EP0168103A2 - Track-renewal train unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The first vehicle (1) has two axles (4,5), the second vehicle (2) has one axle (6), and the two are articulated together (3), via a cantilever coupling. The first vehicle has an old rail (B) lifter (12,13), a secondary axle carriage (14,15) to allow movement on bare sleepers, and a handler (7,8,9.10) for old and new material.

Description

The present invention relates to a railway train intended to be used for the renewal or laying of railways.

Several types of railway vehicles or trains are known which can be moved (by their own means or harnessed behind other trains) on the railway tracks, in order to transfer them from a depot to a work area and which, after arriving at the latter, can perform by mechanized means the operations of removing the rails which must be replaced, removing the old sleepers, leveling or moving the ballast, laying new sleepers and finally laying new rails instead of previous, the installation of new sleepers and new rails can be carried out exactly in the place where the previous ones were located, in order to maintain the pre-existing route, or in positions slightly modified compared to the previous ones, in order to compensate for displacements which have occurred and thus restore the original route, or make these corrections to the pre-existing route. These known vehicles and trains are too heavy, too bulky, complicated and expensive and they present considerable problems for their optimal use.

The object of the present invention is to improve the railway trainsets intended for the indicated function, so as to considerably reduce their weight, size and cost, and to make them easier and more rational to use, that is to say concerns operations to renew damaged equipment while maintaining the previous route, that is to say with regard to the possible introduction of corrections to the route of the track.

The railway train according to the present invention is mainly characterized in that it comprises an operating assembly formed by two reciprocally coupled vehicles, the first vehicle being provided with two axles (or bogies), while the second is articulated, by one from its ends, to a point on the first vehicle, located in overhang with respect to the axles, and it is provided with a single axle (or bogie), located near the end opposite to said articulation; that the first vehicle is provided with means, situated between the two axles, for removing the old rails, means for allowing the second axle to move on the old sleepers already devoid of the rails, and means for handling the old and the new material; that the second vehicle is provided with means for removing the old sleepers, means for leveling or moving or loosening the ballast and means for laying the new sleepers, as well as means for allowing the second vehicle to move on the new ones sleepers still without new rails; and that in the articulation zone between the two vehicles are arranged means for correcting, as necessary, the position of the second vehicle and, consequently, the positioning position of the new sleepers.

Thanks to these characteristics, the first vehicle of the operational set of the railway train according to the invention (preceded, as usual, by storage wagons which transport the new materials to be laid and which are intended to receive the old materials who have been removed) rolls with its first axle on the track to be renewed, previously freed from the fasteners, removes the old rails and advances with its second axle on the sleepers still laid, following. therefore faithfully the pre-existing route. The second vehicle of the operating unit, for its part, being articulated at a point on the first vehicle which is cantilevered with respect to the axles, spontaneously tends to be arranged with its own longitudinal axis tangential to the trajectory of the pre-existing line when the latter moves away from the straight line, so that the installation of new sleepers spontaneously tends to be made while respecting the previous line, thus minimizing the importance of the necessary corrections, which can be carried out manually or automatically , using the special means provided in the articulation area, either to maintain the old layout with the greatest precision, or to carry out the latter desired modifications.

The invention also relates, specifically, to means for laying new sleepers, means for correcting, as necessary, the position of the second vehicle, and a depot for special sleepers.

• la figure I est une vue de côté et à petite échelle de l'ensemble opératif formé par deux véhicules, selon l'invention;
• la figure 2 est une vue en plan d'un diagramme de la disposition que l'ensemble opératif illustré dans la figure I prend sur une voie en courbe;
• la figure 3 est une vue en plan des moyens pour corriger la position du deuxième véhicule par rapport au premier;
• la figure 4 montre les moyens pour la pose des nouvelles traverses;
• la figure 5 représente en particulier un dépôt pour des traverses spéciales; et
• la figure 6 montre une section transversale de ce dépôt.

These and other particularities and advantages of the subject of the invention will emerge from the following description of an embodiment, given by way of nonlimiting example and represented schematically in the appended drawings, in which:

• Figure I is a side view on a small scale of the operating assembly formed by two vehicles, according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a plan view of a diagram of the arrangement that the operating assembly illustrated in Figure I takes on a curved track;
• Figure 3 is a plan view of the means for correcting the position of the second vehicle relative to the first;
• Figure 4 shows the means for installing new sleepers;
• Figure 5 shows in particular a deposit for special sleepers; and
• Figure 6 shows a cross section of this deposit.

