US3871299A

US3871299A - Method and apparatus for lining and leveling track

Info

Publication number: US3871299A
Application number: US410292A
Authority: US
Inventors: Franz Plasser; Josef Theurer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Franz Plasser Bahnbaumaschinen Industrie GmbH
Priority date: 1972-11-02
Filing date: 1973-10-26
Publication date: 1975-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-18
Also published as: CH569838A5; JPS49100709A; DD107099A5; ATA930072A; IN139151B; JPS5721602B2; ZA738392B; PL93304B1; SU518153A3; GB1451966A; AU6047673A; HU171643B; DE2348014A1; FR2209008B1; IT995691B; AT331836B; FR2209008A1; DE2348014C2; ES420199A1; CA999784A

Abstract

In the lining and leveling of track, the rail fastening is loosened, the track gage is corrected, and the rail fastening is tightened again before the track is lowered on the tamped ballast. The track gage correction is effectuated by means of two pairs of clamping rollers which grip the rails. A tension linkage interconnects the outer rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the outer lateral faces of the rails, a pressure linkage interconnects the inner rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the inner rail faces, turnbuckle or like means is provided for adjusting the length of the linkages, and a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive is mounted in each linkage.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Plasser et al. g

[11] 3,871,299 1 Mar. 18, 1975 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LINING AND LEVELING TRACK [76] Inventors: Franz Plasser, deceased, late of Johannesgasse 3, Vienna, Austria A-lOlO, by said Erna Plasser, heir; Josef Theurer, Johannesgasse 3, Vienna, Austria A-10l0 [22] Filed: Oct. 26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 410,292

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data -[58] Field of Search 33/287, 144, 146; 254/43;

[56] 7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 1,607,882 11/1926 Engelgau 33/146 3,274,952 9/1966 Fekete 104/7 R 3,524,624 8/1970 Blackwell, Jr. et al. 33/144 3,552,320 l/l97l Traupmann 104/7 Primary ExaminerLloyd L. King Assistant ExaminerRichard A. Bertsch Attorney, Agent, or FirmKurt Kelman I [57] ABSTRACT In the lining and leveling of track, the rail fastening is loosened,=the track gage is corrected, and the rail ,fastening is tightened again before the track is lowered on the tamped ballast. The track gage correction is effectuated by rneans of two pairs of clamping rollers which grip the rails. A tension linkage interconnects the outer rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the outer lateral faces of the rails, a pressure linkage interconnects the inner rollers of the two pairs and pres'ses'them against the inner rail faces, turnbuckle or like means is provided for adjusting the length of the linkages, and a hydraulic piston-andcylinder drive is mounted in each linkage.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I t METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LINING AND LEVELING TRACK I The present invention relates to improvements in a method and apparatus for lining and leveling a track.

A railroad track comprises two rails fastened to support means resting on ballast, the support means consisting of conventional wooden ties ,or a concrete suping an outer roller for rolling engagement with an outer lateral face of a respective one of the rails and an inner roller for rolling engagement with an inner lateral face of the respective rail. The rollers of each pair are arranged for clamping the respective rail. The rollers of each pair are arranged for clamping the respective rail therebetween in the manner of pliers, and a hydraulically operable lever system acutates the rollers into and v out of clamping engagement with the rails.

Steadyimprovement of the quality of railroad beds and tracks over the last few years-has made it possible to increase the speed of trains considerably. Many tracks today enable trains to run at speeds in excess of I km/h. Experience has shown that such train speeds cause variations in the track gage, and this circumstance has not been taken into consideration in conventional track correction procedures.

It is the primary object of this invention to correct deviations in the track gage during track position correction.

According to the method of the invention, the fastening of the rails to the support means is loosened, preferably before the track is raised, the track gage is corrected simultaneousely with the lining and tamping, the fastening is tightened, and the track is lowered to the tamped ballast.

