Track maintenance machine with a conveyor or excavating chain arrangement

Abstract

A track maintenance machine with a conveyor or excavating chain arrangement for removing and collecting railway ballast and/or other formation or substructure layers of a track structure is shown, comprising a cutter bar which can be positioned below a track and which has at least two bar elements, each adjustable in position and alignment, and which is attached to an ascent channel and to a return channel. The device comprises a guided excavating chain consisting of a plurality of chain links, wherein the arrangement can be fastened to a machine frame via at least one height-adjustable suspension device. The excavating chain is designed to be divisible, that the bar elements can be connected via a coupling to form a closed overall unit, and that the arrangement can be variably adjusted in its excavating working width by adjusting the position of the bar elements.

Claims

1. A track maintenance machine with a conveyor or excavating chain arrangement for removing and collecting railway ballast and/or other formation or substructure layers of a track structure, comprising: a machine frame (2); an ascent channel (12); a return channel (13) wherein said ascent channel and said return channel are coupled to said machine frame; a cutter bar (9) which can be positioned below a track and which has at least two bar elements (10), each adjustable in position and alignment, and which is attached to said ascent channel (12) and to said return channel (13), a height adjustable suspension device (14) coupled to the machine frame; a coupling (11); a guided excavating chain (17) coupled to the machine frame and consisting of a plurality of chain links, wherein the arrangement can be fastened to said machine frame via said height-adjustable suspension device (14), wherein the guided excavating chain is designed to be divisible, in that the bar elements can be connected via said coupling to form a closed overall unit, and in that the arrangement can be variably adjusted in its excavating working width by adjusting the position of the bar elements, wherein the coupling for connecting the bar elements is coupled with a control and regulation system (28) and corresponding measuring equipment as well as sensors for determining position and alignment in order to carry out a fully automatic or semi-automatic actuation of the coupling process.

2. The track maintenance machine according to claim 1, wherein the division of the excavating chain by means of a locking flange is designed as a detachable, mechanical connection with at least one mechanical, detachable connecting element.

3. The track maintenance machine according to claim 1, wherein the excavating chain comprises connecting links arranged between the individual chain links and having two degrees of freedom of movement from two axes of rotation crossing in their lines of action.

4. The track maintenance machine according to claim 1, wherein the coupling for connecting the bar elements comprises mechanical fixing elements which are manually handled by a machine operator.

5. The track construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the coupling for connecting the bar elements comprises at least one mechanical, detachable connecting element.

6. The track maintenance machine according to claim 5, wherein the mechanical connection of the bar elements by means of a coupling is through at least one bolt connection.

7. The track maintenance machine according to claim 5, wherein the mechanical connection of the bar elements by means of a coupling is via at least one screw connection.

8. The track maintenance machine according to claim 1, wherein a divisible grading bar and at least one variably adjustable and pivoting compaction unit are arranged after the conveyor or excavating chain arrangement.

9. A method of operating a track maintenance machine according to claim 1, wherein the ascent channel and the return channel are lowered into a desired working position and the bar elements are pivoted in under the track, and in that furthermore the bar elements are connected by means of a coupling to form a closed unit.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein before the start of work the bar elements are connected fully automatically or semi-automatically by means of a control and regulation system with the aid of corresponding measuring equipment as well as sensors for determining position and alignment by means of the coupling.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the coupling for connecting the bar elements is manually actuated by handling of a machine operator.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein one the cutter bar of the device is guided in its position and alignment in a controlled manner by corresponding control of the height-adjustable suspension device with the aid of a control and regulating system as well as corresponding measuring equipment and sensors, according to the machine operator's specifications.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the following, the invention is explained by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures. The following figures show in schematic illustrations:

(2) FIG. 1 Side view of a track maintenance machine with a conveyor or excavating chain arrangement for removing and collecting track maintenance material

(3) FIG. 2 Top view of the conveyor or excavating chain arrangement with bar elements connected to form a closed unit (top) and open, unconnected bar elements (bottom)

(4) FIG. 3 Section of a divisible excavating chain

(5) FIG. 4 Detail of the locking flange of a divisible excavating chain

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(6) FIG. 1 shows a schematically depicted track maintenance machine 1 with a conveyor or excavating chain arrangement 3 mounted on a machine frame 2, which can be moved along a track 5 by means of rail-based running gears 4. This arrangement comprises a cutter bar 9 which can be positioned below the track 5 and which has two bar elements 10 and a coupling 11. The bar elements 10 are each designed to be adjustable in their position and alignment, attached on the one hand to an ascent channel 12 and on the other hand to a return channel 13. The ascent channel 12 and the return channel 13 are movably mounted on the machine frame 2 via a joint, are displaceable in their position, and can also be swivelled in alignment. Furthermore, an excavating chain 17 is guided over the cutter bar 9 and the adjacent channel parts 12, 13.

