GB2395156A

GB2395156A - Apparatus for welding rail sections

Info

Publication number: GB2395156A
Application number: GB0326250A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Frederick Browne
Original assignee: METRONET RAIL BCV Ltd
Current assignee: METRONET RAIL BCV Ltd
Priority date: 2002-11-11
Filing date: 2003-11-11
Publication date: 2004-05-19
Also published as: GB0226266D0; GB0326250D0

Abstract

An apparatus for use in supporting a railway type rail assembly (12) so that it can be welded is disclosed. The assembly (12) is supported between two spaced supports (10, 11), each support being rotatable about an axis which extends through the rail assembly (12) being supported. A welding assembly (32) is mounted so that it can be moved longitudinally along the rail assembly to effect welding.

Description

2395 1 56

Apparatus for Welding Rail Sections This invention relates to the welding of rail sections and in particular relates to an apparatus for use in such welding.

5 There is often a requirement to weld sections of railway type rail in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the rail. Such a situation arises for example in the manufacture of what is known as a semi-welded crossing. A semi welded crossing is formed from two shallow V-shaped sections of rail which are joined by locating the corresponding limb of each section in juxtaposition 10 and welding them together to form a Yshaped structure. The juxtaposed limbs have previously been machined so that they are narrower than the normal rail section. To form the semiwelded crossing, both upper and lower longitudinal joints of the juxtaposed limbs need to be welded. In one known technique for 15 carrying out such welding, the two rail sections are normally bolted together and laid flat. The longitudinal junction of the juxtaposed sections which is uppermost is then welded. The assembly then has to be raised, e.g. by a crane, and rotated through 180 so that the other junction of the assembly becomes uppermost. The assembly is then laid flat again and the other longitudinal 20 junction of the juxtaposed sections is welded in a similar manner. This procedure is cumbersome since it requires the raising of the assembly and the

rotation of it essentially manually through.

Another procedure for welding the juxtaposed sections is to locate the assembly vertically so that each side of the juxtaposed sections is accessible and welding is carried out with the assembly in its vertical orientation.

5 The present invention is concerned with an apparatus which enables the above mentioned disadvantages to be overcome.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for use in supporting a railway type rail assembly to be welded in a substantially horizontal orientation, 10 said apparatus comprising spaced support means for supporting a section or sections of rail to be welded in a substantially horizontal orientation, said support means being rotatable about an axis which passes through the rail section when it is supported by said support means, and welding means mounted so as to be movable longitudinally in the 15 direction of said axis.

The apparatus may include a first rotatable support having an axially projecting formation or formations for coupling to an end of the rail section.

Said first support may be drivable in rotation by a motor or similar means.

The apparatus may include a second rotatable support which is spaced 20 axially from said first rotatable support and is capable of receiving the opposite end of the section to be welded. Said second rotatable support may

comprise a wheel in the form of an annular rim with generally diametrical cross pieces for supporting the rail section. The wheel may be supported on spaced rollers so that it is freely rotatable in a vertical plane.

The apparatus may include welding means supported so as to be located 5 above the position of a rail section when it is supported between the two support means, said welding means being movable along a path parallel to the axis between the spaced support means.

The invention will be described now by way of example only with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view showing one end of the apparatus, and 15 Figures 3 to 7 are schematic views illustrating use of the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2.

Apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises first and second rotatable support assemblies 10 and 11 which can support opposite ends of rail sections which require welding such as a welded 20 crossing shown at 12.

The support l l comprises a disc shaped member 14 which is rotatably

mounted upon a support pillar 15 and drivable by driving means including a motor which are housed within a housing shown at 16. The rotatable disc shaped member 14 includes an axially projecting pin 18 which provides a support for one end of the welded crossing 12.

5 The support assembly 10 comprises a freely mounted wheel having an annular rim 20 with generally diametrical cross beams 21, 22 between which can be located the projecting diverging limbs of the welded crossing 12. The wheel also includes strengthening arms 24 which extend between the cross members 21, 22 and the annular rim 20. The wheel is mounted upon 10 horizontally spaced rollers 26, 27 which are rotatable freely within mounting brackets 28 to allow free rotation of the wheel about its axis. The brackets 28 are mounted upon a horizontal, transversely extending, support beam 29. The support assembly 10 includes a locking device 101 which can lock the assembly 10 to prevent axial movement.

15 A horizontal girder 30 extends alongside the apparatus at a level above the position of the welded crossing. The girder 30 is supported on upright pillars 31. The girder 30 supports welding apparatus generally shown at 32 so that that welding apparatus can be moved horizontally backwards and forwards along the longitudinal axis of the girder 30. The welding apparatus includes a 20 wire feed 34, a flux hopper 35, an axis feed motor 36, welding controls 38, a contact tip 39, a support 40 for cold wire feed, a fine wire straightener 60 and

a travelling carriage 61.. The contact tip 39 and the wire feed 40 are disposed so that they can move along a path corresponding to the line of the weld which is to be formed in the welded crossing.

The apparatus also includes heaters which are shown schematically at 5 41 in Figure 3. These heaters can form part of a Cooper Heat system which can be connected to the rails by leads 42. The system also includes thermocouple wires 44. The heaters can be ceramic heaters as shown at 41 in Figure 1.

In use of the apparatus the rail sections which form the welded crossing 10 are initially prepared in a manner which will be known to those skilled in the art. Briefly, this involves forming two V-shaped sections of rail and locating them so that one limb 43 of each rail section is in juxtaposition with a center bar 45 therebetween (Figure 5). Each of those limbs and the centre bar is formed with through holes so that those rail sections in juxtaposition which are 15 to be welded can be bolted together ready for welding. This is illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings where the bolt positions are shown at 46.

Additionally, the diverging sections of the welded crossing receive a web plate 48 to maintain them in the correct position for the welding operation.

The crossing assembly is then lifted by a crane and located in the 20 apparatus so that the diverging limbs 49 of the welded crossing are located between the cross members 21 and 22 of the freely rotatable wheel 20. The

other end 50 of the welding crossing formed by the juxtaposed limbs is connected to the projecting pin 18 by means of a pair of fishplates 51 and 52.

This is illustrated schematically in Figure 6. When the welded crossing assembly is in this position, the junction of the juxtaposed limbs 43 lies along 5 the line of movement of the contact tip 39 and the wire feed 40. The thermocouple wires 44 are attached to the rails as illustrated in Figure 7 and the heaters 41 are connected to the foot and crown of the rails as shown in Figure 1. The welding apparatus 32 is then activated so that the contact tip 39 and wire feed 40 move along the line of the upper part of the juxtaposed limbs 10 43 and form a weld therealong. The welding apparatus is then returned to its position shown in Figure 1. The motor which drives the rotatable support 14 is then energised to cause the welded crossing assembly to rotate through 180 about its longitudinal axis. During this motion the wheel 20 rotates freely about its axis on its roller supports 26 and 27. Once the welded crossing assembly 15 has been rotated through 180 the junction which was lowermost is now uppermost and a weld is formed along that junction in the manner already described. Thus it will be seen that the present apparatus enables sections of rail to be welded e.g. a welded crossing assembly to be supported in the horizontal 20 configuration so that a weld can be formed along a junction of two rail portions and the assembly then rotated through 180 without any manual

intervention to thereby enable another weld to be formed on the other side of the junction. The fact that the assembly is held in a horizontal orientation during welding means that satisfactory welds are easily achievable.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in supporting a railway type rail assembly to be welded in a substantially horizontal orientation, 5 said apparatus comprising spaced support means for supporting a section or sections of rail to be welded in a substantially horizontal orientation, said support means being rotatable about an axis which passes through the rail section when it is supported by said support means, and welding means mounted so as to be movable longitudinally in the 10 direction of said axis.

2. Apparatus according to claim l, wherein the support means includes a first rotatable support having an axially projecting formation or formations for coupling to an end of the rail section.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2. wherein said first support is drivable in rotation by a motor or similar means.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein said support means 20 include a second rotatable support which is spaced axially from said first rotatable support and is capable of receiving the opposite end of the section to

be welded.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said second rotatable support comprises a wheel in the form of an annular rim with generally diametrical 5 cross pieces for supporting the rail section.

6. Apparatus according to claim S. wherein the wheel is supported on spaced rollers so that it is freely rotatable in a vertical plane.

10

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim including welding means supported so as to be located above the position of a rail section when it is supported between the spaced support means, said welding means being movable along a path parallel to the axis between the spaced support means.

15

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim including heating means for heating the rail section during welding.

9. Apparatus for use in supporting a railway type rail assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the 20 accompanying drawings.