EP0223895A1 - Device for the plastic bending of rail ends in the region of rail joints - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A machine arrangement for the "plastic" upward and downward bending of the ends of welded or non-welded rails at the rail joints (29) of laid tracks by means of a bending unit (12) arranged for vertical displacement on a machine frame designed to travel on the track through on-track undercarriages, the bending unit (12) comprising a supporting frame (48) which is designed for vertical displacement under the power of a drive and which is provided with vertically displaceable hydraulic jacks (55) in the form of the piston of a piston-and-cylinder assembly designed for application to the running surface of the rail, comprising hydraulic gripping tools (56) designed to grip the rail, characterized in that a hydraulic jack (55) is associated with each of three such gripping tools (56) arranged one behind the other longitudinally of the rail, the other two hydraulic jacks (55) serving as a support being provided on either side (longitudinally of the rail) of the central hydraulic jack (25) in the form of the piston of a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder assembly connected to the supporting frame (48), and in that the bending unit (12) is designed symmetrically in relation to the longitudinal vertical plane (69) of the rail.

Description

The invention relates to a machine arrangement for the "plastic" bending of the ends of welded or non-welded rails in the region of the rail joints of rails laid by means of a height-adjustable bending device on a machine frame that can be moved via rail bogies, with a support frame that is height-adjustable via a drive is provided with a pressure ram which can be placed against the rail running surface and is hydraulically adjustable and adjustable in height, and has at least one gripping tool designed to grip the rail and which can be hydraulically loaded.

A bending device for bending the ends of installed rails in the area of butt joints - according to AT-PS 334 943 by the same applicant - is known in order to bend the rail joints which have been reduced by the tensile load back up to the rail level. This bending device consists of a support frame which is guided on the track by two spaced-apart undercarriages and which can be adjusted to the machine frame of a machine which can be moved by track by means of height adjustment drives. In the middle between these undercarriages serving as abutments during plastic bending or deformation of the rail ends, a pliers-like or hook-like gripping tool is provided for gripping the rails, the height of which can be adjusted by a hydraulic cylinder-piston drive for upward bending or lifting of the rail ends. A height-adjustable holding roller, which can be mechanically blocked by a fixing or locking device, is arranged on both sides of the gripping tool on the supporting frame. To control the various drives of the bending device, a control device that can be set with the desired bending value and a scale designed as a measured value transducer and arranged on the supporting frame with a feeler element resting on the rail joint are provided. When bending upwards by adjusting the height of the gripping tool, the holding rollers resting on the rail ends - with adjustment of the transducer - together with the scanning element, are raised until the signal emitted by the transducer is included corresponds to the preset target value. The entire bending process is advantageously carried out in a single operation.

According to AT-PS 348 569 by the same applicant, a mobile track tamping machine with a bending device for plastic bending of the rail ends in the region of joints of rails laid is also known. This consists of a support frame articulated on the machine frame and height-adjustable via a drive, at the longitudinal ends of which is arranged a pressure stamp designed as a piston of a hydraulic cylinder-piston arrangement, which can be applied to the rail travel surface and serves as an abutment. Between these, a lifting hook is provided as a gripping tool, which is designed to be pivotable transversely to the longitudinal direction of the machine and is height-adjustable in a vertical guide slot of the support frame for engagement. Between the lifting hook and the plunger, a guide roller that can be unrolled on the rail head and a pair of lifting rollers on the support frame are also arranged, so that this device can also be used as a track lifting / straightening unit for lifting and leveling the track into the desired position. During the bending process, the size of the bending moment in the vertical longitudinal plane of the rail can be individually changed by adjusting the height of the pressure stamp. Heavily retracted rail joints can be bent slightly up to above the rail level. This bending device has already proven itself well in use.

Such rail bending devices are used in particular for welded rails in the area of the rail joints of laid rails, which were previously processed with mobile welding machines - for example according to AT-PS 357 594 or AT-PS 357 595. These track construction machines, which are provided with their own travel drive, for welding the two rail ends in the joint area of laid rails of a track have an elongated machine frame which is supported at the end on bogie bogies. On this are a height-adjustable preheating device, a flash butt welding unit and one in the machine longitudinal direction device provided downstream welding bead shearing device. With such a machine, all welding work can be carried out economically in a single mission.

After welding these rail ends of a laid track either immediately afterwards or after a longer period of time, the track is processed at these points by a rail grinding vehicle - in accordance with AT-PS 359 1o7 - in order to eliminate the irregularities on the rail running surface and the rail flank before it is brought into an exact sol position by a track leveling tamping and straightening machine. For example, a grinding vehicle is used, which consists of two grinding tool groups arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the machine with a number of slider stones, which are set by a drive device in a reciprocating working movement in the longitudinal direction of the rail, superimposed on the vehicle's right of way.

