US3391648A - Method and apparatus for track working - Google Patents

Description

July 1968 J. K. STEWART METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRACK WORKING Filed July 12, 1965 w 2W W K w k w r QM kw ou QM k. .U l n. .Ww air k. W Q Q Q W N 1|.- 1 w w 1 1 W. umMl\ltu- U QN mKwW QM mew/s United States Patent 3 Claims. Cl. 104-7 This invention relates to a method and means for railroad track alignment. It has been the practice in railroad track working operations, such as maintaining operations, to tamp the ballast beneath the ties of the track to consolidate the track. It is also the practice where a track has had low spots formed therein due to wear by trafiic, to jack portions of the track, where it has sagged, to the required height and to tamp the ballast beneath the track so jacked to compact the ballast and thereby consolidate the track at its required level.

It has then been the procedure to follow the tamping machines with a track aligning device, or liner. This device, following behind the tamping machines, throws the track laterally to align the track in a horizontal plane. The liner device may Work to an established reference, say for example a wire reference such as that described in United States Patent No. 2,962,979 or United States Patout No. 3,165,838.

The present invention provides in a railroad track working method which includes the step of tamping the track, the improvement which comprises the step of laterally aligning the track in a horizontal plane whilst performing the tamping operation, i.e., prior to completion of the tamping operation.

The present invention also provides apparatus for working railroad track comprising a wheeled vehicle, tamping means on the vehicle to tamp the track; means for determining the state of the lateral track alignment; and track throwing jacks attached to the vvehicle at a point in front of the tamping means and adapted to throw the track laterally during a track tamping operation.

Preferably the track aligning operation is performed during a tamping operation.

According to a further feature of the invention the aligning operation may suitably be performed during a vertical jacking and tamping operation at the aforesaid point.

Thus by the present method applicant avoids the disadvantage inherent until now in track working operations of tamping the track in one position until it is consolidated and thereafter shifting the track to another position. Also, with prior methods the track which had just been jacked to a correction height and tamped at that corrected height was then moved to another position with a subsequent disturbance in the height of the track, again this disadvantage is overcome.

Furthermore the tendency which existed with the prior methods for the newly horizontally aligned track to be moved back to the position where it was before correction, by the first train to pass over the track, no longer exists with the present invention. Rather with the present invention, the first train to pass over the track consolidates the track in its corrected position to a further extent.

When using the invention the horizontal vibration action of the tamping heads, during the tamping operation, causes the ballast in the immediate vicinity of the tamping operation to enter into a fluid state, therefore making it much easier to align the track in the immediate vicinity thereof.

In the schematic drawing which accompanies this specification there is diagrammatically illustrated a device in accordance with the present invention as used with a suit- Patented July 9, 1968 able track alignment condition sensing apparatus. Since the exact nature of the alignment condition sensing apparatus forms no real part of the present invention, and any suitable alignment condition sensing means as known in the art could be utilized, applicant will not herein describe 'this part of the apparatus in detail. Turning to the drawing, a leading self-propelled satellite car 10, having an infrared projector 11 thereon adapted to project a cone of infrared radiation longitudinally of the track and being biased against the rail R, precedes, in operation, the tamping vehicle 12 by say, ft. A trailing car 15, also biased against the rail R, is connected by a link 17 to the tamping vehicle 12. An infrared beam receiver 18 is mounted on the trailing car 15 and is adapted to receive the transmitted beam. A shadow element 20 is floatingly mounted on the tamping vehicle 12, or the track aligning station A and is spring biased against the rail R.

The infrared projector 11 projects a reference cone of infrared radiation adjacent the grade rail G and the shadow element 20 cooperates with the infrared receiver 18 to determine the distance which the track has to be laterally thrown in a suitable manner. As will hereinafter become apparent any suitable electronic means (not shown) provides a command signal for a track aligning jack 32 on the vehicle 12 to throw the track to align it in a horizontal plane.

On the vehicle 12 there is provided a vertical jacking and tamping station T at which is externally mounted on the vehicle 12 a pair of ballast engaging jacks 26 and 27 which, in conjunction with rail engaging clamps which operate to grasp the rails, jack the track to a predetermined height determined, for example by an infrared system such as described in United States Patent No. 3,- 144,834. During the tamping operation tamping heads shown schematically at 30 enter into the ballast on either side of the tie beneath the vertically jacked portion of the rail and vibrate the ballast with a high frequency low ainplitude oscillation to cause the ballast to flow. When the tamping heads have entered the required depth into the ballast they squeeze the ballast beneath the aforementioned tie to compact the ballast therebeneath.

