GB2058179A - Railway Track Tamping Machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A tamping machine comprises: a rolling chassis (1) equipped with standard drawgear, (7, 8) at each end; tamping tools (12) mounted overhung in working configuration for reasons of economy and simplicity; and mechanisms for lifting (31) and withdrawal (18, 19, 22, 23, 27) of its tools (12) on its rolling chassis in order to retract them in configuration of travel to the work site. The withdrawal of a bracket (16) on which there is suspended a gantry (14) supporting the tamping tools causes the upward swinging of this gantry by the action of a connecting rod (31) connecting the bottom of the gantry to an arm (29) fastened below the rolling chassis. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Railway Track Tamping Machine The object of the present invention is a railway track tamping machine intended for mechanizing minor jobs outside regular maintenance programs which are due to unforseen local subsidences or slides and are customarily performed by teams of manual tamper operators brought to the spot with their portable tools.

So-called "light" tampers which serve this purpose are already known, they being more and more in demand by the railway networks since manual tamping is very hard work which frequently causes serious rheumatic ailments such as arthritis localized in the elbows of the tamping-tool operator.

Some of these tamping machines have devices arranged overhung to the outside of their rolling chassis, as described briefly in the preamble to Claim 1, and this arrangement is due to its simplicity and its low cost. These tools are mounted either in a number sufficient to tamp the ballast beneath an entire tie in a single operation or in limited number, in which case they are movable transversely to the track in order to tamp along the tie by successive operation.

In order to be brought to the work points and returned to the nearest railway station during the intervals between trains, these tamping machines are, depending on their type, either coupled to a tractor vehicle or equipped with a drive unit which enables them to travel by themselves to the work site.

With the continuous increase in the density of railway traffic, the periods of time available for the moving of these tamping machines from one work point to another have become too short, in view of their low speed of travel when moving to the work site.

This state of affairs constitutes a drawback for the railway networks as it is not profitable to provide these "light" drilling machines with independent traction equipment in order sufficiently to increase their speed of travel, the railway systems have expressed a desire to have tamping machines which can be included within a train, that is to say tamping machines having a conformation and travel and braking capacity comparable at least to those of freight cars.

The cantilevered arrangement of the tamping tools outside the rolling chassis of these tamping machines does not permit such inclusion since this configuration does not permit coupling between the buffers of two cars of the train.

A solution can be provided by arranging the tools of the "light" tamping machines not cantilevered but between the two axles of the rolling chassis, as they are in part for the same reason on the present so-called "heavy" tamping machines. However, this configuration makes it necessary to produce a special chassis which is interrupted by a bridge and reinforced because of this interruption, and which is therefore more complicated and of higher cost, which is precisely what it is desired to avoid in order not to penalize the desire expressed by railway companies.

The tamping machine of the invention avoids this complication by providing a solution which permits its inclusion in a train with its tamping tools, however, mounted overhung in working configuration, which solution is easy to install and inexpensive and furthermore has the advantage of permitting the use, for the construction of its rolling chassis, of a freight flat car of current manufacture, and therefore of moderate price, which is already entirely equipped to travel at the normal speed of trains.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, one embodiment of the object of the invention.

Figure 1 is a first overall view thereof in elevation, shown in working configuration.

Figure 2 is a second overall view thereof in elevation, shown in the configuration used for going to the work site.

Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic overall views, in elevation, of two variants.

The tamping machine shown in Figure 1 in working configuration comprises a rolling chassis 1 having two axles 2 and 3 shown resting on the rails 4 of a railway track and equipped with suspensions 5, brakes 6, bumpers 7 and couplings 8 suitable for its insertion in a railway train, this chassis being advantageously formed of a freight flat car of current manufacture.

On this chassis a power station 9 and a drive unit 10 are installed on one axle 2 and a tamping verification and control cable 11 is installed on the other axle 3, while tamping tools 12 are installed overhung to the outside of the said chassis 1.

