US2429942A

US2429942A - Car rerailer

Info

Publication number: US2429942A
Application number: US491200A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles H Nordberg
Original assignee: Pettibone Mulliken Corp
Current assignee: Pettibone Traverse Lift LLC
Priority date: 1943-06-17
Filing date: 1943-06-17
Publication date: 1947-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 1964-10-28

Description

Oct. 28, 1947. H. NORDBERG CAR RERAILER Filed'June 17. 1945 r5 Sheets-Shet 1 MARI. 515 H- Run (3 I c.- H. NQRDBERG CAR RERAILER Filed June 1'1, 194:

5 Sheets-Sheet CHARLES H IVORDBERG,

Oct, 28, 1947. c. H, RDBE RG 2,429,942

CAR RERAILER Filed June 17, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. 28, 1947. c. H. NORDBERG 2,429,942

CAR RERAILER Filed June 17, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 l OVA/7455 l-l-IYO/FOBEFG,

Oct. 28, 1947.

c. H.- NORDBERG CAR RERAILER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 17, 1943 Patented Oct. 28, 1947 CAR RERAILER Charles H. Nordberg, Chicago Heights, Ill., as-

signor to- Pettibone Mulliken Corporation, a corporation of- Illinois Application June 17, 1943, Serial No. 491,200

This invention relates to car rerailers or replacers for use in guiding a derailed railroad car wheel back onto the rail,

While rerailers have been known and used for many years they havebeen subject to a number of disadvantages. Some of such devices, designed to be placed adjacent a rail have proved unsatisfactory because. they lacked suitable means to prevent the. rerailer from tipping and also to keep it from pulling away from the rail when. the car Wheel is moved on the device.

Others have been provided with means for clamping the rerailer to the rail. Such devices have often been ineffective,- complicated, and subject. to easy breakage or loss of parts. Moreover, all of. such devices lackthe simplicty which will enable the rerailer to be positioned quickly for operation.

It willbe-realizedthat because of the considerable financiallossresulting from tieing upamain railroad line even for. arel'atively. short period of time, there has, long. been. a real demand for a rerailer of simple construction which. can be quickly placed inoperation and. which will perform its appointed. task. rapidly and. effectively.

The present. invention. has. for its principal ob ject the provision of. such a-rerailer.

Another object. of. the invention resides in'the provision of a rerailer whichis not provided with parts subject to. breakage or loss or time-consuming adjustment. j

Still a further object. of the invention is th provision of a rerailer which,.while simple in construction and manufacture, is provided wit-hintegral means bearing on both sides of the base of the rail in such. a. manner as to; prevent tipping and pullingaway fromv the rail whenthe-car wheel is moved onto the device.

These and other objects of the. invention will become more apparent from the following description and claims when readin conjunction with the accompanying. drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the inside rerail'er element constituting a part ofithe invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of'the inside element shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3. is a top plan view of the outsidererailer element.

Figure 4 isaside elevation of the outside rerailer element shown in. Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a crosssection taken on the line 55 of Figure lot the inside element.

Figure 6 is. a cross section taken on the line 66 of Figure-30f the outside element.

6 Claims. (Cl. 104265) Figure 7 is a cross section taken on the line l'! of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a cross section taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 3.

Figure 9 is a section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 3.

Figure 10 is a section taken on the line Illlil of Figure 1.

Figure 11 is a section taken on the line llli of Figurel, and

Figure 12' is a section taken on the line l2l2 of Figure 3.

The rerailer is comprised of two principal memhere, the inside: rerailer element 2 shown in Figures *1, 2, 5, 7, 10 and 11, and an outside rerailerelement illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 12.

Referring now to the inside rerailer element 2, it will be noted that this element is comprised as a hollow shell generally rectangular in plan and provided with an upper tread car wheel engaging surface 6 which slopes upwardly from each end to a rounded'central portion 8.

The surface 6 is provided with a guide ridge or edge II), which, as seen in Figure 1, is bowed from end to end toward the longitudinal center of the surface 6. The surface 6 is also provided with two raised portions I2 and M which, however, do not extend to the center portion 8. The transverse cross section of the element 2 thus progressively varies considerably. Specific sections, taken through diiferent transverse planes, are illustrated in Figures 5, 7, 10 and 11.

The element 2 is provided with an integral laterally'extendingbridge [6 which is adapted (see Figure 5) to overlie the track rail I8 so that the side 20 of the element 2 will abut against the inner surface of the head of the rail 18 with the lower edge of the side 20 bearing on the upper surface of the base of the rail on one side of the rail web and with the lower edge of the side 22 of the bridge I6 bearing on the base of the rail on the other side of the web. The surface 6 at the center adjacent the bridge I6 is provided with a ridge l5 (see Figure 5) to prevent the flange of the car wheel from sliding over on the bridge.

