Patent GB-756796-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to rail track ballast cleaning machines
IPC: E01B27/10
Filed: 1954-06-17
Abstract: 756,796. Rail track ballast cleaning machines. MATERIEL INDUSTRIEL SOC. ANON., and CONSTRUCTIONS MECANIQUES SOC. ANON. June 17, 1954 [June 17, 1953], No. 17850/54. Class 104 (2). A rail track ballast cleaning machine has supported by a rail vehicle an endless digging chain having a plurality of scoops 5 mounted thereon and arranged in a triangular loop inclined at not more than 45 degrees to the ground with the base 7 disposed at the leading end and the apex at the trailing end of the vehicle the scoops 5 lifting the ballast from the digging point at the base 7 to the apex on to a conveyer 13 inclined in the opposite direction to the digging chain plane and intersecting the triangular loop and with its lower end disposed beneath the triangular loop apex to receive and carry the ballast forwardly and upwardly to a vibrating screen assembly 17 disposed beneath the forward end thereof, the screen assembly having a number of screens 17a, 17b to separate the ballast into different sizes the finest being conveyed from the screen assembly 17 for ultimate rejection whilst the other sizes are received by a grading means and returned to the rail track at a position behind the digging point 7. A hopper 15 provided at the forward end of the conveyer 13 has a trap door 43 which in one position guides ballast on to the screen assembly 17 and in another position directs the ballast on to a conveyer 19 whence it is delivered on to a. discharging conveyer 22 via a hopper 20. The material rejected by the screen assembly 17 will also pass to the conveyer 19 and ultimately to the conveyer 22. The material leaving the screen assembly 17, the coarse from screen 17A and the smaller from screen 17B, drops on to a plate 52, extending the width of the track, or into a hopper 18. The hopper 18 is provided with a hinged door 44 which in one position guides the material on to a conveyer 28 for delivery to the track towards the rear of the machine and in the other position directly over the plate 52 adjacent the rear of the digging point 7. The conveyer 28 can be swung about a pivot 45 by a crank 46 or a motor 47. When the machine is in operation the conveyer can be automatically swung between positions 281, 28<SP>11</SP> by the motor 47, reversal being effected by limit switches. The conveyer 22 can be adjusted by a cable 24 and a crank 25 or a motor and can be swung laterally about a pivot 26 to dispose of ballast on the side of the track or on an adjacent truck. Two trap doors 53, 54 provided at the discharge end of the screen 17a can be adjusted to determine the supply of coarse material to the plate 52 or hopper 18. The front end of the digging chain can be vertically adjusted by hand wheels 35. The vehicle can be self-propelled or, when operating, be drawn along by a motor-driven winch 30, cable 33 and pulley 34. All motors can be controlled from a panel 31 and fed either by an outside supply source or a generator placed on a platform 32. Vertically adjustable bogies 57 which roll on four rollers can take the load off the front vehicle bogie 2 when required. The rear bogie 3 may also be provided with a similar arrangement. The cleaning operation of the track is effected by shifting sleepers ahead of the vehicle as the vehicle advances so that each third sleeper 55 will rest on the ballast. The track is thus raised 5 to 7 inches and is sufficiently supported to allow the vehicle to proceed. The freshly-restored ballast behind the digging point 7 is lightly tamped by a levelling-grading device 56. The digging chain guide is articulated at 40 to enable the guide to move to one side in order to avoid obstructions such as signal column bases.