Title of Invention	GROOVED RAIL FOR RAIL VEHICLES
Abstract	The invention relates to a grooved rail for rail vehicles provided with flange wheels, said grooved rail comprising a rail head (5) provided with a running rail (2), a flange groove (3), and a counterrail (4), in addition to a rail web (6), a rail base (7), and lateral rail chambers (8,9) extending between the rail head and the rail base. The running rail comprises a vehicle-guiding flange (10) extending towards the flange groove, said flange being asymmetrically arranged in relation to the rail head, when the depth of the flange groove is more than > 20mm in relation to an essentially horizontally extending axis (11) of the rail web, in such a way that the width part (B1) of the rail base, on the said of the running rail, is larger, at least by the factor 1.2, than the width part (B2) on the said of the conterrail.

Title of Invention

GROOVED RAIL FOR RAIL VEHICLES

Abstract

The invention relates to a grooved rail for rail vehicles provided with flange wheels, said grooved rail comprising a rail head (5) provided with a running rail (2), a flange groove (3), and a counterrail (4), in addition to a rail web (6), a rail base (7), and lateral rail chambers (8,9) extending between the rail head and the rail base. The running rail comprises a vehicle-guiding flange (10) extending towards the flange groove, said flange being asymmetrically arranged in relation to the rail head, when the depth of the flange groove is more than > 20mm in relation to an essentially horizontally extending axis (11) of the rail web, in such a way that the width part (B1) of the rail base, on the said of the running rail, is larger, at least by the factor 1.2, than the width part (B2) on the said of the conterrail.

