Abstract:
This invention relates to a portable low profile derail which is releasably securable to a railroad rail for derailing from the rail a flanged wheel of railroad equipment. The derail has a monolithic body including a flat rider plate and an integral elongated holding channel. At least three field side fasteners are mounted on the holding channel and connectable with the rail. A substantially straight rub bar is fixed to the derail body and is set at an angle to the rail when the derail is secured to the rail. The derail includes a securing assembly which is selectively connectable to the rail for securing the derail onto the rail.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a low profile portable derail used in the railroad industry. The subject derail is a lightweight derail which may be readily installed by a single workman without the need for special tools to make the installation. The derail is capable of derailing not only a railroad car, but also a locomotive. The derail may be readily removed when there is no longer the need for the derail. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The utilization of derails in the railroad industry is well known and accepted. Typically, derails are used to prevent railroad equipment, such as a car or a locomotive from passing a certain point. The need for protecting a certain point from passage by equipment is created under a number of circumstances. A typical circumstance is one wherein workmen are working a car which is positioned at a given track. The requirement of safety and prevention of accidental injury to workmen is paramount. A typical and accepted method of prevention of movement of a car being repaired is to position a derail on the track with the car. Typically, a blue flag is positioned on the track to serve notice that entry of railroad equipment upon the track is prohibited. However, to protect against a failure to observe the blue flag, a derail is mounted on a rail which causes a car or locomotive to be displaced from the track so that it does not engage the protected car. 
     Derails are well known in the railroad art. It is desirable to provide a lightweight derail which may be moved by a single workman. An example of a known derail is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,906, issued Aug. 22, 2000, to Pease, et al. It is particularly advantageous for a derail to not only be moved by a single workman, but it is also advantageous for the derail to be installed by a single workman without the need for special tools. Thus, the installation of the derail is simplified resulting in improvement of the efficiency of the installation. 
     A derail must have a low profile so that it is not engaged by a track clearing equipment on a locomotive and pushed along the rail thereby failing to accomplish its basic purpose of stopping movement of a locomotive past a given point. 
     It is further necessary to provide a derail which will make solid contact with a tie thereby preventing movement of the derail along a rail. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The instant derail is a low profile light weight portable derail, which may be readily installed by a single workman. It is readily securable to a railroad rail head for derailing from the rail head a flanged wheel of railroad equipment. The present derail has a monolithic derail body including a flat rider plate and a curved holding channel formed integral with an edge of the rider plate. The curved holding channel forms a continuous member with the rider plate eliminating any stress points which may cause breaking or other damage to the derail body. The curved opening of the holding channel is large enough to receive a portion of the field side of the rail head. At least three field side thumbscrews are mounted on the holding channel and are connectable with the underside of the field side of the rail head to secure the rider plate to the rail head. A substantially straight rub bar is fixed to the rider plate for engagement with a flanged wheel to be derailed from the rail head. The rub bar has a flat straight derail edge which is engagable with a wheel. A locking pad is fixed to the underside of the rider plate and is spaced away from the holding channel to allow positioning of the derail body onto the rail head. A swing arm is pivotedly mounted on the locking pad. A retainer fastener is mounted on the swing arm and is connectable with an underside of the gauge side of the rail head for holding the derail onto the rail head. A comb is connected to the derail body for engagement with a tie supporting the rail. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present derail is described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a derail embodying the present invention shown mounted on a conventional tee rail and having a comb of the derail positioned adjacent to a tie supporting the rail; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the opposite side of the derail shown in 
         FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an end view of the derail shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and showing a rail in cross section showing thumbscrews in engagement with the rail head and a swing arm in an open position; 
         FIG. 4  is similar to  FIG. 3 , but showing a swing arm connected to the rail head to lock the derail onto the rail; 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of the derail shown in  FIG. 1  shown mounted on a rail head; 
         FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the derail shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of the derail of  FIG. 1 , but of the opposite side of the derail of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view taken on Line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 6 , but showing a pad lock in position to show how a lock may be used to prevent unauthorized removal of the derail; 
         FIG. 9  is an end view of the derail of  FIG. 1 , but showing a holding pin in position to hold the swing arm in a locked position; and 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the elongated tooth-like projection on the comb of the derail. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, and especially to  FIG. 1 , a conventional railroad tie  20  is shown with a rail supporting apparatus including a baseplate or tie plate  22  mounted thereon. A conventional railroad tee rail  24  is mounted on the tie plate. A derail  26  is mounted on rail  24 . Derail  26  is a specific embodiment of the present invention. Rail  24  is a conventional construction having a base  28  with a web  30  formed integral with the base. A rail head  32  is formed integral with the web. The rail head includes a gauge side  34  and an opposed field side  36 . The gauge side  34  is the side adjacent to the other rail of a track consisting of a pair of rails. The rail head includes a head top  38 . 
     Derail  26  includes a monolithic derail body  40  with a bar assembly  42  mounted on body  40  for engaging a wheel to displace the wheel from a rail head. A securing assembly  44  is mounted on the body to lock the derail body to the gauge side of the rail head. A comb assembly  46  is fixed to the body for engagement with the tie to prevent the derail from sliding along the rail head when the derail is engaged by a wheel of railroad equipment. 
