US1126505A - Rail-chair. - Google Patents

Description

A. G. LIEBMANN.

RAIL CHAIR.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.28,1913.

11,126,505. Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

"flfTYE STATES PATENT OFFIQ.

AUGUST G. LIEBMANN, OF BUTTE, MONTANA, ASSIG NOR TO VIGNOLES RAIL CHAIR COMPANY, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

RAIL-CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUcUs'r G. LIEBMANN, citizen of the United States, residing at Butte, in the county of Silverbow and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail- Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to track appliance and particularly to chairs for attaching the rails of the track to ties thereof.

The primary object of the invention is to do away with the necessity of spiking the rail directly to the ties, and to provide a construction wherein primary and secondary fastening means are used, the primary means holding the chair permanently to the tie while the secondary means holds the rail adjustably to the chair thus providing for a vertical and lateral adjustment of the rail with relation to the chair without the necessity of removing the primary fastening devices.

With the increase of mileage in the United States, the decrease of timber proper for ties and the increase in weight of rolling stock and speed of trains, it becomes every day more vitally necessary than some better means should be provided for holding the rail to the tie than by the use of spikes engaging in direct contact with the flange of the rail. There are many objections to the use of spikes as rail fastening means. When the rail has to be adjusted for gage or the level of the rail is even slightly changed, it is necessary to pull the spikes, adjust the rail and then redrive the spikes. This holds true of both out and screw spikes. The spikes can not be redriven in the same openings again but have to be redriven in different places, as a spike replaced in a hole that has once been used results in a de cided decreased holding power of the spike. The constant shock and jar given to the rail by passing trains and the undulatory movement communicated to the rail all tend to loosen the spikes in the tie and to partially withdraw these spikes. As a consequence the rail soon becomes loose and is therefore liable to spread under lateral thrust. The spikes then have to be redriven in a new place and the tie soon becomes what is known as spiked to death, even though the tie is otherwise in good condition. Furthermore, the crushing action of the spikes upon the fiber of the wood tends to the very rapid deterioration of the tie and consequent disintegration. Screw spikes have been used to some extent to replace the driven out spikes. This form of spike not only prevents wear of the tie and of the wood around the spike but also increases the general stability of the track, provided, however, that the spike once driven remains intact and permanent in the tie. The use of screw spikes, however, in place of driven spikes does not provide for any adjustment of the rail as the screw spikes have to be removed and replaced whenever the rail is adjusted either for gage or for elevation on shims necessitating considerable outlay for labor and decreasing the life of the tie as new holes are made to render a stability of holding power. The old holes, even though plugged up, permit the entrance of water and thus cause decay. The purpose of my invention, therefore, is to provide a firm support for the rail which shall em body certain advantageous features of the present tie plate by distributing the weight of the rail more uniformly over the face of the tie and at the same time provide for the primary attachment of the rail to the tie through the chair by means of screw spikes and provide adjustable means for clamping the rail firmly down upon the bed plate of the chair.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a chair, the body of which is capable of being made from or similar to an ordinary structural form element readily manufactured by rolling and pressing. This is an important feature in View of the fact that rail chairs to be practical must be made at relatively small cost and yet have the maximum strength and rigidity to resist the 9 strains and stresses to which the rail and chair are subjected.

A further object of the invention is to provide rail clamping means supported upon the chair and laterally adjustable relative thereto or vertically adjustable so that when it is desired to vertically adjust the rail, shims of greater or less thickness may be inserted between the rail and the bed plate.

A further object is to provide means whereby the clamping members which engage the rail may be held in locked engagement with the bed plate or body of the chair and forced tightly down upon the flange of the rail.

A further object is to provide two separate means for wedging the rail engaging clamping members downward so as to hold the rail securely to its seat so that in case one of these members does not properly draw down upon the rail clamps, the other one will do so.

A further object is to provide means for wedging the clamping members down upon the chair and laterally against the rail to prevent rattling.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide a rail chair that will allow for a maximum thickness of shims during winter months in localities where the natural drainage is poor.

A further object is to provide a chair construction which will securely and firmly hold the rail clamping members down upon the chair so as to resist any tendency of the rail to tip, these rail clamping members being so constructed as to present a relatively large area for engagement with the rail base.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a tie, a rail chair constructed in accordance with my invention and a rail supported thereon. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rail and rail chair, the tie being in section. Fig. 3 is a. plan view of the rail chair and rail illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a perspective detail view of one of the drift bolts whereby the clamping members are locked to the chair. Fig. 5 is an end view on a small scale of the body portion of the chair to illustrate its construction from a standard structural element.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and inclicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

In these drawings, A designates the tie and B the rail. The tie may be of any ordinary construction but is illustrated as a wooden tie. The rail is of any standard form.

