Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
SYSTEM FOR MANIPULATING THE LOAD IN BULK RAIL
TRAINS AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SUCH A SYSTEM
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a system for manipulating the load in bulk
ic rail oars of a bulk rail train, which bulk rail cars are loaded with
bulk material
like coal, ore, burden material or the like by means of a train loading
station.
PRIOR ART
In the mining industry it is necessary to transfer bulk material from a mining
area to a further processing area, and a huge scale of bulk material must
be transported by bulk rail trains. The loading of bulk rail cars of a bulk
rail
train with the bulk material requires a train loading station, and the bulk
material may be fed to the train loading station by a conveyor belt and the
train loading station comprises a reservoir for forming a buffer for the bulk
material. The bulk material gets into the bulk rail cars via a chute, and the
bulk rail train is moved with low speed under the chute. Unfortunately, it is
quite challenging to meet the permitted load of each bulk rail car when
filling the bulk rail cars with bulk material, and In addition to exploit the
obtained maximum capacity of load of each bulk rail car it is also necessary
to distribute the load within the bulk rail car, in order to stress the bogeys
of
the bulk rail cars with the same scale of bulk material.
The train loading station is impacted by the flow of e.g. ore forming the bulk
material from a conveyor belt, and it is known that the ore features
inconsistent densities; moreover the loading system is impacted by the train
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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speed or by the filling height of the ore in the reservoir of the train
loading
station. Currently to maintain bulk rail car loads and in particular bogey
loads below certain limits, the maximum load per bulk rail car is limited
underneath the provided maximum capacity of the bulk rail car and thus the
6 optimum of loading the bulk rail car is not reached. On the other hand,
overloads are currently treated by stopping the train again and using a
construction industry type excavator to remove bulk material from the bulk
rail car again, to avoid overload of the bulk rail car or of the bogeys of the
bulk rail car. For this propose a scale is provided downstream the outgoing
side of the train loading station but upstream the excavator position in order
to provide information for a person who operates the excavator to load and
unload the bulk rail car by means of adopted mass quantities of bulk
material.
Currently train loading is controlled to limit total axle loads of bulk rail
cars
to prevent localised loads on bridges of the railway and the track exceeding
the design limits. Due to the above said variances in the loading practices,
which is a combination of variables such as height of the bulk material in
the bulk rail car, train speed, density, granularity, bulk size distribution
in
particular of lumps and fines, the repose angle and the bunker filling height.
The variance typically range from 0,2 tons to 5 tons depending on these
variables. Bogeys are weighed on the track scales approximately two bulk
rail car length from the outgoing side of the train loading station. The
activity
to remove overloads leads to longer train loading times and train cycle
times to unload, in particular by using an excavator for unloading peak
loads. Accordingly, it is an objective to remove the arising time delay to
both loading and consist cycled times.
It is known from WO 2015/003776 Al to improve the operating modus of a
3o train loading station. The disclosure relates to a loading system for
loading
at least one bulk rail car of a bulk rail train with bulk material, comprising
a
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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closable outlet opening for metering the bulk material, which outlet opening
is arranged on a dispensing device of a bulk material reservoir, forming a
reservoir for the bulk material, wherein the bulk rail train can be moved
under the outlet opening on rails and at least one measuring device having
an evaluating device which is arranged in order to detect bogey loads, in
particuiar wheel loads, axle loads, bogey loads and/or the total load of the
bulk rail car. The closable outlet opening for metering the bulk material is
controlled by the measured loads, to adopt the required load distribution
within the bulk rail car.
In order to improve the operating modus, the measuring device comprises,
per rail, at least two measuring segments arranged one after the other in a
direction of travel of the train, wherein at least one of the measuring
segments lies below the outlet opening or in the action region of the bulk
material falling through the outlet opening. Unfortunately, this operating
modus of a train loading station is not suitable to maximize the load per
bulk rail car shortly below the maximum allowable bulk rail car load, and the
load of the bogeys per bulk rail car is not homogenized in a sufficient
manner. As well the installation of wheel load measurement devices within
the loading station is heavily affected by the dynamic forces, shocks and
vibrations of the loading station, so that the industry accepts rather the
disadvantage of a track scale to bulk rail cars out of the station to increase
reliability at the cost of latency.
