DESC:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to the field of railway tracks and track structures and more particularly relates to a method & system of pre-cast-universal-resilient-removable track plates type of ballastless track structure’s configuration, tabletop tilt production and interlocked installation duly integrating with base structure through uniformly dispersed shear connectors.

BACKGROUND

Railway tracks are laid on a platform, either a ground or a flyover, to allow rail transport means, such as a train may travel. A railway track can be a ballast type railway track that uses crushed stones or sand to absorb vibrations generation during the plying of the train. Another type of railway track is a ballastless track that employs a reinforced concrete track plate to absorb the vibrations. Typically, ballast railway tracks utilize continuously welded rails discrete supported by sleepers attached via baseplates that spread the load. Generally, a polymer sheet or rubber pad is usually placed between the rail and the tie plate or the base plate. The rail is usually held down to the sleeper or base plate with resilient fastenings. However, with increasing demand and advancement in technology, traditional superstructure railway tracks are being replaced by ballastless tracks which have consistent track geometry, longer life span, and requires less maintenance in comparison with superstructure railway tracks. Further, ballastless railway tracks provide better and controlled drainage, eliminates flying-ballast damage on rolling stock, are easier to clean, etc.

There are various limitations associated with the current techniques for the manufacturing of conventional ballastless track plates. For instance, the present cast-in-situ systems for making ballastless tracks are cumbersome and time-consuming and the present pre-cast ballastless tracks are either single/double sleeper systems with infill concrete or track slabs of 7-10 rail seats requiring multiple moulds to fabricate rail curvature and depths. Installation of existing pre-cast track slabs too requires site steel reinforcement placement and or tedious procedures. Moreover, extensive analysis is required to install the currently available pre-cast ballastless track systems on viaduct and underground, number of elements/slab types in the ballastless track system is substantially more and hence overall construction is complex, time-consuming and expensive, and requires elaborate Mass Spring System slabs in noise and vibration prone zones.

Yet another limitation is that any damage caused to the current ballastless track plates warrant the temporary removal of a complete section of the rail track along with the base on which the track is attached which is a time-consuming process. Conventionally, a lock that holds the damaged track plate may be destroyed or broken down to enable the removal of the damaged track plate. Replacement of a large section of the railway track increases the downtime as well increases the cost of replacing the damaged portion.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention and nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.

The present disclosure relates to the aspects of a modular ballastless track plate and a railway track system based on the modular ballastless track plates. The ballastless track plate enables easy installation or uninstallation from the railway track without disturbing the installation of other ballastless track plates.

In an embodiment, a ballastless track plate is disclosed. The ballastless track plate includes a base including a first surface facing towards a deck slab and a second surface facing away from the deck slab. The ballastless track plate includes a plurality of first rail seats adjacent to a first longitudinal side of the first surface and adapted to receive a rail. The ballastless track plate also includes a plurality of second rail seats adjacent to a second longitudinal side of the first surface and adapted to receive another rail. The ballastless track plate includes an oblong hole extending at a center of the track plate between the first surface and the second surface and adapted to receive a shear lock and a wedge lock removably disposed at an end of the hole.

In another embodiment, a railway track system is disclosed, the railway track system includes a rail deck and a plurality of ballastless track plates mounted on the rail deck. Further, each ballastless track plate includes a base including a first surface facing towards the deck slab and a second surface facing away from the deck slab. The ballastless track plate includes a plurality of first rail seats adjacent to a first longitudinal side of the first surface and adapted to receive a rail. The ballastless track plate also includes a plurality of second rail seats adjacent to a second longitudinal side of the first surface and adapted to receive another rail. The ballastless track plate includes a hole extending at a center of the track plate between the first surface and the second surface and adapted to receive a shear lock and a wedge lock removably disposed at an end of the hole and comprising an outer tapered surface adapted to abut an inner surface of the end. Further, the railway track system includes a plurality of shear locks rigidly coupled to the deck slab and extending through the hole. Further, each shear lock includes a first end adapted to abut an end of the wedge lock and a second end adapted to abut the wedge lock

