The present invention relates to railway switching devices, and, more particularly to a hydraulically operated railway switching system in railroad applications.
Railway switches have been in use since long for displacing/switching railway switch points, i.e., for displacing/switching movable points of railway tracks, and then locking the railway switch points at selected positions, thereby diverting a railway vehicle (e.g., a train) on to a desired route, when the train is passing through such a railway switch. Various configurations and arrangements of railway switches are available universally that aid in diverting a train to a desired route, when the train passes through such railway switches.
However, the existing railway switches have a design that necessitates the actuation components of the railway switches to be hard mounted to railway tracks through a series of mechanical components. During the switching operation, these mechanical components transfer force from the actuation components of the railway switches to the railway switch points and in doing so, the railway tracks pass along vibration and side loading from the railway tracks back into the railway switches. Such vibrations and side loading coupled with prolonged use, thermal cycling, and other wear and tear factors are harmful to the railway switches, which demands frequent site surveys for routine maintenance and adjustment of railway switches, thereby resulting in expensive maintenance and adjustment costs. Moreover, the existing railway switches have a complex design that involves heavy equipments and extra crews and time consuming installation of the different components of the railway switches.
Furthermore, most of the existing railway switches are integrated within a railway tie disposed between the railway tracks. Thus, maintenance and other operations like bending, cutting, welding, hammering, twisting, and the like, on the railway tie cannot be performed independently of the railway switch. Also, the existing railway switches employ mechanical locking mechanisms that do not provide flexible locking positions and flexible throw lengths.
U.S. Patent Publication Number 20050178929 discloses a switch machine for a railway switch provided with two switch points, including two operating rods extending from the housing to the switch points; a shifting body within the housing, capable of sliding relative to the housing to simultaneously displace the operating rods; an engagement device within the housing for selectively engaging the operating rods to the housing at the two end stroke points; and a pivoting connector between each operating rod and its associated switch point. The railway switch of this publication has a design that suffers harmful railway track vibrations, thereby requiring routine maintenance and adjustment of railway switches, and costs associated therewith.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,814 discloses a railway switch comprising a frog having a movable main and auxiliary point. The main and the auxiliary points are formed by using thick-web standard rail sections and asymmetric tongue profiles of smaller height as compared with the thick-web standard rail sections which are arranged as outer wing rails. The difference in height between the height of the main and auxiliary points and the height of the outer wing rails is greater than the height of the rail feet of the main and auxiliary points. The railway switch of this patent involves complex configuration and suffers harmful railway track vibrations, thereby requiring routine maintenance and adjustment of railway switches, and associated costs.
The above-mentioned railway switches and several others in the prior art do not provide for a railway switch that has a design and operational capability to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks. Accordingly, what is needed is a railway switch that provides a switching mechanism operating in a fast, easy, convenient, reliable, inexpensive, and power efficient manner. Also, what is needed is a railway switch that can be easily installed, and that does not have frequent maintenance and/or adjustment requirements.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the prior art, the general purpose of the present invention is to provide a railway switching system, include all the advantages of the prior art, and to overcome the drawbacks inherent therein.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a railway switching system. The railway switching system comprises: a switch unit positioned between a pair of secondary tracks; a covering unit disposed on the switch unit, the covering unit capable of covering the switch unit; and a pair of connecting elements coupling the pair of secondary tracks and the covering unit, and operably contacting the switch unit, such that, the pair of connecting elements, the covering unit and the pair of secondary tracks configure to form a conjointly movable unit. The conjointly movable unit is capable of moving in a direction enabling the railway switching system to switch the pair of secondary tracks between a pair of primary tracks.
In another aspect, the present invention provides, railway switching system, comprising: a switch unit positioned between a pair of secondary tracks, the switch unit having a pair of hydraulically operated push rods configured at opposite ends of said switch unit; a covering unit disposed on the switch unit, the covering unit capable of covering the switch unit; and a pair of connecting elements having a central portion having a first end and a second end, the central portion coupling opposite ends of the covering unit, a first portion extending from the first end of the central portion, the first portion coupling the secondary tracks, a second portion extending from a portion of the second end of the central portion in a direction opposite to extension of the first portion, the second portion operably contacting the hydraulically operated push rods, wherein the pair of connecting elements, the covering unit and the pair of secondary tracks configure to form a conjointly movable unit, such that, when one hydraulically operated push rod applies a throw force on the second portion of one connecting element in a direction, the conjointly movable unit moves in the direction, thereby switching the pair of secondary tracks between a pair of primary tracks.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides an in-tie railway switching system. The in-tie railway switching system comprises: a switch unit positioned between a pair of secondary tracks, the switch unit having a pair of hydraulically operated push rods configured at opposite ends of the switch unit; a covering unit having a top wall, a pair of side walls extending substantially perpendicular from two sides of the top wall, and a pair of abutting flanges extending out from opposite ends of the top wall, the covering unit capable of covering the switch unit; and a pair of connecting elements having a central portion having a first end and a second end, the central portion coupling the pair of abutting flanges of the covering unit, a first portion extending substantially perpendicular from the first end of the central portion, the first portion coupling the secondary tracks, and a second portion extending substantially perpendicular from the second end of the central portion, in a direction opposite to extension of the first portion, the second portion operably contacting the hydraulically operated push rods; wherein the pair of connecting elements, the covering unit and the pair of secondary tracks configure to form a conjointly movable unit, such that, when one hydraulically operated push rod applies a throw force on the second portion of one the connecting element in a direction, the conjointly movable unit moves in the direction, thereby switching the pair of secondary tracks between a pair of primary tracks.
