GB2208402A - Railway sleeper spacing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A sleeper spacing device comprises a support beam 2 and 6 having travel slots 3 of increasing size and four slotted rack-bars 7 mounted alongside the support beam 2 and 6. The slots 8 of the rack-bars are co-incident with, and are in reverse proportion to the support slots 3. Shackles 4a carrying sleeper pick-up members 4b extend through both support beam and rack-bar slots 3 and 8 and are movable along the travel slots 3 to form a more spaced condition as the trailing edge of the co-incident rack-bar slot engages the shackle 4a. The eight shackle 4a from the ends of the support beam is stationary and although equispaced in the less spaced condition, it becomes too close to adjacent movable shackles 4a (and thus obsolete) when the two sets of six and seven shackles 4a on either side thereof are removed towards it by respective rack-bars 7. <IMAGE>

Description

SLEEPERS SPACING DEVICE ANP A T1fOD FOR SPACING' SLtPRS The present invention relates to a device for spacing sleepers from a firstcondition to a second more spaced condition and to a method for doing same.

Railway sleepers are set generally at twenty four, twenty six or twenty eight per 60 foot of track. Herebefore devices generally have comprised a support beam with sleeper pick-up members suspended at a fixed pitch from the beam.

This of course is inflexible and necessitates having three different devices to accommodate the different sleeper pitches. A problem of course arises when it is required to pick up sleepers in a bunched-together condition and place them in a spaced-apart condition.

Severat devices have been proposed that operate between a first condition and a second condition in which the sleepers are spaced further apart.

One such device is shown in UK Patent No. 1514528 (Plasser) in which lazy tongs are used. All links in the lazy tongs are of equal size and are connected to respective sleepers so that when the lazy tongs are extended, the sleepers are spaced farther apart.

Another such device is shown in Swiss Patent No.

640586 (Robel). Here the pick-up members are slidable along the support beam and are coupled together by uniform lengths of chain. In a first condition the chains are slack. One end pick-up member is fixed while the member at the opposite end is pulled so as to move all the pick-up members along the beam and simultaneously take up the slack in the chains. When the chains are fully extended the sleepers are further spaced apart. A similar principle is applied in UK Application No. 2166475 (Geismar) where the same lost motion coupLing principle is achieved by having in place of the chains slotted links and runners on the slotted links carrying the pick-up devices.

AlL these constructions are, however, complicated, heavy and are difficult if not impossible to operate manually. Furthermore in the Robel and Geismar publication the beam space required increases as the sleepers are spaced farther apart; say in moving from twenty eight to twenty Six equi-spaced sleepers. This is because the extra spacing between any two sleepers is cumulative along the length of the beam. Geismar succeeds partly in reducing the beam lengths by placing alternate sleepers close together. This however causes problems when trying to use the device to lift life-spent sleepers, since these existing sleepers will not be at the same pitch as the alternate pick-up members. A further problem with the Robel and Geismar publications is that they are too heavy to be used with existing twin-jib crane'and have to be used with portal-gantry cranes.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the aforesaid disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a sleeper spacing device comprising an elongate support member; a plurality of carriers movable a set distance along said elongate member between a less spaced and a more spaced condition; a plurality of sleeper pick-up members carried by said carriers; and a carrier moving means mounted along the length of the elongate member and having a plurality of pre-spaced carrier engaging means engagable with the carriers for moving them along the support member.

Therefore the carriers can be spaced further apart without having to increase the elongate support length required.

Preferably also, the carrier moving means is a bar, and the carrier engaging means are pre-spaced in accordance with the predetermined distance the carriers are to be moved.

Preferably also, the bar is provided with a plurality of lost motion slots, the carrier engaging means being the trailing edge of the slots.

Preferably also, the elongate support member is provided with opposed walls or flanges having plurality of slots coincident with and in reverse proportion to the spacing between the carrier engaging members or slot lengths in the bar.

Preferably also, the elongate support member includes an I-shaped beam with at least one inverted U-shaped beam fixed to the top thereof, but more preferably there are two parallel and spaced U-shaped beams, the carrier moving means being located between the downwardly extending flanges of the U-shaped beams.

Preferably also, there is at least one set of carriers, one of which is adaptably obsolete and the remaining equally spaced carriers in the set are movable towards said adaptable obsolete carrier so that it becomes too close to the adjacent carrier in the more spaced condition and so becomes obsolete. Even more preferably,fthere are at least a first and second set of carriers with the adaptable obsolete carrier located therebetween and the sets of carriers being movable towards each other to form the more spaced condition.

