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US 6,442,824 B1Granted
Compromise rail
AssigneeVAE Nortrak North America, Inc.
InventorsTom Stanley, Paul Valastin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compromise rail is formed of a single length of stock rail. One end of the rail is forged over a distance of 19-48 inches to reduce the height of the forged portion, which is then machined to match the running rail to which that end is to be attached. The invention avoids the expense and inconvenience of flash butt welding a forged section to a uniform profile rail as is done in prior art compromise rails.
Claims3
A method of manufacturing a compromise rail for providing a transition between two running rails having different profiles, from a single length of rail stock, comprising the steps of:
- providing a single length of rail stock having a first end and a second end, a substantially uniform original profile and a substantially uniform original base to head height along its length;
- forging a portion of said rail stock extending inward at least 19 inches from said first end so as to uniformly reduce the base to head height of said portion and to create a transition between said portion and the balance of said length of rail stock such that one end of said transition has said original base to head height and the other end of said transition has said reduced base to head height.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.