Hinged derail with assisted manual lifting and method for constructing

Abstract

This invention relates to hinged derail assemblies used in the railroad industry as a safety device for derailing a wheel of an undesirably moving railed vehicle, such as a railroad freight car. The hinged derail assembly includes a base that is rigidly mounted on a pair of spaced railroad ties and is operatively positioned adjacent one rail of a pair of conventional railroad rails. A derail shoe is pivotally mounted on the derail base and is moveable between an operative or derailing position and an inoperative position when the derail shoe is moved away from the rail. When the derail shoe is on the rail, a deflecting member on the shoe is positioned to angularly deflect a wheel of the freight car or the like which is undesirably rolling along the rail. This causes the derailing of the wheeled vehicle and prevents harm to things or personnel in the area. In the present invention a biasing member, such as a torsion spring, is operatively secured to both the base of the hinged derail assembly and the derail shoe itself. The spring provides upward rotational force both when the derail shoe is in the inoperative position and in the operative position. This lifting force provides assistance to a worker in the manual lifting of the heavy derail shoe between both the operative and inoperative positions. The invention also relates to a method of constructing the hinged derail wherein the torsion spring is installed when the derail shoe is in a substantially upright position and when the spring is unstressed. In this way, the spring is in a stressed condition, that is, either in a wound condition or in an unwound position, to provide a lifting force for the operator whether the derail shoe is in the operative position or in the inoperative position.

1 . A hinged derail assembly for derailing a wheel of a wheeled railed vehicle, the derail assembly being mounted on and between two rail ties and being selectively positioned adjacent one rail for accomplishing said derailing of undesired movement of the wheeled vehicle, said derail assembly comprising:
 a base rigidly secured to said rail ties;   a derail shoe pivotally mounted on said base for manual movement between an operative, derailing position and an inoperative position, said derail shoe having a derail member positioned on said rail when in the operative position on said rail for deflecting said wheel from rolling on said rail and for thereby derailing said wheeled vehicle; and   a biasing member operatively secured to both said base and said derail shoe for biasing said derail shoe in a substantially upward rotational direction for forcibly assisting in the manual lifting movement of said derail shoe both from the inoperative position to the operative derailing position and from the operative derailing position to the inoperative position.   
   
   
       2 . The derail assembly of  claim 1  wherein said biasing member is a spring member having a first end and a second end, means on said base for receiving said first end of said spring member, and means on said derail shoe for receiving said second end of said biasing member. 
   
   
       3 . The hinged derail assembly of  claim 2  wherein said spring member is a torsion spring, a rigid pivot shaft being mounted on said base, said spring member being mounted on said pivot shaft and said derail shoe being pivotally mounted on said pivot shaft for pivotal movement between the operative and inoperative positions. 
   
   
       4 . The derail assembly of  claim 3  wherein said torsion spring is selectively in a wound condition or an unwound condition when said derail assembly is in said operative position or in said inoperative position. 
   
   
       5 . A method for constructing a derail assembly for derailing a wheel of a wheeled railed vehicle, said derail assembly being of the type which includes a derail base, a derail shoe pivotally mounted on said about a pivot shaft for manual movement between an operative position for derailing said wheel and an inoperative position, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing a biasing member having first and second ends for biasing said derail shoe in a substantially upward rotational direction for forcibly assisting in the manual lifting movement of said derail shoe both from said inoperative position to the said operative position and from the said operative position to the said inoperative position;   providing a rigid member for receiving said second end of said biasing member;   positioning said biasing member on said pivot shaft;   receiving said first end of said biasing member on said derail shoe;   pivoting said derail shoe to a substantially upright and balanced condition relative to pivot shaft and above said derail base while maintaining said biasing member in an unstressed condition;   securely positioning said second end of said biasing member on said rigid member while continuing to maintain said biasing member in an unstressed condition; and   rigidly securing said rigid member to said derail base while continuing to maintain said biasing member in an unstressed condition which in said substantially upright and balanced condition.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5  including the further step of positioning said derail shoe in the operative position and simultaneously causing said biasing member to be in a stressed condition to assist in the manual movement of said derail shoe from the operative position to the inoperative position. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 5  including the further step of positioning said derail shoe in the inoperative position and simultaneously causing said biasing member to be in a stressed condition to assist in the manual movement of said derail shoe from the inoperative position to the operative position. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 5  including the step of providing a torsion spring as the biasing member and positioning said torsion spring around said pivot shaft.