Rail Unloading Device with Guiding Rollers for Parallel Track Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for unloading long rails in parallel tracks require lateral unloading onto a ballast bed, resulting in excessive width between rails and necessitate additional assembly steps using rail positioners, which can lead to unnecessary wear and warp of the rails.
Innovation Solution
A device is developed that allows direct unloading and positioning of rails onto crossties by using metal structures with rollers and adjustable cantilevers in auxiliary wagons, enabling smooth transition from a rail carrier train to the parallel track, with height regulation and flexible unloading directions to prevent radii and buckling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If rails are unloaded laterally onto the ballast bed, then the unloading process is simple, but the width between rails becomes excessive requiring additional assembly steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediate guiding structures (windows with rollers, beams, and support wheels) as mediators between the rail carrier train and the parallel track. These intermediaries guide the rails through a controlled transition path, enabling direct unloading onto crossties while maintaining precise positioning and eliminating the need for additional rail positioners.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary positioning actions by pre-configuring the guiding windows, beams, and support structures in the auxiliary wagons before the unloading process begins. The windows are positioned in advance to align with the target crosstie locations, and the beams are pre-installed to define the rail transition path, ensuring precise rail placement is achieved automatically during unloading.
2Manufacturing precision
If rails are unloaded directly onto crossties, then rail positioning is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the unloading device into segmented functional components: multiple auxiliary wagons, each equipped with its own set of guiding windows, beams, and support structures. This segmentation allows the complex positioning function to be distributed across multiple simpler units, making the overall system more manageable and easier to implement while maintaining high positioning precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The guiding windows and beams serve multiple functions simultaneously: they guide the rails laterally, support the rails vertically, define the transition path, and align with the crossties. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby managing device complexity while achieving precise rail positioning.
3Manufacturing precision
If the train moves at uniform slow speed, then rail positioning is precise, but the unloading time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous unloading operation by maintaining the train's forward movement at a steady speed while the guiding structures continuously guide the rails through the transition. The windows with rollers and beams operate continuously to support the rails throughout the unloading process, eliminating interruptions and ensuring that the useful action of rail positioning occurs without unnecessary delays, thus balancing precision with efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient, smooth, and precise unloading of rails onto crossties, preventing longitudinal and lateral pull, thus minimizing wear and warp, and allowing quick handling and assembly, while adhering to international standards for radii and buckling.
Implementation Method 1
windows are internally provided with rollers through which the two rails pass guided
Implementation Method 2
a hydraulic mechanism which is fixed to a support on the cantilever beam itself
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a device for unloading and placing rails in a track parallel to another existing track, which is assembled in the rear of the rail carrier train (Tc), which runs on the existing main track (Vd), coupled in a series of auxiliary wagons (V1, V2, V3), and formed by a series of metal structures (P1, . . . , P9) fixed in said auxiliary wagons added in the rear of the rail carrier train, which determine several fixed guiding points longitudinally distributed in a suitable manner along these auxiliary wagons, both in the transverse and in the vertical direction, in a smooth transition and according to the standards in relation to the radii and buckling of the rail, from its transport position on the rail carrier (Tc) to its definitive position on the bearing plate of the crossties previously positioned in an also definitive place on the subgrade of the parallel track (Vp).