US3292857A - Railroad apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 20, 1966 HUGHES 3,292,857

RAILROAD APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. KENNETH 0. HUGHES BY mw%m/ ,M/

ATTO RYNEYS Dec.- 20, 1966 y D. HUGHES 3,292,857

U RAILROAD APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1965 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5 FIG. 6

INVENTOR.

KENNETH D. HUGHES 7 MW aw/M ATTORNEYS 3,292,857 RAILROAD APPARATUS Kenneth D. Hughes, New City, N.Y., assignor to Abex Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 437,426 2 Claims. (Cl. 238-22) This invention relates to a rail stabilizing assembly for stabilizing the position of one railroad rail relative to another railroad rail.

In many instances, a relatively sharp curve in the railway track necessitates the employment of a guard rail adjacent the trafiic rail to guide the car wheels about the track curvature, and the present invention is of particular utility for holding such a guard rail in a proper position relativeto the trafiic rail. The guard rail should be held spaced from the traflic rail at a predetermined distance based on calculations which take into account a number of factors including the amount of the curvature of the traffic rail. This distance determines the spacing between the rails for receiving the flange of the car wheel and is usually referred to as the flangeway or flangeway space.

During movement of a subway or railway car about such a curve, the car wheels thereof are guided about the curvature of the track by the guard rail which acts as a cam on the flange of the car wheel resisting its tendency to move in a straight line or tangential direction. As can be appreciated, the flange of the car wheel, as it is being forced to move about a curved path, exerts tremendous forces or thrusts on the guard rail, and a primary object of the present invention is a new and improved guard rail stabilizing assembly capable of stabilizing the guard rail against the tremendous forces exerted thereon.

In addition to the problem of holding the guard rail against the large thrust forces exerted thereon by the car wheels being moved about the curved track, a further problem arises in obtaining a relatively consistent amount of equal flangeway spacing because many rails, manufactured or fabricated under certain processes, do not possess the desired smooth curvature. More specifically, a common method of bending or curving a guard rail is the application of bending forces at a plurality of selected and separated points on a normally straight rail which causes the rail to bend into a generally curved' condition. As will be appreciated, however, this manner of bending a guard rail does not generate a smooth or true arcuate curvature but results in a series of connected arcs having relatively flat portions, that is, almost straight line chord portions. These fiat portions often cause an unavoidable variance in the flangeway spacing, and it is therefore another object of the present invention to afford a guard rail assembly having the capability of forcing the guard rail to conform to a more generally consistent flangeway spacing with a trafiic rail by enabling suflicient force to be exerted on the guard rail to bend the guard rail to the proper spacing with the traflic rail.

A further object is a guard rail stabilizing assembly for limiting the flangeway spacing between the guard rail and the traflic rail by a unique flangeway block.

It has been proposed to provide a railway brace for the guard rail, but it has been found that the brace becomes worn and loosened and does not withstand forces exerted on the brace by the car wheel moving about the curved portion of the tratfic rail. Therefore, a further object of the present invention is a guard rail stabilizing assembly having a bolt or equivalent tie connected between the guard rail and the traffic rail to complement such a brace for holding the rail against the forces being applied by a railroad wheel.

A specific object of the invention is to stabilize a guard 3,292,857 Patented Dec. 20, 1966 "ice rail by resorting to an assembly having a brace for the guard rail, a flangeway block disposed between the traffic rail and guard rail, and a bolt or the equivalent insorted through said brace and said flangeway block and tightened to hold said guard rail to the proper distance from said traflic rail.

