In-plant railcar moving vehicles are utilized in many industrial operations to move a railroad car a few hundred yards or so from one location to another nearby location for loading or unloading. The use of such vehicles, which are relatively small, avoids the need for an available locomotive to move the railroad cars. As a further advantage of some railcar moving vehicles which are in present commercial use, they possess both railroad wheels and road wheels so they can operate both on and off of railroad tracks, with one of the sets of wheels being retractable so that they are used in alternative manner.
Also, these railcar moving vehicles may have a weight transfer capability in which the coupler mechanism is adapted to lift upwardly, to take weight from the railroad car to which it is coupled to increase the traction of the relatively small railcar moving vehicle on the track while moving a heavily loaded railroad car.
Railcar moving vehicles of the type described above are commercially available from the White Machinery Corporation of Joliet, Illinois.
In accordance with this invention, improvements are provided in the above described railcar moving vehicles, as well as other types of vehicles for coupling to and moving heavy cars and vehicles of any type, including wagons, barges and airplanes on the ground as well as railroad cars specifically contemplated herein. By this invention, self-propelled vehicles for moving loaded railroad cars and the like may exhibit an improved coupling mechanism so that the couplers of the vehicle of this invention may be placed more in line with the coupler of a railcar or the like for better connection, while at the same time providing improved weight transfer capability when desired, which can derive from the straighter connection between the couplers of the vehicle of this invention and the railroad car while the weight transfer process is taking place. The vehicle of this invention is made more versatile by the vertical adjustment capability of the coupler, with or without the use of a weight transfer capability, to couple with couplers of varying height.
Additionally, the invention of this application provides a shock absorption means to protect the operator and the vehicle of this invention, and particularly the transmission and motor, from the shock which can be encountered upon coupling to a railroad car in normal usage and also in the event where the operator accidentally approaches the railroad car at an excessive speed.