FR2693966A1 - Combined road vehicle on rail transport by turntable loader - has two diametrically opposite platforms at right angles to railway with turntable diameter larger than rail wagon wheelbase - Google Patents

Abstract

The road vehicle is loaded onto the railway low loader (1), on a turntable (2). There are two road platforms (3), for loading and unloading. The turntable diameter may be larger than the extreme railway wagon wheelbase, but less than its overall length. It rotates by approximately a right angle from the railway to load platform positions. The two load platforms may be symmetrical about the turntable centre, their common axis making an angle equal or less than a right angle, to the railway. ADVANTAGE - Direct access to railway low loader and efficient in quality and quantity of traffic, requiring less driver skills.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of combined rail-road transport.

These transports, which consist in having the goods transported part of the journey by rail (or VF) to replace the road (or VR), the latter remaining only in a portion upstream and downstream part in the future, will increasingly be favored by a public opinion concerned with ecology, security and public health. The public authorities themselves will have to regulate RV transport further.

The rail-road link is therefore expected to grow considerably. However, the techniques currently used to provide this link have drawbacks and crippling handicaps which, instead of uniting, disunite and encircle some on "everything against the road" and others, including road carriers, on of "everything against the rail"! At present, there are three rail-road link systems: containerization on the one hand, and semi-trailers on the other, and the so-called "Rollende Strasse" system in Germany and Switzerland. (and to which we can relate the system called "piggy back" in the United States and that we quote here for memory). To properly measure the importance of the invention that will be described here, let us quickly recall these three systems.

Containerization requires, starting from the VF as at its arrival, a large container handling site as well as storage and transit areas and warehouses, as the flow of goods is rarely tight. In addition, the load interruptions that occur on these sites require the implementation of two tractors with each their pilot, different: one for the VR upstream, and the other for VR downstream. As a result, the majority of transport companies, which are medium-sized or small companies, can not afford to manage all such transport: they give up control during the journey (upstream companies). or only take it during the journey (downstream companies).

Another system, palletization, is analogous to containerization.

If the container is loaded from the side of the wagon which is not separated from the other wagons of its train, the loading of a semi-trailer is done on an isolated wagon of its train and by an end wharf wagon. This car is specialized for this only transport of semi-trailers.

The boarding maneuver is delicate and requires an experienced pilot. Finally there is a load break, which causes the same disadvantage as containerization: tractors and different drivers upstream and downstream.

The system of the "Rollende Strasse" is a complete train of low-floor flat cars. Road vehicles ride on the train at a wharf at the end of the train and roll from one wagon to the other until their wagon load: it is a sensitive and risky maneuver, both on boarding than on landing. Finally, embedded vehicles form a whole: none of them can board or disembark autonomously ... It is a heavy, rigid system that can not be developed.

The techniques that we will describe and which is the subject of the present invention, does not require a load break as with the containerization, or separation of the car and breakage of load as with the semi-trailers, nor embarkation (or landing) to the tail-leu-leu as with the "Rollende Strasse". It is a technique that combines direct access to the wagon as a side wharf and boarding (or landing) directly on the wagon by a wharf at the end of the wagon, independently, without separating the wagon, without breaking the load and moving forward!
Vocabulary.

We call "burying a road vehicle" (from the Greek prefix "epi": upper position or "on"), boarding and transporting on a railway wagon a road vehicle conforming to the standards defined by the Code of the Road, the vehicle boarding the wagon thanks to its own driving force.

Bleeding by an "end platform" is the one made in the Rollende Strasse.

Bleeding by "side quay", which would allow direct access to the wagon, does not exist for road vehicles. It is technically impossible, because the space of maneuver materially necessary is not available by lateral access.

"Pseudo-lateral" weeding is the subject of the present invention. It is a technique that brings together three types of equipment in a new set: an approach platform, located on the side of the wagon; a flat carrier car aligned in its train and positioned on a turntable; finally this turntable which, by rotation, positions the wagon in the axis of the lateral wharf which thus becomes an end platform. A "pseudo-lateral" weed wharf is lateral only in the approach phase of the wagon by the vehicle; for embarkation itself it really works like an end platform: it's a fake (ie: pseudo) side platform.

We call the "pseudo-lateral box" the facility that allows the loading (or unloading) of a road vehicle directly onto its carrier wagon by presenting itself directly on its side flank and without passing through an end wharf. rowing.

We call "Burrowing Station" a set of burrworm stations the size of a complete train of wagons.

In the text and in the figures that follow, the parts relating to the wagon are numbered (1 n); those relating to the turntable are numbered (2n); those relating to the wharf are numbered (3n); the connecting elements between two stations are numbered (4n).

