A ballast removing system

Abstract

 A ballast removing system for removing excavated ballast material longitudinally of the track from which the ballast material originates, comprising a series of coupled waggons, including:
- at least one ballast receiving waggon (1) with filling station (10) for sucessively filling ballast containers (9)
- a series of empty containers (9) which can be supplied one by one to the filling station (10)
- a set of storage waggons (6) for placing containers (9) filled with ballast material thereon
- means (11) for supplying empty containers (9) to the filling station (10), and
- means (13) for carrying off ballast-filled containers (9) in a direction of transport.
The ballast receiving waggon (1) is provided with a series of stackable, empty containers (9), which can be supplied one by one to the filling station (10) located - as viewed in the direction of transport of the material - at the rear end of the ballast receiving waggon (1) and to which the ballast material can be transported from the front of the receiving waggon (1) by means of a conveyor (14, 15).

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a ballast removing system for removing excavated ballast material longi­tudinally of a track from which the ballast material originates, comprising a series of coupled waggons, including at least one ballast receiving waggon with filling station for successively filling ballast containers, a series of empty containers, which can be supplied one by one to the filling station, a set of storage waggons for placing containers filled with ballast material thereon, means for supplying empty containers to the filling station and means for carrying off ballast-filled containers in a direction of transport.

[0002] The ballast bed of a railway gets contaminated in the course of time and should therefore be replaced at a frequency of once every 10 to 15 years. The ballast bed is then usually excavated underneath the rails and filtered. The ballast material still usable is again laid in the railway bed and the contaminated ballast material has to be removed. A problem going with these operations is that the train traffic on the adjacent track may not be hindered, so that the ballast material is to be removed over the same track under which the ballast bed is being excavated. The amount of ballast material to be removed depends on the extent of contamination of the ballast bed and may range between 30-75% of the excavated ballast material, depending, for one thing, on the frequency at which the ballast bed is cleaned.

[0003] Various systems for removing this ballast material are known. The above defined ballast removing system is known from a brochure entitled "Fortschritt im Gleisbau", of the company of Plasser & Theurer, and indicated therein by the term "Abraumverladeanlage mit Behältern". In that system, both the empty and the filled containers are placed on storage waggons, there being provided at least one portal crane movable over rails disposed on said storage waggons to bring an empty container to the filling station and subsequently to remove it again to a storage waggon in filled condition. This immediately creates the problem that there can be no question of continuously filling empty containers, because a filled container has to be removed first by means of a portal crane and subsequently an empty container has to be transported to the filling device and placed underneath the filling device. When a large number of storage waggons are included in the ballast discharge system, the transport time becomes too long, so that more than one portal crane has to be used for passing an empty or a filled container from one crane to another. This again results in relatively complicated and especially expensive portal cranes.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a ballast removing sytem of the above described type which can be operated continuously and which comprises relatively simple system components. The ballast removing system according to the present invention is characterized to that effect in that the ballast receiving waggon is provided with a series of stackable, empty containers, which can be supplied one by one to the filling station, which filling station, as viewed in the direction of transport of the material, is located at the rear end of the ballast receiving waggon and to which the ballast material can be transported from the front of the receiving waggon by means of a conveyor.

[0005] In this manner, the empty containers have been separated from the filled ones, while the empty containers are stored in a special manner upstream of the filling station. When a container has been filled in the filling station, the filled container can be rolled off in the direction of transport. Empty and filled containers need no longer pass each other and the entire process can therefore take place at one level, i.e. the level of the loading floor of the waggons.

[0006] The containers are supported on rollers, have upwardly inclined sides and a beveled front, with the ballast receiving waggon being provided with a ramp inclined at an acute angle, on which the lowest container of the stack is supported with its rollers in the storage position, while the other containers find support with their rollers on the bottom of the next lower container in the storage position, in which position the leading edge of the beveled front of each container engages behind blocking lugs placed on the bottom of the receiving waggon.

