Railcar loading system

Abstract

Provided herein is a loading system for loading product into a railcar. The loading system may include a conveyor system for delivering a product to the railcar and a weighing system for weighing the railcar. The loading system may include a control system for controlling a delivery of the product via the railcar. The control system may include one or more sensors positioned on the railcar, a communication hub for detecting data from the one or more sensors, and a receiver for receiving data from the communication hub. The loading system may further include a user interface configured to control operation of the loading system.

Description

RAILCAR LOADING SYSTEMCross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 664,849, filed June 27, 2024, entitled, “RAILCAR LOADING SYSTEM,” the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.Field of Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to a system for loading a railcar with product.Background of Invention

[0003] Railcars (or tank cars) are a common tool in the transportation industry . Current data suggests that more than one-third of all exports in the United States are moved via rail car. Additionally, railcars account for nearly forty -percent of long distance freight volume in the United States. Rail cars are key to the economy as a whole.

[0004] Typically, the cost of railcar freight is based on the railcar. regardless of how much product (and its associated weight) the railcar carries. It is crucial for railcars to not be overfilled or underfilled. When a railcar is overfilled, the carrier may be assessed a fee due to the potential damage that the heavy railcar can cause to the track, as the track may be only rated for a certain load. When a railcar is underfilled, the carrier is essentially paying to ship air within the railcar. However, current systems fail to address these concerns and do not provide a system capable of balancing the costs associated with railcar freight with the amount of product within the railcar. Further, current systems fail to take into account the unknown quantity and associated weight within the railcar for loading purposes.Summary of Invention

[0005] The present invention overcomes many of the shortcomings and limitations of the prior art devices discussed above. The invention described herein includes several embodiments of a loading system for railcars.

[0006] As discussed above, it is important for carriers to efficiently and effectively fill their railcars. Specifically, carriers want to avoid overfilling and underfilling the railcars. The loading system described herein provides a user with the ability to monitor the weight of product in a railcar during the loading process. Using this system, the user may fill the railcar to a particular weight and may avoid overfilling or underfilling of the railcar. This loadingsystem allows a shipper to load the right amount of product into the railcar; thereby, the carrier may maximize the freight shipped and may avoid costly overload fees.Brief Description of Drawings

[0007] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a loading system.

[0008] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific embodiment thereof is shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description presented herein are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular embodiment disclosed, but to the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.Detailed Description

[0009] The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. For purposes of clarity in illustrating the characteristics of the present invention, proportional relationships of the elements have not necessarily been maintained in the drawing figures.

[0010] Turning to Fig. 1, a loading system 1 may be provided to load a railcar 5. The railcar 5 may be positioned under a loading spout 10. The loading spout 10 may be attached to a conveyor system 15 which may include similar components as those now-known in the art or hereafter developed. The conveyor system 15 may include a conveyor belt 20 for carry ing product 25 that a user wishes to load into the railcar 5. The conveyor sy stem 15 may be powered via any suitable manner, including via a variable frequency drive (VFD) motor. In one embodiment, the conveyor system 15 may include a loading line pump, which may be used to pump the product 25 into the railcar 5. According to various embodiments, the conveyor system 15 may include a pneumatic slide gate actuator, which may open and close based upon whether product 25 needs to be delivered.

[0011] The product 25 may be any products, including those which are commonly transferred and carried via rail such as coal, grain, and the like. The product 25 may be delivered from a supply, which may be a grain silo, tank, upstream process for a continuous feed, excavator bucket at a gravel pit, etc. It should be understood that, although discussed with reference to a loading spout 10 and conveyor belt 20, any form of delivery may be used. As other non-limiting examples, the following may be used: spout and chute; conveyor for solidsor bulk products; pipe pumping liquid therethrough; excavator; or any other suitable delivery method.

[0012] According to various embodiments, the railcar 5 may be filled using a control system 30. The control system 30 may include a communication hub 35, which may be located on the railcar 5 or in any alternative location (e.g., in the loading site’s office), and strain-gauge based sensors 40 (referred to herein as the sensor 40) located at each wheel 45 on the railcar 5. In one embodiment, there are eight wheels 45 and. as such, eight sensors 40. The sensors 40 may be pre-calibrated and may function by monitoring the change in strain associated with the wheels 45. The values detected may be collected by the communication hub 35. The strain values detected by the sensors 40 may be correlated to an actual weight of the railcar 5 at the position of the sensor 40. According to one embodiment, the loading system 1 may include a weighing system, which may be integrated with the control system 30. The weighing system may include any now-known or hereafter developed scales or weighing systems.