Finally, a tamping machine for tamping the transverse sleepers of a track - according to AT-PS 339 36o by the same applicant - is known, in which a holding device to be tamped against the desired position is provided in the area of the tamping unit above the rail. This is designed as an abutment beam which extends in the longitudinal direction of the track and has three support points and which is connected to hydraulic drives in the region of its two ends. Such a holding device can also be used for the treatment of downwardly bent rail ends in the region of butt joints. As a result, an intentional elevation in the area of the joint counteracts the tendency of the rail ends to bend downward due to their lower strength under load.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine arrangement of the type described at the outset for bending rail ends of laid rails, with which an improved and permanent rail joint height can be achieved.

The object of the invention is now achieved with the machine arrangement described at the outset in that the bending device is designed for plastic downward bending of the rail ends in the longitudinal vertical plane of the rail and - for gripping the rail head on both sides of the rail joint in the longitudinal direction of the rail - has such a gripping tool, whereby the pressure stamp - for contacting the rail running surface - is arranged centrally between the two gripping tools. With this design, a downward bending or permanent plastic deformation of the ends of installed rails is achieved for the first time, and very high bending forces are also transmitted in the direction of the sleepers, which means that rail joints that are already stress-free bent under the effect of residual stresses acting against the downward bending direction can be bent back down towards the zero level of the rails in the rail ends. With these induced internal stresses, the fatigue strength of the rail joints is significantly improved. The gripping tools arranged on both sides of the rail joint serve as abutments that limit the bending area, with which safe and rapid gripping of the rail ends is possible. Due to the central arrangement of the pressure plunger between the gripping tools, a symmetrical distribution of force on both rail ends is ensured when bending downwards in order to achieve the same high internal stresses for a permanent and precise position of the rail joint. With the machine arrangement designed according to the invention, the highest bending forces for an accurate and controlled downward bending of the rail ends can therefore be applied or transmitted in a particularly advantageous manner with only a small design effort.

A preferred embodiment of the invention consists in that a bending device is preferably assigned to each rail track and that the bending device is designed for plastic upward and downward bending of the rail ends in the longitudinal vertical plane of the rail. As a result, the rail ends can be bent with one and the same bending device from the position lowered due to material fatigue to below the zero level of the rails above the zero level and also - taking into account internal stresses - bent back down to the zero level.

According to a further advantageous feature arrangement according to the invention, in the longitudinal direction of the rail, on each side of the centrally arranged pressure stamp, which is designed as a piston of a hydraulic cylinder-piston arrangement, a further pressure stamp, preferably arranged at the same distance from it and serving as an abutment, is provided, whereby A total of three pressure plungers arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the rail are each assigned their own, preferably pliers-like gripping tool. With such a structurally relatively simple triple arrangement of a gripping tool, each supplemented with a hydraulic pressure ram, the rail ends welded to one another can be bent up and down again with one and the same device, with none being particularly advantageous for reversing the bending direction Conversion work or the like required are. Since all gripping tools are designed like pliers, quick and safe gripping of the rail ends is possible for problem-free bending of larger rails in both directions. To reverse the bending direction to bend the bent rail ends down, all that is required is to place the two outer gripping tools on the rail while simultaneously placing the middle pressure stamp on the rail joint. It is particularly advantageous for a uniform bending that the distance between the two outer abutments - formed by the pressure rams when bending up and bent by the outer gripping tools - remains unchanged.

A particularly preferred embodiment according to the invention consists in the fact that each gripping tool is formed by two bending pliers opposite one another transversely to the longitudinal direction of the supporting frame, each bending pliers designed to engage under the rail head and pivotally mounted on the supporting frame about an axis running in the longitudinal direction of the machine with its own hydraulic Pivotal drive is connected and preferably the end of the bending pliers or the gripping tool opposite the hook end ver in each case in an elongated hole with a vertical longitudinal axis of a guide arm connected to the support frame is pivotally mounted. The design of the gripping tools for attack directly on the rail head makes it possible to grasp the rail ends particularly quickly, regardless of the threshold distance or without any preparatory work. During the bending process, the rail head is clamped on both sides by the bending pliers, which are opposite each other in the transverse direction, resulting in symmetrical power transmission with respect to the longitudinal vertical plane of the rail. The guidance of the ends of the bending pliers in an elongated hole of a guide arm fastened to the support frame enables stable guidance for a wide opening of the opposing bending pliers despite the articulated mounting of the opposite end of the bending pliers on the swivel arm. The contact forces exerted on the bending pliers by the swivel drives can be increased as a result of a lever effect for firm and secure pressing onto the rail head.

According to a further advantageous feature of the invention, a guide roller with a double flange and a pair of lifting rollers assigned to the height adjustment drive for engagement under the rail head on between a pair of gripping tools and pressure stamps spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the support frame Support frame arranged. With such, the functionality of e.g. on a tamping machine arranged bending device in no way impairing addition, the track can be leveled immediately after treatment of the rail joint, aligned and supported to create a suitable sleeper support for permanent support of the rail joint.

