This is a utility application relating to U.S. Ser. No. 12/546,868 filed Aug. 25, 2009 entitled Low Profile Derail which was derived from provisional application Ser. No. 61/091,839 filed Aug. 26, 2008. The subject matter of U.S. Publication No. US/2010/0051757A1 (Ser. No. 12/546,868) is incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to railway safety equipment, namely, derails which are commonly used for derailing railed vehicles including locomotives, railroad cars and the like which may be undesirably moving along railroad tracks normally at a relatively low speed.
There are many types of derails known in the railroad industry which have been used for many years. Certain types of derails are substantially permanently fixed to one rail of a pair of railroad track rails and various methods may be used to move the derail between an operative position and an inoperative position. Some derails are relatively light in weight so as to be portable and some are not movable between operative and inoperative positions.
As disclosed in the related application U.S. Publication 2010/0051757, the railway industry historically requires that the highest point of a derail was not to be more than four inches measured from the top of the rail upon which the derail was affixed. The reason for this requirement was that the pilot must be allowed to have cleared the highest point of the derail so that a heavy locomotive pilot (also known as a “cow catcher”) did not sweep, push or knock off the entire derail when the locomotive was undesirably moving at a relatively low speed, possibly up to ten miles per hour. In the event the derail is dislocated out of the operative derail position by the pilot, the derail becomes ineffective and the undesirably moving locomotive may cause serious damage to other locomotives, railway cars or even cause serious injury or death to workers in the area.
Relatively recently the railway industry changed its standards to require that certain derails could not have its highest point be more than three inches above the upper surface of the railroad rail upon which the derail is affixed. Existing derails higher than three inches above the rail can now be unsafe to use in a railroad track area where a heavy locomotive's pilot could dislocate the derail track upon from which it is mounted before the lead wheel of the undesirably moving locomotive could be derailed by the derail. This situation would cause the undesirably moving locomotive to continue moving unsafely rather than allowing the derail to remain in place and cause a safe derailment of the locomotive by engaging the lead wheel of the locomotive.
While the low profile derail of the above mentioned U.S. Publication is very effective, the disadvantages of a derail of the disclosed type is that a one ended deflecting bar is only designed to derail a locomotive or other moving railway car going in only one direction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the above publication. It is known in the railway industry to provide double ended derails as shown, for example, in FIGS. 9-11 of U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,611, and also in U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,564 as well as in other patents. Such derails may be used to derail a vehicle, including a locomotive, in two directions. In such derails, however, the derail must be moved to another section of the rail for an oppositely moving locomotive since such derails are subject to being longitudinally pushed along the track upon where it has been mounted because there is no foolproof provision to stop such longitudinal movement of the derail along the track. Therefore, known double ended derails are useful to effectively derail any railway car or locomotive but they cannot be left in the same spot on the tract, that is, they must be repositioned to cause a safe derailment for an oppositely moving car or locomotive.
In addition to the desirability of providing a double ended derail assembly to be kept in the same place on a track, regardless of the direction of movement of a car or locomotive, a double ended is desirably used so that a locomotive moving in one direction or another or other railway may be derailed by the derail when the locomotive is undesirably moving along the track in either direction. Such a derail does not need to be repositioned as has been generally required in prior art double ended derails. It is also desirable to provide a low profile derail assembly such as shown in the above Publication.
In the derail industry, it is well known that spaced rails of a railway track can vary significantly in height. For example, in the case of a 75 pound nominal weight per yard of a steel rail, the rail could have an overall height of as high as 4 15/16 inches while another steel rail may have a nominal weight of 136 pounds per yard of length and could have a height of 7 5/16 inches. In other words, there can be more than a two inch difference between the heights of commonly used rails used in the railroad industry.
In addition, commonly known and used transverse, usually wooden, railroad ties which are secured to the rails of a railroad track also vary in lateral width ranging from as wide 9¼ inches maximum (nominal width of nine inches) down to a width of 7 3/16 inches (nominal width of seven inches), thereby having as much as about two inches of difference in width between commonly used railroad ties. It is desirable to provide a derail which may be secured to a tie, regardless of the tie's width.
