US3602146A

US3602146A - Moving frame track correction machine

Info

Publication number: US3602146A
Application number: US855590A
Authority: US
Inventors: John Kenneth Stewart
Original assignee: TAMPER Inc
Current assignee: TAMPER Inc
Priority date: 1969-09-05
Filing date: 1969-09-05
Publication date: 1971-08-31
Anticipated expiration: 1988-08-31
Also published as: DE2042633A1; CA920429A; DE2042633C2; AU1930970A

Abstract

This invention relates to a correction device for railway track lifting and preferably also for track aligning in which track engaging clamps are mounted on the tamping head carrying frame of a track tamping machine. The tamping head carrying frame forms part of a correcting frame which is mounted on a base frame, track lifting jacks and track slewing jacks being positioned on the device for lifting and slewing the track at the point where it is engaged by the clamps.

Description

United States Patent John Kenneth Stewart Columbia, S.C. 855,590

Sept. 5, 1969 Aug. 31, 1971 Tamper Inc. Columbia, S.C.

Inventor App]. No. Filed Patented Assignee MOVING FRAME TRACK CORRECTION MACHINE 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 104/711 Int. Cl. E0lb 32/02 Field of Search 104/7, 78,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1964 Plasser et a1 104/7 3,338,174 8/1967 Oville 104/8 3,381,625 5/1968 Plasser et a1. .4 104/7 3,417,708 12/1968 Sauterel l 104/8 Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Berts ch Attorney-Smart & Biggar ABSTRACT: This invention relates to a correction device for railway track lilting and preferably also for track aligning in which track engaging clamps are mounted on the tamping head carrying frame of a track tamping machine. The tamping head carrying frame forms part of a correcting frame which is mounted on a base frame, track lifting; jacks and track slewing jacks being positioned on the device for lifting and slewing the track at the point where it is engaged by the clamps.

SHEH 1 0F 3 PATENTED AUB3I IE7:

INVENTOR JOHN K. STEWART SMART a Bm ATTORNEYS PATENTEDAUBBHHYI 3502MB SHEET 3 BF 3 INVENTOR F H JOHN K, STEWART SMART 81 BIGGAR ATTORNEYS MOVING FRAME TlhA Cllf CORRECTION MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to track correcting devices and particularly to a track lifting device. In a preferred construction the invention additionally relates to a track aligning device.

In the past devices have been proposed where a tamping machine has been provided with outside jaclts which descend onto the shoulders of the ballast on either side of the track and, by means of rail engaging clamps, lift and align the track.

Also proposals have been made where track lifting and aligning jacks have been positioned on an overhang in front of a tamping machine to lift and align the track. It has been the goal of track maintenance equipment manufacturers to cor root the track and tamp it as closely as possible to the point of correction. Different configurations of tamping machines have been made with this end in view.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a railway track correcting device which permits a track correction operation in the immediate vicinity of the tamping heads such that advantage may be taken of the known phenomena of fluidization of the ballast by the vibrating action of the tamping heads.

According to the present invention there is provided a railway track correcting device comprising base frame means mounted on a front end and a rear pair of wheels for track travel; correcting frame means pivotally mounted on the base frame means behind the front pair of wheel and carrying rail engaging clamps at a front end thereof overhanging said base frame means; traclt tamping elements on said front end; track lifting jacks located between the clamps and the point of pivot and adapted to react against the track and upwardly pivot the overhanging portion of said correcting frame means relatively to said base frame means to lift the track at the point where it is engaged by said clamps. Preferably a lining jack means is provided for slewing the correcting frame means transversely relatively to the base frame means to align the track at the point where it is engaged by said clamps.

In one embodiment of the present invention the base frame includes shoes which operatively engage the periphery of each of the front pair of wheels, the track lifting jacks reacting against the shoes.

In an alternative embodiment the track lifting jacks are mounted beneath the correcting frame means with the lower end thereof mounted on a dolly which carries rail engaging wheels.

The correcting frame may be in two sections, a first section which is pivoted at the base frame and which carries a second section which in turn carries the rail engaging clamps and the tamping heads. The rail lifting jack means is operative to lift the first section with the second section thereon and the traclt slewing jack means is interposed between either the second section and the first section or the second section and the base frame means, in order to pivot the second section relative to the first section to slew the track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following is a description by way of example, of certain embodiments of the present invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. ll diagrammatically shows an embodiment of the invention utilizing the axles of the device as part of a base frame;

FIG. 2 is'a view of an alternative device similar to FIG. l but with the aligning operation taking place at the rear. instead of the front axle;

FIG. 3 is an alternative construction in whicha full base frame is provided;

FIG. t is a construction in which the correcting frame is shown in two sections;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic detail of the mounting of the tamping heads;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic detail of an alternative system of track lifting jack; and

FIG. 7 is a detail of a clamp.

