EP2893080A1

EP2893080A1 - Locating pin arrangement for aligning railway slabs on a base plate

Info

Publication number: EP2893080A1
Application number: EP13789043.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Martin Kowalski; Tariq AL-THUWAINY; Stefan Knittel
Original assignee: RTE Technologie GmbH
Current assignee: RTE Technologie GmbH
Priority date: 2012-09-04
Filing date: 2013-08-20
Publication date: 2015-07-15
Also published as: WO2014037838A1

Abstract

The invention proposes a slab track (10) for rail-borne vehicles having a base layer (12) arranged on a subgrade (11) or formed from the subgrade and a plurality of support elements (15) mounted on the base layer, which support elements are provided with rail fastening elements (20) for rails (16) on their upper side. It is provided according to the invention that locating pin devices (21) are arranged in the base layer (12) which are set from below in guide holes (22) in the support elements and are fixed in said guide holes following alignment of the support elements (15) using a hardening grouting component (31).

Description

SLAB TRACK FOR RAIL-BORNE VEHICLES

The invention relates to a slab track for rail-borne vehicles having a base layer arranged on a subgrade or formed from the subgrade and also a plurality of support elements mounted on the base layer, which support elements are provided or can be provided with rail fastening elements for rails on their upper side and are supported relative to the base layer in a vertically movable, particularly resilient manner. A slab track of this kind may be used particularly with lines for high-speed trains.
In terms of railway construction, the traditional ballasted track was the standard solution over a long period of approx. 200 years, because the main components for tracks laid in a ballast bed are simple and comparatively cheap. However, the sharp growth in high-speed trains in particular has led to a significant increase in the requirements made of railway tracks and the 'floating support' of a track laid in a ballast bed has reached its technical and financial limits in many areas. Various concepts for ballastless track designs with a solid support have therefore been developed in recent decades, which fall under the generic term 'slab track'. There are many different track concepts, designs and installation methods in this case which have only one thing in common and that is that a track laid on a slab track has no floating support as is the case with a ballast bed.
The different design principles for a slab track range from track segments almost completely prefabricated at the factory to solutions produced almost completely on site. The installation principles basically fall into two main categories. When the track is installed from top to bottom (top-down principle), the tracks and also part of the track structure (sleepers) attached to them are precisely aligned in the desired height and lateral position using special devices. The clear space remaining between this track panel and the subgrade is then filled with liquid, hardening construction materials. In this case, the inaccuracies occurring during installation of the lower support layers of the track are eliminated in the last, crucial working step, namely the casting of the track panel.
With another installation method, support layers and track components are built up on one another in stages from the bottom to the top (bottom-up principle). Efforts are made in this case for work to be carried out more accurately at each additional stage, so that the track precision meets all the requirements once the final track has been installed.
Combinations of both designs are also possible in principle by arranging a plurality of support elements or sleepers on a base layer to begin with, in which rail fastening elements are then aligned by height and side in recesses provided for this purpose and are then locked in place using a hardening grouting component (DE 10 2012 103 001 A). Both with this combined design proposed by the applicant and also with customary installation methods using the bottom-up principle, in which support elements such as track sleepers, for example, are arranged on a base layer, the difficulty is frequently encountered when it comes to correctly aligning these support elements in the transverse and longitudinal direction of the rails, on the one hand, and also retaining this alignment permanently, yet on the other hand guaranteeing a height movability of the support elements, albeit a small one, relative to the base layer, which is generally made possible by means of a resilient intermediate layer provided between the base layer and the support elements and allows a slight deflection of the track when a rail-borne vehicle passes over it.
An arrangement and a method of fastening a concrete sleeper to a support plate made of concrete or asphalt is disclosed in DE 195 14 005 A1, wherein following the alignment of the concrete sleeper on the support plate a blind hole must first be drilled in the support plate through a through-hole in the sleeper, which hole is then filled with grout. Before the grout hardens, a plastic sleeve is cemented in place in the blind hole through the through-hole, into which sleeve a steel bolt is then inserted from above. The disadvantage of this has proved to be that the through-hole and the blind hole flush therewith must be drilled in the support plate after the positionally accurate alignment of the sleeper, without the sleeper slipping during this. This frequently causes problems in practice, particularly on an inclined support plate.
DE 196 44 449 A1 discloses a method for producing a track system for rail-borne vehicles in which longitudinal slots extending in the longitudinal track direction are cut in a support plate forming a subgrade, into which plate-shaped foot elements of guide elements are then inserted and sealed using bitumen or the like. The guide elements each have a bar projecting beyond the level of the support plate at the top, which is set from below in a channel provided on a sleeper, wherein the intermediate space between the wall of the channel and the bar is filled with a permanently resilient grout. The permanent resilience of the grout means that the bar cannot transmit any forces transversely to the vertical or to the longitudinal direction of the bar and it is easy for the sleeper to lose its required position on the support plate.
The problem addressed by the invention is that of creating a possibility for laying and aligning the support elements on the subgrade quickly and easily, in order to create a fixing of the support elements in this plane substantially parallel to the base layer in the transverse and longitudinal direction following this alignment, but at the same time to guarantee an at least limited height movability of the support elements relative to the base layer, even following completion of the track.
