EP0635082A1 - Machine for sucking up rail ballast - Google Patents

Abstract

A machine (57) for working the ballast of a track (60) has a frame (58) supported on rail travelling gears (59), a suction unit (76) with an opening (81) for sucking off the broken stones, and a vertically and laterally adjustable suction hose (80). In addition, a clearing device (62) is arranged at a distance from the suction opening (81), in the longitudinal direction of the machine, and has an endless clearing chain (64) rotatable by a drive for removing the broken stones located below the track (60). Both the clearing device (62) and the suction hose (80) are provided with their own drives (82, 99), so that they may be vertically and laterally adjusted independently from each other.

Description

 Machine for suctioning ballast from a track ballast bed

The invention relates to a machine for processing the ballast bed of a track with a machine frame supported on rail bogies, to which a suction unit with a height and side-adjustable baby's trunk having a suction opening for suctioning ballast is assigned.

Such a suction machine is known from DE 82 36 650 U. This machine has a baby's trunk protruding over the machine frame, with which ballast is sucked off the track and led to a collecting container. The ballast cleaned with the aid of a vibrating floor is again thrown onto the track by a cross conveyor belt.

Another such suction machine is known from DE 21 36 306 A. The suction nozzle attached to the protruding baby's trunk is equipped with vibrators for loosening the ballast stones to be extracted. The baby's trunk itself is supported by a rotatable and swiveling support frame above a driver's cabin.

A suction machine is also known from AT 384 446 B, which has a suction arrangement formed from three mammals arranged next to one another in the transverse direction of the machine. At the lower end of each baby's trunk, which is provided with a suction opening, there is a rotatable clearing device in order to loosen up crusted gravel immediately before the suction.

Another machine known from DE 22 26 612 A for processing a ballast bed has two broaching devices each fastened to a longitudinal side of a machine frame, each of which is designed as a broaching bar with a circumferential, endless broaching chain. These clearing beams can be rotated and adjusted in height about a vertical swivel axis provided at one longitudinal end. and are folded up around a horizontal axis running in the cross-machine direction when not in use.

For clearing the ballast, the clearing devices are lowered into the flank of the track bed and then swung in from both sides under the track grate, the ballast below the track grate being conveyed to the track flanks and via an obliquely upward conveying arrangement of a screening plant for cleaning is fed.

The object of the present invention is to create a machine of the generic type which enables complete removal of the ballast for small as well as large areas of the ballast bed.

This object is achieved with a machine of the type mentioned in that a clearing device arranged spaced apart from the suction opening in the machine longitudinal direction and having an endless clearing chain rotatable by a drive is provided for removing the ballast located below the track, the clearing device and the Each trunk has its own drives for independent height and side distribution.

With these combination features, two different systems of ballast removal are available, which can be used to achieve an improved work result in connection with a complete ballast removal that is also possible in constrictions, either jointly or else — as a complement to one another — separately. The substantially larger part of the ballast bed located below the track grate is expediently transportable in the transverse direction of the machine to the side of the ballast bed by the more powerful mechanical clearing device, while the baby's trunk, which is smaller in cross section, can be immersed in narrow passages parallel to the clearing device, which can be immersed in parallel with the clearing chain cannot be reached. With the help of the clearing chain Depending on the various operating conditions, the ballast accumulated in the flank area of the ballast bed can either be extracted or removed using a mechanical system. In the event that the ballast accumulation mentioned is, for example, between a platform edge and the track grate, only suction is possible, since due to this constriction there is no space available for further mechanical transport. With the machine according to the invention, there is therefore also the possibility of starting the ballast movement in the transverse direction of the machine by means of a powerful mechanical system and finally of ending it with suction at a location which is more suitable for the suction system and to the side outside the track grate. In a particularly advantageous manner, the combination according to the invention also makes it possible to significantly simplify the start of use of the clearing chain by forming a so-called pocket hole for lowering it into the working position by suction with the help of the baby's trunk.

The specially designed clearing device according to the features of claims 2 and 3 enables a very advantageous division of the ballast movement into a first section located below the track grate and an adjoining suction section. This combination has the advantage that a very time-consuming and unsatisfactory repeated immersion of the suction opening to remove the ballast in the silent compartments is unnecessary.

An advantageous further development of the invention according to claims 4 to 6 allows an optimal adaptation to different working conditions, the mammalian trunk also being used for suction of the ballast accumulated by the clearing devices on the side next to the track.

The further embodiment according to claim 7 enables a structurally simplified design of the machine, with the clearance Device and the mammary trunk an unobstructed view from a single work cabin is possible.

