Railway Cars Manufactured With Self Piercing Rivets

Abstract

Railway cars are provided with sidewalls having an optimum number of support posts formed from a first material such as, but not limited to, steel and an optimum number of support posts formed from a second material such as, but not limited to, aluminum to optimize empty car weight and service of life of each railway car. Endwall assemblies, roof assemblies, floor assemblies and other components associated with a railway car may be fabricated from different types of material and an optimum number of supporting structures to reduce manufacturing cost, reduce repair costs, increase service life and increase load carrying capacity. Self piercing rivets may be used to attach two or more layers of material, particularly two or more layers of dissimilar materials. The use of self piercing rivets may also reduce manufacturing and repair costs, increase service life and load carrying capacity of a railway car.

1 . A railway car having a railway car underframe and at least one sidewall assembly comprising:
 the railway car underframe having a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge with the at least one sidewall assembly disposed along one of the longitudinal edges of the railway car underframe;   the at least one sidewall assembly formed in part from a plurality of side sheets and a plurality of support posts;   one end of each support post attached to the one longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   the side sheets formed from materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum and steel;   the support posts formed from materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum and steel; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching the side sheets with the support posts.   
   
   
       2 . The railway car of  claim 1  selected from the group consisting of gondola cars, open hopper cars, closed hopper cars, rotary dump coal cars, box cars and insulated box cars. 
   
   
       3 . The railway car of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a first sidewall assembly disposed on the first longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   a second sidewall assembly disposed on the second longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   each sidewall assembly formed from a plurality of aluminum side sheets;   at least one support post formed from aluminum; and   at least one support post formed from steel.   
   
   
       4 . The railway car of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a first sidewall assembly disposed on the first longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   a second sidewall assembly disposed on the second longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   each sidewall assembly formed from a plurality of steel side sheets;   at least one support post formed from steel; and   at least one support post formed from aluminum.   
   
   
       5 . The railway car of  claim 1  wherein the sidewall assembly further comprises:
 each side sheet having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   each support post having a first surface and a second surface; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching the first surface of each support post with adjacent portions of the interior surface of the associated side sheet.   
   
   
       6 . The railway car of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the support posts spaced from each other along the associated sidewall assembly; and   approximately an equal number of the support posts formed from steel and approximately an equal number of support posts formed from aluminum.   
   
   
       7 . The railway car of  claim 6  further comprising the steel support posts and the aluminum support posts arranged in an alternating pattern extending along the associated sidewall assembly. 
   
   
       8 . The railway car of  claim 1  further comprising the number of steel support posts and the number of aluminum support posts optimized to reduce empty weight of the railway car and increase load carrying capacity of the railway car. 
   
   
       9 . A railway car having a railway car underframe and at least one sidewall assembly comprising:
 the railway car underframe having a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge with the at least one sidewall assembly disposed along one of the longitudinal edges of the railway car underframe;   the at least one sidewall assembly formed in part from a plurality of side sheets and a plurality of support posts;   one end of each support post attached to the one longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   the side sheets formed from steel;   the support posts formed from steel;   each support post having a first surface and a second surface; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching portions of the side sheets with the first surface of associated support posts.   
   
   
       10 . A railway car having a railway car underframe and at least one sidewall assembly comprising:
 the railway car underframe having a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge with the at least one sidewall assembly disposed along one of the longitudinal edges of the railway car underframe;   the at least one sidewall assembly formed in part from a plurality of side sheets and a plurality of support posts;   one end of the respective support posts disposed along and attached to the one longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   the side sheets formed from aluminum;   the support posts formed from aluminum;   each support post having a first surface and a second surface; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching portions of the side sheets with the first surface of associated support posts.   
   
   
       11 . A railway car having a railway car underframe and a pair of sidewalls comprising:
 the first sidewall disposed on a first longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe and the second sidewall disposed on a second longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   each sidewall formed in part from a plurality of side sheets and a plurality of side stakes;   one end of the side stakes disposed along and attached to the respective longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   the side sheets formed from a first material selected from the group consisting of aluminum and steel;   the side stakes formed from materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum and steel; and   at least one side stake formed from a material different from the material used to form the other side stakes.   
   
   
       12 . The railway car of  claim 11  selected from the group consisting of gondola cars, open hopper cars, closed hopper cars, rotary dump coal cars, box cars and insulated box cars. 
   
   
       13 . The railway car of  claim 11  further comprising:
 each sidewall formed from a plurality of steel side sheets;   the side sheets having an exterior surface and an interior surface;   respective side stakes attached with the exterior surface of the side sheets;   at least one of the side stakes formed from steel; and   at least one of the side stakes formed from aluminum.   
   
