EP0061227B1 - Ballast levelling machine movable along a track - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile ballast leveler on track comprising a set of plows and at least one rotary transverse brush installed at the rear end of the machine, behind the set of plows, for removing excess ballast. sleepers.

Machines of this type are known and described for example in patent application DE-1,534,072 and patent AT-359112. These machines are used after laying, renewal, track correction, ballast cleaning or the like to distribute and flatten the new ballast spilled on the track by regularly filling the boxes between the sleepers and for profiling the shoulders of the ballast. To this end, the plow assembly generally consists of one or two central or front plows and two lateral plows profiling the shoulders of the ballast. By means of the transverse brush installed at the rear end of the machine and rotating around a horizontal transverse axis, which extends over the entire width of the ballast, the ballast on the sleepers is removed, the excess ballast being projected upwards by the brush through evacuation orifices or by means of a transverse conveyor tape installed immediately in front of the brush perpendicular to the track to be deposited next to the track.

However, it can happen that after the works described above, for example after the implementation of a track laying train, a track renewal train, or a ballast cleaning machine, the newly poured ballast has such depressions or holes in some places as a single pass of the leveler. is not enough to fill them in and equalize them. Such depressions appear in particular when, during work performed by the machine continuously or step by step, an insufficient quantity of new ballast or purified ballast is temporarily available, so that the transport and supply system in ballast momentarily brings too little ballast onto the track. Disturbances and disturbances in the ballast transport system can also lead to an insufficiency in the supply of ballast in certain places, so that depressions form during distribution and the subsequent flattening carried out by the leveler.

Consequently, if, after the equalization of the ballast by the leveler, holes or depressions are still present in the treated ballast, it is then necessary to iron again to fill these places with ballast and to level again. Such an operation takes time and increases costs. Even if you immediately use the excess ballast removed by the brush to fill them. depressions still appearing behind the machine, for example by bringing directly on the ballast bed part of the ballast projected upwards by the transverse brush, it is still necessary to iron again with the leveler to flatten the places having received this ballast.

It is also known, for example from GB patent No. 1,147,093, a machine intended for cleaning the track, therefore for picking up debris, detritus which are on the track. This machine has a transport system which extends from the rotating brush located at the rear of the machine to the front of the machine where the transport wagons are placed, this transport system can be adjusted longitudinally to fill the cars one after the other. This machine also has a plow at its rear end, placed behind the rotating brush and which aims to capture the debris that is on the track and move it inward.

The object of the present invention is to produce a ballast leveler making it possible to completely fill the depressions or the holes appearing in the track ballast, depressions which it is not possible to fill sufficiently using known machines, and to level them properly without additional work.

To this end, the ballast leveler according to the invention is equipped with a ballast transport device extending from the area of the transverse brush to the front of all the plows, and on the end posterior from which falls the ballast projected upwards by the transverse brush, and a ballast distribution device arranged to distribute the ballast on the track in front of the set of plows.

In this way, the excess ballast removed by the transverse brush, which was hitherto deposited uselessly next to the track, is available in front of the plow assembly to sufficiently fill the depressions and the holes appearing in the track ballast, just before the plow assembly, usually including center and side plows, spread and flatten the ballast and finally the cross brush sweeps across the sleepers.

The arrangement can be arranged so that the ballast transported forward by the ballast transport device falls directly in front of the machine, the front section of the ballast transport device in this case being advantageously tiltable on both sides, or received in a ballast silo installed under the anterior end of the ballast transport device, from which it can be dumped on the track if necessary. It may also be advantageous to extend the ballast transport device forwards if necessary by means of a longitudinally movable or tilting extension, so that the excess ballast can be unloaded onto a trans wagon carriage in front of the machine. If necessary, this transport wagon can be fitted with a ballast silo from which it is possible to extract materials if necessary to complete the track ballast. The machine according to the invention can also be equipped with a transverse conveyor belt installed immediately in front of the transverse brush, an adjustable deflector device by means of which the ballast removed by the brush can be directed either on the ballast transport device, or on the transverse conveyor belt.

The ballast leveler according to the invention thus allows by simple means either to immediately use the excess ballast removed by the transverse brush to fill the ballast bed or at least the critical places of this bed, in front of the assembly of plows, either to store it first in a silo or to unload it in a transport wagon. It is thus possible to ensure that after the passage of the leveler, the track ballast is flattened and profiled in accordance with the prescriptions.

• La figure 1 est une vue schématique de côté d'une première forme d'exécution.
• La figure 2 est une vue de dessus de la machine représentée à la figure 1, dans laquelle seules les parties essentielles à la compréhension de l'invention ont été représentées, les charrues ayant notamment été laissées de côté.
• La figure 3 est une vue schématique de côté d'une deuxième forme d'exécution.
• La figure 4 est une vue schématique de côté d'une troisième forme d'exécution comprenant un silo à ballast.
• La figure 5 est une vue en coupe du silo à ballast selon V-V, figure 4.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, some embodiments of the leveler according to the invention.

• Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a first embodiment.
• Figure 2 is a top view of the machine shown in Figure 1, in which only the parts essential to understanding the invention have been shown, the plows having in particular been left aside.
• Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a second embodiment.
• Figure 4 is a schematic side view of a third embodiment comprising a ballast silo.
• FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the ballast silo according to VV, FIG. 4.

Reference is made to FIG. 1. On the chassis 1 of a ballast leveler equipped with a drive unit, not shown, provided with wheels 2 allowing it to roll on the rail 3 fixed on sleepers 4 and advancing during its work in the direction of arrow F1, are installed a service cabin 5 and a set of plows consisting, in the example considered, of side plows 6 and of two central plows 8. The side plows 6, which are arranged in the 'considered example, in front of the central plows 8, and which are shown in the raised position of rest, can be lowered into their working position, in a manner known per se, using positioning devices 7, and adjusted horizontally and vertically and rotated around vertical axes so as to take a determined angle relative to the direction of movement; they are mainly used for profiling the ballast shoulders. The central plows 8, approximately V-shaped, are adjustable by means of positioning devices 9 and are used essentially for moving the ballast from the middle of the track to the lateral zones, tunnel-shaped covers, ensuring that no ballast does not accumulate on the rails and the excess ballast between the rails reaches over the covers in the lateral areas of the track. The above-mentioned parts of the plow assembly and their control are known per se and therefore do not require a detailed description; for this reason, they have only been shown schematically in the drawing.

At the rear end of the machine is mounted, perpendicular to the rail 3, an adjustable rotary brush 10, which is driven clockwise by a motor not shown and which can be raised or lowered by means of a lifting device also not shown. The transverse brush 10 is surrounded by a ballast deflector casing 11 open at the bottom and cleans the cross members 4 of the excess ballast, which is projected upwards in the deflector casing 11. To bring this ballast to the anterior end of the machine, in front of the plow assembly, there is provided a ballast transport device comprising a conveyor belt 12 oblique, rising forward, provided with transverse ribs 13 and in the extension of which is disposed a another conveyor belt 15 mounted on supports 16 and 17 above the raised side plows 6. The end 14 of the conveyor belt 12 is in the region of the transverse brush 10 and enters the deflector casing 11 whose side walls 11 (FIG. 2) converge towards the front so as to direct the ballast projected by the brush 10 on the end 14 of the conveyor belt 12.

At the rear end of the frame 1 is also mounted, immediately in front of the transverse brush 10, a transverse conveyor belt 21 oriented perpendicular to the rail 3, and above the latter, to the wall of the deflector casing 11, a plate deflector 22. In the position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1 of the deflector plate 22, the ballast projected upwards by the transverse brush 10 is deflected on the transverse conveyor belt 21 which deposits this ballast next to the track, from one or the other side depending on its direction of travel. If, on the other hand, the deflector plate 22 is raised upwards, the ballast projected by the brush 10 falls on the conveyor belt 12.

The conveyor belt 15 located at the front of the machine is pivotally mounted around a vertical axis 18 on its rear support 16 so that it can be moved in rotation to the right or to the left by sliding or rolling on its front support 17 in the form of a circular arc, as shown in phantom in Figure 2. At the front end of the conveyor belt 15 is further mounted a section of conveyor belt 19 capable of pivoting about a horizontal axis 29 As shown in solid lines in Figure 1, this tape 19 is in the suspended position, not in use. It can be raised in the position of use, shown in phantom, by means of a hydraulic cylinder 20 whose fixed point is on an arm 30 fixed to the tape conveyor 15. In its working position, the ribbon 19 extends the ribbon transport path 15 in the direction of travel to the top of a transport wagon or hopper wagon pushed by the leveler.

The leveler described above with the aid of FIGS. 1 and 2 offers the following possibilities as regards the transport and the use of the excess ballast removed by the transverse brush: when the deflector plate 22 is raised upwards and that the auxiliary conveyor belt 19 is in its non-use position, the ballast is brought to the front of the machine by the conveyor belts 12 and 15 and falls in the direction of arrow F2 in front of the machine on the track. The track ballast can thus be completed, if necessary, in front of the side plows 6, this ballast being distributed between the rails 3 or laterally to the left or to the right of the rails 3, depending on the orientation of the conveyor belt 15. It is thus possible in this way to fill suitably all depressions or other places having too little ballast, so that after the passage of the leveler, the track ballast is leveled correctly and that all the irregularities are equalized.

When the auxiliary conveyor belt 19 occupies its position of extension, the excess ballast is discharged into a transport wagon pushed by the machine, so that it can be reused. On this transport wagon, it is possible to provide a hopper by means of which the ballast can be distributed on the track.

