Method for machining a rail

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the in particular material-removing machining, post-processing and / or treatment of a rail (1) by means of a milling tool, said rail being laid in a track bed. So that an inclined position of the rail vehicle carrying the milling tool, said inclined position being unavoidable in practice, and the associated inclined position of the milling tool, does not have to be compensated for using complex kinematics, the milling tool is merely displaced inwards or outwards into a second working position with a distance which is derived by the control unit from the detected measurement values of the lateral copying. In this new working position, there is, as a result of the inclined position, an unchanged machining surface (12) on the running surface (9) of the rail (1) and an advance-cutting machining surface (13) on the lateral surface (4) of the rail (1), wherein as a result of the change in distance, the material removal and the profile created as a result is set unchanged as compared to a parallel position of the milling tool.

Description

[0001] Method for machining a rail

[0002] The invention relates to a method for the machining, post-machining and / or treatment of a rail laid in a track bed, in particular by removing material, including a grooved rail for rail vehicles for local and long-distance traffic, including underground trains, trams or operational railways, by means of at least one device arranged on a vehicle and serving as a tool, which device is moved or supported in a translational manner by means of at least one carrier in order to set or change a distance of the respective device from the associated rail.is displaced when a non-parallel orientation of the device relative to the respective rail is detected by means of a control unit, in particular by continuously carrying out lateral distance measurements by a plurality of side copying elements which, in use, bear against different longitudinal sections of the same rail, and the device is displaced laterally as a function of a lateral difference value of the distance measurements of different side copying elements which are assigned to the same rail.

[0003] Such a method is used primarily for processing and / or repairing, but also for measuring laid rails, whereby the device is arranged on a rail vehicle which moves along the rail to be processed during processing, reworking or treatment.

[0004] The side copying elements make it possible to carry out the machining much more precisely and to achieve a uniform and precise rail profile as a result, as the tracking of the device takes place in several degrees of freedom and preferably also in a separate feed axis in order to correct existing inaccuracies and irregularities on the rail rather than copying them.

[0005] The aim is to guide the machining tools of the facility as precisely as possible to the rail profile in order to achieve an optimal result during machining, reworking or treatment with the least possible material removal and an optimal surface quality and dimensional accuracy with regard to the longitudinal and transverse profile of the rail.

[0006] During material-removing machining, the precise positioning and orientation of the tool relative to the rail must be precisely adjusted both in the vertical direction and in the transverse direction of the rail due to the shallow cutting depth in order to avoid machining offset and to ensure a constant cutting depth.

[0007] In principle, side copying elements for lateral guidance of the machining tool, especially a milling tool, are already known in rail machining and are state of the art. For this purpose, the relative position of the carrier for the machining tool is adjusted transversely to the main extension of the rail using side copying elements.

[0008] However, the side copying element cannot be placed below or in the plane of the axis of the machining tool against the side surface of the rail because the space available there is insufficient.

[0009] Accordingly, the side copying elements are placed against the side surface in front of or behind the machining tool, which leads to only a small, negligible machining error if the vehicle has a long wheelbase, but to a problematic error if the vehicle has a short wheelbase.

[0010] Adjustable guide elements that forcibly guide or adjust the machining tools are known, for example, from AT 366437 B and DE 30 15 230 A1.

[0011] In EP 2 895655 B1, the sensing element for the inside of the rail head and the inside of fittings in the track channel is designed to be double-acting and variable in width for lateral copying on a laid rail.

[0012] US Pat. No. 4,583,893 A discloses a device with face milling cutters for machining rails. This device utilizes several guide rollers that can rotate about vertical axes. Several rollers are mounted on a carriage and rest against both sides of the rail. Furthermore, suitable measuring devices, such as probe elements or non-contact measuring elements, for adjusting the machining tools are disclosed in DD 283 850 A5 and EP 0 552 473 A1.

