US1013023A - Railroad-tie and fastening. - Google Patents

Description

J. L. KIMBALL.

RAILROAD TIE AND FASTENING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1911.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

fizea 6.65.

coLumBlA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINGTON. D. c

JAMES L. KIMBALL, OF VIRGINIA, MINNESOTA.

RAILROAD-TIE AND FASTENING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911 Application filed September 27, 1911. Serial No. 651,627.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES L. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Virginia, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Ties and Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference to railroad ties of the type shown and described in my prior Patent, No. 993,254, granted May 24:, 1911.

It comprehends certain lmprovements n or relating to the construction of the tie proper, and the locks provided for the purpose of holding the spikes against distortion and accidental displacement.

A structural embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, whereof Figure l is a plan view of the lmproved tie complete; Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of one end of the tie; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a perspective view of one of the boxes included in the-tie proper; Flg. 5 is a plan view of one of the locking tongues; and Fig. 6 is a broken side elevation of a modification.

As shown in said drawing, the tie proper, which is indicated generally by the numeral 1, comprises a metal shell 2 and a pair of metal boxes 3 connected to the ends of said shell. These boxes are constructed of channel steel or pressed steel plate and are opentopped and rectangular in shape; the portions of the blank which form the vertical sides 4 terminate short of the ends 5 of the blank, the said ends being bent upwardly flush against the end edges of the sides, as depicted in Fig. 4. The shell 2 is likewise of U- or channel-section, and is of a slightlygreater width than the boxes, so as to admit of its being fitted over the latter when inverted, in which instance its depending sides 6 will fit flush against the sides of the boxes; it is supported in this position by the said box sides and rests upon the upper longitudinal edges thereof, the shell and boxes being fastened together by suitable bolts 7 which are passed through registering openings in the overlapping sides 4 and 6. The length of the boxes is approximately onethird that of the shell.

To the under face of the top or roof of the shell, at each end thereof, isattaohed a pair of spring locking-tongues 8 Whichare substantially of the same shape and are disposed in the same manner as those shown and described in my prior patent above identified; that is to say, they are secured at one end to the shell, extend past each other in opposite directions, and normally bear in fiat condition against the under face of the shell top. Their free ends are cut away at one corner, thus producing a forwardly-extending finger 9 and a transverse shoulder 10 at one side of the base thereof.

The headed spikes 11 employed to fasten the rails 12 to the tie are passed through rectangular holes or openings 13 formed through the shell body at the proper points,

and the arrangement of the tongues 8 with respect to these openings is such that the latter lie directly above the shoulders 10 on said tongues, as depicted in Fig. 2; or, stated otherwise, the aforesaid shoulders extend a slight distance below the openings. In consequence, when the spikes are inserted through said openings, they will engage the shoulders and cause the spring tongues to bend or flex, the stress occasioned by such tensioning being exerted directly against the adjacent flat faces of the-spikes.

To coact with the above-described locking springs in retaining the spikes in place, bearings are employed, as in the former construction. These bearings are provided upon the boxes, in the present instance, rather than upon the shell, and they are produced by slitting the box sides to form the tongues 14 shown in Fig. 4, which tongues are bent inwardly and downwardly so as to project horizontally above and across the box bottoms. Said tongues 1a are so located as to extend across in engagement, or substantially so, with the opposite faces of the spikes from those engaged by the shoulders 10, the arrangement being such that the spikes are braced by the tongues against the pressure exerted upon them by the spring tongues 8; accordingly, the coaction between the two sets of tongues 8 and 14 will serve not only to forcibly retain the spikes in position, but, also, to prevent lateral tilting of the same in a direction parallel to the rails. In order to admit of withdrawal of the spikes, however, when necessary, there is formed through the shell adjacent each spike opening 13 and directly above the finger 9 on the corresponding spring tongue, a second opening 16 through which, as in the earlier construction, a suitable implement may be inserted, to depress the free end of the spring tongue and thus disengage its shoulder 10 from the spike.

It will be observed from the foregoing that the boxes require no bolts or rivet-s to hold their parts together, and, further, that the spike locks are completely inclosed within the boxes and, hence, are protected from contact with ballast, snow and mud.

The tie, as a whole, may be tamped in the usual manner, and the inner ends of the boxes pull against each other, in a sense, in the ballast, thus serving to hold the track rails in line. The central portion of the tie is rendered more or less springy by reason of the space between the boxes. It is finally to be noted that each spike is engaged by the inner edge of the finger of the corresponding spring tongue, in addition to the shoulder on that tongue and the adjacent edge of the box tongue, and that the edge of the latter and the shoulder on the aforesaid spring tongue are approximately parallel.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6 the two separate boxes 5 at the ends of the shell are replaced by a single box which is coextensive in length with said shell, the ends of this box being provided with tongues which are in every respect identical with the tongues 14 employed in the duplex box construction. The single box construction is designed especially for switch ties and head blocks.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a railroad tie, the combination of a shell of inverted channel-section having its top formed with spike openings; an opentopped box of channel-section having its opposite sides overlapped by the sides of the shell and formed with inwardly-extending tongues adapted to engage the spikes passed through said openings; locking springs secured to the under face of the shell top and having their free ends adapted to forcibly engage said spikes at the opposite side from the first-named tongues, whereby the spikes I are held between said first and second-named tongues and are braced by the former against the pressure of the latter; and fastening devices passed through the overlapping sides of said shell and box, to connect the same together.

2. In a railroad tie, the combination of a shell of inverted channel-section having its top formed with spike openings; an opentopped box of channel-section having its opposite sides overlapped by the sides .of the shell, thesides of said box being slotted to produce tongues which are adapted to be bent inwardly and downwardly into horizontal position, for engaging the adjacent faces of the spikes passed through said open ings; locking springs secured to the under face of the shell top and having their free ends provided with transverse shoulders and with longitudinal fingers, said shoulders being adapted to forcibly engage said spikes at the opposite side from the first-named tongues, and said fingers extending across said spikes, whereby the spikes are held between said fingers and said firstand secondnamed tongues and are braced by the firstnamed tongues against the pressure of the second-named tongues; and fastening devices passed through the overlapping sides of said shell and box, to connect the same together.

3. In a railroad tie, the combination of a shell of inverted channel-section; an opentopped box of channel-section disposed beneath and connected to each end of the shell and having its opposite sides overlapped by the sides of said shell, the ends of each box being bent upwardly against the end edges of the sides of that box to close the interior thereof, and the inner ends of said boxes being spaced from each other; and spike locks disposed at each end of the tie within the corresponding box.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES L. KIMBALL.

l/Vitnesses WVH. J. ARCHER,

NOBLE KIRKBY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

Images