THE MODEL RAIL PRODUCED USING VARIOUS TYPES OF RAIL MATERIAL AND ITS PRODUCING METHOD Technical Field The present invention relates, in general, to the production of model rails for miniature trains using wire rods of different metals and, more particularly, to a model rail for miniature trains, and a method of producing such a model rail by primarily rolling a copper wire rod or a red brass. wire rod to form a rail body, and secondarily rolling a stainless steel wire rod, aluminum wire rod or cupronickel wire rod to form a fitting bar which is then seated along the head of the rail body, and finally rolling the rail body having the fitting bar to integrate them into a single body.

Background Art Model rails for model trains have been designed and constructed in the same manner used to design and construct

real rails for real trains. Such model rails have been used to measure the strength and rigidity of real rails. Abrasion resistance and damage resistance of rails caused by frictional contact of rails and the wheels of a train can also be measured using model rails. That is, the model rails may be used as simulated rails for measuring the physical performances of real rails before designing and constructing the real rails.

Such model rails also may be used as rails for miniature trains, which are designed and produced for sale to miniature collectors or persons having interest in driving miniature trains. In such a case, the model rails for such miniature trains are designed and produced in the same manner as real rails for real trains. A miniature train runs along the model rails using energy supplied from an electric power source.

Such miniature trains running along the model rails create a great interest to some people, and are preferably used as an interior decoration.

The model rails related to this invention are designed and produced for sale to miniature collectors or persons having interest in driving miniature trains. The miniature

trains run along the rails using electricity. In order to produce such model rails in the past, a steel wire rod or a copper wire rod having a circular cross-section with a predetermined sectional area is subjected to a primary rolling, thus forming a half-finished rail. Such half- finished rails are, thereafter, subjected to a heat treatment, and are processed through a secondary rolling to form desired model rails. In order to arrange the model rails on an area to form a railway for a miniature train, a plurality of model crossties must be used for supporting the rails. Such model crossties are produced through a plastic injection molding process. The plastic crossties are regularly and fixedly arranged on a foundation bed, which is also produced through a plastic injection molding process. After arranging the plastic crossties on the plastic foundation bed, the model rails are arranged on the crossties to form a desired railway for the miniature train. In such a case, the model rails are each provided with a terminal on their lower surface, and are activated by electricity fed from a power source, moving the train along the railway.

Briefly described, the conventional model rails for

miniature trains have been typically produced by rolling a stainless steel wire rod, a brass wire rod or a cupronickel wire rod to form a desired model rail, which has the same shape as that of a real rail. After arranging the model rails on the foundation bed to form a railway and seating a miniature train on the railway, the rails are electrically activated to move the train along the railway.

Such model rails may be produced using iron. However, the iron model rails are problematic in that they cannot smoothly move a miniature train along the railway since iron is apt to rust and is inferior in its electric conductivity to copper or copper alloys. Therefore, the model rails have been typically produced using yellow brass or cupronickel in an effort to overcome such problems of easy rusting and inferior electric conductivity experienced in the iron model rails.

However, the yellow brass model rails or cupronickel model rails have colors different from that of real rails, and so are limited in winning the favor of collectors. They do not please collectors or persons having interest in driving miniature trains, who want to have model rails and miniature trains with the same colors and appearances as those of real

rails and real trains.

In an effort to provide the brass or cupronickel model rails with the same colors and appearances as those of real rails, the top surfaces of the model rails may be ground through a planing using a grinder. However, the planing is problematic in that it complicates the process of producing the model rails, and increases the production cost of the model rails. The planing is thus not preferably used in the process of producing such model rails for miniature trains.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a model rail for miniature trains, which has the same texture, the same sense of beauty, and the same appearance as those of a real rail, thus winning the favor of miniature collectors or persons having interest in driving miniature trains, who want to have model rails and miniature trains with the same colors and appearances as those of real rails and real trains, and which

has a rail body produced by rolling a copper wire rod or a red brass wire rod, thus having desirably high electric conductivity and overcoming the problem of low electric conductivity experienced in conventional model rails made of iron or cupronickel which may be apt to rust and be inferior in conductivity, and allowing a miniature train to smoothly move along a railway fabricated with such model rails.

