Railways: surface track – Guardrails
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-17
2001-08-28
Le, Mark T. (Department: 3617)
Railways: surface track
Guardrails
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279833
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a railroad switch. More particularly this invention concerns an attachment for the guard rail of such a switch.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A check or guard rail is provided extending parallel to a running rail at a sharp curve or railroad switch to prevent a rail-car wheel from slipping sideways off the running rail. In particular they are used at the frog of a rail system with a UIC 33 or U69 profile. Such guard rails are secured to guide-rail anchor plates and must extend parallel to and at an exact spacing from the running rail. They are subject to considerable wear.
As a rule such a guide rail is through-bolted to the guide-rail anchor plate. To this end the anchor plates must be installed on the sleepers at an exact spacing so that their holes correspond exactly to the holes in the preformed guide rails. Obviously installing the anchor plates this precisely in the field is fairly difficult and often requires that the anchor plates be removed and reinstalled, greatly slowing the installation process.
It is also known to simply drill the anchor plates and/or the guide rail at the site to ensure that their holes align perfectly. Such a procedure is also fairly cumbersome and difficult to carry out in the field. This is particularly disadvantageous when guide rails are being replaced, as the rail stretch must be taken out of service for a considerable time while the new guide rails are fitted, drilled, and mounted.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved attachment system for a railroad-switch guide rail.
Another object is the provision of such an improved attachment system for a railroad-switch guide rail which over-comes the above-given disadvantages, that is which is relatively simple in that it eliminates the hole-alignment problems of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A guide-rail assembly has according to the invention an anchor plate having an upstanding flange with a transversely directed face and formed below the face with at least one transversely throughgoing hole and a guide rail above the hole and having a transversely directed outer face bearing transversely on the flange face and an inner face directed transversely oppositely. In accordance with the invention a J-bolt has a bearing face directed transversely toward and bearing on the guide-rail inner face and a shank extending through the hole below the guide rail. A nut threaded on the shank and engaging an outer surface of the plate presses the J-bolt bearing face against the guide-rail inner face and clamps the guide rail against the anchor-plate face.
Thus with this system there is no need for accurately formed and positioned holes in the guide rail and anchor plate(s). Instead the guide rail can be made free of holes, which makes it stronger and less expensive to manufacture, while it still can be clamped solidly to the anchor plates which need merely be placed at no more than a certain minimum spacing. The installation and replacement of such a guide rail is an extremely simple job. The hole(s) in the anchor plate can be formed in the factory, so that no drilling at the site is required.
Thus with such a system the guard rail is installed, after the anchor plate has been bolted to the sleeper at the appropriate spacing from the running rail, simply by dropping it into place and then tightening the J-bolts. Shims can be used between the J-bolt and anchor-plate flange to finely adjust the spacing between the guard rail and the running rail. Similarly the J-bolts can be loosened in an existing installation and shims inserted to compensate for wear.
In accordance with the invention the hole and shank are centered on a common axis and the plate and J-bolt are formed with complementary generally planar surfaces extending generally parallel to the axis and engaging one another so that rotation of the J-bolt about the axis is inhibited by engagement of the planar surfaces. More particularly the plate planar surface is formed in the hole and the J-bolt planar surface is formed on the shank. In this case the plate planar surface is directed downward and the J-bolt planar surface is directed upward. Alternately or in addition the plate planar surface is directed upward immediately adjacent the hole and the J-bolt planar surface is directed downward immediately adjacent the shank. It is also possible for the plate to be formed adjacent the hole with at least one upstanding ridge having a vertical surface constituting the plate planar surface. In this case the bolt has a side face constituting the J-bolt planar surface. Normally the plate has two such upstanding ridges having confronting vertical surfaces closely flanking the J-bolt. Thus the nut, which is normally a lock nut, can be torqued down without having to put a wrench on the J-bolt, since its rotation is effectively inhibited by the anchor plate which itself is solidly bolted to the sleeper.
The guide rail according to the invention is generally U-section and has a pair of vertically spaced flanges. The J-bolt bearing face has a vertical dimension equal generally to a vertical spacing between the guide-rail flanges. This construction ensures proper vertical positioning of the guide rail relative to the sleeper to which the anchor plate and running rail are attached.
For best grip of the J-bolt on the guide rail the J-bolt bearing face has a textured surface. In addition the J-bolt bearing face carries a compressible bumper and/or the anchor-plate face carries a similar compressible bumper. When both have such bumpers they are of similar compressibility.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1939560 (1933-12-01), Maney
patent: 4265401 (1981-05-01), Jackson
patent: 5148980 (1992-09-01), Fritz et al.
patent: 5176318 (1993-01-01), Young
patent: 5238186 (1993-08-01), Young et al.
patent: 513 291 A (1971-09-01), None
patent: 0 725 184 A (1996-08-01), None
Dubno Herbert
Le Mark T.
Schwihag Gesellschaft fur Eisenbahnoberbau mbH
LandOfFree
Guide-rail attachment for railroad switch does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Guide-rail attachment for railroad switch, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Guide-rail attachment for railroad switch will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2516401