NEEDLE DEVICE

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a groove rail tongue device in monoblock construction with tongue rail, wherein the tongue device is manufactured in monoblock construction and comprises at least one stock rail, one connecting rail and one tongue rail support, and wherein the tongue rail is mechanically connected to the connecting rail.

[0002] The term stock rail, connecting rail, or auxiliary rail characteristically encompasses an auxiliary rail, connecting rail, and stock rail section.

[0003] Tongue devices in monoblock construction have proven their worth in numerous applications. Examples of such devices can be found in DE 101 24 624 C2 or DE 40 11 523 A1. These devices can be manufactured from a single material or from an upper part made of high-strength steel and a lower part made of, for example, structural steel. The upper part comprises the tongue bed in which the tongue rail is adjustably mounted. The tongue bed includes the stock rail, the tongue rail support (also known as a sliding plate), and at least one auxiliary rail. Furthermore, the tongue device includes a section of a connecting or control rail to which the tongue rail is connected within the device. Mechanical connections have become standard, with the tongue rail and the connecting rail joining via a butt joint.On both sides of the joint, mechanical connecting elements, such as tabs, run together and are joined by screws passing through the rails. The butt joint has the disadvantage of an abrupt wheel transition, resulting in the edges of the joint becoming worn. This causes transition problems, which, among other things, impair ride comfort.

[0004] To avoid this disadvantage, it is known that the tongue rail and connecting rail merge into each other at an angled joint (EP 0 603 883 A1, DE 42 44 010 A1). However, this has the disadvantage that the tips of the tongue and connecting rail can break off, necessitating frequent inspections and, if necessary, maintenance or repair work on the track.

[0005] In monoblock tongue devices, the tongue and connecting rail can be mechanically connected to each other by means of a clamping device, a so-called tongue adapter (DE 101 14 683 A1).

[0006] Monoblock constructions are also known in which the block extends over the length of the tongue bed and at least over one side of it (see DE 10 2010 037 110 A1).

[0007] DE 44 10 200 C1 describes a branching device of a turnout with an S-shaped joint.

[0008] The present invention is based on the objective of further developing a tongue device of the type mentioned above in such a way as to ensure a high level of driving comfort when passing through the tongue device. It also aims to reduce wear on the wheel overrun area between the tongue and the connecting rail compared to the initial design.

[0009] To solve the problem, the invention essentially provides that the tongue rail and the connecting rail merge into each other via an S-shaped joint in horizontal section, and that the tongue rail is secured against longitudinal movement by a movement guard which extends section by section both in a sliding plate supporting the tongue rail and in the tongue rail itself, with the movement guard running adjacent to the S-shaped joint.

[0010] According to the invention, a tongue assembly manufactured in monoblock construction uses an S-shaped joint to connect the connecting rail and the tongue rail, facilitating and improving the connection between the rail sections. The shape of the joint improves ride comfort when passing over it. A low-wear wheel transition is provided, the stability of which is primarily due to its obtuse-angled S-shape and the absence of material peaks compared to angled joints. Simultaneously, the S-shaped joint ensures that a two-part wheel tread is available along the length of the section of the S-shaped joint running in the longitudinal direction of the rail groove, thus fundamentally preventing edge chipping or other damage.

[0011] Notwithstanding this, the advantages of monoblock groove rail tongue devices remain with regard to the possibility of selecting desired materials for tongue and connecting rails, whereby the possibility of easy replacement of the tongue rail is retained due to the mechanical connection, i.e., fixing by clamping in a so-called tongue adapter. The tongue rail is fixed in particular by wedge elements, as can be seen, for example, in DE 42 44 010 A1 or EP 0 603 883 A1.

[0012] In particular, it is provided that in the monoblock, in the end-face area of ​​the connecting rail, a contact surface following an S-shape is machined out, as if milled out, against which a geometrically correspondingly designed counter surface of the tongue rail rests to form the S-shaped joint.

[0013] Preferably, the longitudinal leg of the splice extending along the connecting rail is 5 to 15 times longer than the respective transverse leg of the splice extending from the longitudinal leg.

[0014] Furthermore, the invention is characterized in that the S-shaped joint consists of a longitudinal leg extending in the longitudinal direction of the connecting rail and transverse legs which have an arc-shaped profile.

[0015] To create a simple yet secure connection, the invention proposes that the tongue rail be positively connected to the connecting rail via at least one wedge element, such as a wedge clamping plate.

[0016] For this purpose, a T-slot can run longitudinally along the tongue assembly to accommodate one or more nuts or bolts, over which the wedge element can be tightened to force-fit the tongue rail to the connecting rail. Furthermore, the monoblock should, at least in the area encompassing the jaw rail, the connecting rail, the auxiliary rail, and the tongue rail support, be made of high-strength steel such as bainite, manganese steel, tempered rail steel (R350HT), or tempered fine-grained structural steel, e.g., Dilidur, Hardox, XAR in grades 400-500.

[0017] The tongue splint is secured against longitudinal movement by a movement guard that extends section by section into both the tongue support and the tongue splint.

[0018] Further advantages of the invention arise not only from the claims, but also from the following description of a preferred embodiment.

[0019] They show: Fig. 1 a side view of a tongue device with tongue rail, Fig. 2 a top view of the tongue device according to. Fig. 1 with tongue splint, Fig. 3 a section along line D - D in Fig. 2 , Fig. 4 a section along the line A - A in Fig. 2 , Fig. 5 a section along the line B - B in Fig. 2 , Fig. 6 a section along the line C - C in Fig. 2 , Fig. 7 a perspective view and Fig. 8 a further embodiment of the tongue device according to the invention in an expanded view.

