US2840930A

US2840930A - Trackway scraper

Info

Publication number: US2840930A
Application number: US572857A
Authority: US
Inventors: James M Mundell; Jr John Pavlovich
Original assignee: United States Steel Corp
Current assignee: United States Steel Corp
Priority date: 1956-03-21
Filing date: 1956-03-21
Publication date: 1958-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 1975-07-01

Description

July 1, 1958 J. M. MUNDELL ETAL 2,840,930

TRACKWAY SCRAPER 7 Filed March 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l l I n+1 l JAMES M. MUNDE LL and their Attorney.

Y /A/ VIEW TORS.

y. 1958 J- M. MUNDELL ET AL 2,840,930

TRACKWAY SCRAPER Filed March 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 R\:"\ F R 54 PIE: 4. 54 29 28 INVENTORS? JAMES M. MUNDELL and JOHN PA l/LOV/CH, Jr,

their Attorney.

United States TRACKWAY SCRAPER Application March 21, 1956, Serial N 0. 572,857

7 Claims. (Cl. 37-104) The present invention relates generally to rail trackway cleaning equipment and more particularly to apparatus mountable on a track vehicle for scraping the track bed of a trackway.

In the operation of railway systems for transporting raw materials in and around industrial plants, the problem of maintaining the track beds clean and free of fallen material and debris is a problem that is ever present and one that detrimentally aflfects the efiicient functioning of the system. The task of keeping the trackway clean is particularly arduous and time consuming Where the raw material being hauled is in fine granular or powder form. Such material tends to leak out of the cars during transit and this leaking material together with the material nor mally spilled during transfer causes the track bed to be covered with a considerable accumulation of material in a short time.

Up to the time of our invention one industrial installation where a particularly troublesome trackway cleaning problem existed was the blast furnace stock house. In the blast furnace stock house, iron ore, limestone and coke for the blast furnace are continually being transferred by larry car from storage bins to furnace charging skip buggies. The raw materials are loaded into the hoppers of the larry car from overhead storage bins and then transported along a trackway system to a pit where the material is dumped into skip buggies for charging into the furnace. A portion of the trackway extends over the pit so that the larry cars may be positioned over the skip buggies which are lowered into the pit for filling. The larry car is self-propelled and operated by a workman riding in the car. During the continual transfer operation, material is constantly being spilled along the length of the trackway so that cleaning the track bed is a continuous operation. Prior to our invention the cleaning operation was usually accomplished by manual labor which not only made the operation time consuming and ineflicient but frequently hazardous as well.

The apparatus of the invention can be used with particular advantage mounted on a stock house larry car for keeping the stock house trackway system clean and, there fore, the invention will be described in connection with such an application. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such use.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a retractible scraper mechanism including a scraper blade for scraping the track bed of a trackway which is adapted to be easily incorporated into the structure of a vehicle mounted for travel on the rails of the trackway.

Another object of the invention is to provide a retractible scraper mechanism as described above which when installed on a track mounted vehicle can be operated from a remote station on the vehicle to lower the scraper blade to scrape the surface of the track bed as the vehicle travels 'therealong in either forward or reverse direction without interfering with the travel of the vehicle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved track bed scraper of the character described which is adapted to be easily and inexpensively installed on presently existing railway rolling stock.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view;

Figure Z is a cross sectional view taken on the line Il-II of Figure l; 1

Figure 3 is an elevational view taken on the line Ill-Ill of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a plan view.

Referring more particularly to the drawing reference numeral 2 designates the frame of a stock house larry car 4 having the upright base plate 6 of the invention fixedly mounted on one end thereof by means of bolts 7. The larry car 4 is wheel mounted on the rails R of a trackway T for self-propelled travel therealong. The base plate 6 is disposed with its longitudinal axis extending transversely of the trackway and its bottom edge spaced above the rails R.

A substantially L-shaped angle bar 8, having a relatively short web or leg 10 and a relatively long flange or leg 12, is mounted, by welding or similar means, on the inner face 14 of the base plate 6 adjacent each side edge thereof. Each angle bar 8 is disposed with its longitudinal axis parallel with the side edges of the base plate and its flange portion 12 parallel with and spaced from the inner face 14 of the base plate. Each of the flanges 12 is directed toward the vertical center line of the base plate. The angle bars 8 form guideways 16 with the inner face 14 for receiving the ends of a scraper plate or blade which will be further described. One or more substantially horizontally disposed L-shaped flanges 18 may be welded to the outer surface of each of the angle bars and to the inner face 14, as best shown in Figure 4, to serve as stiffeners.

