DEVICE TO FEED AND POSITION BOLTS FOR THE COUPLING OF RAILS TO SLEEPERS

Abstract: Device to feed and position bolts for the coupling of rails to sleepers, which is suitable to be fitted to machines or units which perform the clamping and/or bolting of the rails to the sleepers, and is able to deliver heads (134) of bolts (34) directly to seatings (114), a clamping unit (52) cooperating with a conduit (43) which feeds the bolts (34) and is positioned at an end of such clamping unit (52), the bolt-feeder conduit (43) being supported by a vertically movable frame (25), the clamping unit (52) being suitable to grip the threaded shank of the bolt (34) and being able to move on three axes to position and deliver the heads (134) of the bolts (34) to seatings (114).

Description: The present invention concerns a device to feed and position bolts for the coupling of rails to sleepers. Such coupling may be performed automatically or semi-automatically. To be more exact, the invention tends to provide a device suitable to feed at a required rate and to position in appropriate lodgements the bolts to be employed to fix the rails to the sleepers. Such device is applied correctly to machines which bolt rails and are of the type described and claims in EP 143477, EP 149278 and EP 153772 and also to like and analogous machines. Many problems are entailed when rails are bolted to sleepers by complex machines which provide at least for the positioning, or prior positioning, or prior arrangement of the bolts and/or other elements employed to couple the rails to the sleepers. A first problem is the feeding of the bolts at a required rate and their correct positioning in appropriate lodgements. Another problem consists in ensuring a high degree of feasibility of the operation, so that there will be as few situations as possible, or rather no situations, where the bolt is not pre-positioned. Moreover, there exists the problem of positioning correctly the device which serves to feed and position the bolts in relation to the seating comprised in the lodgement of the bolt. A further problem is that the bolts are normally fed and positioned in tandem so as to serve the same plate placed astride the rail and anchored to the sleeper. These problems are encountered either with the rather wide tolerances of the bolts or with the rather wide tolerances of the seatings included for the bolts in the bolt lodgements. Moreover, such problems are encountered with the rather wide vertical and crosswise tolerances of the positioning of such lodgements in relation to the rail and the traversing means of the machine. US 4,131,067 discloses a device to position, deliver and drive spikes to secure the rails. This device comprises spike setter means cooperating with a stationary conduit delivering the spikes, such spike setter means and conduit being supported by a vertically movable frame. To overcome such shortcomings and provide the many advantages which will become clear in the following description, the present applicant has studied, tested and embodied the device of this invention. As will be shown hereinafter, the device serves for the bolts arranged on a plate placed astride a rail but can be used also to feed and position one bolt at a time or may be duplicated to feed all four bolts which couple two rails to one single sleeper. According to the invention the device may serve to position the bolts directly as in EP 143477 or may cooperate with the means preparing or pre-arranging pre-positioned sets of components as in EP 149278, or with like or analogous units. According to the invention an appropriate conduit which delivers bolts at its end is interrupted by a feeder means which lets only one bolt pass at a time. This feeder means collaborates immediately downstream of itself with a clamp able to grip the positioned bolt and to keep the head of the bolt free of any further conditioning. According to the invention the element which clamps the shank of the bolt is enabled to pass in front of an appro priate seating comprised in the bolt lodgement and to thrust towards that seating in a required manner. The purpose of this is to facilitate insertion of the bolt into the appropriate seating in the lodgement for the bolt. According to the invention the bolt previously positioned in the device can be made to pass several times in front of the bolt lodgement and be always thrust against its sea ting in a coordinated manner so as to reduce to a minimum the number of times when the bolt does not enter the pre-arranged seating. The whole assemblage is supported on a frame which makes possible two positions, one for movement along the rails and the other for work, so that there will be no contact with the bolt lodgements present nor with bolts