In CN 102765613 A is disclosed a system for manipulating the load in bulk
rail cars of a bulk rail train, which bulk rail cars are loaded with bulk
material
like coal, ore, burden material or the like by means of a train loading
station.
The load and unload stations for equalization the load in the waggons are
spaced apart to each other and are not coupled, which leads to the
disadvantage that the train must be stopped for each load and unload
action.
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DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
It is an objective of the invention to improve a system for manipulating the
load in bulk rail cars of a bulk rail train, in particular to obtain a load of
each
bulk rail car which corresponds to a maximum load but without
underloading or overloading the bulk rail cars. It is a special objective of
the
invention to improve the system for manipulating the load in bulk rail cars of
the bulk rail train which does not cause additional time consumption with
respect to the already required loading time to load the bulk rail cars within
the foregoing train loading station. Another objective is to shift the average
set-point of the load per bulk rail car higher resulting in more tons per
train
thus less transportation cost and higher rail network capacity.
This objective is achieved by a system for manipulating the load in bulk rail
cars of a bulk rail train as taught by claim I of the present invention.
Advantages embodiments of the inventive system are defined in the sub
claims. Moreover, the objective is achieved by a method for manipulating
the load in bulk rail cars of a bulk rail train according to claim 12.
The invention discloses with respect to the system, that the system
comprises a load manipulating station, which is configured to be provided
downstream the outgoing side of the train loading station and the load
manipulating station comprises a portal unit which overdraws the bulk rail
train and the load manipulating station comprises a bulk material
manipulator arranged at the portal unit and which is configured for
unloading and loading bulk material out of and into the bulk rail cars, and
the load manipulating station features manipulator tracks, wherein the
portal unit is movably arranged on said manipulator tracks, wherein the
manipulator tracks extend along a moving direction of the bulk rail train,
enabling the portal unit to move along with and analogue to the speed of
the bulk rail train while manipulating the bulk material in the bulk rail
cars.
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The core idea of the present invention is to provide a load manipulating
station which can be operated automatically and/or without an operating
person. The data input to the load manipulating station comprising e.g, a
load topography representing the filling height in the bulk rail cars and the
weight of the bulk rail cars with a scale is sufficient to control the load
manipulating station in a way, to avoid an overload of the bulk rail cars in
total and to avoid different loads of the common bogeys of one single bulk
rail car.
io
The special construction of the load manipulating station comprising
manipulator tracks and comprising a portal unit which is movable arranged
on the manipulator tracks enable a bulk material manipulator to unload and
load bulk material out of and into the bulk rail cars in an easy manner. By
15 means of the manipulator tracks which extend along the traveling
direction
of the bulk rail train the portal unit can move corresponding to the travel
movement of the train, in particular with the same speed, and the unloading
and loading of bulk material out of and into the bulk rail cars is achievable
without influencing the travel speed of the train which is in particular
20 adopted to the necessary travel speed of the bulk rail train passing
through
the train loading station. On the other hand, the train travel speed through
the train loading station can be increased, because the extensive
measuring algorithm with influencing the load distribution of the bulk
material within the bulk rail car according to WO 2015/003776 Al is no
25 more necessary.
According to a preferred embodiment the portal unit comprises a bulk
material bunker for temporarily storing bulk material, in order to receive
bulk
material removed from the bulk rail cars and/or to provide bulk material for
30 loading back into the bulk rail cars. The bulk material bunker can be
arranged in conjunction with the portal unit and thus the bulk material
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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bunker is moved with the movement of the portal unit along the manipulator
tracks. According to an alternative, the bulk material bunker is provided
above an area beside the railway for the bulk rail train and the load
manipulating station is performed to transfer bulk material from the bulk rail
cars to the bulk material bunker and from the bulk material bunker into the
bulk rail cars in case when the bulk material bunker is arranged next to the
railway. In this context it is conceivable that the bulk material bunker
features a longitudinal extension along the extension of the manipulator
tracks and the extension of the railway, respectively.
The bulk material bunker according to a preferred embodiment is formed by
a bin or a container which is arranged on or in conjunction with the portal
unit and the manipulator can load and unload bulk material Into and out of
the bulk material bunker. The bulk material bunker floor according to a
is preferred embodiment will consist of a conveyor belt with side
skirts; so
material can be moved by the conveyor drive.
