# Guide rail
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{{Short description|Mechanical device for guiding objects}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2010}}
A '''guide rail''' is a device or mechanism to direct products, vehicles or other objects through a channel, conveyor, roadway or rail system.
Several types of guide rails exist and may be associated with:
* Factory or production line conveyors
* Power tools, such as table saws
* Elevator or lift shafts
* Roadways and bridges (in this context sometimes called [guardrails](/source/Guard_rails_(railroad)))
* A central rail that guides the [rubber tire](/source/rubber_tire)d train of a [rubber tired metro](/source/Rubber-tyred_metro)
==Factory guide rail==
Most factories use guide rails convey products and component parts along an [assembly line](/source/assembly_line). This conveyor system propels products of various sizes, shapes, and dimensions through the factory over the course of their assembly.[[http://www.flexlink.com/ru/Images/11GR.pdf Guide Rail Components section of Flexlink’s catalog]]
==Power tool guide rail==
Accessory to a power tool, such as a straight, swivel or angle jig for a circular saw, and can also be referred to as a fence. The guide rail system provides an acute method of cutting material.[[http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2080310/WoodRiver-Guide-Rail-System.aspx Woodriver Guide Rail System]]
==Elevator shaft guide rail==
Guide rails are part of the inner workings of most elevator and lift shafts, functioning as the vertical, internal track. The guide rails are fixed to two sides of the shaft; one guides the elevator car and the other for the counterweight. In tandem, these rails operate both as stabilization within the shaft during routine use and as a safety system in case of emergency stops.[[http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/elevator3.htm How Stuff Works, Elevators]]
==Roadway guide rail==
{{main|Traffic barrier}}
A '''guide rail''' is a system designed to guide vehicles back to the roadway and away from potentially hazardous situations.[{{cite news |title=Guide Rail: Introduction |url=https://www.clrp.cornell.edu/techassistance/guiderail%20pdfs/GR1%20intro%20bite.pdf |access-date=9 November 2005 |work=Quick Bites |publisher=Cornell Local Roads Program |date=January 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109034308/http://www.clrp.cornell.edu/techassistance/guiderail%20pdfs/GR1%20intro%20bite.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2005}}] There is no legal distinction between a guide rail and a [guard rail](/source/Guard_rail). According to the US [Federal Highway Administration](/source/Federal_Highway_Administration), the terms guardrail and guiderail are synonymous.[{{cite web |title=W-Beam Guardrail |url=http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/policy_guide/road_hardware/ctrmeasures/wbeam/ |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |access-date=8 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208101917/http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway%5Fdept/policy%5Fguide/road%5Fhardware/ctrmeasures/wbeam/ |archive-date=8 December 2010}}]
Several types of roadway guide rail exist; all are engineered to guide vehicular traffic on roads or bridges. Such systems include W-beam, box beam, cable, and concrete barrier. Each system is intended to guide vehicles back onto the road as opposed to guard them from going off the road into potential danger.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
==Railway guide rail==
{{See|Rail profile|Guard rail (rail transport)|Guide bar}}
On the [Sapporo Municipal Subway](/source/Sapporo_Municipal_Subway) a central rail guides the train. The [Lille Metro](/source/Lille_Metro), [Translohr](/source/Translohr) and [Bombardier Guided Light Transit](/source/Bombardier_Guided_Light_Transit) are also guided by a central guide rail.
Image:Sapporo subway rollers.jpg|Sapporo Subway guide rail and flat steel [roll way](/source/roll_way)s
File:Guide rail used in the Translohr guidance system for rubber-tyred trams.jpg|Section of the [Translohr](/source/Translohr) guidance rail (during the [Clermont-Ferrand](/source/Clermont-Ferrand_tramway) installation in 2006)
File:Ligne 1 du métro de Lille Métropole - Garage-atelier des Quatre Cantons (19).JPG|VAL tracks on the [Lille Metro](/source/Lille_Metro) showing the center guide rail and [rollway](/source/rollway)s.
File:BTC 4005.jpg|[Busan Subway Line 4](/source/Busan_Subway_Line_4)
{{multiple image
| align = center
| image1 = TranslohrGuideRail.svg
| width1 = 120
| alt1 =
| caption1 =
| image2 = TVRGeleiding.svg
| width2 = 120
| alt2 =
| caption2 =
| footer = Left: diagram of the [Translohr](/source/Translohr) guide rail (green) and the tram's [guide wheel](/source/guide_wheel)s (red). Right: cross section of the guide [rail](/source/Rail_profile) and guide wheel of the Bombardier's [GLT](/source/Bombardier_Guided_Light_Transit)
}}
{{clear}}
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [Automated guideway transit](/source/Automated_guideway_transit)
* [Baluster](/source/Baluster)
* [Concrete step barrier](/source/Concrete_step_barrier)
* [Crash barrier](/source/Crash_barrier)
* [Flangeways](/source/wagonway)
* [Guard rail](/source/Guard_rail)
* [Guide bar](/source/Guide_bar)
* [Handrail](/source/Handrail)
* [Jersey barrier](/source/Jersey_barrier)
* [Rubber-tyred metro](/source/Rubber-tyred_metro)s
* [Rubber-tyred tram](/source/Rubber-tyred_tram)s
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
Category:Power tools
Category:Safety equipment
Category:Road transport
Category:Rail transport
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Guide rail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_rail) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_rail?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.