The element 2 is also provided with a plurality of integral strengthening

webs

24, 26, 28, 30; 32-, .34 and 36. Still further, handles 38, 40, cast into the device, are provided to facilitate picking up the rerailer.

The side 42 of the inside element 2 is bowed inwardly, principally to save weight and the lower edge is provided with a horizontal flange 44; The

base of the element 2 may be provided with. a.

with Figures 5, '7, 10 and 11. The outside element 4 (see Figure 3) is provided on its upper car wheel engaging surface 48 with a bowed outer edge 50 which runs from end to end and also with a pair of raised portions 52, 54, extending inwardly from the ends of the element 4 towards the center thereof but terminating short of the center adjacent the bridge 56. At the point of termination or meeting of these raised portions, the upper surface is disposed above the plane of the upper surface of the bridge (see Figure 6) a sufiicient distance so that the flange of the car wheel will never ride on the bridge.

The bridge 56 is similar to bridge [6 of the inside rerailer element 2 and likewise the lower edge of the side 58 of element 4 and the lower edge of the side 60 of the bridge 56 (Figure 6) both bear on the uppersurface of the rail 62.

Similarly to the inside rerailer element 2, the outside rerailer element 4 is provided with interior strengthening

ribs

64, 66, 68, 10, 12, 14 and 16, lifting handles 18 and 80, and the base is provided with several downwardly projecting prongs 82.

Advantageously, both the inside and outside rerailer elements 2 and 4, respectively, may be of cast steel, heat treated to a Brinell hardness of 2'75 to 325. The top surfaces of the rerailer elements should, of course, be smooth surfaced. Holes may be left in casting such as at 84, 86, 88 in Figure 2 and 84', 86, 88' in Figure 4. The two smaller holes are used for hanging the rerailer on an engine and the larger hole is for insertion of a bar to help in carrying the rerailer.

In operation the inside rerailer element 2 (Figure 1) is placed between the two rails of the track with the side 20 adjacent one of the rails and the bridge [6 over that rail as shown in Figure 5. The outside rerailer element (Figure 3) is placed directly opposite on the outside of the other rail with the side 58 adjacent the far side of the rail with the bridge 55 spanning the rail in the manner shown in'Figure 6.

It will be understood, ofcourse, that the rerailer'elements 2 and 4 are placed in the path of the derailed car wheels so that as the car is moved longitudinally the car wheels will ride up on the upper tread surfaces of the rerailer elements. As they do so, the flange of car wheel on the inside rerailer element 2 will be guided between the ridge l0 and either of the raised portions I2 or l4, and because of the transverse contour of surface 6 (see Figures 11, 10, 7 and 5, in the order named), the car wheel will slide transversely toward the rail. When the ear wheel passes the center of the rerailer element 2, it moves onto the rail itself without bearing on the bridge.

As the corresponding derailed car wheel forthe other rail approaches the outside rerailer element 4 (Fig. 3) ,the tread surface of the wheel first engases the surface 52 or 54 of the rerailer element surface acting as a guide. The wheel, as it advances up the rerailer, continues to roll on the surface 52 to a point between the section lines 8-8 and 9-9 where the outer edge of the wheel engages the inclined surface 48. As is seen in considering Figs. 12, 9, 8, and 6, in the order named, the surface 48 is gradually increased in elevation toward the median line 6-6 of the rerailer element 4. It will also be seen that the surface 48 becomes greater in slope toward the rail between the indicated point of contact with the wheel and the median line 66 of the outside rerailer element. Hence, as the Wheel continues to roll toward the summit of the rerailer, the entire weight of the car is carried by that portion of the wheel tread which engages the surface 48. At the point the wheel reaches the median of the rerailer element the wheel is shifted laterally toward the right as seen in Fig. 6 until the tread surface becomes supported on the rerailer in vertical alignment with the rail. This lateral shifting is aided in a considerable degree by the operation of the inside rerailer which tends to assist the lateral movement of the wheel as the wheel approaches and reaches the summit of the rerailer.

It will be noted that at no time during operation of the device do the car wheels bear upon the bridges l2 or 56. The contours of the surfaces of the rerailer elements are especially designed to avoid this. At the same time the bridges themselves, since they span the rails, and since their lower edges bear directly on the bases of the rails (Figures 5 and 6), thus prevent the rerailer elements from tipping or from pulling away from the rails. This avoids the most serious of the drawbacks in rerailers heretofore known.

