Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
  • E01B—PERMANENT WAY; PERMANENT-WAY TOOLS; MACHINES FOR MAKING RAILWAYS OF ALL KINDS
  • E01B29/00—Laying, rebuilding, or taking-up tracks; Tools or machines therefor
  • E01B29/06—Transporting, laying, removing or renewing sleepers
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
  • E01B—PERMANENT WAY; PERMANENT-WAY TOOLS; MACHINES FOR MAKING RAILWAYS OF ALL KINDS
  • E01B29/00—Laying, rebuilding, or taking-up tracks; Tools or machines therefor
  • E01B29/06—Transporting, laying, removing or renewing sleepers
  • E01B29/09—Transporting, laying, removing or renewing sleepers under, or from under, installed rails
  • E01B29/13—Transporting, laying, removing or renewing sleepers under, or from under, installed rails for moving sleepers in a direction parallel to the rails, e.g. for spacing or aligning them

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to a gripping ar- rangement and more particularly to a railway sleeper gripping arrangement.
• the invention takes as its starting point a known gripping arrangement that includes a frame part on which clamping jaws are pivotally mounted for movement towards and away from each other and which are adapted for co-action with mutually spaced outer parts of a railway sleeper, and means for securing said frame part to a chassis.
• the present invention has been developed for use as a gripping arrangement in a mobile unit, such as a mobile unit of the kind illustrated and described in International Patent Application PCT/SE94/01042, International Publication No. WO 95/13427, which is adapted to move along the rails of a railroad section.
• a centrally positioned gripping arrangement (20) and associated clamping jaws adapted for co-action with mutually opposing, outwardly converging surface parts in the central region of a sleeper.
• the clamping jaws are operated hydraulically by means of a piston-cylinder device, and can be moved to a sleeper clamping position or to a sleeper releasing position by means of said piston-cylinder device.
• /Another technical problem is one of providing a gripping arrangement that is able to adapt its horizontal setting to an inclined setting so as to grip a loosely placed sleeper in the central region of said sleeper when the sleeper is inclined to the horizontal plane.
• Another technical problem is one of providing a gripping arrangement that functions to grip a loosely placed railroad sleeper such as to force the sleeper to take a correct position with the aid of means belonging to said gripping arrangement, when said sleeper is twisted somewhat about its longitudinal axis.
• Another technical problem is one of providing a gripping arrangement which is able to turn a railroad sleeper positioned in the horizontal plane to a position in which the sleeper is parallel to other, secured sleepers and perpendicular to a section of railroad track through the medium of said clamping jaws, simply by using the clamping jaws and a sufficiently powerful piston-cylinder device, preferably an hydraulic device.
• Another technical problem is one of realising the significance of and the advantages afforded by using in conjunction with a gripping arrangement of the aforesaid kind a frame- part to which mutually reciprocal clamping jaws are related, and means for securing said frame part to a chassis, and therewith realising the significance of and the advantages that are afforded by permitting said means to be constructed so that said frame part is able to swing on said chassis in one or two perpendicular directions, so as to enable the clamping jaws to adapt to the positions of mutually opposite surface parts of a railroad sleeper.
• a technical problem is one of realising the significance of permitting the pivotal attachment of said means to be active about a respective horizontal axis, said axes defining a right angle with each other and being located in different planes.
• Another technical problem is one of realising the significance of restricting the angle of pivot about said horizontal axis to a value of less than +/-20 0 .
• Another technical problem is one of realising the significance of allowing said means to have the form of a pivotal attachment of a piston-cylinder device that is active between said chassis and said frame part, such as to raise or lower the frame part carrying said clamping jaws.
• Another technical problem is one of realising the signifi- cance of mounting the clamping jaws for movement towards and away from the railroad sleeper with the aid of two parallel, piston-cylinder devices such that movement of said clamping jaws will turn the sleeper to a position in which the sleeper extends perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the section of railroad track concerned and therewith parallel with those sleepers that have already been laid and fastened.