At the aligning station A the hydraulic aligning jack 32 is mounted beneath the vehicle 12 and extends transversely of the track. The jack 32 is preferably double acting and has outwardly extending jack rods 33 and 34 terminating in rail engaging clamps 35 and 36. The alignment of the track in the horizontal plane, that is the transverse throwing of the track, is accomplished by grasping the rail G and the rail R with the clamps 35 and 36 and admitting hydraulic pressure to the jack 32 to laterally force the track to the correct transverse alignment position. The aligning operation is sequenced with the operation of the tamping eads 39 such that the aligning operation is performed before or during the tamping operation.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the aligning operation is accomplished during the vertical jacking and tamping operation that is to say during the time that the ballast is in a fluid state. The rail engaging clamps which cooperate with the vertical lifting jacks 26, 27 are, in the preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, one and the same with the clamps 35 and 36 and which are operable to grasp the rails for vertical jacking of the track even when an alignment operation is not required.

The jack 32 being a double acting jack, it can be arranged to receive command signals to throw right or throw left" depending upon whether or not the receiver 18 is exposed to the transmitter or shadowed, therefrom (or vice versa). Thus, a conventional switching arrangement or control mechanism could be employed to cause the jack 32 to work in one direction or the other depending on whether or not the misalignment of the track caused the shadow element 20 to obscure the receiver 18 from the transmitted beam or allow it to receive the transmitted beam. Thus the jack 32 would be maintained more or less in a hunting condition.

Although the drawing herewith shows the cylinder 32 positioned in front of the tamping heads 30 it will be appreciated that the cylinder 32 could be located somewhat to the rear of the tamping heads and still obtain a certain amount of the advantage of the fluidity of the ballast during tamping. Thus the aligning can be done in the immediate vicinity of the tamping operation and is always concluded before the consolidation of the ballast by the tamping heads 30.

I claim:

1. In a railroad track working method including the steps of tamping a track with'vibratory tamping heads located on a tamping machine and having horizontal vibrating movement in the track ballast and aligning the track in a horizontal plane with aligning apparatus associated with the tamping machine and located, at least in part, in the vicinity of the tamping heads, the improvement which comprises performing said step of aligning the track in a horizontal plane during said tamping.

2. In a railroad track working method including the steps of tamping a track with vibratory tamping heads located on a tamping machine and having horizontal vibrating movement in the track ballast, aligning the track in a horizontal plane with aligning apparatus associated with 4 the tamping machine and located, at least in part, in the vicinity of the tamping heads, and vertically jacking the track by means of jacks on the tamping machine, the improvement which comprises performing said steps of aligning the track in a horizontal plane and vertically jacking the track during said tamping.

3. In arailroad track working method including the steps of tamping a track with vibratory tamping heads located on a tamping machine and having horizontal vibrating movement in the track ballast, clamping the track to the tamping machine by means carried on the tamping machine, aligning the track in a horizontal plane with aligning apparatus associated with the tamping machine and located, at least in part, in the vicinity of the tamping heads, and vertically jacking the track by means of jacks on the tamping machine, the improvement which comprises performing said steps of aligning the track in a horizontal plane and vertically jacking the track while the track is clamped to the tamping machine and during said tamping.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,134,339 5/1964 Plasser et a1. 104-7 3,144,834 8/1964 Stewart 1047 3,240,161 3/1966 Belau et al 1048 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A RAILROAD TRACK WORKING METHOD INCLUDING THE STEPS OF TAMPING A TRACK WITH VIBRATORY TAMPING HEADS LOCATED ON A TAMPING MACHINE AND HAVING HORIZONTAL VIBRATING MOVEMENT IN THE TRACK BALLAST AND ALIGNING THE TRACK IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE WITH ALIGNING APPARATUS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TAMPING MACHINE AND LOCATED, AT LEAST IN PART, IN THE VICINITY OF THE TAMPING HEADS, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES PERFORMING SAID STEP OF ALIGNING THE TRACK IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE DURING SAID TAMPING.

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