In the model rail according to the present invention, the rail body is produced through rolling a copper wire rod or a red brass wire rod, thus having higher electric conductivity than that of conventional model rails made of stainless steel wire rods, yellow brass wire rods, or cupronickel wire rods.

This allows a miniature train to smoothly move along a railway.

In the model rail according to the present invention, a bar holding groove is formed along the head of a rail body made of copper or red brass, while. a fitting bar made of a stainless steel wire rod, an aluminum wire rod, or a cupronickel wire rod is assembled with the rail body by engaging with the bar holding groove. The model rail of this invention has the same color, the same sense of beauty, and

the same appearance as those of a real rail, thus winning the favor of miniature collectors or persons having interest in driving miniature trains, who want to have model rails and miniature trains with the same color and appearance as those of real rails and real trains.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a process of producing model rails in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a model rail according to the primary embodiment of this invention consisting of a rail body and a fitting bar, which are separately produced through rolling different metals; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the model rail according to the primary embodiment of this invention when the fitting bar is completely set in a bar holding groove formed on the top

surface of the rail body; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a model rail according to the second embodiment of this invention consisting of a rail body and a fitting bar, which are separately produced through rolling different metals ; Fig. 5 is. a sectional view of the model rail according to the second embodiment of this invention when the fitting bar is completely fitted over the head of the rail body having a bar holding groove formed along each side surface of the head; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a railway formed by positioning the model rails on crossties regularly arranged on a plastic foundation bed.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.

(Fitting bar forming step, Sl)

This step is to produce a fitting bar 110, which is assembled with the head of a rail body 100 of a model rail M according to this invention. This fitting bar 110 is produced through rolling a stainless steel wire rod, a cupronickel wire rod (70% Cu + 18% Zn + 12% Ni), or an aluminum wire rod. In such a case, the wire rod having a circular cross-section is rolled to form a fitting bar 110 having a desired cross- section.

The cross-section and size of the fitting bar 110 correspond to those of a bar holding groove 101 formed along the head of the rail body 100. In the primary embodiment, the fitting bar 110 has a rectangular cross-section with a fitting flange 111 continuously formed along the lower edge of each side surface of the fitting bar 110 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In order to meet such a cross-section of the fitting bar 110, the bar holding groove 101 has a fitting slit continuously formed along the lower edge of each side surface of the groove 101.

In the present invention, it is preferred to produce the fitting bar 110 through a cold rolling process. The cold rolling process is so-called"a room temperature rolling

process", wherein the rolling is performed at a temperature of not higher than a recrystallization temperature, so the cold rolling process provides a precise fitting bar 110.

In the second embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5, the fitting bar 110 is produced through a rolling process, in which a linear groove 112 is formed along the lower surface of the fitting bar 110. In such a case, each side surface of the linear groove 112 is longitudinally toothed, while each side surface of the head of the rail body 100 of the model rail M is toothed in an axial direction. Therefore, the fitting bar 110 of the second embodiment is fitted over the head of the rail body 100 in a manner similar to that of an LM guide block, which has been widely used in the precision industrial field.

Of course., it should be understood that the construction of the model rail of this invention may be altered from the above-mentioned types as desired by manufacturers or consumers if the alteration does not affect the functioning of this invention.

(Rail body forming step, S2)

After forming the desired fitting bar 110 which has a predetermined cross-section through the fitting bar forming step S1, a rail body 100 is produced through a rail body forming step S2. The fitting bar 110 is integrated with the rail body 100 to form a resulting model rail, along which a miniature train runs. In the rail body forming step S2, a copper wire rod (Cu) or a red brass wire rod (90% CU + 10% Zn) is rolled to form a desired rail body 100 having a predetermined cross-section.

