The invention is developed in the field of maintenance and repair of cargo movement equipment, specifically, it refers to a process of modeling and structural repair of a railway or metalworker car to assemble a hopper with a self-supporting body, unlike the original hopper that is formed from steel plates on the structure of the car.
Currently metal cars are hoppers completely covered with steel plates, which once worn present difficulties to make their change. Due to the above, it is common during the maintenance of said cars, that the steel plates of the metal cars are not replaced but rather that the worn surface is covered with new steel plates placed on top of the worn steel plates. This procedure decreases the reliability of the cars, increases their weight in each repair carried out and produces an overload of welding.
In the state of the art it is possible to find metal cars or railway wagons, being possible to cite the document CN203172636 that describes a mining wagon whose interior surface is covered by high molecular weight polyethylene membranes that reduce the possibility of mineral aggregates adhering to said surface of the mining wagon, allowing to increase its efficiency and its useful life. This document addresses the problem of wear due to corrosion and impacts due to the adherence of the mineral material transported by the wagons, however, no reference is made to repair procedures for the mining wagon when wear occurs or to the difficulty of replacement in the elements of the surface of a wagon.
To solve the problem, a hopper formed by a self-supporting body for metal rail cars is manufactured, which replaces the steel plates that form the hoppers commonly used in the state of the art, where the body of the hopper can be removed. easily when wear occurs, facilitating maintenance and whose shape also prevents the accumulation of remaining material or carryback in those worn or corroded areas of the trolleys.
The invention refers to a repair and reconditioning process of a metal car with a hopper made of steel plates that allows the replacement of said hopper with a hopper made up of a complete body, which considers both operations prior to the execution of obtaining of data and parameters for the design of the new hopper as well as workshop operations for the application of design and improvement of structures that allow to achieve an adequate assembly of said new hopper.
This process makes it possible to obtain a metal cart that is easy to maintain, has a low accumulation of remaining material (carryback) and is low in weight.
mechanical type, can be included on the outer face of at least one wall of the hopper to agitate the material particles and generate the sliding it through the hopper, also reducing unloading times.
A detailed description of the invention will be carried out in conjunction with the figures that are part of this presentation, where it can be seen that:
The invention refers to a repair and reconditioning process of a metal car (1) with a hopper made of steel plates, for the replacement of said hopper with a new hopper (2) formed by a self-supporting body that facilitates maintenance, decreases the accumulation of carryback material (carryback) and reduces weight.
The metal cart (1) comprises a supporting structure (3) on which the steel hopper is mounted, made of steel plates, where said supporting structure (3) is mounted, in turn, on a base platform (4) mobile that allows its movement. In one modality, the mobile base platform (4) comprises, in its lower part, two bogies (5) located at each end to move the metal wagon (1). In addition, in its upper part, the base platform (4) includes, at one of its ends, a surface with a mesh-type floor (6) so that an operator can climb on it.
The objective of the invention is to replace the steel hopper of the metal cars (1) commonly used in the state of the art, with a new hopper (2) formed by a self-supporting body with a plurality of structural elements (7) that are They are manufactured separately and joined to form the structure of the new hopper (2) forming a self-supporting body that constitutes a single piece prior to its installation. In one embodiment, the structural elements are plates. The union of the structural elements (7) is carried out by means of welding (8) or another suitable means of union.
The joints of the structural elements (7) depend on their location in the structure of the new hopper (2), with the following types of joints present:
The half-round joints and the corner plate joint allow obtaining curved segments that define corners or curved segments (10) in the new hopper (2).
In one embodiment, the inner reinforcing plate (11), the corner half round (12) and/or the corner plate (13) are made of HDPE or anti-abrasive steel.
In one embodiment, the weld (8) at the joints of the structural elements (7) is an HDPE extrusion weld.
