CA1201937A

CA1201937A - Railway track renewal train

Info

Publication number: CA1201937A
Application number: CA000401020A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Fritz Buhler; Fredy Scheuchzer
Original assignee: Fils D'auguste Scheuchzer Sa (les)
Current assignee: Fils D'auguste Scheuchzer Sa (les)
Priority date: 1982-02-09
Filing date: 1982-04-15
Publication date: 1986-03-18
Also published as: DD209006A5; DE3265499D1; ES511424A0; EP0085790A1; ATE15088T1; ES8304248A1; EP0085790B1

Abstract

"RAILWAY TRACK RENEWAL TRAIN"
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

This train for draining and renewing railway tracks comprises a frame-car with an empty frame longer than the span, this frame-car rolling with one truck on the old track and with the opposite truck on the new track.
Gantries are adapted to travel on guide races disposed la-terally of the empty frame for transporting the old and new spans as well as the buckets for transporting the sand and the ballast; a truck disposed ahead of the gantries carries an adjustable excavator and a swivel-mounted dig-ging blade mounted at the rear of the excavator and made preferebly of several lateral sections provided with hy-draulic cylinders so that they can be moved separately in the vertical and longitudinal plane. This digging device is so designed that it can dig to a greater depth than the excavator. This blade may also be utilized for grading the roadway and combined if desired with a grubbing rake,

Description

The invention relates to a railway trac]c renewal train comprising a -two-truck working car or frame car having an empty Erame longer than a track span, the rear truck lying on the new track and the front truck on the old track and, ahead of the working car, a lift o-f cars provided with means for loading the excavated material and, at the rear of said working car, other cars for transporting the track spans, the sand and the ballast, guide races installed on the transport cars and the ].0 frame-car, a pair of gantries adap-ted to roll on said guide races installed on the transpor-t cars and frame-cart and equipped with hoisting means for lifting a span and also with means for handling sand and ballast trans-port buckets, and a rolling truck movable on said guide races and disposed ahead of said pair of gantries, at least one vertically-adjustable excavating device suspen-ded from said roll.in~ truck and constructed either for the full excavating width or for a reduced width, said excavating device being movable laterally or pivotally mounted for eYcavating the ballast.
A train of this type is already known through the Swiss Patent No. 583,822 disclosing a method and a train for relaying the track completely, which consists in removing the old track, clearing and screening the ballast, and laying the new trackl these three operations taking place conti.nuously in this order during a single passage of the track-relaying train provided for this purpose.
However, this device is not designed for draining or renewing the track, i.e. replacing the roadwayO
Canadian Patent Application Mo. 360,580 filed Septernber 19, 1980 in the name of the present applicants discloses a method and a train for performing this drain-age, the working procedure being as follows: with the assistance of a working car, of two gantries and of .35 transport cars equi.pped with guide races, the whole con-~-2-iA , J'~

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stituting a first lift of carriages, the old spans are dismantled and replaced by working spans. On -these working spans an excavator following transport cars belonging to a second lift of carriages di.sposed ahead S of the first lift of carriages in the direction of progress of the works, is caused to move forward. The excavator will thus dig the ballast and the roadway, and then the excavated earth is replaced by a -2a-0~937 sand layer constituting the new roadway or substructure, the sand being brought to the site by means of buckets supported by the gantries of the first lift of carriages and discharged through the frame of the working car. Then, the sand is levelled and tamped, the ballast is brought likewise to the site, distributed and tamped, and finally the new spans are laid, still with the assistance of the first lift of carriages.
This solution, though satisfactory from the point of view of efficiency, is objectionable in that i-t requires the use oE
two separate lifts of carriages, the initial operations, i.e.
the removal of the old spans, being necessarily accomplished by the first lift and then the excavation is performed by the se-cond lift after positioning the working spans, whereafter the first lift of carriage is operated again for distributing and compacting the new roadway and the ballast.
Hitherto known methods applied for this drainage consisted simply in utilizing excavators completely independent of the track, for example power excavators or scrapers mounted on crawler~tracks, so that obtaining a regular di~ging was parti-cularly dif~icult work involving more particularly various pro-blems for carrying away and transporting the excavated material.
It is the primary object of the present invention to ra-tionalize the drainage and renewal work while reducing the time required therefor, and the cost of the means implemented as well as the number of train and car shuttles.
To this end, the railway track drainage and renewal train according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a swivel-mounted digging device disposed behind the excavating device and consisting preferably of an endless ahain provided with transverse helical fins, said digging device being provided with hydraulic cylinders for controlling its movements in the vertical and longitudinal planes, and such that it can ~ig to a greater depth than the excavating device proper while covering the entire width of the excavated roadway.
The advantages deriving from this invention are first of all improved efficiency in comparison with hitherto known railway ~z(~

