GB2081781A - Rail Handling Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Rail handling apparatus for handling lengths of rail which comprises a storage zone for rail provided on at least one rail wagon, a carrier unit 31, drive means for said carrier unit, at least one rail gripping mechanism 32 associated with said carrier unit and supporting means 51 for said carrier unit arranged to extend longitudinally of one or more wagons, said drive means being arranged to drive the carrier unit along the supporting means, and the rail gripping mechanism being capable of moving a rail gripped thereby transversely to the axis of said supporting means. Various means are described to enable the carrier unit to transfer from the supporting means on one wagon to the supporting means on an adjacent wagon aligned for misalignment thereof. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Rail Handling Apparatus This invention relates to railway handling apparatus.

It is known to transport and unload in position long lengths of welded rail. The rails are held in position on a train of wagons each wagon being provided with a series of rollers on which the rail can be moved. The wagons are designed to take a number of lengths of welded rail, for example three or four tiers of eight lengths of rail although other arrangements are possible. The rail which has been removed for replacement remains in lengths disposed either inside or outside the new rail and its removal presents a problem.

One method which is employed is to cut the rail into shorter lengths which can more easily be loaded and carried on a single wagon but this is time consuming and also wasteful as it is often possible to utilise lengths of rail which are replaced on main lines for less critical applications such as branch lines, marshalling yards, sidings etc.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rail handling apparatus which can be utilised for handling mechanically lengths of rail.

A further object is to provide apparatus which can transport and unload lengths of rail in a desired position and also pick up and transport lengths of rail from a site where they have been replaced by fresh rails.

According to one aspect of the present invention we provide rail handling apparatus for handling lengths of rail which comprises a carrier unit provided with drive means adapted to be engageable with support means and to drive the carrier unit along said supporting means, said carrier unit also being provided with at least one rail gripping mechanism which is provided with a gripping element for gripping a rail to be handled, the mechanism being capable of moving the gripping element transversely with respect to the direction in which the carrier unit is adapted to be driven along the supporting means.

According to another aspect of the present invention we provide rail handling apparatus for handling lengths of rail which comprises a storage zone for rail provided on at least one rail wagon, a carrier unit, drive means for said carrier unit, at least one rail gripping mechanism associated with said carrier unit and supporting means for said carrier unit arranged to extend longitudinally of one or more wagons, said drive means being arranged to drive the carrier unit along the supporting means, and the rail gripping mechanism being capable of moving a rail gripped thereby transversely to the axis of said supporting means.

Advantageously, the supporting means comprises a length of rail of any suitable crosssection supported on pillars on the wagon and extending longitudinally of the wagon. If desired two lengths of such rail can be provided along or adjacent to each side edge of the wagon or a single length of rail can be provided centrally of the wagon. In the latter case it is necessary to provide some form of stabilising means and this may comprise stabilizing rails of any suitable cross-section extending along or adjacent to each side edge of the wagon. The supporting means and/or the stabilising means may comprises rail having a head and web, as conventional railway rails.

In a preferred construction the drive means comprises at least one driven roller which is held in contact with the rail so as to provide sufficient driving friction. One effective way of providing sufficient friction is to dispose the driven roller in contact with the web on the rail with a second roller, which may also be driven, urged into contact with the opposite side of the rail web.

Drive units incorporating four such driven rollers, two on each side of the web have been found to be satisfactory and it is preferred to drive each roller by an individual hydraulic motor. Other arrangements, such as smaller or larger numbers of rollers and common drive motors are, of course, possible.

The rail gripping means may comprise a rail gripping element carried at the end of a pivoted arm, both the arm and the gripping element preferably being hydraulically operated.

Alternatively the rail gripping elements may be carried by other means for lifting the rail such as a rope and pulley or chain and sprocket system.

Where two supporting rails are provided the necessary friction can be generated by urging the drive rollers outwardly into contact with the inner sides of the supporting rail webs or drawing them inwardly into contact with the outer sides of the supporting rail webs. Alternatively drive units as described above can be employed to act on both sides of the web of one or both supporting rails.

The loaded lengths of rail may extend over a number of wagons in a train and in order to accommodate this the supporting means and stabilising means for the carrier will extend along each wagon in the train; for example 600 ft lengths of rail will extend over ten 60 ft wagons.

The wagons are held firmly in position in the storage zone of each wagon during transportation and can flex sufficiently to accommodate misalignment of the wagons. When loading the rail onto the wagons however, there will also be possible misalignment.