(7) The device 3 is connected to the machine frame 2 by means of a height-adjustable suspension device, designed as a hydraulic actuator 14. An inclination control of the cutter bar 9 and thus also the alignment of the excavating chain 17 is carried out via two hydraulic actuators 15, which in the case of the ascent channel 12 as well as the return channel 13 are connected to the respective channel ends adjoining at the bottom, flattening into the horizontal track plane. A chain tensioning device 16 takes over the necessary pre-tensioning of the excavating chain 17. Furthermore, a control and regulation system 28 is mounted in a protected area on the machine frame 2 or in a cab.

(8) A divisible grading bar 26 is hinged to the machine frame 2 via a supporting frame structure. In addition, several distributed compaction/vibrating devices 27, which can be displaced or swivelled in their position and orientation, are combined and connected downstream.

(9) FIG. 2 shows a top view of the device 3 already shown in FIG. 1, with the cutter bar 9 shown as a closed unit in the working position (top) as well as with the coupling 11 open and the bar elements 10, not swivelled in, in the running position (bottom). The divisible excavating chain 17 including excavating teeth 21 is only drawn in a short section for a better overview. In this constructive embodiment, the excavating width of the device 3 can be variably adjusted by means of a hydraulic adjustment actuator 25. The bar elements 10 are equipped with measuring equipment and sensors 29 to supply the control and regulation system 28.

(10) Analogous to the cutter bar 9, the divisible grading bar 26 is also shown as a closed unit in the upper view, while at the bottom the elements of the grading bar 26 are open and the supporting frame structure is swivelled in towards the machine frame 2. The compaction/vibrating devices 27 are also arranged here in a correspondingly swivelled-in position.

(11) The hydraulic adjustment actuator 25 for adjusting the excavating width is detached from the ascent channel 12 in the running position and folded onto the return channel 13. When the cutter bar 9 is divided, the adjustment actuator 25 is released on one side and swivelled outwards. In this position, the adjustment actuator 25 is lowered into an excavating plane together with the bar elements 10 next to the rails during set-up.

(12) For adjustability, each bar element 10 consists of at least two sections that can be swivelled towards each other in the excavating plane by means of a joint during work. In the variant shown, each bar element 10 consists of a longer and a shorter section. The respective longer section is hinged to the adjacent channel part 12, 13. The associated elements of the coupling 11 are arranged on the respective shorter section. When the coupling 11 is closed, the two shorter sections form a rigid unit. The geometrical structure then corresponds to a double rocker mechanism, with the rigid unit as the coupler and the longer sections of the bar elements 10 as the rocker mechanisms. The bearing points of the double rocker mechanism are formed by the connecting joints with the adjacent channel parts 12, 13. These connecting joints can be adjusted in relation to each other by means of the adjustment actuator 25, whereby the excavating width can be adjusted.

(13) In the example shown, the coupling 11 comprises a bolt connection and a swivelling hook as a mechanical fixing element. Specifically, a bolt is arranged on the shorter section of the one bar element 10. As a counter element, a bore is formed in the shorter section of the other bar element 10 to receive the bolt. When the coupling 11 is closed, the bolt, which is seated backlash-free in the bore, causes a rigid connection of the bar elements 10. The coupling connection is fixed by means of the hook, which is swivelably arranged on a bar element 10. In the swivelled-in state, an extension of the hook engages in a counter element of the other bar element 10, whereby the connection is securely closed.

(14) FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the divisible excavating chain 17, which comprises a locking flange 18, chain links 19, and connecting links 20. Each chain link 19 is directly connected to an excavating tooth 21, which is reinforced against wear and is designed as a solid single tooth in this embodiment. One chain link 19 and one connecting link 20 are connected by means of an intermediate piece. This intermediate piece creates two intersecting axes that are normal to each other. These are the 1.sup.st axis of rotation 22 and the 2.sup.nd axis of rotation 23, resulting in two degrees of freedom of movement. The principle is identical to that of a universal joint, also referred to as a cardan joint. The locking flange 18 is now installed between a chain link 19 and a connecting link 20, the two halves of which are screwed together by means of three detachable connecting elements 24.

(15) FIG. 4 shows the extracted locking flange 18 of the divisible excavating chain 17 as an illustration of FIG. 3. The locking flange 18 consists of two flange halves and connects the open excavating chain 17 to a closed unit. The three detachable connecting elements 24 are designed as a bolted joint with two hexagon nuts each.