Rotary undercutter for rail line maintenance

Abstract

A railroad ballast removal system capable of removing ballast material from below a rail line. The railroad ballast removal system includes at least one rotary cutting wheel having a plurality of individually replaceable cutting attachments positioned about a perimeter of the rotary cutting wheel. Each rotary cutting wheel is attached to an articulated arm capable of adjusting the position of the rotary cutting wheel along varying axis. The articulated arm is mounted to a support structure capable of transporting the rotary cutting wheel to a portion of railway requiring maintenance of the ballast material. The railroad ballast removal system is able to operate at a spot location or in a continuous manner down a length of railroad track. The ability to manipulate the rotary cutting wheel along the various axis allows the rotary cutting wheel to be used for ballast removal in locations wherein adjacent railways limit cutting access.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM[0001]The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 180,673, filed May 22, 2009 and entitled, “ROTARY UNDERCUTTER FOR RAIL LINE MAINTENANCE”, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to railroad maintenance systems. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a rotary undercutting system for use in removing ballast material from below a railroad track.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The maintenance of railroad track ballast is an ongoing and important element of railroad transportation safety. The ballast material associated with railroad track lines, typically crushed rock or gravel, helps to provide horizontal and vertical support to the railroad line and also provides a drainage mechanism to help remove damaging moisture away from the railroad track and ties. Periodically, the ballast along a length of track, or in single spot locat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]In order to address the needs described above, a representative ballast-removal system according to the present invention comprises a pair of rotating cutters attached to a rail platform or alternatively, a stand-alone vehicle, by a pair of multi-jointed arms or boom assemblies capable of positioning the cutters as needed. The ballast removal system of the present invention involves fewer parts than existing ballast cutting systems, thereby reducing downtime associated with part replacement while providing a greater degree of flexibility in positioning the cutters. The ballast removal system described here is capable of being installed to work with existing ballast reconditioning systems where multiple machines are connected in order to remove, filter, and replace fouled ballast.

[0013]In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of reducing an amount of space necessary to cut into a rail bed for removing ballast material. In some embodiments, the method can be practiced in railyards or other locations having at least a pair of railways located in proximity.

Problems solved by technology

Periodically, the ballast along a length of track, or in single spot locations, may become fouled with dirt, oil, debris, or other matter that can reduce the draining properties or supporting ability of the ballast.

The repair of rail line ballast is not easily accomplished with traditional earth-moving equipment.

Generally, the plow or sled approach for removing ballast is limited to situations where a long stretch of track is to be reconditioned due to the fact that the effort required to initially place the plow under the rail line is not typically justifiable for short segments of track.

While the chain equipped ballast cutter may be more suitable for short distance ballast removal it can be subject to chain or belt breakage requiring maintenance to replace or repair of the cutting assembly.

Thus, neither of these existing technologies satisfies the need for a ballast removing apparatus capable of being reliably and cost effectively used for both short and long distance ballast removal.

In certain track layout configurations it is also inconvenient to use either the ballast plow or a large chain driven cutting apparatus.

For example, in areas such as rail yards, sidings, and other locations where multiple lines run in parallel to each other in close proximity it can be difficult to maneuver a large cutting machine into position between the rail lines or there may be inadequate space on either side of the railroad line to deposit the fouled ballast as it is removed from underneath the rails.

Therefore, an unsolved need exists for further improvement to existing railroad ballast removing systems.

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