Further advantages of the invention are achieved in that at least parts of the bending device, in particular the middle pair of bending pliers, at least in the area of the contact surface with the rail head and the guide rollers adjoining on both sides and rotatably connected to the support frame about a horizontal axis, for bending up the rail ends - are coated with a highly heat-resistant and high mechanical strength metal alloy. With this special coating that with the from the welding of red-hot rail joints coming into contact with bending pliers or guide rollers ensures that the opening and bending process will continue to run smoothly even when the contact pressure is high due to the very high forces.

According to a further preferred variant of the invention, it is provided that the bending device for up and down bending of rail joints on a welding machine is arranged with a flash butt welding unit having an integrated shearing device, which machine optionally with a U-shaped for encompassing a Rail section trained, provided with a line for the supply of water cooling tunnel is provided, and that a further bending device for up and in particular downward bending of rail joints is arranged on a tamping machine with a tamping unit and a grinding unit for grinding the rail running surface, preferably the Darning unit is subordinate. With such a machine combination - while largely maintaining the design of machines that have already proven themselves in use - a complete machining of the rail ends is possible for a particularly permanent and exact joint. The bending device arranged on the welding machine, while avoiding loss of time, can advantageously be carried out immediately after the welding and welding bead shearing off the rail joint while it is still glowing from the weld, so that no residual stresses in the rail ends be introduced. The tamping machine can be used to carry out the additional work required only after the welded rail ends have cooled, namely bending downwards and, in order to achieve an improved joint geometry, an exact grinding of the rail joint and tamping. The tamping machine is used to achieve a natural cooling of the rail joint heated by the welding only after a corresponding time interval.

According to a further advantageous feature of the invention, the bending device for bending rail joints up and down arranged on a welding machine with an integrated butt-welding device, which machine is optionally provided with a cooling tunnel, with a further bending device for upward and in particular downward bending of rail joints on a mobile machine with a grinding unit for grinding the Rail running surface and with a device for inserting intermediate layers between the rail and the base plate and with a screw device is arranged. This simpler machine combination is characterized in particular by the fact that a particularly simple machine can be used economically to carry out the finishing work for a precise and permanent impact position. While with the grinding unit it is possible to grind the downward curved, exaggerated rail joint, the device for inserting intermediate layers keeps the sleeper support, which was highly compressed due to the original lowering of the rail joint, unchanged and the height is corrected by inserting intermediate layers.

The machine arrangement can also be designed in accordance with the invention in such a way that, in addition to the bending device, a cooling tunnel connected to a water tank, a warming tunnel connected to gas cylinders and a grinding unit and optionally a welding bead shearing device are provided. This machine arrangement is particularly suitable for the complete treatment of already welded rail joints and is characterized by a particularly simple design. Since there are facilities for both warming up and cooling down the rail ends, they can be bent free of tension immediately after heating and bent back down after cooling with residual stresses.

The invention further relates to a particularly advantageous method for the plastic bending of the rails, which are connected to one another by fusion welding, in the region of butt joints, these rail ends possibly only being welded directly with the aid of the bending device Placing only two spaced-apart abutment pressure stamps on the rail travel surface and grasping the welded rail joint between them centrally by means of a gripping tool or a pair of bending pliers with plastic deformation to a desired height of elevation above the zero level of the rails are lifted using one of the aforementioned machine arrangements according to the invention. The method is characterized according to the invention in that the rail joint is bent up in the course of the welding process, while it is still glowing or, in the case of rails that have already been welded, in a heated state, preferably 3oo ° C., and then the upwardly bent rail joint is at least approximately cooled to ambient temperature and subject to conditions of the pressure stamp on the rail running surface in the area of the rail joint as well as gripping the rail head on both sides by the two outer gripping tools or bending pliers arranged on both sides of the pressure stamp, down to a slight elevation back to the original zero level in the longitudinal vertical plane of the rail, whereupon the rail joint is ground down to zero level in the area of the driving surface. With a method of this type, using the bending device according to the invention for both upward and downward bending of the welded rail ends, the fatigue strength thereof is substantially improved by the fact that a plastic cold deformation in the direction of the sleepers creates pre-stresses which correspond to the direction of the load Counteract train traffic and thus prevent premature lowering of the rail joint. It is essential that the rail joint is only bent up when the rail is red-hot or when the rail ends are already welded, after a correspondingly high degree of heating, so that no residual stresses are introduced during this first bending. As soon as the complete pearlite structure has been reached during natural cooling, the bent rail joint can be cooled down with water to accelerate the subsequent bend towards the sleepers, whereby adverse symmetrical warping is avoided by largely symmetrical sprinkling. By bending the rail joint down to a small amount of cant and then Grinding the rail joint to the exact zero position can further increase the fatigue strength.

