CN115443360A

CN115443360A - Support for a railway track rail

Info

Publication number: CN115443360A
Application number: CN202180023163.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: B·摩苏
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-03-19
Filing date: 2021-03-19
Publication date: 2022-12-06
Also published as: FR3108344A1; ES2970560T3; HRP20240126T1; CA3171534A1; KR20230004499A; JP2023517967A; CL2022002497A1; RS65206B1; FR3108344B1; AU2021238789A1; IL296061A; WO2021186048A1; HUE065020T2; EP4121596A1; US20230095797A1; EP4121596B1; PL4121596T3; PE20221877A1; BR112022018438A2; EP4121596C0

Abstract

The invention discloses a support (1) for a rail of a railway track, comprising: a central core (2) having a parallelepiped appearance, formed by at least two strips (3) of juxtaposed material of thickness (e), made of solid wood or wood-based material; and a protective casing (4) surrounding the central core (2), the protective casing (4) being made in one piece and being formed by a peripheral wall having at least two opposite top (6) and bottom (7) faces and two opposite side faces (8, 9) designed to be able to match at least four longitudinal faces of the central core (2), and by at least one internal partition (13) extending between two opposite or two adjoining faces of the peripheral wall and defining, together with the peripheral wall of the protective casing (4), at least two cells (14) each having a shape complementary to the shape of one strip (3) of the central core (2), the strip (3) comprising a plurality of slots formed through its thickness (e), and the slots of each strip being connected to the slots of an adjacent strip by means of a pin made of plastic material filling the slots.

Description

Support for a railway track rail

The invention relates to a support for a rail of a railway track, in particular of the sleeper type, comprising: a central core having a parallelepiped appearance, formed by at least two juxtaposed strips of solid wood or wood-based material; and a protective casing surrounding the central core, the protective casing being made in one piece and being formed by a peripheral wall having at least two opposite top and top faces and two opposite side faces designed to be able to mate with at least four longitudinal faces of the central core, and by at least one internal partition extending between two opposite or two adjoining faces of the peripheral wall and defining, together with the peripheral wall of the protective casing, at least two cells each having a shape complementary to that of the strip of the central core.

In a known manner, the rail supports to which the invention relates (also known as rail supports, such as railway sleepers, bridge parts, engineering structural parts and timber) participate in the construction of railway rails, wherein these supports, once anchored in the track bed, not only serve as supports for the rails, but also aim to ensure a constant distance between the rails and to distribute the mechanical loads on the track bed during the passage of a train.

Railroad engineers have been concerned with designing infrastructures that are both reliable, safe, and subject to previously specified budget constraints. In this context, their research is mainly aimed at continuously considering new solutions to improve the mechanical properties of the constituent elements of the railway track, and thus of the support for railway track rails.

In this regard, various solutions have been proposed over time to overcome the problems associated with the natural aging of logs that were used to make railway track supports at the beginning of the railway era.

Therefore, in order to extend the life of these supports, it has been proposed to impregnate putrescible wooden supports for railway rail tracks with a protective substance, such as creosote, intended to resist biological attack by wood-eroding substances, such as fungi and termites. However, although creosote is still authorized for use at present, its use is strongly controversial because it can have harmful effects on the environment and human health. Regulations on the use of this material are constantly being perfected, also indicating that it is destined to be phased out. Furthermore, it must be noted that this case applies equally to the new chemical treatments proposed for the substitution of creosotes, which can still be a source of environmental pollution, in particular of the aqueous environment, and that the authorizations for their use may not be prolonged.

Another solution includes developing railway track rail supports made of corrosion resistant materials such as concrete, steel, plastic or composite materials.

Concrete rail supports are economical, but they are heavy due to the rigidity of the material, complicated to handle and easily damaged. Furthermore, such supports cannot be machined and require the raising of the ballast bed, which means additional costs. Finally, concrete railway track supports have a high carbon footprint (carbon emissions).

The steel rail support has a long service life. However, when a train passes over the steel track supports, these supports can generate noise, thus limiting the area in which they can be used. Such supports have high electrical conductivity and high maintenance costs, and their application is limited, in particular because of the risk of corrosion.

