CA3171534A1 - Support for railway track rails - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a support (1) for railway track rails comprising a central core (2) of parallelepiped appearance, formed of at least two strips (3) of juxtaposed materials, of thickness (e), produced from solid wood or wood-based materials, and a protective casing (4) encasing the central core (2), the protective casing (4) being produced in one piece and being formed of a peripheral wall having at least two opposite upper (6) and lower (7) faces and two opposite lateral faces (8, 9), designed to be capable of matching at least the four longitudinal faces of the central core (2), as well as at least one internal partition (13) extending between the two opposite faces or two contiguous faces of the peripheral wall and defining, with the peripheral wall of the protective casing (4), at least two cells (14) each having a shape complementary to one strip (3) of the central core (2), the strips (3) comprising a plurality of slots formed through their thickness (e) and the slots of each strip being connected to the slots of the adjacent strips by pins made of plastic material filling the slots.

Description

Description Title of Invention: Railway Rail Support [0ool] The subject of the present invention is a support for railway rails.
iron type in particular railway sleeper, comprising a central web of appearance parallelepiped formed of at least two juxtaposed blades made of wood solid or made of wood-based materials, and a protective envelope encasing said central core, said protective envelope being made of a single holding, and being formed of a peripheral wall having at least two faces opposite upper and lower and two opposite lateral faces, designed suitable for marry at least the four longitudinal faces of the central web, as well as at least a internal partition extending between two opposite faces or two adjoining faces of said peripheral wall and delimiting with the peripheral wall of the envelope of protection at least two cells each having a complementary shape to a blade of said central web.

[0002] In known manner, the rail supports, also called railway track, concerned by the present invention, such as the sleepers of path of iron, parts of bridges, parts of works of art and wood for appliances, participate in the construction of railway tracks, in which, once anchored in a ballast, beyond serving as a support for the rails, are intended to ensure distance constant between them and to distribute the mechanical loads on the ballast when a convoy passes.

[0003] Railway engineers have always been concerned constant to design infrastructures that are reliable, secure and in adequacy with the previously defined budgetary profitability constraints. In this context, their studies include continually considering new solutions to improve the mechanical performance of elements constituting the railway tracks, and consequently those of the supports of railway tracks.

[0004] In this regard, various solutions have been proposed over time to palliate the problems related to the natural aging of raw wood including the supports of way railways were formed at the beginning of the railway era.

[0005] To increase their lifespan, it has thus been proposed to impregnate them supports for railway rails made of wood, by definition putrescible, of a protective substance such as creosote, intended to mitigate the attacks biological stemming in particular from xylophagous agents, such as fungi and termites. However, although still authorized and implemented at this day, the creosote is currently strongly contested, because of its harmful effects on the environment and human health. The constant evolution of regulation to which the use of this substance is subject further suggests what is doomed to gradual abandonment. Moreover, it is clear that it going away the same applies to new chemical treatments, proposed as a replacement creosote, which are always a source of pollution environmental, in particular for aquatic environments, and for which it has been observed that them licenses granted may not be renewed.

[0006] Another solution consisted in developing rail supports for path iron in rot-proof material, such as in particular concrete, steel, plastic or composite materials.

[0007] Concrete rail supports are advantageous in terms of cost, but they turn out to be heavy, complex to handle, and fragile due to their rigidity.
Furthermore, they are non-machinable and require raising the ballast, which is synonymous with additional costs. Finally, the path lane supports of iron concrete have a high carbon footprint.

[0008] The steel track supports have a long service life.

However, they generate noise when trains pass, which limits the areas or they can be employed. Their high electrical conductivity and cost of high maintenance, in particular because of the risk of corrosion, are also limiting.

[0009] Appeared more recently, plastic or aluminum track supports materials composites are, like those made of wood, machinable and recyclable, absorb them vibration and therefore noise. Nevertheless, technical constraints remain, such as their dimensional variations, caused by the expansion thermal their constituent material. In addition, the latter may be subject to a phenomenon of creep over time, which may compromise the resistance to tearing lag bolts. Also, the cost of plastic track supports or materials composites is high, which constitutes an additional obstacle to their deployment.

[0010] Still in order to overcome the problem of the putrescibility of the wood, it has still been imagined to design railway rail supports in the form of one wooden core coated with a protective cover of thermoplastic material the purpose of which is to isolate the wood from any external contact and thus to protect possible biological attacks.

