AU2006324346B2

AU2006324346B2 - Apparatus for attachment of a mount for sensors, switching means and the like to rails

Info

Publication number: AU2006324346B2
Application number: AU2006324346A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Josef Frauscher
Original assignee: Frauscher Sensortechnik GmbH
Current assignee: Frauscher Sensortechnik GmbH
Priority date: 2005-12-14
Filing date: 2006-11-23
Publication date: 2010-04-08
Anticipated expiration: 2026-11-23
Also published as: ATE452241T1; RU2398925C2; EP1960603B1; WO2007068009A1; DE502006005694D1; AT502475B1; ES2338591T3; AU2006324346A1; CN101331276B; AT502475A4; EP1960603A1; ZA200806103B; PL1960603T3; CN101331276A; RU2008128473A

Abstract

The device has a rail claw with claw jaws (3, 4) that are attachable on a rail base. One jaw is provided on a carrier side, and the other jaw is adjustable relative to another by an adjusting screw (2). A claw part (6) of the claw jaw (4) is connected with a carrier (16) or a retaining unit (5) independent of the adjusting screw for pre-adjusting the rail claw on different rail base widths. The claw jaw (4) and/or the claw part is secured in each preset position in a form fit manner by grooves or in cross section of sides of the claw part and the carrier or the retaining unit.

Description

An apparatus for fastening a support for sensors, switching means and the like to rails 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an apparatus for fastening a support for sensors, switching means and the like to rails, consisting of a rail claw with claw cheeks which can be placed from opposite sides on the rail base and of which the one is provided on the support side and the other is adjustable relative to the same by means of an adjusting screw that can be guided beneath the rail base, and devices for setting the distance of the support from the area of attack of the support-side claw cheek on the rail base. 2. Description of the Prior Art In most cases, sensors and the like are attached with height and lateral dis tances close to the rail head on the inside of the track, i.e. on the side of the head facing towards the other rail. Usually, only the outside claw cheek is pro vided in an adjustable way in practice. This will lead to problems in the case of different widths of the rail base in that said width also determines the horizontal distance of the respective sensor or the like from the rail head. It additionally needs to be taken into account that also the width of the rail head is subject to changes due to the production dimensions as well as due to wear and tear and regrinding of the rail. An apparatus of the kind mentioned above is known from US 2005 072 252 Al. The support-side rail claw is fastened with the help of a respectively long ad justing screw and the support comprises two vertical oblong holes which are 2 spaced from one another and through which the secured clamping screws which are engaged in the rail claw will engage. For setting the distance of the support from the area of attack of the associated claw cheek on the rail base, additionally fastened insert plates are provided with the help of the mentioned 5 screws. This construction is therefore complex and requires stocking a large number of insert plates of different thickness. It is known from US Pat. No. 3,941,838 Al to fasten the two claw cheeks with the help of two spaced adjusting screws by applied nuts. The adjusting screws 10 are guided out on the support side and engage in horizontal oblong holes of the support. The distance of the support from the area of attack of the support-side claw cheek is determined by a nut which can be screwed on before the application of the support on each of the two adjusting screws, with the final fastening occurring by a nut placed on the end of the adjusting screw 15 protruding through the associated slit of the support. Although a setting of the distance of the support from the area of engagement of the associated claw cheek is theoretically possible, the arrangement is not secure, difficult to handle and comes with the decisive disadvantage that in the case of strong loads through traffic on the rails there will be loosening and thus undesirable 20 change in the position of the support and the sensors provided on the same. It is known from DE 974 202 C to provide the support for the sensor or the like with grooves which extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail and which can have a triangular profile for example and to attach a respective 25 profiled counterpart on the claw cheek, so that the support is secured by mutually engaging groove profiled portions in any height and longitudinal setting when the adjusting screw is tightened. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like 30 which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