The new hopper (2) also includes, at its bottom, two gates (14) that make it possible to regulate the discharge of material. The gates (14) are made up of steel plates that are each actuated by a drive mechanism. In
The new hopper (2) can also comprise at least one mechanical vibrator (18) to facilitate the unloading of the material in the new hopper (2) and avoid the accumulation of remaining material. The mechanical vibrator (18) generates the agitation of the material particles inside the new hopper (2) producing a fluidization effect of the solid material, allowing it to slide more easily through the hopper (2), reducing well, download time. In one modality, the mechanical vibrator (18) is installed in the lower portion of the new hopper (2) to facilitate the passage of the material through the gates (14), specifically, the mechanical vibrator is arranged on the outer face of at least one outer wall of the new hopper (2), preferably on the outer face of a side wall or on the outer face of the front wall, as shown in
The process to recondition the metal cart (1) for the replacement of the steel hopper with the new hopper (2), includes a first stage of scanning and modeling of the new hopper (2) for the metal cart (1), which comprises the following steps:
In one modality, the scanning of the metal car (1) is carried out by means of a laser scanner or another suitable method.
In one modality, optionally, after modeling and calculating the geometry of the new hopper (2), a reinforcement is calculated for the supporting structure (3) of the metal truck (1) adding and/or modifying elements to adapt it to the new hopper (2).
The removal of the steel hopper from the metal cart (1) is done by removing the steel plates that make up said hopper.
The repair of the supporting structure (3) consists of removing the damaged material; clean hauling material from the supporting structure (3) and removal of remaining material due to previous repairs. In one modality, if required, the repair and/or replacement of the damaged parts or parts in poor condition of the supporting structure (3) is carried out, such as stiffeners and beams.
In one modality, the adaptation of the supporting structure (3) consists of adding structural reinforcements to facilitate the assembly of the new hopper (2) to join its body at specific points of the supporting structure (3), facilitating its assembly.
Thus, the number and shape of the manufactured structural elements (7) consider a configuration that allows the number of joints/edges of the new hopper (2) to be reduced.
Also, the joints of the structural elements (7) are made by means of corner joints with internal reinforcement, half-round joints and/or joints by means of a corner plate, where said joints are preferably made with welding (8). The corner joint with interior reinforcement is made by joining the ends of two structural elements (7), where a curved interior reinforcement plate (11) is added that covers the union of said structural elements (7), generating a curved segment, the inner reinforcement plate (11) being attached at its ends to each structural element. The half-round connection is made by connecting two HDPE elements (7) using a corner half-round (12) that corresponds to an intermediate curved element that includes two ends that are joined, respectively, to the end of one end of one element. structural, wherein, preferably, the half round corner (12) has a circumferential arc shape. The joint by means of a corner plate is made by connecting two structural elements (7) using a corner plate (13) that corresponds to an intermediate curved element, where each end is joined, respectively, to one end of a structural element (7), wherein, preferably, the corner plate (13) has an L shape whose vertex is curved or rounded. In this way, the new hopper (2) includes curved corners or segments (10) to avoid the accumulation of material.
In one embodiment, mounting the drive mechanisms consists of arranging a shaft (16) in the gate (14) and connecting a drive unit between the shaft (16) and the gate (14) by connecting a pneumatic cylinder to the shaft (16) and at least two arms (17) at one end to the shaft (16) and at the other end to the gate (14) so as to allow said gate (14) to be opened and closed. In addition, locks are installed on the gates (14) that allow the hermetic closure of these by means of the drive mechanism.
Optionally, the gates (14) are protected using a coating.
Additionally, once the new hopper (2) is mounted on the supporting structure (3), in order to facilitate the unloading of the material in the new hopper (2) and avoid the accumulation of remaining material, at least one mechanical vibrator is installed. (18) on the outside of a wall of the new hopper (2) to facilitate the passage of the material through the gates (14). In one embodiment, at least one mechanical vibrator (18) is installed on the outer face of at least one side wall of the new hopper (2) or on the outer face of the front wall of the new hopper (2).
Once the first stage of scanning and modeling has been carried out, which allows obtaining the new hopper (2) for the reconditioning of the metal wagon (1), it is possible to carry out the stage of execution and structural repair for other equivalent metal wagons (1) without carrying out said first stage. In an equivalent way, it is possible to manufacture new metal cars equivalent to the metal car (1) from which the new hopper (2) was generated, so that said new metal cars include the new hopper (2) from its manufacture.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202202477 | Sep 2022 | CL | national |