ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,539,893, issued on Feb. 3, was assigned to Gunderson LLC (Lake Oswego, Ore.).
"Gondola railroad car" was invented by Daniel J. Schuller (North Richland Hills, Texas), Peter L. Jones (Southlake, Texas) and Xiaoyan Lu (Arlington, Texas).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A gondola railroad car partially formed using members of high strength steel, that is lighter than conventional gondola railroad cars, that can carry more weight than conventional gondola railroad cars, that is less prone to damage than conventional gondola railroad cars, and that has a longer lifespan than convention gondola railroad cars. In various such embodiments, the floor...