GB2167474A

GB2167474A - Railway ballast plough

Info

Publication number: GB2167474A
Application number: GB08527103A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard H Taylor
Original assignee: Northern Engineering Industries PLC
Current assignee: Rolls Royce Power Engineering PLC
Priority date: 1984-11-24
Filing date: 1985-11-04
Publication date: 1986-05-29
Also published as: GB8429742D0; GB2167474B; GB8527103D0

Abstract

A track maintenance machine has mounted thereon a ballast plough arrangement 12 for distributing and profiling ballast of a railway track. The arrangement 12 has a support structure from which depends a V-shaped centre plough 60 the limbs 62, 64 of which each lie across a respective rail. Two side ploughs 82, 84 also depend from the support structure 14 and each lies across a respective rail. A centre plough-plate 70 is pivotally mounted on the centre plough 60 at the apex thereof for movement about a vertical axis between two limit positions. In the limit positions, the centre plough-plate 70 substantially spans the gap between the apex of the centre plough 60 and the respective side plough 82, 84 whereby a substantially continuous plough surface extends from one side of the track to the other. The centre plough- plate 70 is locatable in at least one position intermediate the limit positions. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Track maintenance machine having a ballast plough arrangement The invention relates to a track maintenance machine having a ballast plough arrangement.

According to the invention, a track maintenance machine having a ballast plough arrangement for distributing and profiling ballast of a railway track mounted thereon for movement between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position of the plough arrangement, the plough arrangement comprising a support structure, a substantially Vshaped centre plough depending from the structure, each limb of the centre plough lying across a respective rail of the track, two side ploughs depending from the structure and each lying across a respective rail to guide ballast towards the centre of the track and a centre plough-plate mounted on the centre plough at the apex thereof for pivotal movement about a vertical axis between two limit positions, in which limit positions the centre plough.

plate substantially spans the gap between the apex of the centre plough and the inner end of the respective side plough whereby a substantially continuous plough surface extends from one side of the track to the other, the centre plough plate being locatable in at least one position intermediate the limit positions.

Preferably, the machine comprises arms which have a length greater than the vertical distance between the upper and lower positions of the plough arrangement and which are pivotally mounted at first ends on the machine and at second ends on the structure, the second ends trailing the first ends relatively to the ploughing direction; and comprises actuator means which are pivotally mounted on the machine and on the structure and which are energisable to move the structure between the lower and upper positions.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises a stop mounted on the inner end of each side plough to prevent movement of the centre plough-plate beyond the respective limit position.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises means mounted on the structure for engagement with the centre plough-plate to lock the centre plough-plate in said intermediate position.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises actuator means for moving the centre plough-plate about the vertical axis.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises ballast guides mounted on the ends of the limbs of the centre plough for pivotal movement about respective vertical axes and means mounted on the structure for engagement with the respective ballast guides to lock the ballast guides in at least one operative position.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises ballast guides mounted on the outer ends of the side ploughs for pivotal movement about a vertical axis and means mounted on the structure for engagement with the respective ballast guides to lock the ballast guides in at least one operative position.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises tunnel-like rail covers secured to the limbs of the centre plough and to the side ploughs to overlay respective rails.

Preferably, the plough arrangement comprises rollers mounted on the structure for engagement with the rails to maintain the plough arrangement, in the lower position thereof, at a substantially constant height relatively to the rails.

A track maintenance machine will now be described to illustrate the invention by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure lisa side elevation of a ballast plough arrangement mounted on the frame of the machine, the plough arrangement being in its lower operative position; Figure 2 is an elevation on arrow II in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a plan view of the plough arrangement shown in Figure 1.

The track maintenance machine consists of a powered rail vehicle having a main frame 10 upon which is mounted a ballast plough arrangement 12.

The plough arrangement 12 has a plate-like support structure 14; a V-shaped centre plough 60; two side ploughs 82, 84; and a centre plough-plate 70.

The plough arrangement 12 is mounted on the frame 10 by four arms 24. The arms 24 are pivotally mounted at first ends 26 to the frame 10 and at second ends 28 to the support structure 14. The arms 24 each have two members 30 interconnected by crossmembers 32 (see Figure 2) to resist transverse loads on the support structure 14.