In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention there are twenty eight equi-spaced carriers in the less spaced condition and twenty six equi-spaced carriers in the more spaced condition; the eighth carrier from either end of the elongate member being adaptably obsolete; there being four slotted bars spaced at the adaptably obsolete carriers and at the centre line of the elongate support member so that when each pair of slotted bars is moved towards an adaptably obsolete carrier, said carrier is disregarded, and--an enual spacing of twenty six carriers is achieved.

In a preferred modification of the invention there is further provided a plurality of upper and lower supports transverse and below the elongate support member; each upper and lower support being pivoted to one another; each upper support being suspended from two corresponding carriers also transverse with the elongate support member; and the sleeper pick-up members being fixed to the lower transverse support so as to be able to pivot with respect to the elongate support and pick Up skewed sleepers.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a sleeper spacing device comprising an elongate support member; a plurality of carriers divided into at least a first and second set, each set being movable along one section of the elongate member; a plurality of sleeper pick-up members carried by said carriers; carrier moving means; wherein said first and second set of carriers are movable a predetermined distance towards one another from a less spaced to a more spaced condition.

Preferably an adaptably obsolete carrier is located between the first and second sets of carriers, which are movable a predetermined distance theretowards to render the adaptable carrier too close to adjacent carriers and thus obsolete in the more spaced condition.

It will be appreciated that the following features as defined in the first aspect of the invention are also preferred in the second aspect: the carrier moving means and position thereof; the carrier engaging means; the elongate support member; and the modification of the invention to include the upper and lower pivoted transverse supports for lifting skewed sleepers.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of equi-spacing sleepers from a less to a moregspaced condition comprising using a sleeper spacing device which includes an elongate support member, a plurality of carriers movable therealong, and carrying a plurality of sleeper pick-up members fixed to the sleepers; moving some carriers an equal distance from the adjacent carrier so at least one adapt ably obsolete carrier which is used in the less spaced condition is too close to the adjacent carrier in the more spaced condition and so becomes obsolete Preferably the carriers are in at least a first and second set and are movable towards one another to form the more spaced condition, at least one of the centremost carriers becoming obsolete.

Preferably also, an adaptably obsolete carrier is located between said first and second set of carriers, so that when the sets are moved towards one another1 the adaptably obsolete carrier becomes too close to the adjacent carriers and is rendered obsolete.

It will be appreciated that the sleeper spacing device as defined in the first and/or second aspects of the invention is preferred for use with the method of the third aspect of the invention.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a sleeper spacing device including a slotted support beam, in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing, to an enlarged scale, of a portion of the support beam which is cut away to reveal a slotted rack-bar therebehind; Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of the support beam showing how respective slots in the support beam and rack-bar co-operative with eachcOther.

Fig. 4 is a front view to an enlarged scale of the sleeper spacing device; Fig. 5 is a side view of one half of a second embodiment of the sleeper spacer device with the support beam removed; and Fig. 6 is a side view of a third embodiment of the sleeper spacing mechanism in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 7 is a preferred modifi69tion of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

Referring to Fig. 1, a sleeper spacing device 1 comprises a thirty foot support beam 2 having a series of travel slots 3 therealong, through which are suspended a plurality of equi-spaced pick-up members 4 for sleeperst5.The mechanism of the device 1 moves the pick-up members 4 the length of the slots 3, thereby varying the equl-spacing between the sleepers 5, The support beam 2 (Fig. 4) is feleasably fixed by bolts or the like to the top of an I-shaped beam 6 and has inner and outer parallel walls 2a and 2b forming therebetween two channels 2c. T'venty-six travel slots 3 are spaced along both of said walls forming twenty-six opposed pairs of travel slots 3.The travel slots 3 are split into four sets: the first seven pairs of travel slots from either end of the support beam 2, and the remaining pairs of travel slots 3 on either side of the centre line of the support beam 2. Fig. 1 shows one whole set of travel slots 3 at one end of the support beam 2. Each set of travel slots 3 is of varying length depending on the sleeper spacing required.