This method is carried out according to the present invention with a conventional apparatus of the abovedescribed type wherein a tension linkage interconnects the outer rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the outer lateral faces of the rails, a pressure linkage interconnects the inner rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the inner lateral faces of the rails, means is provided for adjusting the length of each linkage, and a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive is mounted in each of the linkages.

With such an apparatus, when the pistons have been set in the cylinders of the hydraulic drives so as to hold the linkages at the desired gage, the rails will be forced by their clamping rollers to assume the set gage at any point where they deviate therefrom, the clamping rollers moving the rails laterally against the,resistance of the loosened, but not removed, rail fastening means as the mobile apparatus advances along the track during the lining and leveling operation. After the rails have thus been set at the desired gage, the rail fastening means are tightened again to retain the gage.

The length of the linkages is adjustable, for instance by a turnbuckle or like element, so that the track gage correction device may be used with different gage norms.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a now preferred embodiment of an apparatus, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevational view of the track gage correction apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the essential structural elements of the apparatus of FIG. 1, the carrier frame having been omitted for the sake of clarity; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view of a conventional lining, leveling and tamping machine incor porating the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. 3, a generally conventional track lining, leveling and tamping machine is shown to comprise frame 1 mounted for mobility on a track which, as is seen in FIG. 1, comprises two

rails

17, 17 fastened to ties 18, which are rail support means resting on ballast (now shown), by means of rail fastening means 19. Frame 1 carries at the front thereof a track leveling and lining unit including pairs of rail gripping rollers 8, 9 and 10, 11, the unit being mounted on the frame for vertical and lateral movement for leveling and lining the track in a manner well known per se.

A pair of

carrier elements

2, 3 are pivotally mounted on frame 1, carrier element 2 pivotally supporting a pair of levers 4, 5 and carrier element 3 pivotally sup? porting a pair of

levers

6, 7. Each pair of levers consists of simple lever 4, 7 and a

bell crank lever

5, 6, rollers 8 to 10 being mounted at the free ends of the levers. As clearly shown in FIG. 1, each pair of rollers includes an outer roller 8, 11 for rolling engagement with an outer lateral face of a respective one of rails 17 and an inner roller 9, 10 for rolling engagement with an inner lateral face of the respective rail, the rollers of each pair being arranged for clamping the respective rails therebetween like pliers.

Tension linkage 14 interconnects bell crank levers 5, 6 which carry outer rollers 8, 11, thus pressing the outer rollers against the outer lateral faces of the rails. Turnbuckle 13 is mounted in the linkage to enable its length to be adjusted according to different gage norms. Furthermore, hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive 12 is mounted in linkage 14.

Similarly, pressure linkage 14 interconnects simple levers 4, 7 which carry inner rollers 9, 10, thus pressing the inner rollers against the inner faces of the rails. Turnbuckle 16 is mounted in the linkage to enable its length to be similarly adjusted, and hydraulicn pistonand-cylinder drive 15 is mounted in linkage 14. For the sake of clarity, part of pressure linkage 14 is omitted from FIG. 1.

When pressure fluid is supplied to drive 12 to move its piston, a respective one of the bell crank levers will be pivoted counterclockwise to force the outer clamping roller carried thereby laterally against a respective rail 17. This will move therail, after its fastening means 19 have been loosened, towards the other rail, thus adjusting the track gage to a desired measure if it exceeds this measure. Adjustment of turnbuckle 13 holds the device at the gage norm.

Similarly, pressure fluid is supplied to drive 15 to spread the rails apart when the track gage is less than that desired.

