EP0153771B1

EP0153771B1 - Device to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies on platelayer waggons for rails, and platelayer waggon for rails which employs such device

Info

Publication number: EP0153771B1
Application number: EP85200104A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ivo Cicin-Sain
Original assignee: ITI/CLM IMPIANTI TECNICI INDUSTRIALI SpA; Danieli and C Officine Meccaniche SpA
Current assignee: ITI/CLM IMPIANTI TECNICI INDUSTRIALI SpA; Danieli and C Officine Meccaniche SpA
Priority date: 1984-02-24
Filing date: 1985-02-01
Publication date: 1988-12-28
Also published as: IT1181166B; DE3567042D1; IT8483325A0; EP0153771A1; CZ121085A3; ZA85875B; ATE39511T1; DK81385D0; DK81385A

Abstract

This invention concerns a device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies on platelayer waggons (10) for rails, which carries out the separation of nuts (22) and bolts (23) from bolt-nut assemblies (21) introduced by an operator (15) into such device (11) and also sends such nuts (22) and such bolts (23) to separate work stations (17-18), the device (11) being characterized by including in cooperation: - conveyor means (19) with means (20-120) to hold bolt-nut assemblies (21), - stationary unscrewing means (27), - preferred guide means (28-13) for nuts (22), and - preferred guide means (12) for bolts (23). The invention also concerns a platelayer waggon (10) for rails which employs such device (11).

Description

This invention concerns a device to unscrew bolt-nut assemblies on platelayer waggons for rails. The invention also concerns a platelayer waggon for rails which employs such device.
Devices are known which are able to convey bolts, clips, nuts, etc. and are fitted to self-propelled machines on rails.
Unlike the waggon to which our present invention is applied, such known machines are intended to remove the above cited components, already disassembled, from railway lines, for instance when existing railway lines are being dismantled.
For instance, patent FR-A-2,118,602 discloses a machine with magnetized crosswise strips to collect the above components. Such magnetized strips send the bolts, nuts, etc. to a central sorter conveyor belt, which carries these components to a set of collection stores.
Patent FR-A-2,388,086 is also known and discloses a self-propelled machine to remove clips, bolts, etc. from existing railway lines. Forthis purpose the machine comprises in its lower part some magnetized rollers to collect the above components, which are already disassembled. The magnetized rollers take the components thus collected to transverse conveyor belts, which in turn cooperate with a central conveyor belt that delivers clips, bolts, nuts, etc. to a sorting or collection station.
The platelayer waggons with which our present invention is concerned are of the type described in the European Application published under No. EP-A-0143477 in the name of the present applicant, said application falling within the terms of Article 54, paragraph 3 of the EPC.
In the platelayer waggons described in the cited patent application the bolt-nut assemblies are taken by the operator from appropriate storage points arranged at the sides of the control cab and are introduced by hand between two rotating heads, which are located one on each side of the operator himself.
The nuts are unscrewed by these rotating heads while the operator is keeping the bolts still with his hand.
As soon as the nut has been unscrewed, it drops into an appropriate conveyor guide which takes it to its working position.
Instead, according to the embodiment cited above the bolt is introduced by the operator by hand into a guide for bolts.
The present invention has the purpose of improving the unscrewing operation by making it semiautomatic; that is to say, according to the present invention the operator has the sole task of taking the bolt-nut assemblies, namely a bolt and a nut partly meshed together, and introducing them into the unscrewing device of this invention.
This unscrewing device conveys the bolt-nut assemblies along a path where appropriate rotation means act on the nut and cause it to become unscrewed and to drop into an appropriate collection guide.
As soon as the bolt and nut have been separated, they are conveyed along different guides. In fact the bolts run along the whole active tract of the unscrewing device of the invention and are gathered at the end of the same within a guide which delivers the bolts to a first work station of the machine.
Here the bolts are deposited in correspondance with their respective positions on a sleeper.
We shall not dwell on the methods for positioning the bolts since such methods are not a part of this invention.
The nuts, instead, being separated from the bolts by the unscrewing device of this invention, are delivered in an appropriate guide.
This latter guide delivers them to the last work station of the machine so as to be screwed onto the bolts and fastened definitively.
On each side of the device there are a guide for bolts and a guide for nuts.
As we said earlier, the invention has the purpose of automatically unscrewing and separating the bolt-nut assemblies into their constituent nut and bolt parts in such a way that the operator has only to perform an initial loading action.
Afurther purpose of the invention is to cause the nuts and bolts to be introduced automatically into their respective guides and to be delivered in the same to their respective work stations.
A further purpose of the invention is to ensure that when the nut leaves its guide, it is positioned with its most integral portion of screw-thread towards the bolt, which is already located on its seating in the plate.
The reason forthis isthat, when the nut has been unscrewed, its portion of screw-thread previously facing outwards away from the bolt may be damaged or, in any event, faulty as a result of being transported or undergoing impacts or stresses, or through other accidental causes.
The invention therefore arranges for the nuts to be turned upside-down while being collected after being unscrewed.
According to the invention this is obtained by providing the guide of the nuts with a development such that at the end of such guide the nut has been turned upside-down as compared to its initial position; that is to say, the portion of the nut meshed earlier with the bolt is facing downwards and is therefore, in any event, presumably in good condition.
The device of the invention includes a conveyor, which consists of a chain means in a preferred embodiment. This chain means has on its periphery means able to grip the stem of a bolt-nut assembly introduced into it by the operator. Such latter means may consist, for instance, of a series of peripheral plates solidly fixed to the links of the chain.
These links become spread apart at the curved portion of the conveyor, and the operator can therefore introduce a bolt-nut assembly between them easily.
The bolt-nut assembly is drawn along to the straight track, where it is gripped between the plates, which have come close to each other in the meanwhile.
The bolt-nut assembly is drawn next along the conveyor, and the nut slides against a series of unscrewing means which consist advantageously of rubber or another material with a high coefficient of friction.
In this way, while being conveyed, the nut is unscrewed from the end of the bolt and drops and slides through the force of gravity down collection chutes, which convey it to the guide that delivers it to its work station.
At the end of the conveyor the bolts, still engaged by the chain, are positioned with their heads downwards and are freed by the action of appropriate thrust means, such as inclined surfaces or mechanical equivalents.
Such surfaces cause the departure of the bolts from the plates which have been holding them on the chain of the conveyor.
After such disengagement the bolts drop with their heads downwards into an appropriate guide which has the purpose of delivering them to a first work station of the platelayer waggon.
This invention is therefore embodied with a device to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies on platelayer waggons for rails, which carries out the separation of nuts and bolts from bolt-nut assemblies introduced by an operator into such device and also sends such nuts and such bolts (23) to separate work stations, the device including in cooperation:

