Method of welding continuous rails and apparatus therefor

In an apparatus for welding continuous rail sections of a quarter mile or more in length together in end-to-end relationship to form a continuous track, the combination of a single railroad car containing electric welding apparatus, rail supply means for storing a plurality of said continuous rail sections, a rail transfer device for supplying said continuous rail sections from said rail supply means to said welding apparatus, a pusher mechanism for pushing the welded-together continuous rail sections forming the continuous track from said welding apparatus, said welding apparatus comprising a fixed assembly and a movable assembly each of which includes clamping means for clamping the ends of the continuous rail sections to be welded together, means for longitudinally advancing and retracting said movable assembly with respect to said fixed assembly, first and second electrodes respectively engageable with adjacent ends of said continuous rail sections to be welded together and means for causing current flow between said electrodes and through the ends of said continuous rail sections in order to make the weld, a first one of said continuous rail sections being supplied by said rail transfer device from said rail supply means to and through said welding apparatus until one end thereof is positioned approximate the weld axis of said welding apparatus, said one end of said first one of said continuous rail sections being clamped in said movable assembly of said welding apparatus, the other end thereof extending through said pusher mechanism and lying on the ties of a railroad track, a portion of said first one of said continuous rail sections extending from said welding apparatus and said pusher mechanism forming a loop or length of rail which is of sufficient length and flexibility to permit the end of said first one of said continuous rails positioned approximate the weld axis to be longitudinally advanced and retracted with respect to the end of a second one of said continuous rail sections supplied to said welding apparatus with the end thereof positioned approximate the weld axis, a second one of said continuous rail sections being supplied by said rail transfer device from said rail supply means to said welding apparatus with the end thereof positioned approximate the weld axis of said welding apparatus, said end of said second one of said continuous rail sections being clamped by said clamping means in said fixed assembly of said welding apparatus, said means for longitudinally advancing and retracting said movable assembly being operated to longitudinally advance and retract and then force the end of said first one of said continuous rail sections together with the end of said second one of said continuous rail sections as current is caused to flow between said electrodes and through the ends of said continuous rail sections to form a flash butt welded joint, whereby advantage is taken of said portion of said first one of said continuous rail sections extending from said welding apparatus and said pusher mechanism to permit the ends of said continuous rail sections to be welded together without the necessity of longitudinally advancing and retracting the entire length of either of said continuous rail sections.

Welding apparatus for welding workpiece sections together in end-to-end relationship to form a continuous length comprising a main frame, a fixed assembly supported by said main frame, a movable assembly supported by said main frame and longitudinally movable with respect to said fixed assembly, first and second electrodes respectively engageable with adjacent end portions of successive workpiece sections to be welded together and means for causing current flow between the electrodes and through the ends of the workpiece sections in order to make the weld, said fixed and movable assemblies each comprising a pair of clamp assemblies for clamping the ends of said workpiece sections to be welded together, said clamp assemblies each comprising a hydraulic cylinder, a pair of clamp arms pivotally supported in opposed relationship so as to clamp the workpiece section between them and a plurality of lever arms coupled to said hydraulic cylinder and the respective ones of said pair of clamp arms for pivotally operating said clamp arms to clamp the workpiece section between them upon operation of said hydraulic cylinder, a spring assembly associated with each of said clamp arms for transmitting to said clamp arms a vertical press-on force for clamping the workpiece section, said clamp assemblies being pivotally operable to clamp a workpiece section between them and to open to permit the workpiece section and the welding apparatus to be vertically displaced with respect to one another, each of said pair of clamp arms having removably affixed to the end thereof a clamp head formed to substantially correspond to the shape of said workpiece sections to be welded together, whereby said welding apparatus can be utilized to weld together in end-to-end relationship various workpieces such as pipes to form a continuous length pipeline, said electrodes likewise being correspondingly formed to the shape of the workpiece.