Claims
- 1. Apparatus for performing operations on a railway track, comprising automatic means for adjusting the relative positions of a flanged rail and a sleeper vertically and for adjusting the position of a flanged rail by moving it sideways relative to a sleeper, said automatic means including a rail adjusting mechanism with two diagonally symmetrical rail adjusting parts arranged to be juxtaposed to the opposite edges of the rail flange, each of said rail adjusting parts including a rail adjusting member having a recessed end portion defining an upper and a lower jaw adapted to receive therebetween a proximate edge region of the rail flange, and said rail adjusting parts further including means to operate the respective rail adjusting members (a) for moving said rail adjusting members so as to locate said upper and lower jaws thereof in positions to engage the rail flange from above and below, respectively, for lifting and lowering the rail and (b) for moving at least one of said rail adjusting members so as to locate the bottom of the respective end recess thereof in position to push against the associated rail flange for either shifting the rail sideways to or maintaining the rail in a desired location.
- 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said rail adjusting mechanism is supported on a carriage, a ram being provided to raise and lower said rail adjusting parts clear of said rail and sleeper.
- 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, in which said carriage has wheels for running on the rails of a railway track.
- 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which said carriage is itself supported by a larger carriage and can run on a rail, said larger carriage having wheels which run on the two running rails of a railway track and the first-mentioned carriage being constructed to be situated beneath the larger carriage, and means being provided to cause the first-mentioned carriage to run to and fro along the larger carriage.
- 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which each of said rail adjusting parts carries a pin for substantially horizontal insertion in a substantially horizontal passageway in a respective rail clip-anchoring projection extending upwardly from a rail foundation and located on the same side of the rail flange as the rail adjusting part carrying that pin, and each of said rail adjusting parts includes means for moving its associated pin into and out of the passageway of the associated projection.
- 6. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said rail adjusting mechanism has means to apply a force between a sleeper and a rail so as to tend to separate them in order to facilitate entry of the lower jaw of each of said rail adjusting members under the rail flange.
- 7. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which each rail adjusting member is slidably mounted in a head and is provided with a slot, a vertically movable pillar is mounted in said head and carries a pin which is slidable in said slot of said rail adjusting member, and a retractable bolt is provided in said head and has ramp surfaces upon which elements of said pillar can run and be guided to raise and lower the pillar for in turn raising and lowering said rail adjusting member, said slot in said rail adjusting member being substantially horizontal so that the latter can be moved towards the edge of a flanged rail and retracted from it.
- 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, in which each rail adjusting member is provided with resilient means which biases that member in use towards a rail, a ram being provided to move the rail adjusting member once it has contacted the rail, this ram also acting on said bolt to move it.
- 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, in which needle bearings are provided for said bolt to run on, the bolt comprising three adjacent plates, the outer two plates being formed with said ramp surfaces and the centre plate being arranged to take the load of the mechanism.
- 10. Apparatus according to claim 8, in which a restraining member is provided for restraining each rail adjusting member at the commencement of its working stroke against the bias of said resilient means, and means is provided to release the rail adjusting member from the restraint afforded by said restraining member, whereby each rail adjusting member is allowed to travel towards and reach a rail under the action of said resilient means and each said ram subsequently urges the associated rail adjusting member to urge the rail sideways.
- 11. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said rail adjusting parts is arranged for pivotal movement into and out of an operative position where the associated rail adjusting member is juxtaposed to the rail flange, and said upper jaw of each rail adjusting member is longer than the associated lower jaw so that the lower jaw can clear the rail flange when the respective rail adjusting part is pivoted into said operative position.
- 12. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said rail adjusting parts are arranged to pivot in opposite directions towards their respective operative positions.
- 13. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which two said automatic means are provided, one for each running rail of a railway track, so that said operations can be performed respectively simultaneously on the two running rails of a railway track.
- 14. A railway vehicle provided with apparatus according to claim 1 or 13.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
46757/78 |
Nov 1978 |
GBX |
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Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 98,379, filed Nov. 27, 1979, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1363704 |
Aug 1974 |
GBX |
1451966 |
Oct 1976 |
GBX |
1493153 |
Nov 1977 |
GBX |
553324 |
Apr 1977 |
SUX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
98379 |
Nov 1979 |
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