[0013] In a device for rail machining according to WO 2013 / 086547 A1, a side copying system, each with two measuring points offset in the longitudinal direction, is pivoted until the two measuring points arranged one behind the other produce the same measurement results for the inner edge of the rail. The side copying system ensures the correct position of the cross slide of the machining tool relative to the inner edge of the rail. This involves complex kinematics, which in practice leads to considerable tolerance influences, particularly a serial combination of several swivel axes, Z-axis and X-axis, and a carrier designed as a cross table for initiating various translational movements. In particular, such mobility with a large number of degrees of freedom results in insufficient rigidity with regard to the forces that occur in practice during machining and treatment due to the leverage effect.The resulting forces are difficult to control in practice and lead to undesirable tolerance influences.

[0014] DE 201 22 924 U1 also discloses a device for reprofiling at least the running surface of a rail by circumferential milling. A rail profile milling cutter is provided to produce the desired profile in a single circumferential milling operation. The device also features a grinding device that enables subsequent grinding of the running surface. A device is provided that generates a relative movement between the rail and the grinding wheel. The axis of the grinding wheel is mounted in a direction that deviates from a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rail. The angle at which the grinding wheel is aligned to the rail depends on the condition of the rail prior to grinding.

[0015] EP 2 390 415 A1 describes a device for machining the running surfaces of rails by circumferential grinding. This device has a grinding frame that can be positioned against the running surface of the rail and moved along the rail. The grinding frame is equipped with at least three freely rotatable grinding wheels for circumferential grinding, whose axes of rotation enclose an acute angle to the longitudinal direction of the rail. The rotation axis of a first grinding wheel forms an acute angle to the longitudinal direction of the rail, the angle being different in sign from that of the second grinding wheel.The arrangement of the grinding wheels is selected such that the sum of the transverse forces occurring when the grinding frame moves along the rail, transverse to the longitudinal direction of the rail and perpendicular to an adjustment direction perpendicular to the rotation axes of all grinding wheels, is essentially zero and that a resulting torque on the grinding frame perpendicular to the adjustment direction is also essentially zero.

[0016] The invention is based on the object of creating a simple method for compensating for deviations from the usual orientation of the device parallel to the respective rail, without requiring complex compensating kinematics with a multitude of degrees of freedom to restore a rail-parallel orientation of the device. In particular, a support arm for the device support that can pivot about the vertical axis should be dispensed with.

[0017] This object is achieved according to the invention with a method according to the features of claim 1. The further embodiment of the invention can be found in the subclaims.

[0018] According to the invention, a method is therefore provided in which the machining, post-machining and / or treatment is carried out or continued on the basis of the detected lateral difference value of the lateral copying elements in a working position of the device which is changed or deviates from the first working position as the starting position with the orientation of the device parallel to the rail, in which working position the device is moved exclusively translationally with the difference value relative to the first working position, so that the device assumes an orientation at an angle less than or greater than 90° to the orientation of the device in the first working position. The difference value is determined and set as a function of the angle of deflection or the lateral difference value and further parameters of the device, in particular the length and contour of the contact surface of the device with the rail.The invention is based on the finding that restoring the original working position, which is also referred to below as the starting position, with the combined adjustment of a pivoting arm and the coupled translational movement of the device by means of the carrier, as known from the prior art, can be omitted if only the respectively adjusted difference value of the device from the rail is adjusted, in particular increased or decreased. The device then assumes a different inclined position in which, as a result of the changed orientation, the device forms an acute or obtuse angle compared to the orientation of the device in the starting position. However, it has been shown that the machining or treatment of horizontal areas of the rail head profile does not depend on the inclination, or depends only negligibly on it.The machining or treatment of non-horizontal areas of the side surface is compensated for by the difference value and can therefore continue without correcting the angular position. Due to the inclination, which in practice does not exceed approximately ± 5° and is approximately ± 2°, a leading or lagging machining or treatment surface occurs, which can also be referred to as dragging or piercing machining or treatment. In other words, due to the inclination in relation to a horizontal surface on the rail head profile, the device already acts in front of or behind this surface.In order to avoid excessive removal of the convex rail head profile due to this pre- or post-cutting intervention, the difference value compared to the initial position is adjusted accordingly, i.e. the device is displaced laterally or medially, for which, in practice, a translational kinematics is particularly well suited.