The arms 24 have a length greater than the vertical distance between the upper inoperative position (shown in ghost outline at 34 in Figure 1) and the lower operative position of the plough arrangement 12. As shown, the second ends 28 of the arms 24 trail the first ends 26 thereof relatively to the ploughing direction (arrow I in Figure 1).

Consequently, the plough arrangement 12 can move upwardly if it meets an obstacle on the track or if the track height varies.

Two hydraulic piston-and-cylinder units 36 are pivotally mounted on the frame 10 and the support structure 14. The units 36 are energisable to raise the plough arrangement 12.

The support structure 14 has two manual latches 38 for securing the plough arrangement 12 in the upper position. Each latch 38 has a bolt 40 fixed to a handle 42. The handle 42 is engageable with either one of two spaced-apart slots 44, 46 in a bracket 48 which is carried by the structure 14 and which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bolt 40.

Engagement of the handle 42 with one of the slots 44,46 restrains the bolt 40 against axial movement.

Two brackets 50,52 are carried by the structure 14 transversely of the bracket 48, the two brackets 50, 52 having aligned holes 54,56 for receiving the bolt 40 (see upper latch 38 as seen in Figure 3) when the handle 42 engages the slot 46. The outer bracket 52 of the two brackets 50, 52 has an annular stub 58 fixed thereto for supporting the end of the bolt 40 when it has been withdrawn from the holes 54, 56 (see lower latch 38 as seen in Figure 3), the handle 42 engaging the slot 44. Two lugs (not shown) carried by the main frame 10 of the machine are sited between the respective brackets 50, 52 when the plough arrangement 12 is in its upper position, the lugs having holes through which the bolts 40 can be pushed to retain the plough arrangement 12 in its upper position.

Depending from the support structure 14 is the Vshaped centre plough 60, the limbs 62,64 of which lie across respective rails 66,68 of the track on which the machine runs. At the apex of the plough 60, the centre plough-plate 70 is mounted for pivotal movement about a vertical axis. The plough-plate 70 is movable between two limit positions by a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder unit 72 pivotally mounted at one end to the limb 62 of the plough 60 (or alternatively to the support structure 14) and at the other end to an arm 74 fixd to the plough-plate 70. The limb 64 of the plough 60 has an aperture to permit the arm 74 to move across the vertical plane containing the limb 64. A cover 76 on the ploughing side of the limb 64 covers the aperture and the arm 74 to protect the same from damage.

The centre plough-plate 70 is prevented from going beyond the two limit positions by stop-plates 78,80 carried by the side ploughs 82,84, respectively, which depend from the support structure 14 and lie across respective rails 68,66 to guide ballast towards the centre of the track.

The side plough 82 lies in a vertical plane containing the limb 62 of the plough 60 and the side plough 84 lies in a vertical plane containing the limb 64 of the plough 60. When the centre plough-plate 70 is in either of the two limit positions, a substantially continuous plough surface extends from one side of the track to the other.

Aforked latch member 86 protrudes through an aperture 88 in the support structure 14 to straddle the centre plough-plate 70 thereby locking it in a position intermediate the limit positions, in this instance in alignment with the centre line 90 of the track. The member 86 is pivotally mounted on the structure 14 and is movable by a hydraulic pistonand-cylinder unit 92 pivotally attached to the member 86 and to the structure 14.

Two tunnel-like rail covers 94, 96 are secured to the limb 62 of the plough 60 and to the side plough 84 and to the limb 64 of the plough 60 and to the side plough 82, respectively, to cover the rails 66,68, respectively, in the region of the arrangement 12 in which ploughing action occurs.

The plough arrangement 12 is maintained art a substantially constant height relatively to the rails 66, 68 by rollers 98 which protrude through apertures in the rail covers 94, 96 to engage the rails 66, 68. The rollers 98 are adjustably-mounted on brackets 100 positioned rearwardly, relatively to the ploughing direction, of the side ploughs 82,84 and of the limbs 62,64 of the centre plough 60.

The outer ends of the side plough 82,84 and of the limbs 62,64 of the centre plough 60 each have a ballast guide 102 mounted thereon for pivotal movement about a vertical axis between a stowed position (shown at 102A in ghost outline in Figure 3) and an operative position. The ballast guides 102 are each lockable in the stowed position or one of several operative positions by a cranked bolt 104.

The bolt 104 passes through a relevant one of holes 106 in the structure 14 to pass through a hole, when in alignment with one of the holes 106, in a block 108 secured to the rear of the ballast guide 102.