One possible misalignment is a vertical misalignment. In order to overcome this problem the support rails may be provided with bevelled ends and the drive units carrying the drive rollers resiliently mounted in the movable carrier unit.

The drive units may carry guide rollers which contact the bevelled ends and the head of the rail to guide the units onto the rail of the next wagon.

Another possible misalignment is angular misalignment due to a curve in the track on which the train is standing. One way of compensating for this is to provide means for retracting the drive rollers from their driving position as they pass over the gap between adjacent wagons and then for urging them into driving contact after they have passed over the gap. Conveniently, the retraction and extension is controlled by detection devices such as micro-switches, which detect the gap in the rail.

In one particular construction where two pairs of driver rollers are employed in each drive means each pair can be articulated together about a pivot fixed relative to the carrier unit.

A third possible misalignment which can occur is a cant variation which is at a maximum at the outer edges of the wagon. In order to compensate for this outriggers can be provided on each side of the carrier unit. The outriggers can carry the stabilising rollers, which are biased downwardly with respect to the carrier unit for a system using a central supporting rail or, alternatively, can carry the drive units of a system using a pair of supporting rails Referring to the accompanying drawings:: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of a railway train used for transporting lengths of welded rail; Figure 2 is part end elevation of a modified wagon and carrier unit according to the invention; Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of one form of modified wagon and carrier unit according to the invention; Figure 4A is a schematic side elevation of one form of rail gripping means; Figure 4B is a view in the direction of arrow A on Figure 4A; Figure 5 is a side elevation of a carrier unit according to the invention; Figure 6 is a plan view of one of the driving means shown in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a schematic plan view showing how the mounting of the driving means enables negotiation of curved track;; Figure 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D are schematic illustrations showing yhe sequential movements of a carrier unit bridging a pair of adjacent wagons; Figure 9 is a schematic illustration showing one form of mounting of the driving means shown in Figure 6: Figure 10 is a plan view showing the drive rollers opening to cross from one wagon to an adjacent wagon; and Figure 11 is a schematic end elevation showing one form of attaching outrigger on the carrier unit.

Referring to Figure 1 the train comprises an engine 10 having guards vans 11 and 12, and a number of rail-carrying wagons 1 6. This arrangement is conventional in that it is used for laying long lengths (e.g. 600 ft.) of welded rail which are unloaded from the train in the desired position.

Each conventional wagon is modified to make it suitable for use in the apparatus of the invention. Firstly, series of rollers 33 are provided at two positions across each wagon, the rollers being arranged to support lengths of rail, for example in three rows of eight rails, as shown schematically in Figure 2. The upper two iayers of rails are carried on rollers 33 mounted on members which are pivotable relative to the central pillar 50 so that the rails can be unloaded consecutively from the top layer, the middle layer and finally the bottom layer. Once the wagons are empty they can then be re-loaded in the reverse order with the rails that have been replaced by fresh rail and then transported to another site, where they may, if desired, be re-used.

The modified wagon shown in Figure 2 is shown schematically with a movable carrier unit 31 thereon, the carrier unit 31 being arranged to move lengthwise along the train of wagons in a manner which will be described hereinafter.

Referring to Figure 2 each modified wagon 16 incorporates a series of central pillars 50 which are similar to existing pillars upon which the roller carriers for the layers of rails above the bottom layer are rotatably mounted. In addition to the centre pillars two series of side pillars 51 are provided. The centre pillars 50 carry at their upper ends a supporting rail 52 which extends along the length of each wagon and receives a drive unit 53 of the movable carrier unit 31. The carrier unit 31 extends across the width of the wagon and is stabilised at its sides by stabilisers 56 carrying stabilising rollers 54 which engage with a stabilising rail 55 on each of the supporting pillars 51.

The movable carrier unit 31 is arranged to run upon the supporting rail 52 of the wagons to load or unload rail on or off the wagons.

As illustrated schematically in Figure 3 the carrier unit is provided with a pair of rail gripping means 32. The rails 28 are drawn onto the wagons by gripping them with the gripping means 32 and moving the carrier unit 31 along the train, the deposition of the rail gripping means 32 being such as to direct the rails onto the desired rollers 33. The rail gripping means 32 are movable transversly of the carrier unit 31 and are also pivotable so as to grip rails outside the width of the wagons.

