US3000325A

US3000325A - Machine for handling railroad ties or the like

Info

Publication number: US3000325A
Application number: US5790A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry J Perazzoli
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-02-01
Filing date: 1960-02-01
Publication date: 1961-09-19
Anticipated expiration: 1978-09-19

Description

Sept. 19, 1961 H. J. PERAZZOLI 3,000,325

MACHINE FOR HANDLING RAILROAD TIES OR THE LIKE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 1, 1960 ATTORNEYS Sept. 19, 1961 H. J. PERAZZOLI 3,000,325

MACHINE FOR HANDLING RAILROAD TIES OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 1, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 MACHINE FOR HANDLING RAILROAD TIES OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 1, 1960 Sept. 19, 1961 H. J. PERAZZOL! 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Sept. 19, 1961 H. J. PERAZZOLI 3,000,325

MACHINE FOR HANDLING RAILROAD TIES OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 1, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 mvENToR g; ATTORN EYS Sept. 19, 1961 H. J. PERAZZOLI MACHINE FOR HANDLING RAILROAD TIES OR THE LIKE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 1, 1960 INVENTOR a ATTO NEYS United States Patent 3,000,325 MACHINE FOR HANDLING RAILROAD TIES OR THE LIKE Henry J. Per-azzoli, 3 Plymouth Road, Gwynedd Valley, Pa. Filed Feb. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 5,790 6 Claims. (Cl. 104-9) This invention relates to a machine for handling elongated members such as railroad ties and is particularly concerned with a device of this kind which is mounted upon a wheeled vehicle such as a railroad truck or car so that it can be moved from one position to another along a right of way or other path of travel. The machine is constructed and arranged so that it can pick up the members which it handles from a side of the right of way and place them in desired positions in relation to the track or remove them from such positions and discharge them to the side along the path of movement of the truck. The improved machine I have developed is peculiarly adapted to the handling of railroad ties and has been designed especially for this purpose, wherefore the present disclosure will be specifically directed to a tie handling machine.

As is well known to those familiar with railroad track work, the positioning of ties under the rails or their removal therefrom are relatively time consuming and difficult jobs which are usually performed by a crew of men generally not less than three men where machines are employed and considerably more where the work is performed entirely manually.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a machine for setting or removing ties or similar objects whereby, except for whatever ballast work may be involved, these jobs may be performed by a single man. A concomitant object, of course, is to greatly reduce the amount of time and expense involved in the setting or pulling of railroad ties. To summarize, it is the object of my invention to provide a machine which can be moved along the track, which can pick up ties scattered at random along the right of way and place them in proper position under the tracks and which can withdraw or pull the ties from beneath the tracks and drop them along the right of Way-all of such operations being possible with but a single man.

Before proceeding with a detailed description of the present invention, it is desired to note the fact that tie handling machines have been known to the art but insofar as I am aware none of them has made it possible to ehmmate the amount of labor which can be eliminated with my improved machine. For instance, trucks have been known which move along the tracks and which carry tie gripping means located at a point between the two rails of the tracks. However, such gripping means cannot engage the ties until they are first placed at least partially in position under the rails. This preliminary positioning has to be performed by extra men who lift the ties with the usual tie tongs and at least partially insert them before the machine can grip them and complete the job. Other machines have been known which will pick up a tie at the side of a track but which have no means for driving the tie from the point at which it is gripped thus making it necessary to move the tie entirely by the boom with which such machines have been equipped which type of operation is a diflicult maneuver.

The machine of the present invention completely overcomes these limitations of prior machines as will be seen by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic front elevational view of my improved machine showing the truck which moves along the rails, the boom which picks up the ties and the ice driving means for forcing the ties under the rails or removing them therefrom;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the tie gripping and driving mechanism of my improved machinethe adjacent rail of the track, the tie on which it is resting and the tie which is being inserted from left to right being shown in dot and dash lines;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 2 with the rail and the tie which is being inserted shown in dot and dash lines;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section taken approximately as indicated by the line 44 on FIGURE 2, but with certain parts appearing in elevation and with the tie to be inserted being shown in dot and dash lines as it is gripped by the machine;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 4 but with the tie gripping and driving means shown in open position;

FIGURE 6 is a detailed plan view of the fixed unit of the tie gripping mechanism, the unit being the lower one illustrated in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a detailed plan view of the movable tie gripping unit which cooperates with the fixed unit of FIGURE 6. This is the upper unit in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 8 is a diagram of the hydraulic power and control means which I prefer to use with my invention.