[0011] The documents W00158663, and W02016105209 describe sleepers of railroad, in which the central core consists of a piece of wood massive. However, this configuration presents a non-negligible risk: in case alteration of all or part of the plastic envelope, the entire core central breaks down gradually due to its one-piece structure allowing the spread of the rotting phenomenon from one area to another, which leads to the weakening of the mechanical properties of the sleepers considered.

[0012] Document US4286753 teaches the possibility of designing the central core of a railway sleeper from a juxtaposition of planks of solid wood or particle board, bonded together sort of form a homogeneous block. However, the solution described has the disadvantage of require the use of potentially harmful and polluting substances, than formaldehyde.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rail support for path of iron, such as in particular a railway sleeper, of the type consisting of one central core of wood or wood-based materials covered with an envelope protective, having an alternative structure to those already described, allowing both to overcome all the disadvantages mentioned above and to improve his longevity against the effects of the weight of convoys traveling on the tracks railways, all by meeting the technical, budgetary and environmental criteria in currently in force. More specifically, the present invention aims of to offer a machinable railway rail support, whose service life is extended compared to existing rail supports, which is respectful of environment, and whose structure and constituent materials allow a easy recycling.

To this end, the present invention relates to a support rails of path iron of the kind indicated in the preamble, characterized in that said blades comprise a plurality of lumens formed through their thickness e and in this that the lights of each blade are connected to the lights of the adjacent blades by pins of plastic material filling said slots.

[0015] In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, said protective cover is made of plastic material.

[0016] According to a particular embodiment, said envelope of protection further comprises a pair of caps adapted to cover the faces left and right end of said central web.

[0017] The present invention also provides that the upper face of said shroud has at least two recesses extending from symmetrically on either side of a plane passing through the center of said protective envelope and extending perpendicular to its axis longitudinal.

[0018] Preferably, the recesses have tapped holes.

[0019] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the wall peripheral of said protective envelope may have a structure forming a set of reliefs and depressions extending over at least a portion of the face bottom of its peripheral wall.

[0020] Optionally, the structure forming a set of reliefs and of hollow may also extend over at least a portion of the side faces opposite the peripheral wall of the protective casing, said portion extending from the underside of the peripheral wall in the direction of her upper side.

[0021] Furthermore, the present invention also provides for the characteristic according to which said blades are each formed of a series of butted lamellae.

[0022] According to a possible alternative embodiment, said blades extend parallel to each other and parallel or perpendicular to the faces upper and lower of the peripheral wall of the casing of protection.

[0023] Alternatively, a structure in which said blades extend parallel to each other and inclined to the faces superior and bottom of the peripheral wall of the protective casing is also in accordance with the present invention.

[0024] The advantages resulting from the present invention will appear on reading of the following description relating to embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings in which:

[0025] [Fig.1] corresponds to a perspective and transparent view of a variant embodiment of a rail support according to the invention, defined here by a crosses railway,

[0026] [Fig.2] is a perspective view of the central core of the crosspiece of path figure 1 iron,

[0027] [Fig. 3] corresponds to a cross-sectional view of the crosspiece of path of iron of figure 1, carried out at the level of an alignment of lights crossing that the blades of the central web have along one of their edges transverse,

[0028] [Fig.4] illustrates a partial side view of the railroad crosspiece iron figure 1,

[0029] [Fig. 5] is a cross-sectional view of a second variant of realization of the railway rail support according to the invention, and

[0030] [Fig. 6] is a cross-sectional view of a third variant of realization of the railway rail support according to the invention.

In the alternative embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, the support of tracks according to the invention is defined by a railway sleeper 1 comprising of one on the other hand a central core of parallelepiped shape 2, and on the other hand a envelope protection 4 coating said central core 2. The latter is here formed of four blades 3, of thickness e, made of solid wood. However, other configurations can be envisaged, in which the blades 3 are formed each of a series of wooden slats assembled together, for example by their respective lateral edges, or by their respective longitudinal edges Where face to face after overlapping. Moreover, according to still others configurations, so optimize wood material cost, mechanical properties and durability from rail support according to the invention, the different blades 3 of the central web can each be made from different types of wood.
So, he can for example be envisaged to produce a central core 2 comprising three internal blades in beech, sandwiched between two external 3 blades in Oak, material by definition more durable and resistant than beech. In other case he can still be provided to insert the central core 2 between two external blades to least partially made of polymer material, and to coat this assembly of the outer envelope 4.

