Claims
- 1. Apparatus for reconditioning ballast along a railroad bed having track supporting cross ties carried thereon comprising:
- vehicular support means including a frame disposed for movement along said railroad bed, said vehicular support means having first and second sides;
- first excavating means for excavating ballast from adjacent the ends and beneath said cross ties, said first excavating means comprising first and second excavating wheels mounted in spaced relation on said first side of said vehicular support means and disposed for driven rotation for excavating ballast from adjacent the ends of said cross ties, and first undercutter means mounted between said first and second excavating wheels for excavating ballast from beneath said cross ties to be picked up by said second excavating wheel of said first excavating means;
- cleaning station means including at least first and second discrete cleaning stations mounted on said frame of said vehicular support means, said first cleaning station disposed for receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said first excavating wheel, and said second cleaning station disposed for receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said second excavating wheel and said first undercutter means; and
- a first clean ballast conveyor means communicating with said first and second cleaning stations to receive said cleaned ballast from said first and second cleaning stations and for conveying said clean ballast back onto said railroad bed.
- 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim I including:
- second excavating means for excavating ballast from adjacent to the ends and beneath said cross ties, said second excavating means comprising third and fourth excavating wheels mounted in spaced relation on said second side of said vehicular support means and disposed for driven rotation for excavating ballast from adjacent the end of said cross ties adjacent said second sides of said vehicular support means, and second undercutter means mounted between said third and fourth excavating wheels for excavating ballast from beneath said cross ties to be picked up by said fourth excavating wheel of said second excavating means;
- said cleaning station means further including third and fourth discrete cleaning stations carried on said vehicular support means, said third cleaning station disposed for receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said third excavating wheel, and said fourth cleaning station disposed for receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said fourth excavating wheel and said second undercutter means; and
- second clean ballast conveyor means further communicating with said third and fourth cleaning stations to receive said cleaned ballast from said third and fourth cleaning stations along and for conveying the cleaned ballast back onto said railroad bed.
- 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 including a first discrete ballast discharge means carried on said vehicular support means to receive cleaned ballast from said first and second cleaning stations and for directing said clean ballast back to said railroad bed; and
- a second discrete ballast discharge means carried on said vehicular support means to receive cleaned ballast from said third and fourth cleaning stations and for directing said clean ballast back to said railroad bed.
- 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein each said ballast discharge means includes a hopper carried by said vehicular support means.
- 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including first conveyor means for conveying ballast from said excavating wheels to their respective cleaning stations for reconditioning said ballast prior to the discharge thereof by said discharge means, said first conveyor means including a transverse conveyor means associated with each said excavating wheel for directly receiving ballast from the associated excavating wheel and a longitudinal conveyor associated with each said transverse conveyor means for receiving ballast from the associated transverse conveyor means and for directing said ballast to an associated cleaning enclosure.
- 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 including contaminant discharge means associated with each said cleaning station to discharge the waste contaminants removed at each said cleaning station from said excavated ballast.
- 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein each said cleaning station comprises an enclosure having screen receiving means therein to receive said excavated ballast thereon, and a contaminant removal means to remove said contaminants from said enclosure, said enclosure disposed for vibratory movement to displace contaminants from said ballast onto said contaminant removal means.
- 8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 including actuating means for elevating each said enclosure to a predetermined operating elevation.
- 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said predetermined operating level is in the range of 10.degree. to 35.degree..
- 10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said vehicular support means is a pair of vehicle frames disposed in tandem relation, the first of said vehicle frames having said first and second cleaning stations mounted thereon in communication with said first excavating means to receive the excavated ballast therefrom, and the second of said vehicle frames having said third and fourth cleaning stations mounted thereon in communication with said second excavating means to receive the excavated ballast therefrom.
- 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said vehicular support means is a pair of vehicle frames disposed in tandem relation, the first of said vehicle frames having said first and second cleaning stations mounted thereon in respective communication with said first and second excavating wheels to receive the excavated ballast therefrom, and the second of said vehicle frames having said third and fourth cleaning stations mounted thereon in communication with said third and fourth excavating wheels to receive the excavated ballast therefrom.
- 12. Apparatus for reconditioning ballast along a railroad bed having track support cross ties thereon comprising:
- vehicular support means including a frame disposed for movement along said railroad bed, said vehicular support means having first and second sides;
- first excavating means mounted on said first side of said frame of said vehicular support means for excavating ballast from adjacent to the ends and beneath said cross ties;
- second excavating means mounted on said second side of said vehicular support means for excavating ballast from adjacent to the ends and beneath said cross ties;
- first cleaning station means associated with said first excavating means for receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said first excavating means;
- second cleaning station means associated with said second excavating means for receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said second excavating means;
- first and second clean ballast discharge means for receiving and directing said excavated and cleaned ballast, respectively, from said first and second cleaning station means back onto said railroad bed responsive to cleaning thereof;
- first conveyor means communicating between said first cleaning station means and said first clean ballast discharge means for conveying said clean ballast from said first cleaning station means to said first clean ballast discharge means; and
- second conveyor means communicating between said second cleaning station means and said second clean ballast discharge means for conveying said clean ballast from said second cleaning station means to said second clean ballast discharge means.
- 13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 12 wherein said first excavating means includes first and second excavating wheels mounted in spaced relation on said first side of said vehicular support means, and first undercutter means mounted in spaced relation with and between said first and second excavating wheels, said first undercutter means disposed for excavating ballast from beneath said cross ties for retrieval by said second excavating wheel.
- 14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein said second excavating means includes third and fourth excavating wheels mounted in spaced relation on said second side of said vehicular support means, and second undercutter means mounted in spaced relation with and between said third and fourth excavating wheels, said second undercutter means disposed for excavating ballast from beneath said cross ties for retrieval by said fourth excavating wheel.
- 15. Apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein said first cleaning station means includes first and second discrete cleaning stations for respectively receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said first and second excavating wheels and said first undercutter means.
- 16. Apparatus as set forth in claim 15 wherein said second cleaning station means includes third and fourth discrete cleaning stations for respectively receiving and cleaning ballast excavated by said third and fourth excavating wheels and said second undercutter means.
- 17. Apparatus as set forth in claim 12 wherein said first and second clean ballast discharge means each include a hopper having an outlet above said railroad bed, said outlet having controlled closure means for controlling the amount and direction of the discharged cleaned ballast.
CROSS OF RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/590,030, filed Sep. 28, 1990, and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,775, patented May 5, 1992.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2194982 |
Sep 1986 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
590030 |
Sep 1990 |
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