Power feed rail expansion joints for high speed railroads - readily converted from heat expansion to isolation joints

摘要

An expansion joint for the power rail ends in an arrangement for feeding current to high speed electrically railroad vehicles, uses a bridging piece to span the gap between the power rail ends. The ends of the hollow rectangular-box-section power rails, together with the abrasion resistant cover plate are curved to one side outwards, relatively to the long axis of the rails, and the "z"-section bridging piece, to which an additional layer of an insulating material is bolted, is pressed against the upper edge of the inner faces of the power rails where they are bent outwards. Both power rails and bridging piece are secured to insulating blocks by insulating fasteners which allow longitudinal movement. The joint can accommodate a large amt. of heat extension, and need only to be fitted at considerable distances apart. To set up insulating points, the intermediate layer is a material such as cycloaliphatic epoxy resin, or PTFE.