already fitted by the device itself. The invention provides also a positioner lever which, with a suitable sensor, warns the device that it is correctly positioned in relation to the sleeper and therefore to the lodgement for the bolt. Such sensor therefore serves to indicate by a signal the moment when the device of the invention is suitably positioned to place the bolt correctly. The invention is therefore embodied according to the contents of Claim 1 and the dependent claims. The attached figures, which are given as a non-restrictive example, show the following: Fig.1 shows a side working view of a device according to the invention; Fig.2 shows a three-dimensional diagrammatic view,from which many elements are omitted, of the embodiment of Fig.1; Fig.3 shows a detail of the embodiment of Fig.1; Figs. 4 and 5 show further details of the embodiment of Fig.1. All the rotation pivots in the figures bear the reference number 28 as they all perform the same function. We shall describe hereinafter a possible working cycle, but different working cycles can be obtained with the invention. In the figures a rail 11 rests on a plate 13, which comprises on each side of the rail 11 an appropriate lodgement 14 for a bolt and is secured to a sleeper 12. Fixture of the plate 13 to the sleeper 12 takes place in a known manner and the plate is thus fixed prior to the installation of the sleeper. A lodgement 14 for a bolt comprises a seating 114 to hold the head 134 of the bolt 34. Wheels 22 of a machine applying the bolts or another analogous machine run along the rail 11, such machine being represented in the figures partially by means of a frame 16 of the machine. In the most up-to-date art such frame 16 normally moves continuously but could work with an alternate stop-go movement, being halted at each sleeper 12 and then starting again when work there has been completed. We shall describe hereinafter, as an example, the situation in which the machine moves continuously while the device 10 which feeds and positions the bolts is momentarily braked and slowed down so as to enable the head 134 of the bolt 34 to be positioned in the bolt lodgement 14. The bolt 34 is contained in a conduit 43, whither it arrives through the conduit portions 243-143, and is fed substantially continuously by delivery means, such as those described, for instance, in EP 143477, or by other means which can be employed for this purpose. Thus a plurality of bolts 34 is located within the conduit 43, substantially on the same axis as each other and substantially one above another, such bolts having their heads 134 facing downwards and their threaded shanks facing upwards. Owing to the size of the section of the conduit 43 the head of the bolt 134 rests on the threaded shank of the neighbouring bolt below 34, notwithstanding the orientation it may have taken up within the limits permitted by the inner dimensions of the conduit 43. The conduit 43 together with the conduit portion 143 is supported by a movable framework 25 and can oscillate lengthwise to the rail since it is pivoted at 28. The movable framework 25 is borne by the frame 16 of the machine and moves lengthwise therewith but can move vertically in relation to the frame 16. A feeder 42 comprising two shutters 41-45 is located at the lower end of the conduit 43. Such feeder 42 generically can rotate partially about its own axis owing to the displacement of a roller 40 of a lever 44 running on an opposing cam 36, such lever being attached to the feeder. The feeder 42 is returned to its closed position by the pressure exerted by a spring 46 (please see Figs.4a and 4b). When a positioner lever 31, which can rotate on a pivot 28 and bears a sensor 32, indicates the presence of a bolt lodgement 14 not containing a bolt 34, a brake 15 is applied by a jack 17 acting on a lever 18 and clamping brake shoes 21 against the sides of the rail 11. As the frame 16 of the machine continues its movement in the direction of the arrow 51, with the shoes 21 of the brake 15 clamped to the sides of the rail 11, a sleeve 20 solidly fixed to the shoe-actuation lever 18 runs along a guide 19 integrally fixed to the frame 16 of the machine. A connecting rod 24 anchored terminally to the brake 15 and halted therewith determines the lower terminal position of the conduit 43 in relation to the brake 15. A spring 23 to cause resilient return of the conduit 43 is located on the connecting rod 24. When the jack 17 of the brake unit 15 is actuated, the frame 16 of the machine continues its forward movement and the conduit 43 becomes distanced from a position of cooperation with a stationery positioner element 35. When the conduit 43 is cooperating with the stationary positioner element 35, the lever 44 attached to the conduit 