GB2228958A

GB2228958A - Rail clip locating device and concrete foundation therefor

Info

Publication number: GB2228958A
Application number: GB8905390A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Denis Norie Rooke
Original assignee: Pandrol Ltd
Current assignee: Pandrol Ltd
Priority date: 1989-03-09
Filing date: 1989-03-09
Publication date: 1990-09-12
Also published as: GB8905390D0; ES2027471A6

Abstract

A concrete foundation for a railway rail, the foundation having secured to it first and second clip-anchoring devices 4 and 5 each capable of receiving and anchoring one leg of a rail-fastening clip, and having incorporated in it between said devices a locating means 20 for locating a third clip-anchoring device, which is a hook-in anchoring device, in a first position when desired and in a second position when desired, the arrangement being such that the foot of a rail may be between the first clip-anchoring device and the third clip-anchoring device when the latter is in its first position and the rail may be held down by clips driven into these two clip-anchoring devices and, when it is desired to change the gauge of the railway track, the clips may be withdrawn, the third clip-anchoring device may be withdrawn from the locating means and installed in its second position, the rail may be moved to a new position laterally displaced from the first position, and the clips may be driven in the second and third anchoring devices to hold the rail down in its new position. A locating device 20 for a hook-in clip-anchoring device 45 may be incorporated in a concrete foundation 1 for a railway rail 50 by being inserted in a mould before wet cement mix is poured into it to form the foundation. From a flat and horizontal upper surface 40 of the device 20 extend two vertical passages 25 and 26 which lead to horizontal passages 27 and 28 into either of which a horizontal limb 47 of the device 45 can be inserted via the passage 25 or 26. Insertion and removal of the device 45 requires rotation of the device 45; it cannot be removed purely by upward movement. <IMAGE>

Description

CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS FOR RAILWAY RAILS According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a locating device as specified in claim 1.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a concrete foundation according to claim 6.

The concrete foundation according to the second aspect of the invention may include a locating device according to the first aspect of the invention; alternatively the locating means may consist of two separate locating devices, one formed with the first and third passages and the other with the second and fourth passages.

An example in accordance with the first and second aspects of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an end view, partly in section, of a rail secured in a first position on a concrete railway sleeper, Figure 2 shows a plan view of what is shown in Figure 1, and Figures 3 and 4 show views, corrsonding to those shown in Figures 1 and 2, of the same rail secured in a second position on the same sleeper.

The drawings show part of a concrete railway sleeper 1 having two upward projections 2 between which there is a flat surface 3 of the concrete. The upward projections 2 are formed by placing in a mould, in which the concrete sleeper is formed, first and second identical clip-anchoring devices 4 and 5. Each device 4 and 5 has been made by cutting and bending sheet steel and it comprises an arch 6 on one side of which is a horizontal ledge 7 which leads to an inclined leg 8 which in turn leads to two inclined legs 9, these Legs meeting the leg 8 at a junction 10. On the other side of the arch there is a nearly vertical leg 11, the lower end 12 of which is bent outwardly so as to become more nearly horizontal. A tongue 13 is bent outwardly from the leg 11 and its upper end 14 lies in contact with the floor of the mould.When the wet concrete mix is poured into the mould, and allowed to set around the leg 9, a small portion of the leg 8, most of the leg 11 and the tongue 13 and then the sleeper thus obtained is removed from the mould, the surface 14 of the tongue 13 lies flush with the upper surface 3 of the concrete. Means are provided to ensure that in each upward projection 2 in the concrete there is a recess 15.

Also secured in the concrete sleeper, by being placed in the mould before the wet concrete mix is poured into the mould, is a locating device 20 having a head part 21 which has, in the illustrated orientation, a flat and horizontal upper surface 22 which lies flush with the upper surface 3 of the concrete. Extending downwardly from the surface 22 are two spaced-apart passages 25 and 26 which are substantially vertical and of substantially rectangular cross-section. These passages 25 and 26 communicate with, respectively, passages 27 and 28 which extend towards one another. The rooves 18 of these passages are horizontal and their floors 29 slope dowwardly, proceeding away from the passages 25 and 26.

Where the passages 25 and 27 meet, and also where the passages 26 and 28 meet, there is an undercut 30. The inner ends of the passages 27 and 28 communicate with one another by way of a narrower passage 31.

At a higher level than the passages 27 and 28 a flange 35 projects outwardly from the remainder of the head part 21, the upper surface of the flange forming part of the flat horizontal upper surface 22 of the locating device. The flange 35 is substantially rectangular, as seen in plan view, and its width in two mutually perpendicular directions is greater than the width of the region of the head part 21 which has the passages 27, 28 and 31 formed in it.

The lower surface 36 of the head part 21 slopes downwardly to a tail part 37 of the locating device, which is ot substantially elliptical cross-section, as can be seen from Figures 2 and 4. At the bottom of the tail part 3/ there is a sideways-projecting portion 38 which is also substantially elliptical as seen in plan view. The elliptical shapes mentioned above increase the resistance to rotation of the locating device about a vertical axis and the provision of the sideways-projecting portion 38 provides resistance against upward forces when the locating device is in use.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, a pad 40 of electrically insulating material is laid on the upper surface 3 of the concrete and on the upper surface 22 of the locating device 21, the pad having recesses in its upper surface as indicated by the dotted line 41. A hook-in clip-anchoring device 45, having in its lower portion a substantially L-shaped part, with a limb 47 corresponding to the horizontal limb of the L and a limb 46 corresponding to the vertical limb of the L, has its limb 4 inserted in the mouth of the passage 25 and then, through rotation of the device 45, into the passage 27.

