EP2868843A1

EP2868843A1 - Baseboard post guard

Info

Publication number: EP2868843A1
Application number: EP20130193357
Authority: EP
Inventors: Joaquim Sas Sanahuja
Original assignee: Sas Prefabricados de Hormigon SA
Current assignee: Sas Prefabricados de Hormigon SA
Priority date: 2013-10-23
Filing date: 2013-11-18
Publication date: 2015-05-06
Anticipated expiration: 2033-11-18
Also published as: ES1092659Y; EP2868843B2; ES1092659U; EP2868843B8; EP2868843B1; ES2581520T5; ES2581520T3

Abstract

The invention refers to protective pieces, especially for protecting the lower area of the posts that hold up, for instance, the overhead power cables of a railway against undesired actions that would erode its exterior surface. If these posts are made of metal, the aforementioned erosion may affect the layers of paint that protect against corrosion, as well as the outer layers that give them colour and cover them.

Another object of the invention is the procedure for the placement of these pieces on the lower part of said posts in the ballast area, in the laying of railway lines, for which these pieces are designed, as well as other applications outside of the field of railways, for the simple protection of any type of post, whether placed inside or outside of urban areas.

Description

Object of the Invention.

More specifically the invention refers to protective pieces especially for protecting the lower area of the posts that hold up, for instance, the overhead power cables of a railway against undesired actions that would erode its exterior surface. If these posts are made of metal, the aforementioned erosion may affect the layers of paint that protect against corrosion, as well as the outer layers that give them colour and cover them.
Another of the objects of the invention is the procedure for the placement of these pieces on the lower part of said posts in the ballast area, in the laying of railway lines, for which these pieces are designed, as well as other applications outside of the field of railways, for the simple protection of any type of post, whether placed inside or outside of urban areas.

State of the Art.

Until now, there has been no type of pieces specifically for the protection set out in the previous section, although there are currently baseboards of all kinds for the protection of pillars, made of wood, concrete, metal, and plastic materials.
In one of the possible applications, the baseboards that are the subject matter of the present invention are applied to the posts of overhead power cables, generally made of metal, and of, for example but not limited to, HEB, HEA, UPN, UPE and L pieces, for protecting the same from the impact of the ballast of the railway platform, crushed stone that may fly up as a consequence of a difference of pressure created by the speed of trains. Remember that the ballast is a layer of gravel or crushed stone, which is laid on the graded area of railways to lay and hold the rails to the ground.
The passing of any type of train presupposes, from the point of view of physics, the creation of a difference in pressure in the environment of the train in movement, which acts as a sort of vacuum, producing a "suction" effect on the air, raising up the materials that are around the bottom of the post, and in function of their weight, the lightest ones may be lifted up.
This suction effect doesn't have negative consequences when the trains are low and medium-speed, but since the appearance of high-speed trains, this "suction" is of a greater magnitude, and it has resulted in consequences that hadn't existed until now, such as the flying of pieces of gravel that shoot off because of the speed of the train and hit the lower parts of the posts that hold up the railway's overhead power cables, which in turn hold the electrical conductors that provide power to the engines of the trains themselves. As the lower part of the post of the overhead power lines continually receive the impact of bits of gravel, the layer of anti-corrosive materials and paint come off, therefore causing structural damage to the lower part of the same, and the start of corrosion, including the appearance of fissures.
So far, railway maintenance companies have tried to solve this problem in various manners: initially by restoring the damaged surfaces, plastering and painting; and later they have made individual plank moulds around each post of the overhead power cables, piling mortar on until a coat is built up on the bottom part; this type of work could be classified as handcrafted, and it is expensive, with no guarantee of elasticity between the baseboard and the lower part of said post. There are no dilation joints made with the intention of absorbing the vibrations of the posts when the trains pass and the tensions produced on the overhead power cables due to dilation.

Object of the Invention.