[0013] As the strain values change, the updated strain values are transmitted to the communication hub 35. The communication hub 35 may transmit the collected information and data to a receiver 50. In one embodiment, the receiver 50 may be attached or coupled to the railcar 5. In another embodiment, the receiver 50 may be a localized receiver (e.g., a phone, tablet, local computer). According to various embodiments, the information and data may be transmitted directly to a cloud-based solution for storage and handling. Such transmission may be achieved using a low power wireless protocol, cellular or satellite, or any other suitable transmission method now-known or hereafter developed.

[0014] The receiver 50 or the cloud, as applicable, may transmit the information and data to a user interface 55 and a logic controller 60. The user interface 55 may be a controller which a user may use to manually control the loading system 1. and may be receiver any suitable interface, including a phone, tablet, or local computer. According to various embodiments, the user interface 55 may be used as an automated process viewer in order to monitor the automated process being performed by the loading system 1. The user interface 55 may be pre-loaded with software that may receive the information and data from the railcar 5 and may store, analyze, and display such data for the user.

[0015] The logic controller 60 may be centralized or decentralized, and as one example, may be a programmable logic controller. The logic controller 60 may be hardwired to different elements of the loading system 1, including the conveyor system 15. The data from the logic controller 60 may then be sent to and from the user interface 55. allowing the user to control the loading process of the loading system 1.

[0016] In one embodiment, a user may load the railcar 5 using an application on the user interface 55. In a manual mode, the user may manually turn the conveyor system 15 ‘"on” or ‘‘off’ in order to initiate, control, and stop the loading system 1 . As one example, the user may use the user interface 55 in order to start up the pump of the conveyor system 15 in order to send liquid from a loading tank into the railcar 5. In an automated mode, the user may create setpoints to create a control loop for the conveyor system 15 in order to automate the delivery of product 25 to the railcar 5.

[0017] In both the manual and automated modes, the data may be transmitted to the user interface 55 in order to provide live updates regarding the loaded state of the railcar 5. This information may include the load distribution across the axles of the railcar 5. For example, this may include load distribution across the four axles of the railcar 5, which data may be collected via the sensors 40. According to various embodiments, alternative control systems (e.g., feedforward loops, feedback loops) may be created for the control system 30 in order to meet a user’s particular requirements or preferences. For example, the requirements and preferences may include a setting to load the railcar 5 to the maximum allowable weight and / or in the most evenly distributed manner across all axles.

[0018] In the automated mode, control loops of the control system 30 may send control information to the conveyor system 15. The control information may be sent to components of the conveyor system 15, including the conveyor belt, VFD motor, and control valve of the loading line pump.

[0019] According to various embodiments, the control system 30 may be enhanced with a machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (Al) model, an ML algorithm, and / or a neural network. Such enhancements may be used to identify patterns in the loading patterns of the user for the railcar 5. In one embodiment, such enhancements may recommend prescriptive actions to a user (e.g., stop load, start load, slow load, etc.).

[0020] In various embodiments, excavators, backhoes, or other work equipment may be used to load aggregate materials or raw timber on to the railcar 5. In such a situation, the user interface 55 may be located in an equipment cab of the railcar 5 in order for an operator to view and interact with during the loading process. The user interface 55 may be interlocked with the equipment’s control computer in order to prevent operation which may exceed a load setpoint of the railcar 5. In one embodiment, the equipment coupled to the conveyor system 15 may be physically restrained from loading product 25 if the user interface 55 has determined that the railcar 5 has exceeded its limit.

[0021] According to various embodiments, the loading system 1 and associated load output for the conveyor system 15 may be integrated with documentation that is regularly used and needed in order to ship freight. In one embodiment, a user may select a "Print Weight” option in the user interface 55, and such a selection may cause the load information of the railcar 5 to be transmitted. The information may be transmitted to a local printer in order to print a ticket associated with the weight and / or to a Bill of Lading. This information may be sent to an enterprise resource planning system in order to record the weight of the railcar 5 and autogenerate an invoice. The invoice may be sent to a customer and / or a railroad. This information may autogenerate necessary inventory information used by an accounting department managing the loading system 1.

[0022] According to various embodiments, the application may be preloaded on a stationary gateway in a loadout office. In one embodiment, the application includes a user interface. The gateway may wirelessly connect to and control the manner at which the loading system 1 operates. To load the railcar 5, the user may select the railcar 5 by using a railcar identification number. This railcar identification number may be unique to the specific railcar 5 and may be used to identify the railcar 5 of interest. According to various embodiments, a user may enter or select the railcar identification number on the application.

