US1029970A - Metallic railroad-tie. - Google Patents

Description

W. S. BOYCE.

METALLIC RAILROAD TIE. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 15, 1912.

1,029,970. Patented June 18, 1912.

Hou/m WILLIAM S. BOYCE, O

Iliff larry F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Y -FIQE METALLIC RAILROAD-TIE.

1,029,970. Specication of Application filed January 15, 1912,

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it 4known that I, W'ILLIAM S. Boron, a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and in the State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Metallic Railroad-Ties, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to metallic railroad ties.

I have made my invention after fifteen years activity in railroad construction and I have, therefore, been able to produce a tie which will fulfil all the conditions which must be met and which require a practical acquaintance with or knowledge of the subject, those conditions, briefly set forth, being, economy of manufacture and installation; stability under the trying conditions of use, and in this connection, absolute preservation of the gage and anchorage of the rails against overturning; adequate cushioning; facility of manipulation when repairs or alteration of the road-bed or ballast and removal and replacement of rails are necessary; and suiiicient strength under all conditions, including that of the passage of trains when jacked up from the usual level, as when changes or repairs are in progress.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a tie embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a view partly in longitudinal section and part-ly in side elevation; Figs. 3 and -1 are cross sections on the line 5%*3 and 1f-4, respectively, of Fig. 1; Fig. is a detail view, in perspective of one of the rail pedestals and the rail clamp used therewith, separated; Fig. 6 is a detail view in perspective of one end1 portion of the tie body; Fig. T a detail view in perspective showing the construction at a rail joint; and Fig. S is a detail view in perspective of the washer.

The body 10 of my tie is of channeled or trough form, comprising a botto-ni and two upwardly extending, similar side walls, which preferably slope down from the center, to each end, for the purpose of diminishing the amount of metal so'as to save cost and weight', but with slight sacrifice of strength. It is most conveniently constructed from.` sheet steel. At each end there is an upturned lip or flange 11 and at the eX- tremities of saidlip two downt-urned` spurs Letters Patent. Patented June 18, 1912.

Serial No. 671,286.

12, all simply formed merely by slit-ting the tie bottom and bending the portions between the slits, up and down, as the case may be. The shoulder of the ballast engages each lip 11, and the spurs enter the road bed, and thus secure anchorage of the tie against longitudinal movement, or movement crosswise of the track is obtained, but without in any wise weakening' the tie body. Preferably, at the longitudinal center of the tie body, other small anchoring teeth or spurs 13 are formed by slitting and striking down the bottom and the small apertures thus formed are useful to drain out any water tending to collect in the tie, which, if not disposed of would rust it.

For each rail 14, there is a pedestal that is composed of a flat top or table 15 which receives the rail base, and two downwardly and outwardly diverging legs 16, respectively, on opposite sides of the rail 14, and which incline preferably, but not necessarily at anangle of thirty degrees from the vertical, the outer one of which legs terminates in a horizontal foot 17 which is rigidly secured to the tie bottom, as by rivets 18, while the inner leg ends in a horizontal foot 19, that rests free on the tie bottom so that it may have a limited sliding movement thereon, crosswise of the track, the sliding movement being due to the weight of passing trains upon the pedestal. A rIhe cushioning that practice has shown to be indispensable is thus provided by my form and arrangement of pedestal, but the movement, as has already been noted is only inward under the weight of the train, outward movement, which might result in spread rails, being impossible by reason of the rigid connection of the outer leg and the tie. Various devices may be employed to retain the inner sliding foot in place, and to limit its movement I prefer the one shown, which consists of a strap 20, of sheet steel, that lies over the foot and at its ends isv riveted to the the foot into lwhich the downwardly bent or odset end of the strap lies, said notch being enough wider than the width of the portion of strap therein to permit the desired movement of the sliding foot before it is engaged by the ends of the notch. To sustain the thrust resulting from the inward movement of the foot under a load and tie bottoni, and a notch 21 in each side of 100 stop it, a stop 22 is secured to the tie bottom, which consists of a small plate riveted to the tie bottom and having an upturned end for contact with the end of the foot. A very important advantage flowing from my pedestal construction wherein it is rigidly fixed or anchored on the outer side of the rail, while free to slide at the inner side of therail, is that under the weight of the locomotive the rail will cant inward and thus not only oppose any tendency to overturn outward (which with ordinary constructions is a source of danger) but as the tread of the wheels is slightly inclined upward and outward, the top of the rail head is brought into more extended contact with the wheel tread. The wide spread bearing forlned by the diverging legs of the pedestal is an important element of strength, since thereby the load falling upon the rail is distributed over a wide area.

It will be noted that I not only use no construction which requires cutting away any part of the tie near the rail, but in fact I stiften it where its greatest stiffness and strength should be, by riveting the outer pedestal foot thereto and by riveting the strap 20 over the inner foot thereto.