DESCEtll-"IIUN OF THE FREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. ii, a railway track correcting device W comprises a base frame means llll mounted on a front pair 12 and a rear pair 113 of track engaging wheels and a correct ing frame 15. The base frame llll includes the front and rear axles i7 and Id which carry the pairs of wheels iii and 113, the upstanding lugs 2 0 and the shoes 22 which can be operated to engage with the periphery of each of the front pair of wheels 12. A pair of track lifting jacks .245 are universally connected at their lower ends to the shoes 22 and are pivoted at their upper ends 26 to the correcting frame 15 such that when they are extended the jacks 24 force the shoes of the base member M against the wheels 12 and cause the vertical pivoting of the frame l5 about the rear axle Iii. To permit such pivotal movement the guide and bearing block arrangements 2% at the rear axles are formed with freedom adequate to permit the vertical pivoting. A transversely extending jack means 36 is connected between the lugs 20 and is attached with required lost motion in the housing 32 of the correcting frame 15. Operation of the jack 36) against the base frame llll slows the correcting frame l5 transversely of the track. An imaginery pivot point 34 is shown at the rear of the correcting frame 15, although in practice the bearing blocks 28 or the rear axle IE will be formed with adequate freedom to allow for the transverse motion at the clamps as well as the vertical pivoting motion.

At the front end of the frame 15, and integral therewith, are a pair of tamping head carrying frames-35. These tamping frames 35 carry tamping heads 38 for reciprocal motion thereon in well-known fashion (as is best seen in FIG. 5). Mounted beneath the frames 35 are rail engaging clamps, diagrammatically shown at 40. A biasing device (not shown), to bias the base frame against the rail which is chosen as the grade rail, is provided in a fashion usual amongst lining devices.

The device may be utilized with any suitable wire or light surfacing and lining system in known fashion. In FIG. 3 there are shown, for example, surfacing shadow boards 412a and 42b for operation respectively with two receivers Mia and Mb which may be arranged to receive twin beams from a pair of remote infrared beam transmitters on a remote satellite car in usual fashion. A lining shadow hoard 4.3 cooperates with a lining receiver M: which functions, in ltnown fashion, with a remote light transmitter for the purposes of providing a lining reference.

It is to he understood, of course, that FIG. I is for the purposes of illustrating the principle of the invention only and many necessary items known to those skilled in the art, for example, mile blocks for the front wheels i2, have been omitted for the sake of clarity.

In the device according to FIG. 2 (which is again a very diagrammatic section) the arrangement is similar to that shown in FIG. I with lifting jacks 22% operating against shoes 222 on front wheels 212 but the aligning jacit 23% operates against lugs 22d of the base frame 2M on the rear axle 21%. The correcting frame 2115 is pivoted at 228 in bearings about the cylinder 23%. Again tamping and rail engaging clarnp carrying frames 235 are formed integrally with correcting frame 215. An imaginary pivot point 234 is shown above the front axle which acts as the center of-pivot. in practice, as the cylinder 230 is operated the frame 215 is slewed over, skewing the front'wheels 212 within the limits of their freedom to force the I track where it is clamped'into the aligned position.

In FIG. 3 the base frame MI is a full chassis frame carrying front and rear sets of

wheels

312, 313 in axle blocks 32h. Again the correcting frame 315 is'lifted by lifting jacks 324 which actagainst shoes 322 on the front wheels 312. Similarly also, the correcting frame 315 carries tamping and rail engaging jack frames 355 which overhang the base frame at the front thereof and are formed integral with, and form part of, the correcting frame 315. Here, as with FIG. 2, the aligning jack 330 is adjacent the rear of the base frame 311 and reacts against lugs 320 on the base frame 311, the correcting frame 315 being pivotally mounted in bearings 328 surrounding the cylinder 330. Operation is as before.

In FIG. 4 the situation is--in all respects similar to FIG. 3 except that the correcting frame 415 is arranged in two sections, a first section 415a and a second section 415b. The first section 415a is mounted for pivotal movement in the vertical plane on a bearing 428 adjacent the rear end of the base frame 411, upward pivotal action being applied to the section 415a through the lifting jacks 424 which engage the shoes 422. The first section 415a carries a lifting member or shelf 416 at the front end thereof. The second section 4l5b rests on the shelf 416 within the first section 415a. The transversely aligning jack 430 is attached to the section 4l5b and reacts against the section 415a to transversely slew the section 41512, (almost a central pivot post 416 which stands upwardly from the base frame 411, conveniently in the vicinity of the front axle) on the shelf 460 relative to the first section 415a and to the base frame 411 to align the track at the point where the clamps grasp it. Although the jack 430 is shown operating against the first section 415a it is to be understood that the jack 430 could equally well operate against the base frame 41 1.