Rail supports made of plastic or composite materials have recently been provided which, like rail supports made of wood, are machinable and recyclable and also absorb vibrations, thus enabling noise to be reduced. However, they still have technical limitations such as dimensional changes caused by thermal expansion of their constituent materials. In addition, the constituent materials thereof may creep over time, which may impair the pullout strength of the lag bolt. Moreover, the cost of plastic or composite track supports is high, which further hinders widespread deployment.

Still in order to overcome the problem of wood decay, it is envisaged to design the railway track rail supports in the form of a wooden core coated with a protective casing of thermoplastic material, such protective casing serving to isolate the wood from any external contact and thus protect it from any possible biological attack.

Documents WO0158663 and WO2016105209 describe railway sleepers in which the central core is made of a piece of solid wood. However, this configuration presents a non-negligible risk: in the case of a change of all or part of the plastic casing, the entire central core gradually decomposes due to its integral structure allowing the decay phenomenon to spread, resulting in a weakening of the mechanical properties of the sleeper concerned.

Document US4286753 proposes a possible method of designing the central core of a railroad tie with juxtaposed solid wood or chipboard, which are bonded together to form a uniform block of wood. However, the solution described has the disadvantage of requiring the use of potentially harmful and polluting substances, such as formaldehyde.

The object of the present invention is to propose a support for railway track rails, such as a railway sleeper, of the type comprising a central core made of wood or wood-based material covered with a protective casing, with alternative constructions to those already described, which makes it possible to overcome all the drawbacks mentioned above and to prolong the life thereof while taking into account the weight effect of the railway running train, while meeting the technical, budget and environmental standards in current practice. More precisely, the present invention aims to propose a machinable support for railway track rails, which has an extended service life, is environmentally friendly, and whose structure and constituent materials are easy to recycle, compared to the existing rail supports.

To this end, the invention has for its object to provide a support for a railway track rail of the kind mentioned in the introduction, which is characterized in that the strip comprises a strip passing through its thicknesseA plurality of slots formed, and in that the slots of each strip are formed by a plastic filling said slotsA pin of stock material is connected to the slot of the adjacent strip.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the protective casing is made of a plastic material.

According to a particular embodiment, the protective casing further comprises a pair of caps capable of covering the left and right end faces of the central core.

The invention also provides that the top surface of the protective housing comprises at least two grooves extending symmetrically on either side of a plane through the center of the protective housing and extending perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.

Preferably, the recesses have threaded holes.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the peripheral wall of the protective casing may have a structure forming a set of ridges and grooves extending over at least a part of the bottom surface of the peripheral wall of the protective casing.

Optionally, the structure forming the set of ridges and grooves may also extend over at least a portion of the opposite side of the peripheral wall of the protective housing, said portion extending from the bottom surface of the peripheral wall towards the top surface thereof.

Furthermore, the invention provides for the features of the strips each being formed by a series of contiguous strips.

According to an embodiment that can be envisaged, said strips extend parallel to each other and parallel or perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces of the peripheral wall of the protective casing.

Alternatively, a construction in which the strips extend parallel to one another and at an angle to the top and bottom faces of the peripheral wall of the protective housing is also in accordance with the invention.

The advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

fig. 1 corresponds to a transparent perspective view of an embodiment of a support for guide rails according to the invention, which support is defined here by a railway sleeper,

figure 2 is a perspective view of the central core of the railroad tie of figure 1,

fig. 3 corresponds to the cross-section of the railroad tie of fig. 1, taken along one of its lateral edges at the alignment of the through slots comprised by the strips of the central core,

figure 4 shows a partial side view of the railroad tie of figure 1,

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment variant of a support for a railway track rail according to the invention, and

fig. 6 is a sectional view of a third embodiment variant of the support for guide rails according to the present invention.

