Portable ramps are used for loading railway maintenance equipment and other heavy machinery onto flat railcars that are to be transported to other service locations. These portable ramps may have multiple segments connected to one another with hinges to allow the segments to be folded for ease of transportation and storage of the ramp.
When the ramps are deployed, heavy machinery can be driven or pulled up the ramp onto the flat railcar. Because of differences in the height of different parts of the rails on which the railcar rides, hinged ramps may sag in some areas, especially when the ramp is exposed to the heavy weight of machinery as it is loaded onto the railcar. This sagging causes the ramp to be uneven at the joints of the segments of the ramp.
One solution for supporting ramps at their hinges is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,754 (the '754 patent). The '754 patent discloses a hinged ramp assembly for use with a flat railcar. To deploy and retract the ramp, a number of mechanical deployment and retraction facilitating elements are mounted to the ramp sections and operatively connected to a plurality of actuators. The '754 patent discloses legs connected to the ramp close to the hinged joints to provide additional support for sections of the ramp that are significantly higher than the surface of the rails.
The solution provided by the '754 patent is subject to a number of possible drawbacks. First, the stability of the assembly ramp in the '754 patent depends upon the ramp being deployed on a level surface. The '754 patent does not disclose any way to level the ramp when employed on uneven surfaces. For ramps deployed on rails, uneven rails can significantly affect the stability of the ramp, making uneven parts susceptible to sagging. Furthermore, the '754 patent only discloses using legs to support the hinges of those ramp sections closest to the railcar. It may be desirable to support the lower sections of the ramp, even where the ramp itself may be in contact with at least a part of one of the rails.
The presently disclosed system and method is directed to mitigating or overcoming one or more of the possible drawbacks set forth above and/or other problems in the art.