BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an enlarged side view of a machine consisting of a track hoe with an attachment constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The track hoe is illustrated resting on top of a railroad car loaded with railroad ties and with the attachment being lowered into the railroad car in preparation for loading ties onto the attachment.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the machine for unloading ties off of railroad cars illustrated in FIG. 1 shown with the attachment being pulled under the ties that are contained in the railroad car.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the machine for unloading ties off of railroad cars illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 shown with the front edge of attachment being tilted backward or upward to load ties onto the attachment.
FIG. 4 is a front view of the machine for unloading ties off of railroad cars illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 shown with the arm positioning the attachment beside the railroad tracks where the ties are to be unloaded and tilting the attachment forward to unload the ties onto the ground.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a prior art machine for unloading ties off of railroad cars showing a track hoe with attached grapple that is used to grasp ties.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the attachment illustrated in FIGS. 1-4.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the attachment of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a left side view of the attachment taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a front view of the attachment taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a rear view of the attachment taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings and initially to FIGS. 1-4, there is illustrated an attachment 10 constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention that is used in conjunction with a backhoe or track hoe 12 to convert the backhoe or track hoe 12 into a machine to unload railroad ties 14 off of railroad cars 16. Although the illustrations show the attachment 10 in use only with a track hoe 12, the invention is not so limited and it may alternately be employed with a backhoe or other suitable type of equipment. Hereafter the equipment with which the attachment 10 is employed will be referred to as a track hoe 12 to correspond to the accompanying illustrations.
FIGS. 1-4 show sequentially how the attachment 10 is employed to unload ties 14 out of a railroad car 16 onto the attachment 10 and then unload the ties 14 off of the attachment 10 at the desired location on the ground 18 beside the railroad track 20.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the attachment 10 secures to a distal end 22 of the working arm 24 of a track hoe 12 so that a front edge 26 of the attachment 10 is oriented toward the track hoe 12. Then with the track hoe 12 positioned on top of the ties 14 that are in the gondola type railroad car 16, the front edge 26 of the attachment 10 can then be inserted between the ties 14. The front edge 26 is first tilted downward away from the track hoe 12 then pushed downward to the bottom 28 of the railcar 16, as shown in FIG. 1. Next, the front edge 26 is pulled toward the track hoe 12 to move the attachment 10 under the ties 14, as shown in FIG. 2. The front edge 26 is then tilted backward and upward to capture a load of ties 14 onto the attachment 10 as the entire attachment 10 is moved upward by the working arm 24, as shown in FIG. 3. The attachment 10 is then lifted upward and over the side wall 30 of the car 16 to deliver the load of ties 14 onto the ground 18 beside the railroad track 20, as shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 illustrates the prior art grapple attachment 32 currently being used on equipment such as track hoes 12 to unload ties 14 from railroad cars 16. The prior art grapple 32 has to insert two pairs of teeth, a top pair of teeth 34 and a bottom pair of teeth 36 into the pile of ties 14 and then must move the two pair of teeth 34 and 36 together to grip a load of ties 14. The operation of the prior art grapple attachment 32 is much more complicated than the operation illustrated and described above for the attachment 10 which employs only one front edge 26 that inserts under the ties 14 and employs gravity to hold the ties 14 on the attachment 10 as it is lifted out of the railroad car 16.
Referring now to FIGS. 6-10, the detailed construction of the present attachment 10 is illustrated. An upper end 38 of the attachment 10 is provided with two pins 40 for securing the attachment 10 to the distal end 22 of the working arm 24. When thus secured to the arm 24, the arm 24 can be used to move the attachment 10 upward, downward, forward, backward, and from side to side.
Referring also to FIG. 1, one of the two pins 40 of the attachment 10 is secured to a stationary part 42 of the working arm 24 of the track hoe 12 and the other pin 40 is secured to a movable part 44 of the working arm 24 of the track hoe 12. Thus, by moving the movable part 44 of the working arm 24 relative to the stationary part 42 of the working arm 24, this allows the operator to tilt the attachment 10 forward and downward, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, and allows the operator to tilt the attachment 10 backward and upward, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.
When the attachment 10 is tilted forward or downward, the front edge 26 of the attachment 10 is pointing downward. In this position, the front edge 26 can be used to insert the attachment 10 into a stack of ties 14, or alternately, to unload a load of ties 14 from the attachment 10. To unload ties 14 from the attachment 10, the arm 24 of the track hoe 12 is employed to position the ties 14 in the desired location beside the railroad track 20 and then to tilt the attachment 10 forward to allow part or all the load of ties 14 to slip off of the front edge 26 of the attachment 10 onto the ground 18.
The attachment 10 is tilted backward or upward in the process of loading ties 14 onto the attachment 10. Ties 14 are loaded onto the attachment 10 by a backward sweeping and lifting motion of the attachment 10 caused by the appropriate movement of the arm 24 of the track hoe 12.
The upper end 38 of the attachment 10 is provided with an upper plate 46 to which upper ends 48 of each of four c-shaped members 50 are attached. An opposite lower end 52 of each of the four c-shaped members 50 is flattened on its upper and lower surfaces 54U and 54L to form a pointed lower tip 56. A lower plate 57 is secured to the upper surfaces 54U of the lower pointed tips of the four c-shaped members 50 to form a pointed front edge 26 on the attachment 10.
The four c-shaped members 50 are spaced apart from each other and are provided with support bars 58 secured between adjacent c-shaped members 50 to hold them in a spaced apart relationship, thereby making the c-shaped members 50 strong and rigid while minimizing the weight of the attachment 10. Also although not illustrated, because the c-shaped members 50 are spaced apart, debris associated with the ties 14 can fall out of the ties 14 and between the c-shaped members 50 as the ties 14 are lifted. The debris falls back onto the bottom 28 of the cars 16 resulting in less debris being transferred to the ground 18 with the ties 14 as they are unloaded. Each c-shaped member 50 is also preferably provided with openings 60 along its length to further reduce the weight of the attachment 10 without compromising its strength.
The attachment 10 is a unitary device with no moving parts other than the two pins 40 that secure it to the arm 24 of the track hoe 12. As shown in the illustrations, the arm 24 of the track hoe 12 moves the attachment 10 as a unit forward, backward, upward, downward, and sideways and tilts the attachment 10 as a unit forward and downward or backward and upward.
While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for the purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.
Patent Application
20070280811
