The present application is a U.S. National Stage entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/CN2013/077200, filed on Jun. 13, 2013, designating the United States of America and published in Chinese on Jan. 9, 2014, which in turn claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201210229833.6, filed on Jul. 5, 2012, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to the technical field of surface strengthening and repairing for a rail, and more particularly to an on-line laser processing vehicle for a rail.
Along with increase of train speed, traffic volume and axle loading, the rate of wear-out failure for a rail increases dramatically due to a dual effect of impact and wear caused by wheels. Conventional methods for improving life of rails throughout the world mainly focus on two aspects, namely heat treatment methods for rail and rail materials. With rapid development of laser technologies, methods of laser surface strengthening have been applied to rail for surface treating by domestic and foreign scholars, and good experimental results have been achieved.
The conventional method can only be accomplished in workshops; however, besides the laser surface strengthening method can facilitate fixed-point processing in workshops, the specific mobile equipment can be developed in order to take laser processing equipments into the railway field for on-line laser treating on rail.
A Chinese utility model ‘Laser maintenance vehicle for rail’ (Pub. No.: CN2622241Y, Pub. Date: Jun. 30, 2004) provides a laser maintenance vehicle for rail, the laser maintenance vehicle for rail includes two parts: a traction-control vehicle and a rail-operation vehicle. The traction-control vehicle is modified on the basis of a railway motor-trolley, the main difference therebetween is that a laser-operation console is disposed at the driver position of the railway motor-trolley; the rail-operation vehicle is modified on the basis of a railway passenger car which is equipped with one or two high-power CO2 laser. A laser optical path and a numerical control system are set up to accurately transmit laser beam to the processing point on rail. To assure laser work on rail can be successfully accomplished, the laser maintenance vehicle for rail also includes a vehicle damping system, a laser damping system, a rust cleaning system for a rail surface, a spraying system for light-absorbing coatings on rail surface, a drying system for coatings, a gas supply system for laser, a powder supply system for laser, a cooling system for laser, a laser vehicle body, a monitoring and illuminating system, a body sealing and dust removing system, etc, other than a lasers system, a laser optical path and a mobile numerical control system.
According to the above description, the laser maintenance vehicle has several shortcomings as follows:
Firstly, the device uses the high-power CO2 laser as a light source; the photoelectric conversion efficiency thereof is relatively low, while energy consumption thereof is high. The wavelength of the CO2 laser is 10.6 microns, therefrom the absorption of a metal substrate to that is quiet low, and the procedure is comparatively complicated because the laser processing cannot be carried out until light-absorbing coatings are sprayed thereon and dried. Since a light-guide system of the CO2 laser can only use a flying light path or a hard-light-path system for transmission, precision of the light-guide system may be inevitably affected by vibration generated by the laser maintenance vehicle during operation, and it is difficult to ensure long-term stability of laser processing.
Secondly, when the device carries out laser maintenance, the laser maintenance vehicle is stationary, and the maximum distance for a laser processing head moving along the rail is 1000 mm. The distance of a rail processed by the laser processing head at one time is limited by the length of the body of the laser maintenance vehicle due to the coming to a standstill of the laser maintenance vehicle, and thus making it inconvenient for long-distance repairing. Further, when the laser vehicle is to arrive to the next section of a rail to be repaired, since a movement distance of the traction-control vehicle cannot be accurate to centimeters, it is difficult for the traction-control vehicle to be precisely located.
Thirdly, compared with the concerned accurate trajectories required for laser processing, the overall accuracy of a railway line in a railway field is good, but an actual rail is a curve line erratically fluctuated along an overall route. A position of the laser processing head can not be adjusted in real time in the invention, thus it is difficult to ensure for the laser processing head to guarantee an accuracy of hardening a processing path.