Four mutually spaced rack-bars 7, which are rectan- gular in cross-section, extend along the length of the channels 2c so that the walls of the rack-bars 7 are parallel to and spaced from the walls 2a and 2b of the beam2. The rack-bars 7 are movable along the support beam 2.Each rack-bar 7 extends the length of a set ot slot pairs 3 and has, along its length, a series of lost motion slots 8 (Fig. 2). ach lost motion slot 8 partly overlies a corresponding travel slot 3. The area of overlap of each corresponding travel and lost motion slot 3 and 8 is variable by moving the rack-bars 7 lengthwise alongtthe support beam 1. Although the rackbars 7 can be moved by hand pressure, preferably each pair of rack-bars 7 on either side of the centre line of the support beam 2 is connected at adjacent ends by an inverted cross u-bar (not shown) and is movable as aforesaid by a free-floating scissor jack (not shown).

Referring to Fig0 1, each pick-up member 4 generally comprises as shackle 4a and a c-shaped hook 4b interconnected by a chain 4co The bottom limb of the c-shaped hook 4c slides into a hollow, cylindrical bracket 9 fixed to either side of a sleeper 5; and two pick-up members 4 are connected to the ends of a sleeper 5 in this way The pick-up members 4, as aforementioned, are suspended from the support beam 2. This is shown most clearly in Fig. 4. A bolt 9 extends through one eye of a shackle 4a through a pair of corresponding travel and lost motion slots 3 and 8 and then through the second eye of the shackle 4a where it engages a nut 10 to hold the assembly in pLace. The arms of the shackle 4a then straddles the support beam 2 and a rack-bar 7. The bolts 9 are loose enough to rotate, so that they can be rolled along the travel slots 3.

In all there are twenty six movable pick-up members 4 suspended from the support beam in this way. The eighth pick-up member 4d from either end of the support beam 2 is fixed thereto and between the pairs of rack-bars 7. There are therefor twenty eight pick-up members 4 and 4d in all When all the movable pick-up members 4 are positioned in the travel slots 3, at the furthest end from the nearest fixed pick-up member 4d, then the twenty eight pick-up members 4 and 4d are equi-spaced along the support beam 2.

As the rack-bars 7 are screwed together by the scissor jack (not shown), each lost motion coupling slot 8 wilL move along until the trailing edge thereof engages and abuts the bolt 9. Further movement of the rack-bar 7, as shown in fig. 3, will now roll the bolt 9 along to the opposite end of the travel slot 3. In this position the movable twenty six pick-up members 4 are equi-spaced; that is the fixed pick-up members 4d are not now rbs.le:te and can be thus identified by painting them a distinguishing colour. The lengths of the travel slots 3 wilL, in any set, increase towards the nearest fixed pick-up member 4d.The lost motion slots 8 will vary in length in reverse proportion to any change in Length of the travel slots and therefor the combined length of any travel and lost motion slot 3 and 8 will be uniform so that there is no obstruction to the movement of any rack-bar 7. Because the lost motion slots 8 decrease in length towards a fixed pick-up member 4d, the bolts wilt roll simulataneously; starting from those nearest a fixed pick-up member 3.

The sleeper spacing device 1 is connectable to a twin jib crane by two caps (not shown) fixed to the ends of the I-shaped beams 6. The caps (not shown) are yoked to pins extending from the crane.

The bottom flange of the I-shaped beam 1. is provided along its length by twenty four equi-spaced fixed pick-up members (not shown) anchored by bolts 11.

The spacing mechanism as described is intended for lifting and laying sleepers 5 at different spacings. A sixty foot length of prepared track can be laid by making two drops of the thirty foot sleeper spacing device: in the first drop the first, third and every alternate sleeper 5 in laid; and each intervening sleeper 5 comprising sleepers thirty-one to sixty on the track, are laid on the second drop. In all three different spacings are possible: twenty four, twenty six and twenty eight equi-spaced sleepers. Life expired sleepers are also lifted.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in principle in Fig. 5. Here one half of the device 1 has been taken and the support beam removed to reveal a rack-bar 7 of fourteen lost motion slots 8 and fourteen carriers 9.

The rack-bar 7 moves from right to left shunting each carrier 9 along to the position shown by the arrows. The distance moved by each carrier 9, that is. the length of the travel slots 3, are denoted by black horizontal lines 11.

Assuming a change of spacing of twenty eight to twenty six sleepers 5, then the centre most carrier 9 (farthest right in Fig. ;5) is moved 50mm. Each successive carrier 9 is then moved 100mm, 150mm, 2OOmm and so on. the tenth carrier 9, however, would theoretically move SOOmm, but this exactly coincides with the starting position of the eleventh carrier 9. Therefore the tenth carrier 9 is moved a short way and not used in the twenty six sleeper Spacing. The eleventh pick-up member is fixed, and the successive pick-up members then move 50mm, 100mm, and 150mum. In this way the length of the support beam 2 can be reduced.

