GB2246991A

GB2246991A - Rolling stock washing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2246991A
Application number: GB9115429A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Kneale Thornhill; Peter Bernard Harbon
Original assignee: Bingham & Sons Ltd H
Current assignee: Bingham & Sons Ltd H
Priority date: 1990-08-03
Filing date: 1991-07-17
Publication date: 1992-02-19
Anticipated expiration: 2011-07-17
Also published as: GB2246991B; GB9115429D0

Abstract

Rolling stock washing apparatus including a pair of cylindrical brushes (12, 14), rotatable about vertical axes, located on opposite sides of a railway track so that a railway train can pass between them at a controlled speed for washing of its side surfaces. So that the apparatus can wash the sides of a train which is streamlined at both ends, the apparatus includes a programmable logic controller, and at least two track mounted detectors which sense the passage of individual wheels along the track, to give an appropriate output to means for controlling the positions of the brushes in accordance with the known degree of taper at the front and rear ends of the train. <IMAGE>

Description

Rolling stock washing apparatus The invention relates to rolling stock washing apparatus of the kind in which a pair of cylindrical brushes, rotatable about vertical axes, are located on opposite sides of a railway track so that a railway train can pass between them at a controlled speed for washing of its side surfaces.

Modern high speed railway trains, which are of streamlined, that is to say inwardly tapering, form both at their front and rear ends, are difficult to clean by apparatus of the kind referred to above because the brushes need to be able to follow the side wall profile of the train, by positional adjustments towards and away from each other, at varying speeds of travel of the train (which ideally may be 3 m.p.h. but can be up to 10 m.p.h.). The problem is compounded by the fact that the number of carriages of the train, and thus the overall length of the train, can vary. It clearly would not be very satisfactory to rely on a train driver or a cleaning apparatus operator having to count the number of carriages and to enter the number into a control function.Any error would at best result in a part of a train remaining un-cleaned and conversely could result in the apparatus being wrecked and the carriages being damaged. The invention has for its object to at least alleviate the problem referred to.

According to the invention there is provided rolling stock washing apparatus including means for adjusting the positions of a pair of cylindrical brushes, rotatable about vertical axes on opposite sides of a railway track, towards or away from each other, said means including a programmable logic controller (PLC), and at least two track mounted detectors which sense the passage of individual wheels along the track so that the PLC can compute the speed of a train as it approaches the pair of brushes and can also count the number of wheels proceeding along the track, the PLC being programmed to give an appropriate output to means for controlling the positions of said brushes in accordance with the known degree of taper at the front and rear ends of the train.Preferably, limit sensors will be provided to stop the positioning movements of the brushes at their fully extended and fully retracted positions. The apparatus will preferably be inhibited at a certain maximum allowable train speed, that is to say, the cylindrical brushes will be caused to be fully retracted at that maximum allowable train speed.

The cylindrical brushes may be located for rotation about their vertical axes in bearing housings carried by pairs of arms which project outwards from respective posts, respective electric motors being provided for driving the cylindrical brushes through respective reduction gearboxes.

Positional control mechanism for each one of the pair of cylindrical brushes may include an electric motor which drives a crank plate through a reduction gearbox, the crank plate being pivotally connected to one end of a connecting rod and the other end of which is pivotally connected to a bracket formed on a housing on which is located one of the bearing housings in which the brush concerned is drivably mounted. The controlled operation of the electric motor driving the crank plate may be such that the brush concerned can be advanced towards the other brush and subsequently retracted to the starting position, as required by the overall width of a train passing between the two brushes.The bracket will preferably have a plurality of holes which can be used selectively for the pivotal connection of the connecting rod to said bracket, the arrangement being such that as a brush wears so that its effective diameter decreases, appropriate compensation can be made by connecting the connecting rod to different holes of the bracket in turn.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:- Figure 1 is a side view of rolling stock washing apparatus embodying the invention, Figure 2 is a plan view, Figure 3 is a view looking in the direction of arrow 3 in Figure 2, drawn to a scale very much larger than Figures 1 and 2, Figure 4 is a plan view of positional control mechanism for one of a pair of cylindrical brushes forming part of the apparatus, and Figure 5 is a block diagram of an electronic control system therefor.

Referring now in particular to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is there illustrated rolling stock washing apparatus, generally indicated 10, which for the sake of simple illustration is shown to comprise a single pair of cylindrical brushes 12 and 14 rotatable about vertical axes and located on opposite sides of a railway track. (In actual fact the apparatus will comprise a minimum of two pairs of brushes and possibly up to eight pairs of brushes). As shown, a railway train which is approaching the apparatus is streamlined, that is to say inwardly tapering, at both its front and rear ends. Consequently, the brushes need to be adjusted, towards or away from each other, to suit the varying overall width of the train as it passes between them.

As shown in Figure 3, the cylindrical brushes 12 and 14 are located for rotation about their vertical axes in bearing housings 50 carried by pairs of arms 52,52 which project outwards from respective posts 54. The posts 54 are rotatably mounted at their opposite ends in respective bearing housings 56,56 which project inwards of a substantial metal framework generally indicated 58.

Respective electric motors 60 are provided for driving the cylindrical brushes 12 and 14 through reduction gearboxes 62.