While the apparatus may be operated in the abovedescribed manner, i.e., by. moving the piston of the hydraulic drive, the track gage may also be corrected during the continuous advance of the mobile apparatus during the lining and leveling operation by simply blocking the pistons in a position corresponding to the desired gage. In other words, sufficient hydraulic fluid is supplied to each drive to hold the pistons in a lateral position corresponding to the desired track gage. The laterally stationary clamping rollers, which grip the two rails, will then force the same against the resistance of the loosened fastening means 19 to assume the desired track gage during the advance of the machine over the track. This latter procedure is particularly useful when the deviations from the desired gage are small and/or a ballast cleaning operation preceded the track correction, in which operation the fastening means become somewhat loose and must be tightened again. In this case, it is advantageous if a signaling device 18 is connected to the hydraulic drives so that signals are produced which indicate changes in the piston position in the cylinder which correspond to larger gage deviations and thus may automatically produce gage corrections. The signaling device is preferably connected to a recording device 19 which receives the signals therefrom and records the track gage continuously during advance of the machine.

An implement for loosening the rail fastening means may be mounted on an advance bogie so that the fastening means may be loosened before the track is raised, lined and leveled. Since the fastening means are not removed but only loosened, minor deviations from the desired gage will be automatically corrected during the continuous lining and leveling of the track when hydraulic drives 12, are blocked in position to establish the desired gage. The rails, which are gripped by the clamping rollers, will thus be moved laterally to assume the desired track gage.

FIG. 3 shows a lining, leveling and tamping maching advancing on the track in the direction of machine 20. Equipped with the track gage correction apparatus of the present invention, this machine will automatically correct the gage during or shortly after lifting the track and particularly during the lining and leveling thereof. After the track has been corrected, the rail fastening means are tightened again so that the rails remain in 4 their adjusted position.

Track gage correction is particularly required on modern rapid speed tracks requiring gage accuracies down to a range of 10 mm.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method of lining and leveling a track comprising two rails fastened to support means resting on ballast, wherein the track is raised and lined, and the ballast is tamped under the support means to establish a desired level, the improvement of loosening the fastening of the rails to the support means, correcting the track gage simultaneously with the lining and tamping, tightening the fastening of the rails to the support means, and lowering the track to the tamped ballast.

2. In the method of claim 1, the rail fastening being loosened before the track is raised.

3. In a mobile apparatus for lining and leveling a track, which comprises a frame mounted for mobility on the track, two pairs of rollers mounted on the frame, each pair of the rollers including an outer roller for rolling engagement with an outer lateral face of a respective one of the rails and an inner roller for rolling engagement with an inner lateral face of the respective rail, the rollers of each pair being arranged for clam ping the respective rail therebetween, and hydraulically operable lever system for actuating the rollers into and out of clamping engagement with the rails, the improvement of l. a tension linkage interconnecting the outer rollers of the two pairs and pressing them against the outer lateral faces of the rails,

2. a pressure linkage interconnecting the inner rollers of the two pairs and pressing them against the inner lateral faces of the rails,

3. turnbuckle for adjusting the length of each of the linkages, and

4. a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive mounted in each of the linkages.

4. In the mobile track lining and leveling apparatus of claim 3, a signaling device producing signals indicating changes of the piston position in the cylinder of the hydraulic drive.

5. In the mobile track lining and leveling apparatus of claim 5, a recording device receiving the signals.

=l l= l =l

Claims

1. a tension linkage interconnecting the oUter rollers of the two pairs and pressing them against the outer lateral faces of the rails,

3. In a mobile apparatus for lining and leveling a track, which comprises a frame mounted for mobility on the track, two pairs of rollers mounted on the frame, each pair of the rollers including an outer roller for rolling engagement with an outer lateral face of a respective one of the rails and an inner roller for rolling engagement with an inner lateral face of the respective rail, the rollers of each pair being arranged for clamping the respective rail therebetween, and hydraulically operable lever system for actuating the rollers into and out of clamping engagement with the rails, the improvement of 1. a tension linkage interconnecting the oUter rollers of the two pairs and pressing them against the outer lateral faces of the rails, 2. a pressure linkage interconnecting the inner rollers of the two pairs and pressing them against the inner lateral faces of the rails, 3. turnbuckle for adjusting the length of each of the linkages, and 4. a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive mounted in each of the linkages.

4. a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive mounted in each of the linkages.