Rail puller including a clamping beam and two clamping members and a method thereof

#This invention relates to rail pullers, and more particularly to hydraulic clamping rail pullers used to tension rails.

#Rail pullers are commonly used in railways to pull the ends of rail sections together. Rail sections are relatively long, and may be as long as one quarter mile. The rail sections are usually aligned linearly with a gap between the ends of the rail sections. The gap between the rail sections may be approximately 6 inches. The rail puller puts the rail sections in tension to reduce the gap between the rail sections. Once the rail sections are pulled together, the ends of the rail sections are welded together to form a continuous track.

#Rail sections are relatively heavy, and the force required to pull rail sections together and reduce the gap between the rail section is relatively large. Some prior art rail pullers use rams or hydraulic cylinders to pull the rail sections together. The hydraulic cylinders needed to generate the relatively large force required to pull the rail sections together are relatively heavy and expensive. Two characteristics of hydraulic cylinders are the travel distance and the pull capacity of the cylinder. The travel distance is dependent upon the length of the cylinder, and determines the distance between the fully retracted cylinder to the fully extended cylinder. The pull capacity is related to the cross-sectional area of the cylinder, and determines the amount of force the cylinder can generate.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rail puller embodying the invention.

#FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rail puller of FIG. 1 in an open condition.

#FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rail puller of FIG. 1 in a closed condition.

#Before the embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

#Although references are made below to directions, such as left, right, up, down, top, bottom, front, rear, back etc., in describing the drawings, they are made relative to the drawings (as normally viewed) for convenience. These directions are not intended to be taken literally or limit the present invention in any form.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a rail puller 10 for tensioning rails and reducing the gap between the ends of rail sections. The rail puller 10 generally has a longitudinal direction along its length and a lateral direction across its width. The rail puller 10 comprises a first clamp assembly 14 and a second clamp assembly 18 disposed at opposite ends of the rail puller 10. A clamping beam 22 and at least two pulling members 26 are coupled to the first and second clamp assemblies 14, 18. The clamping beam 22 extends longitudinally between the clamp assemblies 14, 18 near the middle of the rail puller 10, and the pulling members 26 extend longitudinally between the clamp assemblies 14, 18 along the sides of the rail puller 10 parallel and spaced apart from each other and from the clamping beam 22.