The protective piece, which we will call a baseboard, is mainly made up of two pieces intended to be placed facing each other around a post, so that an interior cavity is created between the interior perimeter of the baseboard and the edge of the post; it is filled with an elastic filling material. Thus, this material joins the two pieces to the post, but at the same time it allows the absorption of thermal dilations, as well as the mechanical vibrations that the post is subjected to.
According to one of the preferred embodiments of the invention, the two pieces that make up the baseboard are the same and they have a noticeably "U"-shaped prismatic base and a certain height. This noticeably "U"-shaped base is made up of a central wing with arms that stick out perpendicularly to the ends, and the ends of the arms have their respective centring elements in order to be able to place the two pieces together facing each other, fitting together through the said centring elements. For instance, these centring elements can be made in the form of a ridge placed at the end of one arm, and the corresponding groove with a concave surface is placed at the end of the other arm, fitting perfectly together with the ridge, leaving a space between the groove and the ridge for a bit of play to facilitate the centring of the two pieces.
Optionally, the central area of each piece can have a central element that comes out of the central part of the base perpendicular to the same, which may or may not end in a concave groove.
These pieces are preferably made in industrial facilities, using moulds that are preferably metal, into which Portland or similar cement is poured, which is then compacted in the inside of these moulds, using vibratory compacters, mixing said cement with the corresponding dry materials.
A high-strength material is used for the manufacturing of the bodies of the two pieces that make up the baseboard, so that it will withstand the successive impact of the gravel; the concrete, for example, is compacted inside the corresponding metal moulds using vibratory compactors, which allow measurements to be perfectly precise. It is preferable to use a type of high-strength concrete with very low water/cement ratios and quarried dry materials of different grain size, providing a very high-strength, compact concrete that is optimal for guaranteeing that the exterior surface of the pieces doesn't degrade from the degenerative action of gravel continually hitting the surface. The type of dry materials used are mainly, although not exclusively, recycled dry materials, in order to have more sustainable manufacturing; with these technical specifications, concrete densities of up to 2,250 kg/m3 are obtained for the recommended baseboards.
The elastic filling material is preferably liquid asphalt or a similar material, which is poured into the cavity until it solidifies, so that said asphalt forms a sort of elastic seal, giving the structure a certain flexibility so that it can absorb the dilations of the post, as well as the vibrations that the overhead power cables of the post experience when the train passes, especially when they are high-speed trains going faster than 300 km per hour.
The baseboard that is the subject matter of this invention is also stackable, one on top of the other, so that in function of the height necessary, one or more baseboard can be assembled, as is best for each case, and the stack of baseboards filled with the elastic filling material. Optionally, the pieces that make up the baseboard may have conventional means of fitting together in order to be stacked more accurately.
The present invention furthermore claims the procedure of on-site placement, which unlike what is the state of the art, is different in that the pieces are manufactured industrially, without having planking around each post, but rather they are placed on the lower surface of the post going around it, once the adjacent area of the ballast has been cleaned, arranged with the two pieces facing each other, fitting the ridges with the grooves of the respective pieces, and then filling in the interior cavity formed by the inside faces of the pieces and the edge of the post with liquid asphalt or a similar material, letting it temper until a single piece is obtained.
The main advantages obtained by this invention with respect to the state of the art are: the great improvement in terms of the time of manufacturing, service and placement of the baseboard, which reduces the cost enormously in comparison with the traditional systems known to date; and on the other hand, they have standards of quality that are greatly superior, since they are manufactured industrially by mass-production. Another advantage of this baseboard is that it can be stacked.
The application of this invention is not exclusively for protecting posts for holding up overhead railway power cables; it may also be used for other types of posts, such as for any type of post or outdoor supporting element for urban planning of any kind: electrical posts, traffic lights, outdoor lighting, etc., which may need additional protection, even against vandalism.
Other details and characteristics shall be shown throughout the description below referring to drawings attached to this report which are shown for illustrative but not limiting purposes only in a drawing of the invention. Keep in mind that the embodiments of the invention may be of any material as far as composition goes, and its outside arrangement is also not critical.

Description of the drawings.

Below is a list of the different parts of the invention, that can be seen in the drawings, and are indicated with their respective numbers; (10, 10', 10") baseboard, (11, 11', 11") pieces, (12) central wing of the piece (11), (13) tab, (14a, 14b) arms, (15) groove, (16) squares, (17) ridge, (18) concave part, (19) filling material, (20) cavity, (21) upper base of the piece (11), (22) lower base of the piece (11), (23a, 23b) side bases of the piece (11), (24, 25) posts.

