Railways – Car-attached derailer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-19
2001-01-30
Basinger, Sherman (Department: 3617)
Railways
Car-attached derailer
C104S262000, C104S265000, C104S271000, C246S163000, C269S097000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178893
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to safety implements for railed vehicles. Specifically, the invention relates to hinged derailing devices which may be selectively deployed onto a rail for engaging and derailing wheels of railed vehicles.
Derails are safety implements that are placed on a rail to prevent or limit unintended movement of a railed vehicle. They are used extensively in the railroad industry as a means for preventing injury to personnel and damage to property. Typical derails are configured to be manually or automatically movable from a retracted position, in which a wedge-like deflecting block is disposed adjacent a rail, to a deployed position, in which the deflecting block is disposed on top of and aligned with the rail to engage and deflect an oncoming wheel.
Hinged derails, which include a deflecting block mounted on a derail shoe adapted to pivot about a pivot axis, usually defined by a hinge pin, relative to a base, are known in the art. Such derail configurations are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,627,094 to Hayes. In operation, the derail shoe is pivoted from its retracted position to its deployed position, where it is aligned with the rail. Proper alignment requires not only lateral alignment of the deflecting block with the rail, but also horizontal alignment in which the bottom surface of the deflecting block is substantially horizontal and supported on an upper surface of the rail. Proper alignment of the deflecting block is important for the derailing device to function safely.
There are a number of different rail sizes in existence and use today. These usually range from 5-inches to 7.5-inches. The variance in rail sizes presents a problem for adapting prior art hinged derails to different rail environments. This difficulty arises because the pivot axis of prior art hinged derails is fixed relative to the rail height. Thus, in order to obtain the proper alignment of the deflecting block of prior art hinged derails for a given rail size, the derail must be constructed according to particular dimensions applicable to that particular rail size. Moreover, shimming or other modifications to the rail system are frequently required to obtain proper derail block alignment with prior art hinged derails. Accordingly, a number of different derailing device configurations are required in order to accommodate the variety of rail sizes in existence today. This results in significant manufacturing cost and effort. Thus, there remains a need for a hinged derail that is easily adaptable to a variety of rail sizes.
An additional problem with prior art hinged derails is that actuating systems for are subjected to rather large forces as the rather massive derail block must be lifted using a lever-like arrangement. There is thus an additional need for an actuating system which is capable of repeated and dependable operation under the stresses created by these large forces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aforementioned problems and others are solved by the present invention which provides a hinged derail in which the position of the pivot axis is adjustable relative to the rail height. In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides a pair of adjustment flanges supporting a hinge pin at opposite ends and which are rotatably adjustable to a number of positions relative to the base. The hinge pin is eccentrically mounted on the adjustment flanges. As the adjustment flanges are rotated, the vertical position of the pivot axis relative to the rail may be adjusted. The base of the hinged derail is provided with various mounting holes to permit the base to be moved horizontally to maintain the hinge pin in a constant horizontal position and to permit alignment of the deflecting block relative to the rail. A primary advantage of the invention is that it provides a hinged derail which can be adjusted to permit the deflecting block of the derailing device to be properly aligned with rails of different heights.
The invention also provides an actuating system, including an actuating assembly which ensures dependable operation. The invention provides an actuating linkage which is guided within slotted guide plates associated with the base of the derailing device. The slotted guide plates cooperate with and guide a connecting pin which connects an actuating rod with a connecting link, shaped to transmit forces from the actuating rod to the derail shoe to move the derail shoe from its retracted position to its deployed position, or in the opposite direction.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1079990 (1913-12-01), McEvoy
patent: 1109007 (1914-09-01), Nibbe
patent: 1242847 (1917-10-01), Packer
patent: 1464606 (1923-08-01), Hayes
patent: 1464607 (1923-08-01), Hayes
patent: 1627092 (1927-05-01), Hayes
patent: 2829246 (1958-04-01), Hayes
patent: 4165060 (1979-08-01), Meyer
Banner & Witcoff , Ltd.
Basinger Sherman
Jules Frantz
Western-Cullen-Hayes Inc.
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