AU2006329112A1 - Method and device for stacking Y profile sleepers - Google Patents

Description

IN THE MATTER OF an Australian Patent Application in the name of Thyssenkrupp GFT Gleistechnik GmbH corresponding to PCT Application PCT/DE2006/001875 I, Gunhild Henley (insert name), of 7/40 Batman Street, West Melbourne, Victoria 3003, Australia (insert address), do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am conversant with the English and German languages and am a competent translator thereof, and that the following is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, a true and correct English translation of the PCT Application filed under No. PCT/DE2006/001875 Date: 1 8 th March 2008 Print Name: GUNHILD HENLEY P:\WPDOCS\KMH\TRANSLATIONS\2008\20359363 - TRANSLATION CERTIFICATEDOC - 18/3/08 WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 1 TRANSLATION A method and a device for stacking Y-profile steel sleepers 5 The invention relates to a method for stacking steel sleepers which, in the finished state, produce a Y profile. The design configuration of Y-profile steel sleepers is presented and described for instance in document DE-C 197 00 780. A Y-shaped steel sleeper according to this 10 publication consists of several double T-shaped steel profiles mutually connected via bars. By means of appropriate rail fasteners, the rails are connected with the steel sleepers so that a fixed track grid is formed. The steel sleeper rests with its foot flange on the track bed. Depending on the structure of the track road carrying the rail, this track bed can be made of concrete, asphalt or ballast. 15 Document DE-Gbm 201 05 038 describes a device for laying Y-profile railway sleepers on a track bed. The sleepers are designed to be laid onto the track bed alternately turned horizontally by 180 degrees relative to one another. 20 DE-A 37 22 627 describes an arrangement for securing the position of steel sleepers, which have a flat base with fixedly hinged cross-bars at each sleeper end. The cross bars are embodied as angled profiles, wherein a first flange is fixedly connected with the base and a second flange extends parallel to the rail and projects perpendicularly away from the base. 25 Finally, DE-Gbm 20 2005 010 651 describes a device for the transportation of Y-profile sleepers by means of a hoisting equipment, which is equipped with a load handling device rotatable by 1800 for handling the Y-profile sleepers. The subject of this document is the design configuration of the load handling device. 30 It is the object of the present invention, to make available a method and a device by WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 2 means of which Y-profile steel sleepers can be positioned relative to one another in a space-saving manner for the purpose of storage, transportation and laying, namely by dispensing with external auxiliary means such as separators, spacing elements or the like. 5 This object is achieved by a method for stacking steel sleepers, which in the finished state produce a Y profile, formed from individual steel profiles that are formed by supplementary girders and from individual curved steel girders, in that each supplementary girder is indirectly or directly connected to an end region of a steel girder and the steel girders are connected in the region of their free ends to one another by at 10 least one bearing body - forming a future rail support point - at a predeterminable distance from one another, and at least a few of the bearing bodies are formed outside their region of connection to the Y profile with a guiding profile ofa predeterminable contour, on which Y profiles that are of equal shape and provided with bearing bodies are placed in a centred form and in a stacking manner. 15 Advantageous further developments of the method according to the invention are described in the dependent claims relating to the method. The object is further achieved by a device for stacking steel sleepers, which in the 20 finished state produce a Y profile, comprising bearing bodies for connecting curved steel profiles combining with supplementary girders, the bearing bodies having a profiled underside for the spaced guidance of the supplementary girders visa vis the associated end regions of the steel profiles as well as the free end regions of the steel profiles, where the connection is produced in particular by welding and where, outside of the now 25 finished Y profile, a guiding profile is integrally formed at the bearing body for bearing equally shaped Y profiles. Advantageous further developments of the device according to the invention are described in the associated respective dependent Claims. 30 WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 3 In as far as welded connections cannot be realised for practical reasons, resort can be taken to any other type of connection between the bearing elements and the steel profiles/supplementary girders. In as far as a direct connection between the bearing bodies and the steel profiles/supplementary girders is not desired, it is proposed to make a 5 screw connection of auxiliary means with the steel profiles/supplementary girders, in which arrangement the auxiliary means then accommodate the bearing bodies (rail support points). By virtue of the subject of the invention it is now possible to loosely stack Y profile steel 10 sleepers without the aid of external auxiliary means, such as for instance spacing elements in the form of wooden blocks. The guidance of the individual Y steel sleepers, which are placed one on top of the other in the same direction, is achieved exclusively in the region of the guiding profile of the respective bearing bodies. The Y profile steel sleepers, which are intended to be stacked on top of one another, can thus, in an easy 15 manner, be individually handled by devices, such as described in DE-gbm 20 2005 010 65 1, and built into ballast tracks or laid onto ballastless tracks. It is a particular advantage that the bearing bodies can simultaneously serve as rail support points, so that here it is merely required for corresponding connecting elements 20 between the bearing bodies and the respective rail to be provided. In this arrangement, only a certain number of bearing bodies needs to be provided with guiding profiles, namely only those bearing bodies which are necessary for the secure and stable positioning when stacking the Y-profiles. The remaining bearing bodies can be 25 formed without guiding profiles; they do however also embody rail support points. The subject of the invention is illustrated by reference to an embodiment example shown in the drawing and is described below. Shown are in 30 Figure 1 a top view of an individual Y profile steel sleeper.

WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 4 Figure 2 Y profile steel sleepers as per Figure 1 placed one on top of the other in different views/partial views; Figure 3 bearing body as per Figure 2 in different views. 5 Figure I shows a finished Y profile steel sleeper 1, composed of two curved steel girders 2,3 as well as two supplementary girders 4,5 embodied by steel profiles. The supplementary girders 4,5 are positioned in the end regions 6,7 of the open profile region 10 8 of the Y profile steel sleeper I. The free end regions 9,10 of the steel girders 2,3 are designed to extend in mutual parallel relationship at a predeterminable distance. The curved steel girders 2,3 on the one hand, and the end regions 6,7 together with the supplementary girders 4,5 on the other hand, are fixedly connected with each other, for instance by welding, via bearing bodies I 1I of substantially equal construction. For the 15 sake of clarity, no rails are included in the figure. Figure 2 shows different views/partial views and details of Y-profile steel sleepers I stacked on top of one another. The upper part of Figure 2 allows a view into the open region 8 as per Figure 1. The Y-profile steel sleepers 1 are thus positioned on top of one 20 another in equal alignment. An arrangement for stacking a plurality of Y-profile steel sleepers comprises a number of bearing bodies I1. As described regarding Figure 1, the bearing bodies 11 are fixedly connected by way of welding with the associated Y steel sleeper I in their base region 12, whereby a defined distance is set between the end regions 9, 10 of the curved steel girders 2, 3, on the one hand, and between the end 25 regions 6, 7 with the supplementary girders 4, 5, on the other hand. External to the respective Y steel sleeper 1, the bearing bodies 11 are provided with a guiding profile 13, which serves the loose placement and bearing of spaced apart limbs 14 of adjacent supplementary girders 4,5 and end regions 6, 7, 9, 10 of the Y profile steel sleepers I respectively. 30 WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 5 Figure 3 shows an individual bearing body 11 in different views. The bearing body I I simultaneously embodies - as already shown in the other figures - a rail support point. The also profiled base region 12 of each bearing body 11 as is shown in particular in Figure 2, lower illustration, is fixedly connected by way of welding with the respective 5 limbs 14 (Figure 2) of the Y steel sleeper 1 (not shown here ). For loose placement of further Y profile steel sleepers (also not shown), the guiding profile 13 is provided which has corresponding end stop regions 13', 13" for seating the limbs 14 of the respective Y profile steel sleeper.

WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 6 Reference Numbers 5 1 steel sleeper 2 individual curved steel girders 10 3 individual curved steel girders 4 supplementary girder 5 supplementary girder 15 6 end region 7 end region 20 8 open region 9 end region 10 end region 25 11 bearing body 12 base region 30 13 guiding profile 13' end stop region 13" end stop region 35 14 limb

Claims (5)

1. A method for stacking steel sleepers (1), which in the finished state produce a Y profile, formed from individual steel profiles that are formed by supplementary 5 girders (4, 5) and from individual curved steel girders (2,3), in that each supplementary girder (4,5) is indirectly or directly connected to an end region (6,7) of a steel girder (2, 3) and the steel girders (2, 3) are connected in the region of their free ends (9, 10) to one another by at least one bearing body (11), forming a future rail support point, at a predeterminable distance from one another, and at 10 least a few of the bearing bodies are formed outside their region of connection (12) to the Y profile (1) with a guiding profile (13) ofa predeterminable contour, on which Y profiles (1) that are of equal shape and provided with bearing bodies (11) are placed in a centred form and in a stacking manner. 15

2. The method as per Claim 1, characterised in that at least 8 to 15 equally formed Y profiles (1) are loosely stacked one on top of the other in such a manner that spaced apart, free lower limbs of the steel girders (2, 3) and of the supplementary girders (4, 5) respectively, are placed upon end stop regions (13', 13") of the respective guiding profile (132 - sic). 20

3. The method as per Claim I or 2, characterised in that each respective bearing body (11), outside of its guiding profile (13) is connected, in particular by welding, with the associated end regions (6, 7, 9, 10) of each steel girder (2, 3) and supplementary girder (4, 5) respectively. 25

4. A device for stacking steel sleepers, which in the finished state produce a Y profile, comprising bearing bodies for connecting curved steel profiles (2, 3) combining with supplementary girders (4, 5), the bearing bodies (11) having a profiled base region (12) for the spaced apart guidance of the supplementary 30 girders (4, 5) visa vis the associated end regions (6, 7) of the steel profiles (2, 3) as well as the free end regions (9, 10) of the steel profiles (2, 3), where the WO 2007/071221 PCT/DE2006/001875 8 connection is produced in particular by welding and where, outside of the now finished Y profile (1), a guiding profile (13) is integrally formed at the bearing body (11) for accommodating equally shaped Y profiles (1).

5 5. The device as per Claim 4, characterised in that the guiding profile (13) is provided with end stop regions (13', 13") for the spaced apart, loose bearing of limbs (14) of the steel profiles (2,3) on the one hand and of the supplementary girders (4, 5) on the other hand.