The invention relates to a rail expansion device comprising a stock rail and a tongue rail, which can be shifted longitudinally relative to each other and are in contact under the application of force acting transversely relative to the rail longitudinal direction.
Rail expansion devices—also known as expansion joints—are installed for example in the area of bridges in order to allow relative movements between edifice and track. For this purpose, the tongue rail is arranged moveable relative to the stock rail. For this purpose, the tongue rail, for example, can be immobilized between the stock rail and a fixed clamping jaw on the opposite side. As explained in for example DE-A-1 534 052, tongue rail foot and stock rail foot originate from a common baseplate.
In a rail expansion device according to WO-A-93/23624 a stock rail is arranged moveable relative to a tongue rail, whereby the tongue rail is machined to match the curvature of the stock rail.
An expansion joint for grooved rails according to DE-A-195 25 135 features a section of track welded to a guide plate, whereby the guide plate is arranged on a sliding element displaceable along the longitudinal direction of the expansion joint.
In rail expansion devices known in the art, the tongue rails are usually welded to the adjoining control rail. Expensive work has to be performed if replacement of the tongue rail is made necessary by its state of wear. Moreover, not all materials can be welded together, resulting in the disadvantage that hard-to-weld, long-wearing steel types are not used.