The portal unit can be based according to a preferred embodiment on a
manipulator crane, or alternatively on a gantry crane with or without pillars
or other structure, but the manipulator tracks are arranged on pillars only as
a preferred embodiment and form overhead tracks. The portal unit is
movable above the bulk rail cars of the bulk rail train. In particular the
bulk
material manipulator is arranged above the bulk rail cars of the bulk rail
train and according to a preferred embodiment the bulk material bunker is
also arranged in a height above the bulk rail cars of the bulk rail train. As
an
alternative, the first or the second conveyor is formed by a chute, and when
the other, conventional conveyor belt runs in reverse, the bulk material can
be transferred down the chute and thus back into the bulk rail car or into a
truck, as described below.
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According to yet another embodiment beside the railway for the bulk rail
train a bypass unloading section is arranged, whereas the portal unit is
performed to unload bulk material within the bypass unloading section. The
bypass unloading section is accessible for trucks and the portal unit is
performed to unload bulk material to the trucks. In particular in the case
when a huge number of bulk rail cars are overload with bulk material by
passing the train loading station, the load manipulating station can transfer
the overload amount of bulk material via the bypass unloading section into
trucks and e. g. the train loading station may feature a truck unloading
station for transferring the bulk material from the trucks back into the train
loading station refilling the reservoir.
According to another preferred embodiment, in conjunction with the bulk
material bunker a first conveyor means is arranged for loading bulk material
from the bulk material bunker into the trucks. The first conveyor means gets
activated when the bulk material bunker is filled up to a limit and the bulk
rail cars running into the load manipulating station are still overloaded.
Moreover, the portal unit comprises a grab bucket, clamshell bucket, a
vertical axis rope hoist or a vacuum feed unit forming the bulk material
manipulator for unloading bulk material out of the bulk rail cars. According
to another advantage, the bucket, the vertical access rope hoist or any
other kind of excavating means may contain a load scale in order to provide
an information of the mass of removed bulk material out of the bulk rail cars
and transferred into the bulk material bunker with each movement of the
bulk material manipulator. This load scale data can be fed to the train
manifest to document the manipulated weights before sending out the
resulting corrected manifest to the rail network operator, the customer or
the port.
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In conjunction with the bulk material bunker a second conveyor means is
arranged for loading bulk material from the bulk material bunker back into
the bulk rail cars if necessary. This has the advantage that bulk material
can be transferred from the bunker into the bulk rail cars in an easy manner
and with an appropriate dosage, and the use of a conveyor means for
transferring the bulk material back into the bulk rail cars can be operated
quickly and reliable.
In conjunction with another preferred embodiment the portal unit comprises
io a portal frame and a trolley, whereas the portal frame is movable
arranged
on the manipulator tracks parallel to the bulk rail train and the trolley is
movable arranged on the portal frame in a cross direction relative to the
bulk rail train. For example the portal frame can be moved along the
manipulator tracks by means of rollers, and the trolley can be moved on the
portal frame with another set of rollers, and the moving direction of the
portal frame on the manipulator tracks and the moving direction of the
trolley on the portal frame are arranged perpendicular to each other. Due to
this arrangement, an x-y-moving system is formed and due to the possibility
to move the portal unit with the travel movement of the train the portal unit
can be operated with a relative stagnancy to the bulk rail cars or the portal
unit may be moved in advance or behind the movement of the bulk rail
cars. This as well minimises the need for a sway compensation and extra
cycle times for acceleration and deceleration in train driving direction.
26 The trolley is movable over the total width of the bulk rail cars and,
in
particular, over the additional width of the bypass unloading section, in
which the bulk material bunker is arranged within the portal unit. This
makes the bulk material manipulator able to move between the bulk rail
cars of the bulk rail train and the bulk material bunker, in particular to
transfer bulk material from the bulk rail cars into the bulk material bunker,
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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and below the arrangement of the bulk material manipulator, the unloading
station is placed which is accessible for trucks.
With respect to the operating strategy of the load manipulating station it is
s also conceivable that bulk material which has been unloaded with the bulk
material manipulator e.g. formed by a shovel can remain in said
manipulator until at another point within the same bulk rail car or in a
subsequent bulk rail car said bulk material must be re-loaded back in order
to reach the required weight or to harmonize the bogey load of the front or
the back bogey.