A railway train for the renewal of railways according to the invention generally comprises an operating assembly according to FIG. 1 (predisposed to advance from right to left according to the drawing), subsequent operating means, known per se, mounted on wagons , not shown, which follow the operational assembly, and a certain number of storage wagons, intended to carry the new materials which must be laid and to receive the old materials which have been removed, disposed (in the direction of advancement of the train) in front of the operating unit shown in Figure I.

The operating assembly according to FIG. 1 comprises two vehicles defined by their chassis 1 and 2, which are reciprocally articulated in a spherical manner at 3. The chassis of vehicle 1 has a first axle 4 and a second axle 5 (these axles can however be replaced by corresponding bogies), while the chassis of the vehicle 2 rests anteriorly, through the articulation 3, on the chassis 1, and later on its own axles 6 (which could also be replaced by a bogie). The articulation point 3 is located in overhang relative to the axles 4 and 5 of the first vehicle I.

In Figure 2 are shown schematically, by their axes, the path of the track along which is or must be arranged track B, and the first and second vehicles 1 and 2, reciprocally articulated in 3. As can be seen in observing this figure, when the axis of track B forms a curve, the axis of vehicle 1 (which rests on axles 4 and 5) intersects the axis of track B in correspondence of said axles, and consequently the articulation point 3, which is cantilevered, moves outside the curve. The second vehicle 2, which follows on from the first, therefore tends to be arranged with its own axis approximately tangent to the curved axis of track B. An appropriate choice of the position of the joint 3 with respect to at the positions of the axles 4, 5 and 6 makes it possible to obtain that on a curved track the axis of the second vehicle 2 is tangent to the short axis of the track B, with a good approximation, corresponding to the laying point C new sleepers, this condition being the most favorable, as we will see later.

The chassis 1 of the first vehicle carries, in its upper part, a transporter 7 connected to a depot B for the old removed sleepers, a depot 9 for the new sleepers to be laid, and a service track 10 for a portal transporter (known per se and not shown) intended for the handling of materials between depots 8 and 9 and the storage wagons arranged in front of the operating unit 1-2. In addition, the chassis 1 carries, in its lower part, an engine group 11, generally a diesel engine actuating a hydrodynamic power station and an electric generator for supplying the various operating members of the assembly, a chassis 12 provided with pliers. rollers 13 arranged (in a manner known per se) for lifting the underlying sleepers and drawing away the old rails which have to be removed, and an auxiliary bogie 14 (which can be lifted by means of a hydraulic cylinder 15) forming part of the means intended to allow to the second axle 5 to move on the old sleepers already devoid of the rails.

In correspondence with the articulation 3 between the chassis 1 and 2 are installed the means for correcting the position of the second vehicle, described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3.

The chassis 2 of the second vehicle carries in its upper part a transporter 16, connected to the transporter 7 of the first vehicle, for the old sleepers removed, a transporter 17, connected to the depot 9 of the first vehicle, for the new sleepers to be laid, a parapet - stage 18 for the control of the installation and for possible interventions on the respective mechanisms, an operating cabin 19 and a depot 20 (described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6) for special sleepers to install in special places, such as at level crossings. The chassis ℓ carries, in its lower part, a device 21 for removing the old sleepers, which supplies the conveyor 16, a share 22 for leveling or removing the ballast, the group 23 for laying the new sleepers (described more in detail below with reference to Figure 4), a distributor 24 for special sleepers coming from the depot 20, and a tracked support 25 which can be lifted, for example, by means of a hydraulic cylinder 26. The latter assembly, which is raised during the approach walk on the track, when the axle 6 is active, is lowered (in the position shown) during work and allows the second vehicle 2 to proceed by relying on the new crosspieces laid, still devoid of rails (or, according to one; possible alternative, laterally to said sleepers). A hydraulic cylinder 26A can be provided to fix the orientation of the tracked support 25 when the latter is active.