A preferred embodiment of the method consists in that the rail joint which has already been welded but at least approximately stress-free reheated by supplying heat (for example up to 300 ° C.) - at a longitudinal distance of approximately 1.2 m from the two abutment pressure stamps resting on the rail running surface - approximately 1o mm is bent up by plastic deformation and, if necessary, is also aligned in the horizontal direction by lateral bending. With the upward bending of the rail ends to such an extent - while avoiding excessive stress on the welded rail joint - a strong prestress can be achieved to achieve a particularly high and permanent fatigue strength. The heating of the rail ends for tension-free bending can also be used in a particularly economical manner for lateral alignment of the rail joint, so that an exact rail joint geometry is present after the bending process has ended.

According to a further advantageous variant of the method, the tension-free heated rail joint, for example up to 3oo ° C, can be raised by a preselected amount of cant and, with the central pressure stamp on the rail joint and applying the outer gripping tools to the rail head, cooled to approximately ambient temperature, after which the rail joint is cooled with continuous measurement of the displacement or bending value in relation to a measuring base formed by the two outer gripping tools that grip the rail head, step by step back to a small, preselected amount of cant, preferably by a few tenths of a millimeter, with the individual bending steps - while maintaining the Clamping the rail head between the gripping tools - each relieves the pressure ram and the bending values automatically with increasing proximity to the preselected amount of camber depending on the measurement taken in the unloaded state values can be reduced. With such a gradual bend is - under constant measurement of the bending path - a precise and uniform deformation for all rail joints to achieve a fatigue strength that is the same for all rail joints. Due to the pressure relief taking place after the downward bend has taken place, the actual plastic deformation path can be determined immediately without any elastic component.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to several exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing and various machine arrangement options, with FIGS. 1 to 5 an advantageous combination of such a machine arrangement or group and FIGS. 6 and 7 a further combination variant of such a machine arrangement demonstrate.

• Fig.1 eine Stopfmaschine mit einer erfindungsgemäßen Biege-Vor­richtung zum Biegen von Schienenstößen in Seitenansicht,
• Fig.2 eine Maschine mit einer Biege-Vorrichtung gemäß der Erfin­dung, einer Schweißwulst-Abschervorrichtung und einem Schleif­aggregat,
• Fig.3 einen Teil einer Schweißmaschine mit vorkragendem Schweiß­aggregat in Seitenansicht,
• Fig.4 eine vergrößerte Seitenansicht der in Fig.1 und 2 darge­stellten Biege-Vorrichtung,
• Fig.5 eine Ansicht der Biege-Vorrichtung in Fig.4 gemäß Pfeil V,
• Fig.6 eine Schweißmaschine mit einer Biege-Vorrichtung in Sei­tenansicht und
• Fig.7 eine Maschine mit einer Biege-Vorrichtung gemäß der Erfin­dung, einer Vorrichtung zum Einführen von Zwischenlagen zwischen Schiene und Unterlagsplatten, einer Schraubeinrichtung und einem Schleifaggregat in jeweils schematisch vereinfachter Darstellung.

Show it:

• 1 a tamping machine with a bending device according to the invention for bending rail joints in a side view,
• 2 shows a machine with a bending device according to the invention, a weld bead shearing device and a grinding unit,
• 3 shows a part of a welding machine with a projecting welding unit in side view,
• 4 shows an enlarged side view of the bending device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
• 5 shows a view of the bending device in FIG. 4 according to arrow V,
• 6 shows a welding machine with a bending device in side view
• 7 shows a machine with a bending device according to the invention, a device for inserting intermediate layers between the rail and the base plates, a screwing device and a grinding unit, each in a schematically simplified representation.

A tamping machine 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be moved on a track formed by rails 2 and concrete sleepers 3. This tamping machine 1 essentially consists of a machine frame 5 supported on rail bogies 4 with a drive 6, a control device 7 and a leveling and straightening reference system 8 with a scanning roller 9. A working cabin 10 is provided between two end cabins. In the working direction of the tamping machine 1 in front of the working cabin 10, which is represented by an arrow 11, a bending device 12 for the plastic downward bending of the ends of these rails 2 is arranged, which can be adjusted in height by means of a height adjustment drive 13. This bending device 12, which can be unrolled or guided by guide rollers on the track, is described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Immediately behind the scanning roller 9 is a tamping unit 15 which is height-adjustable by means of an adjustment drive 14 with tamping tools which can be provided and vibrated by means of auxiliary drives. Finally, a grinding unit 16 is provided as the last working unit, which is connected to the machine frame 5 of the tamping machine 1 via height adjustment drives 17 and a crank drive 18. In order to grind off the rail head surface, sliding blocks 19 are provided which are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the rail and can be vibrated in the longitudinal direction of the track.

