Composite railroad ties with optional integral conduit
OwnerGerald Hallissy, William G. Higbie +1inventors
InventorsGerald Hallissy, William G. Higbie, Edward R. Fyfe
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Abstract
Railroad ties may be refurbished or have their usable life extended by overwrapping with fibrous reinforcement containing a cured matrix associated with the fibers. The ties may be machined prior to overwrapping, and are preferably sawn along their length, and conduit inserted into channels machined therein prior to adhesively bonding the sawn portions together. The conduits may be used to provide signal and power cable passages with lessened likelihood of damage thereto.
Claims9
A composite railroad tie having at least four elongate major sides and two end portions, comprising
- a) an elongate core, and
- b) surrounding said core, an overwrap of fibrous reinforcement, fibers of said fibrous reinforcement associated with a cured continuous matrix, said overwrap extending over at least a portion of all the major sides of said tie,
- further comprising at least one conduit contained within said tie.
A composite railroad tie having at least four elongate major sides and two end portions, comprising
- a) an elongate core, and
- b) surrounding said core, an overwrap of fibrous reinforcement, fibers of said fibrous reinforcement associated with a continuous thermoplastic matrix or a continuous cured thermnoset matrix, said overwrap extending over at least a portion of all the major sides of said tie,
- wherein said core is a wood substance comprising all or a substantial portion of a used railroad tie, said wood substance comprising two longitudinal portions, at least one of said two longitudinal portions having at least one channel in a face thereof, said channel containing at least one conduit, said at least two longitudinal portions adhesively bonded together such that said conduit is maintained within said wood substance between said two longitudinal portions.
A process for refurbishing used railroad ties for reuse, said process comprising:
- a) obtaining a used railroad tie;
- b) overwrapping said used railroad tie with a thermoplastic or thermosetting curable matrix containing fibrous reinforcement around all four major sides of said used railroad tie;
- and consolidating the matrix to form a composite refurbished railroad tie,
- wherein prior to said step of overwrapping said used railroad tie is sawed along its length to provide at least two longitudinally extending portions, at least one conduit is positioned between said at least two longitudinally extending portions, and said at least two longitudinally extending portions are adhesively bonded to form a conduit-containing core.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.