Disposed upon the face of the tie and be neath the rail is the bed plate 2. This bed plate is formed at its margins with the downwardly deflected heads 3 constituting abutments. Each of these heads is longitudinally recessed as at 1, that is, the head is formed with an under lip and an upper lip or flange curved so as to form an open nearly cylindrical head 5. These heads or abutments 3 are downwardly deflected so as to engage the side faces of the tie as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Each head 3 is slotted as at 6, there being two of these slots and spaced from each other a distance somewhat greater than the width of a rail base. At the opposite ends of the bed plate 2 and disposed along the median line of the bed plate are the upwardly extending abutments 7, these abutments being formed integral with the bed plate. Each abutment has a vertical inner face 8 and an outwardly and downwardly inclined outer edge face. Each abutment is formed with a transversely ex tending slot 9 spaced intermediate the upper and lower ends of the abutment. The bed plate is formed at its corners with apertures through which pass the screw spikes 10, these spikes being of the ordinary standard form and holding the bed plate securely to the tie. These screw spikes l0 constitute the primary means of holding the rail to the tie through the inter-mediation of the chair.

Mounted upon the chair between the abutments 7 are the clamping members 11. There are two of these clamping members, one on each side of the rail and both of them are alike. Each clamping member comprises a plate adapted torest flat upon the face of the bed plate and having a length equal to the width of the bed plate which in turn is equal to the width of the tie. Each plate 11 is formed with an upwardly and inwardly extending lip or flange 12 adapted to engage over the base flange of the rail and to extend nearly to the web of the rail. Each plate 11 outward of the lip 01' flange 12 is transversely slotted or mortised as at 13 to receive the corresponding abutment 7 and to have sliding engagement with said abutment laterally. The thickness of the plate 11 is such that when the plate 11 is in place, the upper face of the plate outward of the flange or lip 12 will be approximately level with the lower wall of the slot 9 in the corresponding abutment. It is to be noted that when the rail clamps are in place there is a space left between the inner edges of the plates 11, this space be ing shown most plainly in Fig. 1. 7

Each end of each plate 11 on a line just rearward of the base of the flange or lip 12 is formed with a downwardly projecting extension 15 which is adapted to be inserted in the slots 6 out in the side edges of the bed plate 2. It is to be noted that the slots 6 are wider than the thickness of the extensions 15 so as to permit the rail clamps to be shift ed laterally. Each of these extensions 15 is formed with transversely extending drift bolt passages 16, each passage having a lateral extension or enlargement designated 16*, this enlargement extending downward and outward as illustrated in Fig. 1. I hare illustrated two of these perforations or passages 16 in each of the wings or extensions 15 but I do not wish to be limited to this number. These passages 16 are arranged in vertical relation and the passages in the extensions of one clamping member aline with the passages in the extensions of the other clamping member to permit the passage of transversely extending drift bolts 17 These drift bolts have a body portion nearly circular in cross section and each drift bolt is formed with a radially projecting fin 18 which engages in the extension 16 of each aperture 16. This fin 18 has an outer face which is inclined to the longitudinal axis of the drift bolt and constitutes therefore a wedging face so that the drift bolt as a whole constitutes a wedge. The apertures 16 and the interior of the heads 3 are of such size as to snugly receive the drift bolts 17. It will be seen that when the drift bolts are forced inward, the wedging face of the fin 18 will act to force the wings or extensions 15 downward and outward, thus holding the rail clamps securely upon the bed plate, but that by loosening these bolts, [the rail clamps are loosened so as to permit a fine shim to be inserted between the rail clamps and the bed plate. By shifting the drift bolts from the upper apertures 16 to the lower apertures in the extensions, the clamps will be held in a raised position so as to permit a relatively thick shim to be inserted beneath the rail clamps and the bed plate.

The bolts are held from removal by any suitable means such as the cotter pins 19. For the purpose of laterally adjusting the clamps relative to the bed plate and thereby loosely adjusting the rail so as to bring the rail to gage, I provide the wedges 20, one for each of the abutments and passing through the slots 9 in said abutments. These wedges have a beveled inner face as illustrated in Fig. 3 which has wedging engagement with the base of the lip or flange 12 on the corresponding clamping member. It will be obvious therefore that when the wedge is driven in, it will force the corresponding rail clamp tightly against the rail, or if the opposite wedge be driven out to a desired extent, the action of the first wedge will be to shift both rail clamps and the rail laterally with relation to the chair.