[0019] According to the invention, the term “starting position” refers to the orientation and distance of the device on the rail along a straight section, with the vehicle in its normal position centered on a straight section of rail and, in particular, not in a pinwheel. Maintaining the starting position while the vehicle is moving may require a translational movement of the device if the vehicle is not centered on the rails but offset. A new working position deviating from this starting position is provided according to the invention in the event that the vehicle and thus the device are inclined, i.e., not parallel to the rails, in particular, in a pinwheel, in a chord position on a track curve or in the area of ​​a switch.

[0020] The invention thus takes advantage of the fact that the restoration of the starting position in the case of such an inclined position is not necessary if the device is adjusted by a value different from the measured difference value on the basis of the measured lateral difference values ​​of the lateral copies or the angle of the inclined position derived therefrom and further parameters of the device, in particular its intervention or treatment length, the length or contour of the contact surface of the device with the rail.

[0021] Of course, the method is not limited to the processing or treatment of a single track rail in a track bed, although individual processing should not be excluded. Particularly preferably, at least one device is assigned to a first rail and at least one further device is assigned to a second rail, wherein the devices assigned to the various rails are each displaced in the medial or lateral direction into at least one working position that differs from the first working position as the starting position.Accordingly, unlike the prior art, in which the two devices for the two rails are displaced together in order to reduce the distance from one of the two rails and to increase the distance from the other rail, with the aim of restoring the starting position, according to the invention the device assigned to the different rails is displaced inwards or outwards, whereby a relative position to the rail deviating from the starting position is set as a difference value.

[0022] In this case, the movement of the device, particularly the translational one, can be kinematically coupled. Furthermore, the movement can also be synchronized by the control program.

[0023] Such a coupling can be particularly useful when, due to missing measured values ​​from the side copying of one rail, for example, due to a failure or the condition of the rail, particularly in the area of ​​switches, the measured values ​​of the other rail, which runs parallel within tolerance values, can be used. This allows the measured values ​​of the side copying elements of the other rail to be used to adjust the changed working position in the event of an interruption or to check the position detection of the side copying elements of one rail.

[0024] A further particularly advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention is also achieved when the curve radius of the rail is calculated based on the recorded measured values ​​of the side copies assigned to the respective rail. For this purpose, the control unit compares the ground radius calculated for the respective rail, taking the track width into account, to check the orientation of the vehicle on the rail and the device relative to the rail, and to detect any machining errors in a timely manner. If deviations outside a predetermined tolerance range are detected, a different working position with a larger difference value can be set as a precautionary measure. The method can be used for machining with a geometrically defined or indefinite cutting edge, as well as for surface hardening or smoothing, or for measuring.Particularly preferably, the material-removing machining is carried out with at least one rotating milling tool and / or grinding tool of the device, wherein the axis of the milling tool is substantially horizontal and, in the starting position, aligned in the cross-sectional plane of the rail. In the further working position, the rotational axis of the milling tool forms an acute or obtuse angle with the cross-sectional plane of the rail.

[0025] The device could be designed for machining or treating the vertical and horizontally inclined regions of the side surface of the rail head profile. During machining, reworking, and / or treatment, the rotating tool preferably rests with at least a first portion against a running surface of the rail and with at least one further portion against the side surface of the rail head profile.

[0026] The lateral copying element can be positioned against a medial side surface of the rail head profile using a probe. Another particularly practical embodiment of the invention is also achieved by performing the distance measurement contactlessly using the lateral copying elements.

[0027] Preferably, one or more side copying elements assigned to a rail are arranged both in front of and behind the cross-sectional plane determined by the axis of rotation of the milling tool in the starting position, preferably at different distances in the longitudinal direction of the rail.

[0028] According to a further promising embodiment of the invention, the adjustment of the working position of various devices assigned to the opposite rails is synchronized by means of the control unit.

