Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6279833
-
Patent Number
6,279,833
-
Date Filed
Friday, September 17, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, August 28, 200122 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 238 17
- 238 20
- 238 21
- 246 415 R
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A guide-rail assembly has an anchor plate having an upstanding flange with a transversely directed face and formed below the face with at least one transversely throughgoing hole and a guide rail above the hole and having a transversely directed outer face bearing transversely on the flange face and an inner face directed transversely oppositely. A J-bolt has a bearing face directed transversely toward and bearing on the guide-rail inner face and a shank extending through the hole below the guide rail. A nut threaded on the shank and engaging an outer surface of the plate presses the J-bolt bearing face against the guide-rail inner face and clamps the guide rail against the anchor-plate face.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a railroad switch. More particularly this invention concerns an attachment for the guard rail of such a switch.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A check or guard rail is provided extending parallel to a running rail at a sharp curve or railroad switch to prevent a rail-car wheel from slipping sideways off the running rail. In particular they are used at the frog of a rail system with a UIC 33 or U69 profile. Such guard rails are secured to guide-rail anchor plates and must extend parallel to and at an exact spacing from the running rail. They are subject to considerable wear.
As a rule such a guide rail is through-bolted to the guide-rail anchor plate. To this end the anchor plates must be installed on the sleepers at an exact spacing so that their holes correspond exactly to the holes in the preformed guide rails. Obviously installing the anchor plates this precisely in the field is fairly difficult and often requires that the anchor plates be removed and reinstalled, greatly slowing the installation process.
It is also known to simply drill the anchor plates and/or the guide rail at the site to ensure that their holes align perfectly. Such a procedure is also fairly cumbersome and difficult to carry out in the field. This is particularly disadvantageous when guide rails are being replaced, as the rail stretch must be taken out of service for a considerable time while the new guide rails are fitted, drilled, and mounted.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved attachment system for a railroad-switch guide rail.
Another object is the provision of such an improved attachment system for a railroad-switch guide rail which over-comes the above-given disadvantages, that is which is relatively simple in that it eliminates the hole-alignment problems of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A guide-rail assembly has according to the invention an anchor plate having an upstanding flange with a transversely directed face and formed below the face with at least one transversely throughgoing hole and a guide rail above the hole and having a transversely directed outer face bearing transversely on the flange face and an inner face directed transversely oppositely. In accordance with the invention a J-bolt has a bearing face directed transversely toward and bearing on the guide-rail inner face and a shank extending through the hole below the guide rail. A nut threaded on the shank and engaging an outer surface of the plate presses the J-bolt bearing face against the guide-rail inner face and clamps the guide rail against the anchor-plate face.
Thus with this system there is no need for accurately formed and positioned holes in the guide rail and anchor plate(s). Instead the guide rail can be made free of holes, which makes it stronger and less expensive to manufacture, while it still can be clamped solidly to the anchor plates which need merely be placed at no more than a certain minimum spacing. The installation and replacement of such a guide rail is an extremely simple job. The hole(s) in the anchor plate can be formed in the factory, so that no drilling at the site is required.
Thus with such a system the guard rail is installed, after the anchor plate has been bolted to the sleeper at the appropriate spacing from the running rail, simply by dropping it into place and then tightening the J-bolts. Shims can be used between the J-bolt and anchor-plate flange to finely adjust the spacing between the guard rail and the running rail. Similarly the J-bolts can be loosened in an existing installation and shims inserted to compensate for wear.
In accordance with the invention the hole and shank are centered on a common axis and the plate and J-bolt are formed with complementary generally planar surfaces extending generally parallel to the axis and engaging one another so that rotation of the J-bolt about the axis is inhibited by engagement of the planar surfaces. More particularly the plate planar surface is formed in the hole and the J-bolt planar surface is formed on the shank. In this case the plate planar surface is directed downward and the J-bolt planar surface is directed upward. Alternately or in addition the plate planar surface is directed upward immediately adjacent the hole and the J-bolt planar surface is directed downward immediately adjacent the shank. It is also possible for the plate to be formed adjacent the hole with at least one upstanding ridge having a vertical surface constituting the plate planar surface. In this case the bolt has a side face constituting the J-bolt planar surface. Normally the plate has two such upstanding ridges having confronting vertical surfaces closely flanking the J-bolt. Thus the nut, which is normally a lock nut, can be torqued down without having to put a wrench on the J-bolt, since its rotation is effectively inhibited by the anchor plate which itself is solidly bolted to the sleeper.
The guide rail according to the invention is generally U-section and has a pair of vertically spaced flanges. The J-bolt bearing face has a vertical dimension equal generally to a vertical spacing between the guide-rail flanges. This construction ensures proper vertical positioning of the guide rail relative to the sleeper to which the anchor plate and running rail are attached.
For best grip of the J-bolt on the guide rail the J-bolt bearing face has a textured surface. In addition the J-bolt bearing face carries a compressible bumper and/or the anchor-plate face carries a similar compressible bumper. When both have such bumpers they are of similar compressibility.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1
is an end view of the guide rail of this invention;
FIG. 2
is a cross section through the guide rail;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of the guide rail;
FIG. 4
is a side view of the retaining bolt;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of the retaining bolt; and
FIG. 6
is perspective view of a variant on the retaining bolt.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
As seen in
FIGS. 1
to
3
, a sleeper
1
carries a standard running rail
2
and a guide-rail anchor plate
3
, the latter secured in place by bolts
4
. The plate
3
has an upstanding flange
5
carrying an elastomeric bumper
6
against which a guide rail
9
having a pair of flanges
7
and
8
is secured by J-bolts
10
. The upper flange
7
of the rail
9
is substantially longer than the lower flange
8
and is level with the head of the rail
2
.