Although in the foregoing figures the vertical lifting of the track has been shown to be effected by the operation of the jack 24 against the shoe 22 to transfer the lifting reactions to the track through the wheels 12, the jack 24 and shoes 22 can, if desired, be replaced by jacks 624, as seen in FIG. 6, which would be connected at the upper end to correcting frame 615 and would carry at their lower end dollies 661 having track engaging wheels 662. As with the jacks 24, the jack 624 would be positioned between the front clamps and the pivot point to provide the lifting advantages of a lever.

FIG. 7 shows a detail of one of the clamps 40. Each clamp comprises an outside hook member 740 fixed to the under side of the frame 35, having an operating link 741 connected to a hydraulic piston and cylinder arrangement 742 for closing the hook against the rail in known fashion; and a roller 743, which may be offset somewhat longitudinally of the track relative to the hook 740. Each roller has a flange 745 which, in the case of one of the rails, is biased against the grade rail by a further hydraulic piston and cylinder arrangement (the biasing device not shown) and which, in the case of the other rail, rides somewhat loosely off the ball of the rail. So far as this other rail is concerned, the clamping action of its related hook will tend to force the other rail into contact with the flange of its roller. The roller, of course, is rigid with the frame 35 and thus a solid clamping of each rail is achieved. This arrangement has the advantage that part of each clamp 40 is in rolling contact with the head of the rail at all times.

The dimensions of the device may advantageously be chosen, together with the position of the force-exerting members, such that there may be a preferred, say equal, distribution of the force applied to the track by the wheels.

It will, of course be understood that yet a further type of cylinder, similar to the cylinder 624 but with track engaging pads rather than dolly wheels, could be utilized to obtain a braking effect on the vehicle while jacking.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A railway track correcting device comprising base frame means mounted on a front and a rear pair of wheels for track travel; correcting frame means pivotally mounted on the base frame means behind the front pair of wheels and carrying rail engaging clamps at a front section thereof which overhangs the leading end of said base frame means; track tamping elements on said front section; track lifting jacks on the device adapted to react against the track between the clamps and the point of pivot and upwardly pivot the correcting frame means relative to said base frame means and track aligning jack means for slewing the correcting frame means transversely relatively to the base frame means whereby to lift and horizontally align the track at the point where it is engaged by said clamps.

2. A railway track lifting and lining device as claimed in claim 1, in which the base frame includes'shoes which operatively engage the periphery of each of the front pair of wheels, said track lifting jacks reacting against the shoes.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the track lifting jack means is mounted beneath the correcting frame means with the lower end thereof mounted on dolly means carrying rail engaging wheels.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the track aligning jack means is interposed between said base frame means and said correcting frame means.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which said correcting frame means comprises a first section pivotally connected to said base frame means at a point adjacent the rear end thereof, and having lifting elements mounted thereon; and a second section mounted on said first section and lifted thereby on operation of said track lifting jacks and pivoted on said base frame for transverse movement; said track aligning jack means being interposed between said first and second sections and adapted to transversely slew said second section relative to said first section.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which one rail engaging clamp is provided for each rail, each rail engaging lamp comprising a hook member and an opposed roller member 7. A device as claimed in claim 6 in which the roller member runs on the inside of the track and has a flange for engaging the inner edge of the ball of the rail, the hook member engaging the outside of the rail at a point longitudinally spaced along the track from the roller. where P and P are normalizing factors and T is a specific instant of time t, of the cardiographic signal being transformed.

Claims

1. A railway track correcting device comprising base frame means mounted on a front and a rear pair of wheels for track travel; correcting frame means pivotally mounted on the base frame means behind the front pair of wheels and carrying rail engaging clamps at a front section thereof which overhangs the leading end of said base frame means; track tamping elements on said front section; track lifting jacks on the device adapted to react against the track between the clamps and the point of pivot and upwardly pivot the correcting frame means relative to said base frame means, and track aligning jack means for slewing the correcting frame means transversely relatively to the base frame means whereby to lift and horizontally align the track at the point where it is engaged by said clamps.

2. A railway track lifting and lining device as claimed in claim 1, in which the base frame includes shoes which operatively engage the periphery of each of the front pair of wheels, said track lifting jacks reacting against the shoes.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which one rail engaging clamp is provided for each rail, each rail engaging lamp comprising a hook member and an opposed roller member.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6 in which the roller member runs on the inside of the track and has a flange for engaging the inner edge of the ball of the rail, the hook member engaging the outside of the rail at a point longitudinally spaced along the track from the roller. where P1 and P2 are normalizing factors and T is a specific instant of time t, of the cardiographic signal being transformed.