Railways – Car-carried propulsion system – Electric
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-03
2001-07-24
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways
Car-carried propulsion system
Electric
C104S281000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263800
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to rail support devices and more specifically it relates to a rail support system for adjustably supporting a pair of abutting rails to be welded together.
Railroad companies generally weld abutting ends of rails together for providing increased support when secured to wooden ties. It is desirable to weld the rails at an angle with respect to the ground surface typically 3.5 degrees for each rail thereby creating an inverted V-shaped. After the rails are welded together, they are allowed to cool. After the desired period of time for cooling, approximately 15 minutes, the rails are lowered and the excess weld material is sheared off with conventional shearing tools thereby creating a smooth rail. Do to unevenness in the rails and terrain, it can be difficult to align the adjacent ends of the rails resulting in a weakened weld. Hence, there is a need for a rail support system that adjustably supports the abutting ends of two rails being welded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rail support devices have been in use for years. One type of conventional rail support device is the use of two wedges that have a slanted edge that is positioned underneath each of the rails to elevate the ends.
There are three disadvantages to utilizes wedges to elevate the ends of the rails during the welding process. First, the wedges are driven underneath the rails with a hammer or other device which causes tremendous side forces sometimes resulting in twisting of the rails. Second, it is extremely time consuming and labor intensive to properly elevate two opposing rails which are extremely heavy. Third, a conventional shear device is unable to immediately shear the excess weld because the wedges are in the way.
A second device that can be utilized to elevate the opposing rails is commonly referred to as an “A-frame” which utilizes conventional elevating means directly above the rails to elevate them. However, as stated with the wedges, the physical structure of the A-frames is inconvenient to utilize compared to the present invention.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for adjustably supporting a pair of abutting rails to be welded together. Conventional rail support devices are cumbersome to utilize and often result in uneven alignment of the rails. In addition, conventional rail support devices do not allow the welded area to be sheared and grinded immediately thereby delaying the welding process significantly eventually resulting in increased costs for the company.
In these respects, the rail support system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of adjustably supporting a pair of abutting rails to be welded together.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of rail support devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new rail support system construction wherein the same can be utilized for adjustably supporting a pair of abutting rails to be welded together.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new rail support system that has many of the advantages of the rail support devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new rail support system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art rail support devices, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a pair of support devices each comprising a support base, a first lift assembly attached to an end of the support base, a second lift assembly attached to an opposing end of the support base, a pair of locking handles attached to the support base for engaging a lower portion of the rail, and a gripping handle attached to the support base for allowing manual manipulation of the present invention by a user. The lift assemblies are comprised of a screw type jack system or a hydraulic jack system. By differentiating the lift assemblies the user is able to manually twist the rail in the desired direction to create an alignment with the opposing rail. The pair of locking handles are preferably positioned upon a slide plate that is adjustably positioned upon the support base thereby allowing the user to adjust the horizontal position of the rail also. The present invention allows repositioning of the horizontal, vertical and rotational position of a rail which is desirable when welding two abutting rails.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a rail support system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
Another object is to provide a rail support system that adjustably supports two opposing rails in a desired position during welding.
An additional object is to provide a rail support system that allows the welded area to be immediately sheared and grinded without removing the support devices.
A further object is to provide a rail support system that eliminates unintentional twisting of the rails during elevating.
Another object is to provide a rail support system that significantly reduces the amount of time required to weld two opposing rails together.
An additional object is to provide a rail support system allows each individual rail to be twisted in the desired direction if required.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4632308 (1986-12-01), Fischer
patent: 5150835 (1992-09-01), Yamamoto
patent: 5862759 (1999-01-01), Mauli et al.
McCarry, Jr. Robert J.
Morano S. Joseph
Neustel Michael S.
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