A third embodiment of the invention is shown, in Fig. 6. The carriers 9 for the pick-up devices (not shown), in this case are runners which slide along a rail 12 at the base of the support beam 2. Stops 13 are located on the rail 12 at either side of the runners 9 to limit the motion thereof. The rack-bar (not shown) moves the runners 9 as before. An anti-buckling flange 14 is provided to give the support beam extra strength.

Advantages achieved by the present invention, and particularly by the especially preferred embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, are: 1. The present invention is specifically designed to mate with existing British Rail Twin Jib cranes. The weight is critical and only the simplicity of the present mechanism makes it possible to remain within a set of criteria (S.W.L.).

2. The present invention is short enough to enable it's transit to site in conventional sleeper carrying wagons while also being able to lift and transport the number of sleepers required for standard railway sub-track length of 60 feet.

3. The aforementioned respacing mechanism can be achieved manually, thus making it suitable for use with non-power supplying cranes, such as the British Rail Twin Jib crane.

4. The present invention is simple.

5. The present invention can be adapted to lift and lay sleeper regardless of the pitch.

A modification of the invention caters for the situation, where, due to theist length, sleepers often have to lie skewed at say a 3O0,degre angle in the sleeper carriage.

Referring to'Fig 7, an upper horizontal supportl5- located below the I-shaped beam 6'is pivoted centrally by a pin means l6to a lower horizontal support.17.

The'upper horizontal support 15 is suspended from extended carrier chains 4 which extend beneath the lower edge of the I-shaped beam 6 and so is therefore moved along the elongate support 1 by the shackles 4c. The sleeper pick-up members 4d are now connected to both ends of the lower horizontal support are can therefore pivot momentarily to pick-up skewed sleepers 5 and then lay them as normal.

As been discussed, the present invention shortens the otherwise potential length oftthe support beam.

It will therefore be appreciated that numerous t constructions of sleeper spacing devices can be made in accordance with the present teachings. With reference to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, constructions dividing the carriers into sets as hereinbefore described and moving these sets towards each other for greater sleeper spacing1 could achieve a shorter support beam size with this constructions, such a result does not essentially require the carrier moving means to be mounted alongside the carrier, as with ;the rack-bar. In fact it would be sufficient to couple the carriers together by rope or the like and pull the sets together via predetermined points in from the centre most carriers.

Other constructions, such as in Fig. 5, mounting.

a means for moving the carriers alongside the support beam, can also potentially shorten the length thereof.

Such means however should be adapted to move each specific carrier a predeteri.n-e.ddistance to achieve the greater sleeper spacing.

It will be appreciated that the teachings of the invention must be adapted for any embodiment constructed.

Thus, for example, whereas it has been taught how to achieve a potential reduction in the size of the support beam in going from a first condition to a more spaced condition between sleepers, other factors such as the length of carriers will become critical. In the embodiment of the invention as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the carriers (bolts) and the attached shackles do not take up much space and therefore the pick-up members can be moved fairly close together. However with other more bulky constructions of, for example, carriers or coupling, then this would be more critical. Similarly, for example, the size of the sets of travel slots and the lengths of the rack-bars will become critical after a time, if a particular length of support beam (say about thirty foot) is to be achieved.Therefore for any particular purpose, there will be critical factors and therefore limitations in the teachings of the invention, but these will be apparent to the skilled man in the course of any particular construction.

It will also be noted that the construction of the device is light and well adapted for use with existing twin jab cranes as opposed to the more powerful portal gantry cranes. Basically the present invention used two opposed slotted walls or flanges as rails for the carriers. Thus the carrier rails and the support beam are one and the same whereas previous constructions appeared to first construct carrier rails and then a separate support for these, which made the whole constructions much heavier and bulkier.

Although the I-shaped beam 6 and the inverted U-shaped beam 2 give the support 1 the necessary strength and lateral stability, other constructions could also be used. One such construction is a, hollow rectangular section beam with the slots on the longer faces

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS 1, A sleeper spacing device comprising an elongate support member; a plurality of carriers movable a set - distance along said elongate member between a less spaced and a more 'spaced condition; a plurality of sleeper pick-up members carried by said carriers; and a carrier moving means mounted along the length of the elongate member and having a plurality of pre-spaced farrier engaging means engageable with the carriers, for moving them along the support member.