43 is pressed against the opposing cam 36, as is shown in Fig.4a. The limit position which the conduit 43 takes up in relation to the opposing cam 36 is conditioned by a travel regulation screw 37. When the lever 44 is pressed against the cam 36, an upper shutter 45 leaves the bore of the conduit 43 free and thus enables a bolt 34 located above that shutter 45 hitherto to fall and rest on a lower shutter 41, which at that moment closes the bore of the conduit 43, as shown in Fig.4b. When the conduit 43 is distanced from the opposing cam 36 owing to the action of the brake 15, it frees the lever 44 from the conditioning exerted by the opposing cam 36 and enables the spring 46 to rotate the feeder 42 so as to be closed by the upper shutter 45. When the lever 44 of the feeder 42 is freed of the conditioning by the cam 36, the head 134 of the bolt 34 lying above the bolt now resting on the lower shutter 41 is intercepted by the upper shutter 45; in the meantime the bolt 34 freed by the lower shutter 41 is now able to drop further within the conduit 43 and rests on the stationary positioner element 35. As soon as the head 134 of such bolt 34 is located on the stationary positioner element 35, a clamping unit 52 intervenes, a jack 38 of that unit being actuated and a gripper 48 clamping the threaded portion of the bolt 34 against an abutment. Such clamping action keeps the head 134 and a part of the shank of the bolt 34 positioned correctly outside the clamping unit 52 and free to cooperate with the seating 114 of the bolt lodgement 14. When the bolt 34 is positioned correctly in the clamping unit 52 outside the device 10 and the conduit 43 is no longer cooperating with the stationary positioner element 35, a jack 127 acts against the movable framework 25 and makes it slide vertically on a guide 26 until an abutment 29 presses against an opposing lever 30, which is pivoted on the positioner lever 31. The abutment 29 and opposing lever 30 have the task of controlling the lengthwise position of the device 10 in relation to the rail 11 during insertion of the bolt 34 into its seating. The fact that the opposing lever 30 is pivoted on the positioner lever 31 has the effect that, if the brake has not acted properly and/or the positioner lever indicates that the bolt lodgement 14 is still below the positioner lever, the movable framework 25 cannot descend so far as to enable the head 134 of the bolt 34 to contac t the seating 114 in the bolt lodgement 14. If instead the positioner lever 31 has descended correctly and thus shows that it has passed the bolt lodgement 14, the movable framework 25 descends until the abutment 29 presses against the opposing lever 30. In this case the head 134 of the bolt 34 jutting from the clamping unit 52 and the seating 114 in the bolt lodgement 14 can cooperate exactly for their reciprocal positioning. The exact cooperation of the head 134 of the bolt 34 with the seating 114 in the bolt lodgement 14 in a vertical direction depends on the fact that the abutment 29 rests against the opposing lever 30. In such a condition, with the movement of a lengthwise cam 33 that moves together with the frame 16 of the machine to which it is solidly fixed, the clamping unit 52 is displaced and positions the head 134 of the bolt in the seating 114. If such positioning is successful, the clamping unit 52 opens and frees the bolt. If such positioning is unsuccessful, the head 134 of the bolt is passed one or more times before the seating 114 and at the same time is thrust towards it. A roller 39 is comprised in stationary cooperation with the conduit 43 and is able to run on the lengthwise cam 33, which, as we said, is anchored to the frame 16 of the machine and which conditions the position of the bolt head 134 crosswise to the rail 11 and in relation to the seating 114 included in the bolt lodgement 14. Owing to the lengthwise conformation of the cam 33, when the axis of the conduit 43 lies substantially in the neighbourhood of the vertical axis of the seating 114 in the bolt lodgement 14, the head 134 of the 34 is enabled to enter fully the seating 114 in the bolt lodgement 14, the vertical position of the head being determined by the cooperation of the abutment 29 with the top of the opposing lever 30. The inclusion of a return spring 49 positioned crosswise to the rail between two parallel conduits 43 cooperating with the bolt lodgements 14 in one and the same plate 13 causes the rollers 39 cooperating with each of the twin conduits 43 to cooperate properly in a lengthwise direction to the rail with their respective lengthwise cams 33. According to the invention the presence of the return spring 49 compels the twin conduits 43 to move in a synchronized manner. The invention provides also for a variant