Adjustable automobile frame loading system

Claim 2

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a railway car and the like, one on top of the other, and in combination with a railway car having, a flat deck, three parallel position retainers extending along the deck of the railway car, a plurality of longitudinally aligned anchoring members adjustable secured in position in each position retainer in laterally aligned relation with respect to each other, a support beam extending across each row of laterally aligned anchoring members, means securing said support beams to said anchoring members, means for locking said anchoring members in selected positions along said channels, two inner pedestals and two outer pedestals supported on each support beam and adapted to have supporting engagement with laterally spaced lower frames of a stack of vehicle frames, spacer means between the vehicle frames of the stacks of frames, vertically spacing the frames apart and transferring the weight of the frames onto said pedestal means, top spacers on the top frames of the stacks of frames, a harness extending along the top frames of the stacks of frames, said harness being in the form of an open generally rectangular frame sufficiently wide to extend over the tops of two laterally aligned stacks of vehicle frames and tie said frames to the deck of the railway car, tiedown means connected from said harness to the deck of the vehicle and tying said harness and frames to the vehicle deck, and downwardly opening centering cups having outwardly flaring sidewalls mounted on the bottom of said harness for engagement with said top spacers, to center said harness with respect to the two laterally spaced stacks of fraMes.

Claim 3

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the means locking said anchoring members in selected positions along said position retainers, comprise spaced locking devices adjustably movable along said position retainers and movable vertically into interengagement with said position retainers, means drawing said locking devices into interengagement with said position retainers, and interengaging connections between said locking devices and said anchoring members at spaced intervals along said anchoring members, to releasably lock said anchoring members in position along said position retainers.

Claim 4

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the outer centering cups are adjustable longitudinally and laterally of said harness to conform to the positions of said top spacers on the top frames of the stack of frames, wherein a single inner centering cup is provided to engage the two side-by-side top spacers of the top frames, and wherein the inner spacers are adjustable longitudinally of the harness.

Claim 5

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a railway car and the like, one on top of the other, and in combination with a railway car having a flat deck, a plurality of laterally spaced parallel upwardly opening retainer channels extending longitudinally of the flat deck, said channels having parallel walls having retainer flanges extending inwardly therefrom having spaced inwardly opening notches therein, pedestal means adjustably movable along said channels and adapted to have supporting engagement with a lower frame of a stack of vehicle frames, spacer means between the vehicle frames, vertically spacing the frames apart and transferring the weight of the frames onto said pedestal means, a harness extending along the top of the stack of frames, and comprising an open generally rectangular frame, tiedown means connected from said harness to the deck of the vehicle and tying said stack of frames to the vehicle deck, and means mounting said pedestal means on the vehicle deck for adjustable movement therealong comprising spaced anchoring members guided for adjustable movement along said channels, each anchoring member having downwardly facing toothed surfaces at each end thereof and laterally extending flanges disposed therebetween and slidable beneath said retainer flanges to retain the respective anchoring member from vertical movement relative to the vehicle deck, locking devices at opposite ends of said anchoring members and having upwardly facing toothed surfaces, registrable with the downwardly facing toothed surfaces of said anchoring members and having, lugs projecting upwardly therefrom free from said notches when at the bottoms of said channels, means drawing said toothed surfaces of said locking devices into engagement with the toothed surfaces of said anchoring members and moving said lugs upwardly into engagement with said notches, for locking said anchoring members in position in said channels, support beams mounted on said laterally aligned anchoring members intermediate the ends thereof, means securing said support beams to said anchoring members, and means for securing said pedestals to said support beams for lateral adjustable movement transversely of the vehicle to conform to automotive frames of various widths.

Claim 6

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a railway car and the like, one on top of the other, and in combination with a railway car having a flat deck, a plurality of laterally spaced parallel upwardly opening retainer channels extending longitudinally of the flat deck, said channels having parallel walls having retainer flanges extending inwardly therefrom having spaced inwardly opening notches therein, pedestal means adjustably movable along said channels and adapted to have supporting engagement with a lower frame of a stack of vehicle frames, spacer means between the vehicle frames, vertically spacing the frames apart and transferring the weight of the frames onto said pedestal means, a harness extending along the top of the stack of frames, and comprising an open generally rectangular frame, tiedown means connected from said harness to the deck of the vehicle and tying said stack of frames to the vehicle deck, and means mounting said pedestal means on the vehicle deck for adjustable movement therealong comprising spaced anchoring members guided for adjustable movement along said channels, each anchoring member having downwardly facing toothed surfaces at each end thereof and laterally extending flanges disposed therebetween and slidable beneath said retainer flanges to retain the respective anchoring member from vertical movement relative to the vehicle deck, locking devices at opposite ends of said anchoring members and having upwardly facing toothed surfaces, registrable with the downwardly facing toothed surfaces of said anchoring members and having, lugs projecting upwardly therefrom free from said notches when at the bottoms of said channels, means drawing said toothed surfaces of said locking devices into engagement with the toothed surfaces of said anchoring members and moving said lugs upwardly into engagement with said notches, for locking said anchoring members in position in said channels, support beams mounted on said laterally aligned anchoring members intermediate the ends thereof, means securing said support beams to said anchoring members, and means for securing said pedestals to said support beams for lateral adjustable movement transversely of the vehicle to conform to automotive frames of various widths.