• 7 ⁇ nother technical problem is one of realising that each of the clamping jaws shall have a length of between 5 and 50% of the total length of the sleeper.
• the present invention takes as its start- ing point a gripping arrangement adapted for co-action with railroad sleepers and having a frame part on which there are pivotally mounted clamping jaws that can move towards and away from each other and which are adapted for co-action with mutually opposite outer surfaces of said sleepers, and means for securing the frame part to a chassis.
• said means shall be constructed to enable the frame part to be mounted for pivotal movement on the chassis, so as to enable the clamping jaws to be adjusted with respect to said surface parts of said sleepers.
• said means may comprise double bearing arrangements between the chassis and the frame part, where each first part of said double bearing arrangement is fixed relative to the chassis and the second part of which arrangement is fixed relative to the frame part, and where said parts of the double bearing arrangement are pivotal in rela- tion to each other about a horizontal axis of rotation.
• said means is comprised of a pivotal attachment means for the attachment of a piston-cylinder device that is active between said chassis and said frame part and which functions to enable the frame part and clamping jaws to be raised or lowered away from and towards an underlying railroad sleeper.
• the invention also proposes the use of two such piston-cylinder devices in parallel relationship, where only one of said piston-cylinder devices need be pivotally mounted.
• the clamping jaws are also arranged for movement towards and away from each other by means of two piston-cylinder devices in parallel relationship, such as to enable enhancement of the clamping action between the clamping jaws and said mutually opposite surfaces of a railroad sleeper.
• each clamping jaw shall have a length of between 5 and 50% of the length of a sleeper.
• an inventive gripping arrangement resides in the provision of conditions whereby, for instance, with the use of an earlier known mobile unit, loose railroad sleepers that lie obliquely on a prepared surface can be gripped by the gripping arrangement and the clamping jaws moved to a position perpendicular in relation to sections of a railroad track so as to enable said sleepers to be lifted in a predetermined position into abutment with the underside of a railroad track section and fastened to said track section in said position by means of fastener devices constructed to this end.
• the primary characteristic features of an inventive gripping arrangement are set forth in the characterising clause of the following Claim 1.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of mutually parallel rails placed on and fastened to mutually parallel sleepers, and shows a loosely positioned sleeper that extends obliquely in all observable aspects;
• Figure 2 is a side view of an inventive gripping arrangement, and shows the clamping jaws fully open and a railroad sleeper according to a first embodiment
• Figure 3 is a side view of an inventive gripping arrangement with the clamping jaws fully closed and in co-action with mutually opposite surface parts of a railroad sleeper according to a sec- ond embodiment
• Figure 4 is another side view of the gripping arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2.
• Figure 1 illustrates in perspective a railroad track section 1 comprising a first and a second rail 2 ' and 2a resting on sleepers .
• the sleepers are fastened to the rails 2, 2a, through means not shown, in a known manner, by means of specially designed clips .
• a mobile unit for instance a mobile unit of the kind illustrated and described in International Patent Application PCT/SE94/01042, having a centrally positioned gripping arrangement 10, shall now grip a railroad sleeper 3 that lies loosely on a supporting surface 4, by causing clamping jaws 12, 12a included in said gripping ar- rangement to grip mutually opposite, centrally positioned and upwardly and conically tapering surface parts 3a, 3b of the sleeper 3.
• Figure 1 is intended to illustrate that the position of the loosely placed sleeper 3 deviates from the position in which it must be placed when fastening the sleeper 3 to respective rails 2, 2a of said track section, by means of known fastener devices or clips in a subsequent working operation.
• the loose sleeper 3 may also be slightly twisted about an axis 3c, in one or the other direction, in accordance with the arrows "c".