According to the present disclosure, the ballastless track plate enables a modular construction of the railway track. The ballastless track plate is designed in such a way that the ballastless track plate can be used with inter-connecting plates that enables the formation of a curved track without the need of making custom-designed track plates. Moreover, the ballastless track can be manufactured to have various thicknesses at the first longitudinal side and the second longitudinal side to enable the cant in the rail track unlike the conventional track plate that warrants dedicated construction of the platform on which the conventional track plates are installed. As a result, the enablement of designing the ballastless track plate of variable thickness allows for better quality control of the railway track formed by the ballastless track plate. Moreover, the hole and the wedge lock of the ballastless track plate are designed to enable easy uninstallation of the ballastless track plate without removing or breaking the shear lock. In addition, another ballastless track plate may be re-installed at the location of the previously uninstalled ballastless track plate without creating another shear lock. As a result, the cost and time associated with replacing the ballastless track plate is reduced.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a railway track system including a plurality of ballastless track plates, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 2 illustrates a top view of the ballastless track plate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the ballastless track plate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 4 illustrates a cut-section of the ballastless track plate taken along lines 1-1 in Figure 3, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of the cut-section of the ballastless track plate shown in Figure 4, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 6 illustrates another cut-section of the ballastless track plate taken along lines 2-2 in Figure 3, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 7 illustrates a wedge lock, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 8 illustrates a ballastless track plate with three rail seats, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 9 illustrates a ballastless track plate with five rail seats, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 10 illustrates the ballastless track plate with inner derailment guard, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 11 illustrates the ballastless track plate without the derailment guard, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 12 illustrates a ballastless track plate with a connector of a back surface of the ballastless track plate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 13 illustrates a ballastless track plate with a connector of a back surface and a front surface of the ballastless track plate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 14 illustrates shows two ballastless track plates with a slab type connector coupled to each other, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 15 illustrates two ballastless track plates with their slab type connectors aligned with respect to each other, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 16 illustrates an assembled railway track with multiple ballastless track plate coupled to each other by the slab type connectors, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 17 illustrates an assembled view of two ballastless track plates, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 18 illustrates an exploded view of the assembly in Figure 17, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 19 illustrates a detailed schematic of the inter-connecting plates, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 20 illustrates another type of inter-connecting plate with male couplers, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 21 illustrates a straight railway track, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 22 illustrates another portion of the railway track system of three ballastless track plates showing a curved section formed by pair of inter-connecting plates of different thickness, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 23 illustrates another portion of the railway track system of four ballastless track plates showing a curved section formed by pair of inter-connecting plates of different thickness, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 24 illustrates a front view of the ballastless track plate with uniform thickness along a first longitudinal side and a second longitudinal side, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 25 illustrates a front view of the ballastless track plate with different thicknesses along the first longitudinal side and the second longitudinal side, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 26 illustrates a mould for producing the ballastless track plate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 26A illustrates a perspective view of the mould for producing the ballastless track plate, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure
Figure 27 illustrates installation of the ballastless track plate using an alignment device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which invention belongs. The system and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

For example, the term “some” as used herein may be understood as “none” or “one” or “more than one” or “all.” Therefore, the terms “none,” “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would fall under the definition of “some.” It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching, and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and therefore, should not be construed to limit, restrict or reduce the spirit and scope of the present disclosure in any way.

For example, any terms used herein such as, “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” “consists,” and similar grammatical variants do not specify an exact limitation or restriction, and certainly do not exclude the possible addition of one or more features or elements, unless otherwise stated. Further, such terms must not be taken to exclude the possible removal of one or more of the listed features and elements, unless otherwise stated, for example, by using the limiting language including, but not limited to, “must comprise” or “needs to include.”

Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only once, it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore, the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do not preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by limiting language including, but not limited to, “there needs to be one or more...” or “one or more elements is required.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person ordinarily skilled in the art.

Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features and/or elements of the present disclosure. Some embodiments have been described for the purpose of explaining one or more of the potential ways in which the specific features and/or elements of the proposed disclosure fulfil the requirements of uniqueness, utility, and non-obviousness.

Use of the phrases and/or terms including, but not limited to, “a first embodiment,” “a further embodiment,” “an alternate embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “multiple embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “other embodiments,” “further embodiment”, “furthermore embodiment”, “additional embodiment” or other variants thereof do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, one or more particular features and/or elements described in connection with one or more embodiments may be found in one embodiment, or may be found in more than one embodiment, or may be found in all embodiments, or may be found in no embodiments. Although one or more features and/or elements may be described herein in the context of only a single embodiment, or in the context of more than one embodiment, or in the context of all embodiments, the features and/or elements may instead be provided separately or in any appropriate combination or not at all. Conversely, any features and/or elements described in the context of separate embodiments may alternatively be realized as existing together in the context of a single embodiment.

Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of some embodiments and therefore should not necessarily be taken as limiting factors to the proposed disclosure.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For the sake of clarity, the first digit of a reference numeral of each component of the present disclosure is indicative of the Figure number, in which the corresponding component is shown. For example, reference numerals starting with digit “1” are shown at least in Figure 1. Similarly, reference numerals starting with digit “2” are shown at least in Figure 2.

Figure 1 illustrates a railway track system 100 made by using a plurality of ballastless track plate 200, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The railway track 100A may include a pair of railway track 100A, 100B may be formed to support for railway transport means, such as metro train or freight train or high-speed transport train. The railway track 100A may be termed as a ballastless railway track because the railway track 100A does not employ ballasts, such as stones, sand, moorum, cinder, and brickbat or a combination thereof to absorb vibrations generated due to the travel of the railway transport means on the railway track 100A. Instead, the railway track 100A relies on the ballastless track plate 200 to absorb the vibrations. The railway track 100A may be built on an elevated platform where the use of the ballast may not be needed owing to an increase in load on the elevated platform. The railway track system 100 may include a deck slab 102 that may form as a platform for mounting other parts of the railway track 100A thereon. The deck slab 102 may be formed as a single piece of reinforced concrete and may be adapted to dissipate the vibrations from the ballastless track plate 200 to the ground. In case the railway track 100A is formed on an elevated section, the deck slab 102 may dissipate the vibration to the ground via the pillars on which the deck slab 102 is supported.

In one example, the railway track system 100 may include a plurality of shear connector bars 104 that may be installed on the deck slab 102. The shear connector bars 104 may be formed as a rectangular-shaped frame made from steel rods. The shear connector bars 104 are configured to seat the ballastless track plate 200 on the deck slab 102. In addition, the railway track system 100 may include grout that may be deposited between the shear connector bars 104 and the ballastless track to secure the ballastless track plate 200 on the deck slab 102 and the shear connector bars 104. As shown in Figure 1, the ballastless track plate 200 are laid in a predefined orientation to form a straight track. The railway track 100A in Figure 1 shows two sets of parallel railway tracks 100A, 100B made from a plurality of ballastless track plate 200. Further, each set of the ballastless track plate 200 is adapted to receive a pair of parallel rails 106A, 106B. In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may have rail seats that are adapted to mount the rails 106A, 106B thereon. Details of the ballastless track plate 200 will be discussed from Figure 2 onwards.

The ballastless track plate 200 is modular in nature, such that the ballastless track plate 200 can be used to create both straight track and curved track. In addition, multiple ballastless track plate 200 may be used to create a cant in the railway track 100A that is otherwise not possible with conventional track plates that require customized manufactured based on specified dimensions. On the other hand, the ballastless track plate 200 can be manufactured as per predefined dimensions in such a way that the ballastless track plate 200 may be employed to achieve various dimensions.

Figures 2 to 7 illustrate different views of the ballastless track plate 200, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figure 2 illustrates a top view of the ballastless track plate 200. Further, Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the ballastless track plate 200 while Figure 4 illustrates a cut section of the ballastless track plate 200 taken along lines 1-1 in Figure 3. Figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of the cut-section of the ballastless track plate 200 shown in Figure 4. Figure 6 illustrates another cut-section of the ballastless track plate 200 taken along lines 2-2 in Figure 4.

In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may include, but is not limited to, a base 202, first rail seats 206, second rail seats 208, an oblong hole 210, and a wedge lock 212.

The ballastless track plate 200 may include the base 202 that forms a major portion of the ballastless track plate 200. The base 202 may be a single piece component and may be made of concrete. In another example, the base 202 may be made of reinforced concrete. The base 202 is configured to dissipate the vibrations from the rails 106A, 106B to the deck slab 102. The base 202 may also be configured to receive the load of the train travelling on the rails 106A, 106B. The base 202 may have a first longitudinal side 204A and a second longitudinal side 204B that may together define a width W of the base 202. In addition, the base 202 may include a first surface 214 that may face the deck slab 102 and a second surface 216 opposite to the first surface 214 and facing away from the deck slab 102.

The plurality of first rail seats 206 may be formed along on the first longitudinal side 204A on the second surface 216 and while the second rail seats 208 may be formed along the second longitudinal side 204B on the on the second surface 216. In one example, the first rail seat 206 may be adapted to receive the rail 106A and the second rail seat 208 may be enabled to receive the other rail 106B. The first rail seat 206 may be parallel to the second rail seat 208, such that the first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 remain parallel to each other. In addition, a width between the first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 may define a gauge of the railway track 100A.