The device 45 cannot now become disengaged from the device 20 merely by upward movement of the device 45.

Two spaced-apart ears 39 on the pad lie on opposite sides of the clip-anchoring device 4 and two more such ears lie on opposite sides of a head part 48 of the clip-anchoring device 45, so that the pad is prevented by the devices 4 and 4b from moving in the direction which is shown vertical in Figure 2. Then a rail 50, having at its foot a flange 51, is positioned on the pad 40, between the devices 4 and 45, and two elongate electrical insulators 55, of substantially L-shaped cross-section, are placed with one limb 56 lying on the upper surface of the flange 51 ot the rail and another Limb 5/ lying between the edge of the rail flange and the leg 11 of the clip-anchoring device 4 or a nearly vertical locating face 49 on the head part 48 of the device 45, as the case may be.

FinaLly, two so-called "clips" 58 (as illustrated in U.K. Patent Specification No. 1510224) have their centre legs 60 driven, in one case, into a socket formed between the under-side of the arch 6 of the device 4 and the floor of the recess 15 in the concrete and, in the other case, into a circular passageway 61 through the head part 48 of the device 45. The upper limbs 62 of the e-shapes of the clips bear in one case on the ledge 7 of the device 4 and in the other case on a ledge 63 of the head part 48 of the device 45. The lower limbs 65 of the e-shapes of the clips, which have a flat lower surface 66, bear downwardly on the limbs of the insulators 55 which lie on the rail flange.

With the rail in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, the clip-anchoring device 5 is not utilised and the passages 26 and 28 serve no purpose. When, however, it is desired to change the gauge of the railway, the two e-clips are withdrawn from the clip-anchoring devices 4 and 45, the two insulators 55 are removed, the rail is moved from its illustrated position, the clip-anchoring device 45 is withdrawn from the locating device 20, the pad 40 is moved to the right so that its two ears lie on opposite sides of the leg 11 of the clip-anchoring device 5, the clip-anchoring device 45 has its limb 47 inserted into the passages 26 and 28, the rail is positioned with its flange 51 between the clip-anchoring devices 5 and 45, the insulators 55 are repositioned on the rail flange and the clips have their centre legs 60 driven into the clip-anchoring devices 45 and 5, thereby completing an assembly as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Although the same rail, pad, insulators, clip-anchoring device 45 and clips may be used in both positions of the rail, any one or more of these parts could be replaced by new ones when the gauge is changed.

The example illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 is concerned with the more usual form of concrete railway sleeper, i.e. a single reinforced concrete beam on which both rails rest. Instead, however, the concrete rail foundation could be one of two concrete blocks, one of which receives one rail and the other of which receives the other rail, secured together by a steel tie-bar, or a continuous slab of concrete extending along the raiLway track. Whilst the clip-anchoring devices 4 and 5 in the illustrated example are formed from sheet steel, they could instead be of cast construction. They could be secured to the concrete after the concrete has set.

The clip-anchoring device 45 could be made from sheet steel.

The illustrated locating device 20 may be made by casting. A modified version of it may be made from sheet steel.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A locating device which is suitable for incorporation in a concrete foundation for a railway rail, the device having, when in a particular orientation, a head part with a flat and horizontal upper surface from which extend downwardly first and second spaced-apart passages which communicate with, respectively, third and fourth passages which extend towards one another, there being, below the head part, a tail part in a lower portion of which there is a sideways-projecting portion for resisting upward forces when the device is incorporated in the concrete and said surface is uppermost, the device being such that a hook-in clip-anchoring device having a substantially L-shaped lower portion can have its part corresponding to the horizontal limb of the L passed through the first passage and into the third passage or through the second passage and into the fourth passage, the clip-anchoring device in either case being unable to become disengaged from the locating device merely by upward movement of the clip-anchoring device.

2. A locating device according to claim 1 in which, when it is in said orientation, the first and second passages are substantially vertical, the rooyes of the third and fourth passages are substantially horizontal and the floors of the third and fourth passages slope downwardly, proceeding away from the first and second passages, respectively.

3. A locating device according to claim 1 or 2 having, at a higher level than the third and fourth passages when the device is in said orientation, an outwardly-directed flange, the upper surface of which is said flat and horizontal surface mentioned in claim 1, the flange being wider in two mutually perpendicular directions than is the region of the head part in which the third and fourth passages are formed.

4. A locating device according to any preceding claim in which the tail part is of substantially elliptical cross-section and the sideways-projecting portion is substantially elliptical as seen in plan view.

5. A locating device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. A concrete foundation for a railway rail, the foundation having secured to it first and second clip-anchoring devices, each capable of receiving and anchoring one leg of a rail-fastening clip, and having incorporated in it between said devices a locating means for locating a third clip-anchoring device, which is a hook-in anchoring device, in a first position when desired and in a second position when desired, the arrangement being such that the foot of a rail may be between the first clip-anchoring device and the third clip-anchoring device when the latter is in its first position and the rail may be held down by clips driven into these two clip-anchoring devices and, when it is desired to change the gauge of the railway track, the clips may be withdrawn, the third clip-anchoring device may be withdrawn from the locating means and installed in its second position, the rail may be moved to a new position laterally displaced from the first position, and the clips may be driven in the second and third anchoring devices to hold the rail down in its new position.

7. A foundation according to claim 6 in which said locating means is a locating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. A concrete foundation for a railway rail substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.