US717820A - Railway rail and tie distributer. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903.

W. P. GUNNINGHAM;

RAILWAY RAIL AND TIE DISTRIBUTER.

SETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 190 H0 MODEL. I

JNVEN WITNESSES:

PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903. W. P. CUNNINGHAM.

} RAILWAY RAIL AND TIE DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C Esra NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'VVILLIAM P. CUNNINGHAM, OF OOULEE CITY, WASHINGTON.

RAILWAY RAIL AND TIE DISTRIBUTER.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,820, dated January 6, 1903.

Application filed July 28, 1902. Eerie-l No. 117,248. (No model.)

means for distributing ties and rails along the graded road-bed.

It consists of tie and rail conveyers supported at either side of the construction-cars, means for driving the conveyers to send the ties and rails forward, a turn-table supported above the ground, upon which the ties are delivered from the conveyor, and a wagon having a horizontal endless carrier with spacingfingers thereon,'said carrier adapted to be operated in either direction, first to be loaded from the turn-table and then to discharge its load at proper intervals.

The invention also comprises details which will be more fully set forth hereinafter, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of part of my dis-- tributing apparatus. same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the distributor-wagon and turn-table. Fig. 4 shows a modified form of tie-conveyor.

' A represents the cars of a train carrying.

ties and rails and advancing along the track as fast as the latteris laid. The ties andrails are discharged from the forwardend of the first car, the former from one side of the conveyers 2, the latter from the other side by the conveyers 3. The conveyers in each caseinclude trough-sections supported on brackets 4., fixed to the cars. In Fig. 2 the conveyortroughs are shown as having a series of rollers 5, upon which the tie and rails are supported and carried forward atintervals,which in the case of the tie-conveyor would be less than a tie length. Certain of these rollers carry sprockets 6 on their outer ends, over which pass link belts 7 to drive the rollers and carry the ties forward over the intervening dead-rollers. The rollers onthe adjacent ends of each pair of trough-sections are provided with an additional sprocket 8, and a Fig. 2 is a plan of the link belt 9 couples up the sections, so that the rollers the entire length of the train may be driven in unison andadvance the tiesand rails as they are delivered into the troughs at any point in the train. Guide-rollers 10, fixed to the outer side of the troughs, serve to keep the chains 7 in engagement with the sprockets 6. Power is transmitted to drive the rollers from an engine 11 on the rear end of the front car through suitable gearing 12, connecting the engine and one of the drive-rollers Sin conveyers 2 and 3. If desired, in the case of the tie-conveyor, the rollers may be provided with short spikes 13 upon their periphery, by which the advancement of the ties is assured. In sending the rails forward in trough 3 I employ chains or belt conveyers'l4, passing over sprockets 15 at either end of and returning beneath the trough. The chain conveyer, however, on the front car does not extend'thefull length of the car, as shown in Fig. 2, as it is desired that the rail should not be discharged from the trough until it has been suitably engaged by a derrick, whence it can be easily transferred .to its position on the sleepers. Where a chain conveyer is used for ties, I may connect the two chains 14' by straps of iron 16 at intervals and provide these straps with short sharp spikes 17, as shown in Fig. 4:.

From the forward end of the front troughsection 2 .a frame 19, having rollers 20, extends thirty or forty feet infront of the train and delivers the ties singly upon a turn-table 21. The latter has four rollers mounted radially on the table and disposed each at right angles to the two others flanking it. The table is mounted on wheels 22, which are about ten feet apart and adapted to straddle the ends of the ties when the latter are laid in position on the road-bed. The end of the frame is suitably supported from the car, as by a cable 35, and the turn-table and frame end are connected so that as the train advances the tableis pushed on ahead. The turn-table may be steered from the car by means of atillerbar 23. If desired, the wheels 22 and tillerbar may be dispensed with and the table supported above the ground directly on the frame 19.

In .operation a tie is delivered from the conveyer upon one side of the turntable. The

latter is then given a quarter-turn to bring the tie across the road-bed and is then rolled onto the distributing-wagon 24. The latter is of such height, preferably, as to have its rear end flush with the table.