In the embodiment variant shown in fig. 1 to 3, the support for guide rails according to the invention is defined by a railway sleeper 1 comprising: on the one hand, a central core 2 having a parallelepiped appearance; and, on the other hand, a protective casing 4 surrounding said central core 2. The central core is formed here by four strips 3, which are of a thickness ofeAnd is made of solid wood. However, other configurations are conceivable in which the strips 3 are each formed by a series of wooden strips assembled to one another face to face, for example by their respective lateral edges, or by their respective longitudinal edges or after superposition. Furthermore, according to still other configurations, in order to optimize the cost of the wood material, the mechanical characteristics and the durability of the support for rails according to the invention, the different strips 3 of the central core 2 can each be made of a different type of wood. For example, it is thus possible to produce a central core 2 comprising three inner strips of beech, sandwiched between two outer strips of oak 3, the oak itself being more durable and more resistant to corrosion than the beech. In other cases, the central core 2 may be inserted between two outer strips made at least partially of polymeric material, and the assembly is surrounded by an outer casing 4.

According to the invention, the protective casing 4 is advantageously one-piece and made of plastic or thermoplastic material (whether or not reinforced with fibres and/or talc) by processes known per se, such as plastic injection, extrusion or "extrusion" processes (registered trade marks).

More precisely, the protective casing 4 is made of a material preferably having a thickness comprised between 5mm and 15mme1The peripheral wall of (2) is formed. The peripheral wall toolComprises the following steps: two opposite top and

bottom faces

6, 7 and two opposite side faces 8,9 designed to match at least four longitudinal faces of the central core 2; and two left and

right end faces

11, 12 designed to cover the left and right end faces of the central core 2.

Furthermore, the protective casing 4 comprises three internal partitions 13 parallel to each other, extending between the two opposite

lateral faces

8,9 of the protective casing and parallel to the top face 6 and the bottom face 7 thereof. Preferably, the internal partition 13 has a thickness of between 3mm and 10mme2And defines, together with the peripheral wall of the protective casing 4, four cells 14 each having a shape complementary to the shape of the strips 3 of the central core 2.

In summary, with the aid of this construction of the railroad tie 1, each strip 3 of wood making up the central core 2 is accommodated in a separate sheath, defined in each case by the cells 14, and is therefore completely separate from the other strips 3. Therefore, in the case where any deterioration of the peripheral wall of the protective case 4 occurs, resulting in the wooden strip 3 being exposed to the external medium, only the wooden strip will gradually decompose without any risk of the phenomenon spreading to the remaining strips 3. This feature makes it possible to considerably extend the life of the railroad tie 1. Furthermore, the alternating use of wood and plastic forms a structure that minimizes the occurrence of possible creep phenomena of the plastic material, thus ensuring the stability of the anchoring of the tie rods intended to fix the rails to the sleeper 1.

It should also be noted that, in order to produce a permanent connection across the railroad tie 1, the strip 3 includes a through-thickness thereofeA plurality of slots 30 are formed and in an alternative embodiment shown in figure 2, such that each slot 30 of a strip 3 is aligned with a corresponding slot 30 of an adjacent strip 3. During the manufacture of the railroad tie 1, these slots 30 are filled, for example by means of a plastic injection, extrusion or "squeeze" process (trademark), with a plastic or thermoplastic material which is used to surround the strips 3 of parallelepiped cores 2 with a protective casing 4. After the plastic material has hardened, the strips 3 are thus each enclosed not only in a separate sheath, but also by a pin 31 made of plastic material filling said slot 30Are connected to each other. This last feature prevents the strips 3 from moving relative to each other within the protective casing 4, in particular under the influence of the weight of the train travelling on the track.

It should also be noted that, according to the invention, the slots 30 are preferentially aligned along the longitudinal edges 18 and the transverse edges 19 of each strip 3 and are in this way positioned at a distance of between 5mm and 40mm from the longitudinal edges 18d0And at a distance from its transverse edge 19 of between 5mm and 70mmd1To (3). Moreover, the slots 30 of the same strip 3 are preferably at a distance comprised between 50mm and 200mmd2Regularly spaced.

On the other hand, with reference to fig. 1 and 3, the top surface 6 of the protective casing 4 comprises two grooves 15 extending symmetrically on either side of a plane passing through the centre of the protective casing 4 and extending perpendicularly to its longitudinal axis X. The two recesses 15 are, for example, machined and are each designed to receive a metal plate (not shown) for mounting the rail. For this purpose, these grooves are provided with threaded holes 16, which extend through the strap 3 and the internal partition 13 of the protective casing 4, intended to receive screws for fixing the metal sheets in the grooves 15.

