Patent Grant
8985476
This invention is related to a cover and clip to cover a rail and rail boot during the construction of embedded railway tracks.
Rail beds cross a roadway or a pedestrian walkway at grade level or are built into a roadway when right-of-way is shared between tram vehicles with steel wheels and automobiles with rubber tires. In these rail beds, the rails are often installed such that the top surface of the rails are at the same level as the roadway or walkway with the exception of a flangeway, an adjacent recess to accommodate the rail car wheels. The non-exposed surfaces of the rails are often covered with an elastomeric rail boot to cushion or to electrically insulate the rail from the concrete. This type of rail track is called “embedded track” since the rail and other ancillary components are embedded in the track except the exposed surface of the rail
There are various construction methods for building embedded track. One method for building embedded track, especially in the U.S., is done by laying a rubber boot underneath a rail that has been suspended by gigging. The rail boot is then wrapped around the rail. As shown in
In a first aspect, the present invention comprises an assembly to hold a rail boot to a rail during embedded track construction comprising: a cover having a bottom surface, a first portion of the bottom surface generally conforming to a length of a top surface of a rail head; the bottom surface having a second portion defining a convex shape adjacent to and generally parallel to the length of the top surface of the rail head; the bottom surface further defining a hook to engage a gauge side of the rail boot; and a clip having first and second ends, wherein the first end engages a gauge side of the cover; and the second end engages a field side of the cover and/or the rail boot.
In accordance with another aspect of the assembly of the present invention, the first end of the clip snap-fits or friction fits the gauge side of the cover.
In accordance with yet an additional aspect of the assembly of the present invention, the second end of the clip snap-fits or friction fits the field side of the cover and/or rail boot.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the assembly of the present invention, the first end of the clip snap-fits or friction fits the gauge side of the cover and wherein the second end of the clip snap-fits or friction fits the field side of the cover and/or rail boot.
In accordance with another aspect of the assembly of the present invention, the cover may comprise an extrusion, polyvinylchloride and/or nylon.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the assembly of the present invention, the clip may comprise an injection molded product, polybutylene terephthalate or a metal.
In another aspect, the present invention comprises a method for covering a rail and rail boot during the construction of embedded railway tracks comprising the steps of: wrapping a rail boot around, in-whole or in-part, a flange, field side web and/or gauge side web of a rail; laying a cover over a head of the rail; engaging the cover with a gauge side of the rail boot; engaging a clip to the cover and to the field side of the rail boot; pouring material around the rail boot; removing the clip; and removing the cover.
In accordance with yet a further aspect, the method for covering of the present invention further comprises: applying a concrete release agent to the clip and/or cover.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the method for covering of the present invention, the cover has a bottom surface having first and second portions wherein the first portion of the bottom surface generally conforms to a length of a top surface of a rail head.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the method for covering of the present invention, the second portion of the bottom surface defines a convex shape adjacent to and generally parallel to the length of the top surface of the rail head.
In accordance with yet an additional aspect of the method for covering of the present invention, the bottom surface further defines a hook to engage a gauge side of the rail boot.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the method for covering of the present invention, the clip has first and second ends, wherein the first end engages a gauge side of the cover; and the second end engages a field side of the cover and/or the rail boot.
For the present disclosure to be easily understood and readily practiced, the present disclosure will now be described for purposes of illustration and not limitation in connection with the following figures, wherein:
a is perspective drawing of the preferred clip of
b is a cross-sectional view of the preferred clip of
a is perspective drawing of the preferred cover of
b is a cross-sectional view of the preferred cover of
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying examples and figures that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the inventive subject matter may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice them, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive subject matter. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to, individually and/or collectively, herein by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed.
The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense, and the scope of the inventive subject matter is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
In one prior art method for building embedded track,
A preferred cover and clip of the present invention takes the place of the rail head tape, flangeway fillers, and rigid brackets in the installation of embedded railroad track. This allows reuse of materials, less labor and less generated waste.
As shown in
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a rail boot 22 is positioned and wrapped around a rail 24 as shown in
In a preferred system of the present invention, a flangeway 32 is formed during the concrete pour. As the preferred system has no cantilevered flangeway filler 16 gravitationally pulling on rail boot 22, rail boot 22 of the preferred system has a reduced tendency to pull away from rail 24 during assembly, as compared to the assembly of
An additional advantage is the flangeway 32 formed of long-lasting concrete instead of exposed rubber as in flangeway filler 16. Cover 26 is designed to fit over the contours of the rail head 42 and hook onto the side of the rail boot 22 at 50 as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, covers 26 and clips 28 are reusable. In some preferred embodiments, the clips 28 are injection molded products made from a plastic such as nylon or polybutylene teraphthalate (PBT). In other preferred embodiments, the clip 28 is made of metal. In a preferred embodiment, the clips 28 engage the cover 26 on the field side 36 of the rail boot 22 at 48 and most preferably the clips 28 make a snap-fit to the cover 26 at 52 and on the field side 36 of the rail boot 22 at 48.
In a preferred embodiment, covers 26 are reusable and are an extruded product made from a polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The profile of the cover 26 preferably forms a U-shape 38 on the gauge side 40 of the rail 24. In preferred embodiments, the U-shape 38 acts as a mould during the concrete pour that creates the flangeway 32 to accommodate railway wheel flanges. In most preferred embodiments, the hook 49 of cover 26 engages the gauge side 40 of the rail boot 22 at 50 as shown in
The cover and clip system is used as follows. The rail boot 22 is positioned and wrapped around a flange 46 of the rail 24, the rail boot 22 extending also to the field side 36 and gauge side 40 of the rail 24. A cover 26 is placed over the rail 24 and rail boot 22. The cover 26 engages the gauge side 40 of the rail boot 22 at 49, 50. Clips 28 are then applied to secure the cover 26 to the rail 24 and rail boot 22 assembly as shown in
As the preferred system has no cantilevered flangeway filler 16 gravitationally pulling on rail boot 22, which, therefore, has a reduced tendency to pull away from rail 24 during assembly, as compared to the assembly of
The rail 24 and rail boots 22 shown in the drawings are for illustrative purposes only as many types of rails 24 and rail boots 22 may be used with the cover 26 and clip 28 assembly of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The road material may be concrete, asphalt or paver construction material. The standard rail 24 has a head or upper portion 42, a web 44 or connecting central portion, and a flange or lower portion 46. The outside of the rail will be referred to as the field side 36, being the left half of
In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together in a single embodiment to streamline the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
The present application claims benefit and priority from U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/472,021 entitled “RAIL COVER AND CLIP SYSTEM FOR EMBEDDED TRACK SYSTEM”, filed Apr. 5, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6588677 | Hofstetter et al. | Jul 2003 | B2 |
| 8172158 | Burkhardt et al. | May 2012 | B1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61472021 | Apr 2011 | US |
