Patent Publication Number: US-3876046-A

Title: Mounting of an exchangeable adaptor rail on a contact rail

Description:
United States Patent Lerner et a1.  
 MOUNTING OF AN EXCHANGEABLE ADAPTOR RAIL ON A CONTACT RAIL lnventors: Friedrich Lerner, Langen; Albrecht Ostertag, Konigstein; Harry Freidhofer, Frankfurt am Main, all  
 Licentia Patent-Verwaltungs-Gmbll, Frankfurt am Main. Germany July 9, 1974 App]. No.: 487,211  
 Foreign Application Priority Data Germany 2334864 Germany 7325291 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Neely 191/40 Reitcrer Scofield 191/33 1 Apr. 8, 1975 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood. .11. Assistant Examiner-D. W. Keen Attorney, Agent, or FirmSpencer &amp; Kaye [57] ABSTRACT A device for mounting a replaceable adaptor rail on a contact rail, the contact rail being provided, along opposed longitudinal sides, with extensions formed to define recesses which open away from the adaptor rail mounting location. the device including two clamping members arranged to be positioned along respectively opposite sides of the adaptor and contact rails and each having an adaptor rail-engaging surface and a hook-shaped arm, a connecting arrangement connected between the members for detachably clamping the adaptor rail between the adaptor rail-engaging surfaces thereof, two slide members each disposed between a respective clamping member and contact rail and each having a wedge-shaped tongue disposed for engagement in a respective recess. one of the hookshaped arms being arranged to engage its associated slide member for forcing its associated slide member toward the associated recess, and an adjustment screw associated with the other hook-shaped arm to bear against the slide member associated with such other arm for forcing the associated slide member toward its associated recess.  
 4 Claims. 2 Drawing Figures MOUNTING OF AN EXCHANGEABLE ADAPTOR RAIL ON A CONTACT RAIL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the mounting of an interchangeable adaptor rail on a contact rail, particularly for the transmission of electrical power along the tracks of high speed trains.  
  Contact rails for the transmission of power to electric trains, for example subway trains, usually are made of a soft iron which is poor in carbon. If the advantages of good conductivity of copper or aluminum are to be combined with the good wear resistance properties of, for example, steel, compound contact rails are used, as disclosed in German Published Pat. Applications Nos. l,440,675; l,790,07l; and 2,015,l96.  
  Such compound contact rails have various drawbacks, such as, for example, corrosion at the connecting surfaces, bimetallic effects, and lack of interchangeability, or replaceability, of the adaptor rails.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting arrangement between contact rail and adaptor rail which permits replacement of the adaptor rail.  
  This and other objects are accomplished according to the present invention by the provision of a novel device for mounting a replaceable adaptor rail on a contact rail, the contact rail being provided, along opposed longitudinal sides, with extensions formed to define recesses which open away from the adaptor rail mounting location. The novel mounting device according to the invention is composed of two clamping members arranged to be positioned along respectively opposite sides of the adaptor and contact rails and each having an adaptor rail-engaging surface and a hook-shaped arm, means connected between the members for detachably clamping the adaptor rail between the adaptor rail-engaging surfaces thereof, two slide members each disposed between a respective clamping member and the contact rail and each having a wedge-shaped tongue disposed for engagement in a respective recess, one of the hook-shaped arms being arranged to engage its associated slide member for forcing its associated slide member toward the associated recess, and at least one adjustment screw associated with the other hookshaped arm to bear against the slide member associated with such other arm for forcing the associated slide member toward its associated recess.  
  The present invention has the advantage that the exchangeability of the adaptor rail eliminates the costs of reworking a worn rail according to the state of the art.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, showing the contact rail with the adaptor rail clamped on in its operating position.  
  FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the mounting arrangement shown in FIG. 1.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawing illustrates one preferred embodiment of a mounting arrangement according to the invention for mounting an adaptor rail 4 to a contact rail 1, both of which are known and are shown in dot-dash lines to better distinguish the novel mounting arrangement.  