a conveyor with means to hold bolt-nut assemblies,
stationary unscrewing means positioned along at least a segment of the path of the conveyor,
guides to collect and convey nuts, and
guides to collect and convey bolts.

The invention is also embodied with a platelayer waggon for rails which is characterized by employing a device thus constituted to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies.
We shall now describe, as a non-restrictive example, a preferred embodiment of the invention with the help of the attached Figures, in which:-

Fig. 1 gives an overall view of the platelayer waggon to which the device is fitted;
Fig. 2 is a partly cutaway side view of the unscrewing device of the invention;
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device of Fig. 2 according to desired sections;
Fig. 4 is a view of the device cutaway frontally along A-A of Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 is a detail of the means which grip the bolt-nut assemblies.

In Fig. 1 a device 11 of a platelayer waggon 10 is located so as to correspond with an operator's cab 31. An operator 15 takes bolt-nut assemblies 21 from a store 14.
The invention provides advantageously for two stores 14, one on each side of the cab 31. The outlets of these stores 14 are immediately within reach of the operator 15 on each side.
The operator 15 takes bolt-nut assemblies 21 from the lateral outlets of each of the stores 14 and positions these assemblies 21 by hand within the device 11 at its loading end 111.
Fig. 1 shows a guide 12 for bolts, which is located at the end of the device 11 and delivers bolts 23 separated from their respective nuts 22 to a station 17 for the depositing of bolts.
A guide 13 for nuts located near the first end 111 of the device 11 delivers nuts 22 separated from their bolts 23 to a station 18 for the depositing of nuts.
Fig. 1 shows also a positioner trolley 16, which has the task of screwing the nuts 22 onto their respective bolts 23 deposited earlier at 17; however, this positioner trolley 16 does not form part of this invention and will therefore not be described further.
In this case the guide 13 for nuts includes an initial tract with a bend 113. In this way, when the nut 22 has been separated from its bolt 23, it has to run along this tract 113 and is thus turned upside-down so that its portion of screw-thread meshed earlier with the bolt 23 is facing downwards.
The nut 22 is then delivered to the station 18 where it is deposited.
The end tract of the guide 13 comprises a spiral development from a substantially central position towards the outside of the platelayer waggon 10.
This development causes the nut 22 to be conveyed towards the outside of the platelayer waggon 10 in correspondance with the positioner trolley 16, the unscrewing device 11 being located centrally to the platelayer waggon 10.
Fig. 2 shows how the bolt-nut assembly 21 is introduced at the end 111 of the device 11 and is gripped by engagement means 20 which are borne and moved by a conveyor 19.
In this figure the conveyor 19 consists of a chain but could consist of equivalent means such as a belt or band, for instance.
The engagement means 20 in this example consist of plates solidly fixed to links of the chain 19.
The chain 19 is drawn by means of a powered sprocket wheel 25 and a driven wheel 26. The drive wheel 25 is powered in a known manner, by an electric motor for instance.
As can be seen in particular in Fig. 2, at the bends or arches where the plates 20 are wound on the wheels 25-26, the plates 20 are spread apart as compared to their reciprocal position in the straight tracts of the chain 19. This facilitates the introduction of the bolt-nut assembly 21, which is then held by means of seatings 120 of a circular shape provided in the engagement plates 20. In this way the bolt-nut assembly 21 is gripped and drawn along the chain 19.
While being thus drawn, the nut 22 undergoes an unscrewing action applied by unscrewing elements 27, which consist advantageously of a material which is at least partially resilient and has a high coefficient of friction.
In this way the nuts 22 on each side of the device undergo an unscrewing action, at the end of which they drop and are collected by means of chutes 28 to collect nuts 22.
Such chutes 28 comprise a suitable backwards slope, owing to which the nut 22 slides into the curved portion 113 of the guide 13 (see Fig. 1) and is then delivered to the station 18 where it is screwed onto a bolt 23.
The bolt 23, instead, remains held between the engagement means 20 in the seating 120, completes the curved tract around the wheel 25 and then drops, being released by the force of gravity from the seating 120, with its head downwards, into the guide 12 for bolts.
The bolt 23, still in such a position, is delivered to the station 17 for the depositing of bolts.
As can be seen in particular in Fig. 2, the unscrewing elements 27 are positioned on each side of the device 11 so as to obtain an anticlockwise rotation of the nuts 22 on both sides of the device 11.
