Claims
- 1. A door edge protection system mountable in conventional autorack railcars for transporting automobiles having side doors, each said railcar having side walls with holes therethrough, said system including:a resilient foamed cushioning material covering a portion of at least one of said railcar side walls at the level of the doors of the automobiles being transported, so that when one of the side doors of the automobile is opened the material will be positioned between the door and the railcar side wall covered by said material for cushioning and protecting the automobile door edge against impact with the railcar side wall; and penetrating fasteners formed and arranged for securely fastening said cushioning material to the inner surface of the side walls, each of said fasteners having a leg extending through said cushioning material and adapted to fit into at least one of the holes in the railcar side wall, and having a locking formation on said fastener leg for engaging the exterior of the side wall and locking said fastener in place after said fastener leg has passed through the hole in the side wall; said resilient foamed cushioning material being of foam material having at least a first edge portion and having a second portion; said edge portion being rolled over and bonded to the second portion to form at least one tube; said tube being formed and arranged whereby a mounting portion is also formed whereby the mounting portion is adapted to receive said fasteners and be captured between said fastener and the side wall.
- 2. A door edge protection system for convention autorack railcars for transporting automobiles, each said railcar having side walls with a plurality of holes therethrough, said system including:a first portion of foam material rolled over to form a tube extending substantially the length of the material; a second portion of foam material extending substantially tangentially from said first portion so as to define a flange portion; and a plurality of penetrating fasteners, each having an enlarged head and a leg with a resilient locking formation thereon. whereby the leg of each fastener will extend through said second portion of foam material and through a corresponding one of the holes in the railcar side wall with the locking formation engaging the exterior of the side wall adjacent the hole to lock the fastener in place and securely hold the second portion of foamed material against the interior of the railcar side wall.
- 3. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 2 and further including a third portion of foam material rolled over onto itself to form a tube, said third portion being attached to said second portion in spaced parallel relation to said first portion, whereby said protection system will extend substantially parallel to the wall of the car a selected length.
- 4. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 2 wherein said mounting portion is formed of foam material and includes a plurality of apertures extending therethrough to facilitate the passage of the fastener legs therethrough in the attachment of the system to the interior side wall of the railcar.
- 5. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 2 wherein said second portion of foam material includes a plurality of apertures extending therethrough to facilitate the passage of the fastener legs therethrough in the attachment of the system to the interior side wall of the railcar.
- 6. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 2 wherein said fastener locking formation has one or more pairs of transversely extending resilient locking edges to resiliently engage the exterior of the side wall of the railcar to fixedly secure one or more layers of said foam material to the interior side wall of the railcar.
- 7. The system of claim 2 wherein the railcar has supporting struts along the side walls, and said first portion of foam material extends between struts, said protection system further including a fourth portion of foam material extending between ends of adjacent first portions of foam material and extending over and providing cushioning over the struts of the railcar between said first portions of foam material.
- 8. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said second portion of foam material is a separate sheet bonded to said first portion and said second portion includes a plurality of apertures extending therethrough to facilitate the passage of the fastener legs therethrough in the attachment of the system to the interior side wall of the railcar.
- 9. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 8, said tube defining a space therein, and said space is filled with a third foam member.
- 10. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 2 wherein said tube is formed having a relatively high density foam, said tube defining a space therein, and said space is filled with a third foam member and said third foam member is a relatively low density foam.
- 11. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 2 wherein said tube is formed having a relatively high density foam, said tube defining a space therein, and said space is filled with a third foam member, said tube is formed of a foam having a density of about 4 lbs and said third foam member having a density of about 1.2 to 1.7 pounds.
- 12. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 8 wherein said second portion contacts and is bonded to said first portion over greater than 90 degrees.
- 13. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 8 wherein said second portion contacts and is bonded to said first portion over about 135 degrees.
- 14. A door edge protection system in accordance with claim 9 wherein said tube is formed of a relatively high density foam and said third foam member is a relatively low density foam.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/077,815, filed Mar. 12, 1998. This application is a Continuation In Part of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 09/267,436 filed Mar. 12, 1999 and now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/077815 |
Mar 1998 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/267436 |
Mar 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/732606 |
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US |