  The mounting arrangement is composed essentially of two clamping members 2a and 2b arranged to grip the adaptor rail 4, which is preferably provided with grooves 3 for this purpose. Clamping members 20 and 2b are held together in their clamping position by a nut and bolt assembly 5.  
  The mounting arrangement further includes two slide pieces 8a and 8b each associated with a respective one of the clamping members 6a and 6b. The slide pieces include respective wedge-shaped tongues 9a and 9b and oblique camming surfaces 7a and 7b, respectively, provided to bear against corresponding surfaces on members 60 and 6b. The slide pieces are further provided with rim portions 14a and 14b enclosing clamping members 6a and 6b to prevent relative movement therebetween in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1.  
  Members 2a and 2b have respective hook-shaped arms 6a and 6b which press against surfaces 7a and 7b, respectively, of slide pieces 8a and 8b to push wedgeshaped tongues 90 and 9b into the recesses 10a and 10b, respectively, of the contact rail 1.  
  One or a plurality of adjustment screws 1] permit setting of the static friction force between adaptor rail 4 and contact rail 1 as well as offsetting of the rails with respect to one another. The tongues 9a and 9b of the slide pieces 8a and 8b are adapted to the recesses 10a and 10b of contact rail 1. The force components occurring transverse to the sliding surface 12 during tightening of adjustment screw 11 force the wedge-shaped tongues 9a and 9b of the slide pieces 8a, 8b into the corresponding recesses 10a and 10b of the contact rail 1 and produce a positive positioning of the adaptor rail 4 with respect to the contact rail I.  
  The contact rail 1 consists, for example, of a bendresisting extruded aluminum profile provided with extensions 13a and 13b to define recesses 10a and 10b. The members 2a and 2b and slide pieces and 8b may be made of plastic, for example.  
  With slide surface 12 vertical, the weight of the adaptor rail 4 forces the slide piece 8a with its tongue into the recesses 10a in contact rail 1. The adaptor rail 4 can thus slide freely, together with all its mounting elements on contact rail 1. This is necessary if, for example with different coefficients of longitudinal expansion of the two rails, changes in temperature cause different longitudinal movements thereof.  
  Caused by the weight of the adapter rail 4 a force is developed which devides over the clamping member 6a and the slide piece 8a into two components. The horizontal component forces the slide piece 80 into the recesses 10a which causes the contact rail 1 to press against the clamping members 2a and 2b and thus enables the unit composed of elements 4, 5, 6 and 8 to slide freely.  
  The electrical connection of the contact rail 1 with the adaptor rail 4 is effected by electrically conductive cables which are clamped to the adaptor rail 4 and are screwed to the contact rail by means of lugs.  
  It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.  
 We claim:  
  I. A device for mounting a replaceable adaptor rail on a contact rail, the contact rail being provided, along opposed longitudinal sides, with extensions formed to define recesses which open away from the adaptor rail mounting location, said device comprising: two clamping members arranged to be positioned along respectively opposite sides of the adaptor and contact rails and each having an adaptor rail-engaging surface and a hook-shaped arm; means connected between said members for detachably clamping the adaptor rail between the adaptor rail-engaging surfaces thereof; two slide members each disposed between a respective clamping member and the contact rail and each having a wedge-shaped tongue disposed for engagement in a respective recess, one of said hook-shaped arms being arranged to engage its associated slide member for forcing its associated slide member toward the associated recess; and adjusted screw means associated with the other of said hook-shaped arms to bear against the slide member associated with said other arm for forcing its associated slide member toward its associated recess.  
  2. A device as defined in claim 1 further comprising means disposed between each said slide member and its associated clamping member for preventing relative movement therebetween in the direction parallel to such contact rail longitudinal sides.  
  3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the adaptor rail is provided with grooves in which the adaptor railengaging surfaces bear. and said detachable clamping means comprise bolt means.  
 4. A device as defined in claim 1 in a system for the transmission of electrical power along railway tracks