Appeal No. 2001-2378
Application No. 09/479,932
Independent claim 12 sets forth that
said intermediate layer [is] elastic in response to
forces up to a first amount and [is] rigid in
response to forces greater than said first amount
wherein said first amount is equal to about said
maximum stress level [of the rail].
Independent claim 14 is somewhat different in that it
refers
to the intermediate layer as a “decoupling means.”
Specifically,
claim 14 calls for
decoupling means mounted between said securing
device and said sleeper for substantially decoupling
said rail from said sleeper while substantially
preventing stress in said rail from exceeding said
maximum stress level.
The Applied Prior Art
Meier pertains to a support structure for a rail
comprising,
generally, a bearing member 4, a support plate 3, a rail 1
fastened to the support plate, and an molded elastic part 5
mounted between the support plate and the bearing member. An
objective of Meier is to provide a support structure for a
rail
such that gauge widening does not occur in the rail track when
railway cars travel over curved sections of the track. To
this
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007