   
       14 . The railway car of  claim 11  further comprising:
 each sidewall formed from a plurality of aluminum side sheets;   the side sheets having an exterior surface and an interior surface;   respective side stakes attached with the exterior surface of the side sheets;   at least one of the side stakes formed from steel; and   at least one of the side stakes formed from aluminum.   
   
   
       15 . The railway car of  claim 11  further comprising:
 at least one of the side stakes having a generally hat-shaped configuration defined in part by a first web and a second web; and   the first web having a width greater than the width of the second web.   
   
   
       16 . The railway car of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a plurality of side stakes attached with each side sheet;   the side stakes spaced laterally from each other along the length of the associated sidewall;   approximately an equal number of the side stakes formed form steel and approximately an equal number of side stakes formed from aluminum; and   the steel side stakes and the aluminum side stakes arranged in an alternating pattern extending along each respective sidewall.   
   
   
       17 . The railway car of  claim 11  further comprising a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching the side sheets with the associated side stakes. 
   
   
       18 . A method of forming a railway car having a sidewall assembly attached to and extending along a longitudinal edge of an associated railway car underframe comprising;
 forming the sidewall assembly from a plurality of side sheets having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   forming a plurality of support posts from steel based allow material and aluminum based allow material; and   determining the optimum number of steel support posts and the optimum number of aluminum support posts to attach to the side sheets to minimize empty weight of the railway car and extend service life of the railway car.   
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18  further comprising:
 forming at least one of the support posts with a generally hat-shaped cross section defined in part by a first web and a second web;   attaching a first sheet of material with the first web using a plurality of self piercing rivets; and   attaching a second side sheet with the first web using a second row of self piercing rivets.   
   
   
       20 . A railway car having a railway car underframe and a car body comprising:
 the railway car underframe including a center sill and a pair of side sills;   the car body including at least one metal sheet disposed adjacent to portions of an associated supporting structure; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching the metal sheet with the associated supporting structures.   
   
   
       21 . The railway car of  claim 20  selected from the group consisting of gondola cars, open hopper cars, closed hopper cars, rotary dump coal cars, box cars and insulated box cars. 
   
   
       22 . The railway car of  claim 20  further comprising:
 a first sidewall assembly disposed on one of the side sills of the railway car underframe and a second sidewall assembly disposed on the other side sill of the railway car underframe;   each sidewall assembly formed from a plurality of aluminum side sheets;   at least one support post formed from aluminum and attached with each sidewall assembly;   at least one support post formed from steel and attached with each sidewall assembly; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching each aluminum side sheet with the associated support posts.   
   
   
       23 . The railway car of  claim 20  further comprising:
 a first sidewall assembly disposed on one of the side sills of the railway car underframe;   a second sidewall assembly disposed on the other side sill of the railway car underframe;   each sidewall assembly formed from a plurality of steel side sheets;   at least one support post formed from aluminum and attached with each sidewall assembly;   at least one support post formed from steel and attached with each sidewall assembly; and   a plurality of self piercing rivets attaching each steel side sheet with the associated support posts.   
   
   
       24 . The railway car of  claim 20  further comprising the supporting structure selected from the group consisting of a support post, an end beam, a side sill, a longitudinal bearer, a longitudinal stringer, a floor support, a carline, and a roof support. 
   
   
       25 . The railway car of  claim 20  further comprising the at least one metal sheet selected from the group consisting of an aluminum alloy sheet and a steel sheet. 
   
   
       26 . The railway car of  claim 20  further comprising:
 the first sidewall disposed on the railway car underframe and the second sidewall disposed on the railway car underframe;   each sidewall formed in part from a plurality of side sheets and a plurality of side stakes;   one end of the side stakes disposed along and attached to a respective longitudinal edge of the railway car underframe;   the side sheets formed from materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum and steel;   the side stakes formed from materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum and steel; and   at least one side stake formed from a material different from the material used to form the other side stakes.   
   
   
       27 . The railway car of  claim 20  selected from the group consisting of gondola cars, open hopper cars, closed hopper cars, rotary dump coal cars, box cars and insulated box cars. 
   
   
       28 . A method of forming a railway car having a sidewall assembly attached to and extending along a longitudinal edge of an associated railway car underframe comprising;
 forming the sidewall assembly from a plurality of side sheets having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   forming a plurality of support posts from steel based alloy material and aluminum based allow material;   determining the optimum number of steel support posts and the optimum number of aluminum support posts to attach to the side sheets to minimize empty weight of the railway car and extend service life of the railway car; and   attaching the side sheets to the support post using self piercing rivets.