Lock for Railway Switch Actuating Devices
A lock for railway switch adjusting devices, including a locking member having a guide contour extending in the direction in which the switch is actuated and forms a locking seat projecting transversely from the guide contour; a locking lever hinged to an engaging tongue and carries, at the end remote from the tongue, an arresting bolt to be blocked at the locking seat; a guide bolt slidable in the guide contour; a hinge bolt connected to a remote tongue; a bearing block rotatable about the guide bolt axis and in which the arresting bolt, the guide bolt and the hinge bolt are journalled in a triangular configuration such that the arresting bolt and the hinge bolt are positioned on opposite sides of the guide contour and are closer to the engaging tongue than the guide bolt, and a spring that biases the remote tongue towards its remote position.
Latest HANNING & KAHL GMBH & CO. KG Patents:
The invention relates to a lock for railway switch actuating devices.
Switches for track vehicles have switch tongues that are pivotally disposed between so-called stock rails of a switch and can be adjusted in transverse direction of the stock rails by means of the switch actuating device. In each stationary state of the actuating device, one of the two tongues engages the associated stock rail. This tongue is therefore designated as engaging tongue. The other switch tongue is designated as remote tongue because its tip end has a certain distance from the associated stock rail. The lock has the purpose to positively lock the engaging tongue in the engaging position in order to prevent the same from being separated from the stock rail, because this might cause the track vehicle to be derailed. A switch actuating device must therefore have an unlocking mechanism which unlocks the lock before the proper actuating operation may commence.
When a track vehicle approaches the switch from the branch side and the switch is not in the right position for allowing the vehicle to pass through, the switch may also be actuated by the track vehicle itself in that the wheels of the track vehicle push the tongue that has been the remote tongue heretofore into the engaging position. This process is termed “riding open” the switch. In this case, the unlocking mechanism must assure that the locked state for the initially engaging tongue is cancelled timely enough.
An example of a known lock having this function has been described in EP 0 984 882 B1.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel lock for switch actuating devices that functions reliably and has a compact construction.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a lock comprising: a locking member having a guide contour that extends in the direction in which the switch is actuated and forms a locking seat that projects transversely from the guide contour; a locking lever that is hinged to an engaging tongue and carries, at the end remote from the tongue, an arresting bolt adapted to be blocked at the locking seat; a guide bolt that is slidable in the guide contour; a hinge bolt connected to a remote tongue; a bearing block that is rotatable about the axis of the guide bolt and in which the arresting bolt, the guide bolt and the hinge bolt are journalled in a triangular configuration such that the arresting bolt and the hinge bolt are positioned on opposite sides of the guide contour and are closer to the engaging tongue than the guide bolt; and a spring that biases the remote tongue in the direction towards its remote position.
When the remote switch tongue and hence the hinge bolt are subject to a force that tends to push the remote tongue into its engaged position, the engaged tongue remains initially blocked in the engaged position because the arresting bolt abuts at the locking seat. Then, the bearing block is subject to a torque that has the tendency to tilt the bearing block about the axis of the guide bolt. As a result of this tilting movement the arresting bolt enters into the guide contour so that it is lifted off from the locking seat. In this process, the spring may yield to a certain extent and thereby enable the hinge bolt to move in accordance with the tilting movement of the bearing block.
When the tongue that was initially the engaging tongue returns into the engaging position, the spring assures that the bearing block is tilted in opposite direction. In this way, it is assured that the arresting bolt abuts again at the locking seat and reliably locks the engaging tongue.
Useful details of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.
An embodiment example will now be explained in detail in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
The lock 12 has a locking member 22 that is disposed stationary between the stock rails 14, 16 and forms a guide contour 24 that extends in transverse direction of the stock rails. The guide contour 24 is formed by a slot that extends straight in a wall of the locking member 22 for the largest part of its length and is widened at one end, on the left side in
The arresting bolt 28 is held in a bearing block 34 that also accommodates a guide bolt 36 and a hinge bolt 38. The hinge bolt 38 establishes a hinge connection of the bearing block 34 with a link 40 that is again connected to the remote tongue 20 via a hinge 42.
