Holddown assembly for railway rail

Abstract

A holddown assembly fastens a railway rail to a transversely extending hollow sleeper formed with a vertically throughgoing hole. An upwardly projecting lateral brace element is provided on the sleeper offset from the hole, and the assembly has a body fitted between the rail and the brace element and transversely bracing the rail against the brace element. An anchor of the assembly is engaged through the hole, projects upward from the sleeper, is transversely shiftable in the hole, and bears upward on the sleeper. A spring clip is pressed by the anchor down against the rail and presses the rail down against the metal sleeper.

Claims

1. An assembly for fastening a railway rail to a transversely extending hollow sleeper formed with a vertically throughgoing hole, the assembly comprising: an upwardly projecting and longitudinally extending lateral brace bar formed and fixed on the sleeper offset from the hole, the lateral brace bar extending parallel to the rail; a body fitted between the rail and the brace bar and transversely bracing the rail against the brace bar; an anchor engaged through the hole, projecting upward from the sleeper, transversely shiftable in the hole, and bearing upward on the sleeper; a spring clip pressed by the anchor down against the rail and pressing the rail down against the sleeper.

2. The assembly defined in claim 1, further comprising electrical insulation between the rail and the sleeper.

3. The assembly defined in claim 2, wherein the body and spring are electrically conductive and the insulation is between the body, the sleeper, the brace bar, and the fastener and between the fastener and the spring clip.

4. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein the body is an angled guide plate through which the fastener extends.

5. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein a position of the rail on the sleeper is determined by s transverse width of the body.

6. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein the body is transversely elastically deformable.

7. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein the bar and the body both extend on the sleeper a full width measured longitudinally parallel to the rail.

8. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein the brace bar, rail, and body are in full contact with each other over the full width of the sleeper.

9. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein the sleeper is of sheet metal and is hollow.

10. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein the sleeper is downwardly concave and open.

11. The assembly defined in claim 1, wherein the fastener is formed by a bolt having a T-head engaged underneath the bar and an upwardly projecting externally threaded shaft and by a nut threaded to the shaft and bearing downward on the spring clip.

12. The assembly defined in claim 11, wherein the hole is transversely elongated such that the T-head can be aligned with the hole and pushed through it, then rotated about 90 to lock underneath the sleeper.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an assembly according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view from below of the assembly of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an angled guide plate of the assembly from FIG. 1; and

(6) FIG. 5 is the angled guide plate from FIG. 4 from below.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The fastening assembly comprises a metal sleeper 1 that extends in a transverse direction and on which two parallel rails 2 for a railway vehicle are mounted that extend longitudinally and perpendicular to the transverse direction.

(8) In this case, the metal sleeper 1 is hollow and made of appropriately shaped sheet steel. The two rails 2 are secured in a structurally identical manner, so reference will be made below only to the securing of one of the rails.

(9) In order to secure the rail 2 to the metal sleeper 1, two through holes 3 are formed in the steel sleeper that are shaped as slots extending transversely, i.e., orthogonally to the rail. Two lateral brace elements 4 are secured to the upper side of the metal sleeper. The lateral brace elements 4 are configured as simple guide bars that extend longitudinally of the rail. The lateral brace bars 4 extend at least approximately over a length that corresponds to a bearing surface of the rail 2 on the metal sleeper 1.

(10) The holes 3 are between the respective lateral brace bars 4. The rail 2 sits on the metal sleeper 1. In order to provide better damping, a cushion plate 5 is inserted between the rail 2 and the metal sleeper 1 that is made of an elastic material, here plastic. The plate 5 does not assume any functions involving the reinforcement of the metal sleeper, so the rail 2 rests directly on the metal sleeper 1 with regard to the supporting forces.

(11) A holddown subassembly 6 is provided on each side of the rail 1 between the respective lateral brace bar 4 and a rail foot 2a of the rail 2. The holddown subassemblies 6 are identically constructed on each side of the rail. Each of the two holddown subassemblies 6 comprises an angled guide plate 7, a spring clip 8, and an anchor 9. The angled guide plate 7 rests on the metal sleeper 1 and guides the resiliently elastic spring clip 8. The spring clip 8 is fitted on one side in recesses 7a of the angled guide plate 7 and engages over the rail foot 2a from above with the other side.

(12) The anchor 9 is a pin-like rod that has an oblong locking head 9a on a lower end and an external thread 9b on an upper end. The anchor is inserted with the locking head 9a through the respective hole 3 of the metal sleeper 1 and rotated in order to establish a positive fit. The angled guide plate 7, the spring clip 8, and washers 11 are then placed over the anchor, and the spring clip is compressed by a nut 10 that fits with the external thread 9b.

(13) The spring clip presses the rail foot 2a substantially perpendicularly downward against the metal sleeper 1. The anchor has sufficient play in the slotted hole transversely that transverse forces are not introduced into the metal sleeper 1 as a result of abutment of the anchor in the hole 3.

(14) The holddown subassembly 6 and/or the angled guide plate 7 fills the region between rail foot 2a and lateral brace bar 4 with no play, so that transverse forces occurring during operation are transmitted to the lateral brace bars via the holddown subassemblies.

(15) The angled guide plate 7 rests with a bearing edge 7b against the lateral brace bar 4, so that the force is distributed over the length of the lateral brace bar. The angled guide plate also extends over the lateral brace bars 4 at the bearing edge 7b.

(16) In order to reduce force peaks that occur, the angled guide plate is elastic transversely, with a spring constant being selected in this direction according to the force peaks that are to be expected. For this purpose, weakened portions 7c are formed in a targeted manner in the angled guide plate which enable elastic deformation around a corresponding, defined range.

(17) As needed, the assembly also enables the rail 2 to be electrically insulated from the metal sleeper 1, for example in order to set up standard safety circuits in the vicinity of signal boxes or the like.

(18) For this purpose, several components, such as the baffle plate 5, for instance, are made of an insulating material such as plastic. In addition, the anchor is insulated from the spring clip 8, for example by a plastic sleeve 12 that engages around the anchor 9. In this case, at least some of the washers 11 pressing against the spring clip would also need to be made of an insulating material.

(19) Furthermore, the angled guide plate 7 can be made of plastic as well for the purpose of insulation. In other embodiments of an insulated rail, however, the angled guide plate can also be made of metal, and a corresponding isolating plate can be provided between the rail foot 2a and the angled guide plate.

(20) In order to enable sufficiently precise positioning of the rail 2 on the metal sleeper transversely, angled guide plates of various widths can be provided. Pairs of angled guide plates are selected and combined that ensure support between the lateral brace bars 4 that is backlash-free overall. The position of the rail 2 relative to the holes 3 can be changed within certain limits. Alternatively, it is also possible to ensure the positioning of the rail transversely by appropriately dimensioned additional spacers.