, A feature of the present invention is a flangeway block for use in a guard rail stabilizing assembly which block has opposing faces separated by a first dimension for limiting the flangeway groove between the traflic rail and the guard rail, and which has a second pair of opposing faces separated by a second spacing so that the spacing between the guard rails can be altered merely by turning the flangeway block to present the second pair of opposing faces to the guard and traffic rails.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what is now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end view of a railroad stabilizing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rail stabilizing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rail brace portion of the rail stabilizing device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a flangeway block disposed between a pair of rails;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a flangeway block; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the flangeway block turned through 90 from the position of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated in cross-section a pair of rails secured relative to one another by a stabilizing device or assembly 10.. A typical installation for rail stabilizing assembly 10 includes a first rail, hereinafter identified as the guard rail G, and a second rail hereinafter identified as the traffic rail T. While only one rail stabilizing device is illustrated, it is to be understood that a plurality of stabilizing devices are employed at selective intervals to hold the guard rail G at a fixed distance from the traflic rail T. .The rails G and T are, of course, held to the ties by spikes or other conventional fastening apparatus as well as by the stabilizing devices 10.

The distance between rails is commonly referred to as the flangeway and is designated by the character A, in FIG. 1. Each of the rail stabilizing assemblies 10 has a base or tie plate 12 which is adapted to rest on a railway tie. The tie plate 12 is secured thereto by spikes or bolts (not shown) inserted through spaced openings 13 at opposite ends of the tie plate 12.

The rail stabilizing assembly 10 is comprised of essentially three main elements, namely, a brace means 15, a flangeway block 16, and a bolt means 17. The bolt means 17 includes a nut 26 and a bolt 18 for securing together the brace means 15, the flangeway block 16, and the rails G and T. The bolt 18 has a head portion 20 and a shank portion 21. The shank portion 21 is inserted through an aperture 19 in the brace assembly 15, through a hole in the web of the guard rail G, a bore 24 in the flangeway block 16, and an aperture in the trafiic rail T to extend to the opposite side of the traffic rail.

A threaded portion 25 on the bolt 18 has a nut26 threaded against a lockw-asher 27 and is adapted to secure the assembly together. The movement of the guard rail G and traflic rail T toward one another is limited by engagement of the respective rails with the flangeway block 16. The flangeway block 16 engages the rails G and T at opposite, upper rail engaging faces 28 and at opposite lower rail engaging surfaces 29, as will be described in detail hereinafter.

, For the purpose of providing two different dimensions of flangeway spacings, nominally indicated as 1%" in FIG. 4, and nominally indicated as 2" in FIG. 6, the flangeway block has a generally rectangular shape, as seen in the plan view of FIG. 5, with the distance between the surf- ace 28 and 29 dimensioned so as to give the 1%" flangeway spacing A and the dimensions between the opposed surfaces 28A and opposed 29A, FIG. 6, affording a 2 flangeway spacing A. Thus, the same flangeway block 16 can be used to afford either a 1%" flangeway spacing or a 2" flangeway spacing, whichever is desired. It is to be understood that 1%" and 2" flange way spacings are exemplary of different flangeway spacings which may be afforded by different sizes of flangeway blocks 16 varied according to design needs.

One method of employing the flangeway block is to separate the rails at the nominal 2" flangeway dimension when the rails are relatively new. After approxi mately a A of cumulative wear on the surfaces 30V and 31V of the rails, FIG. 4, the flangeway spacing will be enlarged to approximately 2% inches. To return the flangeway spacing to the nominal 2" dimension, the flangeway block can be then turned 90 to dispose its smaller width between the rails, and the guard rail G is moved closer to the traffic rail until limited by the flangeway block 16, at which position the flangeway spacing will be returned to the 2" spacing.

The 2" spacing is afforded now by the A" wear of the rails, and the 1%" nominal spacing determined by the flangeway block 16. Preferably, the flangeway block 16 is stamped with the letters G, as shown in FIG. 5, to indicate the sides of the flangeway block 16 which are contoured to engage the guard rail G. The flange way blocks also are stamped with numeral designations to indicate the nominal length of the flangeway spacing, which are shown in FIG. as the designations 1% and 2.