Figure 1 shows a view of the car (1) and the wagon (1 ') each carrying a laden vehicle.

Figure 2 shows an end of the plate (11) of the wagon (1) or (1 ').

Figure 3 shows a horizontal plane of the turntable (2), the wagon not being shown. In broad lines, the plate (24) and its rails (26) are shown in the "track" position, ie the wagon which it carries is thus aligned in its train; dotted end they are in position "pontoon", that is to say that the wagon is then butted at the dock (3).

FIG. 4 represents two successive rotating plates in the "track" position with each its load of wagon (1) and vehicle.

Figure 5 shows the junction of the fixed rails (41) on the one hand and the movable rails (26) of the turntable on the other hand; two wagons carrying their load are butted in "track" position.

FIG. 6 represents the end of the plate (24) in the "wharf" position, the wagon (1) being drawn by (31);
on this view, a vehicle is embarked.

Figure 7 is a simplified perspective view of a brewing station; the wagon (1) is in the "track" position.

The phases of a boarding (Fig. 3, 7)
The road vehicle is waiting on the platform (3). The car (1) is in "track" position on the turntable (2), ie in its place in the train but uncoupled. The plate rotates at an angle and places the end of the wagon facing the platform (3). A wharf (31) joins the wharf to the wagon and the vehicle embarks forward (fig 6). The wharf is removed and a reverse rotation brings the loaded wagon into its oar.

We see that the maneuver is broken down into a small number of simple operations. The boarding itself is simple, since it is done walk-in and forward. It is the same with the landing at the end of the journey VF: the succession of operations is done in the same way, but the landing is done by the platform opposite, also plainpied and forward.

The wagon (1)
Designed to carry heavy and large road sets, the wagon (1, 1 '; fig 1) is a low-level flat car for routes which it does not engage, in charge, the template. It must also allow, at normal speeds, a sufficient total authorized mass.

Given the simplicity of boarding and disembarking maneuvers, which are walk-in and forward, they will have to study the introduction of low-loader type 1 '(fig 1).

Regardless of the model chosen, the bumpers and hitches are located at a level lower than that (N, fig 6) of the wagon platform surface and the wharf level, to allow wharf docking and maneuvering. road vehicle.

To allow a simple management of the park, each wagon must be able to occupy the head of oar and be able to be coupled to the motor. To this end, each car is equipped with a constant structure to adapt standardized and removable bumpers and hitch. In total, for either model (1) or (1 '), the coupling and buffing systems are also lowered, but can be replaced or raised to allow coupling with a hitch or buffers universal level.

 The wagon (1) or (1 ') comprises at both ends of its tray two recesses (14) for the fitting of the corresponding parts of the wharf (31) .The lateral sides of the plate (11; horizontal boards (12; fig 2) to serve as guides and guardrails.

At each end of the car, a profile (13; fig 2) is embedded in the plate (11). Its dimensions and structure will be sufficient for two of these pieces, coming from the end of two consecutive wagons in the train, to serve as emergency wharf between these two consecutive wagons or between a wagon and an end wharf. These profiled structures must be light enough to be handled and put in place by a team of two men.

The turntable (2)
Figure 3 is a horizontal plane of the turntable in "track" position, the wagon is not shown.

The realization of the turntable is done according to existing techniques with however particularities, the two most important are: - its rotation is limited to an angular sector a <90, always the same; - it must withstand without damage the repeated and frequent passage of trains of flat wagons carrying heavy road vehicles.

Its rotation being limited and always the same between the position "track" and the position "pontoon", the design of the central pivot (21, fig 3, 4), that of the undercarriage and suspension (22; , 5, 6), as well as raceways (23; FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6) - or / and all other elements to fulfill these various functions - is simplified. Moreover, the plate (24; FIG. 3) is not circular as in a conventional turntable, but has the shape of a rectangle whose short sides (25 FIG. 3) have an adequate radius of curvature. The foundation masonry (210; fig 3, 4, 5, 6) will also be reduced due to the limited rotation of the plate.

The diameter of the turntable, ie substantially the length of the rails (26; FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6), is greater than the center distance E of the extreme axles and less than the overall length. L of the wagon (FIG. 1) two consecutive plates are not tangent but separated by a distance (d) (FIG. 3, 4) on the track.

When the plate is in "track" position, the rails (26) are in continuity with those (41), fixed, length (d), which connect the turntable to the following (3, 4, 5).