Full Text	Grooved Rail The invention pertains to a grooved rail for travelling of rail vehicles provided with flanged wheels, according to the generic part of the first patent claim. Grooved wheels are already known since several decades, whereby their design structure has hardly changed over the years. For example, we can refer to the documents DE 70438 and DE 195 39 590. Grooved rails according to the state-of-the-art technology as inertial rails, i.e. with stud thicknesses With respect to modifications of vehicles driven on grooved rails, especially their flange wheels, such profiles can no longer be used meaningfully today, as increased wear and tear sets in caused by higher lateral forces, particularly in the flange-way region or the flanks given there. In the document FR-H 2816967 we find a grooved rail for driving rail vehicles provided with flanged wheels, comprising of a rail head provided with a drive rail, a track groove and a lead rail, a rail stud, a rail foot and side rail chambers stretching between the rail head and the rail foot, whereby the drive rail has a flank guiding the vehicle towards the track groove. The rail should have a total height of approx. 85 mm, whereas for a rail foot a width of approx. 130 mm is given. In the documents WO 01/83889, among other things one also talks about a grooved rail that is gripped in a socket like a shoe in significant regions of its total cross-section. AMENDED SHEET 2 It is the objective of this invention to present a grooved rail profile that matches today's requirement with respect to significantly lower track-way thicknesses, e.g. fixed track-ways, especially of street constructions, which is simple to manufacture and can to a large extent also absorbed the occurring lateral forces, at the same time ensuring safe and elastic support on the floor or components working along with it. This objective is fulfilled, in that the flank for a track groove depth (T) > 20 mm, i.e. a deep groove, has a flank inclination (a) the rail head, and in that the rail foot having a pre-given total width, with respect to the vertical centre axis of the rail stud having a pre-given thickness, is arranged asymmetric to the rail head in such a way that the drive rail side wide portion of the rail foot is larger than the lead rail side wide portion by the factor 1.2 and the width of the drive rail is between 55 and 65% of the total width of the rail head. Advantageous extensions of the invention can be obtained from the sub-claims. Thus, against the state-of-the-art technology, a profile can be presented that has a relatively low structural height ( grooved rail profile is defined as one which with widened drive rail in combination with the decreased inclination angle of the flank as against the state-of-the-art technology, on the one hand is subjected to lesser wear and tear and, on the other hand lateral forces can be easily countered, in that through the ratio of the wide portions of the rail foot in conjunction with the increased stud thickness and the decreased lever arm of the forced attack on the foot point, the horizontal deflection of the rail head gets reduced. AMENDED SHEET 2a The altered flank inclination angle also has advantages as against the state-of-the-art technology from the point of view of track guiding especially during bending movement, whereby ultimately the travel comfort is enhanced. The object of the invention is shown in the drawing on the basis of a design example and described below. The sole design example shows as a principle sketch not necessarily to scale the profile of a grooved rail 1 which in this example is supposed to be laid on a fixed concrete track. The grooved rail 1 consists of rail head 5 provided with a drive rail 2, a track groove 3 and a lead rail 4, a rail stud 6 and a rail foot 7. 3 chambers 8, 9 designed with different heights. The drive rail 2 has a vehicle-guiding flank 10 stretching up to the track groove 3. Relative to intended horizontal axis 11, the flank 10 runs in the direction of the groove base 12 of the track groove 3 at an inclination of a which in this example should be 76°. The gradient of the flank 10 should thus be approximately 1:4.0. The rail head 5 has a total width b, whereby the portion of the drive rail bl with respect to the remaining portion b2 is designed in such a way that the width bl of the drive rail 2 corresponds to the rolling width of a usual bandage of 95 mm width, and in this example accounts for 57% of the total width b of the rail head 5. The rail foot 7 having a pre-given total width B is arranged asymmetric to the rail head 5 in such a way that the drive rail side wider portion Bl in this example is greater than the lead rail side wider portion B2 by the factor 1.4. Here reference is made to the vertical centre axis 13 of the rail stud 6 that can have a pre-given thickness B. The drive surface 14 of the drive rail 2 runs through several radians Rl, R2, R3 into the vehicle-guiding flank 10, whereby the radius Rl becomes progressively smaller moving in direction R3 through R2. The total height of the grooved rail 1 is given by h. The basis here is the base surface G of the rail foot. The track groove 3, designed as deep groove, has a total depth of T. In this example the ratio between the total height h of the grooved rail 1 and the total width b of the rail head should be 1:1.25. The ratio of the total height h of the grooved rail 1 to the total width B of the rail foot 7 should be 1:1.65 in this example. The ratio between the total width b of the rail head 5 and the total width B of the rail foot 7 should approx. be 1:1.3 in this example. The ratio of the grooved depth T to the total height h of the grooved rail 1 should be minimum 1:2. The ratio of the thickness B of the rail stud 6 to the total width B of the rail foot 7 should be approx. 1:7 in this example. 