This problem is solved using a slab track for rail-borne vehicles of the kind mentioned above, which is additionally provided with locating pin devices arranged in the base layer, each of which exhibits a locating pin inserted in the base layer in a positionally accurate manner and a substantially rigid guide sleeve fitted onto this and displaceable along the longitudinal axis thereof but guided on the locating pin transversely to the longitudinal axis free from play, said guide sleeve being set in a guide hole from below, which hole is provided in the support element placed in each case on the base layer via the assigned locating pin device, wherein the guide hole provided in the support element has a larger cross section than the guide sleeve set in it, wherein the clear space remaining between the guide sleeve and the guide hole is filled with an at least substantially rigidly hardening grout following the positionally accurate alignment of the support element.
The locating pin devices, which are set from below in guide holes provided on the support elements, ensure that once the clear space initially existing between the guide sleeve and the wall of the guide hole has been filled with the grouting component and this has hardened, the support elements will not alter their position laterally, in other words in the longitudinal and lateral direction, but will be movable in the vertical direction. This vertical movability is guaranteed in that the guide sleeve on the locating pin can be displaced along the axis thereof, even after the sleeve has been permanently connected to the support element by means of the setting grouting component. As long as no rails have been installed, the support elements can therefore be raised from the locating pins and lowered back onto these. During the train operation with completely laid rails, a desired, slight deflection of the support elements, which is made possible by a resilient intermediate layer arranged beneath the support elements, is not prevented by the locating pin devices.
The length of the guide sleeve is preferably greater than that of the region of the locating pin which is set from below in the guide hole formed on the support element. The locating pin is then unable to project upwards from the guide sleeve with its upper end and thereby possibly come into contact with the grout poured into the guide hole.
The embodiment according to the invention, according to which the guide hole provided in the support element initially has a greater cross section than the locating pin device set in it, has the particular advantage that the support elements can be laid rapidly on the base layer using simple machinery and/or tools, although the locating pin devices are already preassembled in said base layer. A positionally accurate alignment of the support element in the longitudinal and transverse direction is then possible, before the clear space remaining between the locating pin device and the wall of the guide hole is finally filled with the hardening grouting component. It is particularly advantageous in this case if the guide sleeve is closed on its upper side, preferably by means of an end cap tapering upwards, whereby it is ensured that when the clear space is filled no grouting component is able to get into the guide sleeve and then adhere it to the locating pin set therein.
The locating pin device may have a bearing sleeve arranged in the base layer, into which the locating pin is inserted. The bearing sleeve may be inserted into a hole drilled in the base layer, for example, and be adhered therein.
The locating pin device may be additionally provided with a preferably resilient sealing plate arranged between the base layer and the support element, which sealing plate seals the guide sleeve in relation to the support element on the underside thereof. It has proved particularly advantageous for the guide sleeve to be provided with a lower stop collar bearing against the support element from below preferably with the sealing plate in between, which stop collar reliably prevents grouting component poured into the receiving opening from above flowing out of the receiving opening again at the bottom.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the locating pin device may be provided with a preferably resilient pressure element arranged between the base layer and the guide sleeve, which pressure element ensures independently of the degree of deflection of the support element supported by means of resilient supports that the guide sleeve is pressed against the support element from below. The pressure element may be formed by a resilient rubber spring plate, for example.
It is furthermore advantageous for a locating pin device to be provided for each support element, which device is set in the assigned support element from below preferably between two laterally arranged track fastening elements. The locating pin devices for the support elements are optimally provided centrally in each case between the laterally arranged rail fastening elements.
Further features and advantages of the invention emerge from the following description and the drawing, wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is described in greater detail and illustrated by means of an example. In the figures:
Fig. 1 shows a portion of a slab track according to the invention as a perspective view;
Fig. 2 shows the slab track according to Fig. 1 without rails as a perspective partial section of one of the support elements and as a vertical section through a locating pin device set therein;
Fig. 3 shows the subject matter of Fig. 2 as a detail III;
Fig. 4 shows a vertical section through the locating pin device in the assembled state; and
Fig. 5 shows the locating pin device used in the slab track according to the invention as a perspective, exploded view.
The slab track for rail-borne vehicles identified in its entirety as 10 in Fig. 1 may be used particularly for high-speed sections.
The track 10 has a base layer 12 arranged on a subgrade 11, which may be a hydraulically bonded support layer, for example, said base layer being created as a jointless fabricated asphalt surface in the preferred exemplary embodiment shown. In the present case it is an asphalt support layer (B70-100) with a cross section approx. 15 cm thick and 270 cm wide, which is applied to the subgrade 11 with a traditional asphalt road paver using the bottom-up construction principle and rolled where necessary to achieve increased strength. Comparatively limited requirements are made in terms of accuracy in this case, which allow tolerances in the surface elevation of the base layer 12 of +10/-20 mm and of the lateral edges of ± 5 cm and beyond, wherein the accuracy requirements are lower than with most road building projects and can therefore be met by most road building companies without any problem.
The method for erecting the track according to the invention is explained in detail below.