The power station 9 feeds the mechanisms for the driving and shifting of the tamping tools 1 2 and the drive unit 1 0. The latter is attached below the chassis 1 and drives the wheels of the axle 2 by a simple transmission system which is formed in this case of a chain 43 connecting the output pinion of a motor-reducer group 44 to a gear wheel (not shown) formed of attached toothed sectors fastened secured against the inner face of the rim of one of the said wheels. This motorreducer group 44 is provided in order to assure travel to the work site at low speed upon maneuvers and to assure a step-by-step advance during work.

The tamping tools 12, which are conventional in nature, are pivotally mounted, in opposition and in pairs, on tool holders 13, each of which is itself mounted for vertical movement in a gantry 14.

On the tamping machine shown, four gantries 14, each equipped with a pair of tools 12, are mounted in groups of two above the two lines of rail 4, one on each side of one line of rail-in each group.

These four gantries 1 4 are suspended and articulated in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the track and, by their upper parts on a horizontal supporting shaft 1 5 transverse to the track.

The shaft 15 is supported at its two ends by the two lateral parts of a bracket 1 6 between which the cab 11 is fastened.

On the lower part 17 of each of said parts of the bracket 16 which extend along the cab 11 there are mounted two spaced rollers 18 and these two rollers are engaged, on both sides of the cab 11, in a slideway 19 consisting of a Ushaped longitudinal member with vertical flange.

The two slideways 19 which thus surround the cab-bracket assembly extend over a given length above the chassis 1 and are fastened to the latter by two end posts 20 and 21.This cab 11/bracket 1 6 assembly can also be displaced by translation along the slideways 19. For this purpose, the end of the lower part 17 of the two parts of the bracket 16 which is opposite the tamping tool has a lug 22 which is fastened to the upper strand of an endless chain 23 which is stretched parallel to the slideway 19 between two pinions, one of which, 24, is supported by a bearing 25 fastened below the slideway 1 9 and the other of which, 26, is fastened on the output shaft of a Yconnection rotary hydraulic motor 27 itself fastened on the post 20 of one of the two slideways 19.

Each gantry 14 for the suspension of the tamping tools 12 is connected by the lower end of the post 28 thereof closest to the chassis 1 to an arm 29 which is fastened below the end crossmember 30 of the latter via a connecting rod 31.

In this way, in this working configuration, shown in Figure 1, each gantry 14 is immobilized in rotation around the suspension shaft 1 5. The tamping is effected in conventional manner by the extending and closing of each pair of tools 12 in the ballast surrounding each tie to be tamped, the extending being obtained by the action of a hydraulic piston-cylinder unit 32 connecting each tool holder 13 to its gantry 14 and the pivoting movement of each tool 12 being obtained by the action of a hydraulic piston-cylinder unit 33 connected to its tool holder 13. These operations as well as the advance of the tamping machine from one tie to the next are controlled and verified by the operator from the cab 11.

The length and orientation of the two slideways 19, the total possible stroke of the bracket 16/gantry 14 assembly in the slideways, the length of the connecting rods 31 and the offset of the articulation of the arms 29 with respect to the end 30 of the chassis 1 are determined geometrically on basis of the dimensions of the gantries 14 so as to obtain the upward swinging and the withdrawal onto the chassis 1 of the assembly of the tool holders 14 by simple displacement of the bracket 16/gantry 14 assembly up to the end of the stroke in the slideways 19, this displacement being obtained by means alone of the drive motor 27 of the chain 23.

This effect, which leads to the configuration for travel to the work site which is shown in Figure 2, being obtained by the combined movements of translation T of the suspension shaft 1 5 for the gantries 14 and upward shunting along a trajectory in the form of a circular arc C of a radius formed by the connecting rod 31, of the foot of the upright 28 of these gantries.

Variations may be made herein.

Thus the tamping machine described may be equipped with only a single gantry 14. In this case, this gantry can be mounted for sliding transversely on the supporting shaft 1 5 so as to assure the complete tamping of a tie by successive insertions along the tie and the connecting rod 31 can be articulated, not directly to an arm 29, but to a slide block which is mounted movably on a transverse shaft borne at its ends by two of these arms 29, which in no way changes the kinematics of the swinging and withdrawal of the gantry 14 as compared with the example described.

It is possible to disconnect the movements of lifting and translation of the gantries in which the tamping tools 12 are installed. Figures 3 and 4 show two variants which can be used for this purpose. In these two figures, the configuration upon travel to the work site is shown in dash line.

