EP0002639B1 - Fastening device for the elastic securing of a rail to a supporting means - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the assembly of a railway rail on a rigid support and, more particularly, the assembly on a concrete sleeper of a long welded rail.

• - une semelle élastique intercalée entre le rail et le support; et
• - de chaque côté du rail un dispositif de fixation comprenant:
  • un intercalaire isolant électrique en butée contre le patin du rail qu'il recouvre et contre son support,
  • un organe de serrage traversant cet intercalaire,
  • et une lame de ressort sans contact avec le rail recouvrant l'intercalaire et présentant des bords longitudinaux parallèles à ce rail.

FR-A-1 573 065 discloses an elastic assembly of a rail on its support comprising:

• - an elastic sole interposed between the rail and the support; and
• - on each side of the rail a fixing device comprising:
  • an electrically insulating interlayer in abutment against the shoe of the rail which it covers and against its support,
  • a clamping member passing through this interlayer,
  • and a leaf spring without contact with the rail covering the interlayer and having longitudinal edges parallel to this rail.

As a result of the brutal forces and vibrations that the rails have to withstand, it is necessary to interpose between the rail and its support an elastic sole, generally made of rubber, the flexibility of which allows the relative movements of the rail relative to its support. The rail is then held on this support by spring blades, called elastic clips, which follow all of its vertical movements. These elastic fasteners very generally have a curvature perpendicular to the rail, but it has also been recommended, in French patent A 2-287 551, the use of elastic fasteners having a parallel curvature of the rail. However, horizontal components of the movements remain which cause wear on the rail and the fasteners. We therefore thought of having, between the fastener and the rail, an intermediate piece having a certain elasticity. As this intermediate piece also contributes, on the one hand, to the electrical insulation of the rail and, on the other hand, to the maintenance of an exact positioning of the rail on the support, it is generally made of a plastic material having simultaneously a good mechanical resistance and sufficient elasticity.

The known elastic fastener systems and spacers - for example described in French patent A-1,573,065 - are not entirely satisfactory; This is how we often see breaks in these existing intermediate parts, that said parts only partially oppose the rail routing phenomenon and that known systems can only be used for fixing short rails, tracks in tunnels or the like.

Indeed, the installation of long welded rails, which is practically generalized on main lines, can only be done under certain temperature conditions to avoid excessive stresses in the rails as a result of expansion. When the ambient temperature is too low, it is necessary to heat the rails using burners, or none of the materials usually used to constitute the spacers can resist the flame of these burners; this is why, on long rails, this system of elastic fasteners with interlayer is generally not used.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks; it allows in particular the use of plastic spacers for the elastic fixing of long welded rails.

This invention consists of an elastic assembly of a rail on its support of the aforementioned type in which the leaf spring projects beyond the interlayer at least above the shoe of the rail and comprises at least the longitudinal edge directed towards the rail which, at the loose state, is bent parallel to the rail, so that the concavity is turned towards the shoe of the rail, while, in the tightened state, it is flattened at a slight distance above the rail, the blade being applied in contact with the entire intermediate part which covers the edge of the rail pad.

According to one embodiment, the leaf spring covers the interlayer on the part of the latter which is located directly above the support and can also extend beyond the interlayer beyond said part.

Thanks to the arrangement of the invention, the interlayer is protected from the heat of the burners, or the like, by the spring leaf which covers it very particularly above the shoe of the rail. In addition, the particular shape of this blade ensures regular and elastic tightening of the interlayer on the pad. There is thus an assembly which allows the horizontal and vertical movements of the rail pad under the effect of the forces which it undergoes, but prevents the wear of this pad and, consequently, the risks of rupture.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the interlayer, on the one hand, and the spring leaf, on the other hand, can have characteristic shapes which allow the best results to be achieved.

First of all, the preferred arrangement of the interlayer is that in which said interlayer has a central body pierced with a hole and two wings, said central body being intended to abut against, on the one hand, the shoe of the rail and, against, on the other hand, a shoulder of the support and said wings being intended to extend for one of them above the shoe and, for the other, above the upper face of the support shoulder.