Each of the first rail seat 206 and the second rail seat 208 may be formed as a platform that can accommodate the rails 106A, 106B. Further, each of the first rail seat 206 and the second rail seat 208 may include a pair of attachment points that allows a mounting of a clip to secure the rails 106A, 106B on the first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 respectively.

In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may include different numbers of first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208. As shown in Figure 2, the ballastless track plate 200 may have sets of four first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208. Alternatively, the ballastless track plate 200 may have sets of three first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 as shown in Figure 8. In another example, the ballastless track plate 200 may have sets of five first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 as shown in Figure 9.

Referring now to Figure 4, the ballastless track plate 200 may include provisions to prevent derailment of the train from the rail. For instance, the ballastless track plate 200 may include a pair of derailment guards 218. The derailment guards 218 are formed at the first longitudinal side 204A and the second longitudinal side 204B. The derailment guards 218 have a height greater than that of the ballastless track plate 200 and are configured to come in contact with the train travelling over the rails 106A, 106B, such that the derailment guards 218 prevents any lateral movement of the train during an event of a derailment. Since the derailment guards 218 restricts lateral movement of the train, the derailment guards 218 prevents train derailment. The ballastless track plate 200 may have different configurations of the derailment guard 218. Exemplary configurations are shown in Figure 10 that shows the derailment guard 218 on either side of the oblong hole 210. Such a derailment guard 218 can be termed as inner-derailment guard 218. There may also be a case where the derailment guard may not be needed. Such an exemplary design is shown in Figure 11 that shows the ballastless track plate 200 without the derailment guard.

Further, each of the first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 may also include rail seat shoulders 220 and 222 for supporting the rails 106A, 106B. the rail seat shoulders 220 and 222 may be configured to restrict lateral movement of the 106A, 106B relative to the base 202. In one example, the rail seat shoulder 220 may be formed as a projection adjacent to one side of the first rail seat 206 and the second rail seat 208. On the other hand, the rail seat shoulder 222 may be integrated into the derailment guards 218. Such an integration simplifies the manufacturing of the ballastless track plate 200. In addition, the derailment guard 218 may also facilitate restraining the rails 106A, 106B.

Referring back to Figures 3, 4, and 5, the oblong hole 210 of the ballastless track plate 200 may extend the complete thickness T of the base 202. In one example, the oblong hole 210 may be present at the center of the base 202 and may extend between the first surface 214 and the second surface 216. Although not shown, the oblong hole 210 may be adapted to receive a set of shear connector bars 104 of the deck slab 102. The oblong hole 210 may also be adapted to receive a shear lock 108. The shear lock 108 inside the oblong hole 210 may prevent longitudinal and lateral movement of the ballastless track plate 200. The shear lock 108 may be formed by pouring self-compacting concrete in the oblong hole 210 during the installation of the railway track 100A. Details on how the shear lock 108 is installed will be explained later.

According to the present disclosure, the wedge lock 212 may be installed inside the oblong hole 210. As shown in Figure 2, the wedge lock 212 may be installed at one end of the oblong hole 210. Referring now to Figure 4 which shows a cut section of the wedge lock and Figure 7 that shows a perspective view of the wedge lock 212. The wedge lock 212 has an outer tapered surface 802 that may abut an inner surface 804 of the oblong hole 210. In addition, the wedge lock 212 may include an inner curved surface 806 that may abut the shear lock 108. Further, as shown in Figure 5, the wedge lock 212 has a tapered cut-section that tapers in from the top to the bottom. In other words, the thickness of the wedge lock 212 near the first surface 214 is less than the thickness of the wedge lock 212 near the second surface 216. Such a taper may facilitate in easy installation and quicker removal of the ballastless track plate 200. A manner in which the wedge lock 212 and the shear lock 108 enables easy installation and removal is explained in the next subsequent paragraphs.

In one example, the railway track system 100 may include elastomers that attenuate the forces on the ballastless track plate 200. For instance, the railway track system 100 may include a first elastomer 236 sandwiched between portions of the first surface 214 underneath the first rail seats 206 and the second rail seats 208 and the deck slab 102 as shown in Figures 1 and 6. Further, the first elastomer 236 is adapted to absorb Vertical forces acting on the ballastless track plate. In addition, the railway track system 100 may include a second elastomer 238 sandwiched between a portion of the first surface 214 surrounding the oblong hole 210 and the deck slab 102 and adapted absorb lateral longitudinal forces acting on the ballastless track plate 200. XXX is a filler is adapted to provide support to track plate at bottom surface around oblong hole 210 where loads are less and filler being less stiff compared to first and second elastomers 236 & 238 exerts less negative moments on the track plate.

There may be a case where the ballastless track plate 200 is damaged and needs to be replaced with another ballastless track plate 200. Conventionally, a section having track plates are removed which increases the time and effort to repair the railway track 100A. Such a tedious task is averted by the wedge lock 212. In order to remove the damaged ballastless track plate 200, the wedge lock 212 may be removed by simply pulling it out. The removal of the wedge lock 212 creates a space equal to the thickness of the wedge lock 212 thereby enabling the ballastless track plate 200 to slide longitudinally and relative to the shear lock 108. The ballastless track plate 200 can be slid to dislodge itself from an adjacent ballastless track plate 200 and then maybe lifted. Now, since the oblong hole 210 is wider than the shear lock 108, the ballastless track plate 200 is removed from the shear lock 108 without interference from the shear lock 108.

A fresh piece of ballastless track plate 200 may now be installed in place of the uninstalled ballastless track plate 200, the oblong hole 210 may be inserted on the shear lock 108. Once installed, the fresh piece of ballastless track plate 200 may be slid longitudinally to lodge the fresh piece of ballastless track plate 200 with the adjacent ballastless track plate 200. Once lodged, the wedge lock 212 may again be installed at a gap formed by lodgement to secure the fresh piece of ballastless track plate 200 to the railway track 100A. Once installed, the fresh piece of ballastless track plate 200 may be secured without disturbing the position of adjacent ballastless track plate 200.

According to the present disclosure, the ballastless track plate 200 may be coupled to each other to form the railway track 100A. In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may include a front surface 224 and a back surface 226 opposite to the front surface 224, such that the front surface 224 and the back surface 226 are orthogonal to the first surface 214 and the second surface 216. Further, the ballastless track plate 200 may include connectors 228A, 228B on either the front surface 224 or the back surface 226. In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may have a connector 228A on the back surface 226 along as shown in Figure 12. Alternatively, the ballastless track plate 200 may have connectors 228A, 228B on both the front surface 224 and the back surface 226 as shown in Figure 13. In either case, the connectors 228 may allow an operator to join the ballastless track plate 200 together to form the railway track 100A. Referring now to Figure 3, one the connector is a male connector 228A while the other connector is a female connector 228B. Further, the position of the male connector 228A and the female connector 228B on the front surface 224 is reversed on the back surface 226 to allow coupling of two ballastless track plates 200 together.

In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may include a different type of connector. An exemplary embodiment of a different type of connector is shown in Figures 14, 15, and 16. Specifically, Figure 14 shows two ballastless track plate 200 with a slab type connector 228 coupled to each other while Figure 15 shows two ballastless track plate 200 with their slab type connectors 228 aligned with respect to each other. Further, Figure 16 illustrates assembled railway track 100A with multiple ballastless track plate 200 coupled to each other by the slab type connectors 228. The slab type connectors 228 can be a male connector 228A and a female connector 228B. The slab type connectors 228 may be formed during the casting of the ballastless track plate 200. The slap type connectors 228 may be designed in such a way that they form a continuous second surface 216 when the ballastless track plate 200 are assembled.

Referring now to Figure 17 and 18 that shows an assembly 1700 of two ballastless track plate 200, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figure 17 shows an assembled view of two ballastless track plates 200 while Figure 18 shows an exploded view of the assembly 1700. As shown, the railway track 100A may also include a plurality of inter-connecting plates 230 connects two consecutive ballastless track plate 200. In one example, the inter-connecting plate 230 may be sandwiched between two ballastless track plate 200 as shown in Figure 17.

Referring now to Figure 19 that illustrates detailed schematics of the inter-connecting plates 230. The inter-connecting plate 230 may also include couplers 232 that may be complementary to the connectors 228 on the ballastless track plate 200. As shown in Figure 16, one of the connectors can be a male coupler 232A adapted to engage with the female connector 228B of the ballastless track plate 200 while the other connector can be a female coupler 232B adapted to engage with the male connector 228A of the ballastless track plate 200. In addition, the inter-connecting plates 230 may include a projection line 234 that may be present on either side of the inter-connecting plates 230. The projection line 234 may be configured to be inserted in a groove on the front surface 224 and the back surface to align the inter-connecting plate 230 with respect to the ballastless track plate 200. The projection line 234 does away with a need for tools to align the ballastless track plate 200 thereby making the installation of the railway track 100A easy and simple.

In one example, the connectors 228A may experience damage during transportation and any damage to the connectors 228A affects the alignment and engagement of the ballastless track plate 200 with the inter-connecting plate 230. Such a situation may be addressed by another inter-connecting plate 230 that include both male couplers 232A as shown in Figure 20. In such a scenario, the ballastless track plate 200 may be designed to have female connectors 228B formed as depression and the inter-connecting plate 230 may engage with the female connectors 228B. Such an arrangement alleviates the damages that the connectors 228B on the ballastless track plate 200 may incur during transportation.

According to the present disclosure, the inter-connecting plate 230 may couple multiple ballastless track plate 200 to form the railway track 100A. As may be understood, the railway track 100A may be a straight track. The straight railway track 100A can be formed when multiple ballastless track plate 200 are installed co-linearly with respect to each other as shown in Figure 21. In such an example, the railway track 100A may have a longitudinal axis A1 that may be common to all the ballastless track plate 200s. The straight railway track 100A may be achieved by a couple of consecutive ballastless track plate 200 by the inter-connecting plates 230 of the same thickness. The inter-connecting plate 230 of the same thickness keeps the ballastless track plate 200 aligned to the adjacent ballastless track plate 200.

On the other hand, the railway track 100A can be a curved track having a curvature. Further, the curvature of the railway track 100A may be envisioned as an amalgamation of multiple straight segments in which each segment can be the ballastless track plate 200. Further, each ballastless track plate 200 may have an angular orientation with respect to the adjacent ballastless track plate 200. Such an example is shown in Figures 22 and 23. Specifically, Figure 22 shows a curved track formed by the ballastless track plate 200s having four rail seats 206, 208 while Figure 23 shows a curved track formed by the ballastless track plate 200s having five rail seats 206, 208. In the current illustrations, the ballastless track plate 200 are coupled to each other using inter-connecting plate 230 of different thicknesses. For example, one of the inter-connecting plates 230A may have a greater thickness than the inter-connecting plate 230B. The difference in the inter-connecting plate 230A and 230B causes one of the ballastless track plate 200 to subtend an angle ? with adjacent ballastless track plate 200. According to the present disclosure, the angle ? may be achieved either by using the inter-connecting plate 230 of different thicknesses or by coupling two inter-connecting plate 230 at one side of the ballastless track plate 200 and single inter-connecting plate 230 on the other side of the ballastless track plate 200. Such an arrangement enables the operator or manufacturer to build the ballastless track plate 200 and inter-connecting plate 230 of predefined dimensions while making both of them modular to cater to a different configuration of the railway track 100A.

In one example, the railway track 100A may be laid down in such a way that that the first rail seat 206 and the second rail seat 208 are at the same elevation. The same elevation may be achieved by having the same thickness of the ballastless track plate 200 at the first longitudinal side 204A and at the second longitudinal side 204B as shown in Figure 24. As shown in Figure 24, the thickness T1 at the first longitudinal side 204A and the thickness T2 at the second longitudinal side 204B may be equal. As a result, the rails 106A and the rail 106B may also be the same elevation.

In another example, the railway track 100A may include a cant in addition to the curve. The cant may be understood as a difference in elevations of the first rail seat 206 and the second rail seat 208. In one example, the cant may be provided to help a train steer while describing the curved portion of the railway track 100A. In addition, the cant allows dissipation in lateral force experienced by the curved portion of the railway track 100A. The cant in the ballastless track plate 200 may be provided as variation in thickness of the ballastless track plate 200 at the first longitudinal side 204A and the second longitudinal side 204B as shown in Figure 25. As shown in Figure 25, the thickness T3 of the ballastless track plate 200 at the first longitudinal side 204A is less than the thickness T4 of the ballastless track plate 200 at the second longitudinal side 204B. Further, in order to provide adequate support to the ballastless track plate 200, the volume of grout deposited under the ballastless track plate 200 at the first longitudinal side 204A may be greater in the volume of grout deposited under the ballastless track plate 200 at the second longitudinal side 204B. In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may be made of pre-defined thicknesses at the first longitudinal side 204A and the second longitudinal side 204B that provides a predetermined amount of cant. Further, additional cant may be provided by varying the volume of grout under the ballastless track plate 200 at either the first longitudinal side 204A or the second longitudinal side 204B.

