Truck mounted tie exchanger with self-aligning tie clamp

A road vehicle tie exchanger assembly comprising:

• an attachment frame for stationary mounting to a frame of a road vehicle;
• a support movably mounted to said attachment frame;
• at least one lift actuator operably connected to lift said support relative to said attachment frame;
• and
• a tie exchanger including a tie clamp, said tie exchanger secured at a vertical pivot point to said support, said vertical pivot point corresponding to a vertical axis about which said tie exchanger is pivotable relative to said support, said tie exchanger operable to remove old ties from a rail roadbed and to insert new ties in a rail roadbed;
• and
• wherein said tie exchanger is rotatable at least 180 degrees about said vertical pivot point for removal of ties from both right and left sides of the vehicle;
• and wherein said support has rail clamps mounted to opposite ends of it;
• and wherein said support is mounted to said attachment frame by parallel link pairs, there being one link pair at each of the opposite ends of said support, said link pairs maintaining the orientation of the support;
• and wherein said link pairs have spherical ball joint bearings at their ends to allow sideways movement of said support relative to said attachment frame.

A road vehicle tie exchanger assembly comprising:

• an attachment frame for stationary mounting to a frame of a road vehicle;
• a support movably mounted to said attachment frame;
• at least one lift actuator operably connected to lift said support relative to said attachment frame;
• and
• a tie exchanger including a tie clamp, said tie exchanger secured at a vertical pivot point to said support, said vertical pivot point corresponding to a vertical axis about which said tie exchanger is pivotable relative to said support, said tie exchanger operable to remove old ties from a rail roadbed and to insert new ties in a rail roadbed;
• and
• wherein said tie exchanger is rotatable at least 180 degrees about said vertical pivot point for removal of ties from both right and left sides of the vehicle;
• and wherein said support has rail clamps mounted to opposite ends of it;
• and wherein said support is mounted to said attachment frame by parallel link pairs, there being one link pair at each of the opposite ends of said support, said link pairs maintaining the orientation of the support;
• and wherein said tie exchanger comprises a telescoping boom with said tie clamp mounted on a distal end thereof;
• and wherein said telescoping boom is mounted to said support by way of a pivot frame and said telescoping boom is pivotable about a horizontal axis relative to said pivot frame.

A tie exchanger assembly comprising:

• an attachment frame for stationary mounting to a frame of a vehicle;
• a support movably mounted to said attachment frame;
• at least one lift actuator operably connected to lift said support relative to said attachment frame;
• and
• a tie exchanger including a tie clamp, said tie exchanger secured at a vertical pivot point to said support, said vertical pivot point corresponding to a vertical axis about which said tie exchanger is pivotable relative to said support, said tie exchanger operable to remove old ties from a rail roadbed and to insert new ties in a rail roadbed;
• and
• wherein said tie exchanger comprises a telescoping boom with said tie clamp mounted on a distal end thereof, and wherein sideways forces from insertion and removal of ties are absorbed with no or minimal application of the forces to said attachment frame;
• and wherein said telescoping boom includes an inner boom section which extends over said vertical pivot point when said telescoping boom is in a retracted position;
• and wherein said tie exchanger includes an actuator operable to extend and retract said telescoping boom, and said actuator is mounted adjacent said vertical pivot and said vertical pivot point is centrally located in a rail-to-rail direction.

A road vehicle tie exchanger assembly comprising:

• an attachment frame for stationary mounting to a frame of a road vehicle;
• a support movably mounted to said attachment frame;
• at least one lift actuator operably connected to lift said support relative to said attachment frame;
• and
• a tie exchanger including a tie clamp, said tie exchanger secured at a vertical pivot point to said support, said vertical pivot point corresponding to a vertical axis about which said tie exchanger is pivotable relative to said support, said tie exchanger operable to remove old ties from a rail roadbed and to insert new ties in a rail roadbed;
• and
• wherein said tie exchanger is rotatable at least 180 degrees about said vertical pivot point for removal of ties from both right and left sides of the vehicle, and wherein said tie exchanger comprises a telescoping boom with said tie clamp mounted on a distal end thereof and wherein said vertical pivot point is centrally located in a rail-to-rail direction of said support;
• and wherein said tie exchanger includes an actuator operable to extend and retract said telescoping boom, and said actuator is mounted adjacent said vertical pivot point.

A road vehicle tie exchanger assembly comprising:

• an attachment frame for stationary mounting to a frame of a road vehicle;
• a support movably mounted to said attachment frame;
• at least one lift actuator operably connected to lift said support relative to said attachment frame;
• and
• a tie exchanger including a tie clamp, said tie exchanger secured at a vertical pivot point to said support, said vertical pivot point corresponding to a vertical axis about which said tie exchanger is pivotable relative to said support, said tie exchanger operable to remove old ties from a rail roadbed and to insert new ties in a rail roadbed;
• and
• wherein said tie exchanger is rotatable at least 180 degrees about said vertical pivot point for removal of ties from both right and left sides of the vehicle, and further comprising rail clamps mounted to opposite ends of said support, said rail calmps disposed in a vertical plane in which ties are moved for insertion and removal;
• and wherein said rail clamps are mounted approximately in line with said vertical pivot point in a direction perpendicular to a rail direction in order to minimize torque upon insertion and removal of ties by said tie exchanger.