Railways: surface track – Portable track – Simulated roadbeds
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-24
2002-06-04
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways: surface track
Portable track
Simulated roadbeds
C104SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06398120
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As is often the case, smaller, less obvious items are more crucial than the more austere and more eye-catching features. The importance of track to the model toy railroad industry can not be overemphasized; a train set can be beautifully crafted and engineered, but without a reliable, well-constructed track to run it on, the whole objective is defeated. The crucial factor in track layout and operation is continuous and constant mechanical and electrical connections without which the toy train will cease running or may derail. This is why track itself is a main focus of and is critical to model railroadry and why so much time and research are factored into the designs as well as the constant striving for improvements.
For a number of years, the common solution to maintaining this critical connection was only through mechanical means. In several inventions, the electrical current is maintained solely through direct rail to rail contact; the purpose of the mechanical invention, then, is to devise a secure contact or touching of the track rails themselves. However, in each case, if there is a separation of the mechanical features due to causes such as vibrations from the train running on the track or weakening of parts with age or other various factors, the electrical current is lost as well.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Traditionally, the basic model railroad track has been designed and produced with tubular rails formed from long, thin strips of tin sheet metal which are roll formed, a process of bending and shaping, to simulate the appearance of actual rails. This method was used not only for aesthetic reasons, but also provided the actual physical and electrical connections of the train layout. Although not the main focus of either U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,943 or 5,529,241, this type of tubular rail can be identified by examining these two patents. A common solution for tubular rail connection, if no other mechanical means of maintaining rail contact existed, was inserting, into the hollow rails, a rail connection, also known as a track pin, to connect two adjoining rails. A key problem re-occurring with inventions that solely rely on utilizing thin sheet metal to maintain connection is that sheet metal easily bends out of the originally formed shape and, thus, can lose its secure, close fit.
Aside from the common and traditional use of rail connectors, one approach to the problem of maintaining constant and continuous connection has been to attach an auxiliary and augmenting part to the track assembly itself. The thin sheet metal joints in U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,081, which connect directly onto the rails, provide additional connection but have the same tendency as other sheet metal products to bend out of the original shape and to lose the close contact as the rails are wiggled in and out.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,843 includes an elongated U-shaped sheet metal clamp to join the track sections. The flat, elongated section of the clamp lies beneath each rail section of two adjoining track sections, while the U-shaped clamp parts extend upwards between the crossties to hold the rails. The limited design of the clamp will only allow for use with track section of a particular base design and with particular crosstie spacing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,993,631 and 5,139,198 by the same inventor, has a unique design of a separate solid figure-eight shaped connection element which fits into recesses formed into the underside of the solid ballast-type track bed body. Although providing both electrical and mechanical connections, this attachable connecting element presents a more complicated means of track connection than typical solutions in the model toy train industry.
A different type of approach evolved, involving only mechanical connections, by introducing various protruding and receiving elements formed as part of the molded plastic track bed base. However, electrical contact was still solely dependent upon a close contact of the rails themselves, as no locking feature of the rails or additional electrical connectors were incorporated into the designs. If the mechanical connections loosen or separate, a gap between the rails will terminate the electrical current required for train operation. An example of this approach, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,785 has, as part of the molded base, a series of interlocking protruding tongue elements and receiving slot elements to physically attach like track sections.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,537, a separate lattice-like structure attaches to the underside of the molded track bed; it is this addition to the track bed which has a protruding two-prong fork shape element which locks into a complementary receiving slot. U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,278 has a somewhat more unique laterally offset track bed base with extending and recessed portions which result in a minimum of two locking positions of identical adjacent track sections.
A third approach has been to combine both of these two methods mentioned above by incorporating a design which has the sheet metal joint, as already discussed as U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,081, and a track bed base connection consisting of a protruding tongue-type element and a receiving slot-type element. U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,356 is such an invention which incorporates both a sheet metal joint connecting the rails and a rigid plastic tongue and socket concept connecting the base.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,503,330, and 5,752,678 by the same inventor, utilizes the metallic joint on the rails as well as an open-ended, hook-like projection that bends and secures itself into a receiving slot. Unfortunately, with all of these approaches, as the tracks are connected and re-connected, the track sections have a tendency to fit together less securely over time, thereby allowing gaps between the rails, which result in loss of electrical connection and current.
In most recent years, in the field of model railroadry, a transition has been made towards what is frequently known as “snap-together” track, which has a plastic base, either solid or a crosstie lattice, that joins track sections together to provide the physical means of connection, while a separate system of metal connectors provide the electrical connection required for a continuous electrical current throughout the system.
A track assembly with both mechanical and electrical connection systems is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,856. In this invention, as part of the design, the locking elements consist of one which is upwardly open and the another element which consists of two parallel springs with a recess between said springs. The design has been incorporated specifically into the manufacture of the smaller type gauge track having a ballast-type track bed base and solid rails and can only be used in conjunction with identical track sections.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is the first to incorporate both the traditional tubular rails and the recent snap-together type track, which incorporates separate, yet complementary, electrical and mechanical connection systems into one design which can be used with not only identical track sections but also with any manufacturer's tubular track of the same gauge. The features and positioning of the mechanical and electrical connectors allow for use of these track sections with the common, traditional tubular track sections that have been widely manufactured. In addition, although a major irritation to track manufacturers, the problem of rails sliding and slipping from position has been addressed infrequently in previous inventions. Improvements in this area are part of the present invention as well.
The present invention has at least the following objectives: to provide secure and reliable mechanical and electrical track assemblies, to create a unique dual compatibility system of both tubular and snap-together track, to prevent lengthwise sliding of rails, and to prevent lateral sliding of the rails.
The present invention provides a model toy train track assembly which addresses improvements to four areas of concern in the model railr
Anderson Chad C.
McCarry, Jr. Robert J.
Morano S. Joseph
Shannon John P.
Venable
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