[0029] The invention allows for various embodiments. To further clarify its basic principle, one of them is shown in the drawing and is described below. This shows in

[0030] Fig. 1 is a front view of a device for milling a rail;

[0031] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device in an orientation not parallel to the rail, inclined outward in the direction of movement;

[0032] Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device in an orientation not parallel to the rail and inclined inwards in the direction of movement;

[0033] Fig. 5 is a plan view of the rail with a pre-cutting machining surface corresponding to the inclined orientation shown in Figure 3;

[0034] Fig. 6 is a plan view of the rail with a neutral machining surface corresponding to the parallel orientation shown in Figures 1 and 3;

[0035] Fig. 7 is a plan view of the rail with a re-cutting machining surface corresponding to the inclined orientation shown in Figure 4.

[0036] The method according to the invention for material-removing machining or reworking a rail 1 laid in a track bed using a device 3 equipped with a milling tool 2 is explained in more detail below with reference to Figures 1 to 7. The device 3 is arranged on a rail vehicle (not shown), so that the machining of the rail 1 takes place in motion and therefore knowledge of the orientation and position of the milling tool 2 relative to the rail 1 is of crucial importance for the machining result.

[0037] For this purpose, a side difference value is determined in a manner known per se by means of several side copying elements 15, 16 arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the rail, which bear against a side surface 4 of a rail head profile 5 at a distance ai in the direction of movement V in front of the device 3 and at a greater distance a2 in the direction of movement V behind the device 3, from which the amount and direction of the inclination visible in Figures 3 and 4 is derived by means of a control unit (not shown).

[0038] Figures 1 and 2 show the neutral position of an orientation of the milling tool 2 parallel to the rail 1, wherein a rotation axis 6 of the milling tool 2 lies in the cross-sectional plane of the rail 1 and thus at an angle of 90° to a longitudinal rail axis 7. Figures 3 and 4 show an inclined position of the milling tool 2 with an orientation deflected by 2° from a plane parallel to the longitudinal rail axis 7, namely in the direction of movement V of the vehicle in Figure 3 with the angle α of 92° outwards or lateral and in Figure 4 with the angle β of 88° inwards or medial to the center of the track bed.

[0039] It is easy to understand that the engagement of the contoured milling tool 2 changes due to this inclined position. While the circumferential first section 8 of the milling tool 2 shown in Figure 1, which serves to machine a substantially horizontal running surface 9 of the rail head profile 5 of the rail 1, achieves unchanged material removal results, the inclined position in the contoured second section 10 of the milling tool 2, which serves to machine the convexly curved side surface 4 of the rail head profile 5 that is inclined relative to the horizontal, requires an adjustment of the lateral distance in order to achieve an unchanged material removal result, because the inclined position of the milling tool would otherwise fundamentally lead to undesired increased or reduced material removal on the side surface 4 in this section 10 without suitable countermeasures.

[0040] According to the invention, this additional removal is prevented by not eliminating the inclination, but by moving the milling tool 2 into a second working position by a translational movement in direction 11 parallel to the rotation axis 6 with a specific differential value D, which is derived by the control unit from the recorded measured values ​​of the lateral copying. This differential value D is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 with reference to the milling tool 2, which is only schematically shown, in the rail-parallel orientation. It should be emphasized that this in no way eliminates or reduces the inclination of the milling tool 2. The required differential value D results from the calculated angles α, β of the respective deflection and various parameters of the milling tool 2.

[0041] Figures 5 and 7 illustrate the effect of the inclination on the work result. Due to the inclination shown in Figures 3 and 4, the material removal and the size of the machining surface 12 on the running surface 9, which is machined by the circumferential first section 8 of the milling tool 2, remain at least substantially unchanged.

[0042] In contrast, due to the positive inclination shown in Figure 3, a pre-cutting machining surface 13 in the direction of movement V is created by the engagement of section 10 of the milling tool 2, as can be seen in Figure 5, which precedes the neutral position of the milling tool 2 shown in Figure 6. However, due to the set difference value D, the material removal and the contour of the material removal remain unchanged compared to the neutral position of the milling tool 2.