The flangeway block 16 has a rather complex shape in that it has a lower portion 34 and four upstanding corners 35 extending upward from a central body portion 36. The upstanding corners 35 extend above the plane 40, FIG. 6, of body portion 36 and thereby form flangeway grooves 37, FIG. 4, and 38, FIG. 6, with their respectively opposite corners 35. The grooves 37 and 38 are at right angles to one another, and in FIG. 5 the axes thereof are indicated by the reference characters 37' and 38'.

The lower portion 34 of the body 36 and the upstanding corners 35 of the flangeway block 16 extend outward from the body portion 36 of the flangeway block 16. Thus, the respective guard rail G and traflic rail T are each engaged by the upper, vertical surfaces 28 or 28A and the lower surfaces 29 or 29A Without touching the main body portion 36.

Such clearance is provided to afford a cavity for an embossed brand name of the rail and to decrease the weight of the block. Preferably, the undersides of the lower portion 34 are sloped at 345 to rest on the respective flanges 32 and 33'of the respective guard rail G and traflic rail T. The upper surfaces of the shoulders 35 are sloped at 35S but are free of contact with the undersides 32S and 33S of the heads 30 and 31 of the guard rail G and traffic rails T, respectively. From an examination of FIGS. 4 and 6, it will be seen that the guard rail G and tratfi-c rail T are each engaged near the juncture of the head and web of the rail by respecengageable with a vertical shoulder 52 on the tie plate 4 tive vertical surfaces 28 or 28A on the corners 35 and engaged by respective vertical surfaces 29 or 29A on the lower portion 34 near the base juncture of the web and the bases of the rails 32 and 33, respectively.

and T.

The central body portion 36 has a pair of intersecting bores 24 and 24A, FIG. 6, to receive .a bolt 18. When the flangeway block is in the position of FIG. 4, the bore 24 is adapted to receive the bolt 18. The bore 24A has a diameter equal to the diameter of the bore 24 and extends at right angles to the bore 24. The bore 24A is adapted to receive the bolt 18 when the flangeway block 16 is in its nominal 2" position shown in FIG. 5.

It will be recalled that the flangeway block16 and bolt 18 cooperate withthe brace means 15 to stabilize the guard rail G relative to the traffic rail T. The brace means 15 is adapted to engage and to support the guard rail G on the side thereof opposite from the flangeway block 16. The primary thrust of a flange of railway wheel (not shown) disposed in the flangeway opening A is against the surf-ace 30V, FIG. 1, of the rail G while the tread of the wheelis rolling along the top surface 41 of the traffic rail T. As is well known, the truck of the railroad car is guided about a curve by the flange of the railroad wheel engaging against the vertical side 30V of the guard rail G. The sharper the curve the greater will be the force of the lateral thrust on the guard rail G at the surface 30V tending to move the guard rail G away from the traflic rail T. This lateral thrusttending to move the guard rail G away from the trafiic rail T is divided between the bolt 17 and the brace means 15.

The brace means 15 includes a rail brace member 42,

FIGS. 1 and 3, which has an upstanding portion 43 disposed opposite the web 22 of the guard rail G with an upper surface 44 disposed to engage a complementary underside 45 of the head of the guard rail G.

trafiic rail G by a wedge member 50 of generally triangular configuration having a vertical wedge face 51 12. An opposite vertical wedge face 54 of the wedge member 50 engages an inclined wedge surface 55 on the brace member 42. is generally parallel to the traffic rail T and guard rail G while the Wedge faces 54 and 55 are inclined at an Thus,

angle with respect to the guard rail and trafiic nail.

the wedge member 50 may be driven to engage and move the brace member 42 relative to the fixed tie plate.