[0023] In one embodiment, the loading system 1, via the application, may look up the entered or selected railcar identification number in its internal database. The internal database may be pre-loaded onto the system. Upon the specific railcar 5 being identified, the system may correlate the railcar 5 with corresponding sensors on the railcar 5. In one embodiment, there may be eight sensors on the railcar 5.

[0024] According to various embodiments, the sensors 40 may transmit the tare weight of the railcar 5 to the gateway. In one embodiment, the tare weight is the weight of the railcar 5 when it is empty. After the system records the tare weight of the railcar 5, the gateway may start a motor connected to the conveyor system 15 in order to operate the conveyor system 15. At the same time, the gateway may receive live data from an in-ground scale, which the railcar 5 may be positioned upon for weighing the railcar 5. According to various embodiments, the weight data from the scale is transmitted every five to fifteen seconds. In one embodiment, the gateway may receive such data in a wireless manner. The system may use this data to determine when the railcar 5 is adequately filled.

[0025] In one embodiment, the gateway may be connected to a database for storage of the data. The gateway may be connected to the database via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or cloud-based solutions. In one embodiment, the gateway may be connected to the control system 30. In oneembodiment, the control system 30 is a programmable logic controller. According to various embodiments, the control system 30 may be connected to the gateway via an Ethernet cable. Based on the data received by the system, the gateway may instruct the control system 30 to communicate with components of the loading system 1. For example, the control system 30 may turn off the conveyor motor, turn down the variable frequency drive on the conveyor motor, activate a slide gate actuator or motor, etc. As the conveyor motor slows down or turns off the conveyor belt 20, the loading system 1 may stop filling product 25 into the railcar 5. When the conveyor belt 20 is shut off and no more product 25 is flowing into the railcar 5, the in-ground scale may measure a final w eight of the railcar 5, and the gatew ay may record such information.

[0026] As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications, applications, variations, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. Many such changes, modifications, variations, and other uses and applications of the present constructions will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. All such changes, modifications, variations, and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present inventions are deemed to be covered by the inventions which are limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims

Claims1. A loading system comprising: a railcar; a conveyor system for delivering a product to the railcar; a weighing system for weighing the railcar; and a control system for controlling a delivery of the product via the railcar, wherein the control system comprises: one or more sensors positioned on the railcar; and a communication hub for detecting data from the one or more sensors; and a receiver for receiving data from the communication hub.

2. The loading system of claim 1, wherein the conveyor system includes a conveyor belt powered by a motor.

3. The loading system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors are positioned on each wheel of the railcar.

4. The loading system of claim 3, wherein the one or more sensors are strain-gauge sensors.

5. The loading system of claim 4, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to monitor a change in strain associated with each wheel.

6. The loading system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface for controlling operation of the loading system.

7. The loading system of claim 6, wherein the user interface is configured for operation in a manual mode or an automated mode.

8. The loading system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to determine whether a weight of the railcar, measured via the weighing system, meets a weight threshold.

9. A loading system comprising: a railcar; one or more sensors attached to each wheel of the railcar;a conveyor system for delivering a product to the railcar; a weighing system for weighing the railcar; and a control system for controlling a delivery of the product via the railcar.

10. The loading system of claim 9, wherein the control system includes a communication hub for detecting data from the one or more sensors.1 1. The loading system of claim 10, wherein the control system includes a receiver for receiving data from the communication hub.

12. The loading system of claim 9, further comprising a user interface for controlling operation of the loading system.

13. The loading system of claim 12, wherein the user interface is configured for operation by a user.

14. The loading system of claim 9, wherein the conveyor system includes a conveyor belt powered by a motor.

15. The loading system of claim 9, wherein the one or more sensors are strain-gauge sensors.

16. The loading system of claim 15, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to monitor a change in strain associated with each wheel.

17. A loading system comprising: a railcar; a conveyor system for delivering a product to the railcar; a control system for controlling a delivery of the product via the railcar, wherein the control system comprises: one or more sensors positioned on the railcar; and a user interface for controlling operation of the loading system.

18. The loading system of claim 17, further comprising a weighing system for weighing the railcar.

19. The loading system of claim 18, wherein the control system is configured to determine whether a weight of the railcar, measured via the weighing system, meets a weight threshold.

20. The loading system of claim 17, wherein the user interface is configured to receive data collected from the one or more sensors.

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