GB916192A - Improvements relating to sections for constructing railway sleepers - Google Patents

Abstract

916,192. Railway sleepers. KRUGER, C. J., and SOUTH AFRICAN IRON & STEEL INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION Ltd. Jan. 4, 1961 [Jan. 4, 1960], No. 427/61. Class 104 (2). In a railway sleeper consisting of two concrete blocks 1, 2 interconnected by a rolled steel crosstie 6, the cross-tie 6 is of an inverted U-shaped cross-section and has enlarged area concentrations in or on either side of the apex and at or near the extremities of the U-shaped crosssection. An example of the cross-tie sectional shape is shown in Fig. 2 and consists of a dome top portion 7 reinforced on its underside by material concentrations 10 arranged to form a groove 11 to receive the T-head, to prevent rotation, of a rail-securing bolt 5. The webs 8 diverge downwardly and terminate in material concentrations in the form of beads 9 or outwardly turned flanges, Fig. 5 (not shown). In the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, the T-heads 15 of the bolts 5 are inserted in a slot, both in the concrete block 1 and the cross-tie 6, arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cross-tie 6 and are then turned through 90 degrees and lifted to engage the T head with the groove 11 in the cross-tie 6. In this arrangement the underside of the T head 15 is tapered and the securing bolt receiving holes in the concrete block 1 are tapered as at 17 to permit the bolts 5 to move from the vertical. The end of the cross-tie 6 may be bent outwardly at 8a to secure the crosstie 6 in the concrete block 1. In alternative arrangements the securing bolts may be welded to the cross-tie 6 or connected to nuts fixed or placed inside the cross-tie 6. In a further arrangement, Fig. 9 (not shown), the T head of the securing bolt 5 is inserted in a Z-shaped slot arranged along the longitudinal axis of the crosstie 6 and the bolt is turned through 90 degrees and lifted and then held in this position by its end faces engaging the walls in a wide slot 11 and by its side faces abutting the walls of suitably shaped apertures, Fig. 8 (not shown), provided in the concrete blocks. The above apertures serve to drain moisture from the blocks or alternatively, Figs. 1 and 7, draining apertures 30 may be provided. In a further embodiment in which the rails are held down by screws engaging wooden plugs embedded in the concrete blocks 1, 2 or by bolts passing through the blocks the ends of the cross-tie 6 embedded in the blocks 1 and 2 are bent to an S shape in the horizontal plane to avoid such wooden plugs or bolts, Fig. 11 (not shown).