WVhile the wedges 20 are primarily for the purpose of adjusting the rail laterally and urging the clamps firmly against the flange of the rail, these wedges 20 may also be used for holding down the clamping plates upon the bed plate and thus preventing any rattling. To this end these wedges 20 have an inclined upper face as illustrated in Fig. 2, the base of each wedge being approximately equal to the distance between centers of the apertures or perforations 16. Thus when the rail clamps are raised by the introduction of a very thick shim, the smallest portion of the wedge will be engaged through the corresponding abutment while when no shim is used or a very thin shim, the butt end of the wedge will engage with the corresponding abutment as shown in Fig. 2. These wedges may be held locked in any desired manner as by the use of bolts passing through perforations 21 in the wedges. Cotter pins might be used, however, for this purpose.

It is to be noted that the drift bolts are held in position by cotter pins and not by nuts or bolts. The reason for this is that these drift bolts are often buried under ballast and in winter water is liable to collect around the bolts and nuts and the nuts rust and become very diflicult to remove. This is obviously not the case where cotter pins or like fastening devices are used.

The Final Report of the Block Signal and Train Control Board of the Interstate Commerce Commission dated June 29, 1912, lays down certain requirements for ties and track fastenings. Among other things, it states that it is not sufficient that the rail should support vertical loads and resist direct and horizontal thrust and creeping but that the overturning thrust upon the rail must be resisted, and in order that the tie may properly support the stresses transmitted to it by the rail a suitable fastening of the rails to the ties is most essential. This report further states that under the conditions existing on a large number of the railroads in this country, the means of adjustment of rail to tie must be such as to admit of a blocking up or shimming, and that this involves the use of adjustable fastenings which must however have a minimum of complication with consequent chance for lost motion. It will be noted that my improved chair conforms to the requirements above laid down in that it does support the rail against overturning or tipping as well as against the horizontal or vertical thrusts and that it does provide means for shimming and for adjustment to gage.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a section of Lackawanna steel piling for the purpose of illustrating the structural form from which my improved chair may be made. The form illustrated in Fig. 5 is a well known form, easily rolled and easily pressed into shape and hence it will be seen that by forming the bed plate from this structural element it is possible to make it very cheap and by well known mechanical processes.

What I claim is:

1. A rail chair including a bed plate, rail clamping means supported upon the bed plate, and means extending below the level of the bed plate engaging the clamping means and the bed plate and locking the two together.

2. A rail chair including a bed plate, rail clamping means disposed upon the bed plate and laterally shiftable with relation thereto, and means extending below the level of the upper face of the bed plate and having interlocking engagement with the bed plate but shiftable with relation thereto, said means engaging the rail clamping means to hold it in proper position relative to the bed plate.

3. A rail chair including a bed plate hav ing depending tie engaging abutments, rail clamping members extending over the bed plate, and means engaging the abutments and the rail clamping members and interlocking the rail clamping members to the bed plate, said means being vertically adjustable.

4:. A rail chair including a bed plate, rail clamping members disposed upon the bed plate, adjustable means for drawing the clamping members down toward the bed plate, and adjustable means for shifting the clamping members laterally relative to the bed plate and forcing the clamping members down toward the bed plate.

5. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges provided with enlarged portions formed with transversely extending hollow beads cut away at spaced points, rail clamping members disposed upon the bed plate and having portions extending through the cutaway parts of the beads, and looking means engaging both the clamping members and said beads and locking the bed plate and clamping members together.

6. A rail chair including a bed plate having hollow members at its ends, rail clamping members mounted upon the bed plate and having downwardly disposed extensions formed each with a plurality of openings adapted to aline with said hollow members, and locking means extending through the hollow members and through said openings and locking the clamping members to the bed plate.

7. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges formed with enlarged portions downwardly deflected to engage against the sides of a tie, said enlarged portions being formed with transverse recesses and being cut away at spaced points, rail clamping members disposed upon the bed plate, each of said rail clamping members having depending extensions at its ends adapted to be received in the cutaway portions of the enlargements of the bed plate, said extensions having a vertical series of openings, and transversely extending wedging members passing through the recesses of the enlarged portions and through the open ings of the extensions whereby the wedges may be adjusted to lock the rail clamping devices to the bed plate.

8. A rail chair including a bed plate having transversely extending recesses at its side edges and vertically disposed abutments spaced from each other a distance greater than the width of the base of a rail, oppositely disposed independent rail clamping devices mounted between said abutments and having portions intersecting the recessed portions of the bed plate, and means passing through said recessed portions of the bed plate and through the intersecting portions of the rail clamping devices for locking the clamping devices to the bed plate.

9. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges formed with transversely extending recesses, the face of the bed plate being formed with upstanding abutments spaced from each other a distance greater than the width of a rail base, oppositely disposed, rail clamping devices disposed upon the face of the bed plate between said abutments and having portions thereof downwardly extended to intersect the recessed portions of the bed plate, and 'wedging members passing through said recessed portions and said extensions of the clamping members whereby said clamping members may be forced downward upon the bed plate.