According to yet another embodiment at least one load profile sensor is
arranged upstream the bulk material manipulator for sensing the bulk
material load topography within the bulk rail cars. This load profile sensor
may be formed with a radar or laser sensor providing a kind of a sensor
curtain in order to provide topography data of the bulk material loading
height within the bulk rail car. According to yet another embodiment, at
least one track scale is arranged upstream the bulk material manipulator for
sensing the bulk material load weight within the bulk rail cars.
The heart of the system may be formed by a control unit which is provided
for controlling the load manipulating station depending from date received
from the load profile sensor sensing the load topography and from the scale
sensing the load per bogey of the bulk rail cars. The control unit can
operate the system without the need of an operating person, and the
system may be operated with the control unit automatically. As a preferred
embodiment, a supervisor person may supervise the operating of the
system by means of the control unit, which may feature an appropriate
control interface.
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Within the spirit of the present invention the control unit may be
interconnected with the train loading station, and when the control unit
measures a continuously overloading of a huge number of bulk rail cars,
the control unit may provide a signal to the train loading station to
downscale the average load of the bulk rail cars. In the other way around if
the control unit measures a continuous underloading of the bulk rail cars,
the control unit may provide another signal to the train loading station to
enlarge the loading of the bulk rail cars. With this system is formed a closed
loop control circuit between the load manipulating station and the train
io loading station with the result, that no or only a few trucks may
transport
bulk material from the load manipulating station back to the train loading
station on the one hand and on the other hand the loading of the bulk rail
cars is only slightly underneath the maximum allowable load of the bulk rail
cars. Another improvement is the homogenous load of the bogeys of each
bulk rail car of the bulk rail train.
The present invention is also directed on a method for manipulating the
load in bulk rail cars of a bulk rail train, which bulk rail cars are loaded
with
bulk material like coal, ore, burden material or the like by means of a train
loading station, wherein the method comprises at least the following steps:
providing a load manipulating station downstream the outgoing side of the
train loading station, wherein the load manipulating station comprises a
portal unit which overdraws the bulk rail train, wherein the load
manipulating station further comprises a bulk material manipulator arranged
at the portal unit and which is configured for unloading and loading bulk
material out of and into the bulk rail cars, and the load manipulating station
comprises manipulator tracks, wherein the portal unit is movably arranged
on said manipulator tracks extending along a moving direction of the bulk
rail train, moving the portal unit along and analogue to the speed of the bulk
rail train while manipulating the bulk material in the bulk rail cars with the
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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bulk material manipulator in order to unload and load bulk material out of
and into the bulk rail cars.
The method is also embodied in a load manipulating station that features a
bulk material bunker, and the bulk material manipulator removes bulk
material from the bulk rail cars and loads the bulk material into the bulk
material bunker. Moreover, in conjunction with the bulk material bunker a
first conveyor means is arranged, and the bulk material from the bulk
material bunker is transferred into the trucks in a bypass unloading section
io of the first conveyor means and/or in conjunction with the bulk material
bunker a second conveyor means is arranged, and bulk material from the
bulk material bunker is transferred back into the bulk rail cars by means of
the second conveyor means.
According to another improvement of the method a control unit is provided
for controlling the load manipulating station, whereas the control unit
receives data from a load profile sensor regarding the load topography and
from a scale regarding the load per bogey of the bulk rail cars, and the
control of the unloading and loading of the bulk rail cars by means of the
bulk material manipulator is performed in a way that the load in the bulk rail
cars is maximized and homogenized.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
The aforementioned components, as well as the claimed components and
the components to be used in accordance with the invention in the
described embodiments, are not subject to any special exceptions with
respect to their size, shape, material selection and technical concepts such
that the selection criteria known in the pertinent field can be applied
without
limitations.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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Additional details, characteristics and advantages of the object of the
invention are disclosed in the sub claims and the following description of
the respective figures shows preferred embodiments of the system and the
method according to the invention.
Fig. I shows a perspective view of the inventive system arranged
downstream the outgoing side of a train loading station,
Fig. 2 shows a detailed perspective view of the system,
Fig. 3 shows a front view of the system,
Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a portal unit as a part of the
system,
Fig. 5 shows another perspective view of the portal unit according
to
Fig. 4 and
Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of a train loading station
upstream
the load manipulating station.