The general shape of the interlayer (for example seen from above) is essentially trapezoidal; the longer of the two parallel sides of the trapezium is formed by the end of the wing of the interlayer which is designed to rest on the shoe of the rail; the shorter side of the two parallel sides of the trapezoid is the side which rests on the shoulder of the support. In practice and to save the material constituting the interlayer, it is possible that this interlayer has a shape resulting from the juxtaposition of a trapezoidal part, the longest of the parallel sides of which is the extreme side of the rail side and the smallest of which parallel sides is located towards the middle of the interlayer and a generally rectangular part which constitutes the most distant part of the rail. This trapezoidal shape of the interlayer is important insofar as, on the one hand, it allows two support points relatively distant from the interlayer on the rail, where it ensures better transmission of lateral forces from the rail during of the passage of trains and where it surprisingly increases the resistance of the rail to the tracking phenomenon. It is of course desirable that this interlayer is reasonably sized to allow obtaining the results mentioned above; whereas in application of FR-A-1,573,065, the combination of a blade curved perpendicularly to the rail and a corresponding interlayer is used, said interlayer generally had a width (dimension parallel to the rail) of the order of 6 cm, it has been found that the interlayer according to the present application should preferably have a width (dimension of the longest side of the "trapezoid") at least equal to 10 cm and, more particularly, of the order of 12 at 15 cm.

In addition, the upper face of the interlayer is essentially flat; however, this upper face has, at the rear end of the interlayer (that is to say the end which rests on the shoulder of the cross-member) a groove of open shape and at least one stop. In a particular embodiment, said abutment will be constituted by the fact that the ends of the groove will be closed and that the sides of the rear part of the blade will come to bear against these closed ends.

Finally, it is desirable to ensure that the vertical surfaces of this spacer, which come into abutment, one on the shoe of the rail and the other on the shoulder of the support, have substantially equal abutment areas. These abutment areas have a substantially rectangular shape; as the lengths of the two rectangles are, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, different due to the general trapezoidal shape of the interlayer, this implies that the widths of the two rectangles (in fact the "heights" since, when the interlayer is positioned, these surfaces of the stop are substantially vertical) are different, the width of the stop coming into abutment against the shoulder of the support being greater than the width of the surface coming into abutment against the shoe of the rail. Thanks to this suitable dimensioning of the abutment areas, a better distribution of the stresses inside the interlayer is ensured.

The new elastic assembly according to the invention comprises an elastic blade, the shape of which is adapted to the interlayer described above.

• ­- d αne part, la lame a, dans sa partie avant qui va appuyer l'aile de l'intercalaire sur le patin du rail, la forme d'une portion d'un ellipsoïde avec un cintrage maximal sur le côté de la lame qui surplombe le patin du rail et un cintrage nul sensiblement à la base de la lame,
• -d'autre part, la lame présente, dans sa partie arrière, une forme non cintrée; cette partie arrière non cintrée de la lame présente la forme d'une gorge ouverte correspondant exactement avec la forme de la gorge de l'intercalaire, de sorte que, à tout moment (avant ou après serrage de la lame), la partie arrière de la lame appuie sur toute la surface de la gorge, sur la gorge correspondante de l'intercalaire,
• -enfin, la lame est pourvue, dans sa partie arrière, d'un mouvement qui coopère avec la ou les butées prévues sur la partie arrière de l'intercalaire pour empêcher la lame de glisser sur l'intercalaire lors du serrage; ainsi, si "la butée" de l'intercalaire est constituée par deux butées situées aux deux extrémités de la gorge de l'intercalaire, le moyen correspondant de la lame peut tout simplement être constitué par une largeur de lame telle, dans sa partie arrière qui correspond à ladite gorge, que la lame vienne s'encastrer entre ces deux butées.