In one example, the ballastless track plate 200 may be manufactured by casting using a mould 2600 shown in Figure 26 and 26A. Further, the variation in the thickness may be achieved by using the mould 2600 may be used to the ballastless track plate 200 with uniform thickness and with variable thickness. In one example, the mould 2600 may be positioned horizontally with respect to the ground so that the poured cement is evenly distributed in the mould 2600 and uniform thickness is achieved. In another example, the cement may be poured in the mould 2600 and the mould may be tilted with respect to the ground causing the additional volume of cement to flow towards the inclined side thereby achieve greater thickness at the inclined side. In one example, the difference in the thickness may be based on the tilting angle ?T.

Immediately after casting track plate upside down the first elastomer 236 can be formed directly on bottom surface of track plate with elastic plastic materials such that plastic molecules integrate with green concrete and form tough bond. Applying the elastomer 236 during the casting process helps to eliminate gluing of elastomer layers to track plate. In addition, applying the elastomer 236 also in curing of ballastless track plate 100 concrete by avoiding water escape from the concrete.

The present disclosure also relates to the laying of the railway track 100A using ballastless track plate 200. An exemplary embodiment for laying the railway track 100A is now explained with respect to Figures 1, 21, and 27. The process may include mounting shear connector bars 104 on the deck slab 102. Thereafter, the grout may be poured around the shear connector bars 104. Once poured, inter-connecting plate 230 may be attached to the ballastless track plate 200 and may be placed over the grout. Referring now to Figure 27(A), multiple alignment devices 240 may be placed around the ballastless track plate 200. Referring now to the zoom-in portion, each alignment device 240 may include a foot 242 and a mounting platform 244. In addition, the alignment device 240 may also include a pair of screws 246 that couples the foot 242 and the mounting platform 244 that enables the mounting platform 244 to adjust its height relative to the foot 242. The alignment device 240 may also include a lateral adjuster 248 mounted on the mounting platform 244. The lateral adjuster 248 can be slid sideways along the mounting platform 244. During the installation, the operator to place the ballastless track plate 200 on the alignment devices 240 and the operator may then adjust the mounting platform 244 of all the alignment devices 240 so that all four ends of the ballastless track plate 200 are at the same height. Thereafter, the operator may operate the lateral adjuster 248 of all move the ballastless track plate 200 laterally so that the ballastless track plate 200 is aligned to the adjacent ballastless track plate 200.

Once aligned, the operator may pour self-compacting concrete in the oblong hole 210. Once poured, the wedge lock 212 may be placed be installed at one end of the oblong hole 210 between the ballastless track plate 200 and the grout underneath the ballastless track plate 200 to secure the wedge lock 212 in the oblong hole 210 as shown in Figure 27(B). A similar process is repeated to form the railway track 100A shown in Figure 21 in which the wedge lock 212 is towards the right of each of the ballastless track plate 200. Alternatively, the process may be repeated to form the railway track 100A with two wedge locks 212 facing towards the right and one wedge lock 212 facing the left.

According to the present disclosure, the ballastless track plate 200 enables modularity in manufacturing the railway track 100A. The ballastless track plate 200 also enables the manufacturer to cast the ballastless track plate 200 of varying size and dimensions using a single mould that further reduces the overall manufacturing cost. In addition, the provision of the wedge lock 212 enables easy removal and reinstallation of the ballastless track plate 200.

While specific language has been used to describe the present disclosure, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.
,CLAIMS:I/We Claim:
1. A ballastless track plate (200) comprising:
a base (202) including a first surface (214) facing towards a deck slab and a second surface (216) facing away from the deck slab;
a plurality of first rail seats (206) adjacent to a first longitudinal side (204A) of the second surface (216) and adapted to receive a rail (106A);
a plurality of second rail seats (208) adjacent to a second longitudinal side (204B) of the second surface (216) and adapted to receive another rail (106B);
an oblong hole (210) extending at a center of the track plate (200) between the first surface (214) and the second surface (216) and adapted to receive a shear lock (108); and
a wedge lock (212) removably disposed at an end of the oblong hole (210) and comprising an outer tapered surface adapted to abut an inner surface of the end.