Figure 1 shows a system 100 for manipulating the load in bulk rail cars 10
of a bulk rail train 1, and the load is formed by bulk material 10 like coal
or
ore. Each of the bulk rail cars 10 are loaded with bulk material 11 by means
of a train loading station 12. In order to move the bulk rail train 1 through
the train loading station 12, the train 1 is travels in a moving direction 17
along a railway 19.
When the bulk rail cars 10 of the bulk rail train 1 are filled with bulk
material
11, the bulk rail train 1 travels through a load manipulating station 13 which
is in the sense of the present invention thought for maximizing and
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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homogenizing the bulk material 11 within the bulk rail cars 10 of the bulk
rail
train 1.
To qualify the load manipulating station 13 for the propose of maximizing
and homogenizing the bulk material 11 within the bulk rail cars 10, the load
manipulating station 13 is provided downstream the outgoing side of the
train loading station 12 and comprises a portal unit 14 which overdraws the
bulk rail train 1 and the load manipulating station 13 comprises a bulk
material manipulator 15 for unloading and loading bulk material 11 out of
io and into the bulk rail cars 10 of the bulk rail train 1.
The portal unit 14 is arranged on manipulator tracks 16 in a movable
manner, and when the train 1 travels through the load manipulating station
13 the portal unit 14 can be moved with the travelling speed of the bulk rail
is train 1 along the manipulator tracks 16. For example, the manipulator
track
16 feature a length of e.g. 50 m and the portal unit 14 can travel with the
travel speed of the train 1 along the entire length of the manipulator tracks
16.
20 In order to control the operating of the load manipulating station 13
a
control unit 29 is provided in conjunction with the load manipulating station
13. The control unit 29 receives data from a load profile sensor 26 arranged
with the train loading station 12, and the load profile sensor 26 is suited to
measure the filling height of the bulk material 11 in the bulk rail cars 10.
In
26 other words, the load profile sensor 26 may provide information about
the
load topography of the bulk material 11 in the bulk rail cars 10. This
information is provided to the control unit 29 as shown with an arrow.
Furthermore, a track scale 28 is arranged at a measuring point in between
30 the train loading station 12 and the load manipulating station 13,
and the
scale 28 provides a load information of the bulk material 11 in the bulk rail
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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cars 10 to the control unit 29. This load information can be provided per
bulk rail car 10 and in particular per bogey of each of the bulk rail cars 10.
According to the operating of the entire system 100, the control unit 29 is
s performed to provide a filling signal to the train loading station 12.
When the
control unit 29 measures an overload of a higher number of bulk rail cars
10, the train loading station 12 may reduce the amount of bulk material 11
which is loaded into each of the bulk rail oars 10. If the control unit 29
measures an underloading of a higher number of bulk rail cars 10, the
io control unit 29 provides a signal to the train loading station 12 to
increase
the loading of each bulk rail car 10.
Figure 2 shows a closer view of the load manipulating station 13 arranged
with the bulk rail train 1 comprising a number of bulk rail cars 10, and each
15 of the bulk rail car 10 is filled with bulk material 11, and the bulk
rail train 1
moves through the load manipulating station 13 in a moving direction 17.
The moving can be detected with a travel sensor 32, for example formed by
means of a radar.
20 The load manipulating station 13 comprises manipulator tracks 16
extending along the railway 19, and the embodiment shows a first
manipulator track 16 and a second manipulator track 16 each arranged
beside the railway 19. On the manipulator tracks 16 is movable arranged a
portal unit 14, and the portal unit 14 can be moved along the extension of
26 the manipulator tracks 16 as shown by the double-arrow. With the portal
unit 14 is arranged a bulk material manipulator 15 for unloading the bulk
material 11 of the bulk rail cars 10, and the bulk material manipulator 15
may be formed by a bucket or a shovel,
30 Furthermore, at the portal unit 14 is arranged a bulk material bunker 18
for
temporarily storing bulk material 11, in order to receive bulk material 11
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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removed from the bulk rail cars 10 and to provide bulk material 11 for
loading bulk material 11 back into the bulk rail cars 10. The portal unit 14
features a width which is larger than the width of the bulk rail train 1. The
bulk material bunker 18 is arranged in a bypass unloading section 20
beside the top area of the bulk rail train 1, and the bulk material
manipulator
can travel over the bulk rail cars 10 and can unload bulk material 11,
and subsequently the bulk material manipulator 15 travels in a cross
direction to the bulk material bunker 18 and unloads the bulk material 11
into the bunker 18.