At either end of the wagon are shafts 25, upon which are fixed sprockets 26. Chains 27, having spacing-fingers 28 fixed thereto, run over these sprockets and return beneath the bed of the wagon. A crank 29 or other means connects with one of the shafts 25, whereby the shafts may be revolved to drive the chain-carrierin either direction. The distance between each of the succeeding fingers is such as to accommodate conveniently a single tie. As a tie is rolled from the table onto the wagon in front of any set of supportingfingers the crank 29 is actuated to move the carrier forward to receive a tie from the table upon a succeeding set of fingers, and so on until the wagon is loaded, whereupon the team is started to move the wagon slowly forward and the crank is revolved in the opposite direction to discharge the ties one by one from the rear end of the wagon. The ties are laid about two feet apart, and by this device they can be deposited to place with a minimum of effort and at a great saving of time and in the number of men employed. When the wagon has been moved forward to discharge its load, it stops and waits until the rails are laid and the train comes up. I-Iaving laid the ties as described, sufficient rails are then sent forward through the conveyer 3 to complete that section of track.

Extending beyond the front end of the railconveyer is an arm 30, from the outer end of which depends a bar 31, carrying a roller 32,

which is in a horizontal plane substantially with the conveyer. When a rail is run forward, it is supported in advance of the first car by the roller 32, then by means of a derrick 33 upon the front car the rail is taken and laid in position upon the ties or sleepers. As soon as a rail is in position on either side of the track the train may move forward, pushing ahead the turn table, which now straddles the track.

It is possible to duplicate the construction here shown and provide the apparatus with a second series of conveyers on either side, douhie-deck fashion, whereby the sending forward of the ties and rails may be still further expedited. The principle involved, however, would be essentially the same, and I do not consider it necessary to illustrate it here.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is-

1. A distributing apparatus, consisting in combination of a construction-carriage, conveyers thereon, a turn-table movable in advance of said carriage, and means including carriers having spacing-fingers by which the ties are taken from the turn-table and thence distributed along the road-bed.

2. In a distributing apparatus, the combivi'nsao nation of a construction-carriage, a tie-conveyer thereon, and a turn-table mounted on wheels and movable in advance of the said conveyer.

Y 3. In a distributing apparatus, the combination of a construction-carriage, a conveyer upon the side of said carriage, a turn-table mounted on wheels and adapted to straddle the track, said turn-table connected with the carriage and movable in advance thereof.

4. Ina distributing apparatus, the combination with a construction-car of trough-sections supported on the sides thereof, conveying means in said troughs by which ties and rails may be sent forward, and connections between said conveying means and a source of power upon the carriage, and a wheeled turn-table connected with, and movable in advance of, the carriage.

5. In a distributing apparatus, the combination with a construction-car, of a troughsection thereon, rollers in said trough, sprocket-wheels on said rollers, chains passing over said sprockets and connections be tween said rollers and a source of power on the car.

6. In adistributingapparatus the combination with a construction-car, of trough-sections upon either side of said car, conveyer means in said troughs, one of the latter adapted to send ties forward, and the other to send rails forward, a projecting arm in front of said rail conveyer section, and dependent supporting means on said arm upon which a rail is received as it leaves the endof said section.

7. In a distributing apparatus of the character described, the combination with a construction-train, of trough-sections upon either side of the cars thereof, conveyer means in said troughs, including spike-shod rollers, connections between said conveyer means and a source of power, and connections between the adjacent ends of the sections by which all the conveyers upon either side of the train may be driven in unison to send rails or ties forward from any point in the train.

8. In a distributing apparatus of the character described the combination with a construction-car, of a turntable mounted upon wheels, said turn-table having radially-disposed rollers upon which the ties from the car are received.

9. In a distributing apparatus of the character described, the combination with a construction-car and turn-table, of a wagon, endless carriers thereon, means by which said carriers may be turned in either direction and projecting fingers upon said carriers between which a tie is adapted to be supported.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM P. CUNNINGHAM.

\Vitnesses:

O. M. RADER, O. B. FRANK.

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