According to the invention, the protective envelope 4 is advantageously in one piece, and is made of plastic or thermoplastic material, charged or not with fibers and/or talc, through a process known per se, Phone than for example a plastic injection, extrusion or extrusion process (trademark).

[0033] More specifically, the protective casing 4 is formed of a wall peripheral preferably having a thickness el between 5mm and 15mm. It has two opposite upper 6 and lower 7 faces, and two opposite lateral faces 8, 9, designed to fit at least the four faces longitudinal sections of said central web 2, as well as two end faces left and right 11, 12, designed capable of covering the left and right end faces right of the central web 2.

[0034] Furthermore, the protective envelope 4 also comprises three partitions internal 13 parallel to each other, extending between its two opposite faces sides 8, 9, parallel to its upper 6 and lower 7 faces.
preferably, the internal partitions 13 have a thickness e2 comprised Between 3mm and 10 mm and delimit, with the peripheral wall of the envelope of protection 4, four cells 14 each having a complementary shape to a blade 3 of the central web 2.

[0035] In short, thanks to such a configuration of the railroad crosspiece iron 1, each strip of wood 3 of which the central core 2 is made is housed in a individual protective sheath, defined each time by a cell 14, and to thus finds itself completely separated from the other blades 3. Thus, in the event of possible degradation of the peripheral wall of the protective casing 4, drive to exposure of a wooden blade 3 to external agents, only the latter go break down gradually, with no risk of spreading the phenomenon to 3 blades remaining. Such a feature makes it possible to significantly improve the railway sleeper longevity 1. In addition, the alternation of wood and of plastic leads to a structure in which the incidence of a possible creep phenomenon of the plastic material is minimized, which allows to ensure the solidity of the anchoring of the lag bolts intended to fix the rails on the railway sleeper 1.

[0036] It should also be noted that in order to create a permanent link at through the railway sleeper 1, the blades 3 comprise a plurality of slots 30, formed through their thickness e, and, in the variant of embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, such that each slot 30 of one blade 3 is aligned with a corresponding light 30 of the blade(s) 3 adjacent(s). These lights 30 are filled with the plastic material or thermoplastic used to coat the strips 3 of the parallelepipedal core 2 by the protective casing 4, during the manufacture of the sleepers of road of iron 1, for example by a process of plastic injection, extrusion or of expulsion (registered trademark). After hardening of the plastic material, the blades 3 are therefore not only each coated with a protective sheath individual, but also interconnected by pins 31 of material plastic filling said slots 30. This last characteristic allow to prevent the blades 3 from moving relative to each other breast of the protective envelope 4, in particular under the effect of the weight of the convoys traveling on the railway tracks.

[0037] It should also be noted that in accordance with the invention, the lights 30 are preferably aligned along the longitudinal edge 18 and the edge transverse 19 of each of the blades 3 and so as to be located at a distance dO between 5mm and 40 mm from the longitudinal edge 18, and at a distance dl between 5mm and 70mm from their transverse edge 19. Furthermore, the slots 30 of the same blade 3 are regularly spaced from each other, preferably a distance d2 of between 50mm and 200mm.

On the other hand, with reference to Figures 1 and 3, the upper face 6 of the envelope protection 4 comprises two recesses 15 extending so symmetrical on either side of a plane passing through the center of the envelope of protection 4 and extending perpendicularly to its longitudinal axis X. The of them recesses 15 are for example made by machining and are designed to be able to each housing a metal saddle (not shown) intended for fixing a rail. HAS
For this purpose, they are provided with tapped holes 16, extending through the blades 3 and the internal partitions 13 of the protective casing 4, intended to welcome screws to fix the metal saddle in the recesses 15.

[0039] It should also be noted that in the variant embodiment illustrated, the bottom 17 of each recess 15 has a specific inclination to allow reception a mounting saddle that complies with current French standards. Good understood, the bottom 17 of the recesses 15 could have a different inclination of that illustrated and extend for example horizontally in order to be able to accommodate other types of binding saddles.