Figure 1 shows a bottom plan view of a piece (11), made up of a base (12) with ends that each have arms (14a, 14b).
Figure 2 illustrates a top plan view of the piece (11) shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 illustrates a right side view of the piece (11) shown in Figure 1, with an upper base (21) and a lower base (22).
Figure 4 illustrates a left side view of the piece (11) shown in Figure 1, with an upper base (21) and a lower base (22).
Figure 5 is a top plan view of the mounting of two pieces (11) shown in Figures 1 to 4 facing each other, forming a baseboard (10).
Figures 6 to 7 are respective practical embodiments of the baseboard (10), set up around a post (24, 25) and with elastic filling in the interior cavity (19).
Figure 8 shows a plan view of a second embodiment of the piece (11').
Figure 9 illustrates a top plan view of the piece (11') shown in Figure 8.
Figure 10 illustrates a right side view of the piece (11') shown in Figure 8.
Figure 11 illustrates a left side view of the piece (11') shown in Figure 8.
Figure 12 is a practical embodiment of the baseboard (10'), set up around a post (24) and with elastic filling in the interior cavity (19).
Figure 13 shows a plan view of a third embodiment of the piece (11").
Figure 14 illustrates a right side view of the piece (11") shown in figure 13.
Figure 15 illustrates a left side view of the piece (11") shown in figure 13.
Figure 16 is a practical embodiment of the baseboard (10"), set up around a post (24) and with elastic filling in the interior cavity (19).

Description of an embodiment of the invention.

In one of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and as may be seen in Figures 1 to 7, the baseboard (10) is made up of two pieces (11), which are set up facing each other and centred using a means of centring, in this case grooves (15) and corresponding ridges (17). As can be seen in Figures 6 and 7, this baseboard (10) may be applied to different shapes of posts.
The arrangement of said pieces (11) is represented in Figures 1 and 4, with a "U" shape, with a central wing (12) with ends that have perpendicular arms (14a, 14b), at the end of which are centring elements (15, 17). In this case, from the middle part of the central wing (12) comes a tab (13) with an end that is shaped with a concave groove (18), marking the interior surfaces of the central wings (12) and arms (14a, 14b) of both pieces (11) and of the tabs (13), and an interior cavity (20), which allows for the placement of the post (24, 25), and in the space, or cavity that is left, the filling material (19) can be poured, as illustrated in, but not limited to Figures 6 and 7.
Figures 8 to 12 show different views of a second embodiment of the piece (11'), in which the tab (13') has another different shape, without the concave part (18).
Finally, Figures 13 to 16 show different views of a third embodiment of the piece (11"), in which there is no tab.
Having sufficiently described this invention using the figures attached, it is easy to understand that any modification may be made to the detail which may be deemed to be appropriate, whenever these changes do not alter the essence of the invention summarised in the following claims.

Claims

- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" characterised in that it is made up of two pieces intended to be placed facing each other around a post, so that an interior cavity is created between the interior perimeter of the baseboard and the edge of the post; it is filled with an elastic filling material. Thus, this material joins the two pieces to the post, but at the same time it allows the absorption of thermal dilations and the mechanical vibrations that the post is subjected to.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to the claim 1, characterised in that the two pieces have a noticeably "U"-shaped prismatic base and a certain height. This noticeably "U"-shaped base is made up of a central wing with arms that stick out perpendicularly to the ends, and the ends of the arms have their respective centring elements in order to be able to place the two pieces together facing each other, fitting together through the said centring elements.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to the claim 2, characterised in that the centring elements are in the form of a ridge placed at the end of one arm, and the corresponding groove with a concave surface is placed at the end of the other arm, fitting perfectly together with the ridge.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the central area of the central wing of the piece can have a central element as a tab that comes out of the central part of the base perpendicular to the same.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the tab ends in a concave groove.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the material used for manufacturing the pieces is the so-called concrete, duly compacted with the corresponding means inside their respective metal moulds.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to the claim 6, characterised in that a high-strength concrete is used with very low water/cement ratios and quarried dry materials of different grain size.
- "BASEBOARD POST GUARD" according to the claims 6 or 7, characterised in that the type of dry materials used in the concrete are recycled dry materials.