The design according to the features of claims 8 to 11, in conjunction with the advantages cited in claim 1, enables particularly efficient ballast transport in connection with simultaneous ballast cleaning.

The invention is described in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing.

Show it:

1 is a side view of a machine for processing the ballast bedding of a track,

2 is a partially schematic plan view of the machine mentioned,

3 shows a side view of a further variant of a machine formed from two frame parts which are articulated to one another,

4 or 5 and 6 each have a different embodiment, which is designed as a combined cleaning and suction machine.

A machine 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for processing the ballast bed 2 of a track 3 is composed of a first machine unit 5 at the front in the working direction (represented by arrow 4) and a rear, second machine unit 6. Both of the machine units 5, 6 connected to one another by a coupling 7 each have a machine frame 10, 11 supported on rail bogies 8, 9 and can be moved by drive drives 12, 13. A suction unit 14 provided on the machine frame 10 of the first machine unit 5 is composed of a vacuum generator 15, a filter chamber 16 and a ballast store 17. Like its filter chamber 16, the latter has discharge caps 49 which can be closed by means of a remote control in its lower end region. A rear end of a conveyor belt unit 18 running in the longitudinal direction of the machine and having drives 44 is arranged below it, the front end region of which projects over a front machine end 20 to form a discharge point 19. On a rear machine end 21 opposite the discharge point 19 there is a support frame 24 which can be adjusted in height and to the side by drives 22 and which projects over a driving cabin 23. The lower end region thereof is connected to a tubular suction opening 25 which is connected to a coupling 26 is equipped for a detachable connection with a flexible, tubular baby's trunk 27. The drives 22 of the support frame 24 can be controlled by a control device 28 located in the driving cabin 23. An energy unit 45 is provided for the energy supply of the machine 1.

The upwardly cranked machine frame 11 of the second machine unit 6 has a working cabin 30 with a central control device 31 at a front machine end 29 and a receiving end of a conveyor belt unit 33 running in the machine longitudinal direction at a rear machine end 32. Between the two rail carriages 9 there is a clearing device 35 which can be adjusted in height and on the side by drives 34. This is composed of two clearing bars 36 which are spaced slightly apart from one another in the machine longitudinal direction and run horizontally and perpendicularly to the machine longitudinal direction as well as beneath the track 3, each with deflection rollers 37 located on the longitudinal ends (see FIG. 2). An endless clearing chain 38, which is guided around each of two deflection rollers 37, is thus designed for circulation in a horizontal plane or a plane parallel to the track plane. The outer roller 37 - with respect to the machine transverse direction - which is outer or is located in a work area in a threshold front area a suction opening 39 of a flexible suction hose 40 is assigned. Each clearing chain 38 can be rotated / replaced by its own drive 41. An end 42 of the suction hose 40, which is distanced from the suction opening 39, has a coupling 43 above the work booth 30 arranged at the end for releasable connection to the mammal trunk 27 of the first machine unit 5.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, two ballast accumulators 17 and filter chambers 16 arranged next to one another in the cross-machine direction are provided. Each ballast store 17 and each filter chamber 16 has its own suction opening 46. The mammary trunk 27 can be displaced with the aid of a drive 47 in the transverse direction of the machine from a suction opening 46 of the two ballast accumulators 17 opposite it. The drive 47 is acted upon by a level indicator 48 as soon as the ballast sucked into the corresponding ballast store 17 has reached a certain filling level. By activating the drive 47, the baby's trunk 27 or its end is shifted to the opposite suction opening 46 of the empty ballast accumulator 17. While the suction and ballast pick-up now take place in the empty ballast store 17, the other, filled ballast store 17 can now be unloaded onto the conveyor belt unit 18 by opening the unloading disc 49.

The support frame 24 can be displaced in the machine longitudinal and transverse directions by the drives 22, the vertical part connected to the suction opening 25 being additionally pivoted about a vertical axis.

The mode of operation of machine 1 is described in more detail below: at the beginning of machine 1 work, the rear end of the baby's trunk 27 is connected to the suction opening 25 and - under the action of the drives 22 - ballast to form a so-called pocket hole from the Ballast bed 2 suctioned off. This pocket hole is used to be able to lower the two clearing beams 36 of the clearing device 35 freely under the track grate. After lowering them under the action of the drives 34 the baby's trunk 27 is released from the suction opening 25 and connected to the suction hose 40 with the aid of the coupling 43. Subsequently, the machine 1 is moved continuously in the working direction shown by the arrow 4 while the vacuum generator 15 and the drives 41 are acted on. In this case, the two rotating broaching chains 38 carry out an uninterrupted displacement of the ballast located underneath the track grate in the direction of the two sleeper head areas. There, the accumulated ballast is continuously extracted by the two suction hoses 40. As previously mentioned, the ballast which has been sucked in is stored in one of the two ballast accumulators 17 and dropped by the conveyor belt unit 18 onto pre-arranged storage wagons (not shown).

