Railways: surface track – Tie-plates – Rail brace
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-12
2001-10-30
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways: surface track
Tie-plates
Rail brace
C238S347000, C238S310000, C238S321000, C238S336000, C238S349000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308897
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a rail brace assembly for bracing and securing a rail to a tie plate, and in particular to a rail brace assembly including a brace member which braces the rail against lateral, rotational and vertical movement.
Rail braces are used to brace or buttress railroad rails against side thrust forces exerted by the wheels of rail traffic that would rotate or overturn the rail if not resisted. Side thrust forces of a magnitude sufficient to overturn a rail most commonly occur at curved sections of the rail which are subjected to high speed rail traffic. Rail braces typically utilize nuts and bolts, or resilient spring clips, for securing a brace to the tie plate and for applying a horizontal restraining force to the rail. The use of nuts and bolts presents a problem in that threads can be stripped, nuts can become loose, alignment of bolts in bolt holes can be difficult and time consuming, and wrenches are required for installation. Current boltless braces utilizing spring clips do not provide for vertical retention of the rail other than by the biasing force that is provided by the spring clip itself. As a result, when current boltless braces are utilized a rail can be pulled out of its rail seat during handling, and especially during tamping. The present invention overcomes these problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A rail brace assembly for bracing a rail that is located in the seat of a tie plate and for securing the rail to the tie plate. The rail includes a head fishing surface and a base fishing surface. The rail brace assembly includes a brace member having a top surface adapted to engage the head fishing surface of the rail, a bottom surface adapted to engage the base fishing surface of the rail, a front friction surface including a plurality of elongate ridges that form a corrugated surface, and an outwardly extending toe having an upper surface and an angled side surface. The rail brace assembly also includes a locking member having a front surface, a rear friction surface having a plurality of spaced apart ridges which form a corrugated surface that is adapted to engage the front friction surface of the brace member, and first and second spaced apart outwardly extending legs. The rail brace assembly also includes a retention member adapted to be attached to the tie plate that includes a bore and a recess adapted to receive the toe of the brace member. The legs of the locking member arc adapted to be located on opposite sides of the retention member to substantially prevent lateral movement of the locking member. The rail brace assembly also includes a resilient spring-clip fastener having a first end adapted to be inserted into the bore of the retention member and a second end adapted to engage the front surface of the locking member such that the fastener resiliently biases the rear friction surface of the locking member into interlocking engagement with the front friction surface of the brace member to thereby inhibit lateral movement of the brace member. The engagement of the top surface and of the bottom surface of the brace member with the rail inhibits transverse and rotational movement of the rail. The insertion of the toe of the brace member into the recess of the retention member enables the retention member to inhibit vertical movement of the brace member and of the rail. The retention member includes a stop member in communication with the bore to limit how far the first end of the fastener can be inserted into the bore of the retention member.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4566630 (1986-01-01), Keiper
patent: 4770342 (1988-09-01), Farrell et al.
patent: 4824015 (1989-04-01), Farrell et al.
patent: 5104041 (1992-04-01), Remington
Drawing sheet entitled “Double Pandrol Shoulder”.
Four drawing sheets marked “¼” to “{fraction (4/4)}”.
Ivanyo Daniel A.
Remington James A.
Wright Dennis
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
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