These together with other aspects of the present invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following more detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which:
Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout several views of the drawings.
The exemplary embodiments described herein detail for illustrative purposes and are subject to many variations in structure and design. It should be emphasized, however, that the present invention is not limited to a particular railway switching system as shown and described. Rather, the principles of the present invention may be used with a variety of configurations and structural arrangements, e.g., for aesthetics, structural purposes, and/or for simplicity in assembling and disassembling. It is understood that various omissions, substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but is intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present invention.
The terms “a” and “an” as used herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item and the terms “first”, “second” and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.
The present invention provides a railway switching system for switching a pair of secondary tracks between a pair of primary tracks in a fast, easy, convenient, reliable, inexpensive, and power efficient manner, that is capable of substantially isolating the railway switching system from vibrations during operation. The present disclosure is capable of allowing for degrees of freedom in all planes but one, thereby enabling the switching system to operate nearly independently from harmful railway track vibrations associated with conventional switch designs. The configuration of the railway switching system of the present invention eliminates the need for frequent site surveys for routine maintenance and/or adjustment of the railway switching system, thereby allowing for a substantive up front cost saving in terms of maintenance and adjustment costs. . Also, the railway switching system of the present invention may be quickly and easily installed, thereby reducing the need for heavy machinery equipment and extra crews during installation.
Referring to FIGS. I through to 8, illustrated is a railway switching system 200 [hereinafter referred to as ‘switching system 200’]. In one embodiment, the switching system 200 comprises a switch unit 60, a covering unit 80, a pair of connecting elements 70, 90 and a power unit 100. The switch unit 60 of the switching system 200 is configured to be disposed on a railway tie 10 [hereinafter referred to as ‘tie 10’], between a pair of secondary tracks 30, 50 and a pair of primary tracks 20, 40. The tie 10 has a top surface 14 on which lower flanges 24, 44 of the primary tracks 20, 40, and second ends 34, 54 of the secondary tracks 30, 50 are mounted (see
Now, referring to
The switching unit 200 further comprises a power unit 100 (See
In one embodiment, the switching system 200 is positioned within a cut out space 12 (See
In a manner similar to as described above, the connecting element 90 is coupled to the secondary track 50 at the first portion 95 and the abutting flange 88 of the covering unit 80 is coupled to the central portion 92 of the connecting element 90 through the plurality of holes 89 and 97, such that, the pair of secondary tracks 30, 50, the pair of connecting elements 70, 90 and the covering unit 80 form a conjointly movable unit. The complete configurational coupling of all the aforementioned components is further illustrated with more clarity and detail in
Operationally, considering an exemplary situation, wherein, the secondary track 30 is to be switched/displaced/moved towards the primary track 20, programmable instructions are received and stored in the linear transducer unit 62 of the switch unit 60. The driving unit of the power unit 100 drives the fluid from the pump to the cylinder 64 to hydraulically operate the push rods 65, thereby, enabling the push rod 65 to apply a throw force on the second portion 76 of the connecting element 70. As the connecting element 70 is coupled to the secondary track 30 at the first portion 75, the throw force applied by the push rod 65 on the connecting element 70 is transferred to the secondary track 30 enabling it to slide along the top face 14 of the tie 10, thereby, causing it to switch/displace/move towards the primary track 20. Accordingly, the conjointly movable unit configured by the pair of secondary tracks 30, 50, the pair of connecting elements 70, 90 and the covering unit 80, switches/displaces/moves in the direction towards the primary track 20 and finally depending upon the programmable throw force programmed in the linear transducer unit 62, the secondary track 30 will be switched/displaced/moved towards the primary track 20. And correspondingly, the secondary track 50 will be switched/displaced/moved away from the primary track 40. In an embodiment of the present invention, a user operating the railway switching system 200 may give programmable instructions for variable throw force ranging between 0 to 5000 lbs, by which the secondary tracks are pushed towards the primary tracks. Additionally, the user may give programmable instructions for variable lock force ranging between 0 to 25000 lbs to hold the secondary tracks in place after they reach a position. The user can further give programmable instructions for the variable throw speed ranging between 4 to 8 seconds for programming the time to complete a full throw i.e. completely switching/displacing/moving a secondary track to a primary track.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, to thereby enable persons skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and its various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omissions, substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstance may suggest or render expedient, but is intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present invention.