10. A rail chair including a bed plate having oppositely disposed upstanding abutments on its ends, oppositely disposed rail clamping members independently movable with relation to each other disposed between said abutments and having horizontal portions embracing each a corresponding abutment, and wedges, one for each abutment passing through the abutment and bearing upon the face of said horizontal portion.

11. A rail chair including a bed plate having oppositely disposed upstanding abutments, oppositely disposed rail clamping members independently movable with relation to each other disposed between said abutments and having horizontal portions embracing each a corresponding abutment, and wedges one for each abutment passing through the abutment and bearing upon the face of said horizontal portion, each of said wedges having one of its side faces inclined and bearing against the adjacent clamping member whereby to force the clamping members laterally toward the rail.

12. A rail chair including a bed plate having at its ends upwardly extending abutments, oppositely disposed rail clamps each embodying a plate having an upwardly and inwardly extending lip upon its upper face adapted to engage over a rail base, each of said abutments being formed with stepped faces beneath one of which faces the rail clamp is disposed, and a wedging member engaging beneath the other of said stepped faces and engaging over said rail clamp.

18. A rail chair including a bed plate having at its ends upwardly extending abutments, oppositely disposed rail. clamps each embodying a plate having an upwardly and inwardly extending lip upon its upper face adapted to engage over a rail base, and wedge members passing through each abutment and having each an inclined lateral face, the under face of each wedge member bearing against the upper face of the clamping plate and one of the lateral faces bearing against the base of the rail engaging lip or flange whereby the rail clamping members may be forced toward each other and against the rail.

14:. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges enlarged to form open beads or bulbs, said beads or bulbs also being open at their ends and being cut away at spaced points, upwardly extending abutments formed upon the upper face of the bed plate extending transverse to the line of the rail supported on the bed plate and spaced from each other a distance greater than the width of the rail, rail clamping members disposed upon each side of the rail and comprising each a plate adapted to rest beneath the rail base and upon the bed plate, each clamping plate having upon its upper face an upwardly turned lip or flange adapted to engage over the face of a rail base, each clamping plate being cut away at its middle to embrace the corresponding abutment, wedges extending through the abutments immediately above the clamping plates and having wedging engagement with the faces of said rail engaging lips or flanges, said clamping plates each having oppositely disposed depending extensions adapted to be received in the cutaway portion of the beads, each of said extensions being provided with a plurality of vertically disposed apertures, and drift bolts having wedging faces disposed through the beads and through the apertures in said extensions and acting to hold the rail clamping members into firm engagement with the face of the bed plate.

15. A rail chair including a bed-plate having abutments extending upwardly and downwardly from the horizontal plane of said bed-plate, laterally and vertically adjustable rail clamping members co-acting with a rail and said abutments, and means for locking the rail clamping members in adjusted positions.

16. A rail chair including a bed-plate having abutments extending above and below the horizontal plane thereof, rail clamping members adjustable laterally and vertically with respect to the bed-plate, and means passing through the lower abutments and clamping members for holding said clamping members in different positions of adjustment.

17. A rail chair including a bed-plate having abutments extending upwardly and downwardly from the horizontal plane of the bed-plate, rail clamping members ad;

justable laterally and vertically with respect to the bcd-plate, means passing through the lower abutments and railclamping members for holding said rail clamping members in different positions of vertical adjustment, and means passing through the upper abutments and engaging the rail clamping members for shifting said rail clamping members laterally and holding them in adjusted position.

18. A rail chair including a bed-plate having spaced upstanding abutments, rail clamping members disposed between said abutments and adjustable laterally and vertically with respect to the bed-plate, and means extending below the bed-plate at its sides for holding said rail clamping members in vertically adjusted positions.

' 19. In a rail chair, the combination with a bed-plate having depending abutments for engagement with a sub-structure and provided with upstanding abutments arranged between the depending abutments, of a rail adjustable laterally and vertically with respect to the bed-plate. rail clamping members co-acting with the upstanding abutments, means extending through the depending abutments and engaging the rail clamping members for holding the rail in different positions of vertical adjustment, and means co-acting with the upstanding abutments and clamping members for holding the rail in different positions of lateral adjustment.

20. In a rail chair, a bed-plate having depending abutments adapted to bear against the adjacent edges of a cross tie and provided with upstanding abutments disposed between the depending abutments, a rail supporting member adjustable laterally and. vertically with respect to the bed-plate, means co-acting with the depending abutments and rail supporting member for holding said rail supporting member in different positions of vertical adjustment, and means co-acting with the upstanding abutments and rail supporting member for holding the said rail supporting member in diflerent positions of lateral adjustment.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST G. LIEBMANN.

Witnesses FREDERIC B. WRIGHT, J. D. YoAKLnr.

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

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