[0043] Similarly, in the negative inclination shown in Figure 4, the machining surface 14 re-cuts in the direction of movement V due to the engagement of section 10 of the milling tool 2, as can be seen in Figure 7, which lags behind the neutral position of the milling tool 2 shown in Figure 6. In this case, too, the removal and the contour of the removal on the rail 1 remain unchanged compared to the neutral position of the milling tool 2 due to the set difference value D.

[0044] Thus, according to the invention, the deflection of the rotation axis 6 from the cross-sectional plane of the rail 1 is detected. However, the inclination is not compensated for. Instead, the effect of the pre-cutting and post-cutting machining surfaces 13, 14 is adjusted accordingly by the translational displacement of the inclined milling tool 2 inward or outward with the difference value D of the machining tool 2 compared to the initial or neutral position parallel to the rail, by continuing machining in this changed working position. This position is continuously monitored based on the measured values ​​of the side copying elements 15, 16 and corrected if necessary.

[0045] REFERENCE SYMBOL LIST

[0046] 1 rail

[0047] 2 milling tools

[0048] 3 Facility

[0049] 4 side surface

[0050] 5 Rail head profile

[0051] 6 axis of rotation

[0052] 7 Longitudinal rail axis

[0053] Section 8

[0054] 9 Tread

[0055] Section 10

[0056] 11 Direction

[0057] 12 processing area

[0058] 13 Working area

[0059] 14 Working area

[0060] 15 page copy element

[0061] 16 page copy element

[0062] V Direction of movement a, ß angle

[0063] D Difference value ai, a2 distance

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS E 1. A method for the machining, reworking and / or treatment of a rail (1) laid in a track bed, in particular by removing material, by at least one device (3) arranged on a vehicle, which is moved by means of at least one carrier to adjust a distance of the respective device (3) from the associated rail (1), when a non-parallel orientation of the device (3) or of the vehicle with respect to the respective rail (1) is detected as a lateral difference value by at least two lateral copying elements (15, 16) which, during use, bear against different longitudinal sections of the rail (1), characterized in that, based on the detected lateral difference value, the machining, reworking and / or treatment is carried out in a different working position with the non-parallel orientation of the device (3), in which the device (3) is positioned with the orientation parallel to the rail (1) compared to the first working position,with the difference value (D), wherein the difference value (D) is set as a function of the angular position of the device (3) with the angle (α, β) relative to a longitudinal rail axis (7).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle (α, β) is detected by at least one side copying element (15) designed as a leading side copying device at a distance (ai) in front of the device (3) and by at least one side copying element (16) designed as a trailing side copying device at a distance (a2) behind the device (3).

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the device (3) for machining by removal is movable about an axis of rotation (6) and that the device (3) for setting a working position deviating from the first working position is moved translationally exclusively parallel to the axis of rotation (6).

4. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one device (3) is assigned to a first rail (1) and at least one further device is assigned to a second rail and that the devices (3) assigned to the different rails (1) are each displaced parallel to one another, in particular synchronously, into a changed working position deviating from the first working position.

5. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the event of an interruption or to check the recorded measured values ​​of the side copying elements (15, 16) of a first rail (1), the measured values ​​of the side copying elements (15, 16) of the other rail are used to adjust the working position.

6. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the arc radius of the rail (1) is calculated on the basis of the recorded measured values ​​of the side copies assigned to the same rail (1).

7. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the device (3) for machining, remachining and / or treatment rests against a convex region of a side surface (4) of the rail head profile (5).

8. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material-removing machining is carried out with at least one rotating tool, in particular a milling tool (2) and / or grinding tool, of the device (3).

9. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the axis of rotation (6) of the tool in the working position displaced with the difference value (D) in the direction of the opposite rail occupies an acute or obtuse angle between 1° and 5°, in particular between 2° and 4°, with the cross-sectional plane of the rail (1).

10. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rotating tool during machining, reworking and / or treatment with at least one section (8) against a running surface (9) of the Rail (1) and with at least one further section (10) against a side surface (4) of the rail head profile (5).

11. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a continuous distance measurement of the device (3) relative to the side surface of the rail (1) is carried out by means of the side copying elements (15, 16), in particular by means of a sensor or contactlessly.

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