The axes of the arresting bolt 28, the guide bolt 36, and the hinge bolt 38 form a triangle. The guide bolt 36 is slidably guided at the guide contour 24. Relative to the guide bolt 36, the arresting bolt 28 and the hinge bolt 38 are offset towards the engaging tongue 18, and they are disposed on opposite sides (above and below) the centre axis of the guide contour 24.
Halfway between the hinge bolt 38 and the hinge 42, the link 40 has a downwardly projecting lug to which a spring 48 is connected via a joint 46. In the example shown here, the other end of the spring 48 is connected to a drive system, which has not been shown, of the switch actuating device via a control rod 50.
The entire lock 12 is accommodated in a box-like casing 52 that is disposed below the stock rails 14, 16 and has slightly elevated side walls in the part that is located between the stock rails, and the locking member 22 is held between these side walls.
As can be seen in the plan view in
The spring 48 is also formed by two symmetrically arranged spring members that are connected to the common joint 46. The opposite ends of these spring members are connected to the control rod 50 by a shaft 54 that is guided in elongated holes (not shown) in the walls of the casing 52.
It shall now be explained how the lock 12 is unlocked when the switch is ridden open, i.e. when a track vehicle pushes the remote tongue 20 in the direction of the associated stock rail 16. Then, a tensile force that is directed to the right side in
However, the tensile force exerted upon the hinge bolt 38 creates a torque that has the tendency to tilt the bearing block 34 clockwise in
Now, in the condition shown in
When the arresting bolt 28 has reached again the locking position shown in
With the lock 12 that has been shown here, it is not possible, however, to lock the tongue 20 in the engaged position. If this is desired, it is possible, however, to provide a second lock for the tongue 20, this second lock having the same construction as the lock 12 that has been described here but is arranged mirror-symmetrically thereto (except for the spring 48 and the control rod 50). Then, however, the springs 48 should be configured such that, in the condition shown in
Claims
1. A lock for railway switch adjusting devices having an engaging switch tongue and a remote switch tongue, comprising:
- a locking member having a guide contour that extends in a direction in which the switch is actuated and forms a locking seat that projects transversely from the guide contour;
- a locking lever that is hinged to the engaging switch tongue and carries, at an end remote from the engaging switch tongue, an arresting bolt adapted to be blocked at the locking seat;
- a guide bolt that is slidable in the guide contour;
- a hinge bolt connected to the remote switch tongue;
- a bearing block that is rotatable about the axis of the guide bolt and in which the arresting bolt, the guide bolt and the hinge bolt are journalled in a triangular configuration such that the arresting bolt and the hinge bolt are positioned on opposite sides of the guide contour and are closer to the engaging switch tongue than the guide bolt; and
- a spring that biases the remote switch tongue in a direction towards a remote position thereof.
2. The lock according to claim 1, further comprising a hinge that connects the locking lever to the engaging switch tongue, and the arresting bolt and the hinge are disposed on opposite sides of a central axis of the guide contour.
3. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the lock has a symmetric configuration about a plane of symmetry with respect to the locking lever and wherein said guide contour includes first and second guide contours disposed on both sides of said locking lever.
4. The lock according to claim 3, wherein each of the bearing block and the guide bolt are formed by two parts disposed on opposite sides of the plane of symmetry.
5. The lock according to claim 1, further comprising a link which connects the hinge bolt to the remote switch tongue, and wherein the spring is supported at one end thereof by the link.
6. The lock according to claim 5, wherein the spring is arranged in a plane that is offset relative to the guide contour and wherein the link includes a lug that projects from the link approximately at a center thereof and the one end of the spring is supported at the lug.
7. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the spring is configured to be expanded to an amount that corresponds to a range of displacement of the switch tongues.
Type: Application
Filed: May 27, 2011
Publication Date: Mar 21, 2013
Applicant: HANNING & KAHL GMBH & CO. KG (Oerlinghausen)
Inventors: Ralf Cord-Brüning (Verl), Günter Worm (Oerlinghausen), Jens Meinecke (Bielefeld), Wolfgang Helas (Bielefeld)
Application Number: 13/699,821