The upper surface 60 of the wedge 50 is provided with a plurality of serrations or teeth 61 for locking engage ment with a cover member 62 which has complementary serrations or teeth for disposition within the teeth 61 of the wedge member 50. The cover. plate 62 is pulled downwardly tightly against the wedge 50 to hold the wedge 50 against movement by tightening nuts 64 and bolts 66 thereby clamping the cover member 62 tightly on the serrations 61 of the wedge 50. As seen in FIG. 1,.

the bolts 66 extend downwardly from upper threaded ends extending through apertures in cover members 62 and through aligned slots in the .rail brace member 42 to of the flangeway block 16. To prevent upward move-.

ment of the wedge 50 while the cover member 62 is Thus, it will be seen that the rail G and T are unengaged at thinner medial portions of the webs of the respective rails G,

The rail brace member 42 is wedged tightly against the The shoulder 52 on thetie plate 12 loosened, the wedge 50 has a tongue and groove relationship with the brace member. More particularly, a longitudinal tongue 70 on the brace member 42 inserted in a longitudinal groove 72 in the wedge, FIG. 3.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the force applied by the flange of the railroad wheel against the surface 50 of the traflic rail G is resisted by the bolt means 17 as Well as the brace means 15 disposed against the shoulder 52 of the tie plate 12. The weight of the railroad car wheel on the traflic rail T holds the trafiic rail T against lifting under the force exerted thereon by the bolt means 17. It has been found that the brace means 15 by itself does not afford sulficient stability to the guard rail G for a suitable period inasmuch as it wears and becomes loose within too short a period of time. Similarly, the employment of only the bolt means 17 without a brace means 15 will not stand up under prolonged use and against the tremendous forces applied thereto. However, it has been found that the combination of the bolt means 17 and brace means 15 and flangeway block 16 divides the forces applied to the guard rail G to give sufiicient rigidity and stability to withstand the forces for a relatively long period of time.

An additional and important advantage of the present invention is the capability of forcing or bending of the guard rail to assume the correct space with the trafiic rail T under the force of the assembly 10. As stated hereinbefore, the guard rails often are not smoothly curved. Thus, it is often desirable to force the guard rails to assume a more perfect curve relationship and thereby to afford a more consistent flangeway spacing A between the t-raflic rail T and guard rail G. To this end, the stabilizing assembly is able to exert suflicient force on the guard rail G to move or bend the guard rail G when bringing the guard rail G tightly against the flangeway block 16. The flangeway block 16 limits the movement of the guard rail G to the desired flangeway spacing. Moreover, the same flangeway block 16 is capable of being used for two different sizes of flangeway spacing. Alternatively the same flangeway block 16 can be employed with the brace and bolt means to re-establish the flangeway spacing after the guard rail has worn by a distance approximately equal to the difference in distance between the faces 28 and 29.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an assembly for bringing a guard rail into proper spacing from a trafiic rail and for holding said spacing against the thrust of a railroad wheel having a flange disposed in a flangeway between said guard rail and traffic rail, said assembly comprising: block means adapted to be disposed between said guard rail and said traffic rail and having surfaces thereon for engagement with said guard rail and said traflic rail to limit relative movement of said guard rail toward said trafiic rail, base means adapted to be secured to a railway tie, an adjustable brace means secured to said base means and adjustable to move said guard rail tight against said block means to bring said guard rail into the flangeway spacing with said tral'fic rail as defined by said block means, bolt means adapted to be extended through apertures in said traffic rail in said block means and in said guard rail to hold said guard rail against movement relative to said trafiic rail thereby assisting said adjustable brace means in holding said guard rail against the thrust thereon by a railroad Wheel, said block means having first and second sets of opposed side walls presenting first and second sets of vertical faces for selectively engaging the guard rail and traffic rail, the rail engaging faces presented by the first set of opposed side walls being separated by a first predetermined spacing for limiting the flangeway separation between said rails, and the rail engaging faces presented by the second of opposed side walls being separated by a second and different predetermined spacing, and said block means being formed on the upper side thereof with intersecting first and second flangeway grooves respectively joining said first and second sets of vertical rail engaging faces, and said block means having a pair of intersecting apertures therein extending between said sets of opposed side Walls for selectively receiving said bolt means.

