Plate and method for laying railway level crossings
OwnerFritz Schmidtinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plate for laying as a road surface in the vicinity of a railway comprising resilient rubber material delimited by three or more edges, at least one of which is provided with teeth to lock the plate with an adjacent plate against relative movement at right angles to the bearing surface of the plate, the plate being deformable to allow installation of a plate into position alongside already installed plates. The plate may have side edges adapted to fit closely to the rails, with or without a groove for rail wheel flanges. The shapes of the plates are chosen to fit the area between the permanent road, the rails and the side edges of the level crossing.
Claims25
A plate for laying as a road surface between the rails of a railway track crossing, the plate comprising resilient rubber material delimited by at least three side and end edges, the length and relative orientation of said side and end edges defining a section of said road surface;
- said edges including at least one side edge shaped for interlocking relation with a complementary shaped side edge of an adjacent plate, and end edges shaped for interlocking relation with a respective inwardly facing side of one of said rails;
- said plate being resiliently deformable for insertion into said section of road surface and being self-returning to a non-deformed condition in which said interlocking relation of said edges is obtained so that said plate is held in a desired position with respect to the rails, the interlocking of the at least one side edge with the side edge of an adjacent plate and the interlocking of the end edges with the rails being the only means to restrict vertical movement of said plate, outer side edges of plates forming outer edges of the road surface being contacted by blocking means for restricting movement of the road surface in the longitudinal direction of the rails.
An assembly of components for laying as a road surface at a railway track crossing of a road, said assembly including first plates and second plates comprising resilient rubber material and defining sections of said road surface;
- each of said first plates having an end edge shaped to engage with an outwardly facing surface of a rail and two side edges extending perpendicular to said end edge and shaped to define complementary interlocking surfaces so that the surface of one side edge is interlockable with the surface of a side edge of an adjacent first plate to prevent relative movement therebetween;
- and
- each of said second plates comprising an inner plate insertable between inner facing surfaces of two parallel rails, the inner plates having a length greater than the narrowest distance between heads of the rails and being resiliently deformable to fit underneath the heads and between the rails, each of said inner plates having end edges shaped to fit under uppermost portions of inwardly facing surfaces of the parallel rails, and side edges interconnecting and extending perpendicular to said end edges, said side edges being shaped to define complementary interlocking surfaces that protrude into and automatically interlock with a complementary interlocking surface of the side edge of an adjacent inner plate, the interlocking of the side edges being such that the inner plates, when assembled, are held against vertical movement only by the adjacent inner plates and portions of the rails, outer side edges of outermost inner plates, when assembled, being contacted by blocking means rigidly fixed in position with respect to the rails for limiting movement of the assembled inner plates in the longitudinal direction of the rails.
A method employing plates for producing a road surface between rails of a railway track crossing in which the rails are fixed on sleepers directed transversely of the rails and embedded in ballast, the plates used in the method having end edges shaped to interlock with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails and at least one side edge shaped to interlock with a side edge of an adjacent plate, the method comprising the steps of:
- temporarily deforming a first of said plates and inserting it between the rails to form a section of road surface;
- temporarily deforming a second of said plates, inserting the deformed second plate between the rails, and moving the second plate so that a first side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a side edge of the first plate to form a second section of road surface;
- temporarily deforming a third of said plates, inserting the deformed third plate between the rails, and moving the third plate so that a side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a second edge of the second plate to form a third section of road surface, the second plate being held in position solely by the interlocking engagement of side edges of said second plate with side edges of the first and third plates and the interlocking of end edges of the second plate with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails;
- sequentially temporarily deforming a plurality of said plates, inserting the deformed plates between the rails, and moving the most recently inserted plate so that a side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a side edge of a previously inserted plate to form the remaining sections of the road surface;
- allowing the temporarily deformed plates to return to a substantially non-deformed condition in which plates positioned between outermost plates are held against vertical movement solely by interlocking engagement of their side edges with side edges of adjacent plates and the interlocking of end edges of the plates with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails;
- and
- positioning blocking members adjacent outermost side edges of outermost plates to thereby restrict movement of the interlocked plates along the longitudinal direction of the rails.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.