First of all, the bending of said blade is parallel to the rail. But, moreover, this bending is carried out in such a way that it relates only to the "front" part, closest to the rail, of said blade, so that:

• - firstly, the blade has, in its front part which will support the wing of the interlayer on the rail pad, the shape of a portion of an ellipsoid with maximum bending on the side of the blade which overhangs the shoe of the rail and a zero bending substantially at the base of the blade,
• on the other hand, the blade has, in its rear part, an uncurved shape; this non-curved rear part of the blade has the shape of an open groove corresponding exactly with the shape of the throat of the interlayer, so that, at any time (before or after tightening of the blade), the rear part of the blade presses on the entire surface of the groove, on the corresponding groove of the interlayer,
• -finally, the blade is provided, in its rear part, with a movement which cooperates with the stop (s) provided on the rear part of the interlayer to prevent the blade from sliding on the interlayer during tightening; thus, if the "stop" of the interlayer is constituted by two stops situated at the two ends of the groove of the interlayer, the corresponding means of the blade can simply be constituted by a width of blade such, in its rear part which corresponds to said groove, that the blade comes to fit between these two stops.

Obviously, the blade is provided, in its curved part, with an opening which corresponds exactly to the opening of the interlayer; as previously described, this opening is intended for the passage of a screw, anchored in the crosspiece, screw on which is screwed a nut which has the function of tightening the elastic blade on the interlayer. During this tightening, the blade pressing on two surfaces located at the two ends of the interlayer undergoes a deformation and gradually comes into contact with this interlayer.

This technique of deforming an initially bent blade to gradually bring it to a substantially planar state has been considered preferable to other techniques in which one would use, for example, an interlayer with a bent upper surface and an initially flat blade which would be curved during tightening.

• Les figures 1 à 7 illustrent le mode préféré de réalisation du nouvel assemblage élastique et les figures 8 à 11 d'autres modes de réalisation.
• La figure 1 représente en coupe un assemblage élastique selon l'invention, positionné mais non bloqué.
• La figure 2 représente, en plan, un intercalaire selon l'invention vu de dessus.
• La figure 3 représente un coupe perpendiculaire au rail de l'intercalaire suivant la ligne III-III de la figure 2.
• La figure 4 représente une vue en bout de l'intercalaire, vu du rail.
• La figure 5 représente une vue en plan de la lame élastique.
• La figure 6 représente une coupe perpendiculaire au rail de ladite lame suivant la ligne VI-VI de la figure 5.
• La figure 7 représente une vue en bout de ladite lame, vue du rail.
• La figure 8 est une vue en coupe transversale d'un autre assemblage élastique selon l'invention.
• La figure 9 est une vue de dessus de l'assemblage de la figure 8.
• La figure 10 est une vue analogue à la figure 8 d'une autre variante de réalisation.
• La figure 11 est une vue en coupe suivant la ligne XI-XI de la figure 10 montrant le dispositif de fixation avant son serrage.

The invention is illustrated in a nonlimiting manner in schematic figures 1 to 11.

• Figures 1 to 7 illustrate the preferred embodiment of the new elastic assembly and Figures 8 to 11 of other embodiments.
• Figure 1 shows in section a elastic assembly according to the invention, positioned but not blocked.
• FIG. 2 represents, in plan, an insert according to the invention seen from above.
• FIG. 3 represents a section perpendicular to the rail of the interlayer along the line III-III of FIG. 2.
• FIG. 4 represents an end view of the interlayer, seen from the rail.
• FIG. 5 represents a plan view of the elastic blade.
• FIG. 6 represents a section perpendicular to the rail of said blade along line VI-VI of FIG. 5.
• Figure 7 shows an end view of said blade, seen from the rail.
• Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of another elastic assembly according to the invention.
• FIG. 9 is a top view of the assembly of FIG. 8.
• Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 8 of another alternative embodiment.
• Figure 11 is a sectional view along line XI-XI of Figure 10 showing the fixing device before tightening.

• - en 1 le patin du rail R,
• - en 2 un support, ou traverse, en béton qui comporte un évidement transversal 3; le rail repose sur le fond de l'évidement 3 par l'intermédiaire d'une semelle 4 en matériau élastique, tel que du caoutchouc,
• - le dispositif élastique de fixation est constitué par un intercalaire 5 sur lequel vient appuyer une lame élastique 6; la lame est serrée contre l'intercalaire 5 au moyen d'un vis 7 ancrée dans le support 2 et d'un écrou 8 vissé à la partie filetée de ladite vis 7; sur cette figure 1, l'écrou 8 est représenté non serré, si bien que la lame élastique 6 est à l'état de repos.

