System and method for railroad track tie plate collection from a rail bed
First Claim
1. A machine for collecting tie plates strewn along a rail bed, comprising:
- a frame adapted for travel along a railroad in a forward direction;
a pickup drum rotatably supported by the frame and extending over a portion of the rail bed, the pickup drum having magnetic properties such that ferrous objects that include tie plates and other objects strewn along the rail bed portion are attracted toward the pickup drum;
a top drum rotatably supported by the frame and disposed at a location that is higher and forward of the pickup drum, wherein the top drum is arranged to rotate about an axis that is parallel to an axis of rotation of the pickup drum;
an endless conveyor arranged to circulate around the pickup and top drums;
a separation drum disposed between the pickup drum and the top drum along an ascending portion of the endless conveyor, wherein the pickup drum is arranged to generate a magnetic force that is strong enough to attract the other objects but not the tie plates disposed on the ascending portion, thus separating the tie plates from the other objects.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A machine for collecting tie plates strewn along a rail bed includes a frame adapted for travel along a railroad in a forward direction. A pickup drum having magnetic properties is rotatably supported by the frame and extends over a bed portion of the railroad. A top drum is mounted at a location that is higher and forward of the pickup drum and rotates parallel to the pickup drum. An endless conveyor circulates around the pickup and top drums, and a separation drum is disposed between the pickup drum and the top drum along an ascending portion of the endless conveyor. The separation drum includes a magnetized rim that can lift ferrous objects but not tie plates from the endless conveyor.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A machine for collecting tie plates strewn along a rail bed, comprising:
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a frame adapted for travel along a railroad in a forward direction; a pickup drum rotatably supported by the frame and extending over a portion of the rail bed, the pickup drum having magnetic properties such that ferrous objects that include tie plates and other objects strewn along the rail bed portion are attracted toward the pickup drum; a top drum rotatably supported by the frame and disposed at a location that is higher and forward of the pickup drum, wherein the top drum is arranged to rotate about an axis that is parallel to an axis of rotation of the pickup drum; an endless conveyor arranged to circulate around the pickup and top drums; a separation drum disposed between the pickup drum and the top drum along an ascending portion of the endless conveyor, wherein the pickup drum is arranged to generate a magnetic force that is strong enough to attract the other objects but not the tie plates disposed on the ascending portion, thus separating the tie plates from the other objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A conveyor system for sorting tie plates used in railroads from other ferrous objects collected from a rail bed, the conveyor system comprising:
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a pickup drum rotatably supported by a frame and extending over the rail bed, the pickup drum generating a magnetic force such that the tie plates and the other ferrous objects strewn along the rail bed are attracted toward the pickup drum; a top drum rotatably supported by the frame and disposed at a location that is higher and offset from the pickup drum, wherein the top drum is arranged to rotate about an axis that is parallel to an axis of rotation of the pickup drum; an endless conveyor arranged to circulate around the pickup and top drums; a separation drum disposed between the pickup drum and the top drum along an ascending portion of the endless conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of sorting tie plates collected from a rail bed from other ferrous objects collected from the rail bed, the method comprising:
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rotatably supporting a pickup drum from a frame, and extending the pickup drum over the rail bed; attracting the tie plates and the other ferrous objects strewn along the rail bed toward the pickup drum by magnetic force; rotatably supporting a top drum from the frame and positioning the top drum at a location that is higher and offset relative to the pickup drum, wherein the top drum is arranged to rotate about an axis that is parallel to an axis of rotation of the pickup drum; circulating an endless conveyor around the pickup and top drums; rotatably supporting a separation drum between the pickup drum and the top drum along an ascending portion of the endless conveyor; removing the other ferrous objects but not the tie plates from the endless conveyor by attracting the other ferrous objects to the separation drum by magnetic forces; and providing a separation slide having a wedge disposed adjacent the magnetized rim of the separation drum such that other ferrous objects attached thereto are separated from the separation drum and are provided to the separation slide. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification