METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING CONCRETE RAIL BEDS

Abstract

An apparatus for protecting a continuous concrete rail bed, including a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed and a spacer plate for being positioned onto the cushion. The cushion and spacer plate are sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail. First and second locks are provided for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate. First and second anchors are provided for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for protecting concrete rail beds of the type found in rail yards where rail locomotives are matched with rail cars to form trains. A rail yard, or railroad yard, is a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic. Railroad cars are moved around by specially designed yard switchers, a type of locomotive. Cars in a railroad yard may be sorted by numerous categories, including railroad company, loaded or unloaded, destination, car type, or whether they need repairs. In many cases rails in rail yards are not attached to laterally-extending sleepers, or ties, as is the case with rails that carry locomotives and attached cars between destinations. Rather, large concrete beds are formed onto which the rails are attached. A typical attachment method is to place a steel spacer plate at intervals along the bed onto which the rail is positioned and held in place with keeper wedges on both sides of the spacer plate. The spacer plate is bolted to the concrete bed with anchor wedges. Spacer plates are typically 6 to 10 inches long, a quarter to one-half inch thick and spaced approximately 3-5 feet apart. The rail is therefore spaced above the concrete bed by the thickness of the spacer plate. This has the further effect of concentrating the weight of the rails and of the locomotives and rolling stock onto relatively short segments of the concrete bed.

The concrete beds allow greater control of rail elevation, layout and similar factors not usually present on mainlines. The concrete beds also permit control of drainage of water, fuel and lubricants. These liquids are typically captured and disposed of in a manner required by regulation to prevent soil contamination and to minimize waste.

However, the manner in which rails are presently mounted on these concrete beds subjects these concrete beds to severe stresses. Whereas on mainline tracks the rails are under load for relatively short, intermittent periods of time, in rail yards extremely heavy locomotives and loaded cars may sit for hours or days in the same location. Locomotives with idling engines create vibrations that pass directly through the rails and into the concrete beds at the positions below the spacer plates. This causes crushing and eventual disintegration of the concrete. In cold climates water can enter the cracks and fissures caused by this disintegration and freeze, causing further damage as the expanding water opens the cracks and fissures further. Eventually, the concrete is subjected to greater vibration as the spacer plate wallows in an area of disintegrated concrete.

It has long been recognized in the prior art that on mainline railway tracks cushioning of the rails on sleepers has the desirable effect of damping the intervals of compression as the steel wheels of locomotives and rolling stock passes at speed along the rails. However, it has not been recognized that cushioning of rails in railway yards, where locomotives and rolling stock are generally stationary or moving very slowly would also be beneficial.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for cushioning rails on a continuous concrete railway bed such as found in rail yards.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of preventing crushing and disintegration of continuous concrete railroad beds resulting from long term vibration and weight application.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved by providing an apparatus for protecting a continuous concrete rail bed, comprising a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed and a spacer plate for being positioned onto the cushion. The cushion and spacer plate are sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail. First and second locks are provided for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate. First and second anchors are provided for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the first and second locks each comprise a keeper wedge having an inwardly extending shoulder for residing against a top surface of the flange of the rail.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the cushion, spacer plate and lock each include aligned through bores for receiving an anchor wedge mounted in and extending upwardly from the concrete bed.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the cushion comprises a sheet of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/synthetic fabric belting material.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the cushion comprises a sheet of recycled rubber tire underlayment material.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the cushion comprises a sheet of compressed non-asbestos sheet material that includes aramid fiber.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the cushion comprises a sprayed-on polyurea applied to the bottom of the spacer plate.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the cushion and the spacer plates have approximately the same width and length dimensions.