Each J-bolt
10
has as shown in
FIGS. 4 and 5
a long threaded shank
11
and a body formed with an upper facet or flat
12
a
adjacent the threaded shank
11
and a lower facet or flat
12
b
. The upper flat
12
a
has a length
13
measured parallel to the axis of the shank
11
sufficient for a standard wrench to be fitted to it. To each side of the lower flat
12
b
the bolt
10
has a pair of planar and parallel side faces or flats
12
extending perpendicular to the flats
12
a
and
12
b
. The bolt
10
has an end
14
provided with a bearing face
15
that presses against the bight of the rail
9
and that can have facial formations such as milling
16
for a better grip or be provided as shown in
FIG. 6
with an elastomeric bumper sheet
26
. The face
15
has a vertical height
25
which is roughly equal to the vertical space between the flanges
7
and
9
.
The anchor plate
3
is formed with a hole
18
through which the shank
11
fits and that is shaped in an outer region
19
so as to fit complementarily with the facet
12
a
. In addition underneath each such hole
18
the plate
3
has a formation
20
with an upper surface
20
a
fitting complementarily with the lower flat
12
b
, and is formed to each side of this surface
20
a
with upstanding flanges
21
and
22
that embrace and guide the bolt
10
, fitting against its side faces
12
. In face these flanges or ridges
21
and
22
can be used to support the guide rail
9
by bearing agianst the lower face of its lower flange
8
.
To assemble this system the bolts
10
are at first fitted to the holes
18
and lock nuts
23
are screwed a few turns onto the outer ends of the shanks
11
. The bolts
10
are not fully pushed into the holes
18
so there is sufficient spacing between the bearing surface
15
of the bolt
10
and a bearing surface
17
of the bumper
6
on the flange
5
that the lower flange
8
of the rail
9
can be dropped down between these faces
15
and
17
. Once the rail
7
is in position the nuts
23
are tightened. Due to the complementary fit between the flats
12
,
12
a
, and
12
b
and the surrounding planar faces of the structures
19
,
20
a
,
21
, and
22
, the bolts
10
will not turn as the nuts
23
are torqued home. If necessary shims
24
can be inserted between the faces
15
and
17
during installation or subsequently to compensate for wear.
Claims
- 1. A guide-rail assembly comprising:an anchor plate having an upstanding flange with a transversely directed face and formed below the face with at least one transversely throughgoing hole; a guide rail above the hole and having a transversely directed outer face bearing transversely on the flange face and an inner face directed transversely oppositely; a J-bolt having a bearing face directed transversely toward and bearing on the guide-rail inner face and a shank extending through the hole below the guide rail; and a nut threaded on the shank, engaging an outer surface of the plate, pressing the J-bolt bearing face against the guide-rail inner face, and clamping the guide rail against the anchor-plate face, the hole and shank being centered on a common axis, the plate and J-bolt being formed with complementary generally planar surfaces extending generally parallel to the axis and engaging one another, whereby rotation of the J-bolt about the axis is inhibited by engagement of the planar surfaces, the plate planar surface being formed in the hole and the J-bolt planar surface being formed on the shank, the plate planar surface being directed downward and the J-bolt planar surface being directed upward.
- 2. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the plate is formed adjacent the hole with at least one upstanding ridge having a vertical surface constituting a further planar surface, the bolt having a side face constituting a further J-bolt planar surface.
- 3. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 2 wherein the plate has two such upstanding ridges having confronting vertical surfaces closely flanking the J-bolt.
- 4. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the guide rail is generally U-section and has a pair of vertically spaced flanges, the J-bolt bearing face having a vertical dimension equal generally to a vertical spacing between the guide-rail flanges.
- 5. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the J-bolt bearing face has a textured surface.
- 6. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim wherein the J-bolt bearing face carries a compressible bumper.
- 7. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the J-bolt bearing face and anchor-plate face carry respective compressible bumpers of similar compressibility.
- 8. A guide-rail assembly comprising:an anchor plate having an upstanding flange with a transversely directed face and formed below the face with at least one transversely throughgoing hole; a guide rail above the hole and having a transversely directed outer face bearing transversely on the flange face and an inner face directed transversely oppositely; a J-bolt having a bearing face directed transversely toward and bearing on the guide-rail inner face and a shank extending through the hole below the guide rail; and a nut threaded on the shank, engaging an outer surface of the plate, pressing the J-bolt bearing face against the guide-rail inner face, the anchor-plate face carrying a compressible bumper, the anchor-plate bumper being recessed in the anchor-plate face.
- 9. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 8 wherein the hole and shank are centered on a common axis and the plate and J-bolt are formed with complementary generally planar surfaces extending generally parallel to the axis and engaging one another, whereby rotation of the J-bolt about the axis is inhibited by engagement of the planar surfaces.
- 10. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the plate planar surface is formed in the hole and the J-bolt planar surface is formed on the shank.
- 11. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 10 wherein the plate planar surface is directed downward and the J-bolt planar surface is directed upward.
- 12. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the plate is formed adjacent the hole with at least one upstanding ridge having a vertical surface constituting the plate planar surface, the bolt having a side face constituting the J-bolt planar surface.
- 13. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 12 wherein the plate has two such upstanding ridges having confronting vertical surfaces closely flanking the J-bolt.
- 14. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the guide rail is generally U-section and has a pair of vertically spaced flanges, the J-bolt bearing face having a vertical dimension equal generally to a vertical spacing between the guide-rail flanges.
- 15. The guide-rail assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the J-bolt bearing face has a textured surface.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
198 42 929 |
Sep 1998 |
DE |
|
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
513 291 A |
Sep 1971 |
CH |
0 725 184 A |
Aug 1996 |
EP |