These fixed rails (41; FIGS. 3, 4, 5) are carried by a masonry platform (42; FIG. 3, 4, 5) located at the same level (S) as the plate (24; FIG. 5, 6) and the masonry (32, fig 3, 6) of the platform (3). The masonry (42) and (32) being at the same level (S), they are advantageously constructed in one piece (FIG. 3).

When the plate is in position "pontoon", it is at an angle with the track and the wagon (1) is then abutted at the dock (3) (Figure 3: dashed lines, wagon not shown, fig 6). The wagon (1) can then be drawn by (31; fig 3, 6) to one of the platforms (3) for boarding forward, or to the other wharf for landing in the forward direction: the wharf (3 ) and the car bed are at the same level (N, fig 3, 6).

When the plate is in the "track" position, it will have to bear safely, without wear and fatigue, at the start or the finish of the trains, the traffic of wagons heavily loaded with heavy road vehicles. This particular constraint to this realization will have to be taken into account in the development of its architecture, which will have to give to the assembly a sufficient rigidity to resist shocks, vibrations and deformations induced by the circulating wagons.

This condition being fulfilled, it remains to immobilize the plate, to wedge when it is in "track" position so that the tracks (26) and (41; fig 3, 4, 5) remain aligned to the passage of the wheels of the cars. For this purpose, a set of cylinders (27, Figs 3, 4, 5, 6) set in
the foundation masonry (210) and which, in immobilization of the plate, bear from below vertically and / or horizontally on the supporting architecture (29, fig 4, 5, 6) of the plate.

Any other locking system can be realized or added from
it contributes to securing the rails (26) of the plate, for example a system based in the supporting structure (29) of the plate and supporting vertically or horizontally in the foundation brickwork (210) of the plate .

Identical cylinders (28, fig 3, 6) immobilize the plate when
is in the wagon's landing position.

The plate is thus able to fulfill its rotation function and its bearing function.

The dock (3)
Two docks (3, fig 3, 6, 7) facing each other symmetrically with respect to the center of rotation of the plate, and making with the channel the angle a <900, serve, one at the boarding, the other landing. These maneuvers must be simple, easy but nevertheless safe, they are done on the same level (level N, fig 3, 6) and are1 barely implement some basic procedures, maneuvers banal within the reach of any driver of the vehicle truck
The distance between the two symmetrical platforms (3, Fig. 3, 7) is a few decimeters larger than the overall length (L, Fig. 1) of the wagon. A docking device (31; 3, 6, 7) is domiciled in the wharf and makes the junction between the wagon and the wagon when the wagon is in the wharf position. For information only, such a device the wharf may consist of a drawbridge or a system of horizontal stretchers, the mechanism of which is housed in the masonry of the wharf. The wharf is supported on the end of the wagon in housings (14, Figs 2, 4, 5, 6).

This wharf is at the N level of the wagon platform (N, fig 4, 6). It has a depth, along the longitudinal axis of the wagon in position "jetty", sufficient to allow a road coupling of great length to arrive at embarkation in perfect alignment with the wagon. The ramp leading to this N level wharf is part of the annex infrastructure of the burrowing station.

The pseudo-lateral strawberry station
The loading of a complete train requires at least one sturdy post; at best, it requires as many wagoning stations as the wagon consists of wagons: a worming station of n Posts can load simultaneously a train of n wagons. At its point of destination, this trainset will be unloaded by a boring station of n Post at best, at least one Post.

 It should be noted that it is advantageous if all the brewing stations are strictly identical, within the same station, as in the different stations of the same network, which supposes a rigorous standardization of materials that have been described.

A sturgeon station can serve several routes: it is then a sturgeon station.

A sturgeon station may have one or more
Packing stations; it can be connecting station between two routes.

Movements and coordination
On arriving and departing the train, cars move on the track from one turntable to another. When they pass from one plate to another, they print horizontal vibrations to the rails (26, Fig. 3) despite the immobilization already carried out by the devices (27, Fig. 3, 4, 5) described above. To prevent these disturbances from adding up to generating a resonance phenomenon, two consecutive rotating plates are not tangent, but separated by a fixed track portion (41; FIGS. 3, 4, 5). The length (d) (fig 3, 4) of this fixed track portion will be equal to the difference between the overall length
L of the wagon (fig 1) and the diameter of the plate, with the adjustments for the rails.

(If D is the diameter of the plate: d = L-D).

This fixed track portion thus contributes to ensuring the horizontal stability of the trucks and reduces the oscillations of the rotating plates. Its length (d) should be as large as possible, consistent with the dimensions of the wagon and the plate (ie L-D as large as possible).

Under these conditions, the repeated passage of oars on the turntables can be done without damage, provided of course that traction and braking are done very gradually.

