Patent Application
20120000988
The present disclosure relates generally to a rail seal for use in rail track construction to seal the space between a rail and the surrounding road surface, wherein the rail seal is removable without disturbing the surrounding road surface so as to facilitate track repair and maintenance.
In rail track construction, two parallel steel rails are anchored perpendicularly to tie members (i.e. rail ties) for maintaining a consistent distance or gauge between the two rails. Train or streetcar wheels are generally in the form of conical, flanged wheels with the smaller diameter end of the wheel being located on the top of the rail and the larger diameter, flanged-end of the wheel being located on the inner or “gauge” side of the rail as the train or streetcar travels over the tracks. The train wheels run along the upper surfaces of the steel rails with the flanged inner end or larger diameter end of the wheel being guided along the inside edge of the track.
The design and structure of rail crossings where rail tracks intersect with or share vehicular roadways or pedestrian crossings can present certain challenges with regard to the competing requirements of rail traffic versus vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic. More specifically, the structure of rail car wheels requires that a gap be provided along the inside edge of each track to allow the larger diameter end or the flanged-end of the wheels to engage the tracks. The engagement between the flanged-end of the wheel with the inside edge of the rail ensures that the train stays in contact with the rails as it travels along the tracks. The gap along the inside edge of the rails that is required to accommodate the wheel flange can present certain challenges in rail track or rail crossing constructions, and especially in situations where the rails are embedded within long lengths of roadways such as in the case of streetcar track constructions where the streetcars share the same roadway as the vehicular traffic over various distances. A large gap adjacent the rails is undesirable for vehicular traffic as it creates an uneven road surface and presents certain dangers to pedestrians as well as bicycle traffic, strollers, wheel chairs, etc. More specifically, people walking across the tracks can get their shoes/heels stuck in the gap and the smaller width bicycle tires, stroller wheels and/or wheel chair wheels can get also get stuck in the gaps. Having large gaps adjacent the rails also presents the problem of possible debris build-up within the gap which can lead to derailment of a passing train or rail car.
Rail seals made of rubber or another elastomeric material are often used in the gap between the rails and the surrounding road surface to help fill and/or reduce the size of the gap adjacent the rails. The rail seals are formed with a recess or flangeway in the upper surface thereof adjacent the rail head to provide an adequate gap for receiving the flanged-end of the train wheel while still providing a generally even, continuous surface between the rails and the road surface. In the case of streetcar tracks or rail crossings where the tracks are embedded within the road surface (i.e. poured asphalt or concrete), track maintenance and repair is somewhat difficult in the sense that the surrounding road surface must be dug-up and the rail seal removed in order to gain access to the rails. Accordingly, repairs and maintenance can be quite costly in the sense that the rail seal and the surrounding road surface must be replaced.
Accordingly, there is a continuous need to improve rail track construction, especially in the area of streetcar track design, to ensure that the requirements of rail traffic, vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic are met.
The present disclosure provides an improved rail seal for sealing the gap between a rail and a surrounding platform or road surface in a rail crossing or track construction wherein the rail seal can be removed without disturbing the surrounding road surface, thereby facilitating track repair and/or maintenance.
In accordance with one example embodiment of the present disclosure there is provided a rail seal for sealing a gap between a rail and a surrounding surface material, the rail having a rail head, a rail base and a web portion interconnecting the rail head and rail base, the rail seal comprising: an elongated elastomeric seal body; a first surface formed along the length of the seal body for generally abutting and sealing with a corresponding side of the web portion of the rail; a second surface formed along the length of the seal body generally opposite to the first surface, the second surface generally abutting and sealing with a corresponding edge of the surrounding surface material; an upper surface formed along the length of the seal body, the upper surface extending between the rail head and the upper surface of the corresponding surrounding surface material; and a hinge element formed in the second surface of the seal body along the length thereof, the hinge element having: a first, generally closed position wherein the second surface is a generally continuous surface; and a second, open position wherein the hinge element releases an upper portion of the seal body from a lower portion of the seal body, the upper portion being angled upwardly with respect to the lower portion and being rotatable about the hinge element from said open position to said closed position.
