Rail anchor spreader-squeezer
AssigneeNordco Inc.
InventorPatrick Pritzl
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rail maintenance anchor spreader/squeezer work head includes a work head frame, a pair of sliding brackets laterally reciprocating on the frame, each bracket having an anchor engaging end, and a pair of opposed fluid power cylinders secured to the frame, each cylinder connected to a respective one of the sliding brackets for laterally reciprocating the sliding brackets for any one of anchor squeezing, when both cylinders are extended, and anchor spreading when at least one of the cylinders is retracted.
Claims21
A rail maintenance anchor spreader/squeezer work head for use on a railroad track including a pair of spaced parallel rails extending along a rail axis, comprising:
- a work head frame;
- a pair of sliding brackets laterally reciprocating on said frame along an operational axis parallel to the rail axis, each said bracket having an anchor engaging end;
- and
- a pair of opposed fluid power cylinders secured to said frame, each said cylinder connected to a respective one of said sliding brackets for laterally reciprocating said sliding brackets along said operational axis and relative to said workhead frame and selectively controlled for any one of anchor squeezing, when both cylinders are extended and said brackets move closer together along said operational axis for moving adjacent anchors along the rail to be closer together, and anchor spreading when at least one of said cylinders is retracted and said brackets move apart along said operational axis for spreading the anchors away from each other along the rail.
A rail anchor spreader-squeezer machine configured for selectively squeezing or spreading anchors on a rail of a railroad track, the track extending along a rail axis, said machine comprising:
- a machine frame having a front frame end and a rear frame end;
- a pair of work heads mounted to a workhead frame connected to said machine frame and being reciprocably movable relative to the track between a working position and a travel position;
- and
- a control system connected to said work head, said work head- performing anchor spreading, where at least one of a pair of brackets on said work heads moves farther from the other along an operational axis parallel to the rail axis and relative to said workhead frame, and anchor squeezing, where at least one of said brackets on said work heads moves closer to the other along said operational axis, depending on an operational sequence determined by said control system.
A tool for use with a rail maintenance anchor spreader squeezer having at least one sliding bracket with a work arm having an anchor engaging end, said tool configured for attachment to said anchor engaging end and comprising:
- a tool body having a mounting end and an opposite anchor work end, said ends being coplanar, said anchor work end including at least one impact surface;
- and
- said tool body being provided with a rail following surface located on a portion of said tool body projecting transversely to a plane defined by said mounting end and to said work end, and said rail following surface extending parallel to a corresponding rail of a railroad track, said following surface being stepped for accommodating variations in rail base width, said stepped surface extending a height of said body and including a plurality of vertically projecting surfaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.