Plate and method for laying railway level crossings

Claim 1

A plate for laying as a road surface between the rails of a railway track crossing, the plate comprising resilient rubber material delimited by at least three side and end edges, the length and relative orientation of said side and end edges defining a section of said road surface; said edges including at least one side edge shaped for interlocking relation with a complementary shaped side edge of an adjacent plate, and end edges shaped for interlocking relation with a respective inwardly facing side of one of said rails; said plate being resiliently deformable for insertion into said section of road surface and being self-returning to a non-deformed condition in which said interlocking relation of said edges is obtained so that said plate is held in a desired position with respect to the rails, the interlocking of the at least one side edge with the side edge of an adjacent plate and the interlocking of the end edges with the rails being the only means to restrict vertical movement of said plate, outer side edges of plates forming outer edges of the road surface being contacted by blocking means for restricting movement of the road surface in the longitudinal direction of the rails.

Claim 19

A method employing plates for producing a road surface between rails of a railway track crossing in which the rails are fixed on sleepers directed transversely of the rails and embedded in ballast, the plates used in the method having end edges shaped to interlock with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails and at least one side edge shaped to interlock with a side edge of an adjacent plate, the method comprising the steps of: temporarily deforming a first of said plates and inserting it between the rails to form a section of road surface; temporarily deforming a second of said plates, inserting the deformed second plate between the rails, and moving the second plate so that a first side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a side edge of the first plate to form a second section of road surface; temporarily deforming a third of said plates, inserting the deformed third plate between the rails, and moving the third plate so that a side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a second edge of the second plate to form a third section of road surface, the second plate being held in position solely by the interlocking engagement of side edges of said second plate with side edges of the first and third plates and the interlocking of end edges of the second plate with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails; sequentially temporarily deforming a plurality of said plates, inserting the deformed plates between the rails, and moving the most recently inserted plate so that a side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a side edge of a previously inserted plate to form the remaining sections of the road surface; allowing the temporarily deformed plates to return to a substantially non-deformed condition in which plates positioned between outermost plates are held against vertical movement solely by interlocking engagement of their side edges with side edges of adjacent plates and the interlocking of end edges of the plates with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails; and positioning blocking members adjacent outermost side edges of outermost plates to thereby restrict movement of the interlocked plates along the longitudinal direction of the rails.

Claim 20

A method employing plates for producing a road surface between rails of a railway track crossing in which the rails are fixed on sleepers directed transversely of the rails and embedded in ballast, the plates used in the method having end edges shaped to interlock with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails and at least one side edge shaped to interlock with a side edge of an adjacent plate, the method comprising the steps of: temporarily deforming a first of said plates and inserting it between the rails to form a section of road surface; temporarily deforming a second of said plates, inserting the deformed second plate between the rails, and moving the second plate so that a first side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a side edge of the first plate to form a second section of road surface; temporarily deforming a third of said plates, inserting the deformed third plate between the rails, and moving the third plate so that a side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a second edge of the second plate to form a third section of road surface, the second plate being held in position solely by the interlocking engagement of side edges of said second plate with side edges of the first and third plates and the interlocking of end edges of the second plate with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails; sequentially temporarily deforming a plurality of said plates, inserting the deformed plates between the rails, and moving the most recently inserted plate so that a side edge thereof interlockingly engages with a side edge of a previously inserted plate to form the remaining sections of the road surface; allowing the temporarily deformed plates to return to a substantially non-deformed condition in which plates positioned between outermost plates are held against vertical movement solely by interlocking engagement of their side edges with side edges of adjacent plates and the interlocking of end edges of the plates with inwardly facing surfaces of the rails; and positioning blocking members adjacent outermost side edges of outermost plates to thereby restrict movement of the interlocked plates along the longitudinal direction of the rails.