track renewal trains, the use of a single set of carriages bear-ing with its rear truck on the new track and with its front truck on the old track, the suppression of an intermediate working track, the reduction of the working area to the length oE one track span plus a storage area. Moreover, the machine of the present invention operates step by step, without any break,when carrying out the complete sequence of operations necessary for draining the railway track with the possibility of laying new spans or old spans if they can be regenerated or old spans con-sisting of old rails and new sleepers or ties, by using gantriesdesigned for this purpose. The excavation may be conducted in two steps: firstly the ballast which if desired and possible may be recovered, then the earth of the roadbed foundation and the gravel may be discharged just behind the e~cavat~r.
Another advantage characterizing this track draining train is the rational use of the digging device consisting preferably of a blade adapted to perform two functions, namely either grad-ing or digging, by setting said blade for a greater depth of cut than the endless chain in order to free the material to be exca-vated.
In addition, when relatively bulky stones or rocks haveto be excavated, the levelling blade, provided with hydraulic cylinders, may perform movements similar to those of a power - shovel bucket. To improve the blade penetration, the latter may consist for example of three units each responsive to separate control means On the other hand, large stones or rocks which cannot be transported by the endless chain are pushed off the roadbed foundation with the assistance of the levelling blade.
For this purpose, these large stones are wedged between the 3~ blade, the endless chain and the helical fins, and thus moved laterally outwards until the stones are brought onto the benches.
Moreover, it may be pointed out since that all these steps and more particularly the excavation and levelling ones, are accom-plished directly from the frame-car standing on the track, the regularity of the ground-work operations is warranted by the fact that the digging takes place in a direction parallel to the D, !