The operating assembly described acts by proceeding continuously to the left according to figure 1, by rolling by means of axle 4 on the old unbolted rails, by lifting and removing the old rails by means 12-13 while the old sleepers remain placed on the ballast, by rolling on these old sleepers by means of the axle 5 and the auxiliary bogie 14, removing by means of the removal device 21 the old sleepers that the carriers 16 and 7 send to the depot 8, by leveling or moving the ballast by means of the plowshare 22 and associated operating means, and by placing in the point C new sleepers, on which the assembly advances by means of the tracked support 25. The subsequent operations (laying of new rails, compacting of the ballast, etc.) are carried out by successive operating means which are not part of the present invention and which are neither described nor illustrated here.

Because the second vehicle 2 is articulated to the first vehicle in the manner already described, thanks to which the point C of laying the new sleepers results located, with a good approximation, on the curve formed locally by the track, the laying of the sleepers takes place specifically in a very close to optimal manner. Only small corrections may be necessary, especially in the event of an abnormality of the route, or when for any reason we want to modify the previous route of the track.

In order to allow these corrections, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in the area of the articulation 3 between the chassis 1 and 2 of the vehicles forming the operational assembly, two horizontal hydraulic cylinders 52, 53 are installed which allow the modification of the angle A (FIG. 2) formed between the axis of the chassis 2 of the second vehicle and the axis of the chassis 1 of the first vehicle, thereby modifying, as necessary, transverse to the track, the position of the point C of installation of the new sleepers. To allow an exact calculation of the corrections, the angle A formed between the two chassis 1 and 2 can be determined exactly by reading devices 54, for example potentiometers, installed on a chassis and connected to the other chassis by means of 'Between flexible rods 55. The calculation of the corrections and the maneuvering of the cylinders 52 and 53 can be carried out manually or by automatic means programmed in an appropriate manner, on the basis of the knowledge of said angle A and of the local geometrical parameters of the track.

Preferably, in the area of the joint 3 are also installed, on the two sides of the vehicles, two vertical cylinders 56 making it possible to block and correct the transverse inclination of the corresponding anterior end of the chassis 2. It is understood that all these correction devices, indicated as formed by hydraulic cylinders, can also be produced in the form of mechanical or electromechanical devices. In addition to the correction possibilities described, the various operating devices 21-24 installed on the chassis 2 can conveniently be provided with means for individual adjustment of the operating position of these devices.

For the installation of new sleepers, a corridor or strip is usually used which reaches as close as possible to the ballast and onto which the sleepers descend one after the other under the control of a shutter which lets them proceed one by one. times at the appropriate time; installation on the ballast is done by falling from the lower end of the corridor or strip. This arrangement has the disadvantage that, when a sleeper is about to leave the corridor or strip, all the load of its weight is concentrated on its lower posterior edge, which is often damaged, especially if it 's' acts of concrete sleepers. In addition, the variability of the distance between the end of the corridor and the ballast, and other accidental conditions, can lead to some irregularities in the installation of the sleepers by this process.

According to the invention, these drawbacks are found by means of the hatch device 23 shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4. The corridor or strip 17 along which the crosspieces to be laid down end in a hatch 47 which can be lowered by means of a cylinder hydraulic 48, while, opposite the flap 47, a gripping device 49 is articulated to a support 50 fixed to the chassis 2 of the second vehicle of the operating assembly, and can be maneuvered by means of a hydraulic cylinder 51. The taking of the sleepers by the device 49 can take place by means of pliers or an electromagnet acting in the area of the metal plates for supporting the rails, which are applied beforehand to the sleepers. The gripping device 49, raised in the position represented by broken lines, is fed each time by a crosspiece which it grasps while it is pressed on the flap 47, and successively the flap 47 is lowered and the device 49 allows to place the cross member on the ballast by adjusting its position with the desired precision. During this operation, no concentration of forces is applied in any part of the crosspiece which, therefore, is laid under completely intact conditions.

