US3026074A - Switch point guard rail - Google Patents

Description

March 20, 1962 Filed May 14, 1958 20/ INVENTOR *6 Fred W. Kern ATTORNEY March 20, 1962 F. w. KERN SWITCH POINT GUARD RAIL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14, 1958 BY WW ATTORNEY March 20, 1962 F. w. KERN 3,026,074

SWITCH POINT GUARD RAIL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 14, 1958 INVENTOR I rae 14 Kerr) BY W7 ATTORNEY United States Patent() 3,026,074 SWITCH PDINT GUARD RAIL Fred W. Kern, Bethlehem, Pa., assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 14, 1958, Ser. No. 735,167 2 Claims. (Cl. 246-441) My invention relates to guard rail devices for prolonging the life of railway switch points and stock rails and for reducing the frequency of derailments at switches in yard operation.

There is a great deal of unnecessary and rapid wear to switch points and main or stock rails in places where, as in the usual practice, the wheel flanges are free to engage the actual point of the switch, and there is also corresponding wear on the wheel flanges. Wheels with a bad flange condition are especially prone to climb the switch point and cause derailing of cars.

One object of my invention, therefore, is to provide switch point guard rail assemblies which will dependably restrict sidewise movement of the wheel tread and hold the flange of the wheel away from the actual point of the switch and the stock rail and thus prevent damaging impacts.

Another object is to provide guard rail assemblies which are completely reversible so that they may be used on either the right hand or left hand side of the track.

An additional object is to provide guard rail assemblies having long service life and permitting easy replacement of guard rails, when severely worn, independently of the slide plates, braces and filler blocks.

Still other objects, purposes and advantages of my invention will appear hereinafter in the specification and claims, and in the three sheets of drawings hereto annexed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a reduced-scale top plan view of a switch point guard rail assembly with a filler block supporting the head of the stock rail and constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse section, taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a modification of the switch point guard rail assembly, showing the outer base flange of the guard rail milled to provide clearance for switch rod connections;

FIG. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 5, showing a two-piece welded filler block fitting snugly under the heads of both rails;

FIG. 6 is a vertical transverse section similar to FIG. 5, but with a one-piece filler block;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of another modification, showing an adjustable side brace of spring-wedge type; and

FIG. 8 is a vertical transverse section on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, in which the invention is shown as applied for a left hand turnout, the numeral 1 designates a right hand switch point of conventional type, connected by side jaw clips 2, bolts 3 and nuts 4 to switch rods 5. Said switch point 1 in the closed position will fit snugly against the adjacent main or stock rail 6 of standard T section, with wide flange base 7, web 8 and head 9. In parallel spaced relation to said stock rail 6 is the guard rail 10, with standard outer base flange 11 and having its inner base flange cut away except for a stub portion as at 12 and of considerably heavier section so as to provide a deeper web 13 and a higher head 14 than those portions of the stock rail 6. Thus the outer edge of the tread of the wheel 15 running 33251374 Patented Mar. 20, 1952 on said stock rail 6 will be shoved inward so that the wheel flange 16 will not strike the switch point 1. Both ends of the head 14 of the guard rail are beveled on their top faces as at 17 and on their inner faces as at 18 to provide an easement feature that softens the shock to car and loading at these places. Additional clearance for moving switch parts may 'be provided, if required, by milled slots, at at 18 in FIG. 4, in the outer flange of the guard rail.

The base 7 of the main rail 6 is seated, but without bolting or spiking, in a shallow transverse milled recess 19 in the top surface of each of the elongated rectangular rolled steel slide or base plates 20, three of which are shown, having a plurality of square holes 21 for the spikes 22 securing said plates 20 to underlying wooden ties 23. The inner side shoulder 24 of said recess 19 cooperates with the outer side shoulder 25 to lock the abutting stock rail 6 very firmly and positively as a precaution against track spreading.

The edge of the guard rails stub flange portion 12 is preferably contiguous to said outer shoulder 25, as shown in FIG. 2. With the flat side portion 26 of the base plate 20 on which the guard rail 10 is seated being thicker than the opposite flat side portion 27 over which the switch point 1 must slide, the guard rail head 14 will be additionally elevated with respect to the stock rail head 9. However, if the normal difference in height between the stock rail 6 and the heavier guard rail 10 is sutficient, the recess 19 in the top surface of the base plate 20 may be made Wide enough to seat the guard rail 16 thereon also, as indicated at 19' in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8. The essential matter is that the guard rail head 14 should be at least 1% inch higher than the top of the stock rail head 9 for proper guarding. A pair of countersunk round head square neck bolts 28 extend upward through base plate holes 29, registering holes 30 in the guard rail flange 11, and double bevel washers 31 and lock washers 32 whereon they are secured by nuts 33.

An inclined brace 34 having its upper end abutting the outer face of the Web 13 and head 14 of the guard rail 10 and welded at its lower base edge by seam 35 to the base plate 20 will impart rigidity and effectively resist side thrusts and heavy impacts which might otherwise tend to overturn said guard rail 10.

Rolled steel filler blocks 36 are interposed between the main rail 6 and the guard rail 10. The side of each filler block in contact with the guard rail web 13 has a slightly concave middle portion 37 and is extended upwardly and downwardly so as to be in snug facial engagement with the underside of the head 14 of the guard rail as at 38 and to engage in similar manner as at 39 the short stub portion 12 of the guard rail base flange.

The opposite side of the filler block 36 is provided with a central rectangular recess 40 in which is seated the square head 41 of a bolt 42 extending through the bolt holes 43 and 44 in the filler block 36 and guard rail web 13 respectively, and secured by a beveled washer 45, lock washer 46, and nut 47.

As an optional feature, shown in FIG. 2, the side of the filler block 36 facing the main rail may be relieved at the top as at 48 and at the bottom as at 49, so that it does not closely engage either the underside of the main rail head 9 or the upper surface of the main rail flange 7. In some installations, it is desirable for the filler blocks to be thus relieved adjacent the head of the main rail in order to lessen the concentration of stresses in the main rail web.

For maximum rigidity, however, the top of the filler block may be extended upward, as at 50 in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8, so as to afford tight engagement and support to the undersides of the heads of both the main rail 6 and the guard rail 10.

U The filler blocks above considered have been shown as unitary rolled or forged sections. The two-piece filler block which appears as a further modification in FIG. comprises a rolled flat bar section 51, somewhat similar to a splice bar, engaging the web '8 of the main rail 6 between its head 9 and base flange 7, and Welded at top and bottom as at 52 and 53 to a heavier rolled section 54 interfitting between the head 14 and stub base flange 12 of the guard rail 10. A through bolt 55 with countersunk round head 56 secures this filler block to the web 8 of the guard rail 6.

It is, of course, necessary for the guard rail to be fully supported and to be braced with the utmost dependability, since its primary utility is its continued firmness in resisting wheelrside thrusts without breakage.

The adjustable Wedge device shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has the additional advantage of providing resilience for absorption and recovery from sudden wheel shocks while still maintaining constant pressure against the guard rail. On the center base plate 57 is welded an upright side brace 58 through which extends a bolt 59 pivotflly supporting a pair of pawls 60. The wedge 61 proper has its inner face shaped to engage the base flange and web of the guard rail 10. The outer face 62 of the wedge 61 is provided with an inward taper and with spaced slots 63 to receive the pawls 60, and is recessed to receive a terrninally supported cross-sectionally L-shaped spring mem- 'ber 64 which engages the side brace 58.

7 When the Wedge 61 is driven parallel to the guard rail 10, the side brace 58 compresses the spring member 64 4} equivalents as are included within the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A railway guard rail assembly comprising a main rail, a guard rail in spaced parallel relation to the main rail, the height of the guard rail being sufiicient to engage the side of a wheel on the main rail, a base plate under the guard rail and the main rail, a filler block interposed between the guard rail and the main rail, the side of the filler block facing the main rail being relieved at its top and bottom to provide spaces between the filler block a and the head and based the main rail, bolts removably securing the filler block solely to the guard rail, bolts extending through the guard rail and the base plate and removably securing the guard rail to the base plate, and a side brace secured to the base plate and engaging the head of the guard rail.

2. A railway guard rail assembly for use alongside a main rail comprising a guard rail, the height of the guard rail being sufiicient to engage the side of a wheel on the main rail, a plurality of base plates removably bolted to the guard rail and having portions adapted to underlie the main rail, side braces secured to said base plates and engaging the head of the guard rail, a plurality of filler blocks removably bolted to the web of the guard rail and engaging the head and base of the guard rail, the outer faces of the filler blocks being of a height less than the distance between the head and the flange of the main and forces the Wedge tightly against the web and flange of said rail, with backward movement being prevented by the pawls 60.

Any of these assemblies may be used at curves and similar locations Where there may be some risk of derailments if left unguarded and it is desired to minimize wear on the main rail and wheel flanges, even where there are no switch points.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 549,387, filed November 28, 1955, for Switch Point Guard Rail.

Although I have thus described my invention hereinabove in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited narrowly to the exact and specific particulars disclosed, but I may also use such substitutes, modifications or main rail spaces will be provided between filler blocks and the head and the base of the main rail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,230,256 Willson et al. June 19, 1917 1,550,019 Einstein et a1. Aug. 13, 1925 1,589,954 Gerhard June 22, 1926 1,628,882 Hoffman et al May 17, 1927 2,101,313 Gillispie Dec. 7, 1937 2,235,248 Asselin Mar. 18, 1941 2,419,701 Asselin Apr. 29, 1947 2,426,138 Asselin Aug. 19, 1947 2,542,840 Riddle Feb. 20, 1951 2,597,697 Asselin May 20, 1952

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