4 The drive rail side rail chamber 8 is defined by a rail foot side flank 15 and a drive rail side flank 16 that run towards one another in a suitable manner. The intended extension 17 of the drive rail side flank 16 intersects the groove base of the track groove 3 in this example. By means of the profile of the grooved rail 1 defined in the patent claims, with a small structural height h and optimise width B of the rail foot 7 in conjunction with the given flank angle a with almost horizontal force attack F by the flange wheel of a rail vehicle (not shown in details), one can achieve good support of the grooved rail 1 on hard or elastic base of a fixed track-way without tilting moments becoming effective. The height h1 of the horizontal force attack F on the flank 10 of the drive rail 2 lies - with respect to the base surface G of the rail foot - between 0.8 and 0.9 h of the grooved rail 1. The drive rail side wide portion Bl should in this example satisfy the following equation B1=B2+D. The width bl of the drive rails 2 should somewhat correspond to the lead rail side wide portion B2 of the rail foot 7, whereby the lead rail side wide portion B2 should be height h of the grooved rail 1. Ultimately, in this example, the drive rail side wide portion Bl should be > the height h1. 5 List of reference signs 1. Grooved rail 2. Drive rail 3. Track groove 4. Lead rail 5. Railhead 6. Rail stud 7. Rail foot 8. Rail chamber 9. Rail chamber 10. Vehicle-guiding flank 11. Horizontal axis 12. Groove base 13. Centre axis 14. Driving surface 15. Rail foot side flank 16. Drive rail side flank 17. Intended extension b. Total width of rail head b1. Width of drive rail b2. Remaining width of rail head h. Total height of grooved rail h1. Height of force attack on drive rail B. Total width of rail foot Bl. Drive rail side wide portion B2. Lead rail side wide portion T. Depth of track groove a. Inclination angle of flank 10 Rl. Radius R2. Radius R3. Radius D. Stud thickness G. Based surface of rail foot Patent Claims 1. Grooved rails for driving rail vehicles provided with flange wheels, comprising of a rail head (5) provided with a drive wheel (2), a track groove (3) and a lead rail (4), a rail stud (6), a rail foot (7) and side rail chambers stretching between the rail head (5) and a rail foot (7), whereby the drive rail (2) has a vehicle-guiding flank (10) up to the track groove (3), which for a track groove depth (T) > 20 mm, i.e. a deep groove, has a flank inclination (α) head (5), and whereby the rail foot (7) having a pre-given total width (B) is arranged asymmetric to the rail head (5) with to the vertical centre axis (13) of the rail stud (6) in such a way that the drive rail side wide portion (Bl) of the rail foot (7) is greater than the lead rail side wide portion (B2) by at least the factor 1.2, and the width (bl) of the drive rail (2) is between 55 and 65% of the total width (b) of the rail head (5). 2. Grooved rail as per claim 1, having the distinctive feature that the largely horizontally running driving surface (14) of the drive rail (2) runs into the flank (10) over several decreasing transition radii (Rl, R2, R3) moving from one into the other. 3. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 2, having the distinctive feature that the ratio of the total height (h) of the grooved rail (1) to the total width (b) of the rail head (5) lies between 1:1.2 and 1:1.4. AMENDED SHEET 7 4. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 3, having the distinctive feature that the ratio of the total height (h) of the grooved rail (1) to the total width (B) of the rail foot (7) lies between 1:1.5 and 1:1.8. 5. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 4, having the distinctive feature that the ratio of the total width (b) of the rail head (5) to the total width (B) of the rail foot (7) lies between 1:1.2 and 1:1.4. 6. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 5, having the distinctive feature that the groove depth (T) of the track groove (3) with respect to the total height (h) of the grooved rail (1) is at least 50%. 7. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 6, having the distinctive feature that the ratio of thickness (B) of the rail stud (6) to the total width (B) of the rail foot (7) lies between 1:4 and 1:9. 8. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 7, having the distinctive feature that the inclination angle (a) is 9. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 8, having the distinctive feature that the ratio of the wide portions (B2:B1) of the rail foot (7) is at least 1:1.3. 10. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 9, having the distinctive feature that the flank (16) of the drive rail (2) running into the drive rail side rail chamber (8) runs inclined in direction of the rail foot (7) in such a way that its intended extension (17) intersects the groove base (12) of the track groove (3). 11. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 10, having the distinctive feature that the drive rail side wide portion (Bl) satisfy the following equation: AMENDED SHEET 8 Bl = B2+D where Bl is the drive rail side wide portion B2 is the lead rail side wide portion D is the stud thickness. 12. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 11, having the distinctive feature that the width (bl) of the drive rail (2) largely corresponds to the lead rail side wide portion (B2), whereby the lead rail side wide portion (B2) is grooved rail. 13. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 12, having the distinctive feature that the drive rail side wide portion (Bl) is > the height (hi) of the force attack (F) on the drive rail (2) with respect to the base surface (G) of the rail foot (7). The invention relates to a grooved rail for rail vehicles provided with flange wheels, said grooved rail comprising a rail head (5) provided with a running rail (2), a flange groove (3), and a counterrail (4), in addition to a rail web (6), a rail base (7), and lateral rail chambers (8,9) extending between the rail head and the rail base. The running rail comprises a vehicle-guiding flange (10) extending towards the flange groove, said flange being asymmetrically arranged in relation to the rail head, when the depth of the flange groove is more than > 20mm in relation to an essentially horizontally extending axis (11) of the rail web, in such a way that the width part (B1) of the rail base, on the said of the running rail, is larger, at least by the factor 1.2, than the width part (B2) on the said of the conterrail.