In view of the drawbacks with the above-mentioned patent literature, in 2008, Chinese invention discloses an ‘On-line laser processing device for strengthening treatment of rail surface’ (Patent No.: 200810169671.5). The on-line laser processing device divides a laser processing system into two parts: a laser processing trolley and a power engineering vehicle. The laser processing trolley is small volume, light weight, good flexibility, and convenient loading and unloading, and is capable of effectively dodging trains, and facilitating various on-line strengthening treatment on rail; the power engineering vehicle includes devices with relatively large weight, such as a generator, a chiller, an air compressor, a cold dryer, a high-voltage power supply for a laser, a control system, and so on. By using a solid state laser as a light source capable of transmitting by fiber, the invention saves a complicated flying light path, and reduces loss of laser energy transmitted in an optical path; a laser used thereby emits a near-infrared laser with a wavelength of 1064 nmn, and absorption of the rail to the laser is high, therefore, procedures of pre-spraying coating and cleaning coating following thereby are not required, and thus simplifying the process, and reducing volume, weight, power consumption and cost of the device.
However, the above-mentioned on-line laser processing device still has the following shortcomings:
Firstly, the small laser processing trolley and the power engineering vehicle are two separated parts, the maximum distance of an interconnected fiber or a cable is 100 meters, which increases complexity of the device used in railway field; compared with a complete set of integrated equipment system, its reliability thereof is relatively low.
Secondly, although the small laser processing trolley is small volume, light weight and good flexibility, manpower or a small forklift is required to install it on a track, and connection and device adjustment of the fiber or the cable system need to be conducted on the track, therefore, effective time and processing efficiency of laser strengthening-toughening treatment on railway track are affected.
Thirdly, the way of approaching the railway track by the power engineering vehicle of the on-line laser processing device is sometimes limited. In some special places (such as mountain railways), the power engineering vehicle cannot conveniently approach railway tracks, and wheel systems thereof cannot directly travel thereon, which result in limitation of the combined type small laser processing trolley and power engineering vehicle on line laser processing device in terms of application range and efficiency.
In summary, how to further improve mobility of an on-line laser processing device and accuracy of a laser processing track for rail is a key to ensure application of the technology in railway transit. As for the on-line laser processing device, if it can both maintain accurate motion on a railway and quickly leave therefrom after laser processing, obviously more practical value is possible. In addition, the device should also possess basic features of an independent laser processing system, namely comprising a laser, a light guide system, a chiller, an air compressor, a cold dryer, a powder feeder, a movement actuators, a laser processing head, a control system, and so on, so that it can be applied to on-line laser strengthening-toughening treatment and laser cladding repairing for rail.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an on-line laser processing vehicle for rail that is capable of precisely controlling running speed and distance of the laser processing vehicle upon processing of rails on line, accomplishing precise processing along a rail route, and facilitating laser processing for rail, such as the rail of main line, curved rail, guard rail, switch rail and so on, so that wear resistance of the rail is greatly improved after processing, and thus meeting requirements of high-speed and heavy haul trains for wear resistance of the rail.
The present invention provides an on-line laser processing vehicle for rail, including a chassis, a vehicle body disposed on the chassis, a steer-control chamber disposed in the front of the vehicle body, and a container disposed at the rear of the vehicle body, the container comprising a generator set, a control system, a movement actuator, and a laser processing head, the steer-control chamber comprises a console, a CCD monitoring system, and a drive-switching operating system, a dual driving and switching mechanism is disposed within the container of the laser processing vehicle.
The console is electrically connected to the generator set and the control system, and operates to switch on or off the generator set and the control system, the CCD monitoring system operates to monitor an aligning position and processing conditions of the laser processing head on rail surface, and the drive-switching operating system operates to conduct the dual driving and switching mechanism whereby facilitating switching between driving systems.
The control system operates to control the movement actuator to move in accordance with a preset trajectory, the laser processing head operates to move in accordance with the trajectory preset by the control system under the drive of the movement actuator, whereby conducting laser processing of rail surface.