[0007] By virtue of the shape of the containers and the inclined position of a stack of empty containers on the ballast receiving waggon, a large number of containers can be placed on the ballast receiving waggon. In practice, sufficient containers can be stacked on a ballast receiving waggon for receiving 90 tons of ballast material. For displacing the containers, the receiving waggon is provided with track plates having upright sides, the means for removing a filled container in the direction of transport being two frictional rollers arranged to be driven by a hydromotor, said rollers engaging with the bottom of the container.

[0008] The storage waggons of the ballast discharge system are standard waggons with a flat loading floor on which track plates with upright sides are provided, linking up with the track plates of the preceding receiving or storage waggon, with the length of the containers being chosen that the length of one storage waggon is a whole multiple of the length of a container, each storage waggon further including at least two frictional rollers, each being drivable by a hydromotor, said rollers being adapted to transport a whole number of coupled containers to the next storage waggon.

[0009] For handling more than 90 tons of ballast material, it is necessary to have more empty containers available than can be stacked on the ballast receiving waggon. In that case, the ballast removing system may incorporate one or more ballast transit waggons connectable between a receiving and a storage waggon, said transit waggons comprising a series of empty, stacked containers, a filling station with a conveyor connectable to the second conveyor of the receiving waggon, in which system, after all containers have been filled with ballast material, the transit waggons can function as storage waggons.

[0010] One embodiment of the ballast removing system according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1a is a diagrammatic view of a ballast removing system in its simplest form;

Fig. 1b is a diagrammatic view of a ballast removing system with transit waggons in the event that more than 90 tons of ballast material are to be removed;

Fig. 2 shows a ballast receiving waggon of the system;

Fig. 3 shows a ballast transit waggon of the system;

Fig. 4 shows a ballast storage waggon; and

Fig. 5 is a front view of a ballast receiving waggon according to Fig. 2 and a ballast transit waggon according to Fig. 3.

[0011] Fig. 1a diagrammatically shows the ballast removing system in its simplest form. The receiving waggon 1 is situated near the place where the ballast material is being excavated from the ballast bed by means of an excavator 3, which deposits the unusable ballast material on a conveyor of the receiving waggon 1. Said conveyor transports the ballast material to be removed to a filling station, at the end of the receiving waggon 1. Underneath the filling station, there is placed an empty container. At the left of the filling station, there is provided a stack of empty containers, which can be brought one by one into a horizontal position and transported to the filling station. After a container has been filled, this is transported over track plates disposed on the receiving waggon to a storage waggon 2, two of which are shown in Fig. 1a. It will be clear that as many storage waggons are incorporated in the system as are necessary for placing filled containers thereon. The locomotive engine, not shown, is disposed at the right of the rearmost storage waggon.

[0012] Fig. 1b shows an embodiment of the ballast discharge system suitable for excavating the ballast bed over a long route, requiring the removal of more than 90 tons of ballast material. Provided between receiving waggon 1 and storage waggons 2 are two ballast transit waggons arranged substantially similarly to a ballast receiving waggon 1. The sole difference between the transit waggon 4 and the receiving waggon 1 is formed by the position of the beginning of the conveyor disposed above the stack of containers, which conveyor, in a transit waggon 4, links up with the end of the conveyor of the preceding receiving waggon 1, or the preceding transit waggon 4. At the start of the operations, the ballast material to be removed is deposited in the receiving device of receiving waggon 1 and subsequently, through conveyors, passed on to the filling station of the rearmost transit waggon 4. When all containers of the rearmost transit waggon 4 have been filled with ballast material, said transit waggon functions as a storage waggon and the ballast material to be removed is supplied to the filling device of the preceding transit waggon 4. When all containers of the transit waggon have been used, said transit waggon, too, will function as a storage waggon and the ballast material to be removed is supplied to the filling station of the receiving waggon 1. The earth moving machines 5 supply the ballast material to be removed to the receiving device of the receiving waggon 1. Earth moving machines 5 are used instead of excavator 3 when not only the ballast bed underneath the railway rails is to be replaced, but also the railway track itself has to be renewed.