According to another embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is provided for protecting a continuous concrete rail bed, comprising a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed and a spacer plate for being positioned onto the cushion. The cushion and spacer plate have approximately the same width and length dimensions and are sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail. First and second locks are provided for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate. The first and second locks each comprise a keeper wedge having an inwardly extending shoulder for residing against a top surface of the flange of the rail. First and second anchor wedges are embedded in the concrete bed and extend upwardly through aligned bores in the cushion, spacer plate and locks for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of protecting a continuous concrete rail bed is provided, and includes the steps of determining an appropriate spacing along the length of a continuous concrete rail bed for placing a plurality of apparati for protecting the concrete rail bed. The method also provides a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed with a spacer plate positioned onto the cushion. The cushion and spacer plate are sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail. First and second locks are provided for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate, and first and second anchors are provided for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate. The first and second anchors are embedded in the concrete rail bed on opposite sides of a space to be occupied by a length of rail, and a cushion is positioned onto the concrete rail bed. A spacer plate is positioned onto the top of the cushion and a lock is placed onto the top of the spacer plate. The lock, spacer plate and cushion are anchored to the concrete rail bed with the first and second anchors, and the rail is positioned onto the top of the spacer plate between the first and second anchors. The rail is locked to the spacer plate with the locks. The method is repeated at the appropriate spacing along the length of the concrete rail bed.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the step of positioning a cushion onto the concrete rail bed comprises the step of positioning a material selected from the group consisting of a sheet of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/synthetic fabric belting material, a sheet of recycled rubber tire underlayment material, a sheet of compressed non-asbestos sheet material that includes aramid fiber and a sprayed-on polyurea applied to the bottom of the spacer plate.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the first and second locks comprise first and second keeper wedges, each having an inwardly-extending shoulder for being positioned over respective flanges of the rail.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the method includes steps of forming aligned through bores in the cushion, spacer plate and lock for receiving an anchor wedge mounted in and extending upwardly from the concrete bed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The present invention is best understood when the following detailed description of the invention is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art means of attaching a rail to a concrete bed; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a novel attachment apparatus, viewed from one side, for attaching a rail to a concrete bed according to one preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the attachment apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section of the attachment apparatus of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a section of rail on a continuous concrete bed attached with the apparatus of FIGS. 2-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a prior art apparatus 10 for attaching a rail “R” to a continuous concrete bed. A steel spacer plate 12 is positioned directly onto a continuous concrete bed “C”. Similar spacer plates 12 are positioned at intervals along the path of the railway and a rail is positioned onto the spacer plates 12 with a section of the spacer plates 12 exposed on opposite sides. The spacer plates 12 are anchored to the concrete bed “C” by anchor wedges, such as anchor wedge 14, the threaded portion of which is shown. A keeper wedge 16 is placed onto the anchor wedge 14 and sits on the spacer plate 12. The keeper wedge 16 is then locked into place by tightening a washer 18 and nut 20 onto the threaded portion of the anchor wedge 14. The shoulder of the keeper wedge 16 extends over the flange of the rail “R”, locking it into position on the spacer plate 12 and the concrete bed “C”.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, an apparatus 30 for securing a rail to a continuous concrete bed “C” is shown. A vibration-damping cushion 32 according to one of several alternative embodiments, described in further detail below, is placed directly onto the concrete bed “C.” A steel spacer plate 34 having approximately the same dimensions as the cushion 32 is positioned onto the cushion 32.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cushion 32 and spacer plate 34 are formed with holes 36, 38, respectively, through which anchor wedges 40 are extended. The anchor wedges 40 are anchored into bores “B” drilled into the concrete bed “C”.

Similar cushions 32 and spacer plates 34 are positioned at intervals along the path of the railway and a rail “R” is positioned onto the spacer plates 34 with a section of the each cushion 32 and spacer plate 34 exposed on opposite sides of the rail “R”. See FIGS. 4 and 5. A keeper wedge 42 is placed onto each anchor wedge 40 and sits on the respective spacer plate 34. The keeper wedges 42 are then locked into place by tightening a washer 44 and nut 46 onto the threaded portion of the anchor wedge 40. The shoulders of the keeper wedges 42 extend over the flanges on each side of the rail “R”, locking it into position on the spacer plate 34 and the concrete bed “C”, as best shown in FIG. 4. The cushions 32 provide protection against crushing and eventual disintegration of the concrete beneath the spacer plates 34. Several alternative materials for the cushions are available.

Example 1

Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/synthetic fabric belting material, 2 Ply 220 Black 3/16× 1/16″ (total thickness ¼″) such as manufactured by Beltservice Corporation.

Example 2

Recycled rubber tire underlayment material, such as manufactured by Ecore International, ¼″ (specified as 6 mm) thick. This porous product is most suitable for warm climates where freezing of water in the porosities of the material is not a concern.