   2. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in laim 1 wherein the carrier moving means is a bar, and the carrier engaging means are pre-spaced in accordance with the predetermined distance the carriers are to be moved 3* A sleeper spacing device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the bar is provided with a plurality of lost motion slots, the carrier engaging means being the trailing edge of the slots, 4. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in claim 1 to 3 wherein the elongate support member is provided with opposed walls or flanges with a plurality of slots coincident with and in reverse proportion to the spacing between the carrier engaging members or slot lengths in the bar.

   5, A sleeper spacing device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the elongate support member includes an I-shaped beam with at least one inverted U-shaped beam fixed to the top thereof.

   6. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in Claim 5 wherein there are provided two parallel and spaced U-shaped beams fixed to the top of the I-shaped beam, the carrier moving means being located between the downwardly extending flanges of the U-shaped beams.

   7. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6 wherein the carriers include pins extending through the bar and/or support slots.

   8.'A sleeper spacing device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein there is at least one set of carriers, one of which is adaptably obsolete and the remaining equally spaced carriers in the set are movable towards said adaptable obsolete carrier so that it becomes too close to the adjacent carrier in the more spaced condition and so becomes obsolete.

   9. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in claim 8 wherein there are at least a first and second set of carriers with the adaptably obsolete carrier located therebetween and the sets of carriers being movable towards each other to form the more spaced condition.

   10. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in claim 9 wherein there are twenty eight equi-spaced carriers in the less spaced condition and twenty six equi-spaced carriers in the more spaced condition; the eighth carrier from either end of the elongate member being adapt ably obsolete; there being four slotted bars spaced at the adaptably obsolete carriers and at the centre line of the elongate support member so that when each pair of slotted bars is moved towards an adaptably obsolete carrier, said carrier is disregarded, an an equal spacing of twenty six carriers is achieved.

   11. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein there is further provided a plurality of upper and lower supports transverse and below the elongate support member; each upper and lower support being pivoted to one another; each upper support being suspended from two corresponding carriers also transverse with the elongate support member; and the sleeper pick-up members being fixed to the lower transverse support so as to be able to pivot with respect to the elongate support and pick-up skewed sleepers.

   12. A sleeper spacing device comprising an elongate support member; a plurality of carriers divided into at least a first and second-set, each set being movable along one section of the elongate member; a plurality of sleeper pick-up members carried by said carriers; carrier moving means; wherein said first and second set of carriers are movable a predetermined distance towards one another from a less spaced to a more spaced condition.

   13. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in claim 12 wherein an adaptably obsolete carrier is located between the first and second sets of carriers, which are movable a predetermined distance theretowards to render the adaptable carrier too close to adjacent carriers and thus obsolete in the more spaced condition.

   14. A sleeper spacing device as claimed in claims 12 or 13 wherein the carrier moving means-comprises a plurality of carrier engaging means as separately defined in claims 1 or 2; and/or the elongate support member is as separately defined in claims 4, 5 or 6; and/or the carriers are as defined in claim 7; and/or the sleeper spacing device further comprises a plurality of upper and lower transverse pivoted supports as defined in claim lle 15. A sleeper spacing device substantially as described with particular reference to Figs. 1 to 4 and as modified by Fig. 7.

   16. A sleeper spacing device substantially as described with particular reference to Figs. 5 and and as modified by Fig. 7.

   17. A method of equi-spacing sleepers from a less to a more spaced condition comprising using a sleeper spacing device which includes an elongate support member, a plurality of carriers movable therealong, and carrying a plurality of sleeper pick-up members fixed to the sleepers; moving some carriers an equal distance from the adjacent carrier so at least one adaptably obsolete carrier which is used in the less spaced condition is too close to the adjacent carrier in the more spaced condition and so becomes obsolete.

   18. A method of equi-spacing sleepers as claimed in claim 17 wherein the carriers are in at least a first and second set and are movable towards one another to form the more spaced condition, at least one of the centremost carriers becoming obsolete.

   19. A method of equi-spacing sleepers as claimed in claim 18 ttherein an-adaptatly-ostlete carrier is located between said first and second set of carriers, so that when the sets are moved towards one another, the adaptably obsolete carrier becomes too close to the adjacent carriers and is rendered obsolete.

   20. A method of equi-spacing sleepers as claimed in claims 17, 18 or 19 wherein the sleeper spacing device is as separately defined in any one of claims 1 to 16 21. A method of equi-spacing sleepers substantially as described with particular reference to the drawings.