A plurality of support elements 15 designed in the manner of sleepers and aligned transversely to the longitudinal direction 14 of the track are arranged on the asphalt base layer 12, which can be subjected to a load just a few hours after its installation, said support elements being produced as prefabricated concrete parts. Each of the transverse support elements 15 is provided with two recesses 17 arranged in pairs to the left and right in the region below the rails 16, which recesses are used to receive rail fastening elements identified in their entirety as 20. The rail fastening elements are cast in the recesses 17 following alignment of the rails 16 to which the elements 20 are secured using a hardening grouting component and thereby locked in place on the support elements 15.
So that the transverse support elements 15 adopt and retain their correct, desired position during the fastening of the rail fastening elements 20 in the recesses 17 and also during operation of the track, locating pin devices 21 are provided according to the invention, which are arranged in the base layer 12 and set in guide holes 22 from below, which are provided centrally between the lateral recesses 17 in the support elements 15. As can be seen in Figs. 2 to 5, one locating pin device 21 is provided per transverse support element in the exemplary embodiment shown. The guide holes 22 initially pass through the transverse support elements 15 completely from their upper side to their lower side, wherein they have a noticeably larger diameter than the locating pin devices. The support elements can therefore be lowered from above onto those previously mounted in the base layer without any great difficulty and without this requiring any particular accuracy.
Each of the locating pin devices 21 has a lower, dowel-like bearing sleeve 23 which is inserted into a hole drilled into the base layer 12 beforehand for this purpose. A locating pin 24 is inserted into this bearing sleeve 33 from above, said locating pin projecting upwards from the base layer 12 by a few centimetres. The locating pin is received in the bearing sleeve 23 substantially free from play and thereby permanently retains its positionally accurate alignment in the base layer.
A resilient spring plate 25 is initially slid onto the locating pin 24 projecting upwards from the bearing sleeve 23, over which spring plate is placed a guide sleeve 26 displaceable thereon substantially freely but without any significant lateral play. The guide sleeve 26 is slightly longer than the part of the locating pin projecting from the base layer 12 at the top and has a conical end cap 27 tapering at the top. The guide sleeve 26 is provided with a radially projecting circumferential stop collar 28 at its lower end, which lies on the spring plate 25. The stop collar 28 has a diameter which is at least as large as, preferably larger than, the diameter or the cross section of the guide hole 22, in which the locating pin device is set from below. A sealing plate 29 is finally slipped onto the guide sleeve from above, which sealing plate lies on the stop collar 28. The arrangement is such that the stop collar 28 with the sealing plate 29 arranged thereon is pressed firmly against the underside of the support element by the spring plate 25, while the projecting part of the guide sleeve is set in the guide hole 22 formed in the support element with lateral play, said guide hole being closed downwardly by the stop collar 28 provided with the sealing plate 29.
Figs. 3 and 4 show most clearly that the cross section or diameter of the guide hole 22 is greater than the outer diameter of the guide sleeve 26 of the locating pin device 21, so that said locating pin device is enclosed with lateral play by the transverse support element 15 placed on it. In this way it is possible where necessary for the transverse support element 15 to be aligned laterally in the transverse and longitudinal direction of the track within the framework of the freedom from play available, after the laying on the base layer 12. Each of the transverse support elements 15 can thereby be accurately aligned where necessary in a position which it is to adopt on the base layer 12. As soon as this correct alignment has been achieved, the guide hole 22 in the respective transverse support element 15 is filled from above with an at least substantially rigidly hardening grouting component, which completely fills the clear space between the guide sleeve 26 and the wall of the guide hole completely and thereby fixes the locating pin device in its position relative to the transverse support element. Vertical movability of the transverse support element relative to the base layer lying thereunder is however retained in this case, as the guide sleeve 26 can be further displaced unimpeded along the locating pin 24. Due to the greater length of the guide sleeve 26 compared with the region of the locating pin 24 set in the guide hole 22, it is guaranteed that said guide pin cannot pierce the upper end of the guide sleeve 26 in the region of the end cap 27, even if the support plate is deflected and reaches its lowest possible position when a train passes over, for example.
The filling of the guide hole 22 with the hardening grouting component, which is identified as 30 in Fig. 4, therefore only fixes the transverse support element 15 in a plane parallel to the base layer 12 in a form-fitted manner, but does not prevent the transverse support element from being capable of being further lifted upwards from the base layer 12. This vertical movability is still retained in a desired manner during train operation, so that the transverse support elements, which can be supported in their lateral edge regions on the base layer with a resilient intermediate layer 31 inserted in between (Fig. 1 - 3), yield by a small (desirable) amount predetermined by the resilient intermediate layer when a train passes over.
When the guide hole 22 is filled with the grouting component 30 the stop collar provided on the underside of the guide sleeve with the second sealing plate 29 arranged thereabove reliably ensures that the grouting component cannot flow out of the guide hole 22 again at the bottom, even if it has not yet hardened. The upper, conically tapering end cap 27 prevents the grouting component from getting between the guide sleeve and the locating pin thereby accidentally sticking these two parts together.
The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment depicted and described. It is possible, for example, for the transverse support elements to be fixed not only using one, but a plurality of, preferably two, locating pin devices on the base layer. The casting of the locating pin devices in the guide holes may preferably take place simultaneously with the casting of the rail fastening elements 20 in the recesses 17, since all transverse support elements 15 were aligned on the base layer 12 and also the rails 16 supporting the rail fastening elements 20 were aligned above the transverse support elements in their correct position in each case.

