DEVICE FOR MOVING A TONGUE RAIL OF A SWITCH

Abstract

A device for moving a tongue rail of a railway switch, comprising at least two rollers arranged one behind the other and substantially parallel to the course of the rail, on which rollers the tongue rail can roll up from a lower abutting position on the stock rail and directly in front of the first roller onto the first roller, and can roll on to another roller until the tongue rail reaches an open switch remote, wherein at least one additional intermediate roller that is smaller than the rollers, is provided in the space between the rollers, and wherein the axis of rotation of the intermediate roller is arranged substantially parallel to the axes of rotation of the rollers.

Claims

1. A device for moving a tongue rail of a switch, the device comprising: at least two rollers, including a first roller and a further roller, which are configured and arranged one behind the other and substantially parallel to the rail course, and the at least two rollers are further configured and arranged to be acted upon by the tongue rail, the tongue rail rolling up from a lower contact position on a stock rail and directly in front of the first roller and onto the first roller, and rolling onto the further roller until it reaches a remote position; at least one further intermediate roller, which is smaller than the at least two rollers, is positioned in a space between the at least two rollers; and wherein an axis of rotation of the intermediate roller is arranged essentially parallel to the axes of rotation of the at least two rollers.

2. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that the highest point of a shell of the at least one further intermediate roller is below the highest points of the shells of the at least two rollers.

3. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the at least two rollers are elastomer-sprung rollers.

4. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the at least two rollers and at least one further intermediate roller includes an outermost shell made of metal.

5. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that at least some of the at least two rollers and the at least one further intermediate roller are arranged on a common retaining device.

6. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 5, characterized in that the retaining device includes two laterally arranged parts.

7. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that at least some of the at least two rollers and/or at least one further intermediate roller are configured and arranged to be height-adjustable.

8. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that the device is configured and arranged between two sleepers and/or fixed on the two sleepers.

9. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that the device is fixed on the stock rail.

10. The device for lifting the tongue rail of the switch according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one further intermediate roller is arranged after the further roller.

11. The device of claim 2, wherein at least one of the at least two rollers are elastomer-sprung rollers.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the at least two rollers or at least one further intermediate roller includes an outermost shell made of metal.

13. The device of claim 2, wherein the at least one of the at least two rollers and at least one further intermediate roller includes an outermost shell made of metal.

14. The device of claim 3, wherein the at least one of the at least two rollers and at least one further intermediate roller includes an outermost shell made of metal.

15. The device of claim 4, wherein at least some of the at least two rollers and the at least one further intermediate roller are arranged on a common retaining device.

16. The device of claim 6, wherein the two laterally arranged parts of the retaining device are metal.

17. The device of claim 6, wherein at least some of the at least two rollers and/or at least one further intermediate roller are configured and arranged to be height-adjustable.

18. The device of claim 7, wherein the device is configured and arranged between two sleepers and/or fixed on the two sleepers.

19. The device of claim 7, wherein the device is fixed on the stock rail.

20. The device of claim 9, wherein the at least one further intermediate roller is arranged after the further roller.

Description

[0017] In the following, the present invention will be explained in more detail by reference to the embodiment variants depicted in the figures, wherein:

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment;

[0019] FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of an inner segment of the same embodiment;

[0020] FIG. 3 shows a side view of the same embodiment;

[0021] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of an elastomer spring roller.

[0022] In FIG. 1, an embodiment is disclosed which is arranged between and attached to two sleepers which are not shown. For this purpose four leaf springs 6 are attached to the sides of a carrier body 5, which can be attached to the sleepers in fastening shoes not shown. This type of fastening allows the device to be moved between the sleepers along an axis parallel to the sleepers. Optimally, the device is moved close to the tongue rail during installation and fastened so that the tongue rail rests directly against the shell of the first roller 1. Fastening methods are already known, as disclosed by EP 0 654 561 A1. Two rollers 1a, 1b and an intermediate roller 2 are provided, which are arranged together on the retaining device 3, consisting of two opposite metal elements. Rollers 1a, 1b and intermediate roller 2 are arranged so that their axes of rotation are parallel. The diameter of the rollers 1a, 1b is selected so large that it is easy to roll up a tongue rail from the contact position. The diameter of the intermediate roller 2 is in any case smaller than half the diameter of the rollers 1a, 1b; in the case shown it is approx. a quarter of the diameter of the rollers 1a,1b. The rollers 1a, 1b and the intermediate roller 2 are arranged very close to each other in order to avoid a possible sinking between the rollers 1a, 1b and the intermediate roller 2 even if the foot width is particularly narrow. Adjusting devices 4 are provided at the height of the axes of rotation of rollers 1a, 1b, by means of which the height of the axes of rollers 1a, 1b can be adjusted individually. The intermediate roller 2 does not have to be adjusted separately but is adjusted by the common retaining device 3 with the rollers 1a, 1b. The rollers 1a, 1b and the intermediate roller 2 are arranged in such a way that the highest points 1ah, 1bh, 2h of the shells of the rollers 1a, 1b or the intermediate roller 2 are approximately in a horizontal plane E in cross-section. Optionally, the highest point 2h of the shell of the intermediate roll 2 is slightly below this plane E, namely by the extent of the possible deformation of the first roll 1a. Plane E is slightly above the upper edge of the carrier body 5.

[0023] FIG. 2 discloses an inner segment of the embodiment described in FIG. 1. It shows that the retaining element 3 consists of two opposite metal elements, each with three holes 3a, 3a, 3b. The shafts 20 of the rollers 1a, 1b run through two large holes 3a, 3a, and the shaft 2c of the intermediate roller 2 runs through a smaller hole 3b in the middle of the upper part. This intermediate roller 2 consists of an outer shell 2a, two middle sleeves 2b, 2b and a shaft 2c. The individual elements 2a, 2b, 2b and 2c are inserted into each other to form the intermediate roller 2. The shafts of the rollers 1a, 1b have fastening elements 1aa, 1bb outside the roller 1a, 1b which have holes in order to be optimally connectable to the adjusting device 4.

[0024] FIG. 3 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. It can be seen that the highest point of the shells of rollers 1a, 1b is at the same height as the highest point of the shell of intermediate roller 2. Furthermore, it is visible that the rollers 1a, 1b protrude from the carrier body 5 below the carrier body 5. This is a particularly simple and cost-effective construction method. However, it can also be advantageous to design the carrier body 5 in such a way that it encloses the rollers 1a, 1b on the underside since in this way sufficient clearance for the rollers 1a, 1b under the device need not be paid attention to.

[0025] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of a spring roller. Rollers 1a, 1b of this type can be particularly advantageous if leaf springs 6 as described in FIG. 1 are not used. The illustrated spring roller has an outermost shell 11. Inside there is a spring element 13 made of elastic material, preferably elastomer, flanked by two safety rings 12, which hold the spring element 13 in the outermost shell 11. The outermost shell 11 can be made of robust metal to prevent wear from rolling up the tongue rail. However, it can also be made of elastic material to provide additional damping. Inside the spring element 13 there is a fixing ring 14 as well as two limiting elements 15. The limiting elements 15 are arranged on a hollow shaft 17, which rests on shaft 20. Further safety rings 16, a disk 18 and a toothed disk 19 are arranged distally of the limiting elements 15.