Railway Sleeper Renewal Machine with Rotating Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing machines for renewing railway sleepers and cleaning ballast struggle to operate efficiently in spatially restricted areas such as between platforms, tunnels, or on bridges, due to limitations in the movement of excavating chains and sleeper handling.
Innovation Solution
A machine with a movable rail bogie, a screening plant, and a clearing device equipped with a rotatable sleeper transport device and adjustable gripper, allowing for efficient sleeper interchange and ballast cleaning by positioning the excavating chain close to the rails, even in tight spaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the excavating chain operates in restricted spaces between platforms, tunnels, or on bridges, then the machine can perform sleeper renewal and ballast cleaning in these challenging environments, but the freedom of movement of the excavating chain is limited by the presence of sleepers and tight spatial constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into separate functional modules: a first rail bogie for support and movement, a sleeper transport device with gripper for sleeper handling, and a second rail bogie with excavating chain for ballast cleaning. This segmentation allows each component to operate independently in restricted spaces without requiring continuous clearance for the entire machine structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeper transport device moves sleepers in a direction perpendicular to the track (vertically), while the excavating chain operates horizontally along the track. This dimensional separation allows both operations to proceed simultaneously without interfering with each other's movement paths, resolving the conflict between restricted space operation and chain freedom of movement.
2Productivity
If sleepers are temporarily laid by the side of the track to allow excavating chain passage, then the excavating chain can work through obstacle areas, but the process requires additional time and space for sleeper removal and reinsertion
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeper transport device continuously transports sleepers from the track to the collection device and back, eliminating interruptions in the excavating chain's operation. The gripper mechanism continuously grips, lifts, and repositions sleepers without requiring manual intervention or stopping the main working cycle, thus maintaining continuous productive action.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection device acts as an intermediary storage area between the track and the sleeper transport device. Sleepers are temporarily deposited in this collection device rather than being permanently removed from the track, allowing the excavating chain to pass through obstacle areas while sleepers are systematically handled and reinstalled by the transport device.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the sleeper gripper is designed with adjustable height and lateral position, then it can adapt to different sleeper positions and track conditions, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gripper device incorporates adjustable height and lateral position capabilities through dynamic positioning mechanisms. The gripper can move vertically to accommodate different sleeper heights and laterally to reach obstacles, providing adaptability to various track conditions while using controlled mechanical adjustments rather than complex reconfigurable structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine for the renewal of sleepers of a track having rails and for the cleaning of exposed ballast after removal of old sleepers, includes a machine frame which is movable on a rail bogie on the track, a screening plant and a clearing device having a collection device for collecting ballast. A sleeper transport device includes a sleeper gripper, rotatable about a vertical axis, between two end-positioned rail bogies, connected to the machine frame, and being displaceable in a longitudinal direction of the machine. The sleeper transport device is displaceable from a front end position (with respect to a working direction) provided for picking up new sleepers by the collection device for collecting ballast, to a rear end position configured to deposit the new sleepers.