Particularly in the case of derails that are low profile (less than 3 inches above the top of a rail) to avoid being moved out of the operative derail position by the pilot of a moving locomotive, a derail assembly of the low profile type is desirable to be very securely mounted both to the rail and a tie in the area being used so as to be effective in accomplishing the desired derailment of the undesirably moving locomotive, as well as other undesirably moving railway cars.
The subject of this invention is an improved derail over prior art references, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,060, U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,906, U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,564, and U.S. Publication No. 2010/0051757.
The derail discussed herein was designed specifically for low profile use in connection with derailing undesirably moving locomotives having pilots that are only about three inches above the rail's top surface. It is to be understood that the derail to be discussed herein is considered a universal derail that can be used with or without a “low profile”, that is, under three inches in height. It can be used in connection with derailing any railway car including heavy locomotives. The present invention is highly versatile since it can be used in connection with standard height derails as well as “low profile” derails, that is, these have less than three inches in height above the rail upon which it is mounted. The derail may be used as a one ended derail as well as a double ended derail for derailing. The double ended derail does not need to be repositioned to be effective for derailing any railway car including a locomotive moving in two directions. The invention as discussed herein includes a system for securing a derail of any type to a single tie which may have widths varying approximately between seven inches and nine inches. The derail includes the ability to be secured to a rail having variable heights, such as between 4 15/16 inches and 7 5/16 inches.
In summary, there is a need in the railroad industry to provide a derail, preferably relatively light in weight, to be portable and yet be effective to derail an undesirably moving locomotive having a weight of several hundred thousand pounds as well as a boxcar or other conventional railway car whether undesirably moving in one direction or the other direction. The derail is exceptionally well secured to a single railroad tie which may have varying widths. The derail assembly may be secured rigidly at multiple locations to rails having heights that may vary, such as between 4 15/16 inches and 7 5/16 inches. The derail height may be constructed to be less than three inches in height above the upper surface of the track to provide a clearance of at least about a ¼ inch between the lowest point of the pilot of a locomotive and the derail and yet may be built to have a height above three inches if the derailing locomotive is of no concern. There is a need for an improved derail which may or may not be of a low profile type, which may be secured to a rail of varying height, which may be secured to a tie of varying widths, and which may be double ended or single ended which is accomplished by the derail of the present invention.
The derail assembly of the present invention is provided for derailing a wheeled railway vehicle movable along a pair of laterally spaced rails. Commonly, the rails have a field side and a gage side wherein railway ties are securely and transversely mounted against the lower flanges of the rails. The railroad ties have upright side walls and each of the rails has upper and lower flanges interconnected by a central upright rigid unitary support member. The derail assembly includes an elongated, rigid derail plate having an upper side and an under side with the under side being in direct contact with the upper flange of one of the railroad rails. The elongated rigid derail plate has a wheel entrance end and a wheel exit end which is longitudinally spaced from the wheel entrance end. At least one angled upright derail bar is securely mounted on the upper side of the derail plate. A second upright derail bar may be secured on the upper side of the derail plate and be angled in the opposite direction from the one derail bar so as to be a double ended derail. Each of the upright derail bars, if two are being used, are angled outwardly from the wheel entrance end to the wheel entrance end for engaging the wheel of a railed vehicle, such as a locomotive, which is moving undesirably, in one direction or the other, along the rails to thereby cause a desired derailment of the vehicle toward the field side of the undesirably moving vehicle. A pair of longitudinally spaced upright rigid members are secured to the underside of the derail plate. The upright rigid members are transversely spaced from the one rail on the gage side thereof and the upright rigid members are laterally spaced to define an open area between the upright rigid members. The open area has a predetermined lateral distance between the upright rigid members. One of the ties is securely and snugly positioned within the open area and between the upright rigid members with the side walls of one tie being secured between the upright rigid members. Longitudinally spaced hook members are secured to the derail plate at the wheel entrance end and at the wheel exit end. The hook members are secured to the derail assembly on the field side of the one rail. A clamp assembly is secured to the derail plate on the gage side of the rail opposite the hooks. The clamp assembly and the hook members cooperate for assisting in transversely securing the derail assembly to the one rail while the upright rigid members are longitudinally securely positioned between the side walls of the one tie. A spacer bar or bars are interposed in the open area in the event that the railroad tie is more narrow in width than the open area space between the spaced upright rigid members. Further, since each rail flange has a lower flange, to further secure the derail assembly to the bottom flange of the rail, flange feet are rigidly secured to the upright rigid members of the derail and are secured against the upper surface of the bottom flange on the gage side of the railroad tie. The flange feet are adjustably positioned on the upright rigid members to accommodate the variable height of the rail. The improved derail assembly of the present invention is thereby laterally or transversely secured to the rail at five locations, two on the field side of the rail and three on the gage side of the rail even when the rail may vary significantly in height. Further, the derail assembly is longitudinally secured to a single tie created by the snug fit between the upright members only between one upright member and one spacer bar, or between two spacer bars which butt up against the upright members.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.
