Patents by Inventor Gareth R. Thomas

Gareth R. Thomas has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5379702
    Abstract: A railroad freight car including a cargo well for carrying optionally either intermodal cargo containers or highway semitrailers has a side sill structure including a deep rectangular top chord and a depending web, supporting a well floor structure. Each side sill has a height above the well floor, and a spacer is connected to the car body by an attachment which permits the spacer to be pivoted between a raised position clear of the well floor and a lowered position upwardly adjacent the well floor. The spacer has a predetermined height sufficient to support a trailer located in the cargo well, with its wheels resting on top of the spacer, high enough to locate lifting points on the trailer above the height of the side sill.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 10, 1995
    Assignee: Gunderson, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory J. Saxton, Gareth R. Thomas, Charles C. Hill, Kenneth L. Weselake
  • Patent number: 5279230
    Abstract: A railroad freight car including a cargo well for carrying optionally either intermodal cargo containers or highway semitrailers has a side sill structure including a deep rectangular top chord and a depending web, supporting a well floor structure. The well floor structure includes reinforcing longitudinal and transverse channel members and horizontal top and bottom plates attached to the channels. Large circular openings, aligned with one another, are defined in both the top and bottom plates, and a peripheral ring of vertical material interconnects the margins of the top and bottom plates around the openings, providing a light but stiff floor structure with a small vertical height.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 18, 1994
    Assignee: Gunderson, Inc.
    Inventors: Gareth R. Thomas, Charles C. Hill, Gregory J. Saxton, Kenneth L. Weselake
  • Patent number: 5170718
    Abstract: A multi-unit articulated railway freight car defining a container well in each of the several units, with container support members attached to the side sills of each unit to support standard intermodal cargo containers at a location low enough to permit a second tier of containers to be stacked atop a bottom tier without exceeding the maximum height restrictions of most main railroad lines, although ample clearance is preserved beneath the bottom of the car when fully loaded. Each container support member is constructed of thick plate steel of high strength, formed cold to include residual internal stresses in order to resist failure when subjected to the loads imposed by supporting loaded containers carried in the container well. The side sill structures are of box tube and formed sheet construction of small enough width to permit carriage of newer, larger, sizes of intermodal cargo containers without the car or containers protruding outside the clearance available along most railroad lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 15, 1992
    Assignee: Gunderson, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles C. Hill, Gareth R. Thomas, Gary S. Kaleta, Gregory J. Saxton
  • Patent number: 5054403
    Abstract: A multi-unit articulated railway freight car defining a container well in each of the several units, with container support members attached to the side sills of each unit to support standard intermodal cargo containers at a location low enough to permit a second tier of containers to be stacked atop a bottom tier without exceeding the maximum height restrictions of most main railroad lines, although ample clearance is preserved beneath the bottom of the car when fully loaded. Each container support member is constructed of thick plate steel of high strength, formed cold to include residual internal stresses in order to resist failure when subjected to the loads imposed by supporting loaded containers carried in the container well. The side sill structures are of box tube and formed sheet construction of small enough width to permit carriage of newer, larger, sizes of intermodal cargo containers without the car or containers protruding outside the clearance available along most railroad lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1991
    Assignee: Gunderson, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles C. Hill, Gareth R. Thomas, Gary S. Kaleta, Gregory J. Saxton