By referring to the drawings it will be seen that my machine includes a supporting truck 9 equipped with an axle 10 and flanged wheels 11, the latter being adapted to ride along the rails 12 of a railroad track, the rails being carried by the usual ties 13. A suitable framework 14 is mounted on the car or truck for rotation around a vertical axis 15. A boom 16 is mounted for upwardly and downwardly swinging movement upon a horizontal axis 17. Near the outer end of the boom is a hydraulic motor :18 mounted upon an axis 19 by means of which the motor can turn through an are which, in the device as I have designed it, is approximately 280. The degree of rotation, however, is not important insofar as the invention is concerned except that it should be sufficient to make it possible to rotate the gripping unit as may be required to grasp the tie.

The tie gripping and driving unit, indicated as a whole by the reference character 20, is connected to the motor axis 19 by a suitable universal joint mechanism 21 which latter cooperates in the proper positioning of the unit.

The tie gripping and driving unit comprises a pair of

opposed frame members

22 and 23. The frame member 22 will be referred to as the fixed frame member because it is secured to the part 24' of the universal joint 21 as by bolts 24a. In other words, this frame member 22 is the supporting frame member and is suspended on the motor axis 19 near the end of the boom 16. The other frame member 23 has relative movement toward and away from the fixed frame member 22 as indicated to best advantage in FIGURES 4 and 5. In order to provide for this relative movement between the two frame members the fixed frame 22 has a pair of guide rails 25 projecting laterally therefrom as shown to best advantage in FIGURE 6. It is also provided with a pair of cylindrical guides 26 for a purpose which will appear just below. The movable frame member 23 has a pair of spaced

flanges

27 and 28 adapted to embrace the guide rails 25 of the fixed frame member 22. It also carries a pair of rods 29 which are adapted to slide in the cylindrical guides 26. At their outer ends the rods 29 carry a crosshead 30 to which is secured an operating piston 31 by means of a pin 31a which latter provides flexibility to prevent binding of the parts. This piston 31 fits into a cylinder 32 on the fixed frame member 22. The cylinder 32 has a flat extension 33 which is connected at its outer end with a cross mem- 3 her 34 extending between and mounted on a pin 34a secured to the rails 25 as clearly shown in FIGURE 6. The piston and cylinder device 3132 constitutes a motor device for effecting the relative movement between the

frames

22 and 23.

The piston and cylinder device 3132 is actuated by hydraulic fluid and when the fluid is admitted to. the cylinder at the outside face of the piston 31, i.e., the face away from the crosshead 30, the piston will be moved in the cylinder 32 in a direction which brings the movable frame member 23 toward the fixed frame member 22 as shown in FIGURE 4. This is the position in which the tie is gripped by the gripping members in the manner to be described below. When the fluid is delivered to the cylinder at the opposite side of the piston it will be moved to the right as shown in FIGURE 5, which motion separates the

frames

22 and 23 thereby opening the tie gripping members as shown in FIGURE 5.

The fixed frame member 22 is provided with a downwardly extending and somewhat elongated box-like frame portion 22a having a vertical interior web 221). Carried in this frame are a pair of spaced chain sprockets 35 and 36 around which passes an endless chain 37 (FIG- URE 2). The chain is provided with suitable tie gripping means 38 and 39, the former of which have straight gripper teeth and the latter of which have diamond shaped gripper teeth, as shown to best advantage in the lower portion of FIGURE 2. I prefer to alternate the two types of teeth as shown in this view, although neither the particular shape of the teeth nor the alternate arrangement should be considered as limiting the invention because other types of teeth might well be employed. However, I have found that the design and arrangement of the teeth as shown in FIGURE 2 has yielded excellent results.

The right hand chain sprocket 35 as shown in FIGURE 2 is mounted for adjustment by means of the slide members 40 whereas the mounting for the sprocket 46 at the left is fixed. This is for the purpose of adjusting the chain to take up slack in the event of wear.

The fixed frame member 22 also carries an hydraulic chain operating motor 41 which drives the sprocket 36 through the medium of bevel gears 42 and 43. The inner run of the chain as seen in FIGURES 4 and is arranged to parallel the sides of the tie and to drivingly grip the same in cooperation with a corresponding structure on the opposite or movable frame member 23, the web 22b acting as a backing member for this run of the chain during operation of the device.