I claim:

1. A rerailer consisting of a pair of elements for location respectively adjacent the inner and outer sides of opposite rails, both of said elements being formed with a tread surface, inclined upwardly from the extremities to the center, the transverse contour of tread surfaces of said elements at the center inclining generally downwardly toward the plane of the rail, the vertical side of each element disposed adjacent the rail having its lower edge bearing on one of the upper surfaces of the base of the rail, and an integral bridge member extending laterally from the center of each element and over the rail head, the outer side of each bridge member having its lower edge bearing on the other upper surface of the base of the rail, the edge of the tread surface of said inner element farthest from the rail bowing laterally toward the rail, said tread surface on its other edge adjacent the rail having a pair of raised guide portions extending upwardly in a longitudinal direction towards but terminating short of the center portion of the element, a raised ridge on the tread surface of said element at the center thereof and adjacent the bridge thereof to prevent the flange of a car wheel from bearing on said bridge.

2. A rerailer consisting of a pair of elements for location respectively adjacent the inner and outer sides of opposite rails, both of said elements being formed with a tread surface inclined upwardly from the extremities to the center, the transverse contour of tread surfaces of said elements at the center inclining generally downwardly toward the plane of the rail, the vertical side of each element disposed adjacent the rail having its lower edge bearing on one of the upper surfaces of the base of the rail, and an integral bridge member extending laterally from the center of each element and over the rail head, the outer side of each bridge member having its lower edge bearing on the other upper surface of the base of the rail, the edge of the tread surface of said inner element farthest from the rail bowing laterally toward the rail, said tread surface on its other edge adjacent the rail having a pair of raised guide portions extending upwardly in a longitudinal direction towards but terminating short of the center portion of the element, a raised ridge on the tread surface of said element at the center thereof and adjacent the bridge thereof to prevent the flange of a car wheel from bearing on said bridge, the upper surface of said outer element having a pair of raised ridge portions extending upwardly in a longitudinal direction toward the center portion of said outer element, said last named pair of raised ridge portions converging toward the rail and terminating adjacent the bridge of said outer element in a plane disposed above the plane of the upper surface of the bridge a distance greater than the depth of the flange on a car wheel, whereby the car wheel will not bear directly on the bridge at any time.

3. An inside rerailer element for location adjacent the inner side of a rail, said element being formed with a tread surface inclined upwardly from the extremities to the center, the transverse contour of said tread surface at the center inclining downwardly toward the rail, the edge of the tread surface farthest from the rail bowing laterally towards the rail, said tread surface on its other edge adjacent the rail having raised guide portions extending upwardly in a longitudinal direction towards but terminating short of the center portion of the element, the side of the element adjacent the rail having its lower edge bearing on one of the upper surfaces of the base of the rail, an integral bridge member extending laterally from the center portion of the element and over the rail head, the outer side of said bridge having its lower edge bearing on the other upper surface of the base of the rail.

4. An inside rerailer element for location adjacent the inner side of a rail, said element being formed with a tread surface inclined upwardly from the extremities to the center, the transverse contour of said tread surface at the center inclining downwardly toward the rail, the edge of the tread surface farthest from the rail bowing laterally towards the rail, said tread surface on its other edge adjacent the rail having raised guide portions extending upwardly in a longitudinal direction towards but terminating short of the center portion of the element, the side of the element adjacent the rail having its lower edge bearing on one of the upper surfaces of the base of the rail, an integral bridge member extending laterally from the center portion of the element and over the rail head, the outer side of said bridge having its lower edge bearing on the other upper surface of the base of the rail, and a raised ridge on the tread surface of said element at the center thereof adjacent the bridge to prevent the flange of a car wheel from bearing on said bridge.

5. An outside rerailer element for location adjacent the outer side of a rail, said element being formed with a tread surface inclined upwardly from the extremities to the center, the transverse contour of said tread surface at the center inclining downwardly toward the rail, the upper surface of said element having a pair of raised portions extending upwardly in a longitudinal direction towards the center portion of said element, the side of the element adjacent the rail having its lower edge bearing on one of the upper surfaces of the base of the rail, a bridge member extending laterally from the center portion of the element and over the rail head, the outer side of said bridge having its lower edge bearing on the other upper surface of the base of the rail, said pair of raised portions converging toward the rail and terminating adjacent the bridge in a plane disposed above the plane of the upper surface of the bridge a distance greater than the depth of the flange on a car wheel, whereby the car wheel will not bear directly on the bridge at any time.

6. A rerailer as defined in claim 1, said elements being comprised of hollow steel cast members provided, with interior transversely disposed reinforcing webs.

CHARLES H. NORDBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 914,070 Pluard March 2, 1909 1,389,383 Rivard Aug. 30, 1921 1,246,062 Cuthbert Nov. 13, 1917 784,647 Wise Mar. 14, 1905 1,827,220 Bryant Oct. 13, 1903 724,277 Fowler Mar. 31, 1903 686,241 Alexander Nov. 12, 1901