US1747154A - Machine for cleaning ballast between railway tracks - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 11, 1930. J. B. MCWILLIAMS I MACHINE FOR CLEANING BALLAST BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Filed March .24. 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 11, 1930. J. B. M WILLIAMS 1,747,154

MACHINE FOR CLEANING BALLAST BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Filed March 24. 1 925 Sheets-Sheet 2 I v Snow rte; M962 5%: haw

Feb. 11, 1930. J. B. MCWILLIAMS 1,747,154

MACHINE FOR CLEANING BALLAST BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Filed March 24. 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet l G.- 5 r gmnmu 6 447 M z/a Feb. 11, 1930. McWlLLIAMS MACHINE FOR CLEANING BALLAST-BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Filed March 24, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Feb. 11, 1930. J. B] Mcwmums 1,747,154

MACHINE FOR CLEANING BALLAST BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Filed March 24. 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 71 w f *QW,

Eltboxnu Feb. 11, 1930. cw s 1,747,154

MACHINE FOR CLEANING BALLAST BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Filed March 24, 1925 6 Sheets Sheei'. 6

FIG.- ll

wwxi'h mw Mai/ Ma Patented Feb. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES .J'AMES B. MCWILLIAMS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW-- HALL COMPANY, 01' CLEVELAND, OHilO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO MACHINE FOB; CLEANING BALLAST BETWEEN RAILWAY TRACKS Application filed March 24, 1925r-'-Seria No. 17,950.

The general object of this invention is to provide an efficient power mechanism adapted for mounting and propulsion in the space between a pair of parallel railroad tracks, with out interference with the operation of trains on such tracks, and operating to excavate the ballast, screen it and deposit it between the tracks at the rear of the machine, andconvey removed dirt to a carrier convenient for disposal.

One of the particular objects of theinven tion is to provide such a machine which may excavate over a region wider than the body of the machine and thus be adapted to remove the entire ballast between the ends of ties or even beneath portions of such ties.

Another object of the inventi is to pro vide for the effective operation f the machine between tracks of different elevation line 33 on Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a front elevation 7 due to superelevation for curvature of difference in level for drainage orother purose.

p My machine is adapted for mounting on a pair of temporary tracks placed on the projecting ends of ties of the two railroad tracks, and it is a further object of the invention to provide for efiicient traction drive of the machine along such tracks and the equalizing of its weight upon its tracks. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof shown in the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan of my. machine in place between a pair of railroad tracks; 2 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal central section of the machine, as indicated by the of the machine in position between a pair of tracks on the same level; Fig. 5 is asimilar View illustrating the machine between tracks one higher than the other; Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section on a larger scale than the preceding view through the rear supporting wheels of the machine, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 6-6 on Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section through the front supporting wheels as indicated by the line 7-? on Fig. 1; Figs. 8 and 9 are details in horizontal section illustrating the versection through suchexcavating head; Fig. e

13 is a cross-section through the same indicated by the line 1313 on Fig. 12; Fig. 14 1s a diagrammatic elevation of the chain drive for the various shafts.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 11, A and 5 B indicate ties of a pair ofparallel railroad tracks, one rail of each track being illustrated at a and b. In Fig. 5, C illustrates bodies and 0 the wheels of cars on the two railroad tracks. My machine is adapted for mounting m w in the space between the adjacent ends of the ties A and B and is low enough to clear all overhanging railway equipment, as illustrated in Fig. 5. I Y

The excavating machine temporary tracks laid parallel with the railroad rails on the ties near their extreme ends. Such tracks are illustrated 2, 4,5 and 11 and have suitable guiding flanges to position the machine. As shown,

these tracks are channel-shaped members, though other shapes maybe used, if desired. A few lengths of such tracks are laid on the ties along'the region to be eircavated and, as

the machine travels, sections of such tracks 5 released at the rear are replaced at the front.-

,The machine is preferably electrically operated and electrically propelled by a motor on the machine the railroad tracks froma suitable source of supply. Thus the machine in nowise interferes with the passage of trains along the railroad tracks. The machine propels itself and operates automatically to remove the bal- 95 last at the front, elevate it, carry it rearward over the machine, screen it and deposit the clean ballast'at the rear in the space between the tracks.

I will now describe the details of the ma- 10c is mounted on at at D in Figs. 1,

supplied through a cable wh ch may extend'beneath the rails of one of chine itself, as shown in the drawings. The machine frame comprises four longitudinal side beams 10 and 11, and suitable crossbeams 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and others not shown. The width of the frame is nearly as great as the available space between the ends of ties.