In fact, in the example of Fig. 4 the elements 27 are positioned on the outside of the device 11 in the lefthand part of the device 11, whereas they are positioned on the inside in the righthand part of the device 11, in this way an anticlockwise movement of the nuts 22 is always obtained.
In the example shown the unscrewing elements 27 are envisaged as being separate from each other, but it is possible to envisage elements 27 solidly fixed together; such as corrugated elements or ridges or projections belonging to one single element positioned alongside the path of the conveyor 19.
Moreover, the present device 11 provides for the automatic sorting and elimination of faulty bolt-nut assemblies 121 (see Fig. 4).
For instance, if unscrewing fails, for example, owing to rust, jamming on the thread or other causes, the bolt-nut assembly 121 is not separated into a nut 22 and bolt 23 by the unscrewing elements 27.
The bolt-nut assembly 121 therefore pursues its course, remaining held in the seating 120, and completes a full turn about the wheel 25.
The bolt 23 cannot fall into the guide 12 for bolts since it is withheld by the nut 22 against the engagement elements 20; the bolt-nut assembly 121 therefore continues on its course in the lower branch of the device 11 until it encounters a discharge rib 29 at the end 111 of the device 11.
In this example two discharge ribs 29, one on each side of the chain 19, are provided.
The inclined surface of the edge of the discharge rib 29 acts against the shank of the bolt 23 and creates a sideways thrust which discharges the bolt-nut assembly 121 from the engagement means 20.
This is facilitated by the positioning of the ribs 29 in correspondance with the beginning of the curved tract, where the engagement means 20 start to spread apart and thus free the bolt-nut assembly 121.
The faulty bolt-nut assembly 121 is collected in a station 30 for the collection of faulty bolt-nut assemblies, from which the operator 15 can take it by hand and put it, for example, into an appropriate tray or examine it for re-cycling.
We have described here a preferred embodiment of this invention, but variants are possible without departing thereby from the scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.
For instance, the lay-out of the device 11 and its inclination and sizes can be varied. It is possible to employ a chain means 19 of a type other than that shown, as well as unscrewing elements 27 embodied with a form different from that described and shown.

Claims

1. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies on platelayer waggons (10) for rails, which carries out the separation of nuts (22) and bolts (23) from bolt-nut assemblies (21) intro- , duced by an operator (15) into such device (11) and also sends such nuts (22) and such bolts (23) to separate work stations (17-18), the device (11) including in cooperation:

a conveyor (19) with means (20-120) to hold bolt-nut assemblies (21),

stationary unscrewing means (27) positioned along at least a segment of the path of the conveyor (19),

guides (28-13) to collect and convey nuts (22), and

guides (12) to collect and convey bolts (23).

2. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in Claim 1, in which the conveyor (19) is of an endless conveyor type.

3. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in Claims 1 and 2, in which the unscrewing means (27) cooperate with nuts (22) in a low position in relation to the bolts (23) in the bolt-nut assemblies (21).

4. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut - assemblies as claimed in Claims 1 and 2, in which the bolts (23) are automatically turned upside down by conveyor (19).

5. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which the means (20-120) which hold the bolt-nut assemblies (21) include plate means (20) having seatings (120) that cooperate with the shank of the bolt (23) of the bolt-nut assemblies (21) (Fig. 5).

6. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which the guides (28-13) for the nuts (22) comprise a collection chute (28) leading to guides (13) for nuts (22).

7. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in Claims 1 and 6, in which the guides (13) for the nuts (22) have a configuration such that at their end the nuts (22) are turned upside-down as compared to their initial position during unscrewing.

8. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which the means (20-120) that hold the bolt-nut assemblies (21) grip the assembly between the nut (22) and bolt head (23) to withhold faulty bolt-nut assemblies (121) (Fig. 4).

9. Device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, which comprises means (29) to discharge faulty bolt-nut assemblies (121) sideways.

10. Platelayer waggon (10) for rails, characterized by employing a device (11) to unscrew and deliver bolt-nut assemblies according to any of the claims hereinbefore.