When figure 2 and figure 3 are read commonly, it is obvious that the bypass
unloading section 20 is arranged beside to the railway 19 for travelling the
bulk rail train 1. The bypass unloading section 20 can be accessed by
trucks 21, and bulk material 11, which fills the bulk material bunker 18, can
be unloaded into the truck 21 by means of a first conveyer means 25a, The
first conveyer means 25a is suited to transfer the bulk material 11 from the
bulk material bunker 18 into the truck 21. Accordingly, the bulk material
bunker 18 is arranged above the bypass unloading section 20.
The bulk material bunker 18 is performed with a second conveyer means
25b, which is thought for unloading bulk material 11 from the bulk material
bunker 18 back into the bulk rail cars 10, if necessary. Optionally both
conveyors can be combined in a slewing single conceyor wither feeding the
bulk rail car, a truck or to the ground.
Figure 3 shows in a front view an embodiment of forming the bulk material
manipulator 15, which is formed as a grab bucket 22 like a clamshell
bucket, polyp grab or other unloading tool. The grab bucket 22 is movable
in a vertical direction, and the grab bucket 22 is received by means of a
n trolley 24 with a rope. The trolley 24 is movable in a cross direction as
shown with two arrows, in order to move the bulk material manipulator 15
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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between the bulk rail car 10 and the bulk material bunker 18. The second
conveyer means 25b is aligned with the bulk rail car 10 to re-load the bulk
material 11 into the bulk rail car 10. Accordingly, the first conveyer means
25a is aligned with a truck 21, which is arranged underneath the bulk
material bunker 18. According to an alternative for filling the truck 21, the
truck 21 may provide bulk material 11 for loading bulk rail cars 10 via the
manipulator 15 when the train loading station 12 is temporarily not
operating.
Figure 4 and figure 5 show different perspective Views of the portal unit 14.
The portal unit 14 forms as a base-body a portal frame 23 for overdrawing
the bulk rail car 10 and the bypass unloading section 20 according to figure
3. The trolley 24 is received within the portal frame 23 and the bucket 22
forming the bulk material manipulator 15 which is received at the trolley 24,
In the perspective views the bulk material bunker 18 is shown as a part of
the portal unit 14 and which is fastened underneath the rectangular portal
frame 23. The first conveyer means 25a and the second conveyer means
25b are arranged with the bulk material bunker 18, and in a not shown
detailed manner the bulk material within the bulk material bunker 18 can be
transported from the bottom of the bulk material bunker 18 to at least one of
the conveyer means 25a, 25b by means of the conveyer belts 25a, 25b
which may extend into the bottom area of the bulk material bunker 18.
Finally, figure 6 shows a train loading station 12 in a per se known manner
having a chute 30 for transferring the bulk material 11 into the bulk rail
cars
10 of the bulk rail train 1. Analog to the train sensor 32 according to figure
2
another train sensor 31 can be arranged within the train loading station 12.
This travel sensor 31 senses the traveling of the bulk rail cars 10 in their
moving direction 17 through the train loading station 12; but the train
sensors 31,32 may also measure only the position of the bulk rail cars 10
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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and can be performed as optical sensors, radar sensors or e.g. tactile
sensors.
In order to measure the load topography 27 of the bulk material 11 within
the bulk rail cars 10, load profile sensors 26 are arranged in the train
loading station 12, and the load profile sensors 26 can be formed by radar
or laser sensors. The load profile sensors 26 are arranged to form a kind of
a sensor curtain to digitalize the load topography 27 and the data
containing the load topography 27 for each of the bulk rail cars 10
io measured by the load profile sensors 28 can be provided to the
control unit
29 according to figure 1.
The present invention is not limited by the embodiment described above,
which is represented as an example only and can be modified in various
ways within the scope Of protection defined by the appending patent claims.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
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Reference Numbers:
1 bulk rail train
bulk rail car
11 bulk material
12 train loading station
13 load manipulating station
10 14 portal unit
bulk material manipulator
16 manipulator tracks
17 moving direction
18 bulk material bunker
15 19 railway
bypass unloading section
21 truck
22 grab bucket
23 portal frame
20 24 trolley
25a first conveyor means
25b second conveyor means
26 load profile sensor
27 load topography
28 track scale
29 control unit
chute
31 train sensor
32 train sensor
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-12-02
