GB1450161A - Railroad car handling and classification apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1450161 Traversers W A STERNAD 31 Aug 1973 41097/73 Heading B8E [Also in Division B7] A railroad car handling and classification apparatus comprises an elongated rectangular pit 4 in a railroad car yard; a plurality of parallel car receiving, classification and assembly tracks 2a-2e and 6a-6e on opposite sides of the pit 4 and terminating at the opposite side edges 4b of the pit; a wheeled traverser bridge 12 in the pit laterally shiftable back and forth on tracks 16-19 by conveyer chains 28, 30 powered by an hydraulic motor (44) described with reference to Figs. 9 and 10 (not shown); a railroad car track 14 on the bridge 12, the track 14 and the tracks 2a-2e, 6a-6e being at the same elevation ; wherein the bridge 12 has mounted thereon an endless multiple link chain conveyer 76 provided with at least two oppositely directed and oriented coupling elements 120, 121 formed in a pair 114 or 115 which coupling elements extend by means of an upright extension 116 of the chain to positions above the track 14, where in use of the apparatus, they are selectively positively and lockably engageable with a complementary shaped coupling at one or other end of a railroad car to be pulled onto the track 14 from a track 2a or 6a or pushed off the track 14 on to one of the tracks 2b-2e or 6b-6e. The conveyer 76 is drivable in opposite directions by two pairs of hydraulic motors 86, (87), Fig. 7 (not shown), described with reference to Fig. 4 (not shown). Two pairs 114 and 115 of coupling elements 120, 121 are provided on the chain 76 spaced at less than 180 degrees apart so that they may both be disposed at the outer side of the rail 14a of the track 14 to permit cars to pass unheeded over the bridge 12. In order to achieve this the ends of the rail 14a, Fig. 3, are each formed with longitudinally and transversely movable segments 14c and 14d respectively, which can be moved by hydraulic cylinders 134 and 135 respectively, to allow passage of the coupling elements around the ends of the rail 14a. The railroad car yard has a through track 1 from which cars can be switched by conventional means to the track 2a or 6a.