Rail milling vehicle
The present disclosure relates to a rail vehicle that includes a chassis and a rail milling assembly coupled to the chassis. The rail milling assembly includes a bracket for coupling the rail milling assembly to the chassis and a milling workhead forming a portion of the rail milling assembly. The milling workhead including a spindle and a cutter depending downwardly from the spindle. The spindle and cutter are driven by a spindle motor. The milling workhead further includes a cylinder rod disposed between the spindle motor and the spindle to thereby bias the cutter towards the rail during operation.
1. A rail vehicle, comprising:
a chassis; and
a rail milling assembly movably coupled to the chassis, the rail milling assembly including:
a bracket fixed to the chassis;
a milling workhead coupled to the bracket such that the milling workhead floats relative to the chassis in a lateral direction and in a vertical direction; and
wherein the milling workhead including a cutter configured to remove material from a rail during operation.
2. The rail vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the rail milling assembly is configured to float in the lateral direction in a manner independent from the vertical direction; and
the rail milling assembly further includes a front frame member operatively coupled to the milling workhead, the front frame member including an oblong slot for receiving a pin coupled to the bracket.
3. The rail vehicle of claim 2 , wherein:
the pin is capable of moving both laterally and vertically through the oblong slot, thereby permitting the milling workhead to float relative to the bracket; and
the pin extends in a vertical direction relative to the rail.
4. The rail vehicle of claim 2 , further comprising a pair of linkage elements coupled to the front frame member, the linkage elements being coupled by a hydraulic cylinder.
5. The rail vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic cylinder is free floating to provide for biasing of the linkage elements in the lateral direction.
6. The rail vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the milling workhead further includes a shroud disposed about the cutter.
7. The rail vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the rail milling assembly comprises a plurality of milling workheads, and wherein the rail milling assembly further includes rollers interposed between the plurality of milling workheads.
8. The rail vehicle of claim 7 , wherein:
each cutter of the plurality of milling workheads is independently moveable, via a cylinder rod, towards the rail relative to other cutters of the plurality of milling workheads; and
at least one milling workhead of the plurality of milling workheads is fixed at an angular position relative to the rail.
9. The rail vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the cutter depends downwardly from a spindle via a cylinder rod that is configured to bias the cutter towards the rail.
10. A rail milling assembly configured to be coupled to a chassis of a rail vehicle, the rail milling assembly comprising:
a bracket for coupling the rail milling assembly to a chassis of a rail vehicle such that the rail milling assembly floats relative to the chassis in a lateral direction and in a vertical direction; and
one or more milling workheads each including a spindle and a cutter depending downwardly from the spindle, the cutter configured to remove material from a rail during operation; and
a frame member configured to support the one or more milling workheads, the frame member movably coupled to the bracket;
wherein the frame member defines at least one slot extending in a lateral direction, each slot being configured to receive a vertically extending pin of the bracket such that the pin is independently movable in both a lateral direction and vertical direction relative to the frame member.
11. The rail vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the frame member further includes a front portion defining a first oblong slot for receiving a first pin of the rail vehicle.
12. The rail vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the first oblong slot extends along a single plane.
13. The rail vehicle of claim 11 , further comprising a pair of linkage elements coupled to the frame member, the linkage elements being coupled by a hydraulic cylinder.
14. The rail vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the hydraulic cylinder is free floating to provide for biasing of the linkage elements in the lateral direction.
15. The rail vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the frame member further includes a rear portion defining a second oblong slot for receiving a second pin of the rail vehicle.
16. The rail vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the rail milling assembly comprises multiple milling workheads, and wherein the rail milling assembly further includes rollers interposed between the milling workheads.
17. The rail vehicle of claim 16 , wherein:
each of the multiple milling workheads is fixed at a unique angle relative to the rail, no two milling workheads being positioned at the same angle; and
the rail vehicle further includes:
a sensor; and
a processor configured to:
receive a sensing data from the sensor;
receive a rail profile template corresponding to a desired rail shape;
based on the sensing data and rail profile template, calculate an extension distance for each of the multiple milling workheads; and
actuate the multiple milling workheads to move the respective cutter of each milling workhead to the calculated extension distance.
18. The rail vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the extension distance for a first cutter of a first milling workhead of the multiple milling workheads is different from the extension distance for a second cutter of a second milling workhead of the multiple milling workheads.
19. The rail vehicle of claim 17 , wherein actuation of the multiple milling workheads includes actuating a respective cylinder rod coupled to the cutter in a direction towards or away from the rail.