Finally, when the deflector plate 22 occupies the position shown in phantom in Figure 1, the excess ballast is discharged by the conveyor belt 21 next to the track.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in which all the elements corresponding to those of the first embodiment are designated by the same references, the conveyor belt 15a mounted on the supports 16a and 17a at the front of the machine can be extended by an auxiliary conveyor belt 19a disposed parallel to the main ribbon 15a, under the latter, in the rest position, that is to say not in use, this auxiliary ribbon being moved forward, in the working position, above a transport wagon. The leveler according to FIG. 3 offers the same possibilities and advantages as the leveler according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, in which again the elements corresponding to those of the first embodiment have been designated by the same references, a ballast silo 23 is mounted at the front of the frame 1 , below the anterior end of the conveyor belt 15b. This silo 23, as shown in FIG. 5, has, in the transverse direction, two unloading orifices 24 and 25 arranged one next to the other, each approximately above the heads of the sleepers, respectively of the ends sleepers, and which can be closed or opened separately by means of valves 26 and 27. If necessary, it is possible to further provide a central unloading orifice 28, as indicated in phantom, which can also be opened or closed according to needs. The conveyor belt 15b can be driven at at least two different speeds so that the ballast driven by this ribbon can either fall into the silo 23 for a slow speed of the ribbon 15b, as indicated by the arrow F3, or be projected directly onto the track, beyond the silo 23, as indicated by the arrow F4 for a higher speed of the ribbon. This embodiment therefore offers the possibility of either distributing the ballast removed by the brush 10 directly in front of the machine, or of storing this ballast in the silo 23, from which it can be distributed as required by the orifices 24 , 25 and, if necessary, the orifice 28, that is to say in the area of the heads of the sleepers or between the rails. In addition, the transverse conveyor belt 21 offers the possibility of discharging the excess ballast next to the track.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but it is susceptible of numerous variants, as regards the execution and the arrangement of the device for transporting the ballast and the silo. In particular, the conveyor belt 15b of the third embodiment according to Figure 4 can also be pivotally mounted about a vertical axis and provided with a retractable or foldable extension as provided in the first two embodiments.

Claims (10)

1. Rail-mounted ballast regulator machine comprising a ballast plow arrangement and at least one rotating transverse brush for removing the exceeding ballast from the sleepers installed at the rear of the machine rearwardly of the ballast plow arrangement, characterized in that it is provided with a ballast transporting device (12, 15) extending from the area of the transverse brush (10) up to the front of the ballast plow arrangement (6, 8), the ballast thrown up by the transverse brush (10) is falling onto the rearward end (14) of said ballast transporting device, and that moreover it is equipped with a ballast distribution device for discharging the ballast onto the roadbed in front of said ballast plow arrangement.

2. Ballast regulator machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the ballast transporting device (12, 15) extends at least approximately at the centre of the machine chassis (1) and the transverse brush (10) is surrounded by a ballast guide housing (11), the side walls (11a) of which converge in the forward direction and direct the ballast thrown up by the transverse brush (10) towards the centre of the machine onto the rearward end (14) of the ballast transporting device (12, 15).

3. Ballast regulator machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the ballast transporting device (12, 15) has a first ballast conveyor belt (12) sloping upwards in the forward direction of the machine and a second ballast conveyor belt (15) in prolongation of the first belt.

4. Ballast regulator machine according to claim 3, characterized in that the second ballast conveyor belt (15) is mounted pivotably about a vertical axis extending near to its rearward end and that its forward end constitutes said ballast distribution device.

5. Ballast regulator machine according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ballast transporting device (12,15 ; 12,15a) in the forward region has a moveably mounted extension member (19, 19a) which can occupy a rest position in which the ballast can drop onto the roadbed in front of the machine from the forward end of the ballast transporting device, and at least one operating position in which the ballast transport path is extended forwardly to a ballast transport wagon in front of the machine.

6. Ballast regulator machine according to claim 5, characterized in that the extension member is a conveyor belt (19) pivotable about a horizontal axis (29) in such a manner that in its rest position it is pending in an essentially vertical position and in its operative position it is arranged in an essentially horizontal position.

7. Ballast regulator machine according to claim 5, characterized in that the extension member is an additional conveyor belt (19a) extending essentially parallel to the forward section of the ballast transport device or parallel to the second ballast conveyor belt (15a) which in its rest position is drawn back beneath said forward section or beneath said second ballast conveyor belt (15a) and in its operative position is pushed out towards the front.

8. Ballast regulator machine according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that beneath the forward end of the ballast transport device (12, 15b) there is installed a ballast hopper (23) for storing and distributing the ballast in the area of the roadbed in front of the ballast plow arrangement (6, 8), said ballast hopper (23) having at least two discharge openings (24, 25) arranged side by side in the transverse direction and which can be separately opened and closed.

9. Ballast regulator device according to claim 8, characterized in that the ballast transport device or, respectively the second ballast conveyor belt (15b) ending above the ballast hopper (23) is arranged to be driven selectively with at least two different conveying speeds, during the first slow conveying speed the ballast dropping into said ballast hopper (23) and during the second rapid conveying speed the ballast being thrown over the ballast hopper and onto the road bed.

10. Ballast regulator machine according to one of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that in the area of the transverse brush (10) there is also installed a transverse conveyor belt (21) extending transversally to the rails, and an adjustable deflecting device (22) which is selectively adjusted in such a way that it can occupy a first position in which the ballast being thrown up by the transverse brush (10) reaches the ballast transport device (12, 15), and a second position in which the ballast drops onto the transverse conveyor belt (21).

Images