineral ores, grains and the like) are known. In rail applications, the bulk materials container can be seated on an elongate wagon underframe which itself is connected to two bogies located near either end of the wagon underframe. The bogies include wheel sets and a bogie bolster to which the wagon underframe is mounted via an articulated connection or centreplate device. The articulated connection is provided by mating a male member of the underframe and a female component of the bogie bolster.

In some forms, the underframe includes a central longitudinally extending support member commonly referred to as a centre sill on which the centreplate device is attached. The underframe may also include side members that extend laterally from the centre sill. These side members may include bolsters and intermediate supporting structures, known as transoms, extend outwardly from the centre sill and are typically disposed between the bolsters. With this configuration the wagon container is supported on the underframe with the loading being typically distributed across the bolsters and the transoms.

An embodiment provides a rail wagon including a subassembly, and an operational assembly having interconnected components. The operational assembly is mounted on the subassembly. The operational assembly can be at least one of mounted by mounting the subassembly and removed by releasing the subassembly.

The wagon may be for bulk material transport. The wagon body may comprise an underframe and a container mounted on the underframe. The subassembly may be mounted to the wagon underframe.

The underframe may comprise a sill and a plurality of side members extending from the sill. The subassembly may be arranged to be located between adjacent side members. The subassembly may be arranged to be secured to at least one of the adjacent side members.

Another embodiment provides a releasable rail wagon subassembly for mounting an operational assembly having interconnected components, whereby the operational assembly can be at least one of mounted by mounting the subassembly and removed by releasing the subassembly.

The subassembly may have mounted thereto interconnected components of a braking system for the rail wagon, for example. The components may include at least two of a dummy cylinder, a control valve, a shut off valve, an auxiliary, an emergency reservoir, a relay and a supplementary reserve.

The subassembly may comprise a tray body configured to have mounted thereto the operational assembly. The tray body has an aperture in which part of the operational assembly can be disposed. The tray may have at least one margin that is turned out of the plane of the tray body. The margin may be configured to be fastened to at least one transom of the rail wagon.

The tray body may be configured to be received between two spaced apart transoms of the wagon undercarriage. The tray may have two opposite margins that are each turned out of the plane of the tray body. Each margin may be configured to be fastened to a respective one of the transoms. Embodiments may have more or less than two such margins. For example, the tray may have at least one margin that is turned out of the plane of the tray body. The margin may be configured to be fastened to at least one transom of the rail wagon. The or each margin may have outwardly projecting flanges that are respectively configured to mate with respective portions of the at least one transom. The respective portions may not be parallel. The flanges may each have at least one aperture for the passage of a mechanical fastener that fastens the subassembly to the wagon.

The subassembly may comprise at least one brace. The subassembly may comprise pressed metal. Some embodiments of a rail wagon, such as those illustrated, may allow the straightforward attachment and release of the operational assembly. In the event that an operational assembly requires replacement - because of failure or less than acceptable performance for example - the subassembly having the operational assembly may be relatively rapidly and easily removed from the rail wagon and a new subassembly and operational assembly mounted. This may reduce the time the wagon is not usable. Downtime is inconvenient and may be expensive because in this case the rail wagon cannot shift goods or ore, for example. Furthermore, the operational assembly may be tested or maintained at a site remote from a rail wagon, which may conveniently have the required tools, test equipment and personnel. Mounting and/or release of the subassembly may be performed without disconnecting the interconnected components from each other which may be time consuming, prone to possibly dangerous error, and expose the components to damage and/or contamination. The subassembly is in a form that can be shipped to the remote or other site relatively easily. Fig. 1 shows a side view of a bulk material rail way wagon. As depicted, the wagon 1 includes a bulk material transport container 2 which is positioned and supported atop an elongate railway wagon underframe 3. The underframe 3 is connected to two bogies 4 located near respective ends 5, 6 of the wagon underframe 3. The underframe includes a centre sill 7 and the bogies 4 including wheel sets 8 interconnected by side frames 9 and a bolster 10 which extends from, and is mounted to, the centre sill 7 via a centreplate 11 (Fig. 3). Couplers 17 are mounted to the centre sill 7 at opposite ends of the wagon 1 to allow for interconnection of wagons and/or connection of the wagon to a locomotive. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the wagon of Fig. 1 when viewed along line section line B-B. The container 2 shown has two side walls, generally shown at item 12, two end walls, generally shown at item 13 and a base, generally shown at item 14. In same forms, the side wall 12 is made up of a series of five vertical support posts which are spaced apart along the length of the container 2. There are two further end posts 16 which are located at the centre of the end walls 13, and which stand directly above the couplers not illustrated.