2. The ballastless track plate (200) as claimed in claim 1, comprising:
a front surface (224) orthogonal to the first surface (214) and the second surface (216); and
a back surface (226) opposite to the front surface (224) and orthogonal to the first surface (214) and the second surface (216), wherein each of the front surface (224) and the back surface (226) includes at least one connector to couple the ballastless track plate (200) to an inter-connecting plate (230).

3. The ballastless track plate (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a thickness (T1) of the base (202) at the first longitudinal side (204A) and a thickness (T2) of the base (202) at the second longitudinal side (204B) are same to form straight path by the rails on the first rail seats (206) and the second rail seats (208).

4. The ballastless track plate (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a thickness (T3) of the base (202) at the first longitudinal side (204A) and a thickness (T4) of the base (202) at the second longitudinal side (204B) are different to create a cant between the rails on the first rail seats (206) and rails on the second rail seats (208).

5. The ballastless track plate (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wedge lock (212) includes an inner curved surface (806) defining a crescent shape with the outer tapered surface (802) and adapted to abut the shear lock (108).

6. The ballastless track plate (200) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the wedge lock (212) to removable to enable dislodgment of the track plate (200) with respect to the shear lock (108).

7. The ballastless track plate (200) as claimed in claim 1 comprising:
a pair of derailment guard (218) each along the first longitudinal side (204A) and the second longitudinal side (204B);
a first set of rail seat shoulders (220) on one side of each of the first rail seat (206) and the second rail seat (206); and
a second set of rail seat shoulders (222) along the first longitudinal side (204A) and the second longitudinal side (204B), wherein the second set of rail seat shoulders (222) are integrated to the pair of derailment guards (218).

8. A railway track system (100):
a deck slab (100A);
a plurality of ballastless track plate (200) seated on the deck slab (100A) to form a rail track, each of the ballastless track plate (200) comprising:
a base (202) including a first surface (214) facing towards the deck slab (100A) and a second surface (216) facing away from the deck slab (100A);
a plurality of first rail seats (206) adjacent to a first longitudinal side (204A) of the second surface (216) and adapted to receive a rail (106A);
a plurality of second rail seats (208) adjacent to a second longitudinal side (204B) of the second surface (216) and adapted to receive another rail (106B);
an oblong hole (210) extending at a center of the track plate (200) between the first surface (214) and the second surface (216); and
a wedge lock (212) removably disposed at an end of the oblong hole (210) and comprising a tapered surface adapted to abut an inner surface of the end; and
a plurality of shear locks (108) rigidly coupled to the deck slab (100A) and extending through the oblong hole (210), wherein each shear lock (108) includes a first end adapted to abut an end of the wedge lock (212) and a second end adapted to abut the wedge lock (212).

9. The railway track system (100) as claimed in claim 8, comprising a plurality of pair of inter-connecting plate (230), wherein a pair of inter-connecting plates (230) from amongst the plurality of pair couples adjacent ballastless track plates (200).

10. The railway track system (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein each inter-connecting plate (230) from the pair has the same thickness to align adjacent track plates (200) to form a straight rail track.

11. The railway track system (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein each inter-connecting plate (230) from the pair has different thicknesses to align adjacent track plates (200) to form a curved rail track.

12. The railway track system (100) as claimed in claim 8 comprising:
a plurality of shear connector bar (104) protruding from the deck slab (100A) and adapted to seat the plurality of ballastless track plate (200) on the deck slab (100A), wherein a set of shear connector bars (104) from amongst the plurality of shear connector bar (104) protrudes in the oblong hole (210) and the plurality of shear locks (108) is integrated to the shear connector bar (104), and
grout deposited between the plurality of ballastless track plate (200) and the deck slab (100A), wherein the shear locks (108) are formed by depositing the grout in the oblong hole (210).

13. The railway track system (100) as claimed in claim 8, wherein a thickness (T3) of the base (202) and grout underneath the base (202) at the first longitudinal side (204A) and a thickness (T3) of the base (202) and the grout underneath the base (202) at the first longitudinal side (204A) are different to create a cant between the rails on the first rail seats (206) and rails on the second rail seats (208).

14. The railway track system (100) as claimed in claim 8 comprising:
a first elastomer sandwiched between portions of the first surface (214) underneath the first rail seats (206) and the second rail seats (208) and the deck slab (100A), and adapted to absorb longitudinal forces acting on the ballastless track plate (200), and
a second elastomer sandwiched between a portion of the first surface (214) surrounding the oblong hole (210) and the deck slab (100A), and adapted absorb lateral longitudinal forces acting on the ballastless track plate (200).