US1333859A

US1333859A - Railroad-spike

Info

Publication number: US1333859A
Application number: US238830A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lundie John
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1918-06-08
Filing date: 1918-06-08
Publication date: 1920-03-16
Anticipated expiration: 1937-03-16

Description

J. LUNDIE.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8.1918.

Patented Mar. 16,1920

ATTORNEY JOHN LUNDIE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

Application filed .Tune 8, 1918. Serial No. 238,830.

To all whom iii-may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN LUNDIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Spikes, of which the following is a speci-' fication.

The present invention relates to railroad spikes of a new class or type in which the spike is not intended to be driven so far into It is well known that the standard or typical forms of railroad spikes are driven into the tie until the head of each spike bears upon the base of the rail.

Peculiarly constructed spikes have been suggested with the purpose of providing a spike which will not be partly drawn by the vertical vibrating action of the rail, but so far as I am aware no one has hitherto suggested the idea of aspecial provision on an ordinary or standard spike which is intended to be normally driven into the tie to such a distance that the head of the spike is spaced away from the base of the rail to start with, such spacing being for a distance about the same as the head of the ordinary or standard spike, without such special provision, is withdrawn and spaced away from the rail-base and kept at such distance by the vertical vibration of the rail. Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an ordinary or standard railroad spike with special means which may be employed to initially space the head of the spike away from the base of the rail by bringin such special means, only, in contact with t e rail-base.

The patented prior art discloses a spike with a head of s ecial construction, said head being forme by bending the thick body of the spike back and forth on itself .and allowing the extremity of said body to project radially from the shank to provide a resilient point of contact between'the, said specially constructed head and the rail-base. The objections to such a spike are overcome by the present invention, and with a View thereto other objects of the said invention are as follows:

T 0 provide an ordinary or standard railroad spike with a relatively light, lateral, resilient head-extension or tail, which is intended for the uidance of the track-man in driving the spi e, who, when driving such a spike, desires to keep the spike-head away from contact with the rail-base, the bring ing of the said extension or tail in contact with the rail-base indicating to said track-- man that the spike is driven home as far as desirable.

Another object is to allow by the resiliency of the said head-extension or tail the lifting of the rail under flexure, due to passing wheel loads, which will not tend to draw the spike, but' will only bend the springy or resilient extension at a point at that side of the head of the spike on which it is located, and which extension will spring back against the rail-base when the liftin action of the rail is released. Another 0 ject of the present invention is to so form the bottom surface of the said extension as to provide a minimum amount of, but ample, contact between it and the rail-base, as by convexly curvin the said surface, thus securing the requlsite touch on top of the rail. base even though the spike should be driven crooked.

These being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists of certain features of novelty to be hereinafter described and then claimed. with reference to the accompanying drawings showing a desirable form of the invention and in which:

Figure 1 is a broken transverse sectional view of a rail and tie, showingthe improved spike in side elevation in use; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said spike as viewed endwise of the lateral head-extension.

Referring to the drawings, the rail 10 is supported on tie 11. The railroad spike comprises a shank 13, a head 14 and a point 15, these being preferredly of the ordlnary sion is thin and attenuated relatively to the head 14, said extension will be more or less springy or resilient.

As shown, the edge 17 of the spike-head 14: is continued by the edge 18 of the integral extension or tail 16, said extension being curved longitudinally, in a direction away from the plane of edge 17 Also, as shown, the extension 16 is curved transversely or dished so as to provide a transverse concavity 19 and a transverse, under, convexity 20. The low point or surface of the convexity 20 will thus provide a minimum area of contact between. the said extension and the rail-base.-

The improved spike is usually driven into the tie until the low point or surface at 20 bears fairly well on the rail-base, thus leaving a clearance or space, as at 21, between said base and the ordinary spike-head 1a. This space corresponds substantially with the space between the rail-base and the heads of spikes now in use on railways, after the latter have been more or less used.

i It is obvious that if the resilient extension should become inoperative for any reason, as by being broken off, the spike would still have all the advantages of the ordinary or standard spike.

The invention is susceptible of modification as will be apparentto those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as claimed.

In conclusion it should be stated that by the term ordinary or standard as applied in the claims to the spike-head, I mean a solid head projected from the shank, with the body of the. shank virtually running through to the top of, the head, so that the mass of the metal of the shank, at the top of the head as it were, actually receives and transmits the drivin blows in line with the axis of the spike, ut through the solid metal of the spike.

What I claim as new is:

1. A railroad spike, comprising a pointed shank rovided with an ordinary or standard spi e-head, that is, a solid head, which skirts or circumambiently overhangs the shank of the spike, and a lateral, attenuated, resilient extension from, and integral with,

' said head, the sides of said extension gradually merging into the side portions of said head.

2. A railroad spike, comprising a pointed shank provided with an ordinary or standard spike-head, and a lateral resilient extension from said head, said extension being transversely convex at the place where it is to bear on the base of therail.

3. The combination with a railway rail and a tie, of a spike secured in said tie and having an ordinary or standard spike-head, that is, a solid head, which skirts or circumambiently overhangs the shank of the spike, said head having a lateral, attenuated, re-

silient extension, the sides of said extension gradually merging into the side portions of said head, whereby said head is located over the base of said rail and spaced away from it, and the underside only of said extension bearing on said base.

JOHN LUNDIE.