In accordance with another example embodiment of the present disclosure there is provided a rail seal for sealing a gap between a rail and a surrounding surface material in a track construction, the surface material being a poured surface material, the rail having a rail head, a rail base and a web portion interconnecting the rail head and rail base, wherein the rail seal comprises: an elongated elastomeric seal body, the seal body having opposed ends; a first surface formed along the length of the seal body for generally abutting and sealing with a corresponding side of the web portion of the rail; a second surface formed along the length of the seal body generally opposite to the first surface, the second surface generally abutting and sealing with a corresponding edge of the surrounding surface material; an upper surface formed along the length of the seal body, the upper surface extending generally between the rail head and the upper surface of the corresponding surrounding surface material; and at least one anchor recess formed in the second surface of the elongate seal body, the at least one anchor recess forming a void within the seal body for receiving an anchoring key to secure the seal body within the gap formed between the rail and the surrounding poured surface material.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in
The railway crossing structure shown in
In the example embodiment shown in
Rail seals, in general, are formed of an elastomeric material using an extrusion process with the rail seals being formed in sections having lengths in the range of 5 to 16 ft. However, it will be understood that the lengths of the rail seals may vary depending on the particular design and application of the rail seal and may also vary due to customer preference. The individual lengths of rail seal are often clipped together end-to-end to form the required length of rail seal for a particular section of track. The rail seals are positioned adjacent to and generally abut either side of the rail with the surrounding road or crossing surface being poured in the areas between and surrounding the rails. In some instances, the rail seals are also held in position adjacent the rail by means of the rail fasteners as well as by the surrounding road or crossing surface. Some difficulties associated with rail seals of this type are that the rail seals cannot be easily removed and replaced without replacing the corresponding surrounding road or crossing surface material. Difficulties have also been encountered with rail seals of this type shifting or separating from the rails due to thermal expansion and contraction of the rail seal as well as mechanical forces from the road traffic. The result can be large gaps between the individual lengths of rail seal resulting in large holes in the roadway, similar to potholes.
In the example embodiment shown in
The seal body 32 has a lower surface 42 formed along the length of the rail seal 10 which has a profile shaped to generally accommodate the rail clips 15 and any rail tie fasteners (i.e. bolts or spikes) that are used to secure the rails 12 in place. The lower surface 42, which extends from the lower leg 40 of the first surface 34 to a corresponding lower leg portion 58 associated with the second surface 36 of the rail seal 10, has a generally concave shape to accommodate the protrusions associated with the rail clips 15 and rail tie fasteners used along the length of the rail 12. Once again, it will be understood that while a specific profile of the lower surface 42 has been described, the rail seal 10 is not intended to be limited to the specific profile described and shown in the drawings and it will be understood that other profiles for the lower surface 42 may also be suitable for use in the subject rail sail 10. For example, the figures shows a rail seal designed to accommodate a Pandrol™ “e” style track fastener, which is one of many styles of track fasteners know in the art. Rail seal profiles for alternate track fasteners will have different geometries for the various surfaces of the rail seal and are included in the scope of the subject application.
The seal body 32 has an upper surface 46 extending between the adjacent field-side or gauge-side road surface 24, 26 and the rail head 16 of the corresponding rail 12. In the field-side rail seal 10, the upper surface 46 extends between the edge of the field-side road surface 24 to the rail head 16 of the corresponding rail 12 and lies generally in the same plane or at the same surface level as the surrounding road surface 24 and the upper surface of the rail head 16. The upper surface 46 may be ribbed or textured, or may have a generally planar surface. The upper surface 46 of the gauge-side rail seal 10 differs from the field-side rail seal in that the upper surface 46 has a recessed portion or flangeway 50 formed therein for receiving the flanged-end or large diameter end of the conically-shaped train wheel. The flangeway 50 runs generally parallel and adjacent to the rail head 16 along the length of the seal body 32. Typically, the flangeway 50 has a depth that extends below the overall height of the rail head 16 to ensure that sufficient depth is provided for receiving the flanged-end of the train wheel.
The second surface 36 of both the field-side and gauge-side rail seals 10 is generally planar and extends from the upper surface 46 of the rail seal 10 to the rail ties 14 at the bottom of the cavity or gap formed between the rail 12 and the adjacent road surface 24, 26 and, therefore, provides a generally large surface area for sealing against the corresponding edge of the surrounding road surface 24, 26. While generally planar, the second surface may include a slight recess 52 formed along the length thereof, generally in the upper half of the second surface 36, which may enhance the seal formed between the rail seal 10 and the corresponding field-side or gauge-side road surface 24, 26 when the surface material is poured against the rail seal 10 during construction. Recess 52 is also used to lock the rail seal in place so that it will tend not to lift out of the gap between the rail 12 and the surrounding road surface 24, 26. Recess 52 may also be used to accommodate the clips that hold the ends of the rail seal together.
The second surface 36 is formed with a hinge element 54 which generally divides the second surface 36 and rail seal body 32 into an upper portion 56 and a lower portion 58. In the subject embodiment, the hinge element 54 is formed as a result of a cavity passage 62 that is formed within the seal body 32 and which extends along the length thereof proximal to the second surface 36 of the seal body 32. In some embodiments, a line of weakness which extends from the second surface 36 to the cavity passage 62 is formed within the elastomeric material during the extrusion process forming the seal body 32. The line of weakness is then cut after the extrusion process to form a slit 64 extending from the second surface 36 through to the cavity passage 62. In other embodiments, the rail seal 10 and cavity passage 62 may be extruded such that the slit 64 is formed as an open, working slit at the time of manufacture. Therefore, once the hinge element 54 has been fully formed with an open, working slit 64, the seal body 32 has a closed position when the hinge 54 is closed and the second surface 36 is a generally continuous surface, and an open position wherein the upper portion 56 of the seal body 32 is released from and extends upwardly away from the lower portion 58 of the seal body 32 at an angle thereto.
