Ballast broom with auger and method
First Claim
1. A railroad ballast broom vehicle comprising:
- first and second sides of the vehicle;
a vehicle frame having rail-engaging wheels;
a broom supported by the vehicle frame and having a housing and a rotary core with broom elements fixed to rotate therewith about a broom axis;
an auger supported by the vehicle frame adjacent to the broom such that ballast is thrown from the broom to the auger, the auger having at least a first auger outlet on the first side of the vehicle, the auger being rotatable in an auger rotation direction about an auger axis and being operable to carry ballast received from the broom to at least the first auger outlet;
an auger housing; and
a ball and socket joint; and
wherein the auger is movably mounted in the auger housing by way of the ball and socket joint.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A railroad ballast broom vehicle uses a double or split auger to move ballast received from a rotary core broom. The auger has various features to minimize the risk of it jamming on ballast which it moves to the field side of rails of the railroad bed which is being swept. Flex plates are used to mount broom drive hydraulic motors to minimize or avoid problems which might otherwise be caused by slight misalignments in the motors and the rotary core of the broom. A dust control system is used to minimize escape of dust from operation of the vehicle. A method of using the vehicle advantageously uses only a single pass of the vehicle over a given section of road bed in need of sweeping.
38 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A railroad ballast broom vehicle comprising:
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first and second sides of the vehicle; a vehicle frame having rail-engaging wheels; a broom supported by the vehicle frame and having a housing and a rotary core with broom elements fixed to rotate therewith about a broom axis; an auger supported by the vehicle frame adjacent to the broom such that ballast is thrown from the broom to the auger, the auger having at least a first auger outlet on the first side of the vehicle, the auger being rotatable in an auger rotation direction about an auger axis and being operable to carry ballast received from the broom to at least the first auger outlet; an auger housing; and a ball and socket joint; and wherein the auger is movably mounted in the auger housing by way of the ball and socket joint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A railroad ballast broom vehicle comprising:
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first and second sides of the vehicle; a vehicle frame having rail-engaging wheels; a broom supported by the vehicle frame and having a housing and a rotary core with broom elements fixed to rotate therewith about a broom axis; and an auger supported by the vehicle frame adjacent to the broom such that ballast is thrown from the broom to the auger, the auger having at least a first auger outlet on the first side of the vehicle, the auger being rotatable about an auger axis and being operable to carry ballast received from the broom to at least the first auger outlet; first and second motor plates respectively mounted to first and second side walls of the broom housing, each plate offset an offset distance from the corresponding side wall and fixed to the corresponding side wall at fix points; and first and second broom drive motors mounted respectively to the first and second motor plates; and wherein the first and second motor plates are flexible relative to the respective first and second side walls such that minor misalignments between the rotary core and the first and second broom drive motors will be accommodated with minimal stress-causing vibration or oscillation on the rotary core and the first and second side walls. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A railroad ballast broom vehicle comprising:
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first and second sides of the vehicle; a vehicle frame having rail-engaging wheels; a ballast pick up supported by the vehicle frame for picking up ballast from a railroad road bed; an auger supported by the vehicle frame adjacent to the ballast pick up for receiving ballast from the ballast pick up, the auger having at least a first auger outlet on the first side of the vehicle, the auger being rotatable about an auger axis and being operable to carry ballast received from the ballast pick up to at least the first auger outlet; and a dust filter at least partially above the auger and operable to filter dust from air above the auger; and wherein the auger further has a second auger outlet, the second auger outlet being on the second side of the vehicle; and
wherein the auger is a double auger and is operable to carry ballast received from the broom to the second auger outlet in addition to carrying some ballast to the first auger outlet. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A railroad ballast broom vehicle having first and second sides and comprising:
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a vehicle frame having rail-engaging wheels; a broom supported by the vehicle frame and having a housing with first and second side walls and a rotary core with broom elements fixed to rotate therewith about a broom axis; first and second motor plates respectively mounted to the first and second side wall, each plate offset an offset distance from the corresponding side wall and fixed to the corresponding side wall at fix points; and first and second broom drive motors mounted respectively to the first and second motor plates; and wherein the first and second motor plates are flexible relative to the respective first and second side walls such that minor misalignments between the rotary core and the first and second broom drive motors will be accommodated with minimal stress-causing vibration or oscillation on the rotary core and the first and second side walls. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification