GB971803A - Apparatus for laying and/or removing tracks of permanent way - Google Patents

Abstract

971,803. Laying railway tracks. F. PLASSER, [trading as FRANZ PLASSER BAHNBAUMASCHINEN]. Sept. 28, 1961 [Dec. 15, 1960; May 18, 1961], No. 34918/61. Heading E1G. Apparatus for laying and/or taking up tracks of permanent way comprises grippers 6, spaced from the end 1 of a wagon, which is used for transporting rails 2 and sleepers 3, the grippers being operable to hold the rails 2 at a specific height, and means arranged between the grippers 6 and the end 1 of the wagon for rotating the sleepers 3 individually in a horizontal plane to position them under the rails 2. Two grippers 6, one for each rail 2, are each held at the end of a cantilever arm 5, both arms 5 being rotatable on a common mounting 5<SP>1</SP>. In laying a track the wagon runs on the rails which have already been laid, and further rails 2 are carried on mountings at the sides of the wagon, from which they are unloaded on to the track bed e.g. by means of a winch (not shown) and a rope 12. The rails are then engaged by the grippers 6 and held above the rail bed. Sleepers 3 are conveyed by a lifting means 4, running on a guideway 4<SP>1</SP>, to a roller conveyer 11 which conveys the sleepers on to the track bed into a position in which the sleepers lie longitudinally of the track. The conveyer 11 is situated between one rail and the central axis of the track, and it deposits the sleepers in the middle of the track. The sleepers 3 are engaged individually by grippers 10 which rotate each sleeper through 90 degrees and which deposit the sleepers at their correct spacing under the rails, which spacing may be set by means of an abutment (not shown). The grippers 10 are mounted on an articulated joint 9 on a mobile carriage 8, which runs on a guideway 7. The mounting 5<SP>1</SP> may be locked in any desired position, e.g. by means of a toothed rim on the periphery of the mounting 5<SP>1</SP> and an associated pinion, so that the grippers 6 may hold the rails 2 in any desired curvature, and screw-driving machines may be provided to directly fix the rails 2 to the sleepers 3. Each gripper 6 is provided with rollers or cylinders to permit longitudinal movement of the gripper relative to the engaged rail 2 without releasing the rail, and the grippers 6 may be vertically adjustable.