Railway Rail Support with Segmented Wood Core and Plastic Envelope
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing railway rail supports face challenges such as the environmental and health hazards of creosote, the drawbacks of concrete and steel supports, and the limitations of plastic and composite materials, including high costs, noise generation, and dimensional variations, while also needing to address the putrescibility of wood.
Innovation Solution
A railway rail support featuring a central core of wood or wood-based materials with a protective plastic envelope that includes slots and pins for connection, a waterproof design to prevent rot propagation, and a structure that allows for easy recycling and reduced creep effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If creosote impregnation is used to protect wooden railway rail supports, then the lifespan is extended and biological attacks are compensated, but environmental and human health hazards are created
Solution Approach 1:
A plastic protective envelope is introduced as an intermediary barrier between the wooden core and the external environment. This envelope prevents direct contact between wood and biological agents (fungi, termites) while eliminating the need for harmful chemical impregnations like creosote, thus extending lifespan without creating environmental hazards.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful chemical treatment (creosote) is extracted and removed from the protection system. Instead of chemically treating the wood, the invention extracts the protective function and implements it through a physical barrier (plastic envelope), thereby eliminating the harmful substance while maintaining protection.
2Ease of manufacture
If concrete rail supports are used, then cost is reduced, but weight increases, handling becomes complex, fragility increases due to rigidity, and carbon footprint increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a composite structure combining wood (lightweight, machinable) with plastic (protective, noise-absorbing). This composite approach maintains the low cost and ease of handling of wood while adding the protective benefits of plastic, avoiding the weight and fragility issues of concrete.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If steel track supports are used, then lifespan is extended, but noise generation increases and electrical conductivity creates maintenance issues
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameters by using wood (low density, low conductivity) instead of steel (high density, high conductivity). The plastic envelope further modifies the acoustic parameters by absorbing vibrations and noise, thereby extending lifespan while eliminating noise and electrical conductivity problems.
4Ease of operation
If plastic or composite rail supports are used, then machinability and noise absorption are improved, but dimensional variations occur due to thermal expansion and creep compromises screw resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The wooden core is segmented into multiple blades joined by metal screws, with each blade independently protected by the plastic envelope. This segmentation allows the wood to naturally expand and contract without compromising the overall structure, as each segment can move independently within the flexible plastic protection.
5Device complexity
If a one-piece wooden central core is used, then manufacturing is simplified, but rot propagation increases when the plastic envelope is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The wooden central core is divided into multiple separate blades (at least two, preferably three or more) that are joined together using metal screws. This segmentation means that if the plastic envelope is damaged in one area, rot can only spread within that local region rather than throughout the entire core, significantly improving reliability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
Disclosed is a support (1) for railway track rails comprising a central core (2) of parallelepiped appearance, formed of at least two strips (3) of juxtaposed materials, of thickness (e), produced from solid wood or wood-based materials, and a protective casing (4) encasing the central core (2), the protective casing (4) being produced in one piece and being formed of a peripheral wall having at least two opposite upper (6) and lower (7) faces and two opposite lateral faces (8, 9), designed to be capable of matching at least the four longitudinal faces of the central core (2), as well as at least one internal partition (13) extending between the two opposite faces or two contiguous faces of the peripheral wall and defining, with the peripheral wall of the protective casing (4), at least two cells (14) each having a shape complementary to one strip (3) of the central core (2), the strips (3) comprising a plurality of slots formed through their thickness (e) and the slots of each strip being connected to the slots of the adjacent strips by pins made of plastic material filling the slots.