Railways: surface track – Fastenings
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-24
2001-04-10
Le, Mark T. (Department: 3617)
Railways: surface track
Fastenings
C238S314000, C238S338000, C238S378000, C238S008000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213407
ABSTRACT:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an apparatus for securing rail seal elements on opposite sides of a rail.
In rail track construction, it is frequently necessary and/or desirable to align the rail head with adjacent road surfaces in order to facilitate movement of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. This commonly occurs at level crossings, and in light rail systems where rail and vehicular traffic share a common right of way. In order to prevent fouling of the rails in these installations, it is common practice to install rubber or resilient polymer rail seals which serve to seal a space between each rail and the adjacent road surface. Typical examples of such rail seals can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,421 (Maass). Rail seals of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,421 (Maass) have the advantages of being easy to manufacture in large quantity and at low cost, while offering an effective means of preventing fouling of the rails by ice, snow or other foreign matter.
In order to further reduce the costs of maintaining the road surface, it is frequently necessary to install the rail seals on each side of the rails prior to construction of the adjacent road surfaces. The rail seals then serve as forms during the pouring of concrete or laying of asphalt for the road surface.
However, in order to retain the rail seals on each side of the rails during construction and throughout the service life of the crossing, it is necessary to provide some means of securing the rail seals in place. For this purpose, it is known to employ a generally U-shaped spring clip
4
which is designed to be inserted under the rail
1
between adjacent ties. The ends
5
,
6
of the spring clip
4
are then maneuvered into position to press the rail seals
2
,
3
against the rail
1
(see FIG.
1
). This arrangement suffers from numerous disadvantages. In particular, in order to install the spring clip
4
, a quantity of ballast (crushed stone) must be removed from between adjacent ties. This is time consuming and labor intensive thereby increasing costs. Concerns have also been raised that the removal of ballast in this way might undermine the footings of the rail, thereby leading to more rapid degradation of the track. Additionally, in order to generate sufficient holding forces, the spring clips typically need to be made of spring steel, which greatly increases their cost. Finally, experience has shown that once such spring clips have been installed, it is extremely difficult to remove them later, for example in order to conduct maintenance or upgrading of the rail.
An object of the present invention is to provide a clip for securing rail seals to a rail which overcomes the above-noted disadvantages of the prior art.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a clip which can be installed with minimum labor, and while minimizing any disruption of the rail ballast.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a clip which can be readily removed.
Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention provides a clip for securing a rail seal to a rail, the clip comprising a generally L-shaped clip bar having a clamping arm and an elongate connector arm extending from one end of the clamping arm and capable of passing under the rail, a clip arm removably slidable on the connector arm, and a locking mechanism capable of releasably locking the clip arm against sliding movement along the connector arm. In use, the clip arm is removed from the connector arm so that the connector arm can be passed under the rail with minimum disruption of the ballast. The clip arm is then slid back onto the connector arm, and the assembled clip is then oriented so that the rail and the rail seal are positioned between the clamping arm and the clip arm. The clip arm is then slid on the connector arm toward the clamping arm so as to tightly press the rail and rail seal therebetween. Finally, the clip arm is locked onto the connector arm to prevent the clip from releasing the rail and the rail seals.
In an embodiment of the invention, the clip arm is formed as a curvilinear body. A contact pad designed to engage an outer surface of a rail seal is disposed near one end of the body, and an opening capable of slidably receiving the connector arm is provided near an opposite end of the body.
The clip arm further includes a bearing surface between the contact pad and the opening. By this means, the clip arm is slidable on the connector arm toward the clamping arm in response to a force acting on the bearing surface.
The locking mechanism comprises a plurality of notches in an upper surface of the connector arm, and an edge or corner of the opening in the clip arm. By this means, a resilient force of a rail seal secured by the clip causes the clip arm to rotate until the corner of the opening engages one of the notches of the connector arm, thereby preventing sliding motion of the clip arm away from the clamping arm.
A tool notch is provided near a free end of the connector arm of the clip bar.
A tool capable of being removably coupled to the connector arm and the clip arm is used for forcibly sliding the clip arm toward the clamping arm to clamp the rail seal element against the rail, and for engaging the locking means to prevent undesired motion of the clip arm away from the clamping arm.
The tool comprises a pivot pin capable of being removably engaged in the tool notch of the connector arm, and cam surfaces capable of engaging the contact face of the clip arm. In this case, movement of the clip arm toward the clamping arm is caused by inserting the pivot pin into the tool notch and thereafter pivoting the tool about the pivot pin toward the clamping arm. Subsequent pivoting of the tool away from the clamping arm causes the locking mechanism to automatically engage to prevent the clip arm from moving away from the clamping arm.
REFERENCES:
patent: 916277 (1909-03-01), Dawkins
patent: 1050457 (1913-01-01), Hellner
patent: 1092198 (1914-04-01), Allen
patent: 1230703 (1917-06-01), Gregg
patent: 4415120 (1983-11-01), Thim
patent: 4461421 (1984-07-01), Maass
patent: 4793545 (1988-12-01), Raymond
patent: 4880158 (1989-11-01), Cook
patent: 4919330 (1990-04-01), Winger
patent: 5465903 (1995-11-01), Davis et al.
patent: 5535947 (1996-07-01), Hogue et al.
patent: 5609294 (1997-03-01), Lucas, Jr.
patent: 5622312 (1997-04-01), Martin
patent: 5655711 (1997-08-01), Hull et al.
Ellis Richard
Whelan Christopher
Le Mark T.
Polycorp Inc.
Seaby George A.
LandOfFree
Two-piece rail seal clip and tool for installing same does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Two-piece rail seal clip and tool for installing same, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Two-piece rail seal clip and tool for installing same will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2497113