Claims

1. Slab track (10) for rail-borne vehicles having

- a base layer (12) arranged on a subgrade (11) or formed from the subgrade (11);

- a plurality of support elements (15) mounted on the base layer (12), which support elements are provided or can be provided with rail fastening elements (20) for rails (16) on their upper side and are supported relative to the base layer (12) in a vertically movable, particularly resilient manner,

- locating pin devices (21) arranged in the base layer (12), each of which exhibits a locating pin (24) inserted in the base layer (12) in a positionally accurate manner and a substantially rigid guide sleeve (26) fitted onto this and displaceable along the longitudinal axis thereof but guided on the locating pin transversely to the longitudinal axis free from play, said guide sleeve being set in a guide hole (22) from below, which hole is provided in the support element (15) placed on the base layer (12) via the assigned locating pin device, wherein the guide hole (22) provided in the support element (15) has a larger cross section than the guide sleeve (26) set in it and the clear space remaining between the guide sleeve (26) and the guide hole (22) is filled with a hardening grouting component (30).

2. Slab track according to Claim 1, characterized in that the length of the guide sleeve (26) is greater than the length of the region of the locating pin (24) which is set from below in the guide hole (22) formed on the support element (15).

3. Slab track according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the guide sleeve (26) is closed on its upper side.

4. Slab track according to Claim 3, characterized in that the guide sleeve (26) is provided on its upper side with an end cap (27) tapering upwards, which is preferably integrally connected to the guide sleeve (26).

5. Slab track according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the locating pin device (21) has a bearing sleeve (23) arranged in the base layer (12), into which the locating pin (24) is inserted.

6. Slab track according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the locating pin device (21) is provided with a preferably resilient sealing plate (29) arranged between the base layer (12) and the support element (15), which sealing plate seals the guide sleeve (26) in relation to the support element (15) on the underside thereof.

7. Slab track according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the guide sleeve (26) is provided with a lower stop collar (28) bearing against the support element (15) from below preferably with the sealing plate (29) in between.

8. Slab track according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the locating pin device (21) is provided with a preferably resilient pressure element (25) arranged between the base layer (12) and the guide sleeve (26).

9. Slab track according to Claim 8, characterized in that the pressure element (25) is formed by a resilient rubber spring plate.

10. Slab track according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that for each support element (15) a locating pin device (21) is provided, which is set in the guide hole (22) provided on the assigned support element (15) from below preferably between two laterally arranged track fastening elements (20).

11. Locating pin device for a slab track according to one of Claims 1 to 10, having a locating pin (24) which can be inserted in a base layer (12) and a substantially rigid guide sleeve (26) fitted onto this and displaceable along the longitudinal axis thereof but guided on the locating pin transversely to the longitudinal axis free from play, said guide sleeve being insertable from below into a guide hole (22) provided on a support element (15) and fixable therein by means of a hardening grouting component (30).