Each ballast guide 102 has an outer guide member 110 mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis on an inner guide member 112. The outer guide member 110 is slotted at 114 to receive the end of inner member 112. The inner member 112 has an upper arcuate slot 116 through which a hand-operated bolt 118 passes whereby the outer member 110 can be set at an angle to the inner member 112 and locked in that position. The two extreme positions are shown in full and ghost outline at the left hand side of Figure 1.

In operation, the hydraulic units 36 are energised to take the weight of the plough arrangement 12 and the latches 38 are released. The plough arrangement is then allowed to fall under gravity until the rollers 98 engage the rails 66, 68 by controlling the release of fluid from the units 36.

The centre plough-plate 70 is positioned in one of the two limited positions or, as shown, in a central position and, if used, the ballast guides 102 are set in the required operative position with their outer guide members 110 set at the required angle.

The machine is then moved in the direction or arrow 1 in Figure 1 to distribute and profile ballast on the track.

With the centre plough-plate 70 in a central position, ballast on each half of the track is distributed and profiled over the same half of the track. If the centre plough-plate 70 is in either of the two limit positions, ballast from both halves of the track is distributed and profiled over one half of the track.

If desired, the centre plough-plate 70 could be positioned in intermediate positions other than centrally of the two limit provisions (further latch members 86 being provided), in which instance, ballast from one half of the track could be distributed between both halves of the track.

If desired, the flow paths through the plough arrangement for ballast can be enlarged. To that end, the inner ends of the side ploughs 82,84 can each have an aperture extending outwardly for example up to approximately one third of the length of the respective side plough 82, 84, the geometry of the free end of the centre plough-plate 70 being modified accordingly to close the respective aperture in the respective limit position thereof.

In the above-described plough arrangement, the fixed V-shaped centre plough provides considerable structural strength to the arrangement. Additionally, as the number of movable parts is minimised, e.g.

only one movable centre plough-plate is provided, the construction of the arrangement is relatively simple.

Claims

1. A track maintenance machine havinq a ballast plough arrangement for distributing and profiling ballast of a railway track mounted thereon for movement between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position of the plough arrangement, the plough arrangement comprising a support stucture, a substantially V-shaped centre plough depending from the structure, each limb of the centre plough lying across a respective rail of the track, two side ploughs depending from the structure and each lying across a respective rail to guide ballast towards the centre of the track and a centre plough-plate mounted on the centre plough at the apex thereof for pivotal movement about a vertical axis between two limit positions, in which limit positions the centre plough-plate substantially spans the gap between the apex of the centre plough and the inner end of the respective side plough whereby a substantially continuous plough surface extends from one side of the track to the other, the centre plough plate being locatable in at least one position intermediate the limit positions.

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which the machine comprises arms which have a length greater than the vertical distance between the upper and lower positions of the plough arrangement and which pivotally mounted at first ends on the machine and at second ends on the structure, the second ends trailing the first ends relatively to the ploughing direction.

3. A machine according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the machine comprises actuator means which are pivotally mounted on the machine and on the structure and which are energisable to move the structure between the lower and upper positions.

4. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises a stop mounted on the inner end of each side plough to prevent movement of the centre plough-plate beyond the respective limit position.

5. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises means mounted on the structure for engagement with the centre plough-plateto lock the centre plough-plate in said intermediate position.

6. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises actuator means for moving the centre plough-plate about the vertical axis.

7. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises ballast guides mounted on the ends of the limbs of the centre plough for pivotal movement about respective vertical axes and means mounted on the structure for engagement with the respective ballast guides to lock the ballast guides in at least one operative position.

8. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises ballast guides mounted on the outer ends of the side ploughs for pivotal movement about a vertical axis and means mounted on the structure for engagement with the respective ballast guides to lock the ballast guides in at least one operative position.

9. A machine according to claim 7 or claim 8, in which the ballast guides each have an outer guide member mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis on an inner guide member whereby the outer guide member is settable at an angle to the inner guide member.

10. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises tunnellike rail covers secured to the limbs of the centre plough and to the side ploughs to overlay respective rails.

11. A machine according to any preceding claim, in which the plough arrangement comprises rollers mounted on the structure for engagement with the rails to maintain the plough arrangement, in the lower position thereof, at a substantially constant height relatively to the rails.

12. A machine according to claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.