US1798494A - Bootleg for parkway cables - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1931.

a K. POST BOOTLEG FOR PARKWAY CABLES Filed Jan. 22, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnl llllllfi Jrw E. K. POST 1,798,494

22 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 31, 1931.

BOOTLEG FOR PARKWAY CABLES Filed Jan.

Patented Mar. 31, 1931 PATENT OFFICE ERNEST K. POST, OF COLLINGSWOOD, NEW JERSEY BOOTLEG FOR lARxwAY CABLES Application filed January 22, 1929.

My invention relates to. protective devices for track circuit wires.

The purpose of my invention is to simplify bootleg parkway cable connections.

5 A further purpose is to simplify and cheapen the portion of a bootleg terminal which provides for slack wire in the connection.

A further purpose is to hold a bootleg down by adaptation of the material of the body of l the bootleg to indentation and subsequent engagement by the ballast surrounding it.

A further purpose is to cheapen the materials required for bootleg use and to improve the connections with the bootleg.

A further purpose is to provide an extruded bootleg body with a slack wire compartment at the end. I also protect the means for attaching the cover to the bootleg by the ma te'rial of the bootleg.

Further purposes will appear in the specification and in the claims.

Figures 1 and 2 are an end elevation and a side elevation respectively, of a rail and the parts of the track adjacent the rail, showing the general setting of my invention.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation showing the bootleg and connection therewith.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the structure seen in Figure 3.

In the drawings similar numerals indicate like parts.

The best existing bootleg parkway cable constructions known to me comprise shafts or 35 posts of unyielding material and of smooth exterior surface, having a slack wire space in the upper part of the post and requiring a flange atthe bottom of the post in order to prevent the post from working upwardly from its position as set. They are made from expensive materials and are subject to serious deterioration due to weather conditions.

Their bootleg caps are fastened on by bolts whose threads rapidly deteriorate because of the attack upon them by salt water drippings from refrigerator cars passing over the railways.

My invention provides a preferably extruded material which is itself an insulating material and which is substantially free from at- Serial No. 334,161.

tack by the elements. The cap is held on by simple means protected by the material of which the bootleg riser is composed and is plastic enough and yielding enough for the adjoining stone to impinge within the original outline of the riser holding the riser down by the grip of the stone upon it.

Though wooden risers would not possess the entire advantage of the extruded form, they would have the advantage of cheapness and simplicity along with sufficiently effective insulation, which I seek and offer to secure a considerable part ofthe benefit of my invention.

Describing the best form known to me in compliance with the statute:

The bootleg riser or shaft 6 is of uniform exterior surface and of preferably rectangular section. It is hollow at 7 to provide a space for the parkway cable 8 to pass up through the length of the riser. Because of the character of material used for the riser there is not much danger of the lower inner edges 9 of the bootleg cutting the insulation about the cable; and even if they did so the parkway cable conductor 10 would not be short-circuited because the bootleg is itself an insulator.

At the upper end of the riser space is provided for a compartment 11 to permit slack ing of the conductor as at 12, the space being provided by cutting away the material transversely along the lines 13 and 14. The pro jection 15 which remains is kerfed or grooved as at 16 to give room for passage of the wires 17 of any suitable track circuit connector whose terminal 18 is connected with the end 19 of the parkway cable conductor.

My invention does not concern the particular form of track circuit connection used nor the terminal by which the parkway cable wire is connected to it.

Upon the top of the riser is placed a cap or bonnet 20 which may protect the track circuit wires as much as desired by means of a depending lip 21.

The cap is held in place by lag screws 22. For the purpose of permitting quick removal of the cap without taking the lag screws out the rear flange 23 of the cap is slotted as at 24 so as to fit down over the lag screws. The rear flange is thickened at the bottom near the slots so as to require more than accidental loosening of the lag screws before the cap can be removed.

The cap is provided with side flanges which cooperate with the front and back flanges and the top 26 to protect the space or compartment 11 from intrusion of the elements The cap is provided with a rib 27 which rests upon the top of the bootleg post at the rear so as automatically to determine the depth to which the cap can be lowered over the riser.

In construction the preferred uniform thickness and section of the riser make extrusion of the post quite satisfactory and permit the use in the riser of any extrudable material such as the various asphaltic compositions, which do not rot nor rust when placed under ground. These materials are fair insulators and hence save the necessity for using insulating bushing such as are required with metal bootlegs.

The rough exterior surface and the relative plasticity of the material permit the ballast to cut or press into the material of the riser with considerable force, causing the mass of the ballast to grip the riser firmly.

It will be evident that the use of plastic material renders the usual holding flange at the bottom unnecessary and makes the riser nest automatically into its setting of ballast; and that at the same time its economy and durability are much beyond those of the more elaborate risers now in use. Since the cap shows above the track the finish of the post may be made to satisfy any requirements.

In view of my invention and disclosures variations and modifications to meet indi-v vidual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such in so far as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A bootleg for a parkway cable comprising an extruded insulated material having uniform exterior and interior section throughout the greater part of its length and having a plastic exterior surface.

2. A hollow bootleg riser of material sufliciently plastic to yield under pressure of the ballast so that the rock of the ballast impinges within the body of the riser'and the ballast holds the riser down by the engagement of the impinged ballast.

3. A bootleg for a parkway cable comprising a riser of material adapted to yield with pressure of the ballast to imbed the ballast slightly within the exterior surface of the riser and hollow to permit the parkway cable to come up through the riser and a cap for the riser having an opening in the assemblage of bootleg, riser and cap for track circuit wire insertion to connect with the cable.

4:. A bootleg riser comprising a hollow insulating material of rectangular cross section and plastic exterior surface, grooved through a portion of the top to permit entry of track circuit wires and transversely cut away togive room for connection of these wires with the parkway cable, a parkway cable therein, track circuit wires, and a cap fitting over the top of the riser and protecting the space for junction between the track circuit wires and parkway cable from the weather.

5. A hollow bootleg riser having a kerfed projection at its upper end at one side of the riser, of uniform cross section throughout substantially the length of the riser and of material yielding to the pressure of the ballast so that the ballast impinges within the normal surface of the riser and holds the riser in position.

6. A hollow bootleg riser having a plastic surface and of uniform cross section from the bottom substantially to the top, a longitudinally extending projection at one side of the riser mechanically protecting for admission of track circuit wires, track circuit wires, a parkway cable within the riser, and a cap raised from the top of the riser to fit over the projection and to provide a. space beneath the cap for track circuit and parkway cable connection.

7. A hollow bootleg riser of plastic material and of uniform cross section throughout substantially its entire length, a cap for the riser and holding means for retaining the cap to the riser comprising a lag screw adapted to screwinto the bootleg riser and thus to protect the threads of the lag screw by the plastic material of the riser.

8. A hollow bootleg riser of plastic material in the upper part of the riser, a cap for the riser and a screw retaining the cap on the riser, threading into the riser and having the threads of the screw protected by the plastic material of the riser.

ERNEST K. POST.

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