The dual driving and switching mechanism comprises a process-operation driving system, a conventional operation driving system, and a switching mechanism.
The process-operation driving system operates to provide driving-power for the laser processing vehicle during laser processing procedure, to enable the laser processing vehicle to precisely control a movement speed and a distance thereof, and to meet requirement of various laser processing for movement of the laser processing vehicle, and the switching mechanism operates to implement switching between the conventional operation driving system and the process-operation driving system.
The on-line laser processing vehicle for rail of the present invention comprises the dual driving system and switching mechanism, the dual driving system is respectively a process-operation driving system and a conventional driving system, the conventional operation driving system provides power for the laser processing vehicle during normal operation without laser processing, and the process-operation driving system provides power for the laser processing vehicle during laser processing. Switching between the process-operation driving system and the conventional operation driving system is accomplished by means of the switching mechanism. When the laser processing vehicle conducts laser processing on a rail, the switching mechanism switches driving power to the process-operation driving system, and thus the moving speed and the distance of the laser processing vehicle can be controlled strictly and precisely, which meets various requirements for laser processing. As the laser processing vehicle finishes processing, the switching mechanism is to switch to the conventional operation driving system for quickly leaving, which saves time and avoids long-time occupation of tracks caused thereby.
The chassis of the on-line laser processing vehicle for rail of the present invention can be a chassis of a railway flat-deck car, a railway passenger car, or a respective-running-type convertible road-railway vehicle. As the chassis of the on-line laser processing vehicle for rail of the present invention is the chassis of the respective-running-type convertible road-railway vehicle, a climbing-rail system can be added to a vehicle body. By means of the climbing-rail system, the laser processing vehicle can climb on a rail on any railway track, and thus flexibility of climbing a rail for the laser processing vehicle is improved.
The movement actuator of the on-line laser processing vehicle for rail of the present invention can adopts a conventional numerical controlled machine tool and/or a multi-axis industrial robot and so on, and a photoelectric displacement sensor can be disposed thereon. As the laser processing vehicle snakes on the track, it is possible to adjust the laser processing head so that it is precisely aligned with a position to be processed on the rail, whereby ensuring accuracy of a processing trajectory of the laser processing vehicle.
The present invention provides three types of laser processing heads for the on-line laser processing vehicle for rail: a mechanical laser processing head, a multiple-light-outlet-type laser processing head, and a galvanometer-type laser processing head, structure of the first type is simple, processing efficiency of the second and the third type is high, and all the three heads can be selected according to different requirements.
In which: 1. Vehicle body; 2. chassis of railway flat-deck car or railway passenger car; 3. steer-control chamber; 4. container; 5. dual driving system and switching mechanism; 7. chiller; 8. laser group; 9. movement actuator; 10 light-guide system; 11. powder feeder; 12. air compressor; 13. cold dryer; 14. control system; 15. generator set; 16 and 16′. climbing-rail system; 17. laser processing head; 18. CCD monitoring device; 19. photoelectric displacement sensor; 20. chassis of respective-running-type convertible road-railway vehicle
For more clear understanding of the aim, technical solution and advantages of the present invention, the present invention will be illustrated in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures and embodiments as follows. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely examples to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The first embodiment is an on-line laser processing vehicle for rail according to the present invention.
As shown in
The console 3.1 in the steer-control chamber 3 operates to switch on or off the generator set 15 and the control system 14; the CCD monitoring system 3.2 operates to monitor an aligning position and processing conditions of the laser processing head 17 on rail surface; the drive-switching operating system 3.3 operates to operate the dual driving and switching mechanism 5 so as to accomplish switching of a driving system; the grinding and cleaning equipment 6 operates to clean the rail surface to be processed; the genervator set 15 provides required electric energy for the chiller 7, the movement actuator 9, the powder feeder 11, the air compressor 12, the cold dryer 13, the control system 14 and the high-voltage power supply for a laser 16 during operation. The high-voltage power supply for a laser 16 provides the laser group 8 with high-voltage DC required for generating laser light. The laser group 8 can be a fiber laser, a diode-pumped solid-state laser, a lamp-pumped solid-state laser, a diode laser, or a disk laser; the movement actuator 9 is a conventional numerical controlled machine tool and/or a multi-axis industrial robot.