The accompanying drawings are incorporated into and are part of the description of the invention. The drawings illustrate certain embodiments of the present invention and serve to explain and describe the embodiments of the invention. The drawings are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but are intended to assist in the description of the invention.
Referring to
Referring to
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Referring to
The derail assembly 20 includes a rigid derail shoe or plate 22 which is mounted directly upon and substantially completely covers the entire top surface S of the upper flange U of the rail R. Referring to
Referring to
The derail assembly 20 further includes a pair of derail hooks 30 and 32 which transversely secure the derail assembly 20 to the rail R. The derail hook 30 is positioned at the entrance end 25 of the first deflecting bar 24 while the derail hook 32 is affixed to the entrance end 25 of the second deflecting bar 26. The exit ends 27 of both derail hooks 30 and 32 are located at the upright welded joint 28 attaching the deflecting bars 24 and 26 together. The derail hooks 30 and 32 are provided with set screws 48 which secure both hooks 30 and 32 to the upper rail flange U along the field side.
The derail assembly 20 further includes an adjustable clamp assembly, generally 34, which is secured to the deflecting plate 22 by a support member 36. The clamp assembly 34 includes a rigid transverse wedge shaped member 38, as viewed best in
The design of the derail hooks 30 and 32 are substantially in accord with that shown in U.S. Publication No. 2010/0051757. As seen best in
Referring particularly to
With particular reference to
Although the railroad tie T discussed herein primarily relates to wooden ties of the type commonly used when laying railroad track in the United States, steel railroad ties and concrete railroad ties are also used. With possible detailed changes in the design of the derail assembly 20, it is contemplated that the use of a derail 20 of the type designed herein can also be secured to concrete and steel railroad ties (not shown).
As indicated previously, provision is made for additional transverse support of the derail assembly 20 to the rail R. Referring specifically to
As can be seen by the above description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a very versatile derail assembly 20 has been described. The derail assembly 20 may be double ended or single ended so as to be effective in derailing any type of undesirably moving railroad car, including a heavy locomotive, whether moving in one direction or the other. In the case of a double ended derail as shown in
The derail 20, as described, has a five point lateral or transverse securement of the derail 20 to a rail R. In this regard, the wedge 38 of the clamp 34 engages the rail R or the gage side of the rail while the upper flange U is engaged at two positions on the field side by the hook members 30 and 32 which engage the upper flange of the rail R at two locations. Finally, the foot members 34 engage the lower flange LF of the rail R on the gage side of the rail R. Not only is the derail assembly 20 laterally or transversely secured by five points to the rail R, the derail assembly 20 is longitudinally secured to one tie T by snugly positioning the tie T regardless of its nominal width (7″, 8″ or 9″). None, or one or two 1″ spacer bars 64 and 66 are used to provide a snug longitudinal fit between the derail assembly 20 and the tie T. In the case of a double ended derail, this snug support of the derail relative to the frame is particularly important in further avoiding longitudinal movement of the derail 20 along the rail R as in the case of a heavy locomotive moving from opposite directions and regardless of the five point transverse or longitudinal connection between the derail 20 and the rail R.
When installing the derail assembly 20 on a rail R and on a tie T, an operator first loosens the set of screws 48 positioned in the angled portion 46 of the two derail hooks 30 and 32. Further, the crank arm 42 is operated to loosen the clamp 34 and the wedge 38. The derail assembly plate 32 is then placed on top of a rail R. Once the assembly 20 is loosely in position, the next step is to position the foot members 74 on the lower rail flange LF engaging position of in
While in the foregoing, there has been provided a detailed description of embodiments of the present invention, it should be recognized to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments may be altered or amended without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention defined in the accompanying claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20120097802 A1 | Apr 2012 | US |