It should also be noted that in the illustrated embodiment, the bottom 17 of each recess 15 has an inclination suitable for housing the mounting plate according to the current french standard. Of course, the bottom 17 of the groove 15 may have a different inclination than that shown and extend horizontally, for example, so as to be able to accommodate other types of mounting plates.

It is apparent from the above that the rail support according to the invention, such as the railway sleeper 1, defines an alternative solution to existing rail supports to overcome the problems associated with the putrescible nature of rail supports originally made of wood. In fact, the waterproof protective casing 4 covering the material of which the strip 3 is made protects this material and therefore ensures its durability in compliance with regulations. Furthermore, the guide rail support according to the invention is simple to produce, economical and ecologically friendly. It also has the advantage of a longer service life compared to the guide rail supports known in the prior art, without the need to use any potentially toxic and polluting substances.

Furthermore, embodiment variants other than the embodiment variants shown in fig. 1 to 3 may also be provided. Thus, a variant of the rail support defining the railroad tie 10 has been devised (see fig. 4), in which the strips 3 form a central core 20, these strips extending parallel to each other and perpendicular to the top and

bottom surfaces

6, 7 of the protective casing 4. The essence of the invention is also met by an alternative embodiment shown in fig. 5, in which the railway sleeper 100 comprises a central core 200 having two sets of strips 3 extending parallel to each other and at an angle to the top and bottom faces 6, 7 of the protective casing 4, arranged symmetrically with respect to a plane passing through the centre of the protective casing 4 and extending parallel to its longitudinal axis X.

It should also be noted that, according to the manufacturing process for manufacturing the rail supports according to the invention, the protective casing 4 can be completed with a pair of caps (not shown) designed to cover the left and right end faces 11, 12 of the

central core

2, 20, 200.

On the other hand, in order to improve the integration of the support for rails according to the invention (such as the

railroad ties

1,10, 100) with the track bed of a railroad track, 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 ridges and grooves which extend over at least a part of the bottom surface 7 of the peripheral wall, or even from the bottom surface 7 of the peripheral wall towards the upper surface 6 of the peripheral wall, where appropriate, over at least a part of the

opposite sides

8,9 of the peripheral wall.

Claims

1. Support (1, 10, 100) for a rail of a railway track, in particular of the railway sleeper type, comprising: a central core (2) having a parallelepipedal appearance, said central core being defined by a thicknesseIs formed by at least two juxtaposed strips (3) made of solid wood or wood-based material; and a protective casing (4) surrounding the central core (2), the protective casing (4) being one-piece and being formed by a peripheral wall having at least two opposite top (6) and bottom (7) faces and two opposite side faces (8, 9) and by at least one internal partition (13),designed to be able to mate with at least four longitudinal faces of the central core (2), said at least one internal partition extending between two opposite 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 that of the strip (3) of the central core (2), the support being characterized in that the strip (3) comprises through its thicknesseA plurality of slots formed, further in that the slots of each strip are connected to the slots of an adjacent strip by a pin made of plastic material filling the slots.

2. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to claim 1, characterized in that said protective casing (4) is made of plastic material.

3. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the protective casing (4) further comprises a pair of caps able to cover the left (11) and right (12) end faces of the central core (2).

4. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the top face (6) of the protective casing (4) comprises at least two grooves (15) extending symmetrically on either side of a plane passing through the centre of the protective casing (4) and extending perpendicularly to its longitudinal axis (X).

5. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said recess (15) comprises a threaded hole (16).

6. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the peripheral wall of the protective casing (4) has a structure forming a set of ridges and grooves, said structure extending over at least a part of the bottom surface (7) of the peripheral wall of the protective casing.

7. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said structure forming a set of ridges and grooves also extends over at least a portion of said opposite sides (8, 9) of said peripheral wall of said protective casing (4), said portion extending from said bottom surface (7) of said peripheral wall towards its top surface (6).

8. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10, 100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the strips (3) are each formed by a series of contiguous strips.

9. Support for a railway track rail (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said strips (3) extend parallel to each other and to or perpendicular to said top face (6) and said bottom face (7) of said peripheral wall of said protective casing (4).

10. The support for railway track rails (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the strips (3) extend parallel to each other and at an angle to the top face (6) and the bottom face (7) of the peripheral wall of the protective casing (4).