Claim 7

The tiedown apparatus of claim 4 wherein each pedestal is vertically adjustable and includes, a base mounted on a support beam for adjustable movement transversely of the deck, a vertical load bearing wall extending upwardly of said base, a pedestal block supported on said load bearing wall for adjustable movement therealong, said pedestal block and said vertical wall having interengaging toothed connection with each other, and securing means securing said pedestal block to said wall.

Claim 8

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherEin the adjustable connection between said load bearing wall and pedestal block includes a slot and bolt connection, and wherein the interengaging toothed surfaces between said load bearing wall and said pedestal block cooperate with said bolt and slot connection to transfer the loads from said block to said load bearing wall and base.

Claim 9

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein at least three parallel channels extend along the deck of the railway car, wherein longitudinally aligned anchoring members are mounted in each channel, wherein rows of anchoring members are laterally aligned in said three channels, wherein a support beam extends across each row of laterally aligned anchoring members and is secured to said anchoring members, and wherein two outer pedestals and two inner pedestals are supported on each support beam for adjustable movement therealong to conform to the widths of preselected vehicle frames.

Claim 10

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein the harness is in the general form of an open rectangular frame sufficiently wide to extend over the tops of two laterally aligned stacks of vehicle frames and tie said frames to the deck of the railway car, wherein top spacers are provided on the top frames of the stack of frames, and wherein downwardly opening centering cups having outwardly flared sidewalls are mounted on the bottom of said harness and are selectively positionable to engage said top spacers to center said harness to tie the two laterally spaced stacks of frames to the deck of the railway car.

Claim 11

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 8, wherein outer and intermediate centering cups are mounted on said harness for adjustable movement longitudinally and laterally of said harness in accordance with the length and width of the automotive vehicle frames on the deck of the car, and wherein the intermediate centering cups are engageable with two top side-by-side spacers, on the adjacent rails of the side-by-side top frames of the stacks of frames.

Claim 12

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a vehicle, at least two parallel channels extending longitudinally of the deck, pedestal means having supporting engagement with a lower frame of a stack of frames, means mounting said pedestal means for adjustable movement along said channels and for lateral movement relative thereto, other means locking said pedestal means in selected positions of adjustment, each pedestal means including a pedestal block, a base having a vertically extending load bearing wall, and means supporting said pedestal block on said load bearing wall and accommodating vertical adjustment of said pedestal block relative to said base.

Claim 13

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a vehicle, at least two parallel channels extending longitudinally of the deck, pedestal means having supporting engagement with a lower frame of a stack of frames, means mounting said pedestal means for adjustable movement along said channels and for lateral movement relative thereto, other means locking said pedestal means in selected positions of adjustment, each pedestal means including a pedestal block, a base having a vertically extending load bearing wall, and means supporting said pedestal block on said load bearing wall and accommodating vertical adjustment of said pedestal block relative to said base.

Claim 14

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a vehicle, at least two parallel channels extending longitudinally of the deck, pedestal means having supporting engagement with the lower frame of the stack of frames, means mounting said pedestal means for adjustable movement along said channels and for lateral movement relative thereto, other means locking said pedestal means in selected positions of adjustment along said channels, each pedestal means including a pedestal block, a base having a vertically extending load bearing wall, means supporting said pedestal block on said load bearing wall and accommodating vertical adjustment of said pedestal block relative to said base, said support means including a releasable interengaging load bearing connection between said pedestal block and load bearing wall, transferring the loads from said block to said load bearing wall and base.

Claim 15

In an apparatus for stacking and tying down automotive vehicle frames to the deck of a vehicle, at least two parallel channels extending longitudinally of the deck, pedestal means having supporting engagement with the lower frame of the stack of frames, means mounting said pedestal means for adjustable movement along said channels and for lateral movement relative thereto, other means locking said pedestal means in selected positions of adjustment along said channels, each pedestal means including a pedestal block, a base having a vertically extending load bearing wall, means supporting said pedestal block on said load bearing wall and accommodating vertical adjustment of said pedestal block relative to said base, said support means including a releasable interengaging load bearing connection between said pedestal block and load bearing wall, transferring the loads from said block to said load bearing wall and base.

Claim 16

A tiedown apparatus in accordance with claim 11, wherein the means accommodating vertical adjustment of said pedestal block relative to said base and holding said pedestal block in adjusted relation with respecT to said base includes a slot and bolt connection, and wherein interengaging meshing teeth cooperate with said bolt and slot connection, to transfer the loads from said block to said load bearing wall and base.