The self-propelled machine 2o in FIG. 2 consists of a machine frame 22 supported on rail bogies 21 with a drive 23 and a central control device 24 arranged in a cabin. Between the two rail bogies 21 in a section of the machine frame 22 that is cranked upwards, one is under construction Function and the same bending device 12 arranged according to Figure 1 and height adjustable along a vertical guide 25. A warming-up or cooling tunnel 27, 26 is arranged on both longitudinal sides of the bending device 12, which is articulated on the machine frame 22 so as to be pivotable about an axis running in the longitudinal direction of the machine and is connected to a swivel drive 28. Viewed in cross section, each tunnel 26, 27 is U-shaped to encompass the 2 forming a rail joint 29 formed and has a plurality of nozzles which are connected via lines 3o with a water tank 31 or gas bottles 32. A valve 33 or a pump 34 is arranged in the lines 3o and is connected to the central control device 24 for remote control. A welding bead shearing device 35 is arranged in front of the undercarriage 21 provided beneath the cabin, which is slidably mounted on a vertical guide 36 connected to the undercarriage 21 and is connected to a height adjustment drive 37. The shearing blades 38, which can be pivoted about a vertical axis on a shaving head, can be placed against the rail 2 over the entire circumference of the rail profile and can be displaced longitudinally by two adjusting cylinders 39 arranged on both sides of the rail 2. At the opposite end of the machine there is a grinding unit 4o with slide stones 41 arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the rail for grinding off the rail running surface. The grinding unit 4o is connected to a pendulum drive 43 for height adjustment by a drive 42 and to form a reciprocating vibration working movement running in the longitudinal direction of the rail, which acts on the rail additionally or during the continuous forward movement of the machine.

3 shows a welding machine 44, only partially shown, with a bogie chassis 45 and a drive 46. A flash butt welding unit 47 can be pivoted for welding the installed rails 2 by means of a lever arm and a drive projecting out of the cabin or into it.

The bending device 12 shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 and arranged centrally above the rail joint 29 of the rail 2 consists of a support frame 48 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the rail and which is articulatedly connected to a cantilever arm 49 which is adjustable in height on the chassis frame. The supporting frame 48 consists of two mutually parallel supporting plates 51, which are connected to one another by transverse plates 50, and on which two lifting roller pairs 52, which can be pivoted about an axis running in the longitudinal direction of the frame, are designed to engage under the rail head Deten lifting plates and two guide rollers 53 are mounted with a double flange. In the middle between the two support plates 51 there are three abutment plungers 55 which are arranged at equal distances from one another and are height-adjustable in a hydraulic cylinder 54, the hydraulic cylinders 54 being supported on a horizontal plate connected to the two support plates 51. On both longitudinal sides of the bending device 12, gripping tools 56 are provided in the area of a pressure ram 55, which are formed by two bending pliers 57 lying opposite one another transversely to the longitudinal side of the supporting frame. The end of the bending pliers 57 opposite the hook-side end is each pivotably mounted in an elongated hole 58 with a vertical longitudinal axis of a guide arm 59 connected to the support frame. Each bending pliers 57 is articulated in the end region on the hook side via an axis 6o to a swivel arm 61 which is mounted on the cross plate 5o with its upper end so as to be pivotable about an axis running in the longitudinal direction of the frame.

As FIG. 5 shows, each bending pliers 57 is connected to its own pivoting drive 62, which is articulated on the support frame 48 via a support arm 63. The pivot drives 62 are not shown in FIG. 4 for the sake of a better overview. To control the bending process, a measuring device 64 measuring the deformation or bending path is provided, which consists of two height-adjustable buttons 65 on the support frame 48 on both sides of the middle pair of gripping tools 56 and one button - arranged on the end with two buttons 56 in the area of the outer pair of gripping tools connected - measuring bar 66 is formed. These two outer buttons lie on a support part 67 connected to the outer pressure rams 55, the two inner buttons 65 lie directly on the rail travel surface (FIG. 5). Opposite each of the two outer buttons in the transverse direction are assigned additional buttons for resting on the support part 67. On both sides of the middle pair of bending pliers 57, a height-adjustable displacement transducer 68 with an electrical displacement transducer is provided, which is connected with its lower end region to the associated buttons 65 and abuts the measuring beam 66 with its upper end. The support frame 48 with the plungers 55 and the bending pliers 57 is symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal vertical plane 69 of the rail.

A welding machine 7o shown in FIG. 6 essentially consists of a machine frame 71 with bogie undercarriages arranged at the ends, an energy supply center, a generator and a travel drive 72. All drives can be remotely controlled from a central control device. The welding machine 7o can be moved on a track formed from rails 73 and transverse sleepers 74 made of wood. With 75 a rail joint is designated. A flash-butt welding unit 76 with an integrated weld bead shearing device 77 is arranged in a section of the machine frame 71 which is designed to be cranked upwards, the welding unit 76 being designed to be height-adjustable via a drive. Immediately afterwards, the bending device 12, already described in more detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 and essentially the same in structure and function, is provided for plastic upward and downward bending of the rail ends, which is connected to the machine frame 71 via a height adjustment drive 78 . This bending device 12 differs slightly from the bending device described in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 in that the middle pair of bending pliers 57 in the lower end region and the guide rollers 53 have a highly heat-resistant coating 79 in the form of a metal alloy. Between the welding unit 76 and the bogie undercarriage is a U-shaped cooling tunnel 8o, which is connected to the machine frame and is adjustable in height by drives. This cooling tunnel 8o is connected to a water tank 82 via a line and a pump 81.

