Rail Crossover Profiling Device for Wheel-Matched Surface Contours
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for profiling railway rails and matching vehicle wheel profiles to rail crossovers are inefficient, leading to high impact forces and accelerated wear due to imperfectly matched profiles, resulting in reduced operating speeds and increased maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A rail profiling device with a frame, wheels, and a pivotable metal planing device that can adjust to match the wheel profile of a rail vehicle, allowing for precise shaping and verification of the crossover surface in a single set-up pass, using a calibration shoe and grinding head with four degrees of freedom, and adjustable support members to accommodate varying rail gauges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If standard pre-defined rail crossover profiles are used, then manufacturing and installation are simplified, but wheel-rail contact discontinuities occur causing high impact forces and accelerated wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transitioning from a uniform standard profile to a locally adapted profile that matches the specific wheel tread geometry. The crossover surface is modified in the wheel contact zones to provide continuous support, while other areas may retain standard characteristics. This localized customization eliminates impact forces at critical contact points without requiring complete redesign of the entire crossover structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the crossover profile from fixed standard dimensions to variable dimensions that correspond to the actual wheel tread profile. By adjusting the surface contour parameters to match the wheel geometry, the system achieves continuous wheel support and eliminates discontinuities that cause impact forces and accelerated wear.
2Device complexity
If manual grinding and visual inspection methods are used for field repair, then equipment complexity is reduced, but profiling precision and verification accuracy are insufficient leading to recurring impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual visual inspection with automated optical or laser scanning systems that precisely measure the crossover surface geometry. This substitution of mechanical/optical measurement systems for human visual inspection dramatically improves measurement accuracy and enables verification that the profiled surface truly matches the wheel tread profile, eliminating reliance on subjective visual assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses digital copying of the wheel tread profile to create the corresponding crossover surface profile. By scanning the actual wheel geometry and replicating it on the crossover surface, the system ensures precise matching without requiring manual measurement and calculation, thereby achieving high profiling precision while maintaining relatively simple repair equipment.
3Ease of operation
If hand grinding or portable grinding platforms are used, then equipment portability is maintained, but the ability to provide continuous level support across the entire crossover length is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the grinding operation into multiple coordinated passes or zones along the crossover length. The portable grinding platform is systematically moved through different sections, with each pass addressing a specific zone. This segmented approach maintains equipment portability while ensuring complete coverage and continuous level support across the entire crossover surface through methodical multi-stage processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies preliminary action by performing initial profiling passes that establish the overall gradient and support characteristics before final precision grinding. This multi-stage approach allows the portable equipment to first create the fundamental level support structure, then progressively refine the surface to achieve continuous wheel contact, thereby maintaining portability while ensuring reliable continuous support.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly reduces impact forces and wear by accurately matching the rail crossover profile to the vehicle wheel profile, extending the life of both track and vehicle components, and reducing maintenance costs by enabling efficient and precise profiling of existing crossovers.
Implementation Method 1
a grinding head, which may optionally be detachably connected to the planing device, such as a replaceable grinding head
Data Source
AI summary
A method of profiling a railway crossing may include determining an angle of taper of a rail vehicle wheel; applying a raised weld section to a wheel contact surface of the railway crossover; and planing the raised weld section to correspond to the angle of taper in a single set-up pass across the length of the railway crossover creating a wheel matched profile. The railway crossover may be a rail frog or a diamond crossing. The method may also include creating a three-dimensional surface contour model of the crossover by replicating a standard crossover profile; creating a wheel profile model that matches a wheel profile for a rail vehicle of the railway; defining wheel contact surface for the rail vehicle by transposing the wheel profile model over the standard crossing surface contour model; and modeling a raised weld section to be placed along the wheel contact surface.