Full Text

Grooved Rail
The invention pertains to a grooved rail for travelling of rail vehicles provided with flanged
wheels, according to the generic part of the first patent claim.
Grooved wheels are already known since several decades, whereby their design structure has
hardly changed over the years.
For example, we can refer to the documents DE 70438 and DE 195 39 590.
Grooved rails according to the state-of-the-art technology as inertial rails, i.e. with stud
thicknesses With respect to modifications of vehicles driven on grooved rails, especially their flange
wheels, such profiles can no longer be used meaningfully today, as increased wear and tear
sets in caused by higher lateral forces, particularly in the flange-way region or the flanks
given there.
In the document FR-H 2816967 we find a grooved rail for driving rail vehicles provided with
flanged wheels, comprising of a rail head provided with a drive rail, a track groove and a lead
rail, a rail stud, a rail foot and side rail chambers stretching between the rail head and the rail
foot, whereby the drive rail has a flank guiding the vehicle towards the track groove. The rail
should have a total height of approx. 85 mm, whereas for a rail foot a width of approx. 130
mm is given.
In the documents WO 01/83889, among other things one also talks about a grooved rail that is
gripped in a socket like a shoe in significant regions of its total cross-section.
AMENDED SHEET

2
It is the objective of this invention to present a grooved rail profile that matches today's
requirement with respect to significantly lower track-way thicknesses, e.g. fixed track-ways,
especially of street constructions, which is simple to manufacture and can to a large extent
also absorbed the occurring lateral forces, at the same time ensuring safe and elastic support
on the floor or components working along with it.
This objective is fulfilled, in that the flank for a track groove depth (T) > 20 mm, i.e. a deep
groove, has a flank inclination (a) the rail head, and in that the rail foot having a pre-given total width, with respect to the
vertical centre axis of the rail stud having a pre-given thickness, is arranged asymmetric to the
rail head in such a way that the drive rail side wide portion of the rail foot is larger than the
lead rail side wide portion by the factor 1.2 and the width of the drive rail is between 55 and
65% of the total width of the rail head.
Advantageous extensions of the invention can be obtained from the sub-claims.
Thus, against the state-of-the-art technology, a profile can be presented that has a relatively
low structural height ( grooved rail profile is defined as one which with widened drive rail in combination with the
decreased inclination angle of the flank as against the state-of-the-art technology, on the one
hand is subjected to lesser wear and tear and, on the other hand lateral forces can be easily
countered, in that through the ratio of the wide portions of the rail foot in conjunction with the
increased stud thickness and the decreased lever arm of the forced attack on the foot point, the
horizontal deflection of the rail head gets reduced.
AMENDED SHEET

2a
The altered flank inclination angle also has advantages as against the state-of-the-art
technology from the point of view of track guiding especially during bending movement,
whereby ultimately the travel comfort is enhanced.
The object of the invention is shown in the drawing on the basis of a design example and
described below.
The sole design example shows as a principle sketch not necessarily to scale the profile of a
grooved rail 1 which in this example is supposed to be laid on a fixed concrete track. The
grooved rail 1 consists of rail head 5 provided with a drive rail 2, a track groove 3 and a lead
rail 4, a rail stud 6 and a rail foot 7.

3
chambers 8, 9 designed with different heights. The drive rail 2 has a vehicle-guiding flank 10
stretching up to the track groove 3. Relative to intended horizontal axis 11, the flank 10 runs
in the direction of the groove base 12 of the track groove 3 at an inclination of a which in this
example should be 76°. The gradient of the flank 10 should thus be approximately 1:4.0. The
rail head 5 has a total width b, whereby the portion of the drive rail bl with respect to the
remaining portion b2 is designed in such a way that the width bl of the drive rail 2
corresponds to the rolling width of a usual bandage of 95 mm width, and in this example
accounts for 57% of the total width b of the rail head 5.
The rail foot 7 having a pre-given total width B is arranged asymmetric to the rail head 5 in
such a way that the drive rail side wider portion Bl in this example is greater than the lead rail
side wider portion B2 by the factor 1.4. Here reference is made to the vertical centre axis 13
of the rail stud 6 that can have a pre-given thickness B. The drive surface 14 of the drive rail
2 runs through several radians Rl, R2, R3 into the vehicle-guiding flank 10, whereby the
radius Rl becomes progressively smaller moving in direction R3 through R2. The total
height of the grooved rail 1 is given by h. The basis here is the base surface G of the rail foot.
The track groove 3, designed as deep groove, has a total depth of T. In this example the ratio
between the total height h of the grooved rail 1 and the total width b of the rail head should be
1:1.25. The ratio of the total height h of the grooved rail 1 to the total width B of the rail foot
7 should be 1:1.65 in this example. The ratio between the total width b of the rail head 5 and
the total width B of the rail foot 7 should approx. be 1:1.3 in this example.
The ratio of the grooved depth T to the total height h of the grooved rail 1 should be minimum
1:2. The ratio of the thickness B of the rail stud 6 to the total width B of the rail foot 7 should
be approx. 1:7 in this example.

4
The drive rail side rail chamber 8 is defined by a rail foot side flank 15 and a drive rail side
flank 16 that run towards one another in a suitable manner.
The intended extension 17 of the drive rail side flank 16 intersects the groove base of the
track groove 3 in this example.
By means of the profile of the grooved rail 1 defined in the patent claims, with a small
structural height h and optimise width B of the rail foot 7 in conjunction with the given flank
angle a with almost horizontal force attack F by the flange wheel of a rail vehicle (not shown
in details), one can achieve good support of the grooved rail 1 on hard or elastic base of a
fixed track-way without tilting moments becoming effective. The height h1 of the horizontal
force attack F on the flank 10 of the drive rail 2 lies - with respect to the base surface G of the
rail foot - between 0.8 and 0.9 h of the grooved rail 1. The drive rail side wide portion Bl
should in this example satisfy the following equation
B1=B2+D.
The width bl of the drive rails 2 should somewhat correspond to the lead rail side wide
portion B2 of the rail foot 7, whereby the lead rail side wide portion B2 should be height h of the grooved rail 1. Ultimately, in this example, the drive rail side wide portion Bl
should be > the height h1.