[0013] The ballast receiving waggon 1 is shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Said waggon is a standard waggon 6 with flat loading floor, on which an inclined run-on support or ramp 7 is provided. Support 7 serves for supporting a stack 8 of empty containers 9 arranged in inclined position, stacked on the receiving waggon. An empty container 9 is composed of a flat bottom 26, upwardly inclined sides 20 and a beveled front 25. At the underside, there are provided four rollers 22. In the stacked position, rollers 21 of a container rest on the bottom of the preceding container in stack 8. For the purpose of blocking the container in this inclined storage position, blocking lugs 12 are provided on the bottom of receiving waggon 1, behind which lugs the edge of the beveled front 25 of a container 9 is engageable in the storage position. In order to displace the containers from the storage position to the filling position underneath the filling station 10, there is provided a hydraulic travelling crane 11 adapted to lift the front container from the stack 8 above blocking lugs 12 and subsequently guide it to the filling position underneath the filling station 10. Arranged on the loading floor of the receiving waggon is a portal construction, serving as a support for a long chain conveyor 14 running over the top of the stack of empty containers from the front of receiving waggon 1 to the filling station 10 at the rear thereof. The long chain conveyor 14 is fed by an upwardly inclined short chain conveyor 15 having a receiving device or feed hopper 16 and mounted on the front of receiving waggon 1 on a slide constructicn 18 provided with a tilting device 17. Fig. 2 shows the short chain conveyor 15 in the operative position. In the transport position, conveyor 15 is pushed forwards by means of a slide construction 18 (in the drawing to the left) in such a manner that the end of the short conveyor 15 can pass the leading end of the long conveyor 14, after which the short conveyor 15 can be tilted in downward direction and subsequently be pushed back horizontally, so that in the transport position, conveyor 15 does not project from the standard waggon 6.

[0014] Provided underneath filling station 10, on the bottom of the standard waggon, are two drive pulleys 13, each being separately driven from a hydromotor 23. Drive pulleys 13 are constructed as frictional rollers and abut against the bottom 26 of a container 9 placed underneath filling station 10. When said container is filled with ballast material to be removed, the drive pulleys or frictional rollers 13 are driven, thereby transporting the now filled container over track plates 21 to a storage waggon 2 linking up with receiving station 1 and being coupled thereto.

[0015] Storage waggon 2 likewise is a flat standard waggon 6 having track plates 21 connectable to the track plates of a preceding and a following waggon. Arranged on the front of such a storage waggon 2, as viewed in the direction of transport of the material, are likewise two drive pulleys 13, each driven by an associated hydromotor 23.

[0016] The length of the containers is such that a whole number of containers, in this case five, entirely fill a storage waggon 2. The containers present on one storage waggon 2 are coupled, thereby forming a train of five filled containers. This has the advantage that when any of the containers is driven through drive pulleys 13, the five-container train can be set in motion in the direction of transport. As soon as the rear container 9 of this train of five containers has been released from drive pulleys 13, the front container of this train has contacted the drive pulleys mounted on the rear of the next storage waggon. A five-container train can thus be transported to the last, empty storage waggon 2 belonging to the ballast discharge system.

[0017] As a ballast receiving waggon 1 can contain only a limited number of empty containers, sufficient for removing 90 tons of ballast material it is desirable that the number of empty containers can be enlarged when more than 90 tons of ballast material have to be removed. In that case, a ballast transit waggon can be incorporated in the system, as shown in Fig. 3. Ballast transit waggon 4 can be integrated in the system between a receiving waggon 1 and a storage waggon 2. The construction of a ballast transit waggon 4 is substantially identical to that of a receiving waggon 1, as will be immediately clear from a comparison of Figs. 2 and 3. A transit waggon 4 has no upwardly inclined short chain conveyor 15 and the associated slide construction 18 with tilting device 17. The long chain conveyor 14 of transit waggon 4 has a lowered position at its front end, so that this front end comes to lie underneath the rear end of the long chain conveyor 14 of receiving waggon 1 and can take over material therefrom, so as to transport it to filling station 10 mounted on the rear end of transit waggon 4. Fig. 1b shows that as many ballast transit waggons 4 can be incorporated in the system as are necessary for discharging the quantity of ballast material to be removed.