A pair of vertically spaced and aligned substantially rectangular openings 26 is provided in the flange portion 12 of each of the angle bars 8. Similar openings 22 are provided in the base plate 6 horizontally aligned with the openings 20. The

openings

20 and 22 taper inwardly to a reduced area toward the inner face 14 of the base plate 6. A freely rotatable roller 24 journaled in bearings 26, which are mounted on the outer surface of each flange 12 adjacent each opening 20, is fitted into each of the openings 20 with a portion of its peripheral surface projecting outwardly of the reduced area portion of the opening. Freely rotatable rollers 28, similar to rollers 26, are journaled in bearings 29, which are disposed on the outer face 39 of the base plate 6, with portions of their peripheries projecting outwardly of the reduced area of openings 22. The

rollers

24 and 28 are spaced apart a suflicient distance from each other so as to receive and roll on the surface of a scraper plate or blade 32 which is slidably disposed therebetween. A pair of spaced

pulleys

34 and 34 is rotatably mounted on the inner face 14 of the base plate 6 adjacent its upper edge by means of brackets 36 for receiving

cables

38 and 38, respectively, therearound, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The scraper plate or blade 32 is supported for vertical shding movement on the base plate 6 with its ends slidably disposed in the guideways 16. The scraper plate 32 is suspended from the upper portion of base plate 6 by means of the cables 38 and 38' which are attached by their

lower ends

42 and 42, respectively, to horizontally aligned and spaced projections 40 and 40' respectively, disposed adjacent the upper edge of the scraper plate. Each of the cables 38 and 38' extends from its connection with its respective projection and passes over the pulleys 34 and 34', respectively, as is best sh n F ure 38 passes around horizontally disposed

pulleys

45 and 45 and is attached to the projecting end of a piston rod 46 of a pressure cylinder 48. After the cable 3., passes over the pulley 34', its end 44' is joined to the adjacent portion of the cable 38 so that upon projection or retraction of the piston rod 46 the scraper plate 32 will be raised or lowered in a level manner. Although we have shown the pressure cylinder 48 mounted in the body of the larry car 4 it may be mounted on the base plate 6 or anywhere on'the vehicle which is convenient or desired. A valve 50 for controlling the flow of pressure fluid to and from the cylinder 48 through a supply line 51 is located adjacent the operators station in the larry car so that it may be conveniently manipulated by the operator while he is operating the car.

The bottom edge of the scraper plate 32 is provided with a vertical slot 52 adjacent each side edge thereof into which is fitted a guide lug 54 which projects normal to both faces of the scraper plate. The bottom surface of each of the lugs 54 is spaced slightly above the plane of the bottom edge. of the scraper plate 32 and tapers slightly upwardly from approximately the vertical center line of the lug out to the free end thereof. The lugs 54 guide the bottom edge of the scraper plate over the track bed and thereby prevent binding of the scraper plate in the guideways 16. The bottom edge of the base plate 6 is provided with slots 56 for receiving the guide lugs when the scraper plate is in raised position.

Scraper plate 32 is substantially rectangular in shape and has its lower outer corners cut away as at 58 and 60 to provide clearance for the rails R as shown in Figure 3. The scraper plate may be dimensioned as shown so as to extend from the inside of one rail to the inside of the other rail of the trackway so as to span the entire track bed between the rails. Although we have shown the scraper plate 32 dimensioned only to extend between the rails R, it will be noted that it may be made longer so as to extend beyond the rails if desired. In this case the cut-out corners 58 and 60 become slots for accommodating the rails.

Spaced apart vertical bars 62 may be welded to the face 64 of the scraper blade 32 remote from the base plate 6 to serve as stiffeners for the blade.

In operation, when it is desired to scrape the trackway, the valve 50 is manipulated by the operator of the larry car to energize cylinder 48 to cause projection of the piston rod 46 and consequent lowering of the scraper plate 32 to the surface of the trackway. The scraper plate 32 in this position will clean the area of the track bed between the rails as the larry car carries raw materials along the trackway to the pit. The material cleaned from the track bed is scraped over the edge of the pit as the larry car enters upon the portion of trackway spanning the pit. The scraper may be used while the larry car travels in either forward or reverse direction over the trackway. When it is used to scrape portions of the trackway remote from the pit, the materials scraped from the track bed is accumulated in a pile at the end of the path of travel of the larry car and then disposed of in any convenient manner. After the trackway has been cleaned, the pressure cylinder 48 is again actuated to retract the piston rod 46. Retraction of the piston rod raises the scraper plate clear of the trackway. The scraper plate is maintained in this position until it is desired to clean the track bed again.