At the same time, at least one storage car 50 arranged downstream provides a continuous supply of new ballast, which is dropped onto the Geis 3 or an exposed earth level via the conveyor belt unit 33. If, for example, a track section is reached during the continuous work approach, in which ballast located outside the working area of the clearing device 35 can also be suctioned off, the baby's trunk 27 is again connected to the suction opening 25. Because of the relatively wide adjustment range of the support frame 24, sections of the ballast bed 2 adjoining the threshold front area can also be suctioned off without problems.

The two machine units 5, 6 can be separated at any time by the coupling 7, so that the first machine unit 5 can also be used alone for ballast suction. It is of course also possible to provide the baby's trunk 27 with a branch, so that on the one hand the suction opening 25 and on the other hand the suction hose or the suction hoses 40 are permanently connected to the suction unit 14. In this case, one would only have to provide a control flap in order to selectively divert the suction flow onto the suction hoses 40 or onto the suction opening 25. In the machine 51 shown in FIG. 3, a machine frame 53 supported on rail carriages 52 is formed from a first and a second frame member 55, 56, forming a joint part 54 supported on the track by a further rail carriage 52. As a further difference from the machine 1 described in FIGS. 1 and 2, the support frame 24 for the baby's trunk 27 is arranged directly in front of the clearing device 35 on the second frame part 56 in the working direction. Both the carrier frame 24 with the baby opening 25 and the clearing device 35 can thus be controlled by the control device 31. With regard to the remaining parts, for the sake of simplicity, reference is made to the description in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The track construction machine shown in FIG. 4, designed as a ballast bed cleaning machine 57, has a machine frame 58 which is supported by rail carriages 59 on a track 60 consisting of rails and sleepers. The cleaning machine 57 is shown in the working position in which it moves forward in the direction of an arrow 61 and in which a broaching device 62 surrounds the track 60 with an endless broaching chain 64 for the ballast ballast to be cleaned, which chain can be rotated by a drive 63. The clearing device 62, which can be adjusted in height and on the side by drives 99, is composed of a transverse chain center 65 running perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the machine and horizontally and two longitudinal guide tracks 66 connected to it. These form a common discharge point 68 via a sieve system 67 that can be vibrated by a drive 98. A conveyor belt 69 is provided for returning the bedding ballast cleaned by the sieve arrangement 67 to the track 60. The residues, the so-called overburden, that occur during cleaning in the sieve fitting 67 can be transported away via conveyor belts 70 for loading onto track vehicles or for storage on the side of the track. An energy unit 72 is provided for the energy supply of a travel drive 71 and all other drives. The clearing device 62 is controlled by a central control device 73, which is located in a work cabin 74. On a rear machine end 75 there is an intake unit 76, which is composed of a ballast reservoir 77, a filter chamber 78 and a vacuum generator 79. A ball trunk 80 projecting beyond the rear machine end 75 and having a breast opening 81 is assigned to the ballast reservoir 77. This mammary 80 is supported on a support frame 83 which can be adjusted in height and laterally by drives 82. The suction unit 76 and the drive 82 can be controlled by a control device 84 located in a driving cabin. Below the suction unit 76 there is a conveyor belt 85 running in the longitudinal direction of the machine, the higher discharge end 86 of which is positioned above the sieve attachment 67. As indicated by dash-dotted lines 87, the baby's trunk 80 can alternatively also be arranged in the region of the transverse chain 65 of the clearing device 62. In this embodiment, control of the mammalian trunk 80 from the work cabin 74 would then be possible.

When the cleaning machine 57 is being used, the baby's trunk 80 can be used either in parallel or as an alternative to the clearing device 62. Above all, the introduction of the cross chain center 65 before the work of the clearing device 62 is made considerably easier since the case hole required for this - for the introduction of the cross chain center 65 under the track 60 - is formed by suction extraction of the ballast with the help of the baby's trunk 80 can be. The baby's trunk 80 can, of course, also be used in all those areas in which the use of the clearing device 62 for reasons of space, e.g. in the area of a platform edge is not possible. The ballast which has been sucked in and stored in the ballast store 77 is discharged after its filling via discharge openings 97 onto the conveyor belt 85 underneath, and from there it is fed to the sieve arrangement 67 for cleaning.