2. A separating block means for use in a guard rail stabilizing assembly, said block means having a first set of opposed vertical side walls and a second set of opposed vertical side walls, said first set of opposed side walls having portions respectively adapted to engage the web on a trafiic rail and the web of a guard rail and being spaced at a first predetermined distance, said second set of opposed side walls having portions spaced at a second predetermined distance and respectively adapted for engaging said web of said guard rail and said web of said traflic rail, said block means having an opening extending between said first set of opposed side Walls for receiving a securing bolt when said first set of opposed side walls have portions disposed for engagement with said rails, said block means having a second opening extending between said second set of opposed side walls for receiving a securing bolt when said second set of opposed side walls have portions disposed for engagement with said rails, said block means having a first flangeway groove extending between said first set of opposed side walls and said block having a second flangeway groove extending between said second set of opposed side Walls.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,463,319 7/ 1923 Hohman 238-21 2,223,865 12/ 1940 Arnold 238-292 2,235,248 3/ 1941 Asselin 238l7 2,250,891 7/1941 Martin 23 8292 3,220,651 ll/ 1965 Mahood 23 8292 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN AN ASSEMBLY FOR BRINGING A GUARD RAIL INTO PROPER SPACING FROM A TRAFFIC RAIL AND FOR HOLDING SAID SPACING AGAINST THE THRUST OF A RAILROAD WHEEL HAVING A FLANGE DISPOSED IN A FLANGEWAY BETWEEN SAID GUARD RAIL AND TRAFFIC RAIL, SAID ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: BLOCK MEANS ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID GUARD RAIL AND SAID TRAFFIC RAIL AND HAVING SURFACES THEREON FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GUARD RAIL AND SAID TRAFFIC RAIL TO LIMIT RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID GUARD RAIL TOWARD SAID TRAFFIC RAIL, BASE MEANS ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO A RAILWAY TIE, AN ADJUSTABLE BRACE MEANS SECURED TO SAID BASE MEANS AND ADJUSTABLE TO MOVE SAID GUARD RAIL TIGHT AGAINST SAID BLOCK MEANS TO BRING SAID GUARD RAIL INTO THE FLANGEWAY SPACING WITH SAID TRAFFIC RAIL AS DEFINED BY SAID BLOCK MEANS, BOLT MEANS ADATPED TO BE EXTENDED THROUGH APERTURES IN SAID TRAFFIC RAIL IN SAID BLOCK MEANS AND IN SAID GUARD RAIL TO HOLD SAID GUARD RAIL AGAINST MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID TRAFFIC RAIL THEREBY ASSISTING SAID ADJUSTABLE BRACE MEANS IN HOLDING SAID GUARD RAIL AGAINST THE THRUST THEREON BY A RAILROAD WHEEL, SAID BLOCK MEANS HAVING FIRST AND SECOND SETS OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS PRESENTING FIRST AND SECOND SETS OF VERTICAL FACES FOR SELECTIVELY ENGAGING THE GUARD RAIL AND TRAFFIC RAIL, THE RAIL ENGAGING FACES PRESENTED BY THE RAIL SET OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS BEING SEPARATED BY A FIRST PREDETERMINED SPACING FOR LIMITING THE FLANGEWAY SEPARATION BETWEEN SAID RAILS, AND THE RAIL ENGAGING FACES PRESENTED BY THE SECOND OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS BEING SEPARATED BY A SECOND AND DIFFERENT PREDETERMINED SPACING, AND SAID BLOCK MEANS BEING FORMED ON THE UPPER SIDE THEREOF WITH INTERSECTING FIRST AND SECOND FLANGEWAY GROOVES RESPECTIVELY JOINING SAID FIRST AND SECOND SETS OF VERTICAL RAIL ENGAGEMENT FACES, AND SAID BLOCK MEANS HAVING A PAIR OF INTERSECTING APERTURES THEREIN EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SETS OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS FOR SELECTIVELY RECEIVING SAID BOLT MEANS.

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