Importance

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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.

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First Claim