In the cleaning machine 88 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the functionally identical parts are designated for the sake of simplicity as in the description of FIG. 4. In this cleaning machine 88. the suction unit 76 is located on a rail carriage 89 on the track 60, a trailer 90 forming part of the machine frame 58. The baby's trunk 80 protrudes over a rear end 91 of the trailer 90 and is supported on a support frame 93 which can be lifted and rotated by drives 92. These drives 92, like the suction unit 76, can be acted upon with the aid of a portable control device 94. The ballast storage 77 is equipped in its lower end area with a remotely controllable discharge opening 95, through which the suctioned and stored ballast can optionally be thrown onto the track 60. A further pivoting screw 96 is assigned to a further discharge opening of the filter chamber 78, by means of which the accumulated dirt can be thrown off to the side next to the ballast bed.

This suction unit 76 is particularly suitable for forming a so-called suitcase hole for carrying out the transverse chain center 65 under the track 60 by ballast suction. The ballast sucked in and stored in the ballast store 77 can be thrown back onto the track 60 for backfilling via the discharge opening 95 after filling the cleaning machine 88 and removing the cross-chain center 65 from the ballast bed.

Claims

Patent claims 1. Machine (1; 51; 57; 88) for processing the ballast bedding of a track with a machine frame (10, 11; 53; 58) supported on rail bogies (8, 9; 52; 59), to which a suction unit (14 ; 76) with a suction nozzle (25; 81) for suction of ballast, height- and side-adjustable baby's trunk (27; 80), characterized by a distance from the baby's opening (25; 81) in the machine longitudinal direction Endless broaching chain (38; 64) which can be rotated by a drive (41; 63) to remove the broaching device (35; 62) located below the track (3; 60), the broaching device (35; 62) and the Each trunk (27; 80) is assigned its own drives (22.34; 82.99.92) for independent height and side adjustment. 2. Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the broaching device (35) is formed from at least one broaching bar (36) running perpendicularly to the machine longitudinal direction and having end-to-end deflecting rollers (37), the ones around the deflecting rollers (37) guided clearing chain (38) is designed for circulation in a horizontal plane or a plane parallel to the track plane. 3. Machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the broaching device (35) in the region of the deflection roller (37) located in the area of a threshold head (37) is assigned a suction opening (39) of a suction hose (40) which is connected to the suction unit (14) communicates. 4. Machine according to one of claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the over a machine end (21) projecting and through a support frame (24) movable baby's trunk (27), the suction unit (14) and a - on the baby's trunk ( 27) further distant decorated machine end (20) - conveyor belt unit (18) are arranged on a first machine unit (5), while the clearing device (35), a work cabin (30) assigned to it and a machine machine (30) running in the longitudinal direction of the machine and located at one machine end (32) Conveyor belt unit (33) are arranged on a second machine unit (6) which can be connected to the first machine unit (5) by a coupling (7). 5. Machine according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that one of the suction opening (39) of the Räumvorrich¬ device (35) distant end (42) of the suction hose (40) in the area of one of the conveyor belt unit ( 33) at a distance from the machine end (29) of the second machine unit (6) has a coupling (43) for detachable connection to the trunk (27) of the first machine unit (5). 6. Machine according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized ge indicates that on the support frame (24) of the first machine unit (5) attached infant opening (25) with a coupling (26) for a releasable connection to the infant's trunk ( 27) is equipped. 7. Machine according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized ge indicates that the machine frame (53) with the formation of a - by a rail undercarriage (52) supported on the track - hinge point (54) from a first and a second frame part ( 55, 56), the first frame part (55) being the suction unit (14) and a first conveyor belt unit (18) located partially below it and running in the longitudinal direction of the machine, with a free, articulated joint (54 ) opposite the machine end (20) is assigned to the projecting discharge end (19) and the second frame part (56) is connected to the support frame (24) which is adjustable in height and to the side by drives (22) and which is connected to the feeding opening (25) of the feeding trunk (27) ), the clearing device (35) and a second conveyor belt unit (33) located partially at the rear end of the machine (32). 8. Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the clearing chain (64) of the clearing device (62) - with formation of a perpendicular to the machine longitudinal direction and horizontal transverse chain center (65) and two connected with this longitudinal guide tracks (66) - in work the track (60) can be moved around and has a discharge point (68) located above a sieve attachment (67) for cleaning the ballast. 9. Machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the baby's trunk (80) is projecting over a machine end (75). 10. Machine according to claim 8 or 9, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that a conveyor belt (85) extending in the longitudinal direction of the machine is provided below the suction unit (76) connected to the mammary trunk (80), the. higher discharge end (86) is positioned above the sieve attachment (67). 11. Machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the baby's trunk (80) in the region of the transverse chain center (65) of the Räum¬ device (62) is arranged.