The rail is secured to the pedestal by engaging its flange on one side by a pair of upwardly and inwardly turned hook-form lugs 23 at opposite ends of the pedestal top or table, and by engaging its flange on the opposite side by a removable clamp 24 that reaches entirely across the pedestal table top from end to end, and has at each end a downwardly and inwardly turned hook 25 which passes under a horizontal lip or flange 26 of the pedestal top which is left by cutting metal to form the narrower pedestal leg. The clamp 24 is projected for its length between the two hooks 25 and offset vert-ically so that it may properly overlie the rail flange, and it is held in place by a single bolt 27 that is hook-shaped so as to provide a vertical portion that extends through a hole 28 in the clamp, and a slot 29 in the pedestal top, and a horizontal portion that passes through a hole 30 in one of the legs 1G, and outside the latter has a nut 31 between which and the inclined surface of the leg is interposed a washer 32 having an inclined leg engaging face. The upper end of the vertical portion of the bolt 27 has a head for suitable engagement with the clamp 24. The single bolt is enough in view of the fact that the clamp 24 has the hooks 25 to engage the pedestal top. It will be evident that my rail securing devices are exceedingly simple, requiring a minimum of time for application and removal, and yet constitute an amply strong connection between the rail and the pedestal and one that prevents overturning of the rail under lateral pressure from the train wheel flanges. I preferably of some means to prevent it, and for the prevention of which special devices have heretofore been necessary. I thus avoid the necessity of any special devices to prevent creeping of the rail. I preferably locate the stationary rail-engaging lugs 23 at the inner side of the rail and the clamp 24C at the outer side thereof for one rail and vice versa for the other rail, so as always to maintain the gage of the track even though rails differing in weight may be used, because though the width of the rail base may be increased, the rail head increases correspondingly in the usual railroad practice, and hence, the gage remains the same, and the only thing to be taken into account is the varying position with different rails of the outer flange in one case and the inner flange in the other case, and compensation for that is provided by having the movable clamp 24 on the outer and inner sides, respectively. It will be observed that with the exception of the rivets, nuts and bolts all the parts of my tie may be made of sheet steel, and all the sheet steel members can be made of steel the same gage or thickness excepting that it may be desirable to make the pedestals of heavier and more elast-ic material, and hence economy in the cost of manufacture is secured. The pedestals, of course, have suliicient elasticity so as to return to their normal condition when the load is off the rail.

There rail joints come, I form one joint plate simply by connecting two clamps 24C and extending a vertical flange at the inner edge to fit against the rail web, on one side, and on the other side of the web use an angle bar, the horizontal member of the angle bar being cut away to clear the lixed lugs on the pedestals. The joint construction is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 7, referring to which, and at the left of Figs. l and 2, it will be seen that two clamps 24 are formed of an angle bar, whose horizontal member is bent at its ends to form the hooks 25 thereat, and it is slit and bent in opposite directions at its midlength to form the two pedestalengaging hooks 250, the portion of the angle bar between the` two ,clamps overlying the rail flange and web. On the opposite side of the rail at the joint is an angle bar 33 whose flangeengaging horizontal member is cut away to clear the pedestal lugs 23. Besides producing an entirely satisfactory joint, the strength and stiffness of the track structure is contributed to by tying together adjoining ties at a joint by the connection that is aorded through the pedestals thereof.

I take advantage of the inclined surfaces of contact between the pedestal legs and the washers which prevents accidental turning `ually deepens from t-he center of the washer outward into engagement with which any one of the four corners of a squarel nut will pass and with sufficient pressure to prevent accidental turning of the nut, yet will permit the nut to be unscrewed by means of a proper wrench.

I have already pointed out some of the advantages from my construction and wherein the practical requirements are fulfilled thereby. Others that may be mentioned are the facility with which tamping of the ballast may be done due to the formation of the under surface of the tie and the absence of any constr'uct-ion that would hinder tamping; the possession of suoli strength that when the track is raised for heavy surfacing, and tamping only at the ends, which must be done without interference with tratlic, trains may safely pass with the track in its raised or jacked up position; and the impossibility when the track is temporarily raised of the tie becoming detached from the rail and dropping, as is the case sometimes when ordinary spikes and wooden ties are used, the connection that I employ between the pedesta-ls and the rails being such as to prevent this occurrence. By reason of the inclination of the legs of .the pedestal, it will be seen that strains resulting from outward pressure of the wheel flanges on the rails are practically directly resisted by the outer legs.

Then my ties are to be used upon bridges and viaducts, in which cases it will be mounted upon iron girders, all that is necessary to do is to provide suitable clamps on the under side of the ties to engage the girder flanges. In the cases of switches and frogs, it is necessary, of course, merely to increase the number' of pedestals on a given tie and lengthen the tie, if necessary, according to the number of rails to be supported.

