Railways – Elevated structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-07
2003-04-22
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways
Elevated structure
C104S126000, C104S053000, C238S01000B
Reexamination Certificate
active
06550393
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a wooden rail for a ride, particularly for a roller coaster, as well as to a method for fabricating and mounting such a wooden rail.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As explained in the book “Volksbelustigungen”, written by Florian Dering, Greno Verlagsgesellschaft, Nördlingen, 1986, pp. 119-127, the first up-and-down rides, particularly roller coasters, were mere wooden constructions. Only the wheels and the chassis of the wagons and the elevator means were made of iron. The frame was made of spruce and pine wood, and the rails were made of multiple-bonded spruce wood, with the track surface being made of maple. The rims on both edges of the rail, which served to guide, i.e. the so-called “bands” (In German “Banden”), consisted of bonded planks and were bent in drying stoves to the desired shape of the rails.
However, due to the relatively slow driving speeds, the wooden rails at that time did not have lateral inclination, i.e. the planks were arranged in layers one over the other horizontally and parallel.
Over the course of time, these early wooden constructions were replaced by up-and-down rides or roller coasters made of steel, and in 1964 the Schwarzkopf Company of Munsterhausen/Swabian built the first roller coaster in the Federal Republic of Germany which was completely made of steel. The track constructions were of modular design and prefabricated, and were only put together to form the skeleton at the place of use, as can be deduced, for example, from DE-OS 17 03 917.
Today, most up-and-down rides or roller coasters are equipped with steel rails; in recent times, however, there is an increase in the number of wooden roller coasters with wooden rails being constructed. In addition, there are still some designs of wooden roller coasters and up-and-down rides having wooden rails, which, due to wear and tear, have to be replaced every four to seven years.
Wooden rails used for roller coasters or for general up-and-down rides are fabricated at the place where the up-and-down ride is to be erected, made of individual wooden layers, i.e. of planks, such as sawn timber at least 8 mm thick and less than 40 mm thick, or of boards, i.e. sawn timber at least 40 mm thick (see DIN 68 252). These two terms will be used interchangeably in the following description as the selection of a specific type of sawn timber depends on conditions which are of no further interest here.
The first plank/board is placed as the first layer onto the rail support provided at the trestle of the rail frame and vertically pre-bent, i.e. in vertical direction to the rail plane; a valley of the rail thus being pushed downwards or a hill of the rail being pushed upwards. Then, the second plank/board layer is placed onto the first layer in an offset manner, and both layers are then nailed together. Then, the third layer is placed, and so on, until the desired thickness is obtained.
Generally, wooden rails for roller coasters comprise approximately eight layers, although more or less layers can also be used.
Subsequently, rail connectors made of squared timber, extending at a right angle to the direction of the rails, are fixed to the prefabricated package of layers by means of screw bolts. These rail connectors function to maintain the track width of the two rails running parallel to one other; to distribute the loads from the guide wheels of the vehicle, running on the rails, to both rails; to stabilize the rails; and, if desired, to provide a catwalk for the service staff.
Afterwards, steel sheets for the running wheels and for the guide wheels of the vehicle are continuously fixed to the rail by means of screw bolts. Steel sheets for the counter wheels are also arranged at those points where the counter wheels engage.
Owing to the usual speeds encountered nowadays, each roller coaster rail, i.e. each wooden rail, is three-dimensionally curved in large regions, i.e. there are radii vertical to the rail plane and radii horizontal to the rail plane, and the lateral inclination &bgr; of the rail may constantly change. This means that the right and the left rail of a pair of rails may be inherently twisted.
In the case of rails having horizontal radii in the rail plane, the two planks/boards at which the counter wheels may engage, are often placed differently than in the case of rails without horizontal radii.
Because the planks/boards run linearly, the rail package, comprising rails with horizontal radii, is constructed in oversize segments, and the radii on the inner side of the right and left rails are worked out by carpenters, i.e. usually by hand. This is arduous, awkward, and troublesome work, as the rails are assembled manually in situ after the trestles have been placed, and the carpenters are exposed to the wind and weather.
Owing to the carpenter's manual fabrication, the carpenters have many possibilities to deviate from the rail design. Consequently, the rails have large tolerances; in particular for the inner dimension of the rail between the steel sheets for the guide wheels and between the two rail supports from trestle to trestle. These tolerances result in rather rough rides being associated with wooden rides as compared to rides, for example, on roller coasters constructed of prefabricated steel rails.
Due to the layer-wise nailing and the subsequent bolting, the rails have only partial joint coverage and the individual layers at the joints between two subsequently following rails have no additional joint coverage, leading to the following disadvantage. While the vehicle runs past, the individual layers of planks/boards are subjected to relative displacements, which lead to loosening of nails and the formation of gaps between the individual layers, as the planks/boards are still inherently twisted. Accordingly, water may penetrate the rail causing early rotting of the wood. Furthermore, in winter the effects of frost, snow and condensation water also come into play.
The rails are deflected to a higher degree, as the individual layers are only mounted in partial composite. As there is only minor load distribution of the pressures from the running wheels over the relatively thin steel sheet, the uppermost layer is often subjected to pressure, perpendicular to the direction of the wood fiber, exceeding the admissible pressure load.
Experience shows that, owing to the above influences, wooden rails for up-and-down rides/roller coasters have to be completely replaced after a period of four to seven years.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a wooden rail for an up-and-down ride, especially a roller coaster, which obviates the above-mentioned disadvantages. In particular, the wooden rail can be prefabricated industrially to the greatest possible extent, and then only needs to be mounted on the trestles.
This object is solved by the features set forth in claim
1
of the invention. Pertinent embodiments are defined by the appertaining sub-claims.
The advantages obtained by this aspect of the invention are based on construction of a rail from laminated wood board, laminated veneer wood or presspahn wood (particle board) in a wood glue construction method, wherein the board layers are arranged parallel to the rail plane, perpendicular to the rail plane, or, in a mixed construction partially parallel and partially perpendicular to the rail plane, and then are bonded, in particular glued, to each other. The rails, milled to the precise form, only need to be secured to the rail support on the trestle.
It is even possible to prefabricate pairs of rails including rail connectors and to transport them to the place where the ride is to be erected. For transport reasons, however, it is generally more advisable to only fabricate the individual rails, and to assemble them to pairs of rails at the site.
Such rails can be prefabricated at a precise accuracy of ±1 mm, which had not been possible heretofore, as they had to be made manually of individual layers by the carpenters at site. Thus, the quality of a roller coaster ri
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
Renner , Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP
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