5
List of reference signs
1. Grooved rail
2. Drive rail
3. Track groove
4. Lead rail
5. Railhead
6. Rail stud
7. Rail foot
8. Rail chamber
9. Rail chamber
10. Vehicle-guiding flank
11. Horizontal axis
12. Groove base
13. Centre axis
14. Driving surface
15. Rail foot side flank
16. Drive rail side flank
17. Intended extension
b. Total width of rail head
b1. Width of drive rail
b2. Remaining width of rail head
h. Total height of grooved rail
h1. Height of force attack on drive rail
B. Total width of rail foot
Bl. Drive rail side wide portion
B2. Lead rail side wide portion
T. Depth of track groove
a. Inclination angle of flank 10
Rl. Radius
R2. Radius
R3. Radius
D. Stud thickness
G. Based surface of rail foot

Patent Claims
1. Grooved rails for driving rail vehicles provided with flange wheels, comprising of a
rail head (5) provided with a drive wheel (2), a track groove (3) and a lead rail (4), a
rail stud (6), a rail foot (7) and side rail chambers stretching between the rail head (5)
and a rail foot (7), whereby the drive rail (2) has a vehicle-guiding flank (10) up to the
track groove (3), which for a track groove depth (T) > 20 mm, i.e. a deep groove, has a
flank inclination (α) head (5), and whereby the rail foot (7) having a pre-given total width (B) is arranged
asymmetric to the rail head (5) with to the vertical centre axis (13) of the rail stud (6)
in such a way that the drive rail side wide portion (Bl) of the rail foot (7) is greater
than the lead rail side wide portion (B2) by at least the factor 1.2, and the width (bl) of
the drive rail (2) is between 55 and 65% of the total width (b) of the rail head (5).
2. Grooved rail as per claim 1,
having the distinctive feature that
the largely horizontally running driving surface (14) of the drive rail (2) runs into the
flank (10) over several decreasing transition radii (Rl, R2, R3) moving from one into
the other.
3. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 2,
having the distinctive feature that
the ratio of the total height (h) of the grooved rail (1) to the total width (b) of the rail
head (5) lies between 1:1.2 and 1:1.4.
AMENDED SHEET

7
4. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 3,
having the distinctive feature that
the ratio of the total height (h) of the grooved rail (1) to the total width (B) of the rail
foot (7) lies between 1:1.5 and 1:1.8.
5. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 4,
having the distinctive feature that
the ratio of the total width (b) of the rail head (5) to the total width (B) of the rail foot
(7) lies between 1:1.2 and 1:1.4.
6. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 5,
having the distinctive feature that
the groove depth (T) of the track groove (3) with respect to the total height (h) of the
grooved rail (1) is at least 50%.
7. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 6,
having the distinctive feature that
the ratio of thickness (B) of the rail stud (6) to the total width (B) of the rail foot (7)
lies between 1:4 and 1:9.
8. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 7,
having the distinctive feature that
the inclination angle (a) is 9. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 8,
having the distinctive feature that
the ratio of the wide portions (B2:B1) of the rail foot (7) is at least 1:1.3.
10. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 9,
having the distinctive feature that
the flank (16) of the drive rail (2) running into the drive rail side rail chamber (8) runs
inclined in direction of the rail foot (7) in such a way that its intended extension (17)
intersects the groove base (12) of the track groove (3).
11. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 10,
having the distinctive feature that
the drive rail side wide portion (Bl) satisfy the following equation:
AMENDED SHEET

8
Bl = B2+D
where Bl is the drive rail side wide portion
B2 is the lead rail side wide portion
D is the stud thickness.
12. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 11,
having the distinctive feature that
the width (bl) of the drive rail (2) largely corresponds to the lead rail side wide portion
(B2), whereby the lead rail side wide portion (B2) is grooved rail.
13. Grooved rail as per one of the claims 1 to 12,
having the distinctive feature that
the drive rail side wide portion (Bl) is > the height (hi) of the force attack (F) on the
drive rail (2) with respect to the base surface (G) of the rail foot (7).

The invention relates to a grooved rail for rail vehicles provided with flange
wheels, said grooved rail comprising a rail head (5) provided with a running rail
(2), a flange groove (3), and a counterrail (4), in addition to a rail web (6), a rail
base (7), and lateral rail chambers (8,9) extending between the rail head and the
rail base. The running rail comprises a vehicle-guiding flange (10) extending
towards the flange groove, said flange being asymmetrically arranged in relation to
the rail head, when the depth of the flange groove is more than > 20mm in relation
to an essentially horizontally extending axis (11) of the rail web, in such a way that
the width part (B1) of the rail base, on the said of the running rail, is larger, at least
by the factor 1.2, than the width part (B2) on the said of the conterrail.

GROOVED RAIL FOR RAIL VEHICLES

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