Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1076081
Improvements in and relating to rail clip assemblies
The prèsent invention relates to the improvements in rail
clips for securing a rail, such as a crane rail, to a
continuous support having a planar surface such as a flanged
girder.
In accordance with one aspect of this invention there is
provided a rail clip for securing a rail to a support, the
clip comprising: a first part to be fixed relative to the
rail support adjacent the rail; a second part adapted to
! overlie said first part and defining a lateral face for- 10 abutment with a lateral face of the rail; said first and
- second parts defining co-operating laterally facing surfaces
.which in use abut in all relative positions of said parts
for transmitting to said first part laterally directed
forces applied to said second part by the rail, said co-
operating surfaces extending in a direction inclined at an
acute angle to the longitudinal direction of the rail; fixing
means for fixing said second part to said first part
independently of fixing of said first part to the rail support,
said fixing means including a m~mber having a shank and an
enlarged head for engagement in said first part; said parts
- having apertures therein through which said shank of said
fixing means can extend, one of said apertures being
elongated in the direction parallel with the direction of
extent of said co-operating laterally facing surfaces to
enable said parts to assume different relative positions
while said co-operating laterally facing surfaces remain in
. - abutment; said aperture in said first part extending at its
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lower end into a recess dimensioned to receive said enlarged
head of said fixing means, and said aperture in said first
part communicating through a slot with an opening in said
first part whereby said head of said fixing means can be
engaged with said first part with said shank extending through
said aperture therein when said first part is fixed to the
: rail support, said slot extending in a direction inclined to
said co-operatiny laterally facing surface of said first
part such that when said first and second parts are assembled
with said co-operating laterally facing surfaces in abutment
said fixing means is prevented by said second part from moving
through said slot.
The present invention and further aspects thereof will be
more fully understood from the claims and from the following
description of embodiments of the invention, which embodiments
are described, by way of example only, with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of parts of a rail
clip according to the present invention;
. .
. 20 Figure 2 is an elevation in the direction of arrow II in
Figure 1, showing the assembled rail clip;
Figure 3 is a section on the line III-III of Figure 1 and
showing the assembled clip in position relative to a rail;
Figure 4 is a plan view of parts of a modification of the
emb-odiment of Figure l;
Figure 5 is a plan view of parts of another embodiment of a
rail clip according to the invention;
.
: Figure 6 is an elevation in the direction of the arrow VI in
` Figure 5 showing the assembled clip;
. 30 Figure 7 (second sheet o~ drawings) is a section on the line
~ VII-VII of Figure 5 and showing the assembled clip in
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position relative to a rail;
Figure 8 is a plan view of a further embodiment of a rail
clip according to the invention;
Figure 9 is a section on the line IX-IX of Figure 8;
Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of parts of the
rail clip of Figure 8; and
Figure 11 is a plan view from underneath of a part of the
assembly of Figure 8.
.
The rail clip shown in Figures 1 to 3 comprises a generally
rectangular first part 1 which has a planar lower surface
for bearing on the rail support, the part 1 being adapted to
be welded to the rail support in an approximate position
- relative to the rail by one or more welds extending around
i~s periphery. A-generarIy rec~angular second part 2 over-
lies the first part 1 and has a lateral face 3 for abutmentwith the lateral face 4 of the rail flange. In this embodi-
- ment the part 2 is formed with an extension 5 which overlies
the rail flange and may carry a resilient member 6 which
bears on the rail, if it is desired that the clip assembly
should positively locate the rail against upward movement.
-` If the clip is merely required to prevent undue upward
movement, the member 6 is omitted.
The parts 1, 2 are fixed together by a bolt 7 of which the
- head 7a is located in a recess 8d in the under side of the
part 1 and of which the shank projects through apertures 8b,
9 in the parts 1, 2 respectively. At its lower end, aperture
8b extends into the recess 8d dimensioned to receive the
head 7a of the bolt 7. A nut 10 with a washer 11 is engaged
on the upper threaded end of the bolt. The aperture 8b in
- 30 part 1 is at the end of a slot 8c which communicates with an
opening 8a through the ed~e of this part to enable the bolt
to be placed in position after part 1 has been welded to the
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~076081
rail support. The aperture 9 in part 2 is elongate in a
direction inclined to the direction of extent of the rail to
enable part 2 to be moved relative to part 1 to abut face 3
with face 4 and to thereby accommodate variatians in the
positioning of part 1 relative to the rail and to permit
repositioning of the rail.
Contacting abutment surfaces of the parts 1 and 2 include
opposed laterally facing surfaces 12, 13 which extend parallel
to the direction of extent of the aperture 9, are arranged
to be abutted in all relative positions of the parts, and are
arranged so that laterally directed forces exerted by the
rail on the part 2 are communicated via the abutted faces
12, 13 to part 1 and thereby to the rail support. It will
be appreciated that the fixing means, e.g. the bolt 7 and
^ 15 nut 10, play no part in directly resisting lateral forces on
the clip assembly.
