Tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine

Abstract

A tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine to tamp ballast on a railway line. The tamping blade includes a pad that attaches to a shank of a railroad-tamping machine and is made of hardened steel. A wear-resistant coating covers and protects the surfaces used to tamp the ballast. Wear-resistant inserts are fixed in a leading face of the pad to absorb a large portion of the impact and improve the efficiency of the tamping process. The wear-resistant inserts are positioned to reduce the formation of a wear pattern during use. The method allows for production of a hardened steel pad with a wear-resistant coating and wear-resistant inserts.

1 . A tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine to tamp ballast on a railway line, the tamping blade comprising: 
 a pad having an attachment location and a leading face, with the attachment location providing for attachment to a shank of the railroad tamping machine and the leading face having a plurality of holes, with each of the plurality of holes spaced from one another; and    a plurality of wear-resistant inserts, with each of the plurality of wear-resistant inserts having a secured end fixed within a corresponding one of the plurality of holes and a protruding end extending from the leading face of the pad.    
   
   
       2 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the plurality of wear-resistant inserts further comprising tungsten carbide inserts.  
   
   
       3 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the plurality of wear-resistant inserts further comprising hardened D2 steel inserts.  
   
   
       4 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the plurality of wear-resistant inserts having a press-fit attachment to the pad.  
   
   
       5 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the plurality of holes spaced from one another in a jogged pattern to resist formation of a wear pattern during use.  
   
   
       6 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the tamping blade further comprising a wear-resistant coating.  
   
   
       7 . The tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine of  claim 6  further comprising side faces having an edge adjoining the leading face, with the wear-resistant coating comprising a spray coating of tungsten carbide on each side face extending at least one inch from the edge adjoining the leading face.  
   
   
       8 . The tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine of  claim 6  further comprising side faces having an edge adjoining the leading face, with the wear-resistant coating comprising a spray coating of tungsten carbide on at least a portion of the leading face and on each side face extending at least one inch from the edge adjoining the leading face.  
   
   
       9 . The tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine of  claim 1  with the pad further comprising a four inch (4″) by four and one-half inch (4½″) by three-fourths inch (¾″) 4140 steel pad having a hardness rating of at least forty (40) on a Rockwell C scale.  
   
   
       10 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the protruding end of the wear-resistant inserts having an ovoid shape.  
   
   
       11 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the protruding end of the wear-resistant inserts having a conical shape.  
   
   
       12 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 1  with the protruding end of the wear-resistant inserts having a chisel shape.  
   
   
       13 . A tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine to tamp ballast on a railway line, the tamping blade comprising: 
 a pad having an attachment location, a leading face and side faces having an edge adjoining the leading face, the pad further having a hardness of at least forty (40) on a Rockwell C scale; and    a wear-resistant coating on each side face extending at least one inch from the edge adjoining the leading face.    
   
   
       14 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 13  with the leading face of the pad further comprising: 
 a plurality of holes, with each of the plurality of holes spaced from one another; and    a plurality of wear-resistant inserts, with each of the plurality of wear-resistant inserts having a secured end fixed within a corresponding one of the plurality of holes and a protruding end extending from the leading face of the pad.    
   
   
       15 . The tamping blade for a railroad-tamping machine of  claim 13  with the wear-resistant coating further comprising tungsten carbide.  
   
   
       16 . A method for producing a tamping blade for a railroad tamping machine, the method comprising: 
 providing a pad having a leading face and side faces adjacent to the leading face;    applying a wear-resistant coating to the pad; and    heat-treating the pad to a hardness rating of at least forty (40) on a Rockwell C scale.    
   
   
       17 . The method for producing a tamping blade of  claim 16  further comprising: 
 machining a plurality of holes in the leading face; and    attaching a plurality of wear-resistant inserts, each of the wear-resistant inserts having a secured end and a protruding end, and with a respective one of the plurality of wear-resistant inserts attached by having a secured end press-fit within each of the plurality of holes.    
   
   
       18 . The method for producing a tamping blade of  claim 17  with machining a plurality of holes in the leading face further comprising machining the plurality of holes to have a diameter smaller than the diameter of the wear-resistant inserts, and with attaching a plurality of wear-resistant inserts further comprising press-fitting the wear resistant inserts into the plurality of holes.  
   
   
       19 . The method for producing a tamping blade of  claim 16  with attaching a plurality of wear-resistant inserts further comprising selecting a plurality of wear-resistant inserts having a protruding end having a shape suitable to a predetermined application.  
   
   
       20 . The method for producing a tamping blade of  claim 16  with applying a wear-resistant coating to the pad further comprising fusing tungsten carbide on the side faces using a thermal spray powder procedure.