Should it be found in any case necessary to supplement the outer legs 16 of the pedestal to prevent any downward deflection or depression of the rail as a whole, that may be done by providing merely a vertical brace extending from the bottom of the tie body to which it may be riveted to the underside of the pedestal table where the outer leg joins it.

ItI is to be understood that changes in form and proportions of parts from what is illustrated in the drawings, as an embodilment of my invention, may be made without departure from the principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body, and separate supports for the rails consisting each of a pedestal lixed to the tie body at the outer side of the rail and movably resting on the tie body at the inner side of the rail. and having between the tie-engaging portions a rail receiving table that is elevated and spaced from the body.

2. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body, and separate supports for the rails consisting each of a pedestal fixed to the tie body at the outer side of the rail and movably resting onthe tie body at the inner side of the rail, and having between the tieengaging portions a rail receiving table that is elevated and spaced from the body, the connection between the table and the tie-engaging portions being formed by down-k wardly and outwardly diverging legs.

3. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body, a pedestal for each rail consisting of a rail-engaging table, inclined legs extending downwardly from the table, the outer one of said legs being rigidly secured to the tie body, and the otherleg be ing in slidable engagement with the tie body, and a strap overlying the foot of the inner leg.

4. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body, a pedestal for each rail consistin g of a rail-engaging table, inclined legs extending downwardly from the table, the outer one of said legs being rigidly secured to the tie body, and the other leg being in slidable engagement with the tie body, and a strap overlying the foot of the inner leg, said foot being notched at opposite sides to receive portions of said strap.

5. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body, a pedestal for each rail consisting of a rail-engaging table, inclined legs extending downwardly from the table, the outer one of said legs being rigidly secured to the tie body, and the other leg being in slidable engagement with the tie body, a strap overlying the foot of the inner leg, and means to limit the sliding movement of said inner leg.

6. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body composed of a bottom member and vertical side members, and separate supports for the rails consisting each of a pedestal fixed to the tie body at the outer side of the rail and movably resting on the tie body atl the inner side of the rail, and having between the tie-engaging portions a rail-receiving table that is elevated and spaced from the body.

7. In a railroad tie, the combination of a tie body, a pedestal having a rail-receiving table, and legs extending downward therefrom to the tie body, fixed rail flange engaging means at the inner side of the rail, a movable rail fiange engaging means at the outer side of the rail, and a bolt having a vertical portion passing through an opening in the pedestal and engaging said movable rail-flange-engaging means, and a portion extending horizontally through one of the legs and having a nut out side of' the latter.

8. In a railroad tie, the combination of a tie body, a pedestal having a rail-receiving table, and legs extending downward therefrom to the tie body, lugs formed integrally with thepedestal to engage the rail flange on one side, a clamp consisting of a bar situated at the opposite side of the rail having hooks at its ends to engage the pedestal table, and means to secure said clamp in position consisting of a bolt engaging the bar at a point between its ends, and thence. passing down through alining holes in bar and pedestal table, and beneath the latter and through the pedestal leg at the opposite side of the rail.

9. In a railroad tie, the combination of a metal tie body having at each end an upwardly turned ballast-engaging lip, and at the ends of said lip downwardly turned road bed engaging spurs, and means for attaching rails to said tie.

l0. In a railroad tie, the combination olv a metal tie body having at cach end an upwardly turned ballast-engaging lip, and at the ends 0f said lip downwardly turned road bed engaging spurs, downwardly eX- tending spurs intermediate the ends of the tie body formed by striking metal therefrom, the holes thus formed serving as drainage openings, and means for attaching rails to said tie.

11. In a railroad tie, the combination of' the bodies having each a pedestal with a rail-receiving table, and rail clamping means comprising rail-engaging members on opposite sides of the rail, one of said members consisting of an angle bar whose vertical flange engages the web of the rail, and whose horizontal flange extends from the pedestal of one tie to the pedestal of another tie, said horizontal flange having oppositely disposed pedestal-engaging hooks, lips on opposite edges of' the table under which the hooks project. and bolts connecting said angle bar and said pedestals.

12. In a railroad tie, the combination of a tie body, a pedestal having a rail-receiving table and legs extending downward therefrom to the tie body, and a rail clamp comprising /a bar engaging the rail flange on one side having hooks at its ends to engage the pedestal table, and a bolt having a portion passing downward from the top of the bar through openings therein and in the pedestal top, and a portion extending below the pedestal top through the pedestal leg on the opposite side and having securing means on the outside of said leg.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

VILLIAM S. BOYCE.

lVitnesses JAMES H. MARR, A. T. HAYES.

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

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