The depot 20 installed in the operative assembly has the purpose of providing special sleepers T intended to be used in particular places of the line, for example in correspondence α □ s level crossings, these special sleepers being able to be laid, in point C, by means of a special laying device 24. As it resulted from FIG. 5, the depot 20 comprises a horizontal conveyor 66 arranged to carry the special sleepers of the depot 20 to the laying device 24, and a conveyor vertical 69 provided with a plurality of pairs of horizontal consoles 70, 71, 72, etc., superimposed on each other with a uniform pitch, supporting superimposed rows of special sleepers T. When all the sleepers placed on the horizontal conveyor 68 have been moved out of the depot 20, the vertical conveyor 69 can be lowered by one step, thereby depositing on the horizontal conveyor 68 the sleepers T carried by the lower pair of brackets. So that this operation is possible, each pair of consoles has a different spacing than that of the other pairs of consoles and the spacing of the horizontal conveyor 68; for example, as shown in Figure 6, the spacing may increase from bottom to top. Of in this way, the pairs of consoles 70, 71, etc., as they arrive below the level of the horizontal conveyor 68, s, accumulate alongside this conveyor at the level of the chassis 2, in the positions indicated by broken lines. Thanks to this arrangement, a compact deposit is produced which contains in a small space a considerable number of crosspieces T, and which can be loaded and unloaded by simple and rapid operations.

It should be understood that the railway train according to the invention can have all the characteristics described or even just a part of these, depending on the particular applications for which it is intended. Different modifications can be made to the details described, and all parts and groups can be replaced by their technical equivalents.

Claims (8)

1. Railway train intended to be used for the renewal of railways, comprising an operating assembly formed by two reciprocally coupled vehicles, characterized in that the first vehicle (1) is provided with two axles or bogies (4,5), while the second vehicle (2) is articulated (at 3), by one of its ends, to a point of the first vehicle (1), located in overhang with respect to the axles (4,5), and it is provided with a single axle or bogie (6), located near the end opposite to said articulation (3); that the first vehicle (1) is provided with means (12-13), located between the two axles (4,5), to remove the old rails (B), means (14-15) to allow the second axle ( 5) to advance on the old sleepers already deprived of the rails (B), and of means (7-10) for the handling of the old and the new material; that the second vehicle (2) is provided with means (21) for removing the old sleepers, means (22) for leveling or moving or loosening the ballast and means (23) for laying the new sleepers, as well as means (25-26) for allowing the second vehicle (2) to advance on the new sleepers still devoid of the new rails; and that in the articulation zone (3) between the two vehicles (1,2) are arranged means (52-56) for correcting as necessary the position of the second vehicle (2) and, consequently, the position ( C) laying new sleepers. 2. Railway renewal train according to claim 1, characterized in that said means (52-56) for correcting the position of the second vehicle (2) relative to the first vehicle (1) comprise a pair of horizontal hydraulic cylinders (52) installed between the chassis of the two vehicles (1,2) on both sides of the articulation (3) between said vehicles. 3. Railway renewal train according to claim 2, characterized in that said means (52-56) for correcting the position of the second vehicle (2) relative to the first vehicle (1) comprise, in addition, for each side of the train, a vertical hydraulic cylinder (56) determining the elevation of the corresponding side of the chassis of the second vehicle (2) relative to the chassis of the first vehicle (1). 4. Railway renewal train according to claim 2, characterized in that said means (52-56) for correcting the position of the second vehicle (2) relative to the first vehicle (I) also comprise means, such as potentiometers (54) , reading the angle (A) formed between the chassis of the two vehicles (1,2). 5. Renewal railway train according to claim 1, characterized in that said means (23) for laying new sleepers comprise a corridor or strip (17) for lowering the new sleepers, a terminal hatch (47) of said corridor or strip (17 ), means (48) for lowering and raising again said hatch (47), a gripping device (49) pivotally mounted opposite said hatch (47) and arranged to grip the first crossmember present on the corridor (17) and deposit it on the ballast located below, and means (51) for actuating said gripping means (49) in a manner coordinated with the displacements of said hatch (47). 6. Railway renewal train according to claim 5, characterized in that said gripping device (49) comprises an electromagnet capable of acting on metal plates already applied to the sleepers to be laid. 7. Renewal railway train according to claim 1, characterized in that said second vehicle (2) comprises a deposit (20) of special sleepers (T) and a laying device (24), for laying special sleepers in particular places of the way. 8. Renewal railway train according to claim 7, characterized in that said deposit (20) of special sleepers cooperates with a horizontal conveyor (68) going towards the laying device (24), and it comprises a vertical conveyor (69) with superimposed pairs of brackets (70,71, ...) carrying the crosspieces and feeding, by lowering, the horizontal conveyor (68), each pair of cones sole having a different spacing from that of the other pairs of brackets and of the horizontal conveyor, and all the pairs of brackets which can group, after their lowering, alongside the horizontal conveyor (68).

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