US1925717A

US1925717A - Rail retaining member

Info

Publication number: US1925717A
Application number: US507824A
Authority: US
Inventors: Faries Robert; Robert H Boyd
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1931-01-10
Filing date: 1931-01-10
Publication date: 1933-09-05
Anticipated expiration: 1950-09-05

Description

Sept. 5, 1933. R. was mu. I 1,925,717

RAIL RETAINING MEMBER Filed Jan. 10, 1931 FIG): I

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INVENTORS.

Robe? Farms &

BY Roberi H Bag d W A TTORNEYS WITNESSFO Patented Sept. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES 1,925,117 nan. RETAINING MEMBER Robert Faries, St. Davids, and Robert H. Boyd,

. Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 10, 1931. Serial No. 50am 6 Claims. (01. 238-304} This invention relates to rail retaining members, and more particularly. to instrumentalities used for retaining the base flanges of rails upon tie plates. In using the term tie plate herein we mean to include any formof plate, tie, or foundation, upon which the base of a rail is adapted to rest or to be secured.

The principal object of the present invention is. to provide a form of tie plate and rail retain- 10 ing key of simple and inexpensive manufacture which when used in combination will enable rails to be quickly and readily assembled upon their supporting tie plates and to be removed with equal facility.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide means whereby the position of the rail retaining key with respect to the flange of the rail may be varied to afford selectively either an intimate wedging engagement, contact ,without actual wedging engagement or clearance between the rail and the retaining key. To this end we provide abutments in the form of notches or corrugations adapted to hold the rail retaining key against lateral displacement, and we employ a key made of resilient material and preferably of a normal bowed shape, the key being adapted to be inserted with its outer end engaging in any one of the notches or corrugations of the tie plate in order to satisfy the desired conditions 3 as to the movement to be allowed between rail and tie plate.

Other objects and advantages characterizing our invention will become more fully apparent from the description hereinafter of one embodi- .ment or exampleof the invention, the description having reference to the accompanying drawing, whereof: Y

Fig. I is a side elevation of a portion of a rail showing a tie plate and retaining key assembled according to the manner of our invention.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the rail and other parts shown in Fig. I; and,

Fig. I]! is an end view of the rail portion show-. ing the tie plate partly in section.

There is shown in the drawing a railroad rail 1 of standard form having a base comprising oppositely directed flanges 2 resting upon a tie plate 3. The supporting tie plate 3 may be secured to an underlying tie in the customary ma n. ner by means of spikes, or it may form a part of the tie itself.

Adjacent to the outside edges of the base of the rail 1 the tie plate 3 is provided with upstanding shoulders 4 which serve as abutments and are preferably so-spaced from each other as to accommodate between them on the seat portion of the tie plate the base. of a standard size rail. Each shoulder 4 is transversely slotted at 5 to accommodate a retaining key 6. The slots or keyways 5-constitute, in the illustrated example of our invention, openings of rectangular cross section with upper and lower surfaces substantially parallel to the slopes 7 of the rail base. The retaining keys 6 comprise in the form illustrated, flat metal pieces made of resilient material, such as spring steel. In its normal shape, each retaining key is bowed to the form indicated in broken lines at 8.

At opposite sides of the supporting tie plate 3 a series of spaced notches or corrugations 9 are provided and these notches or corrugations are disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rail and may extend for any desired length along the surface of the tie plate. The notches 9 afford a series of abutments for the outer ends .of the retaining keys 6 which are formed 'with downtumed portions 10 adapted to fit within the notches. When 'a retaining key 6 is inserted within the key-way 5 of a shoulder '4 of the tie plate v3 and the retaining key is subsequently driven onto a slope '7 of the rail flange 2, the retaining key will be deformed from its normal -bowed shape so that its end 10 will be pressed by the spring action of the retaining key into one of the notches 9, and the key will be stressed in its applied position. The natural bowed shape ofthe major portion of the'retaining key 6 tends to limit its movement through the key-way 5. The provision of slots 5 with top and bottom surfaces paralleling the rail slopes 7, in combination with a resilient retaining key 6 of normally bowed shape, makes it possible to drive the key to diflerent positions on the rail flange after forcing the key solidly against the rail.

It will be particularly noted that the arrangement described affords ready adjustment of the position of the retaining keys 6 with respect to the rail-flanges 2. If it is desired to provide an intimate wedging engagement between the retaining keys and the rail flanges, the retaining keys are driven inward until their downturned portions 10 engage in the innermost notches 9. If it is desired to provide less intimate engagement or clearance between the retaining keys and the rail flanges, the retaining keys are driven into the middle or outermost notches in-the tie plate.

Accordingly it is not necessary to manufacture the tie plates and retaining keys with accurate dimensions and machined surfaces in order to obtain substantial uniformity throughout a length 110 the form of apparatus described without departing from the spirit of our invention. For example, the form of the tie plates and retaining keys admits of obvious variations which are within the contemplated scope of the annexed claims..

Having thus described our invention, we claim: 1. Supporting and retaining means for a rail-- 1 road rail comprising, in combination, a tie plate member having a seat portion for the base of the rail, an upstanding shoulder on the plate having a key-way therein and providing an abutment for one flange of the rail base, and a spring key provided at one end with a portion having a limited movement through said key-way to a position above said flange of the rail base and provided at the other end with a downturned portion adapted to be sprung into locking engagement with a portion of the said tie plate to hold the key stressed in its applied position.

2. Supporting and retaining means for a railroad rail comprising, in combination, a tie plate member having a. seat portion for the base of the rail, an upstanding shoulder onthe plate having a key-way therein and providing an abutment for one flange of the rail base, and a spring key provided at one end with a portion having a limited movement through said key-way to a position above said flange of the rail base and provided at the other end with a downturned portion, spaced notches between said shoulder and the edge of said tie plate member, said spring key being adapted to be sprung into locking engagement with one of said notches to hold the key stressed in its applied position.

3'. In combination, a rail, a tie plate having a number of spaced notches and having a shoulder between said notches and the rail, said shoulder having a slot therein substantially paralleling the slope of the rail flange, and a resilient retaining member adapted to pass through the slot in said shoulder with one end positioned above the rail flange and the other end pressed into one of said notches.

4. In combination, a rail, a tie plate having a number of corrugations in the surface thereof parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rail and having a shoulder between said corrugations and the rail, said shoulderhaving a slot therein substantially paralleling the slope of the rail flange, and a. resilient retaining member adapted to pass through the slot in said shoulder with. one end positioned above the rail flange and the other end pressed into one of said corrugations.

5. In combination, a rail, a tie plate having a notch therein and having a. shoulder between said notch and the rail said shoulder having a slot therein substantially paralleling the slope of the rail flange, and a resilient retaining member of a normally bowed shape adapted, when inserted within the slot of said shoulder with one end positioned above the rail flange, to be flattened with the other end pressed into said notch.

6. In combination, a rail, a tie plate having a number of corrugations in the surface thereof parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rail and .105 having a shoulder between said corrugations and the rail, said shoulder having a slot therein substantially paralleling the slope of the rail flange, and a resilient retaining member of a-normally bowed shape adapted, when inserted within the slot of said shoulder with one end positioned above the rail flange, to be sprung with the other end pressed into any one of said corrugations.

ROBERT FARMS. ROBERT H. BOYD.

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