In Figure 3, the gantry 141 is directly fastened to a bracket 1 61 and it is the latter which is articulated in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the track on a movable carriage 171 sliding in a slideway 191.Apiston- cylinder unit 311, interposed between the bracket 161 and the carriage 171, makes it possible to lift the gantry/bracket assembly which is thus formed along a trajectory having the shape of a circular arc C1 above the level of the plateform of the rolling chassis 1. A chain drive mechanisms with drive motor 27, similar to that of the example previously described, then permits the retraction of this assembly via the carriage 1 71, along a path T1.

In Figure 4, the gantry 142 is articulated on a bracket 162 in the same manner as in Figures 1 and 2, but the function of lifting in a circular arc C2 is produced here by a piston-cylinder unit 312 interposed between the bracket 162 and the gantry 142. The lower part 172 of the bracket in this case also slides in a slideway 1 92 in accordance with a translation T2 under the effect of the same chain drive mechanism with drive motor 27.

In these two variants, a control and verification station 110 is shown fixed on the rolling chassis 1 near the tamping tools 12 between the gantries thereof. This arrangement, which is applicable also to the construction in accordance with Figures 1 and 2, may prove sufficient in regions of favourable climatic conditions.

Finally, the drive in translation of the brackets in their slideways can be obtained by other means, for instance by means of a tackle one sheath of which is driven by a piston-cylinder unit in the case of inclined slideways such as those of Figures 1 and 2, or else by a rack system.

Claims (8)

Claims

1. A railway track tamping machine having a rolling chassis (1) movable on the track, at least two tamping tools (12) mounted in opposition on a tool holder (13), at least one gantry (14, 141, 142) in which the tool holder is mounted for vertical movement, at least one bracket (16, 161, 162) which is borne by the rolling chassis, extends cantilevered beyond one end of the chassis and supports the gantry, a power plant (9) for feeding the drive means of its functional members and a station (11) for control and verification of the functions of the said members characterized by the fact that its rolling chassis t1) has the equipments (5, 6, 7, 8) strictly adapted to permit its insertion in a railway train, and by the fact that the gantry (14, 141, 142) and the bracket (16, 161, 162) are mounted for movement and retraction on this rolling chassis and are connected to it for this purpose by a lifting mechanism (31,311,312) at least for the gantry and by a mechanism for the withdrawal by translation (18, 19, 22, 23,27) of the bracket onto the said chassis (1).

2. A tamping machine according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the lifting mechanism (31) for the gantry (14) is dependent on the mechanism (18 ... 27) for withdrawal of the bracket (16) and is actuated by the latter so that the retraction results from a combination of lifting and withdrawal movements obtained solely by the action of a drive member (27) which actuates the withdrawal mechanism.

3. A tamping machine according to Claim 2, characterized by the fact that the gantry (14, Figure 1) is suspended and articulated, in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the track, at its upper part to the bracket (16), and by the fact that the lower part (28) of the said gantry (14) is connected to an arm (29) fastened below the end of the chassis (1) via a connecting rod (31) so that the translation of the bracket (1 6) causes, by the pivoting of the connecting rod (31), the upward swinging of the gantry (14) which is thus articulated at its upper and lower parts to these two elements respectively.

4. A tamping machine according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the control and verification station (11) is fastened to the movable bracket (16).

5. A tamping machine according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the rolling frame (1) is formed of a freight flat car on which there are attached and fastened at least the elements specific to the tamping and their retraction.

6. A tamping machine according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the gantry (141, Figure 3) and the bracket (161) are rigidly connected and form a single unit movable by pivoting, which is articulated in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the track on a carriage (171) which is mounted for movement by translation on the rolling chassis (1), the mechanism for the lifting of the gantry (141) being formed of a piston-cylinder unit (311) interposed between the bracket and the carriage, at a distance from their articulation.

7. A tamping machine according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the gantry (142, Figure 4) is suspended and articulated in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the track, to the bracket (162) and connected to the latter by a mechanism for lifting by pivoting formed of a piston-cylinder unit (312) interposed between them at a distance from their articulation.

8. A railway track tamping machine substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.