One form of rail gripping means 32 is shown in Figures 4A and 4B. The gripping means 32 is secured to the body of the movable carrier unit 31 by means of a swivel post 20 which enables the gripping means to pivot about a vertical axis. The gripping means comprises a first arm 21 pivoted to a second arm 22 and carrying at its lower end a gripping element 23 attached to the arm 22 by a universal joint 24 or alternatively by mutual perpendicular pivots. Movement of the arms 21 and 22 relative to one another and relative to the carrier unit 31 is effected by means of hydraulic rams 25 and 26.

The rail gripping element 23 comprises a pair of gripping hooks 27 provided with optional friction pads 27a which can locate under the head of the rail 28 and are controlled by means of the hydraulic ram 29. By virtue of this arrangement the gripping hooks 27 can be extended into a position disposed about the rail 28 and the ram 29 operated to the grip the rail. Appropriate control of the rams 25 and 26 will then serve to draw the rail towards the carrier unit 31 which can then be driven along the train to draw the rail into the desired position on the rollers 33. The rail gripping means 32 may be moved transversely relative to the carrier unit 31 by a double acting ram 13.

The facility for pivoting about the vertical axis by means of the swivel post 20 is necessary in order to ensure that the rails are guided into the correct transverse position for engagement with the appropriate rollers 33.

The carrier unit 31 is shown in side elevation in figure 5 which shows schematically the position of the three drive units 53, each drive unit being as shown in plan in Figure 6. Each drive unit 53 comprises two pairs of drive rollers 40 carried by vertical roller carriers 41 urged into contact with the web of the rail 52 by means of hydraulic rams 42. These rams ensure that the rollers 40 are urged into contact with the flange of the rail 52 with a force sufficient to generate enough friction to haul the carrier unit 31 and the pair of gripped rails along the length of the train. The rotation of the rollers is effected by means of hydraulic motors 43 (see Figure 10).

The vertical roller carriers 41 are connected together by longitudinal members 44 which are pivoted at 45 for a purpose which will be described hereinafter.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the gripping means described in detail in Figures 2A and 2B can be used to grip a pair of rails which are to loaded onto the train and disposition of those rails can be determined by adjusting the position of the gripping means relative to the swivel posts 20. The carrier unit 31 can then be driven along the length of the train by means of the drive units 53 and the rail thus loaded in the appropriate position on the wagons.

In order to do this the wagons can be held stationary and the carrier unit 31 can be used to haul the rail along the length of the train or alternatively the train can be free to move and the carrier unit will then move the train relative to the rails. In either mode of operation the rails will be moved relative to the train and loaded thereon.

When one pair of rails is loaded the carrier unit 31 returned to the rear end of the train and the operation repeated.

In order to provide for smooth transfer of the carrier unit 31 from one wagon to the next adjacent wagon two pairs of rollers 1 4 are provided at each end of the carrier unit as shown in Figure 5. The rollers 14 are load-bearing rollers and are fixed to the carrier unit 31 via hard rubber pads (not shown) which provide for only small vertical movement but provide some vibration damping. The spacing of the rollers 14 is such that when the carrier unit 31 is transferring from a first wagon to a second wagon one roller remains in contact with the rail of the first wagon until the other roller is supported on the rail of the second wagon.

The loading of the rail does not necessarily take place on flat straight sections of railway and, for this reason, it is necessary to make allowance for the fact that the wagons may be misaligned with one another. It is therefore necessary to provide means on the carrier unit 31 and the wagons which will take account of this problem.

One form of misaligment which must be allowed for is a vertical misalignment. One way of allowing for this type of misalignment is shown schematically in Figure 9 of the drawings. In this description a single central supporting rail is considered but the same considerations would apply if two spaced parallel supporting rails were employed.

The ends of the supporting rails 52 are bevelled at 61 in order to provide a "run-off" and "run-on" surface for the drive units 53. It will be apparent from Figure 5 that the provision of three such drive means spaced along the length of the carrier unit 31 provides a spacing between adjacent drive units 53 sufficient to bridge the gap between the supporting rails on adjacent wagons. By this means it can be seen that there will always be two drive units 53 in contact with the supporting rail 52.

In order to provide better traction and/or improve the balance of the carrier unit a larger number of drive units, for example four, may be employed.