Finally, FIG. 7 shows a further machine 83 that can be moved on the track and has a machine frame 84 supported on rail bogies, on which a travel drive 85 and a leveling and straightening reference system 86 are provided. The machine 83 can be moved on a track formed by rails 87 and transverse sleepers 88, intermediate layers 89 for rail leveling being arranged between the sleepers 88 and the rail 87. Between the two rail carriages of machine 83, a screw device 9o is also provided for loosening or fixing the rail fastening screws, and a height-adjustable one with vibrating The grinding unit 91 equipped with sliding blocks is connected to the machine frame 84 with a crank drive 92. In addition, a device 93 is also provided for inserting intermediate layers 89 between rail 87 and the base plate lying on the threshold. This device 93, which is height-adjustable by a drive 94, has two pairs of lifting rollers arranged on a tool frame for gripping the rail head and a pivoting device 95 which can be rotated about a vertical axis by a crank drive. In the lower end region of this pivoting device 95, a support shoe is provided for supporting the intermediate layers 89, which can be displaced from the support shoe in the machine or rail longitudinal direction by a pressure plate 96 connected to a drive. Arranged on the projecting section of the machine frame 84 is a highly schematically illustrated bending device 12, in particular designed for plastic downward bending, which is essentially identical in structure and function to the bending devices already described, in particular according to FIGS. 5 and 6, and which is connected to the machine frame 84 in a height-adjustable manner by a drive.

The functioning of the bending device 12 according to the invention for bending the rail joints of laid tracks is described in more detail below in the context of the following possible and advantageous machine arrangements.

Process variant A Machine arrangement combination of the machines or units and devices for treating non-welded rail joints shown in FIGS. 1 to 5:

The first work step is carried out by the welding machine 44 (FIG. 3) in that the rail ends are welded to one another in the region of the rail joint 29 while the welding unit 47 is being extended and lowered. Immediately afterwards, the further machine 2o is moved to the rail joint 29 in the working direction indicated by an arrow and by lowering the shearing device 35 and applying the shearing knife 38 to the rail 2 by the Ver weld formed weld bead separated. After a further short approach, the bending device 12 is centered over the rail joint (FIG. 2) and, with the gripping tools 56 and lifting rollers 52 spread apart, lowered onto the rail 2 until the guide rollers 53 rest thereon. In order to be able to bend up the rail joint 29, which is still glowing from the welding, the pivoting drives 62 of the two middle bending pliers 57 (FIGS. 4 and 5) are actuated in such a way that they are pressed against the rail 2 below the rail head. The other two pairs of bending pliers remain spread apart. At the same time, the two outer abutment plungers 55 are pressed against the running surface of the rail 2 by actuating the hydraulic cylinder 54. This results in a lifting of the entire bending device 12 and an upward bending of the rail joint 29 detected by the middle bending pliers 57 (FIGS. 4 and 5). This bending process takes place when the rail joint 29 is still heated by the welding process, so that the entire upward bending takes place largely without tension. The bending path is expediently about 10 mm. As soon as the bending device 12 is lifted from the rail 2 after the middle bending tongs 57 have been spread apart, the heated rail ends are cooled down symmetrically by pivoting the cooling tunnel 26 into the position shown in FIG. 2 by spraying water on both longitudinal sides of the rail. The cooling can also take place through the ambient air, however, a longer period of time is required.

The next work step is carried out by the tamping machine 1, in that it is moved with its bending device 12 over the tension-free bent rail joint 29 (FIG. 1). In order to initiate the downward bending, the pairs of bending pliers 57 arranged at the end in the longitudinal direction of the machine are pressed against the rail head, while the bending pliers 57 of the middle pair of bending pliers remain spread apart, ie are not in engagement with the rail 2. As soon as only the middle pressure stamp 55 in the area of the rail joint 29 is lowered onto the running surface of the rail 2, the rail joint 29 bends downward with the formation of residual stresses. This downward bending takes place in an advantageous manner step by step, pressure relief taking place between the individual bending stages in order to be able to determine and measure the actual plastic bending path after the elastic part of the bending has been eliminated. The bending path becomes smaller as the approach to the zero level of the rail 2 increases, in order to avoid overbending. The downward bend is completed as soon as a slight elevation of a few tenths of a millimeter above the zero level of the rail 2 is reached. The tamping machine 1 is then moved in the direction shown by the arrow 11 until the tamping unit 15 is centered over the rail joint 29. After completion of the tamping process, in which the track is brought into the correct target position with the aid of the bending device 12, which simultaneously serves as a track lifting and straightening unit, the rail joint 29, which is a few tenths of a millimeter higher, is ground off by the grinding unit 16 is the treatment of the rail joint 29 to increase the fatigue strength and to create an exact rail joint geometry and an accurate and durable sleeper support in the region of the rail joint 29.

