Patent GB-886230-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for the lifting of railway tracks
IPC: E01B27/17
Filed: 1958-04-30
Abstract: 886,230. Levelling railway rails. PLASSER, F., and THEURER, J. April 30, 1958 [May 3, 1957; June 25, 1957; Jan. 31, 1958], No. 13782/58. Class 104 (2). In an apparatus for lifting railway tracks to a predetermined height by a mobile track lifter, and in which a levellable instrument is set in stationary manner to the predetermined level at which each track section is to be connected, independently of and spaced from the track lifter, and which is arranged at one end of the track section, the deviation of the theoretical predetermined track position determined by the levelling line of the levellable instrument from the actual track position at the particular place where the track lifter is situated is monitored at the track lifting vehicle with the aid of longdistance transmission means. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a track 7 is lifted by a track lifter 2 arranged on the front end of a known type of vibrating tool, track mounted, packing machine 1. The track lifter 2 has a marking 2<SP>1</SP>, Fig. 3, on which is directed the visual rays 3<SP>11</SP> of a levelling instrument 3. The optical system of the instrument 3 is observed by a television camera 4 which is connected by a cable 6 to a screen 5 arranged on the track packing machine 1. The angular position of the instrument 3 is adjusted with the air of a scale 10. The rail clamping tongs 11 are provided with a sensing element 11<SP>11</SP> which engages the top of the rail 7 to ensure that a marking 2<SP>1</SP> on the track lifter is always at a fixed distance from the rail top. The apparatus operates in the following manner: The apparatus is made to travel forward to the next sleeper to be packed, but before packing begins a control lever 22 is moved from the rest position I to a position II in which position a pump 25 upplies a pressure medium through a pipe 24, cylinder containing a piston 21 operated by the lever 22, a previously open valve 15<SP>1</SP> into a cylinder 12 of the tongs 11, to operate against a spring-biased piston 13 in order to grip the rail 7 by means of the tongs 11. The lever 22 is now shifted to the position III to allow the pressure medium to pass through a pipe 19 into a cylinder 16 to operate against a spring- biased piston 17 to lift the rail 7. The rail 7 is lifted until the line 2<SP>1</SP> is aligned with the reticule in the instrument 3 and this can then be seen by the operator on the television screen 5. As soon as the reticule and the line 2<SP>1</SP> are in alignment, the lever 22 is returned to position II to hold the rail in the raised position and the tamping tools are then operated to pack ballast beneath the raised sleeper 8. Only one rail 7 need be lifted since the vertical position of the other rail can be determined by a spirit level provided on the machine in the usual manner. After packing the lever 22 is returned to position I to release the tongs 11. To move the machine the stop valve 15<SP>1</SP> is closed, the lever 22 is moved to the position 3 to raise the tongs 11 by the piston 17 and the tongs 11 are then fixed in the raised position by any known mechanical means, the lever then being returned to position I. The maximum pressure in the track lifting cylinder is determined by a pressure relief valve 27. In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the track lifter and the level marking 2<SP>1</SP> are arranged on a separate wheel mounted trolley 30 connected to the front of the track-packing machine 1 by a variable length coupling. The variable length coupling comprises a cylinder 31 containing a piston 32 and is pivotally connected at 29, 29<SP>1</SP> to the packing machine 1 and the trolley 30. By the admission of a pressure fluid to the cylinder 31 the spacing between the packing machine 1 and the trolley 30 can be regulated in accordance with the spacing between sleepers 8. The trolley 30 is provided with the rail gripping tongs as described in the previous embodiment and in addition has bearing members 33 which are attached to the cylinder 16 and project downwards on each side of the rail 7 to engage the ballast 8<SP>1</SP>. A spring 34 surrounding the cylinder 16 and bearing at one end against a bracket 25 on the trolley 30 returns the members 33 to the inoperative position. In a further modification, Fig. 6 (not shown), the measuring truck is connected by a coupling to the rear of the packing machine 1 and is provided with an inclination meter which is observed by a television camera connected by a transmission line to a screen so that the operator is able to supervise the position of the track already packed. In a further modification shown in Fig. 8, the levellable instrument is a stroboscopic projector 40 which admits a narrowly limited sharp beam 3<SP>11</SP> towards a selenium cell 39 carried by the track-lifting trolley 30 and connected to an optical or acoustic signalling instrument 42. The control of the track lifter 16 may be influenced by an electrical impulse produced by the selenium cell 39, in which case the instrument 42 would not be necessary. In yet a further modification, Fig. 9 (not shown), the rays from the source impinge on a selenium cell immovably mounted at the other end of the track section to be connected and separately from the track lifter trolley. The track lifter lifts the rails together with a shutter so that when the rail is lifted to the desired height the impulse produced in the selenium cell by the interruption of the ray is transmitted by a cable to a signalling device carried by a trolley. The impulse may also be used to stop the operation of the track lifter. The signalling instrument may be arranged on the housing of the receiver in which case the cable is not required. The rays 3<SP>11</SP> forming the levelling line may be infra-red, ultra-violet, ultra-short, ultrasonic, acoustical or high-frequency waves of all kinds.