In order to permit the drive means to run-off and run-on the bevelled ends 61 of the supporting rails an arrangement such as that shown in Figure 9 can be employed although it will be appreciated that other ways of providing a variable height could be employed. The drive unit comprises a body 70 having two pairs of drive rollers 40 for engagement with the web of the supporting rail 52 as described with reference to Figure 6.

The body 70 is disposed of in a bore 71 in the carrier until 31 and is biased downwardly by means of springs 72. The body 70 is provided with laterally projecting guide arms 73 having guide wheels 74 at their outer ends which wheels 74 can contact the bevelled portions 61 so as to guide the drive rollers 40 into the correct position on the adjacent supporting rail 52. In this connection it will be apparent that the guide wheels 74 run on the head of the rail and guide the drive wheels into contact with the web of the rail.

In order to prevent undesired lateral movement of the body 70 within the bore 71 anti-friction means 75 is provided with a positive stop 76 is disposed on the inner end of the bore 71 in order to limit the movement of the body 70 within the bore. The arrangement is such that the body 70 will contact the stop 76 when the drive rollers 40 are in their driving position on the rail 52.

It will be apparent that the arrangement shown in Figure 9 provides a very convenient way of transferring the drive wheels from one wagon to an adjacent wagon allowing for a considerable degree of vertical misalignment by virtue of the degree of bevel 61 at the ends of the supporting rails 52.

Another possible misalignment which has to be taken into account is angular misalignment which occurs when the train is disposed on a curved track. An arrangement of drive means which can accommodate such misalignment is shown schematically in Figures 7 and 8.

The drive units 53 are designated as 53a for the end units and 53b for the centre unit. As shown in Figure 7 the end units 53a are able to pivot about a vertical axis and the centre unit 53b can move transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wagon as well as pivoting about its own axis.

Figure 7 shows schematically how the drive unit configuration adapts to movement along a straight path X a left hand curve Y and a right hand centre Z. The progress of the drive units of a carrier unit 31 (shown in dashed lines) from one wagon 1 6 to the next is illustrated sequentially in Figures 8A, B, C and D.

In addition to the arrangement described above we have also found it necessary to separate the drive rollers 40 during the transfer. As can be seen in Figure 10 the drive rollers of each pair are articulated together by means of arms 44 pivoted at 45 with the pivots 45 being fixed with respect to the body of the drive unit 53. In this way when the drive unit is being transferred from a supporting rail 52 on one wagon to a supporting rail 52 on an adjacent wagon the hydraulic rams 42 can be retracted to move the drive rollers 40 away from one another. The degree of movement of the rams 42 should be such as to accommodate the largest anticipated angle between the consecutive rails webs 52.

Once the drive unit has passed on to the adjacent supporting rail 52 then the rams 42 are extended to urge the rollers 40 into driving contact with the web of the rail 52. The retraction and extension of the rams 42 can be controlled, for example, by means of micro-switches on each drive unit which detect the end of the rail 52 and open the drive rollers 40. Referring to Figure 8 the leading micro-switch on drive unit 53a, when it detects the end of a rail will cause the drive rollers on that unit to open and the following microswitch on drive unit 53a when it detects the rail 52 on the adjacent wagon will cause the drive rollers on 53a to close onto the web of that rail.

The support rollers 14 are made sufficiently wide to accommodate the anticipated angular misalignments which will occur in operation.

Another form of misalignment which can occur is due to canting of the adjacent wagons in the train. This will have only a very minor effect on a central supporting rail 52 which could be accommodated by the arrangement shown in Figure 2 but a much larger misalignment would occur with the stabilising element which engage with the outer support rails.

In order to allow for cant variation an arrangement as shown in Figure 11 may be used.

In this arrangement the carrier unit 31 is shown with the drive rollers 40 in contact with the rail 52 and stabilising rollers 54 are shown in contact with the supports 55 on one side only of the wagon. The stabilising rollers 54 are carried in the outrigger 56 between a forked element 90. The forked element 90 is resiliently mounted with respect to the outrigger 56 by means of a guide 91 which can move with respect to the fixed plate 92. A compression spring 94 is provided on the guide 91 and movement relative to the outrigger 56 is limited by adjustable stop 95.

In the embodiment described above the outriggers are arranged to carry stabilising rollers 54 but it will be apparent that if supporting rails are provided along or adjacent to each edge of the wagon then the drive units could be mounted on such outriggers and the provision of stabilising; rails obviated.