[0020] The figures, in which essentially identical elements are marked with the same reference numerals, depict a tongue assembly 10 with a tongue rail 12. The tongue assembly 10 is manufactured as a monoblock, i.e., in one piece. However, "one piece" implies that the lower part of the tongue assembly 10 is made of a different material than the upper part, which is made of high-strength steel. Regardless, it is a monoblock construction because the areas subject to heavy wear are formed in one piece and are made of high-strength steel. Milling from a single block to produce the monoblock is possible.

[0021] The tongue device 10 comprises a stock rail 14, a secondary rail 16, a section of a connecting rail 18, and a sliding plate 23, which can also be described as a tongue rail support, on which the tongue rail 12 is adjustably arranged. Reference is made to known designs in this respect.

[0022] The tongue rail 12 is mechanically connected in its root area to the connecting rail 18 via an S-joint 20, as shown in the top view in Fig. 2 This is illustrated. For this purpose, an area has been milled out of the end of the monoblock, specifically of the connecting rail section 18, in order to provide an S-shaped contact surface 19 in the horizontal section, against which a geometrically adapted contact surface 21 of the tongue rail root rests ( Fig. 4 In the top view, this is illustrated by an S-shaped line 22. The butt surfaces run in the direction of the vertical axis of the monoblock.

[0023] In order for the tongue rail 12 to be positively connected to the connecting rail 18, the following must be done according to the sectional views in Figs. 5 and 6 Wedge clamping elements 24 are provided, which can be tightened towards the bottom of the tongue device 10 via screws 26, 28 to establish the desired clamping effect and thus the force-fit connection. To tighten the screws, their threads engage in nuts 30, 32, which run in T-shaped grooves located in the bottom area of ​​the tongue device 10. The corresponding groove is in the Figs. 5 and 6 marked with reference number 34.

[0024] To prevent longitudinal movement of the tongue rail 12, a movement guard 38 can be provided, which engages both in the sliding plate 20 and in the facing underside 40 of the tongue rail 12. For this purpose, corresponding recesses 42, 44 are provided in the sliding plate 20 and in the underside 40 of the tongue rail 12, respectively.

[0025] The wander guard 38 runs in the immediate vicinity of the thrust 20, i.e. in an area where the tongue rail 12 is not bent or is essentially not bent.

[0026] In the Fig. 8 The drawing shows, in an enlarged view, the grooved rail tongue device in block construction with the tongue rail 12 removed but rotated 90 degrees around its longitudinal axis. The S-shaped contact surface 19 for the S-joint, machined into the connecting rail section 18, is visible. The section running longitudinally along the connecting rail is 5 to 15 times longer than the respective transverse leg extending from the longitudinal legs, which is curved, as the drawing illustrates. The recess 42 in the sliding plate 23, into which the anti-movement device 38 is inserted, is also visible. This anti-movement device extends section by section into the sliding plate 23 and the tongue rail 12.

[0027] The S-joint is formed by the orientation of the contact surface 19 and the correspondingly adapted contact surface 21 in the tongue rail root. This S-joint consists of the longitudinal leg extending along the connecting rail 18 and transverse legs extending from its ends. Consequently, the contact surface 29 and, correspondingly, the contact surface 21 in the tongue rail root have a longitudinal section 25 extending along the connecting rail 18 and sections 27 and 29 extending from its ends, which are curved.

[0028] Due to the length of section 25, i.e., the longitudinal leg of the S-joint 20, a relatively long two-part wheel tread is provided, which increases driving comfort. Such two-part wheel treads are not possible with a slant joint.

Claims

1. A grooved rail switch device (10) with a switch rail (12), whereby the switch device is produced in monobloc construction and comprises at least one stock rail (14), one connecting rail (18), and one switch rail support (23), and whereby the switch rail (12) and the connecting rail (18) are connected to one another in a mechanical manner, characterized in that the switch rail (12) and the connecting rail (18) merge into one another via a joint (20) that is S-shaped along a horizontal section, and in that the switch rail is secured against movement in the longitudinal direction by a rail anchor (38), which extends sectionally both in a slide plate (23) supporting the switch rail and in the switch rail, whereby the rail anchor extends adjacent to the S-shaped joint.

2. The switch device of claim 1, characterized in that in the end-faced area of the connecting rail (18) in the monobloc, a contact surface (19) with an S-shape is machined, such as milled, which is in contact to a geometrically corresponding respective mating surface (21) of the switch rail (12), in order to form the S-shaped joint (20).

3. The switch device of at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the S-shaped joint (20) consists of one longitudinal limb extending along the longitudinal direction of the connecting rail (18), and transverse limbs that preferably extend curved.

4. The switch device of at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the longitudinal limb of the joint (20) extending in the longitudinal direction of the connecting rail (18) is 5 to 15 times longer than the respective transverse limb of the joint originating from said longitudinal limb.

5. The switch device of at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the switch rail (12) is connected in a friction-locked manner to the connecting rail (18) via a wedge element (24), such as a wedge clamping plate.

6. The switch device of at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the longitudinal direction of the switch device (10) extends a T-slot (34) for accepting one or several nuts (30, 32) of one or several bolts (26, 28), via which the wedge element can be tightened to connect the switch rail (12) with the connecting rail (18) in a mechanical friction-locked manner.

7. The switch device of at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the monobloc, at least in its area that comprises the stock rail (14), the connecting rail (18), and the switch rail support (23), consists of high-strength steel such as bainite, austenitic manganese steel, hardened and tempered rail steel, hardened and tempered fine-grained structural steel.