US1657241A

US1657241A - Railroad-track structure

Info

Publication number: US1657241A
Application number: US136447A
Authority: US
Inventors: Dalton William
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1926-09-20
Filing date: 1926-09-20
Publication date: 1928-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1945-01-24

Description

Jan. 24, 1928.

W. DALTON.

RAILROAD TRACK STRUCTURE Filed sept. 2O, 1926 Patented `24, 1928.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

'WILLIAM DALTON, 0F GLENVILLE, NEW YORK.

RAILROAD-TRACK STRUCTURE.

Application filed September 20, 1928. Serial No. 138,447.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No. 101,259, led April 12, 1926. It relates to railroad track structures and especiallyr to railroad track structures wherein the ties are made from metal.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved form and construction of metal railroad tie which can be provided at l' low cost, which furnishes a goodsuppor't for the rail, and which, by reason of its construction, enables the rail to be fastened to it in lan improved and advantageous manner. l Another object of the invention is to provide an improved tie structure wherein the major portion of the tie may be made with grelat advantage from lengths of old or worn rai I0 A further object of the invention is to provide an improved form of tie adapted to have fastened to it rails having base flanges of different widths, which means that the tie may be standardized for various weights of rails. l

Other objects of the invention as well as the advanta es of the invention are pointed out hereinagter, and for a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following specification and the claims appended thereto.

In the drawin Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a railroad tie embodying my invention;

the manner in which a track rail may be attached to the tie; Fig. 3 is a top plan view..

of the tie, and Fig. 4 1s a perspective view v of a modied form of track tie.

Referring to the drawing, Figs. 1 t`o 3 inclusive, thetie comprises two lengths of old or worn rail 1. and 2 which stand in spaced relation to each other and are fastened together at their ends by end plates 3 and 4. The end plates may be fastened to the worn rail lengths which form the tie in any suitable manner but preferably I weld them thereto as this provides a most eixicient form of connection and one which can be provided at low cost. The end plates are inthe form of angle bars, one wall of the' angle bar being located beneath the base 4flanges 5 of the worn rail lengths andthe other wall extending across the ends of the worn rail lengths. The bottom flanges of the .worn rail lengths and the wall of the angle bar which is located beneath them are l plates 8 which lie on-top Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing.

welded together as is indicated at a. The Wall extending across the ends of the worn rail sections may be or may not be welded .to the rail sections as is found desirable. Ordinarily, when worn rails are made into lengths they are first nicked and then bro en. This leaves the ends `i'ough and irre ular in shape. However, by usin an e bars, as shown, which extend beneat an are welded to the bottom flanges of the worn rail lengths, I avoid any dilliculties as far as the irregular ends are concerned because the bottom surface of the bottom fianges of the worn rail sections are smooth and iiat. The vertical walls of the angle bars 3 and 4 perform an important function in that they serve to anchor` the tie ,in the ballast. I consider the use of angle bars for fastening together the rail lengths as being an important feature of my invention.

The webs of the old rail sections are indicated at 6 and the top flanges are indicated at 7. At the points where the track rails lie on the tie, I provide supporting of flanges 7 and are welded thereto as 1s indicated at 9. Supporting plates 8 are of suitable thickness and at oplposite ends they are provided with rectang ar openings 10 located. over the space between the top lian-ges' 7 of the worn rail lengths. Opemn 10, in the embodiment of the invention i lustrated in the drawing, are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the width of the base flanges of the largest rails with which the tie is intended to e used which adapts the tie when used with a rail fastening meansl as shown in Fig. `2, to have fastened to it any one of a numberl of different sizes of rails. This is an impor/tant consideration in case a rail-fastening means as shown in Fig. 2 is utilized becauseit enables the tie to be made in a standard size adapted for use with rails having base flanges of different widths.

. In connection with supporting plates 8,

it will be noted that they are of a .widths measured transversely o f thetie such that the longitudinally-extending ed es of plates 8 termlnate directly over We s 6. This serves to concentrate the load directly on Athe webs and to remove it from the edges of the flanges thus avoiding a tendency to cause the tie members to tilt.

By the above described arrangement, I provide a metal railroad tie Awhich can be constructed at low cost, especially when made from lengthsV of worn rail sections. In this connection, it will be appreciated that large numbers of worn rails are removed each year and sold as scrap material. These rails when removed, if used for making ties, are where they are to be again used as ties. My improved tie can be constructed readily at any place since no special shop equipment is required in its `manufacture. As a result, therefore, in making ties according to my invention from worn rails, transportation of the worn rails to a point of manufacture is minimized which means a substantial saving in cost.

Also in constructing ties according to my invention, scrap `angle -irons may be used fr the end plates. In this connection, any angle iron has one surface at least which is true and the bottom surface of the base flange of a worn rail is always a tr'ue surface. yThus there are provided and always available two true fiat surfaces which may be fastened together. Also, any size of angle iron may be used since the only requirement is that it provide one true surface. As a result, scrap angle irons of various sizes may be used in carrying out the invention. Also, any size of angle irons may be used with any size of scrap rails. This gives great flexibility in using scrap material in the constructionY of the ties.