Referring now to Figure 4 , positional control mechanism for one of the pair of cylindrical brushes of the washing apparatus includes an electric motor 16 which drives a crank plate 18 through a reduction gearbox 20. The crank plate is pivotally connected to one end of a connecting rod 22 the other end of which is pivotally connected to a bracket 24 formed on a housing, generally indicated 26, on which one of the bearing housings 50 is mounted. The housing 26 is carried at one end of one of the arms 52. The arrangement is such that by the controlled operation of the electric motor 16 the brush can be advanced towards the other brush, and subsequently retracted to the starting position in which it is shown in full lines, as required by the varying overall width of a train passing between the two brushes.

It will be seen that the bracket 24 has a plurality of holes 32 which can be used selectively for the pivotal connection of the connecting rod to said bracket. The arrangement is such that as a brush wears so that its effective diameter decreases, appropriate compensation can be made by connecting the connecting rod to different holes in turn.

Referring now in particular to Figure 5, means for controlling the operation of the pair of electric motors 16,16 and thereby adjusting the positions of the pair of cylindrical brushes towards or away from each other, include a programmable logic controller (PLC) 34, two track mounted proximity switches 36 and 38 which sense the passage of individual wheels along the track, and a pair of position limit sensors 40 and 42 which sense the fully extended position and the retracted position of each cylindrical brush. (As shown in Figure 4, the position limit sensors 40 and 42 are magnetic proximity switches and are mounted on opposite sides of the crank plate to sense a pair of notches at the periphery of said plate). By virtue of the longitudinal spacing of the proximity switches 36 and 38 along the track the PLC can compute the speed of a train as it approaches the pair of brushes.The PLC can also count the number of wheels proceeding along the track.

The PLC is programmed to give an appropriate output to the means for controlling the positions of the cylindrical brushes, that is to say to the motors 16,16 operating by way of variable speed units constituted by A.C. type speed controllers 44 in accordance with the known degree of taper at the front and rear ends of the train. The speed at which a cycle of operations is carried out is dependent upon the computed rate of travel of the train and on the overall length of the train (which follows from the number of wheels counted).

The train speed is computed to give an output for the positioning motors and at the start of the train profile (which is detected by a proximity detector on the front of the train) the positioning motors move the brushes outwards to their fullest extent and then retract them to follow the profile at the required rate of retraction. The limit sensors 40 and 42 stop the positioning movements at the fully extended and fully retracted positions of the brushes.

As the last carriage of the train and rear profile approaches, the process is reversed and the positioning motors re-adjust the brushes to follow the receding profile.

The system does not have the ability to follow the train profile above a certain train speed. The system is therefore inhibited at a certain maximum allowable train speed, that is to say, the cylindrical brushes are caused to be fully retracted at that maximum allowable train speed.

Thus there is provided rolling stock washing apparatus the cylindrical brushes of which are able to closely follow the profile of a train passing between them at any speed of travel below a predetermined maximum speed. However, various modifications may be made. For example, the mechanism by means of which the drive from the electic motors is translated into positional movement of the brushes could take numerous forms.

Indeed, it is not essential that the mechanism should be motor driven; it could be powered by hydraulic rams.

It will be understood that however many pairs of brushes the apparatus comprises, the pairs of brushes operate in sequence as the tapered sections approach and then leave said pairs of brushes.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Rolling stock washing apparatus including means for adjusting the positions of a pair of cylindrical brushes, rotatable about vertical axes on opposite sides of a railway track, towards or away from each other, said means including a programmable logic controller (PLC), and at least two track mounted detectors which sense the passage of individual wheels along the track so that the PLC can compute the speed of a train as it approaches the pair of brushes and can also count the number of wheels proceeding along the track, the PLC being programmed to give an appropriate output to means for controlling the positions of said brushes in accordance with the known degree of taper at the front and rear ends of the train.

2. Rolling stock washing apparatus according to claim 1, including limit sensors to stop the positioning movements of the brushes at their fully extended and fully retracted positions.

3. Rolling stock washing apparatus according to either one of the preceding claims, in which the apparatus is inhibited at a certain maximum allowable train speed, that is to say, the cylindrical brushes being caused to be fully retracted at that maximum allowable train speed.

4. Rolling stock washing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the cylindrical brushes are located for rotation about their vertical axes in bearing housings carried by pairs of arms which project outwards from respective posts, respective electric motors being provided for driving the cylindrical brushes through respective reduction gearboxes.

5. Rolling stock washing apparatus according to claim 4, in which positional control mechanism for each one of the pair of cylindrical brushes includes an electric motor which drives a crank plate through a reduction gearbox, the crank plate being pivotally connected to one end of a connecting rod and the other end of which is pivotally connected to a bracket formed on a housing on which is located one of the bearing housings in which the brush concerned is drivably mounted.

6. Rolling stock washing apparatus according to claim 5, in which the controlled operation of the electric motor driving the crank plate is such that the brush concerned can be advanced towards the other brush and subsequently retracted to the starting position, as required by the overall width of a train passing between the two brushes.

7. Rolling stock washing apparatus according to either one of claims 5 and 6, in which the bracket has a plurality of holes which can be used selectively for the pivotal connection of the connectng rod to said bracket, the arrangement being such that as a brush wears so that its effective diameter decreases, appropriate compensation can be made by connecting the connecting rod to different holes of the bracket in turn.

8. Rolling stock washing apparatus, constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.