in which means are included to exert a pulling action towards the rail 11 in independent cooperation with the conduits 43, thus permitting an independent movement, which may also be repeated in different manners, of the twin conduits 43. If the head 134 of a bolt 34 passing before the seating 114 in a bolt lodgement 14 does not enter such seating, the conduit 43 is caused to oscillate again and to take the clamping unit 52, and therewith the bolt head 134 protruding therefrom, before the lodgement 14 once more. The bolt 34 is thus brought before the seating 114 of the lodgement 14 in a lengthwise direction by means of the jack 27 and in a crosswise direction by the positioning action of the return spring 49 and by the simultaneous cooperation of the roller 39 on the lengthwise cam 33. Such movement in one direction and/or the other can be repeated again and enables the device of the invention to position a great percentage of bolt heads 134 automatically within the seating 114 in the bolt lodgements 14. So as to be able to oscillate in the required direction, the conduit 43-143 is supported so as to be able to oscillate on its upper end on an axis 50 substantially normal to the plane of the development of the rail 11, whereas at an intermediate position it possesses an axis 150 of oscillation substantially parallel to the axis of the development of the rail 11. A guide shaft 26 is supported by a stationary frame 116 of the machine and comprises supports able to bear and position the movable fra mework 25 correctly. A jack 127 acts on a suitable cross member 125 that connects in this instance the two movable frameworks 25 bearing the conduits 43 cooperating with the two coordinated bolt lodgements 14 comprised at the two sides of the rail 11 and supported on the same plate 13. Departure of the bolt 34 from the clamping unit 52 can be conditioned by a movable cover 47 (Figs.3 and 5). If the device 10 is unable to place the head 134 of a bolt 34 in a seating 114, before unclamping the brake 15 or in cooperation with the unclamping action the clamping unit 52 frees the bolt 34 clamped thereby hitherto and lets it drop in the neighbourhood of a sleeper 12. The sequences described above can be varied as required since the correct positioning of the head 134 of the bolt 34 in the seating 114 and the content of the following claims are substantially the purposes of this invention.

Claims: 1 - Device to feed and position bolts for the coupling of rails to sleepers, which is suitable to be fitted to machines or units which perform the clamping and/or bolting of the rails to the sleepers, and is able to deliver heads (134) of bolts (34) directly to seatings (114), a clamping unit (52) cooperating with a conduit (43) which feeds the bolts (34) and is positioned at an end of such clamping unit (52), the bolt-feeder conduit (43) being supported by a vertically movable frame (25), the device being characterized in that the clamping unit (52) is suitable to grip the threaded shank of the bolt (34) and is able to move on three axes to position and deliver the heads (134) of the bolts (34) to seatings (114). 2 - Device as claimed in Claim 1, in which the conduit (43-143) consists of two elements (43-143) and is supported in such a manner that it can oscillate (50) lengthwise to the rail (11) and cooperates with a stationary conduit (243) located above itself. 3 - Device as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which at least a portion of the conduit (43-143) is supported in such a manner that it can oscillate (150) crosswise to the rail (11). 4 - Device as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, which comprises a positioner lever (31) which monitors the lodgement (14) of the bolt. 5 - Device as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which the vertical position of the clamping unit (52) is conditioned by the positioner lever (31). 6 - Device as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which the position of the head (134) of the bolt (34) in the clamping unit (52) is determined by a stationary positioner element (35). 7 - Device as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which a feeder (42) which conditions the passage of bolts (34) through the conduit (43) is comprised in cooperation with the conduit (43) upstream of the clamping unit (52). 8 - Device as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, in which a position transverse to the rail momentarily taken up by the clamping unit (52) is conditioned by a cam (33) positioned lengthwise to the rail (11).

Inventors: MANCINI, FLAVIO
Applicants: DANIELI & C. OFFICINE MECCANICHE S.P.A., ITI/CLM IMPIANTI TECNICI INDUSTRIALI SPA
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E01B29
IPC codes: E01B29