The arrangements described above provide an extremely convenient means for picking up and transporting rails such as rails which have been removed for replacement by fresh rails. The same train which is used for transporting and locating the fresh rails can be used to pick up the replaced rails and, thus, the number of train movements is reduced to a minimum.

Furthermore, since the same train is employed the lengths of rail which are picked up can be identical to those which are set down and these rails can then be transported on the train to a site whether they are to be re-used, for example on a branch line or marshalling yard. The necessity for cutting and re-welding is eliminated.

As a result of these advantages lengths of rail can be removed with minimum inconvenience and can be transported for re-use without any intermediate loading or unloading operation being necessary.

Whilst in the preferred form of the invention drive units as described above are employed it is possible to use other forms of drive means for example rack and pinion or chain and sprocket drives.

Claims (22)

Claims

1. Rail handling apparatus for handling lengths of rail which comprises a carrier unit provided with drive means adapted to be engageable with support means and to drive the carrier unit along said supporting means, said carrier unit also being provided with at least one rail gripping mechanism which is provided with a gripping element for gripping a rail to be handled, the mechanism being capable of moving the gripping element transversely with respect to the direction in which the carrier unit is adapted to be driven along the supporting means.

2. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 1, in which the rail gripping mechanism comprises a rail gripping element carried at the end of a pivoted arm.

3. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 2 in which both the arm and the gripping element are hydraulically operated.

4. Rail handling apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 3 in which the drive means comprises at least one driven roller which is arranged to be held in contact with supporting means in the form of at least one support rail.

5. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 4 in which the driven roller is maintained in contact with the supporting rail by means of a second roller urged into contact with the opposite side of the supporting rail.

6. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 4 or 5 in which the supporting rail comprises a head and a web and the or each roller contacts the web of the rail.

7. Rail handling apparatus according to any of Claims 4 to 6 in which each driven roller is driven by an individual hydraulic motor.

8. Rail handling apparatus for handling lengths of rail which comprises a storage zone for rail provided on at least one rail wagon, a carrier unit, drive means for said carrier unit, at least one rail gripping mechanism associated with said carrier unit and supporting means for said carrier unit arranged to extend longitudinally of one or more wagons, said drive means being arranged to drive the carrier unit along the supporting means, and the rail gripping mechanism being capable of moving a rail gripped thereby transversely to the axis of said supporting means.

9. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 8 in which the rail gripping mechanism comprises a rail gripping element carried at the end of a pivoted arm.

10. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 9 in which both the arm and the gripping element are hydraulically operated.

11. Rail handling apparatus according to any of Claims 8 to 10 in which the drive means comprises at least one driven roller which is arranged to be held in contact with supporting means in the form of at least one supporting rail.

12. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 11 in which the driven roller is maintained in contact with the supporting rail by means of a second' roller urged into contact with the opposite side of the supporting rail.

13. Rail handling apparatus according to Claims 11 or 12 in which the supporting rail comprises a head and a web and the or each roller contacts the web of lhe rail.

14. Rail handling apparatus according to any of Claims 11 to 13 in which each driven roller is driven by an individual hydraulic motor.

1 5. Rail handling apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 14 in which the or each drive means comprises a drive unit carrying at least one drive roller, said drive unit being resiliently mounted in the carrier unit and the supporting means is provided with bevelled ends to receive guide rollers provided on the drive units whereby the drive unit can be transferred from the supporting means on one wagon to the supporting means on the next wagon.

16. Rail handing apparatus according to Claim 1 5 in which the drive rollers have a driving position and a retracted position and means are provided to move the rollers between said positions when the drive means is moving from the supporting means on one wagon to the supporting means on the next wagon.

17. Rail handling apparatus accordingto Claim 1 7 in which the means to move the rollers between thedriving and retracted positions is hydraulic means.

18. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 1 6 or 17 in which the movement is controlled by detection devices arranged to detect the gap between the supporting means on adjacent wagons.

19. Rail handling apparatus according to any of Claims 8 to 18 in which the supporting means comprises a single central rail and stabilising means are provided at each side of the wagon or wagons, the carrier unit having means to contact said stabilising means.

20. Rail handling apparatus according to Claim 1 9 in which the means for contacting stabilising means incorporates friction reducing elements.

21. Rail handling apparatus according to Claims 1 9 or 20 in which the means for contacting the stabilising means is biased resiliently towards the stabilising means.

22. Rail handling apparatus for handling rails substantialiy as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.