~- Wh~le on~-~air af abutted surfaccs is provided in the embodi-
ment illustrated in Figuresl to 3, it will be appreciated
that two or more such pairs of surfaces may be provided.
The body 2 is wedge shaped, increasing in thickness in the
direction of elongation of the aperture 9 towards the rail,
so that, should relative movement occur between the parts 1
and 2, caused by lateral movement of the rail, this movement
will cause an increase in the tension in the bolt 7 and
~ 25 therefore increase frictional forces between the two parts
-~ 1 and 2, to resist further lateral movement. The part 1 is
- oppositely wedge shaped to maintain the upper and lower
~; surfaces of the parts parallel inter alia to avoid bending
the bolt.
~-.
The above described clip is intended to be capable of resist-
ing laterally directed forces of up to about 30 tons. The
parts 1 and 2 may be made of forged or cast steel ànd the
member 6, if provided, may be made of rubber or an elasto-
meric material.
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1076081
In a modification shown in Figure 4, the part 1 is desiyned
to be secured to the rail support by friction grip bolts. To
this end the part 1 is made longer and provided with four
apertures 14 in its four corners for receiving the bolts.
This clip is otherwise the same as that shown in Figures 1
to 3.
In another embodiment shown in Figures 5 to 7, the clip is
similar to that shown in Figures 1 to 3 and the same reference
numerals have been used for like parts. However, in this
embodiment the extension 5 of part 2 of the embodiment of
Figures 1 to 3 has been omitted and the function of holding
down the rail is performed by a third part 15 which may be
made of spring steel. Part 15 is held relative to the parts
1 and 2 by the bolt 7. To allow the part 15 to have a
variable position relative to the first part 1, part 15 is
provided with an aperture 16 for receiving the bolt 7, and
aperture 16 is elongate in a direction perpendicular to the
rail e~tent. rt will be appreciated that this embodiment
can also be modified as shown in Figure 4.
Each of the above described embodiments may be modified to
include two or more fixing bolts, the first part 1 being
provided with two or more apertures 8b and the second part
2 being provided with corresponding parallel elongate
apertures 9.
Figures 8 to 11 illustrate a further embodiment which
- includes two fixing bolts 7. This embodiment is similar to
- that shown in Figures 1 and 2, the same reference numerals
having been used for like parts. As in the first embodiment,
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-part 1 is intended to be welded round its periphery to the
rail support. It could, however, be modified as shown in
Figure 4 for bolting to the rail support. The second part 2
has a lateral edge face 3 for abutment with a lateral face
of the rail and an extension 5 overlying the rail flange.
The extension 5 may, as shown in Figure 11, be provided with
a resilient member 6. The two parts 1, 2 have pairs of holes
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i076081
8 and apertures 9 respectively, apertures 9 being elongate in
parallel directions, for recei~ing bolts 7 with nuts 10.
Each hole 8 includes an aperture 8b and an opening 8a which
communicate with each other through a slot 8c extending
laterally from aperture 8b to opening 8a. In this embodiment
the parts 1, 2 are intended to be fixed together by bolts 7
for example, as shown, hammer head bolts, which are introduced
into the holes 8 from above through the portions identified
as openings 8a, and engaged with the first part 1. The aper-
tures 8b are of reduced section for engaging the bolt shankand each aperture 8b extends at its lower end into a recess
8d in the under surface for receiving the bolt head. The
openings 8a thus make it possible, after the part 1 has been
fixed to the rail support, to insert the bolt heads and
slide them into the recesses 8d to engage the first part 1
with the shanks in the apertures 8b.
.
In this embodiment the opposed abutted laterally facing
surfaces IZ, r3 are provided mainly by a lateral surface 12
of the first part 1 and on a downwardly extending projection
; 20 17 on the second part 2, the lateral face 3 also being provided
on this projection 17. As shown the projection has a gener-
ally triangular horizontal section and the lateral surface lZ
and a surface 18 of the first part provide a corresponding
recess with a V profile to receive the triangular projection
17. Surface 18 of the V profile and surface 19 of the pro- ;
- jection come into abutment in one limiting position of the
assembly. The two apertures 8 in the first part 1 are to each
side of the V shaped recess.
-; As in the preceding embodiments, the parts 1, 2 of the embodi-
;: 30 ment of Figures 8 to 11 are complementarily wedge shaped so
as to increase the tension in the bolts 7 on movement of the
- rail against the clip. The laterally facing edge surfaces `
12, 13 extend at an acute angle to the direction of the rail,
and the apertures 9 are elongated in a direction parallel
with the direction of extent of the co-operating surfaces
12, 13. The bolt heads engage the first part in the recesses
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8d which are dimensioned to receive the heads. Because the
slots 8c in part 1 extend in a direction inclined to the
: cooperating surfaces 12, 13, the bolts are prevented from
moving out of the apertures 8b, through the slots 8c, once
the parts have been assembled.
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