~Z~37 track, at the selected depth, whereby the ground surface is per-fectly smooth after the removal of the old roadway, this consti-tuting a good preparation before building the new roadway.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating diagrammatically various forms of embodiments of the invention.
Fig.1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view showing on a reduced scale a complete railway track drainage train according to the present invention;
Fig.2 illustrateson a considerably larger scale the frame car with its equipment;
Fig.3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the exca-vator provided with lateral spiral or helical fins;
Fig.4 is a view similar to Fig.3 but showing one blade in a lower working position than the other blades;
Fig.5 is a detail view of a spiral or helical fin with the digging device consisting of a blade shown in its lower po-sition with respect to the excavator level;
Fig.6 illustrates in side elevational view the excavator and the digging blade extended in its operating position;
Fig.7 is ~ diagrammatic perspective view of the blade and its separate control means;
Fig.8 illustrates in side elevational view a modified form of embodiment of the blade provided with a grubbing rake;
~ ig.~ is a fragmentary front view of the blade of Fig.8;
and Fig.10 is a diagrammatic general view of a modified form of embodiment of the frame car.
The railway track draining and renewal train according to the present invention, which is shown partially in Fig.1, is driven by a locomotive tnot shown) and comprises in its front portion a plurality o cars 1 for loading the excavation conve-yed by means of an assembly of telescopic endless belts 2. A
working car 3 rolling on a pair of trucks 4,5 comprises an empty frame 6 having a length L greater than that 1 of a track span 1.
This empty frame 6 is provided with guide rails or races having ~ 5 -corresponding extensions on the rear cars and adapted to carry the various gantries, of which two (9) are equipped with means for hoisting a track span, other means for controlling a plura-lity of buckets 11 for transporting sand and ballast. Ahead of the two gantries 9, a truck 10 is also rolling on the guide rails and from which an excavator 12 is suspended; basically, this excavator 12 may be similar to the one disclosed in the Swiss patent N 583,822 and may be either designed to cover the full excavation width e or~ as shown in Fig.3, for operating on a reduced width; this excavator 12 is movable laterally in the di-rection of the arrow F. Furthermore, the train comprises rear cars 13 for transporting not only the buckets loaded with sand and new ballast but also the new spans or the new rails.
Referring to Fig.2 illustrating more in detail the work-ing car 3~ it will be seen that the excavator 12 supported by truck 10 is provided with a hydraulic cylinder 13 for adjusting its vertically position, other cylinders (not shown) permitting its transverse and longitudinal adjustment~ This excavator 12 comprises an endless excavating chain 14 with two lateral heli-cal fins 15,15' (Fig.3~, a digging device 16 consisting of a blade to be described more in detail hereinafter, and at the rear of the digging blade 16, a rammer or tamper 17 also control-led by means of hydraulic cylinders. Moreover, this excavator 12 could be mounted for swivel movement about a vertical axis.
To warrant a perfect digging depth and a perfect slant of the roadway, or the roadbed foundation, the frame of the working car 3 is held in a horizorltal or inclined position, as a function of the slant of the roadway or the roadbed bottom, by means of penduli. To maintain the longitudinal profile, that is, to per-mit at any time the orientation of the frame 6 parallel to the roadbed bottom, respectively to the terrace or bench, the frame 6 is mounted on the rear truck 5 by means of a hydraulic cylin-der 40 permitting its vertical adjustment.
The endless excavating chain 14 with its h~lical fins 15, 15' is adapted to excavate the bench down to a depth of, say, 90 centimeters and over a width of about 5 meters. The endless ~Z~ 37 chain delivers the e~cavation to an endless telescopic conveyor belt 2 mounted on the front car 1 and adapted to connect the chain 15 to cars disposed at the front of the train and adapted to carry away the waste.
In this first form of embodiment the diggin~ blade 16 is mounted directly to the excavator 12 whereby, as will be described presently, a cooperation is obtained between the blade and the excavator for removing large stones. Moreover, in this specific form of embodiment the excavator 12 is coupled to the rammer 17.
To improve the penetration of the digging blade having a length of, say, 2.6 m, this blade consists of three lateral sections 16a,1~b,16c (Figs.3 to 7) actuated separately by cor-responding hydraulic cylinders 28a,28b,28c to which they are pi~
votally mounted by means of a pivot pin 30, said cylinders being mounted in turn to arms 18a,18b,18c pivotally mounted by means of a main pivot pin 32 to the excavator 12; these arms 18a,18b, 18c are actuated separately by hydraulic cylinders'29 pivotally mounted at 31, Fig.6 showing only one of these cylinders. With these various control and pi~ot means it is possible to impart separately or simultaneously -to each segment 16a,16b,16c move-ments similar to those of a power-shovel bucket, whereby large stones, rocks or ballast fragments can be excavated efficiently.
The stones and the like thus excavated by the blade are subse-quently moved by the helical ~ins 15,15' towards the central chain 14 of the excavator and the largest stones which cannot be transported by the chain are expelled outside the roadway with the assistance of blades 16a,16b,16c. To this end, the largest stones will be wedged between the blade 16, the chain 14 and the helical fins 15, the complete assembly being moved laterally until the stones or rocks can be deposited upon the benches.
Of course, the blade 16 could consist of a single section, or two or more than three sections, but obviously a blade divided into several sections adapted to be adjusted separately affords an improved ballast removing action and a more flexible handling ~.Z~1937 than a single, wide blade. As illustrated in Fig.4, in case of need a single section 16c only may be lowered by a height _ in relation to the level of the other sections 16a,16b for removing a large stone located in front of this single section 16c, or alternatively, as illustrated in Fig.5, both sections 16a,16b could be lowered to the same depth in relation to the excavator level. If the blade comprises several lateral sections, it is also possible to contemplate the pivotal mounting of each sec-tion about a separate vertical axis.
To warrant a sufficient tear-up force, the excavator 12 is driven along the working car 3 with the assistance of winches mounted on the front and rear cars.
~ he gravel and ballast are levelled either by means of the blade 16 and helical fins 15 which transfer the excavation out~ards, or by means of a blade swivel-mounted on the rammer suspension structure, as will be described presently.
In the specific form of embodiment illustrated in Figs.3 to 7 of the drawings, the lower portion of blade 16 is provided with teeth 19 in order better to tear off the ballast, however without any inconvenience when the blade is utilized for level-ling the roadbed foundation or the bench, said teeth forming only shallow grooves without any detrimental consequence.
According to a modified form of embodiment illustrated in Fi~s.8 and 9, the digging device comprises a grubbing rake 20 consisting of three lateral sections 20a,20b,20c adjustable in the longltudinal plane and depthwise, for further improving the excavation of the old ballast. Each section 20a,20b,20c of the yrubbing rake is carried by an arm 22 pivoted at 26 to another arm 21 pivoted in turn a-t 32 to the excavator 12. The arm 21 can be tilted about the pivot pin 32 by means of a hydraulic cylinder 29, and the arm 22 is adapted to rotate about the pivot pin 26 under the control of a hydraulic cylinder 25 pivotally connected at one end through a pin 25' to arm 21 and at the other end through a pin 25" to arm 22. Furthermore, this grubbing rake 20 operates in conjunction with a levelling blade 23 also consist-ing of three sections 23a,23b,23c and adjustable separately by 3~