Process variant B Machine arrangement combination of the welding machine 7o shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and the machine 83 for treating rail joints which have not yet been welded:

After the rail joint 75 has been welded by the flash butt welding unit 76, the welding bead formed in this process is immediately cut off with the aid of the integrated shearing device 77. Then the rail joint is bent up by the bending device 12 and by lowering the cooling tunnel 8o via the rail ends welded to one another (FIG. 6) and a corresponding supply of water from the water tank 82, an accelerated cooling. However, this process can also be omitted in that the required cooling takes place naturally through the use of the machine 83 with the aid of the ambient air. As soon as the bent rail joint 75 has cooled, the machine 83 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow to the rail joint, and this is descended with the aid of the projecting bending device 12 in the manner described except for a slight increase bent. This slight elevation is then ground off with the help of the grinding unit 91, so that an exact zero position of the rail joint 75 is reached. Next, in order to level the track, one or more intermediate layers 89 are inserted in the area of the rail joint 75 between the rail and the base plate instead of a tamping. For this purpose, the required number of intermediate layers 89 is placed on the support shoe of the device 93 and the pivoting device 95 is pivoted inward in the direction indicated by a dashed arrow by means of the crank drive, so that the intermediate layers are pressed using the pressure plate 96 connected to a cylinder 89 can be inserted between the rail and the base plate. During this insertion process, the track is held in the desired height position with the aid of the lifting roller pairs arranged on the device 93 and the associated leveling-leveling reference system 86. After this leveling process has ended, the rail fastening means are fastened with the screw device 9o. Such a machine arrangement has the particular advantage that the exact leveling of the rail joint 75 treated can be carried out using a relatively simple but economically advantageous machine.

Process variant C Machine arrangement combination of the welding machine 7o shown in FIG. 6 with a tamping machine 1 according to FIG. 1:

After the previously described welding of the rail joint, subsequent bending up by the bending device 12 and cooling of the rail ends through the cooling tunnel 8o or the ambient air, the bent rail joint is bent downwards with the aid of the bending device arranged on the tamping machine 1 12. The treated rail joint is then immediately stuffed and ground exactly to the zero level of the rails with the aid of the grinding unit 16.

Process variant D Machine arrangement for treating already welded rail joints only by combining the machines shown in FIGS. 1 and 2:

The first step is to warm up the rail ends by pivoting the warm-up tunnel 27 of the machine 20 over the rail joint 29. After ignition of the gas flowing from the gas bottles 32, the rail joint 29 is preferably heated to approximately 300 ° C. The heated rail ends are then bent up by lowering the bending device 12 of the machine 20 onto the rail 2. After the bend has been made, the cooling tunnel 26 can be used for immediate cooling. However, as already mentioned, this can also be done naturally by later using the tamping machine 1. As soon as the bent rail joint 29 has approximately cooled to ambient temperature, it is bent downwards with the aid of the bending device 12 arranged on the tamping machine 1 and then tamped by the tamping unit 15. The remaining slight excess is ground down again by the grinding unit 16 arranged at the end.

Process variant E Machine arrangement for treating already welded rail joints by combining the machines, units and devices shown in Fig. 2 and 7:

This machine arrangement differs from that mentioned in section D in that instead of the tamping machine 1, the machine 83 according to FIG. 7 is used to introduce intermediate layers 94.

Process variant F Machine arrangement for treating already welded rail joints with the machine 2o according to FIG. 2 and its devices:

With this machine 2o, as already described, after the rail joint 29 has been heated, the subsequent upward bending and the subsequent cooling of the heated rail joint 29, the plastic bending downward can advantageously also be carried out by the same bending device 12. The remaining slight increase is then indicated using the end ordered sanding unit 4o. In this variant of the method, the sleepers 3 arranged in the area of the rail joint 29 are only tamped, for example, as part of an already planned work on the track.

Claims (12)