Various other cavity passages 66 may be formed within the seal body 32, as is shown in the drawings. The cavity passages 66 are generally formed as a result of the extrusion process typically used to form rail seals of this type and run along the length of the seal body 32. The cavity passages 66 may also provide additional flexibility and compressibility to the rail seal 10.
During construction of the rail or street car crossing structure, the field-side and gauge-side rail seals 10 are positioned on either side of the rail 12. The surrounding road surface, whether it be poured concrete or asphalt, can then be poured to form the field-side and gauge-side road surfaces 24, 26, the road surfaces 24, 26 therefore generally abutting and sealing against the second surface 36 of the corresponding field-side or gauge-side rail seal 10. When track maintenance or repair is required, the rail seal 10 can be pulled and/or pried free from the gap between the rail 12 and the surrounding road surface 24, 26 due to the overall flexibility of the elastomeric seal body 32 without damaging the surrounding road surface 24, 26. Once the rail seal 10 has been removed, the tracks can be easily inspected and/or repaired as needed. The rail seal 10 can then be reinstalled within the exposed gap to return the rail tracks or crossing to their functional form as will be described in further detail below.
To reinstall the rail seal 10 once it has been removed from the gap, hinge element 54 is free to move from its closed position to its open position wherein the upper portion 56 of the seal body 34 is released from the lower portion 58 with the upper portion 56 being angled upwards with respect to the lower portion 58 once the hinge element 54 has (see
Referring now to
In the subject example embodiment, when the surface material (i.e. concrete, asphalt, etc.) is poured to form the surrounding field-side and gauge-side road surfaces 24, 26 which form the track or rail crossing structure, the surface material will enter the voids formed by anchor recesses 70 located at the opposed ends of the elongate seal body 32 and will harden or set to form anchoring keys 72. The anchoring keys 72 help to secure the seal body 32 in place which helps to reduce the tendency of the rail seal 10 to shift longitudinally over time as a result of the mechanical and thermal forces on the rail seal 10. Because the anchor recesses 70 are only formed at discrete intervals (i.e. at the opposed ends or at intervals therebetween) along the length of the seal body 32, the rail seal 10 can still be easily removed from the gap between the rail 12 and the surrounding road surface 24, 26 by applying upwards forces to the rail seal 10 as the overall flexibility of the elastomeric material allows the seal body 32 to deform so as to free itself from the anchoring keys 72, allowing the rail seal 10 to be removed and thereby providing access to the rails 12.
In the subject embodiment, the anchor recesses 70 have an inner end 73 formed within the seal body 32 that is angled or tapered from a larger upper end 74 to a narrower lower end 76 (see
In order to reinstall the rail seal 10 formed with anchor recesses 70, once the rail seal 10 has been removed from a section of track or rail crossing, hinge element 54 opens at slit 64 to move from its initial closed position to its open position, as described in detail above in connection with the embodiment shown in
Once hinge element 54 has assumed its open position upon removal of the seal body 32 from the gap, the seal body 32 has sufficient flexibility to allow the seal body 32 to deform so as to be re-inserted into the gap between the rail 12 and the adjacent road surface 24, 26 as described in detail above. Once the upper leg 38 of the first surface 34 of the rail seal 10 can be manipulated and inserted underneath the bottom edge 35 of the rail head 16, the seal body 32 can then be pushed downwardly within the gap until the lower leg 40 of the first surface 34 engages the base flange 18 of the rail 12 and the remaining upper end 74 of the cutout 70 engages the corresponding upper surface of the anchoring key 72 as shown in
Referring now to
In terms of removing and reinserting the rail seal 10 with anchor inserts 78 shown in
Furthermore, it will be understood that while the use of anchor recesses 70 and anchor keys 72 or anchor inserts 78 have been described in connection with example embodiments of rail seals 10 that also incorporate a hinge element 54, the feature of the anchor recesses 70 and anchor keys 72 or anchor inserts 78 may also be incorporated into rail seals that do not necessarily include hinge element 54.
The various embodiments presented above are merely examples and are in no way meant to limit the scope of this disclosure. Variations of the innovations described herein will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art, such variations being within the intended scope of the present application. The subject matter described herein and in the recited claims intends to cover and embrace all suitable changes in technology.