3 Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but 5 not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 10 According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for fastening a support for sensors, switching means and the like to rails, consisting of a rail claw with claw cheeks which can be placed from opposite sides on the rail base and of which the one is provided on the support side and the other is adjustable relative to the same by means of an adjusting 15 screw that can be guided beneath the rail base, and devices for setting the distance of the support from the area of attack of the support-side claw cheek on the rail base, characterized in that for pre-setting the rail claw to different widths of rail bases, at least the claw part of the support-side claw cheek is connected independent from the adjusting screw in an adjustable or fixed 20 manner with the support itself or a holding element sitting on the same and said support-side claw cheek or its claw part is secured in every pre-setting in an interlocking manner by mutually engaging grooves or profiled portions of sides of the claw cheek for example and the support or holding element, which profiled portions are sawtooth-like in their cross section. 25 The invention takes into account that loads can occur in simple clamping connections which can achieve several thousand g as a result of the high effective forces in driving operations by oscillations and jolts of the tracks, leading to undesirable positional changes in the connection. It is understood 30 that triangular or trapezoid profiled portions can be considered, with the division being chosen in such a way that settings in the millimeter range are possible if required. A relevant advantage of the arrangement in accordance with the invention is also that it is suitable for all rail base widths and, in the case of the same rail base widths in longer track sections, respective settings 3a to its width can be made already prior to mounting on the rail base, so that mounting on the rail is accelerated and thus the time required for this mounting work by blocking or securing the track can be reduced. 5 An arrangement is preferable from a constructional viewpoint in which the support-side claw cheek comprises two claw parts arranged on either side of a middle holding element, which parts are connected by a clamping screw guided through the holding element and can be adjusted according to the oblong holes opposite the clamping screw or the holding element. One 10 clamping screw is sufficient in this case and in the case of deformations of the rail base it is even possible to set the two claw parts differently and to thus achieve a precise mounting adjustment for the support. According to a further development, the adjusting screw is rigidly fastened in 15 the support or holding element depending on the constructional arrangement of -4 said parts. This comes with the advantage that no additional nuts need to be actuated on this side of the claw cheeks for their fastening and only the tighten ing of the nuts and the like is necessary in a respective pre-setting on the other side of the claw which is mostly easier accessible. Further details and advantages of the subject matter of the invention are shown in the following description of the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The subject matter of the invention is shown in the drawings by way of example, wherein: Fig. 1 shows an apparatus in accordance with the invention in its fastened po sition on the rail as seen from the front; Fig. 2 shows a pertinent side view of a rail shown in a sectional view; Fig. 3 shows a sectional view along line Ill-Ill of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 shows a top view of Fig. 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rail claw can be attached to rail 1, which claw comprises two claw cheeks 3, 4 which are mutually adjustable by means of an adjusting screw 2 and which grasp the rail base from two mutually opposite sides. The claw cheek 3 is ar ranged in an integral manner and the claw cheek 4 consists of three mutually connected shaped parts, namely a middle holding element 5 and two claw parts 6 which rest on the holding element 5 from opposite sides and are fas tened by setscrews 7 inserted into the holding element 5 and self-locking nuts 8 by interposing spring washers 9. Screws can also be used as an alternative to setscrews and self-locking nuts. The claw parts 6 comprise oblong holes 10 for leading through setscrews 7 and are provided on their side facing the holding element 5 with a profiled portion 11 which is sawtooth-like in its cross section, the counter-profiling 12 of which is provided on the holding element. When the -5 screws are loosened, the claw parts 6 opposite of the holding element 5 can be adjusted against the holding element 5 in steps corresponding to the division of the profiled portions 11, 12, so that an adjustment to the width of the rail base is ensured. It further needs to be mentioned that in the described embodiment the adjusting screw 2 is fastened in the holding element 5, e.g. by pressing or weld ing, so that its end will not protrude or need to be fastened by additional nuts or the like. The claw cheek 13 adjustable on the adjusting screw 2 can be pressed by a tension spring 13 and self-locking nut 14 for tightly clamping the rail base. For fastening a housing 15 receiving a sensor or switching means to the rail claw, a support plate 16 is used in which the ends of holding screws 17 are fixed by means of pressing or welding, with said holding screws connecting the housing 15 with the plate 16 by means of nuts 18 which are attached on the web side to the rail 1 and secured again. The fastening points of screws 17 to plate 16 are indicated with reference numeral 17a. The support plate 16 and the holding element 5 are provided on their mutually facing sides with profiled portions 19, 20 which are sawtooth-like in their cross section and the support plate 16 comprises oblong holes 21, through which holding screws 22 engage in threaded bores of the holding element 5 and tightly clamp the holding element 5 via nuts 23 and spring washers 24. Height adjustment is again enabled according to the dividing steps of the profiled por tions 19, 20. Nuts 23 are also self-locking nuts. In the embodiment, the support plate 16 comprises in the upper region a down wardly rounded section 25 which receives a cover 26 in a flush manner for a depression in the housing, which cover 26 is used for pressing in a plug (not shown) into a plug socket 27. For facilitating the application of the cover 26 in the case of a cable connected via a plug to socket 27, the cover 26 also com prises a cut-out 28 on the bottom side. The cover 26 is fastened to housing 15 with hexagon socket head screws 29 whose heads 30 are sunk in the cover 26.

-6 If the support plate 16 is not adjustable relative to holding element 5 or is joined with the same to form a common support, the adjusting screw 2 can also be anchored in the support plate part of said support so as to amend the above construction.

Claims

1. An apparatus for mounting sensors or switching means to rails, consisting of a rail claw with claw cheeks which can be placed from opposite 5 sides on the rail base and of which the one is provided on the support side and the other is adjustable relative to the same by means of an adjusting screw that can be guided beneath the rail base, and devices for setting the distance of the support from the area of attack of the support-side claw cheek on the rail base, characterized in that for pre-setting the rail claw to different 10 widths of rail bases, at least the claw part of the support-side claw cheek is connected independent from the adjusting screw in an adjustable or fixed manner with the support itself or a holding element sitting on the same and said support-side claw cheek or its claw part is secured in every pre-setting in an interlocking manner by mutually engaging grooves or profiled portions of 15 sides of the claw cheek and the support or holding element, which profiled portions are sawtooth-like in their cross section.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the support side claw cheek comprises two claw parts arranged on either side of a middle 20 holding element, which parts are connected by a clamping screw guided through the holding element and can be adjusted according to the oblong holes opposite of the clamping screw or the holding element.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the 25 adjusting screw is rigidly connected in the support or the holding element.

4. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.