The opposing or movable frame member 23 is provided with an exactly similar type of tie gripping and driving mechanism as has just been described in connection with the fixed member 22 wherefore it will not be described in detail except to point out that it has a similar downwardly extending box-like frame portion 44, a similar chain drive 45, a similar vertical web 46 and a similar driving motor 47. It might be noted, however, that the

motors

41 and 47 are arranged in reverse relationship on the two

frame members

22 and 23. reversing the motors it is possible to make the over-all dimension of the machine somewhat smaller than it would be were the two motors placed in the same direction.

By referring particularly to FIGURES 2 and 5, it will be seen that each of the

lower frame members

22a and 44 carry at the bottom a longitudinally extending rib 48. These serve the purpose of pushing the ballast away so as to develop a firm seat for the unit at the side of the rail.

I also wish to call attention to certain structure which I have provided as an aid in absorbing the thrust which is created when a tie is driven by my machine. For instance, in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 it will be seen that there are two

hook members

49 and 50 which are respecnively supported by arms 49a and 50a, the former of By so v 4. which extends toward the rail from the movable unit and the latter from the fixed unit. These hook members swing upon pivot pins 51 and 52 and are provided with

upward extensions

53 and 54 which are adapted to abut against cooperating stop members 55 and 56. Each hook member has a supplemental aperture 57 by means of which it can also be mounted upon its cooperating pivot pin as seen in FIGURE 2. This makes it possible to mount the hook so as to cooperate with rails of difierent height. As shown in FIGURE 2, the hook fits under the head of the rail so that when the tie is being driven home to its position under the rails the reaction is in part at least absorbed by the rail itself acting through the hook. Of course, it will be understood that the boom also acts as a fixed point during the time that the tie is being driven by the gripping means. Nevertheless, the hook grip provided by the structure just described is of considerable importance in obtaining rigidity and satisfactory operation.

It should also be noted that, when placing the tie gripping and driving unit in its proper position beside the rails, the

hooks

49 and 50 pass over the top of the rail and fall down on the other side after the final position has been reached.

It should also be noticed in connection with the

hooks

49 and 50 that their supporting frames 49a and 50a are made so that they can be detached and switched to the opposite side of the machine in case it is desired to work on the other side of the track from that shown in FIG- URES 2 and 3. For this purpose an upstanding plate 58 is provided at the opposite end of the fixed unit to which the hook 49 may be secured. At the same time the hook 50 is moved to the oppoiste end of the top brace 59. However, this detail could be varied in any desired manner and should not be considered as a limiting feature.

FIGURE 8 illustrates in diagrammatic form a suitable hydraulic fluid supply and control mechanism for the swiveling motor 18, the

chain driving motors

41 and 47 and the frame moving or gripping motor 31-32. Hydraulic fluid is circulated by a pump 60 which delivers the fluid to the motor 18 under the control of the valve 61, to the

motors

41 and 47 under the control of the valve 62 and to the motor 3132 under the control of the valve 63. Drain lines from the motors 41 and- 47 deliver to a tank 64. The valve 61 may be a foot operated valve while the

valves

62 and 63 are preferably hand operated, but some other arrangement of the valves can be adopted if desired. The point of principal importance in connection with the fluid control mechanism is that the two

motors

41 and 47 which drive the chains should be operated simultaneously so that the tie is driven into position by power applied simultaneously to its opposite sides. The drain tank 64 is provided because, in the type of hydraulic motors employed for driving the chains, some leakage of pressure fluid takes place inside of the motors and this should be drained away to prevent build-up of pressure.

Summary of Operation While the operation is believed to be obvious from the description of the machine it might be helpful to point out that in doing a tie replacement job it is customary to drop the new ties at random along the right of way. This, of course, will result in the ties taking various angular positions with relation to the track and may also involve tipping of the tie up or down an adjoining bank. A tie handling machine therefore must be cauble of reaching out and grasping a tie regardless of its random position along the track. This is easily accomplished by my improved machine. The car or truck is moved along the rails to the desired position, whereupon the boom 16 is lowered in order to bring the tie gripping and driving means 20 over the end of a tie. If the gripping and driving means is not in the proper angular relation to the tie it can be rotated by the motor 18 until the opposing runs of the drive chains are parallel with the tie sides, whereupon the boom can be still further lowered to the point where the gripping and driving unit rests upon the ground. When this happens the universal joint 21 permits the unit to accommodate itself to the tilt of the tie on the ground. The tie gripping motor 31-32 is then operated to bring the opposing runs of the two chains into gripping contact with opposite sides of the tie, following which the boom and/ or the truck are moved to bring the end of the tie in line with the position into which it is to be placed and then the

chain motors

41 and 47 are actuated to move the tie under the rails into the position desired.