[0018] Fig. 5 is a front view of a receiving waggon 1 and a transit waggon 2 drawn within the prescribed loading section B, indicated in dash-dotted lines, while the section A of the free space is shown in solid lines.

Claims

1. A ballast removing system for removing excavated ballast material longitudinally of the track from which the ballast material originates, comprising a series of coupled waggons, including:
- at least one ballast receiving waggon with filling station for successively filling ballast containers
- a series of empty containers which can be supplied one by one to the filling station
- a set of storage waggons for placing containers filled with ballast material thereon
- means for supplying empty containers to the filling station, and
- means for carrying off ballast-filled containers in a direction of transport,
characterized in that the ballast receiving waggon (1) is provided with a series of stackable, empty containers (9), which can be supplied one by one to the filling station (10) located - as viewed in the direction of transport of the material at the rear end of the ballast receiving waggon (1) and to which the ballast material can be transported from the front of the receiving waggon (1) by means of a conveyor (14, 15).

2. A ballast removing system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the containers (9) are supported on rollers (22), have upwardly inclined sides (20) and a beveled front (25), with the ballast receiving waggon (1) being provided with a ramp (7) inclined at an acute angle, on which the lowest container of the stack is supported with its rollers (22) in the storage position (8), while the other containers find support with their rollers (22) on the bottom of the next lower container in the storage position, in which position the leading edge of the beveled front (25) of each container (9) engages behind blocking lugs (12) placed on the bottom of the receiving waggon (1).

3. A ballast removing system as claimed in claims 1-2, characterized in that the means for supplying empty containers (9) to the filling station (10) comprise a hydraulically operated travelling crane (11) adapted to lift the front (25) of a container (9) in the storage position to above the blocking lugs (12) and to conduct this container (9) subsequently to the filling station (10).

4. A ballast removing system as claimed in claims 1-3, characterized in that the receiving waggon (1) is provided with track plates (21) having upright sides (24), over which track plates (21) the containers (9) can travel, and the means for removing a filled container (9) in the direction of transport are two frictional rollers (13) drivable by a hydromotor (23), said rollers (13) engaging with the bottom (26) of a container (9).

5. A ballast removing system as claimed in claims 1-4, characterized in that the receiving waggon (1) is provided at its front with a tiltable first ballast material conveyor (15) mounted on a slide construction (18) and a second conveyor (14) links up therewith, which is adapted to convey the ballast material above the empty, stacked containers (8, 9) to the filling station (10).

6. A ballast removing system as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the storage waggons (2) comprise standard waggons (6) with flat loading floors on which are provided track plates (21) having upright sides (24) and which link up with the track plates (21) of the preceding receiving or storage waggon (2), and the length of the containers (9) is chosen so that the length of a storage waggon (2) is a whole multiple of the length of a container (9), each storage waggon (2) being further provided with at least two frictional rollers (13), each being drivable by a hydromotor (23), said rollers being adapted to transport a whole number of coupled containers (9) to the next storage waggon (2).

7. A ballast removing system as claimed in any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the system comprises one or more ballast transit waggons (4), which are connectable between a receiving waggon (1) and a storage waggon (2), said transit waggons (4) being fitted with a series of empty, stacked containers (9), a filling station (10) and a conveyor (14), connectable to the second conveyor (14) of the receiving waggon (1), in which system, after all empty containers (9) have been filled with ballast material, the transit waggon (3) can function as a storage waggon (2).

Drawing