means of a cylinder 24a, respectively, whereby these three sec-tions can operate or not at the same level as the three sections 20a,2Ob,20c of the grubbing rake.
~ ccording to another modified form of embodiment, illus-trated diagrammatically in Fig.10, the excavator 12 comprises only the excavation chain l4 and helical fins 15,15' but, in contrast to the last-described form of embodiment, it is not combined with the digginy and levelling blade or with a rammer.
In this example, the digging blade 36 responsive to a set of hydraulic cylinders 38 shown only diagrammatically in Fig.10 is mounted to a separate truck 35 rolling on the guide rails of the working car, behind the truck 10 supporting the excavator 12, and this separate truck 35 is provided with separate drive means so that it can be moved independently of the excavator 12. If desired, the rammer 37 may also be mounted to this truck 35.
The works, taking ~lace in all cases within the empty frame, comprise the following sequence of operations:
- removing the old spans by means of the gantries 9, - excavating the old ballast and the old roadway earth, and transporting the material by means of the endless belt con-veyor 2 to the cars 1 at the front of the train, - levelling and compacting the roadbed foundation or bench, - transporting and distributing the new gravel by means of the gantries; this operation may take place as soon as the first few meters o~ the roadbed foundation have been excavated and rammed, - levelling the gravel by means of the levelling blade, and ramming, - transporting and discharging the new ballast by means of the gantries, - levelling and compacting the bew ballast, - laying the new spans or the old spans, or spans compris-ing old rails and new sleepers, by using the gantries, and - advancing the drainage train.

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Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Train for draining and renewing railway tracks comprising a working car with an empty frame of a length in excess of the length of one track span; the working car having a front truck and a rear truck, the rear truck rolling on new track and the front truck rolling on old track, a set of carriages provided with loading equipment in front of the working car, other cars for transporting track spans, sand and ballast at the rear of the working car, guide rails installed on the other cars and the working car, two gantries adapted to roll on the guide rails installed on the other cars and the working car, the gantries supporting hoisting means for lifting the track spans and supporting means for handling buckets for transporting the sand and ballast, a rolling truck also movable on the guide rails ahead of the two gantries from which at least one vertically adjustable excavator is suspended, the excavator covering at least the full width of an excavation and being movable to excavate the ballast, and a swivel mounted digging means mounted at the rear of the excavator adapted to be able to dig to a depth greater than the excavation and cover the full width of the excavator.

2. Train as claimed in claim 1 wherein the digging means comprises an endless chain associated with helical transverse fins, the digging means being provided with hydraulic cylinders for moving the digging means in a vertical plane and a longitudinal plane respectively.

3. Train as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said digging means can be utilized as a means for levelling the roadbed foundation, the sand and the ballast.

4. Train as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein said digging means consists of a blade made of several pivotally-mounted lateral sections each provided with hydraulic cylinders so that they can be moved separately or together in the vertical and longitudinal planes in the fashion of a power shovel bucket.

5. Train as claimed in claim 2 wherein said digging means is constructed like a grubbing rake adjust-able in the longitudinal plane and for depth, said digging means further comprising a grading blade disposed above said grubbing rake and adjustable independently in depth so that the blade can also operate at the same level as the excavator.

6. Train as claimed in claim 5 wherein said grub-bing rake and said grading blade each consist of several pivotally mounted sections, each of the sections being independently controlled by means of hydraulic cylinders.

7. Train as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein said digging means also acts as a leveller and is adapted to be tilted along track axis for obtaining a proper slant for roadbed foundation.

8. Train as claimed in claim 2 wherein said digging means is mounted to the excavator and so arranged as to cooperate with said excavator.

9. Train as claimed in claim 8 wherein a rammer for compacting the roadbed foundation, the sand and the ballast is mounted on said excavator behind said digging means, and is adjustable vertically and for slant.

10. Train as claimed in claim 2 wherein said swivel-mounted digging means is mounted on an independent truck behind the excavator, and rolls on the guide rails of the working car, the digging means is provided with independ-ent traction means so that it can be moved independently of the excavator, said independent truck being provided with a rammer.

11. Train as claimed in claim 10 wherein traction means are provided for moving said excavator and said independent truck respectively supporting said digging means, said traction means comprising a winch mounted on the front and rear cars.

12. Train as claimed in claim 6 wherein the rear end of said empty frame is mounted on the rear truck by means of a hydraulic cylinder so that the height of said empty frame can be adjusted to a position parallel to the roadbed foundation.

13. A method of draining and renewing a railway track comprising the following operations:
a) removing old spans, b) excavating ballast and earth from beneath the railway track, e) replacing the excavated earth with a sand layer constituting a new roadbed foundation, d) levelling and compacting the roadbed foundation, e) restoring new ballast, f) levelling and compacting the new ballast, g) laying new track, at least all the operations a) to f) taking place in suc-cession through and within the empty frame of a working car which is stationary above a working site, the working car having a front truck supported on old track and a rear truck supported on the new track.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the excavating step takes place in two stages, by excavating firstly the recoverable ballast and then the roadway.

15. The method of claims 13 or 14 wherein sand required for constituting the new roadbed foundation is discharged just behind where the excavating step occurs.