 It is the same with regard to the rotation a of the turntable. It is conducted slowly enough so that there is no tangential acceleration that would create actions on the weed masses.

From the moment the train is in place and the wagons positioned on the turntables, the operations follow one another in a precise order, for example: tightening the brakes; uncoupling of wagons; removing the wedging (27) of the plate; rotation of the angle plate a; wedging the plate by (28); wagon landing; boarding of the road vehicle; stowage operations of the vehicle; disappointment; removing the wedging (28); rotation of the plate with wagon and vehicle; setting the plate by (27) in the "track" position; hooking up of wagons ....

At each brewing station, each operation is started when the previous one is finished. With the exception of boarding and stowage, these operations may be coordinated from a central control booth and to which each Post is intercommunicated.

Industrial and economic importance
If the rail-road link, as expected, is to develop, the pseudo-lateral patch is the most effective response in terms of quality and quantity. It is the only system that, over the entire transport and in each of its phases, ensures: simplicity, flexibility, safety, speed and freedom, all values dear to road hauliers and their customers. It is also a response to economic and even restrictive policies, which will certainly be affected by major road infrastructure projects.

To serve a burrow route, two burrowing stations are required: one station at each end of the route. By multiplying the routes, we multiply the Stations and therefore the stations of maw. A station can serve several routes. Since the equipment must be rigorously standardized in the same network, it is conceivable that the development of the system will lead to industrial production, the importance of which will be sufficient to reduce the costs.

As you can imagine, a burrow route does not connect two cities, but two regions. Given the ease and safety of embarkation and disembarkation the technique can easily be extended to passenger cars.

All in all, the conditions of long distance road traffic, whatever its nature, will be modified by the implementation of this new technology.

Claims (10)

claims 1.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a Railway car, characterized in that it is organically constituted of a carrier wagon (1) or (1 ') in place in its train , a turntable (2) on which the car is positioned, and a double platform (3) for embarkation and disembarkation. 2.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to claim 1, characterized in that the carrier wagon has a bearing surface constituted by a lowered plate (1) or (1 ') ) capable of carrying a heavy, long-length combination of vehicles as permitted by the Highway Traffic Act, and whose hitching and buffing systems are also lowered, but which may be replaced or raised to allow coupling with a hitch and universal level buffers. 3.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the turntable (2) has a diameter greater than the center distance ( E) the end axles of car (1) or (1 ') and less than the overall length (L) of that car; in that it is keyed to a "track" position or to a "wharf" position separated by a rotation a <900 and in that it can carry the heavier wagons in load allowed to circulate at normal speed. 4.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "allgant on a railway car according to claims 1, 2 and 3, characterized in that the platform (3) is formed of two quays symmetrical with respect to the center of rotation of the turntable (2), that their common axis, passing through the center of rotation of the plate, makes with the direction of the track the angular sector measuring a <900, that their flanges, perpendicular to their common axis , are spaced from each other by a length greater than a few decimetres to the overall length (L) of the wagon (1) or (1 '), that their height places them at (N) ) of the wagon platform (1) or (1 '), and that they carry in their masonry the mechanism which controls the wharf (31) which connects, during the actual embarkation or disembarkation maneuver, the wagon at dock. 5.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to claims 1, 2 and 3, characterized in that the wedging of the turntable (2) is by a system of jacks (27) in the "track" position, or (28) in the "jib" position, based in the foundation brickwork (210) of the plate and supported from below vertically or horizontally on the supporting structure (29) of the plate, or / and conversely based in the supporting structure (29) of the plate and bearing vertically or horizontally in the foundation brickwork (210) of the plate. 6.) Loading station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to claim 4, characterized in that the drawbar system (31), in the form of drawbridge folding vertically or stretchers closing horizontally, has a minimum length of a few decimetres, its ends fitting into housing (14) arranged in the tray of the car (1) or (1 '). 7.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to claim 6, characterized in that the car (1) or (1 ') has at both ends of its plateau two housing (14) for embedding the corresponding parts of the wharf (31). 8.) Embarkation station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to all of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is part of a set of n identical positions, or Station, arranged one after the other and can accommodate a train of n cars (1) or (1 '). 9.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to claim 8, characterized in that two consecutive stations are separated by a fixed track portion (41; 42) whose length is equal to the difference between the overall length (L) of the car (1) or (1 ') and the diameter of the turntable. 10.) Boarding station of a road vehicle "toutvenant" on a railway car according to all of the preceding claims, characterized in that each car (1) or (1 ') door, recessed in each end its deck, a removable bridge element (13), for emergency wharf between two consecutive wagons or between a wagon and an end wharf.