A further important advantage of my invention from a manufacturing standpoint is that the parts may be welded together with straight line welds which means that the welding can be done with a line welding machine.V As shown in the drawing, the vertical flange of the angle bars is spaced from the ends of the rail lengths, it being unnecessary to fasten it to the rail lengths. The vertical flanges of the angle bars however perform an important function in that as pointed out above, they serve to anchor the tie against endwise movement.

In considering the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 3, it will be seen that the tie comprises only six pieces, two lengths of old rail, two angle irons, which may be scrap material) and two at tie plates. This is a minimum number of parts and enables the tie to be constructed with a minimum amount oflabor. The two angle irons are so distributed relatively to the two worn rail sections, the tie plates being fastened to the tops of the rail scctions and the two angle irons to the bottom thereof, that there results a. girder construction which lends great strength and stiffness to the tie. With this construction, there is no danger that the two rail sections which form thetie will be spread by the wheels of a train passing over them. The construction has stren h substantially greater than that of a woo en tie and in addition it pretwo tie plates and the sents to the `ballast of the roadbed a substantially greater surface so that it is capable of supporting a'much greater load. In

this connection it will be understood that a railroad tie distributes a concentrated axle -load through the ballast to a resilient soil and that such soil, ordinarily, is capable o supporting a load of the order of 6000 pounds per square foot. For carrying heavy axle loads, therefore, it is important that the tic should present a large supporting surface to the ballast. A tie embodying my invention resents to the ballast a surface substantial y larger Ithan that presented by a wooden tie.

My improved-tie, although not limited thereto necessarily, is well adapted for use with a rail fastening means such as that illustrated in Fig. 2 Referring to Fig. 2, 12 indicates a track rail, 13 being the head of the rail and 14 being the base flange. Base flange ,14 rests on tie plate 8 between openings 10, openings 10 being spaced apart a distance such that their inner edges stand in spaced relation to the outer edges of base flange 14 whereby there are provided clampingedges 15 at each side of base flange 14.

ase flange fastening means each comprising a fastener or rail clamp 16 and a keeper or wedge bar 17. Fastener 16 has a groove 18 in which clamping edge 15 is located, a vertical surface 19 for holding the rail against trans verse movement, and a nose 2O which rojects over the top of base flange 14 to old the rail against vertical movement. Kee er 17 comprises a wedge shaped bar located etween fastener 16 and the outer edge of opening 10. It is locked in position by a. cotter pin 21 which fits into opposed grooves in the adjacent faces of the fastener and keeper. The rail is insulated from the tie by means of suitable insulating members 22 and 23 `which fit under the base flange of the rail and lie between fastener 16 and the base flange of the rail. i

In Fig. 4 is illustrated a modification wherein the tie plate instead of being formed from a single iece with openings 1n it, is formed from t ree pieces, a central piece 24 and two side pieces 25. These pieces are set down between the worn rail sections so they are flush with the top surfaces of them and they are welded in position as is indicated at 26. Side pieces 25 are spaced .from central piece 2,4*so as to provide openings 27 adapted to 'receive rail fastening means such as those shown in Fig. 2. Otherwise the construction shown in Fig. 4 is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 io 3 and possesses substantially the same advantages. The

pieces

24 and 25 may with advantage be rovided with portions 28 which project un er the heads of the worn rail sect-ions to assist 1n a good fastening for 14 is fastened to the tie by the pieces, and also .-for anchoring them against vertical movement.

invention as beingA carried out in connection with the use of old or worn rail lengths, it is to be understood that the invention s'not limited to the use of such ,rail lengths as bars of any suitable cross section, such as H-bars, Z-bars or the like may be utilized if found desirable.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the structure shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by such other means as come within the scope of the appended claims.

'What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A metal tie comprising two bars located side b side in spaced relation to each other, each ar comprising a top flange and a bottom iiange united by a vertical web,

'and meansconnecting said bars together comprising .angle irons located at the ends of the bars, one wall of each angle iron extending beneath said bottom anges and being welded thereto and the other'wall .oi-

each angle iron extendingvertically across the ends of the .bars toserve as a means for anchoring the tie against transverse move- While'gI have particularly described my ment, and rail-supporting plates welded to the tops of said top lian es in spaced relation to the ends of said ars whereby said angle irons and plates are attached independently to opposite ilanges of said bars to form a girder construction, said plates being provided with openings to receive rail-fastening means. 1 Y

2. A metal tie comprising two bars located side by side in spaced ,relation to each other, each bar comprising a top flan e and a bottom flange united by a vertica 'web, and means connecting said barsftogether comprising angle irons located at the ends of the bars, one wall of each angle iron extending beneath said bottom anges and being welded thereto and the other wall of each angleiron extending vertically across the ends of the bars to serve as a means for anchoring the tie against transverse movement, and Vrail-supporting plates welded to the tops of said top flanges in spaced relation to the ends of said bars and with' their longitudinally-extending edges directly over said verticalwebs, said plates being provided with openings to receive rail-fastening means.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of September, 1926.

` WILLIAM DALTON.'