     The derail body is a single integral part including a substantially flat rider plate  48  with a curved holding channel  50  formed integral with one edge of the rider plate. The monolithic construction of the derail body provides a high strength body free of any points for stress concentration. The bar assembly is mounted on an upper side  52  of the rider plate. The rider plate has an underside  54  which supports securing assembly  44 . The channel has three identical thumbscrews  56 ,  58 , and  60  threadedly mounted thereon and engagable with an underside  62  of the field side of the rail head to secure the derail body to the rail head. The use of three thumbscrews assures alignment of the channel with the rail head. A beveled step plate  64  is mounted under rider plate  48  to facilitate entry of a wheel onto the rider plate for engagement with the bar assembly. 
     Bar assembly  42  includes an elongated rub bar  66 . The rub bar is a straight bar having a top edge  68  with a beveled edge  70  joining the top edge. Rub bar  66  is secured in an upright position by a plurality of gussets  72 , which are fixed to the upper surface  52  of plate  48  and to the rub bar. The rub bart is set at an angle of 18.63° relative to the channel. 
     The securing assembly  44 , as may be seen in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , includes a locking pad  74 . The locking pad is welded to the underside of plate  48  and is perpendicular to the plate. A swing arm  76  is mounted on a pivot  78  to rotate about the pivot from an open position, as shown in  FIG. 3 , to a locked position, as shown in  FIG. 4 . The swing arm has an enlarged threaded body  80  which has a retainer thumbscrew  82  mounted therein. The swing arm has a pair of apertures  84  and  86 . The locking pad has a locking aperture  88  therein. The securing assembly is shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9  in a locked attitude wherein a pad lock  90  is mounted in aperture  88  of the locking pad and aperture  86  of the swing arm to lock the swing arm in an attitude positioning retainer thumbscrew  82  adjacent to the rail. Positioning of aperture  84  aligned with locking aperture  88  and securing the swing arm in that position allows the derail to be removed from the rail head. Thus, the securing assembly provides selective positions of the swing arm either to secure the derail to the rail head or allow the derail to be moved or removed as needed. 
     Comb assembly or restrainer  46  includes a flat base  92  having a plurality of saw teeth  94  on one edge. An elongated tooth-like projection  96  aligned with saw teeth  94  is formed integral with base  92  for engagement with a railroad tie to restrain movement of the derail along the rail. The comb assembly includes a plurality of reinforcing stripes. An elongated back strip  98  is secured to one edge of the base. A forward reinforcing strip  100  is fixed to base  92 . A saw tooth brace  102  is fixed to the base adjacent to saw teeth  94 . A tooth plate  104  is fixed to the base adjacent to projection  96  to reinforce projection  96 . 
     Derail  26  may be readily installed on rail  24  by a single workman. The derail is lightweight, in that, it weighs 36 pounds, so that it may be handled by a single workman. Comb assembly  46  is inserted into ballast adjacent to the gauge side of the rail with the channel aligned with the rail head. The channel of the derail is placed over the field side of the rail and thumbscrews  56 ,  58 , and  60  are tightened to secure the body of the derail to the rail. The swing arm is swung on the locking pad from an open position as shown in  FIG. 3  to the locked position shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  8 , and  9 . Although  FIG. 8  shows a pad lock holding the swing arm in position, it may be held in position by a pin  106 , as shown in  FIG. 9 . Fastener  82  is threaded into body  80  and is tightened so that the fastener engages the underside of the rail head, as shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  8 , and  9 . With the derail in position and tightened, the distance from a plane parallel to the top of the rub bar to the top of the rail head is 2¾ inches or less so that the derail has a low profile and any track clearing equipment on a locomotive does not engage the derail. An edge  106  of the channel is parallel to the rail as is the channel. The distance from the upper side of the rider plate to the top of rail head is ¾ inch to give a short climb for a wheel which engages the derail. 
     Once the derail is in position, it is operative to prevent railway equipment from moving along the rail past the derail. The derail, in position, receives the flanged wheel of a railway equipment not shown, so that the wheel rides up beveled plate  64 . Even though the wheel has a short climb, the wheel applies a force to the derail in a direction along the length of the rail. Should the derail move along the rail head, saw teeth  54  engages the tie plate and the tie to restrict movement of the derail. In the event that the saw teeth do not prevent the derail from moving along the rail, tooth-like projection  96  engages the tie and prevents further movement. The distance of movement is small and no greater than the distance from the tooth-like projection to the tie in the initial engagement of the wheel with the derail. The wheel then travels over the bevel plate onto rider plate  48  and engages the rub bar. Engagement of the wheel with the rub bar creates a force on the rub bar to move the plate toward the gauge side of the rail. The movement is prevented by the cooperation of the thumbscrews  56 ,  58 , and  60  on the channel with the field side of the rail. The continued movement of the wheel in engagement with the rub bar causes a smooth steady sideways movement of the wheel which causes the other wheel of the pair of well known railroad wheels (not shown herein) to slide off on the gauge side of the rail of the other rail of the pair of rails which make up a well known railroad track. Substantially simultaneously, the wheel in engagement with the rub bar falls off its rail to effect a derailment. 
     It may be appreciated that derail  26  may be readily removed from the rail. The pad lock or pin is removed from the swing arm and thumbscrews  56 ,  58 , and  60  are loosened so that the derail can be lifted from the rail for transportation to another location or storage. All of which may be effected by a single workman. 
     The construction of the present derail optimizes the strengths of all of the parts with a minimum of bulk which thereby reduces the weight of the derail to a weight which is manageable by a single workman. 
     Although a specific embodiment of the herein disclosed invention has been shown in the accompanying drawings and described above, it is readily apparent that those skilled in the art will be able to make modifications and changes in the derail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The present invention is limited only by the scope afforded by the accompanying claims.