During the rolling process of forming the rail body 100, the bar holding groove 101 is formed along the top surface of the head of the rail body 100 so as to seat the fitting bar 110 produced at the step S1 on the head of the rail body 100.

In order to receive the fitting flanges 111 of the fitting bar 110, a fitting slit 102 is continuously formed along the lower edge of each side surface of the bar holding groove 101. In such a case, the rail body 100 is formed through a cold rolling process.

In a brief description, the fitting bar 110 and the rail body 100 are produced through rolling different metals. That is, the rail body 100 is made of copper (Cu) or red brass (90%

CU + 10% Zn) which easily oxidizes to change its color when coming into contact with atmospheric air, so the rail body 100 has an aged effect as if it was used for a lengthy period of time. The fitting bar 110 seated in the bar holding groove 101 of the head of the rail body 100 is made of stainless steel, cupronickel or aluminum which is white and shiny, so the fitting bar 110 has a shiny effect as if it was abraded due to repeated frictional contact of the rail with the wheels of a train over a lengthy period of time. The model rail made of different metals according to this invention thus has the sense of being real.

In the preferred embodiments of this invention, the rail body 100 and the fitting bar 110 are produced through a rolling process. However, it should be understood that the rail body and the fitting bar may be produced through a drawing process in place of the rolling process without affecting the functioning of this invention.

(Inserting and compressing step, S3) After forming the fitting bar 110 through the step S1 and forming the rail body 100 through the step S2, the fitting bar

110 is inserted in the bar holding groove 101 which is formed along the top surface of the head of the rail body 100. In such a case, the two fitting flanges 111 continuously formed along the lower edges of the opposite side surfaces of the fitting bar 110 are inserted into the fitting slits 102 which are continuously formed along the lower edges of the opposite side surfaces of the bar holding groove 101 formed on the top surface of the rail body 100.

After inserting the fitting bar 110 into the bar holding groove of the rail body 100, the rail body 100 with the fitting bar 110 is secondarily rolled under pressure, thus being compressed. Due to compression through the rolling under pressure, the fitting bar 110 is integrated with the rail body 100 to form a half-finished rail. The half-finished rail is fabricated with two parts made of different metals, so it accomplishes a desired shiny effect as if it was abraded due to repeated frictional contact. In the half-finished rail, the fitting slits 102 of the rail body 100 and the fitting flanges 111 of the fitting bar 110 are compressed together and strongly integrated into a single body, so the fitting bar 110 is not undesirably removed from the rail body

100 regardless of external impact.

(Resulting rail forming step through a third rolling, S4) The half-finished rail, produced through the inserting and compressing step and fabricated with the fitting bar 110 and the rail body 100 made of different metals, is subjected to a third rolling process to form a resulting model rail M having a desired shape and size. The. model rail M is then cut into several pieces each having a predetermined length.

After producing the model rails M, a railway for a miniature train is constructed using the model rails M. In order to lay the railway for the miniature train, a plurality of model crossties 210 produced through a plastic injection molding process are regularly and fixedly arranged on a foundation bed 200, which is also produced through a plastic injection molding process. After arranging the plastic crossties 210 on the plastic foundation bed 200, the model rails M are parallely arranged on the crossties 210 to form a railway section as shown in Fig. 5. In each railway section, a plurality of terminals 220 are set in the bed 200 at

positions under the model rails M, and are connected to the terminals (not shown) of another railway section when assembling the railway sections to construct a desired railway. After constructing the railway using the model rails M, a miniature train is laid on the rails and runs along the rails by electricity supplied from the terminals.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the model rail according to the present invention is fabricated with a rail body 100 made of copper (Cu) or red brass (90% CU + 10% Zn), and a fitting bar 110 made of stainless steel, aluminum or cupronickel and seated along the top surface of the rail body.

The model rail produced using different metals according to the present invention has higher electric conductivity than that of conventional model rails made of stainless steel, yellow brass, or cupronickel. Due to the rail body being made of red brass, the model rail of this invention has a color similar to that of a real rail. In addition, the red brass of the rail body easily oxidizes to change its color when coming