1. Machine arrangement for the "plastic" bending of the ends of welded or non-welded rails in the area of the rail joints of the rails by means of a height-adjustable bending device on a machine frame that can be moved via rail bogies, with a support frame that is height-adjustable via a drive is provided against the rail running surface, is provided with a hydraulic pressure and height adjustable pressure stamp, and has at least one gripping tool designed for gripping the rail and which can be loaded hydraulically, characterized in that the bending device (12) for plastic downward bending of the rail ends in the longitudinal vertical plane of the rail (69) and - for grasping the rail head on both sides of the rail joint in the longitudinal direction of the rail - each has such a gripping tool (56), the pressure stamp (55) - for contacting the rail travel surface - in the middle between the two gripping tools (56) is arranged. 2. Machine arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that a bending device (12) is preferably assigned to each rail track and that the bending device (12) for plastic upward and downward bending of the rail ends in the longitudinal vertical plane of the rail (69) is formed is. 3. Machine arrangement according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that in the longitudinal direction of the rail on both sides of the centrally arranged and designed as a piston of a hydraulic cylinder-piston arrangement pressure ram (55) each, preferably arranged at the same distance from this and serving as an abutment , hydraulically actuated pressure ram (55) is provided, with a total of three pressure rams arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the rail, each having its own gripping tool (56) which is preferably in the form of pliers. 4. Machine arrangement according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that each gripping tool (56) is formed by two mutually opposite bending pliers (57) transverse to the longitudinal direction of the supporting frame, each being designed to engage under the rail head and on the supporting frame (48) Bending pliers (57), which are mounted so as to be pivotable in the longitudinal direction of the machine, are connected to their own hydraulic pivoting drive (62), and preferably the end of the bending pliers or the gripping tool (56, 57) opposite the hook-side end is in each case in an elongated hole (58) A vertical longitudinal axis of a guide arm connected to the support frame (48) is pivotably mounted. 5. A machine arrangement according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that a guide roller (53) with a double flange and a transversely to the longitudinal frame direction can be provided between each of a pair of gripping tools and pressure stamps (56, 55) spaced apart in the longitudinal frame direction Height adjustment drive (13) assigned to the lifting roller pair (52) for engaging under the rail head on the support frame (48). 6. Machine arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least parts of the bending device (12), in particular the middle pair of bending pliers (57) at least in the region of the contact surface with the rail head and the two adjacent to a horizontal Guide rollers (53) rotatably connected to the support frame (48) for bending the rail ends are coated with a highly heat-resistant and high mechanical strength metal alloy. 7. Machine arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the bending device for up and down bending of rail joints on a welding machine (7o) with an integrated shear device (77) having a flash butt welding unit (76) is which machine may have a U-shape for enclosing a rail Cut-shaped cooling tunnel (8o) connected to a line for the supply of water, and that a further bending device (12) for upward and downward bending of rail joints on a tamping machine (1) with a tamping unit (15 ) and a grinding unit (16) for grinding the rail running surface, preferably arranged downstream of the tamping unit (Fig. 6, 1). 8. Machine arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the bending device (12) for bending up and down rail joints on a welding machine (7o) with an integrated shear device (77) having a flash butt welding unit (76) is arranged, which machine is optionally provided with a cooling tunnel (8o) and that a further bending device (12) for upward and in particular downward bending of rail joints on a mobile machine (83) with a grinding unit for grinding off the rail running surface and with a device (93) for inserting intermediate layers between the rail and the base plate and with a screwing device (9o) (Fig. 6,7). 9. Machine arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that in addition to the bending device (12) with a water tank (31) communicating cooling tunnel (26), a gas cylinder in connection with the heating tunnel (27) and a Grinding unit (4o) and optionally a weld bead shearing device (35) is provided (Fig.2). 1o. Process for the plastic bending of the rail ends of rails laid by a fusion weld in the area of butt joints, whereby these rail ends may only be welded directly with the aid of the bending device by placing only two spaced-apart abutment pressure stamps on the rail running surface and detecting the center between them welded rail joint by a gripping tool or a pair of bending pliers with plastic deformation to a desired cant dimension above the zero level of the rails be lifted up, with a machine arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the rail joint is bent up during the welding process in the still glowing or, in the case of already welded rails, in the heated state, preferably 3oo ° C, and then the upwardly bent rail joint is at least Approximately cooled to ambient temperature and with the pressure stamp resting on the rail running surface in the area of the rail joint as well as gripping the rail head on both sides by the two outer gripping tools or bending pliers arranged on both sides of the pressure stamp except for a slight increase to the original zero level in the rail Longitudinal vertical plane is bent downwards, whereupon the rail joint in the area of the running surface is ground exactly to the zero level. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 1o, characterized in that the already welded, but at least approximately stress-free reheated rail joint by heat (for example up to 3oo ° C) - at a longitudinal distance of about 1.2 m of the two on the rail running surface abutting abutment pressure stamp - is bent up about 1o mm by plastic deformation and, if necessary, is also aligned in the horizontal direction by lateral bending. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1o or 11, characterized in that the rail joint is lifted substantially free of tension and raised by a preselected amount of overlap with the central pressure stamp on the rail joint and applying the external gripping tools to the rail head approximately to ambient temperature, after which the Rail joint with continuous measurement of the displacement or bending value in relation to a measuring base formed by the two outer gripping tools that grip the rail head, is gradually bent back to a small, preselected amount of cant, preferably by a few tenths of a millimeter, with the individual bending stages - while maintaining the clamping of the rail head between the gripping tools - each relieves the pressure system pels takes place and the bending values are automatically reduced with increasing proximity to the preselected amount of cant depending on the measured values taken in the unloaded state.

Images