Vertical ride quality system for a rail vehicle
View Patent ↗A rail maintenance vehicle includes a frame, a workhead, an actuator, a pilot valve, and a throttling valve. The frame includes wheels that travel along rails. The actuator extends and retracts the workhead with respect to the frame. The pilot valve receives a fluid and controls the flow of the fluid to at least one output. The throttling valve adjusts a pressure of the fluid at an output relative to a pressure of the fluid at an input. The pilot valve and the throttle valve are coupled such that the fluid travels through the pilot valve and the throttling valve to cause the workhead to be extended or retracted.
1. A rail maintenance vehicle, comprising:
a frame having wheels that travel along rails;
a workhead;
an actuator that extends and retracts the workhead with respect to the frame;
a pilot valve that receives a fluid and controls the flow of the fluid to at least one output;
a throttling valve that adjusts a pressure of the fluid at an output relative to a pressure of the fluid at an input, wherein
the pilot valve and the throttle valve are coupled such that the fluid travels through the pilot valve and the throttling valve to cause the workhead to be extended or retracted.
2. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a main control valve disposed between the throttling valve and the actuator with respect to flow of the fluid.
3. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 2 , wherein
the main control valve includes a spool that determines, based on its position, at least one of the direction and speed the workhead extends or retracts, and
the throttling valve supplies the fluid to the spool.
4. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the pilot valve is a solenoid valve.
5. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the throttling valve is a gate valve.
6. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the pilot valve supplies the fluid to the throttling valve.
7. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a second throttling valve.
8. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the pilot valve selectively supplies the fluid to one of the throttling valve and the second throttling valve.
9. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 7 , further comprising
a main control valve disposed between the throttling valve and the second throttling valve on the one hand and the actuator on the other hand with respect to flow of the fluid, wherein
the main control valve includes a spool that determines, based on its position, at least one of the direction and speed the workhead extends or retracts, and
outputs of the throttling valve and the second throttling valve are respectively coupled to the spool.
10. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the throttling valve and the second throttling valve are integrated in a single assembly.
11. The rail maintenance of claim 7 , wherein the pilot valve is a three way solenoid valve having a first output coupled to the throttling valve and a second output coupled to the second throttling valve.
12. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , wherein
the pilot valve includes an orifice that receives the fluid, and
an opening of the orifice is 0.8 mm.
13. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a pneumatic suspension disposed between a seat and the frame of the vehicle.
14. The rail maintenance vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the workhead includes a tamping workhead that tamps ballast.
15. A method of operating a maintenance vehicle, comprising:
supplying fluid to a pilot valve;
supplying the fluid to a throttling valve that adjusts a pressure of the fluid at an output relative to a pressure of the fluid at an input; and
controlling an actuator that extends and retracts a workhead relative to a frame of the vehicle using the fluid exiting the throttling valve.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising
supplying the fluid exiting the throttling valve to a main control valve disposed between the throttling valve and the actuator with respect to flow of the fluid, wherein
the main control valve includes a spool that determines, based on its position, at least one of the direction and speed the workhead extends or retracts, and
the throttling valve supplies the fluid to the spool.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein
the throttling valve includes first and second throttling valves,
the pilot valve includes a first output coupled to the first throttling valve and a second output coupled to the second throttling valve, and
the method further comprises selectively directing the fluid, using the pilot valve, to one of the first and second throttling valves.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising independently adjusting the first and second throttling valves.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising
adjusting the first throttling valve to a first setting, and
adjusting the second throttling valve to a second setting that is more restrictive than the first setting.
20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the supplying the fluid to the pilot valve includes supplying the fluid to the pilot valve by an engine driven pump.