Example 3

Compressed non-asbestos sheet material, such as manufactured by Texcel Rubber, ⅛″ thick, Part No. SEAL-G-4. This material is fabricated of aramid fiber, inorganic fiber and a nitrile binder.

Example 4

Sprayed-on polyurea applied to the bottom of the spacer plate 34 at a thickness of 1/16″.

These materials absorb vibration and continuous compression caused by locomotives and rolling stock, particularly vibration caused by stationary, idling locomotives. The material of Example 1 is considered the preferable material based on cost, ease of application and wear longevity.

A method and apparatus for protecting concrete rail beds according to the invention have been described with reference to specific embodiments and examples. Various details of the invention may be changed without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and best mode for practicing the invention are provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation, the invention being defined by the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for protecting a continuous concrete rail bed, comprising:

(a) a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed;

(b) a spacer plate for being positioned onto the cushion;

(c) the cushion and spacer plate sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail;

(d) first and second locks for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate; and

(e) first and second anchors for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second locks each comprise a keeper wedge having an inwardly extending shoulder for residing against a top surface of the flange of the rail.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion, spacer plate and lock each include aligned through bores for receiving an anchor wedge mounted in and extending upwardly from the concrete bed.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion comprises a sheet of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/synthetic fabric belting material.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion comprises a sheet of recycled rubber tire underlayment material.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion comprises a sheet of compressed non-asbestos sheet material that includes aramid fiber.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion comprises a sprayed-on polyurea applied to the bottom of the spacer plate.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion and the spacer plates have approximately the same width and length dimensions.

9. An apparatus for protecting a continuous concrete rail bed, comprising:

(a) a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed;

(b) a spacer plate for being positioned onto the cushion;

(c) the cushion and spacer plate having approximately the same width and length dimensions and sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail;

(d) first and second locks for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate, wherein the first and second locks each comprise a keeper wedge having an inwardly extending shoulder for residing against a top surface of the flange of the rail; and

(e) first and second anchor wedges embedded in the concrete bed and extending upwardly through aligned through bores in the cushion, spacer plate and locks for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first and second locks each comprise a keeper wedge having an inwardly extending shoulder for residing against a top surface of the flange of the rail.

11. A method of protecting a continuous concrete rail bed, and including the steps of:

(a) determining an appropriate spacing along the length of a continuous concrete rail bed for placing a plurality of apparati for protecting the concrete rail bed;

(b) providing: (i) a resilient, compressible cushion for being placed directly upon the continuous concrete rail bed; (ii) a spacer plate for being positioned onto the cushion; (iii) the cushion and spacer plate sized and shaped to extend laterally outward in opposing directions beyond the width of the opposing flanges of a rail positioned on the spacer plate to define first and second attachment areas on opposite sides of the rail; (iv) first and second locks for being positioned on a top surface of the spacer plate at the first and second attachment areas and engaging the opposing flanges of the rail for locking the rail in position on the spacer plate; and (v) first and second anchors for anchoring the cushion, spacer plate and lock to the concrete bed at the respective first and second attachment areas of the spacer plate;

(c) embedding the first and second anchors in the concrete rail bed on opposite sides a space to be occupied by a length of rail;

(d) positioning a cushion onto the concrete rail bed;

(e) positioning a spacer plate onto the top of the cushion;

(f) positioning a lock onto the top of the spacer plate;

(g) anchoring the lock, spacer plate and cushion to the concrete bed with the first and second anchors;

(h) placing the rail onto the top of the spacer plate between the first and second anchors;

(i) locking the rail to the spacer plate with the locks; and

(j) repeating steps (b) through (i) at the appropriate spacing along the length of the concrete rail bed.

12. A method according to claim 11, and wherein the step of positioning a cushion onto the concrete rail bed comprises the step of positioning a material selected from the group consisting of a sheet of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/synthetic fabric belting material, a sheet of recycled rubber tire underlayment material, a sheet of compressed non-asbestos sheet material that includes aramid fiber and a sprayed-on polyurea applied to the bottom of the spacer plate.

13. A method according to claim 11, wherein the first and second locks comprise first and second keeper wedges, each having an inwardly-extending shoulder for being positioned over respective flanges of the rail.

14. A method according to claim 11, and including steps of forming aligned through bores in the cushion, spacer plate and lock for receiving an anchor wedge mounted in and extending upwardly from the concrete bed.