The control system 14 is electrically connected to the chiller 7, the laser group 8, the powder feeder 11, the air compressor 12, the cold dryer 13 and the high-voltage power supply for a laser 16, whereby controlling on or off thereof, and the movement actuator 9 to move according to a preset trajectory. Under the drive of the movement actuator 9, the laser processing head 17 moves according to the trajectory preset by the control system 14, whereby facilitating laser processing of the rail surface. The laser group 8 transmits laser beams to the laser processing head 17 via the light-guide system 10, and the beams are focused and applied to surface of work pieces. The light-guide system 10 can adopts an existing fiber transmission system. As a semiconductor laser is used as a light source, the laser group 8 can be connected to the laser processing head 17 via the light-guide system 10 (which is an expanding and collimating system herein). The power feeder 11 is connected to a nozzle of the laser processing head 17 via a pipe.
The chiller 7 supplies cooling water for the laser group 8, the light-guide system 10 and optical mirrors on the laser processing head 17 via pipelines. An air outlet of the air compressor 12 is connected to an air inlet of the cold dryer 13 via a pipeline, and an air outlet of the cold dryer 13 is connected to a nozzle of the laser processing head 17 via a pipeline. Compressed air generated by the air compressor 12 is transferred to the laser processing head 17 as protection gas via a pipeline to prevent dust and smog produced during laser surface processing from contaminating the focusing mirror of the laser processing head 17 after being filtered by the cold dryer 13 whereby eliminating liquid substance such as water, oil drops and so on. The other outlet of the cold dryer 13 is connected to the powder feeder 11 via a pipeline, as the powder feeder 11 is switched on, the gas transfers alloy powders to the laser processing head 17 via a pipeline, and is blown out from the nozzle.
As shown in
The control system 14 is respectively electrically connected to the process-operation driving system 5.1 and the conventional operation driving system 5.3, both of which can drive the laser processing vehicle to operate according to settings of the control system 14. The process-operation driving system operates to provide driving power for the laser processing vehicle during laser processing, enables the laser processing vehicle to precisely control moving speed and distance of the laser processing vehicle whereby meeting requirements of various laser processing for the laser processing vehicle; the conventional operation driving system 5.3 provides driving power for the laser processing vehicle as the laser processing vehicle does not conduct laser processing.
The switching mechanism 5.2 can be facilitated in a variety of ways, such as electric control of a clutch, or mechanical structure of gear switching. The switching mechanism 5.2 in
The switching mechanism 5.2 can facilitate switching between the conventional operation driving system 5.3 and the process-operation driving system 5.1. As the laser processing vehicle requires to process a rail, the control system 14 controls the large gear 5.23 to slide to one side on the output shaft 5.24 and be engaged with the first small gear 5.21, and the switching mechanism 5.2 is switches to the process-operation driving system 5.1. Then the moving speed and distance of the laser processing vehicle can be precisely controlled by the settings of the control system 14, whereby meeting requirements of various laser processing for movement of the laser processing vehicle. After the laser processing is completed, the control system 14 controls the large gear 5.23 to slide to the other side on the output shaft 5.24 and be engaged with the second small gear 5.22, the switching mechanism 5.2 switches to the conventional operation driving system 5.3, which enables the vehicle to leave quickly, and thus saving time and avoiding long-time occupation of the track.