• Adjustment of the deviation d" can be effective with the aid of a piston-cylinder device (20f) in the way shown in more detail in Figure 5 of the International Patent Application PCT/SE97/00830 and text relating to said Figure.
• a gripping arrangement 10 for co-action with a railroad sleeper 3.
• the gripping arrangement includes a frame part 11 and cla p- ing jaws 12, 12a which are pivotally mounted on the frame part 11 for movement towards and away from each other and which are intended to grip mutually opposite surface parts 3a, 3b of said sleeper 3.
• the clamping jaw 12 is pivotally attached to an arm 13 by a pivot shaft 12' and includes a rubber plate via which the clamping jaw 12 can be brought into abutment with the sloping surface 3a.
• the arm 13 is fastened at its central region to a generally U-shaped bracket means 15 forming part of the frame structure 11, through the medium of a shaft 14.
• the upper part 13a of the arm 13 is pivotally mounted on a first end of a piston- cylinder device 16, through the medium of a pivot shaft 16' .
• the opposing clamping jaw 12a is also pivotally mounted at 12a' on an arm 13' whose upper part 13a' co-acts pivotally 16" with the other end of the piston-cylinder device 16.
• the present invention also relates to means for securing the frame part 11 with its clamping jaws 12, 12a to a chassis 30.
• said means 20 comprises a double bearing arrangement 20, 20' ( Figure 4) where one part 21, 21' of each respective bearing arrangement is fixed in relation to the chassis 30 and the other part 22, 22' of respective arrangements 20, 20' is fixed in relation to the frame part 11, and where respective parts 21, 22 and 21', 22' of said double bearing arrangement are pivotal in relation to one another about a horizontal axis A.
• the bearing arrangements 20, 20' may conveniently consist of known radial pivot bearings that allow a pivot angle "v" of from 5 to 20°. However, the bearing arrangement will most suitably permit a pivotal angle v" that is limited to between 6 and 12°, such as about 10°.
• FIG 4 is another side view of the gripping arrangement 10. It will be seen that the frame part 11 with the clamping jaws 12, 12a, and the chassis 30 mutually co-act through a supplementary means.
• said means may also comprise means for pivotal attachment 40 of a piston-cylinder device 41 active between the chassis 30 and the frame part 11.
• the piston rod of the piston-cylinder device 41 coacts with a radial pivot bearings 20 ' and 42 , while the piston rod of the piston-cylinder device 42 co-acts with a similar bearing 20.
• Figure 4 also shows the use of said two mutually parallel piston-cylinder devices 41, 42 as means for lifting and low- ering the clamping jaws 12, 12a and the frame part 11.
• only one piston-cylinder device, device 41 has a pivotal attachment at 40.
• clamping jaws 12, 12a can be moved towards and away from each other by means of two mutually parallel piston-cylinder devices 16, 16' .
• each of the clamping jaws 12, 12a has a length L of between 5 and 50% of said sleeper length.
• the length L will preferably be 10-30%, such as 15-20% of the sleeper length.
• the rubber-covered clamping surfaces of the clamping jaws may be flat, whereas at longer lengths said surfaces may be curved to an extent that corresponds with the curvature of the outer surfaces 3a, 3b of respective sleepers.
• the distance between the piston-cylinder devices 16, 16' can also be increased in the case of longer lengths.
• the clamping jaws 12, 12a are then brought into a position in which they co-act with the surfaces 3a, 3b (according to Fig- ure 3) , therewith moving the sleeper 3 such as to compensate for the deviation "b".
• the twist deviation "c" can also be compensated for, primarily by pressing the support surface 11a against the upper surface 3d of the sleeper.
• the frame part 11 can then be raised while holding the sleeper 3, so as to enable the sleeper to be pressed against the underside of respective rails 2, 2a and fastened thereto in a predetermined position by means of rail clips.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Machines For Laying And Maintaining Railways (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20408407

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (2)

Citations (5)

• 1997
  • 1997-09-26 SE SE9703508A patent/SE512830C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1998
  • 1998-09-18 AU AU92883/98A patent/AU9288398A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-09-18 WO PCT/SE1998/001674 patent/WO1999016977A1/sv active Application Filing

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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