AU2008217284B2 - Storage cart - Google Patents

Abstract

A storage cart (1) is equipped with a loading container (5) and with a transfer conveyor belt (10) connecting to a floor conveyor belt (6) and protruding over a front cart end (9) for forwarding stored bulk material. The loading container (5) has two side walls (16) extending parallel to each other, and a rear wall (19) connecting the two side walls (16) to each other on a rear cart end (18) disposed at a distance from the transfer conveyor belt (10). Said rear wall can be modified with regard to the position thereof in relation to the floor conveyor belt (6) such that unit goods can be transported without damaging the floor conveyor belt (6).

Description

1/8 A STORAGE WAGON [0001] The invention relates to a storage wagon. 5 [00021 US 6 925 366, GB 0 442 094 or US 6 892 648, disclose various storage wagons. It is advantageous to couple several wagons of like design together into a loading train. By means of the transfer conveyor belts arranged inclined and projecting beyond the front end of the wagon, these wagons can load and unload themselves automatically. 10 [0003] GB 2 277 725 discloses an arrangement in which the transfer conveyor belt is configured so as to be pivotable in a vertical plane. Thus it is possible, for ballasting the track, to reduce the height of fall of the stored ballast. 15 [0003a] A reference herein to a patent document or other matter which is given as prior art is not to be taken as an admission that that document or matter was known or that the information it contains was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of any of the claims. 20 [0004] It is therefore desirable to create a storage wagon in which the range of applications may be expanded with only small retooling expense. [0005] The present invention provides for a storage wagon, including a loading container which is mobile on on-track undercarriages and has a bottom 25 conveyor belt extending in a transport direction, and a transfer conveyor belt, adjoining the bottom conveyor belt and projecting beyond a front wagon end, for transferring stored bulk material to a preceding further storage wagon, the C:%4,rWMooSPEC-857169.dox 1A/8 loading container having two side walls extending parallel to one another and, at a rear wagon end remote from the transfer conveyor belt, a rear wall connecting the two side walls to one another, wherein the rear wall is changeable, with regard to its position relative to the bottom conveyor belt, for 5 a change of the loading process. C:rOfWONrSPEC-457169.dorx 2/8 [0006] In one preferred arrangement of this storage wagon it is possible to remove or fold down the rear wall and to lower the preceding transfer conveyor belt to just above the bottom conveyor belt in order to be able to transport also heavy piece goods, such as fragmented old sleepers, for example. By lowering the transfer conveyor belt, any damage to the bottom conveyor belt by the piece goods to be transported can be reliably precluded. [0007] In another preferred arrangement, it is possible to pivot the rear wall oppositely to the transport direction, to create a kind of hopper to receive bulk goods directly from an excavator shovel. This saves the necessity of using an additional conveyor belt or of a special transfer station at an intersection between a trackless construction site and an adjacent track. [0008] Additional advantages and features of the invention become apparent from the dependent claims and the drawing. [0009] The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to an embodiment represented in the drawing in which [0010] Fig. 1 shows a side view of a loading train composed of several storage wagons coupled together, Fig. 2 shows an enlarged side view of two storage wagons, with a transfer conveyor belt being lowered PA857169.Specficati.doc MT 3/8 into a horizontal position, and Fig. 3 shows a schematic side view of a further alternative possibility of operation. [0011] Each of the storage wagons depicted in Figs. 1 and 2 essentially consists of a wagon frame 4 - mobile via two on-track undercarriages 2 on a track 3 - and a loading container 5 connected to the same. A bottom conveyor belt 6, extending in the longitudinal direction of the wagon, forms the floor surface of the loading container 5 and has a drive 7 for movement in a transport direction 8. At the front end 9 of the loading container 5, with regard to said transport direction 8, a transfer conveyor belt 10 is provided which is mounted on the wagon frame 4 below a discharge end 11 of the bottom conveyor belt 6, adjoining the latter. The transfer conveyor belt 10 is designed leading upward at an angle to the horizontal, projecting beyond a front wagon end 12, and is equipped with a drive 13. [0012]ith-thLeaid*OfTCupiig evices4 it is possible to couple any desired number of similarly designed storage wagons I into a loading train 15, mobile on the track 3, by means of which bulk material can be stored and/or transported. When storage wagons 1 are coupled to one another like that, the bottom- and transfer conveyor belts 6, 10, overlapping one another at the ends, of the individual wagons form a continuous conveyor belt road wherein the bulk material is passed on 4/8 in each case from a discharge end 17 of a transfer conveyor belt 10 to the bottom conveyor belt 6 of the storage wagon 1 preceding in the transport direction. [0013] In the case of higher transporting speed of the conveyor belts 6, 10, the bulk material is merely transported through the loading containers 5 in the longitudinal direction of the loading train 15. If, however, the drive 7 of a bottom conveyor belt 6 is switched to slow circulation speed, then this causes the formation of a bulk cone in a receiving region 26 underneath the discharge end 17 and, correspondingly, the storing of the bulk material in this loading container 5. [0014] The loading container 5 has two side walls 16, extending parallel to one another, which are connected to one another by a rear wall 19 at a rear wagon end 18 remote from the transfer conveyor belt 10. The rear wall 19 is pivotable about an axis 21, positioned at a lower end 20 -of-the-wall-in-the-region-of-the-bottom-conveyorbeit 6, frora- vertical position (see dash-and-dot lines in Fig. 2) into a horizontal position extending parallel to the bottom conveyor belt 6. [0015] As soon as the rear wall 19 has been pivoted into a position parallel to the bottom conveyor belt 6, the adjoining transfer conveyor belt 10 can be adjusted about a pivot axis 22 into a lowered position in which the discharge end 17 is situated just above the bottom conveyor belt 6.

5/8 Thus, it is now possible to transport - instead of bulk material - also heavy piece goods, such as fragmented old sleepers, for example, without damaging the bottom conveyor belt 6 in the process. [00161 Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 3, the rear wall 19 can be pivoted in the direction toward a rear wagon frame end 23 at an angle a of about 30 to 450 with respect to the vertical. During this, it is advantageous if a rear deflection end 24 of the bottom conveyor belt 6 is spaced from the wagon frame end 23 by at most one meter. [00171 With this structural variant, it is possible to load the storage wagon 1, positioned at a transition area of track and construction site, by means of an excavator 25 without requiring auxiliary means to do so.

Claims (2)

1. 4. A storage wagon according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rear wall is pivotable at an angle of 30 to 45*, and that a rear deflection end of the bottom 25 conveyor belt is spaced from a rear wagon frame end by at most one meter. C:Vonw.rSPEC-857169.doc 7/8
2. 5. A storage wagon substantially as hereinbefore disclosed with reference to what is shown in the accompanying drawings. C:%xo1"m(dSPEC-8576G9.docx