It has a narrow top portion provided by longitudinal members 17 and inclinedbraces 18 and various braces not shown..

The frame described is supported by a pair of front wheels 20, and a pair of rear wheels 21, all adapted to track on the temporary tracks D, which are positioned on the ties by means of a template or gauge to maintain fixed distancesfrom the running rails. The wheels supporting the machine are the means for guiding it and for keeping it centrally located between the tracks as well as for propelling it.

In order that the wheels may be adjusted vertically to 'keep the machinevertical, notwithstanding that the ties on opposite sides lie in different horizontal planes, I carry each wheel upon stub shafts 22 and 23 which are mounted in vertical plate- like brackets 24 and 25 vertically adjustable at the sides of the machine. The machine is adjustable laterally for various track center distances by changing the length of the stub shafts carrying the wheels.

To vertically adjust the wheel-carrying brackets conveniently, I prefer to provide a screw and nut couple for each bracket, which construction will now be described. As the front wheels 20 are driven to propel the machine, these wheels are keyed on the shafts 22 which are rotatably mounted on the brackets 24. The rear Wheels 21 are shown as loosely mounted on shafts 23 stationarily carried by the brackets 25. Rotatably mounted in a space on the inner face of each of the frame brackets 24 and 25 is a vertical screw 30 which engages a nut 31 formed on or carried by the outer face of the frame member 16 at the front, or on the outer face of a transverse yoke (hereinafter described) at the rear. The upper end of the screw is made angular .for the application of a socket wrench, whereby the screw may be turned to raise or lower the bracket relative to the frame. The bracket is suitably guided with reference to the frame by a gib portion 26 on the inner face of the bracket occupying a corresponding recess in the cooperating member, while suitable bolts 28 extending thr ugh slots 29 in the bracket into the member 16 or 164 hold I the brackets in place.

The vertical adjustment provided may be readily made by rotating these screws while end with a suitable excavating head which is designed to'excavate the material for the entire distance between the ends of ties, or may .operate beneath the ties if desired, and behind this excavating head is an elevator of the endless-chain scraper type, which carries the excavated ballast to the rear to screen it, as hereinafter explained. Two forms of excavating heads are illustrated in the drawings, either of which may be employed as desired. I will first describe the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive and Fig. 10.

At the forward end of the machine is a shield plate 40 coming to a sharp lower edge, as shown at 41 Fig. 3, and inclining upwardly and rearwardly along the front of the machine, the shield having two rearward extensions 44 separated by a space which is occupied by the conveyor 80 hereinafter described. Mounted on the shield parallel with the surface is a pair of discs 50 each of whichis axially connected with a bevel gear 51 (Fig. 10) beneath the plate. Each of these bevel gears meshes with a pinion 52 on a transverse drive shaft 53. Carried by each disc 50 and extending upwardly is a crank pin 55 on which is mounted adigging arm 56 having a curved rearward extension 57 sliding through a rotatably mounted stirrup 58 carried by the extension portion of the shield at the rear of the disc.

It results from the construction just described that as the shaft 53 is rotated the discs 50 are rotated and this gives' to the gathering arms 56 an orbital movement which causes them to swin inwardly and rearwardly in one curved path and then to return along another curved path of less curvature. Thus, I

the arms are adapted to penetrate a pile of material and move inwardly within the same and rearwardly, gathering it onto the conveyor and then return while clearing the material in front. The movement may be varied by changing the position of the stirrup 58, or the length of the arms may be increased for a wider cut.

It will be seen that as these gathering arms having the orbital movement described, move forwardly while extending diagonally and outwardly to penetrate material for the full width of the space between the ties, and even beneath the ties, and then swing inwardly in that material and gather it onto the shield and conveyor.

In place of the orbitally acting arms just described, I ma use the gathering mechanism illustrated in igs. 11, 12 and 13. As there shown, I employ an inclined shield or fixed plate of annular form 60 having arcuate walls 61 about its rear portion, while at the central region of this shield is a rotatable disc 62 carrying curved arms 63 overhanging the annular shield. The disc is shown as mounted on a stationary stud 65 carried by a frame member 66 which may be carried by lon i tudinal members 67 supporting the shie d. Surrounding this stud 65 beneath the disc and.