In FIG. 1, there is shown in section perpendicular to the rail:

• - in 1 the shoe of the R rail,
• - In 2 a support, or cross member, in concrete which has a transverse recess 3; the rail rests on the bottom of the recess 3 by means of a sole 4 made of elastic material, such as rubber,
• - The elastic fixing device consists of an insert 5 on which an elastic blade 6 comes to bear; the blade is tightened against the interlayer 5 by means of a screw 7 anchored in the support 2 and of a nut 8 screwed to the threaded part of said screw 7; in this figure 1, the nut 8 is shown not tightened, so that the elastic blade 6 is in the rest state.

The interlayer 5 consists of a central body 9 which abuts, on the one hand, on the pad 7 of the rail by the longitudinal edge 22 and, on the other hand, on a shoulder 10 of the support 2 and two wings, one of which comes to rest on the pad 1 of the rail and the other of which follows the shape of said shoulder 10. The insert 5 is shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

In Figure 2, we note that this part has the general shape of a trapezoid; it is more precisely constituted by a trapezoidal part 11 and a rectangular part 12; the trapezoidal part 11 is that which corresponds to the wing or rim 22 of the insert 5 which rests on the shoe 1 of the rail; the largest base of this trapezoid constitutes the extreme edge of the interlayer 5 and has a length of approximately 14 cm. Towards the center of tab 5, note the hole 13 through which the screw 7 passes.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that the upper face of the interlayer 5 is essentially flat, but comprises towards the rear of this interlayer (the rear being the wing or rim 25 of the interlayer 5 which s' presses on the shoulder 10 of the cross member 2) an open-shaped groove 14; moreover, at the two ends of this groove 14, the insert 5 has two stops (see FIG. 2) 15.

Figure 4 shows the general shape of the interlayer.

Figures 5 and 6 show that the elastic blade 6 of steel also has a trapezoidal shape; it is made of spring steel and its thickness is generally from 4 to 5 mm approximately; the large base 16 (longitudinal edge 24) of the trapezium will overhang the pad 1 of the rail R while the rear part 17 corresponding to the smallest base of the trapezium will be located above the support; this rear part 17 actually has a cylindrical shape, the lower face 18 of this cylinder fitting exactly over the entire length of its generatrices with the corresponding upper face of the groove 14 of the interlayer 5; the width of this rear part 17 is such that this part of the blade 6 is inserted exactly between the two stops 15 of the interlayer 5; taking into account the positioning described above of the blade 6 with respect to the interlayer 5, the dimensions of the blade 6 are such that said blade 6 projects beyond the interlayer 5 above the shoe 1 of the rail and partially on the sides of the interlayer 5. The blade 6 is bent in the front part 19 and has zero bending towards its rear part 20 located before the groove 14; it therefore takes the form of a portion of ellipsoid. Obviously, the blade has an opening 21 which corresponds to the hole 13 of the interlayer.

Figures 8 and 9, on the one hand, 10 and 11, on the other hand, represent other embodiments of the invention.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, the rail R is supported by a cross member 2 made of concrete which has a transverse recess 3. This rail R rests on the bottom of the recess 3 by means of a sole 4 made of elastic material, such as rubber, and it is held on the crossmember by fixing devices, such as bolts arranged on each of its sides, between it and the edge of the recess 3.

Each of the fixing devices comprises an insert 5 made of a flexible material, such as a plastic material, formed by an elongated body in abutment, on the one hand, against the edge of the recess 3 and, on the other hand, against the edge 23 of the pad 1 of the rail. The body of the insert 5 is extended at its upper part by a longitudinal edge 22, which is supported on the pad 1 of the rail. The interlayer 5 is crossed by a clamping member which, in the embodiment shown, is constituted by a screw 7 which is anchored in the crosspiece 2 and on which a nut 8 is screwed.