[0040] As is clear from the foregoing, the rail support according the invention, such as a railway sleeper 1, defines a solution alternative to those existing to overcome the problems related to the putrescible nature wood which they were originally made. In fact, the envelope of protection 4 waterproof which covers the material of which the blades 3 are made makes it possible to the preserve and thus guarantees a durability in accordance with the regulations.
Furthermore, the rail support according to the invention is simple to manufacture, economical and ecological. It also has the advantage of increased longevity compared to to rail supports known to the state of the art, independently of any the use of potentially toxic and polluting substances.

[0041] Furthermore, other variant embodiments than that illustrated in figures 1 to 3 can also be provided. Thus, a variant of a rail support defining a railway sleeper 10 has been imagined (cf. fig. 4), in which the blades 3 form a central web 20, extending parallel between them and perpendicular to the upper 6 and lower 7 faces of the protective envelope 4. The alternative embodiment illustrated in FIG.
5 in wherein the railway sleeper 100 has a central web 200 having two groups of blades 3 extending parallel to each other and inclined manner with respect to the upper 6 and lower 7 faces of the envelope protection 4, the two groups being arranged symmetrically in this last with respect to a plane passing through the center of the envelope of protection 4 and extending parallel to its longitudinal axis X, also conforms at the spirit of the present invention.

[0042] It should also be noted that depending on the manufacturing process used for manufacture the railway rail support according to the invention, the envelope cover 4 can be completed with a pair of caps (not shown) designed to cover the left 11 and right 12 end faces of the core central 2, 20,200.

[0043] On the other hand, in order to improve the integration of a rail support according to the invention such as a railway sleeper 1, 10, 100 in the ballast of a track railway, the peripheral wall of the protective casing 4 can advantageously be designed in such a way that it has a structure forming a set of reliefs and depressions extending over at least a portion of its underside 7 even, where appropriate from its lower face 7 towards its upper face also on at least a portion of its opposite side faces 8, 9.

Claims

Claims [Claim 1] Railway rail support (1, 10, 100), type in particular a railway sleeper, comprising a central web (2) of the appearance parallelepiped formed of at least two blades (3) juxtaposed, of thickness e, made of solid wood or wood-based materials, and an envelope protection (4) coating said central core (2), said casing of protection (4) being in one piece, and being formed of a wall peripheral having at least two upper (6) and lower (7) opposite faces and two opposite lateral faces (8, 9), designed capable of marrying at least the four longitudinal faces of the central web (2), as well as at least one partition internal (13) extending between two opposite faces or two contiguous faces of said peripheral wall and delimiting with the peripheral wall of the envelope protection (4) at least two cells (14) each having a shape complementary to a blade (3) of said central core (2), characterized in that that said blades (3) have a plurality of slots formed through their thickness and in that the openings of each blade are connected to the lights of adjacent blades by pins of plastic material filling said lights.
[Claim 2] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to claim 1, characterized in that said protective envelope (4) is made of plastic material.
[Claim 3] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to one any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said shroud (4) further comprises a pair of caps designed capable of covering the left (11) and right (12) end faces of said soul central (2).
[Claim 4] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to one any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the face upper (6) of said protective casing (4) comprises at least two recesses (15) extending symmetrically on either side of a plane passing through the center of said protective envelope (4) and extending perpendicular to its longitudinal axis (X).

[Claim 5] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to preceding claim, characterized in that the recesses (15) have tapped holes (16).
[Claim 6] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to one any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wall peripheral of said protective casing (4) has a structure forming a set of reliefs and hollows extending over at least one portion of the underside (7) of its peripheral wall.
[Claim 7] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to preceding claim, characterized in that the structure forming a set of reliefs and depressions also extends over at least a portion opposite side faces (8, 9) of the peripheral wall of the casing of protection (4), said portion extending from the underside (7) of the wall device, towards its upper face (6).
[Claim 8] Railway Rail Support (1, 10, 100) according to one any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said blades (3) are each formed of a series of abutting blades.
[Claim 9] Railway rail support (1, 10) according to one any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said blades (3) extend parallel to each other and parallel or perpendicular to the upper (6) and lower (7) faces of the wall peripheral of the protective envelope (4).
[Claim 10] Railway rail support (100) according to moon any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said blades (3) extend parallel to each other and at an angle to the upper (6) and lower (7) faces of the peripheral wall of the envelope of protection (4).