It will be seen from the descriptions given of the alternative forms of excavating heads,

that such heads may vary in construction within wide limits. The head however, should be continuously operated and gather in the material from the front for the full desired distance and dischar e it onto the conveyor, which carries it to t e rear where along the inclined front of the machine thence rearwardly in a horizontal plane is preferably of the endless chain scraper type. This conv'eyor comprises a series of transverse bars or flights 81 mounted at their ends on endless chains 82 and dragging over a stationary pan support 83. The chains 82, as shown in Fig. 14, loop around bottom-most sprockets 90, thence pass over sprockets 91 at the top of the incline, thence over sprockets 92 at the rear of the horizontal portion and thence over idler sprockets 93 and 94 to the sprockets 90.

I apply the driving power to the rearmost sprockets 92. Thus, from a suitable sprocket on the shaft 95, on which the sprockets 92 are mounted, I have shown an endless belt 96 running to a sprocket wheel 97 on the transverse drive shaft 99 which is connected with the motor.

The motor 100 is suitably mounted on the.

by the conveyor chains through the sha carrying the sprocket wheels 90. This is the shaft 53 of the excavating head of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 10. Or, a sprocket chain 71 may'lead from a sprocket wheel 72 on a shaft (corresponding to the shaft 53) to the sprocket wheel 7 0 on the shaft. carrying the pinion 69 described with reference to Figs. 11, 12 and 13 of that gatherin mechanism. Accordingly, in either case, t e conveyor and gather- This screen is suitably ing mechanism operate in unison and continuously when the motor is operating.

The horizontal top reach of the conve or carnes the excavated and elevated bal ast to the rear and drops it onto a screen 120, which leads rearwardly and downwardly. shaken and the clean ballastthence drops over the rear end of the screen onto the right-of-way between the tracks, while the dirt which was excavated with the ballast drops through the screen into the hopper 130.

The screen may be of any desired type as I for nstance it may be composed of fore-endaft bars separated a suitable distance with suitable means for shaking it. l have shown such a screen mounted on springs 121 at its opposite ends; it is shaken by the rotation of] a shaft 123 carried by the screen and having weights 124 eccentrically mounted thereon. This shaft 123 is connected by gears 1.29 and 125 to a shaft 126 mounted on the screen and connected by a belt 128 with a wheel on the shaft 95.

The. hopper 130 inclines inwardly from all directions so that it leads toi a comparative! small central discharge orifice 132. Beneat this orifice is a narrow flight conveyor'140 leading upwardly with a suitable housing 141 to a discharge opening 142. This convevor may be driven in any suitable manner, as for instance by a sprocket chain 14.5 leading from'a sprocket wheel 146 at the upper end of the conveyor to the driven shaft at the rear end of the main conveyor.

The mechanism described will excavate the ballast and dirt, raise it and carry it to the rear, screen it and dro the clean ballast into site sides of the narrow housing 141, while the conveyor within the latter will take the dirt and refuse and drop it onto a suitable receptacle 143 carried by this machine frame beneath the orifice142. r

It is to be understood that while the gafli no ering mechanism and conveyor mechanism is operated, the machine is automatically propelled forwardly at the proper rate so that the excavating mechanism is continuously engaging fresh material. To propel the machine from the motor, I have shown sprocket wheels 150 on the inner ends of the shafts 22 which carry the front wheels .20. Chains 151 lead from these sprocket wheels. 150 around driving sprockets 153 on an idler shaft 154 which carries a spur gear 155 meshing with a spur. ear 156 on the shaft 157 which is connecte by a sprocket chain with the main shaft 99. This causes the twotraction wheels 20 to be constantly rotated in the direction to drive the machine forwardly.

' As either traction wheel 20 may be adjusted up or down from the other to keep the machine vertical a's heretofore explained, I provide a suitable take-up device for the sprocket chains 151 which drive these wheels. This take-up device is illustrated in Fig. 14 as a sprocket 158 carried in a sliding yoke 159 which ma be moved by a rotatable screw 160, mounted in the frame to have an accessible upper end and threaded through a nut 161 carried by the yoke.

To insure proper traction of the front wheels and prevent the machine at any time being carried by diagonally opposite front and rear wheels, I mount the latter wheels.

on a transverse member which is pivoted to the frame. The frame thus has a three point support, and both of the front wheels 20 must always be in engagement with their respective tracks. This equalizing mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 6, where it will be seen that the transverse frame member 13 is pivoted at 171 to the horizontal portion of a U-shaped frame 170, the vertical sides 164 of which carry the nuts 31- cooperating with the screws 30 of the wheel brackets 25.