The posts support various side wall panel sheets (given general reference 18) which form the exterior skin or surface of the outside of the container 2. These panel sheets 18 may be formed from single sheets or may be formed by multiple sheets that are interconnected (say by welding such as a continuous fillet weld) . In either case, the resulting side walls 13 may present a substantially smooth surface or skin when viewed from outside the container 2. The sheets which make up the end walls 13 may be joined to the side panels 18 by a continuous fillet weld on at least one side of the T-junction of the two sheets. One or more stiffening member 19 may be incorporated in the side wall panels

18 to provide additional side wall stiffness and strength and if required to interconnect panels made from multiple sheets. The stiffener may extend into the interior of the container 2 as shown in the illustrated form. In further embodiments, the side walls do not need to be planar, but can be curved or formed into other suitable geometric shapes, depending on the application and the desired shape of the container side wall. Although the panels in the

embodiment shown in the drawings are joined by stitch welding, other types of welding, such as continuous welding, may be utilised. Indeed, other methods of joining the side wall panels are also envisaged, for example involving use of an adhesive substance, heat treating the join region to cause fusion of the panels, or physical connection means such as screwing, bolting, forging or riveting, etc. Any number of side wall vertical support posts can be spaced apart along the length of the container. In still further embodiments, the stiffening member 19 can be in the form of an angle made up of two or more mutually inclined surfaces which can be of other shapes (for example convex or concave panels) and at other angles of relative disposition. In still further embodiments, the stiffening member can be semicircular in cross-section and smoothly curved throughout. The stiffening member may be connected to the panels such as by any suitable form, for example involving an adhesive substance, welding, screwing, bolting, forging or riveting, etc. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the wagon of Fig. 1. As depicted, the underframe 3 also includes multiple transoms, indicated by numerals 20, 22 and 24, which extend outwardly from the centre sill 7 and in the illustrated form are disposed between the bolsters 10. With this configuration the wagon container 2 is supported on the underframe 3 with the loading being distributed across the bolsters 10 and the transoms 20.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a releasable rail wagon subassembly generally being indicated by the numeral 110. The subassembly is for mounting an operational assembly having interconnected components. When the subassembly is in place the operational assembly may be mounted in place by mounting of the operational assembly to the wagon and/or is removed by releasing the subassembly. Fig. 5 shows the subassembly of Fig. 4 having fastened thereto a plurality of interconnected components of a rail wagon pneumatic braking system. The attached components include an auxiliary emergency reservoir 112, a control valve 114, a dummy cylinder 115, and control electronics module 116. It will be appreciated, however, that other operational assemblies and systems may be supported. For example, a hydraulic braking system may be mounted. The subassembly 110 has a tray body 118 that in use receives the at least some of the components 112 to 116. Apertures may be formed in the tray body through which mechanical fasteners may pass for fastening of the parts. These are not shown in Fig. 4. The apertures may be formed using a drill bit or a punch, for example. Suitable fasteners include rivets and bolts. The fasteners may also pass through apertures on the components, such as the aperture generally indicated by the numeral 124. Alternatively, the parts may be fastened using a wield or braze, or a high strength adhesive such as a cyanoacrylate adhesive.

The tray body 118 has an aperture 122 formed therein within which the auxiliary emergency reservoir 112 is disposed.

Fig. 6 shows the subassembly 110 with parts attached and fastened to the underside of a rail wagon, in which parts similar to those previously described are similarly numbered. The tray body has dimensions such that it can be received between two spaced apart transoms indicated by numerals 20 and 22 extending from the centre sill 7 of the wagon undercarriage. The tray body 118 has two opposite margins indicated in Fig. 4 by numerals 132 and 134, the margins are each turned out of the plane of the tray body. Each margin has outwardly projecting flanges indicated by numeral 136 and 142. The flanges are respectively configured to mate with respective surface portions of the at least one transom, the respective portions are not parallel. For example, flanges 142 and 140 are not parallel to each other. Flanges 140 and 142 each mate with portions 144 and 146 of transom 20, the portions also being nonparallel. Each flange has an aperture through which a fastener can pass for fastening each margin to a respective one of the transoms 20 and 22. Corresponding apertures may be formed in the transoms.

In some embodiments, the subassembly may be mounted released in a manner different to that described above. Other fasteners such as rivets may be used instead of or additionally to bolts, for example. The subassembly may be mounted using hooks or other engaging members installed on a rotatable axle coupled to the under frame, the hooks disengaging the subassembly when the axle is rotated. A supporting plate or structure attached to the rail wagon may be disposed beneath the subassembly. The subassembly may be wielded in place - wield spots may be located approximately in the positions that the fasteners may otherwise occupy, or around the perimeter of the flanges, for example. The wields may be undone to release the subassembly, although in some embodiments the wield may be permanent. Similarly, strong adhesives may mount the subassembly. The subassembly may slot into recesses formed in the underframe. Any suitable mounting or release means may be used.

In alternative embodiments, the subassembly 110, may be arranged to be fastened to another part of the rail wagon, such as the centre sill, bulk material container, or one of the bogies, for example.

The subassembly 110 of Fig. 4 has two cross braces 148 and 150 to provide rigidity and strength. The braces may be fabricated of pressed metal. The tray body may also be fabricated of pressed metal, as it is in this embodiment. Any suitable materials and configurations may be used.

To install the subassembly, a forklift may engage forklift points on the assembly, manoeuvre it to a position beneath and between adjacent transoms, and then lift the subassembly so it abuts the underframe. Four fasteners such as hex bolts are then inserted to hold the subassembly to the underframe. Fluid lines from the braking system may then be connected to a break cylinder that operates brake shoes. To remove the subassembly the order of the above described operations is reversed. A minimal number of connections need to be made/broken to install/release the subassembly, and fastening/unfastening is a simple matter of manipulating a small number of bolts.

It will be understood to persons skilled in the art of the invention that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.