It should also be pointed out that the tie driving chains are constructed and arranged so that each presents a run toward the other which runs are parallel and therefore adapted to engage the opposite parallel sides of a tie. By gripping the tie at one end and applying driving power on both sides, it is possible relatively easily to force the tie under the rails to the position desired.

During the operation of placing ties under the rails the

hooks

49 and 50, of course, play their part by providing a reaction point on the rails in the manner already described.

It is believed to be obvious from all of the foregoing that the machine can also be used to withdraw ties from under the rails and drop them at randon along the right of way. This, of course, involves a reversal of motion in the chain driving mechanism, but I have provided for this by employing

motors

41 and 47 which are reversible.

In conclusion, I should like to point out that the tie gripping and driving unit which I have disclosed constitutes in effect a pair of jaws which are relatively movable toward and away .fiom each other, which jaws have parallel driving faces in the shape of endless chains or the like which chains are adapted to grip and drive the tie in a direction longitudinally of its axis. The frames which carry the chains and the motors for effecting the relative movement between the frames as well as for driving the endless chains are all constructed and arranged so as to constitute a tie gripping and driving unit which can be hung from the end of a boom in the manner described. It should also be understood in connection with the chain drives that it is not essential to employ chains as some other type of endless conveyor-like mechanism might well be employed. Indeed, it is quite possible to employ other opposing driving mechanism which is capable of applying power to both sides of the tie, although I prefer the endless chain equipment illustrated and described in this application.

I claim:

1. In a machine for handling railroad ties or the like a tie gripping unit comprising in combination a pair of opposed frame members interconnected for relative movement toward and away from each other, motor means carried by the unit for eifecting said movement, an endless tieengaging and driving chain on each frame member, means mounting each of said chains on its frame member to present a run which faces and parallels a run on the other,

a backing member behind each of said parallel chain runs whereby said runs are held in driving contact with the tie, and motor means carried by the unit including means connecting the motor to the chains for simultaneously driving the chains with the parallel runs moving in the same direction, all of said parts being constructed and arranged so that the parallel chain runs grip a tie on opposing sides whereby to move the tie longitudinally of its axis.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein a frame member is provided with a hook pivoted to svn'ng upwardly to pass over a rail when the machine is placed in operating position and to swing downwardly to engage the rail and act as a reaction point when the tie is being moved as described.

3. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the motor means for moving the frames toward and away from each other includes a hydraulic cylinder on one frame and a cooperating piston on the other.

4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the motor means for moving the frames toward and away from each other includes a hydraulic cylinder on one frame and a cooperating piston on the other and, further, wherein each chain driving means includes a hydraulic driving motor together with hydraulic fluid supply means therefor.

5. A machine according to claim 1 wherein each frame is provided at the bottom with a ballast parting rib paralleling the tie driving chain.

6. A machine for handling railroad ties comprising in combination, a car adapted to ride the rails, an upwardly and downwardly swinging boom mounted on the car for rotation around a vertical axis, a tie gripping unit having a universal mounting on the end of the boom, a pair of endless tie engaging and driving chains, means mounting said chains on the gripping unit with a run of each chain arranged to oppose and parallel a run in the other, said chain mounting means including means for moving said opposing chain runs toward and away from each other whereby to grip and release opposite longitudinal sides of a tie, motor means on the unit drivingly connected to said chain mounting means to effect said movement, a backing member behind each of said parallel chain runs whereby said runs are held in driving contact with the tie, and further motor means carried by the unit for simultaneously driving said endless chains with the parallel runs moving in the same direction whereby to move a tie longitudinally of its axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,546,621 Churchia et a1. July 21, 1925 2,069,770 Neal Feb. 9, 1937 2,757,037 Troyer July 31, 1956 2,828,699 Fox Apr. 1, 1958 2,903,294 Shook Sept. 8, 1959 OTHER REFERENCES Railway Track and Structures, page 8, October 1958.