It will be seen from the description given that I have provided an automatic, self propelled machine adapted to be mounted in the space between parallel railroad tracks, without interfering with the travel of trains over these tracks, and operating to excavate ballast, clean it and return it, while collecting the refuse in an accessible receptacle. My machine may excavate the ballast for the full width of the space between the two trackways, or beneath the overhanging ends of ties if-desired. Both the propulsion and the excavation are effective whether thetracksare in the same plane or one higher than the vating and conveying mechanism supported by said frame, a pair of traction wheels on opposite sides of the frame engaging said temporary tracks, a U-shaped transverse member straddling the frame and centrally pivoted to the frame, a pair of supporting wheels on the legs of the U also engaging the temporarytracks, and a motor on the frame for driving the traction wheels and said excavating and conveying mechanisms. .2. A ballast cleaning machine adapted to be mounted between adjacent ends of ties of apair of parallel railroad tracks and comprising a frame, supporting wheels on opposite sides of the frame adapted to suspend it, means for vertically adjust-ing said wheels independently of each other, gathering mechanism adapted to gather material, conveying mechanismonwhichthegatheringmechanism may deposit material, screening mechanism adapted 'to be fed b said conveying mechanism and a motor or simultaneously operating the gatherin mechanism, the conveying mechanism an a pair of the supporting wheels.

3. In a machine. for cleaning ballast, the combination of a frame having an inclined front, wheels on opposite sides of the frame adapted to suspend it between the ends of the ties of para-llelrailroad tracks, a rotary disc mounted in an inclined plane adjacent the front of the machine, a flat shield substantially in the plane of the disc and nearly surrounding it but havin an opening at the rear, curved arms carried Ey the disc and extend-. ing outwardly over the shield in close proximity thereto, an endless conveyor extending diagonally upwardly from a region beneath the opening through the shield, a motor on the frame and driving mechanism between it and the disc, the conveyor and some of the supporting wheels.

4. In a machine for cleaning ballast, the combination of a frame having an inclined front, Wheels on opposite sides of the frame adapted to suspend it between the ends of the ties of parallel railroad tracks, a rotary disc mounted in an inclined plane ad'acent the front of the machine, a fiat shield su stantially in the plane of the disc and nearly sur-" rounding it but having an opening at the rear, curved arms carried by the disc, an end- =less conveyor extending diagonally upwardly from a region beneath the opening through the shield, a motor on the frame and driving mechanism between it and the disc, the conveyor and some of the supporting wheels.

5. A railway ballast digging machine comprising a frame adapted to lie between the ties of adjacent railroad tracks, supporting wheels on the frame arranged to be supported on rails placed on the ends of the ties and digging means carried by the frame and arranged to dig the full width of the space between the ends of the ties.

6. A railway ballast digging machine comprising a frame adapted to be supported on the ties of adjacent railroad tracks, supporting wheels on the frame arranged to be supported on rails placed on the ends of the ties,

and digging means carried by the frame and arranged to dig the full width of the space between the ends of,the ties.

7. A railway ballast treating machine comprising a frame adapted to lie between the ties of adjacent railroad tracks, ballast handling means carried by the frame, supporting means for the frame extending over the ties on each side of the machine, and means for adjusting the vertical height of a supporton one side of the machine relative to a support on the other side thereof.

8. A railway ballast treatin machine eomprising a frame adapted to 1e between the ties of adjacent railroad tracks, ballast handling means carried by the frame, su porting meansfor the frame on each side the machine, and'means for adjusting the vertical height of a support on one side of the machine relative to a sup ort on the other side.

9. A railway allast cleaning machine arranged to travel in the clear space between adjoinin railway tracks having means for digging allast, screening the same and returning the cleaned ballast to the roadbed,

. a major portion of the machine depending from supports, the supports being arran ed to lie over the ties of the adjoining trac s, the machine being adapted to lie in a trench previously prepared between the ends of the ties of the adjoining tracks.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a shield, an arm lying over the shield, the shield and the arm being so positioned that the arm may dig into material lying adjacent the machine, the shield being interrupted so as to provide an opening through which material may fall, means for movin the arm over the shield r and the opening, an a conveyor adapted to receive material moved across-the machine by the arm to the opening.

' In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my. I

signature. i

I JAMES B, MoWILLIAMS.

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