It will be noted that although we have shown the apparatus of our invention mounted on a larry car, it will be noted that the apparatus of the invention may be mounted or incorporated into the structure of any other rolling stock traveling over a trackway as desired.

While one embodiment of our invention has been The opposite end 4- of cable shown and described, it ill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a vehicle having a frame mounted for travel along the rails of a trackway the improvement therewith of a retractible scraper for scraping particles of material from said trackway which comprises a vertically disposed base plate rigidly mounted on one end of said frame with its longitudinal axis extending transversely of said trackway, means forming a pair of: spaced vertical guideways on one face of said base plate, one adjacent each end of the plate, a vertically disposed scraper plate slidably mounted on said one face of said base plate with its side edges slidingly fitted in said guideways, the longitudinal axis of said scraper plate being parallel with the longitudinal axis of said base plate, extensible suspension means carried by said base plate supporting said scraper plate, power means connected with said suspension means for extending and retracting the same to thereby lower and raise said scraper plate toward and away from said trackway, and control means located on said vehicle for actuating said power means.

2. The improvement as defined by claim 1 characterized by said base plate having openings therethrough, rollers journaled for free rotation in bearsings disposed on said base plate adjacent said openings with a portion of their peripheries projecting from said openings to contact one surface of said scraper plate, said guideway forming means having openings therethrough opposite the openings in the base plate, and rollers journaled for free rotation in bearings disposed on said guideway means with a portion of their peripheries projecting toward and contacting the surface of said scraper plate remote from said base plate.

3. In a vehicle having a frame mounted for travel along the rails of a trackway the improvement therewith of a retractible scraper for scraping particles of material from said trackway which comprises a vertically disposed base plate rigidly mounted on one end of said frame with its longitudinal axis extending transversely of said trackway, said base plate having at least two horizontally spaced openings therethrough, means forming a pair of spaced vertical guideways on one face of said base plate, one adjacent each end of the plate, said last named means including an angle bar having a web and flange portion fixedly mounted adjacent to and parallel with each side edge of said base plate with its flange directed toward the vertical center line of the base plate parallel with and spaced from one face of said base plate, each of said flange portions having an opening therethrough aligned with one of said openings in the base plate, a vertically disposed scraper plate slidably mounted on said one face of said base plate with its side edges slid ably fitted between said flanges and the face of the base plate, the longitudinal axis of said scraper plate being parallel with the longitudinal axis of said base plate, rollers journaled for free rotation in each of the openings in the base plate and the flanges with a portion of their peripheries contacting one face of said scraper plate, extensible suspension means carried by said base plate supporting said scraper plate, power means connected with said suspension means for extending and retracting the same to thereby lower and raise said scraper plate toward and away from the surface of said trackway, and control means located on said vehicle for actuating said power means.

4. The improvement as defined by claim 3 characterized by said suspension means including a pair of spaced pulleys rotatably mounted on said base plate adjacent the upper edge thereof, a pair of cables each passing around one of said pulleys with one end secured to the upper portion of said scraper plate and its other end connected with said power means, the said one ends 5 of said cables being attached to said scraper plate at horizontally aligned and spaced points on said scraper plate, said cables being dimensioned to suspend said scraper plate with its bottom edge in a level horizontal plane.

5. The improvement as defined by claim 4 characterized by said power means including a pressure cylinder having a piston rod projecting therefrom, and said cables being connected with the projecting end of said piston rod.

6. The improvement as defined by claim 3 including spaced elongated guide lugs carried by said scraper plate adjacent its bottom edge and projecting normal to the opposed faces of said scraper plate, the bottom surface 6 of each of said guide lugs being tapered slightly upwardly in the direction away from the scraper plate.

7. The improvement as defined by claim 6 characterized by said base plate having spaced vertical slots along its bottom edge for receiving the portions of said guide lugs projecting from the face of said scraper plate adjacent said base plate when said scraper plate is raised from the surface of said trackway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 978,691 Cafi'erty et al. Dec. 13, 1910 2,214,207 Shipley Sept. 10, 1940 2,574,118 McWilliams Nov. 6, 1951 2,665,506 Kershaw Ian. 12, 1954