As shown in
As the laser processing vehicle is to conduct laser processing, firstly, the drive-switching operating system 3.3 controls the dual driving and switching mechanism 5 to switch to the conventional operation driving system 5.3, and the laser processing vehicle travels to a rail section to be processed under the drive of the driving system, then the drive-switching operating system 3.3 controls the dual driving and switching mechanism 5 to switch to the process-operation driving system 5.1. Next, the console 3.1 starts switches of the generator set 15 and the control system 14, then the control system 14 controls and starts switches of the chiller 7, the laser group 8, the movement actuator 9, the powder feeder 11, the air compressor 12, the cold dryer 13, and the high-voltage power supply for a laser 16, and enable all these devices to be in a standby state. As shown in
The laser processing head 17 comprises a mechanical laser processing head 17.1 as shown in
As shown as
As shown in
A laser beam (17.2.41) is divided into a reflected beam 17.2.42 and a transmitted beam 17.2.43 by the first beam splitting mirror 17.2.31, the reflected beam 17.2.42 successively passes through the second beam splitting mirror 17.2.32, the third beam splitting mirror 17.2.33, the fourth beam splitting mirror 17.2.34 and the reflective mirror 17.2.35, and finally four laser beams with equal energy are obtained and applied on the rail, a transmitted beam 17.2.43 can be divided into four laser beams with equal energy and applied on the rail in the same way, each of the beam splitting mirror can swing along with the hollow shaft 17.2.3 whereby facilitating simultaneous scanning laser processing of the rail with multiple beams.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The dual driving and switching mechanism 5 of the first embodiment of the invention is capable of switching between driving systems according to different working conditions of the laser processing vehicle, and ensuring accuracy of the laser processing by precise operation thereof on the rail according to process requirements during laser processing.
A photoelectric displacement sensor 19 is disposed on the movement actuator 9 of the first embodiment of the invention, the photoelectric displacement sensor 19 is capable of adjusting positions of the laser processing head 17 in real time according to a rail trajectory, ensuring the laser processing head 17 is always precisely aligned with a position of the rail to be processed, and guaranteeing precise trajectories of the laser processing.
The laser processing head 17 of the first embodiment of the invention comprises mechanical laser processing head 17.1, multiple-light-outlet-type laser processing heads 17.2 and 17.3, and galvanometer-type laser processing head 17.4. The CCD monitoring device 18 is disposed at the bottom of the laser processing head 17. The multiple-light-outlet-type laser processing heads 17.2 and 17.3 can facilitate simultaneous laser processing of multiple light spots, and the galvanometer-type laser processing head 17.4 can facilitate programmatic laser scanning. The first method is simple, the second and the third method feature high processing efficiency, and these three methods can be chosen according to different requirements.
The second embodiment is a convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle according to the present invention.
As shown in
Other parts of the convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.
The third embodiment is another form of the convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle according to the present invention.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown as
The hydraulic system in the container 4 provides hydraulic power for each hydraulic cylinder and each hydraulic motor of the climbing-rail systems 16 and 16′, the operation platform operates to switch on or off the hydraulic system, and to control power provided by the hydraulic system.
Specifically, rail climbing of the convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle is facilitated according to the following steps: firstly, as shown in
The third embodiment can almost climb on rails at any railway track, and greatly improves flexibility of the convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle in comparison with the second embodiment.
The fourth embodiment is a further form of the convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle according to the present invention.
As shown in
A control function of the industrial robot is added to the control system 14; firstly, the control system 14 controls the slide carriage 9.5 of the movement actuator 9 and the industrial robot 9.6 to move downwards along the upright column 9.1 to an appropriate position, and then shafts of the industrial robot 9.6 move harmoniously, whereby adjusting the laser processing head 17 to an appropriate processing position and facilitating laser processing of rail surface.
Other parts of the convertible road-railway laser processing vehicle of the fourth embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.
It will readily be understood to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, but not intended to limit the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement and so on made within the spirit and principle of the invention should be included in the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012 1 0229833 | Jul 2012 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2013/077200 | 6/13/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/005478 | 1/9/2014 | WO | A |
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