1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved railway crossing and, in particular, to an improved railway diamond crossing with reversible beam castings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Railway crossings, generally referred to as diamond crossings, occur where one railway line crosses over another. At the present time most railway crossings have to be individually designed because the crossing angles vary from one crossing to another. It has been found that, in general, very few crossings have the same crossing angle. This means that each and every crossing has to be custom designed and custom made. Railway crossings wear faster than continuous railway lines due to train wheels impacting at the crossing points. This generally results in the crossings having to be replaced or repaired frequently. As these crossings are custom designed, in other words are non-standard, then the costs of replacing or repairing crossing members are high.
Attempts have been made to make standard railway crossings. One example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,924 to Kopp. This patent shows solid rail sections, each one rectangular in cross-section with flangeway grooves therein and cutouts where two top rail members intersect with two bottom rail members. The rail members are attached to a single base plate and, as can be appreciated, the size of the plate is large and shipping a plate of this size to a site would be difficult. Moreover, a large plate does not provide access to railway ties, so one is not able to get underneath the plate to provide the necessary compaction to support the crossing. Furthermore, Kopp shows the rail sections being attached to railroad ties by spikes that engage a bottom flange of the rail section, and pass through holes provided in the base plate. Thus, if the spikes become loose, the rail sections tend to separate from this base plate, which can result in excessive movement causing wear and tear.
Another attempt to improved railway crossings is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,565 to Tuningley. In this patent, the railway crossing has four substantially identical crossing beams that have cutouts for a range of crossing angles. At least two separate base plates are cut to fit the required crossing angle and are positioned beneath the crossing beams. Each crossing beam has a flangeway groove extending along a portion of the beam length and each beam has integral rail shaped ends for connection to a standard rail section. The crossing beams have top cutouts and bottom cutouts that intersect and are set for a predetermined crossing angle. In addition, boltless locator pins are required to prevent horizontal movement of the top and bottom beams on the plates. Elastic fasteners hold the top and bottom beams to the plates to restrict vertical movement between the top and bottom beams and the plates. Although each of these prior art designs is workable, an improved railway crossing would be desirable.
One embodiment of a railway crossing constructed in accordance with present invention comprises a plate with a pocket that defines a crossing angle. The pocket has a plurality of protrusions formed therein. A plurality of continuous long beams and divided beams are mounted in the pocket. Each divided beam has three separate, discontinuous segments. In one version, the segments comprise two outer segments and one inner segment. The segments are aligned with each other but positioned at the crossing angle with respect to the long beams. The segments are reversible such that the inner segments may be interchangeably positioned or flip-flopped, and the outer segments are reversible such that the outer segments of one of the divided beams may be interchangeably positioned with the outer segments of either one of the divided beams.
At least one recess is formed in each of the long beams and in each of the segments of the divided beams. The recesses are complementary in shape to the shape of the protrusions in the pocket of the plate. Engagement of the recesses by the protrusions resists movement of the long and divided beams along their lengths with respect to the plate. The railway crossing also utilizes fasteners to secure the beams to the plate and resist both vertical movement and lateral horizontal movement. Each of the fasteners comprises a rail brace assembly having a wedge brace, a clip, and a wedge that is mounted between the wedge brace, the clip, and one of either the long beams or the divided beams. The wedge prevents pull-apart of the plate and the beams due to thermal forces, mechanical forces, and/or surface discontinuities. The railway crossing enables one railway line to cross over another at virtually any angle.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawings.
So that the manner in which the features and advantages of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, are attained and can be understood in more detail, more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the embodiment thereof which is illustrated in the appended drawings, which drawings form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only an embodiment of the invention and therefore are not to be considered limiting of its scope as the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
Referring to
The railway crossing 21 also comprises a plurality of castings including a pair of continuous long beams 33 (also see FIG. 7). As shown in
In one embodiment, the segments 43, 45, 47 of each of the divided beams 41 comprise a pair of outer segments 43, 47 located outside of the long beams 33 and in abutment with one of the long beams 33, and an inner segment 45 located between the long beams 33 and in abutment with both of the long beams 33. The inner segment 45 has a longitudinal length 55 that is shorter than a longitudinal length 53 of either of the outer segments 43, 47. In this version of the present invention, the outer segments 43, 47 have equal lengths 53. In addition, the inner segments 45 are reversible such that the inner segment 45 of one of the divided beams 41 may be interchangeably positioned or flip-flopped with the inner segment 45 of the other of the divided beams 41, as indicated by arrows 57 (FIG. 5). Similarly, the outer segments 43, 47 are reversible such that the outer segments 43, 47 of one of the divided beams 41 may be interchangeably positioned with any of the outer segments 43, 47 of either one of the divided beams 41, as indicated by arrows 59, 61 (FIGS. 3-5).
At least one recess 63 (
Another component of railway crossing 21 is the fasteners 71 (
Alternatively, a holder is used for the clip 75 and either welded to or cast integrally to the weld brace 73. The clip 75 is generally a spring material, such that when it is driven into the holder, a load is applied to the top of the wedge 77. As shown in
In one embodiment, the wedge brace 73 has a receptacle 81 (
In operation, railway crossing 21 enables one railway line 141 (
For example and illustration purposes, the cross-sectional configurations and design of the tapered outer end of the long beam 33 is shown in
The present invention has several advantages. The railway crossing of the present invention has a significantly longer operational life than prior art designs due to the segments being reversible. The inner segments may be interchangeably positioned with each other, and the outer segments may be interchangeably positioned with each other, such that the running surfaces and the unused guard surfaces may be switched at when needed. The railway crossing also has a plate with a pocket that defines a crossing angle for enabling one railway line to cross over another at virtually any angle. The pocket closely receives continuous long beams and divided beams, and has protrusions for restricting longitudinal horizontal movement of the beams. Each divided beam has three separate, discontinuous segments, including two outer segments and one inner segment. This design is much simpler to construct and assemble in the field. The fasteners used to secure the beams to the plate resist both vertical movement and lateral horizontal movement. Each fastener has a wedge brace, a clip, and a wedge. The wedge prevents pull-apart of the plate and the beams due to thermal forces, mechanical forces, and/or surface discontinuities.
While the invention has been shown or described in only some of its forms, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible to various changes without departing from the scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
69814 | Jones | Oct 1867 | A |
374265 | Moxham | Dec 1887 | A |
500706 | Elliott | Jul 1893 | A |
908351 | Strickland | Dec 1908 | A |
979479 | Elfborg | Dec 1910 | A |
1225421 | Elfborg | May 1917 | A |
1632725 | Brown | Jun 1927 | A |
1743924 | Kopp | Jan 1930 | A |
2539529 | Asselin | Jan 1951 | A |
4770342 | Farrell et al. | Sep 1988 | A |
5797565 | Tuningley et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20050056732 A1 | Mar 2005 | US |