The upper surface of the interlayer 5, that is to say the opposite face of the nut 8, is covered by a metal fastener cons shaped by a spring-loaded blade 6 arranged parallel to the rail R. The blade 6, which has a rectangular shape, projects beyond the interlayer 5 at least all around the rim 22, that is to say above of the shoe 1 of the rail R. Preferably, this blade 6 also projects beyond the opposite end of the interlayer 5, above the crosspiece 2 (FIG. 9).

In addition, the blade 6 is curved parallel to the rail R, at least in its part which is located above the rim 22 of the interlayer 5 and, most particularly, along its longitudinal edge 24 corresponding to its largest dimension. and directed parallel to this rail R. The concavity of the blade 6 is turned towards the shoe 1 of the rail, so that in the absence of tightening the blade 6 takes a configuration similar to that which is shown in FIG. 11, the blade 6 pressing only on the two lateral edges of the interlayer 5.

When tightening, the nut 8 flattens the blade 6 and presses it regularly on the upper face of the interlayer 5. The blade 6 is thus kept at a slight distance, on the one hand, from the pad 1 of the rail and, on the other hand, of the cross 2.

Of course, the blade 6 can be bent over its length and be, for example, constituted by a portion of cylinder whose generatrices are perpendicular to the direction of the rail R.

The blade 6 which protrudes relatively significantly beyond the rim 22 of the interlayer 5, in the direction of the rail R, may only protrude very slightly in the opposite direction, above the crosspiece 2, as shown on the left-hand side of FIG. 8 or, on the contrary, extend much more widely as shown in the right-hand part of this same figure 8. In all cases, the blade 6 completely covers at least the portion of the interlayer 5 which is located in the recess 3 and above the shoe 1 of the rail R. Consequently, the blade 6 isolates this interlayer 8 from any heating element, such as burners, which could be used during installation. of the R rail to bring it to a temperature above ambient temperature.

According to an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the fixing device comprises an insert 5 which is extended above the cross-member 2 by a flange 25, similar to the flange 22, for bearing on the shoe 1 of the rail R, and the blade 6 extends above this rim 25. Preferably, in this case, the rim 25 is then provided with an extreme longitudinal rib 26 which forms a stop for the longitudinal edge of the blade 6 furthest from the rail A. The latter is thus immobilized in rotation, which is important, in particular when the nut 8 is tightened on the screw 7.

In this embodiment as in the previous ones, the fixing device ensures, by virtue of the combination of the interlayer 5 with the spring leaf 6 and the particular shape of these two members, an elastic clamping with a bearing surface relatively large on the shoe 1 of the rail R and constant tightening, without any contact, however, of the metal blade 6 with the shoe 1 of the rail, that is to say without risk of wear of the latter and initiation of rupture.

Claims (3)

1. A resilient mounting for a rail (R) on its support (2) comprising flexible liner means (4) interposed between the rail (R) and the support (2), and on both sides of the rail (R), securing means comprising an electric insulating restrainer (5) abutting against the edge of the rail flange (1) which it covers, and against its support (2) clamping means (7, 8) extending through said restrainer (5) and a spring plate (6) which is not in contact with the rail (R) covering the restrainer (5) and having longitudinal edges parallel to the rail (R) characterized in that the spring plate (6) overlaps the restrainer (5) at least above the rail flange (1) and comprises at least the longitudinal edge (24) facing towards the rail which, in the unclamped state, is bowed parallel to the rail (R) so that the concavity faces towards the rail flange (1), while in the clamped state, it is flattened at a small distance above the rail (R), the plate (6) being applied against the whole portion of the restrainer covering the edge of the rail flange (1).

2. A resilient mounting according to claim 1, characterized in that the restrainer (5) is extended by an edge (25) located behind the restrainer with respect to the rail flange (1) and ending with an abutment means (26) supporting the spring plate (6) and immobilizing it against rotation.

3. A mounting according to claim 2, characterized in that the restrainer (5) and the plate (6) have the general form of a trapezoid when viewed in plan, the longer base (16) of the trapezoid being disposed above the rail flange (1 ).

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