US2181616A - Rail anchor - Google Patents

Description

Nov; 28, 1939. H. GgwARR' 2.l81,616

RAIL ANCHOR Filed Nov. 18, 1957 :s Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov; 28, 1939. w R 2,181,616

RAIL ANCHOR Filed. Nov. 18, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 28, 1939;

H. G. WARR RAIL ANCHOR Filed NOV. 18, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 28, 1939 U'NlTED STATES PATIENT- OFFICE? mesne assignments, to Poor & Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Appiication 6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in .one- .piece rail anchors generally and more specifically to one-piece anchors having upper and lower jaws for gripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one base flange of a rail at different distances relative to the edge of said flange and having a flexible portion adapted to be flexed outwardly relative to the other flange of the rail basev and forced upwardly into locking engagement therewith.

In order to provide anchors of the above specific character with jaw portions of suitable width and at the same time permit the anchors to be readily flexed over the rail base, they have been made heretofore from relatively wide and thin metal bars, a wide side of the bar being arranged toface the, rail. The said bars being relatively thin provide the desired flexibility transversely of the rail to facilitate application of the devices, but do not provide sufficient tie bearing area. and consequently have a pronounced tendency to out into the cross-ties when the rails move in a direction to press the anchors against said ties.

The use of a wide bar in the manufacture of an anchor of the above'character reduces the tendency which the relatively thin jaws may have to spread apart, in that the wide-bar provides the anchor with upper and lower jaws of such width as to minimize their shackle gripping action on the top and bottom surfaces of the'rail base when the downwardly bowed body of the anchor is pressed against a vertical face of a cross-tie. The said shackle gripping action is further reduced, in said old form of anchor, by the fact that the widest portion of the upper jaw exerts its vertical grip on the rail at the edge or thinnest portion of the rail base.

An object of the present inventionis to provide new and improved constructions for anchors of the type hereinabove referred to, whereby the rail gripping actions heretofore characterizing such types of anchors are improved and made more effective for resisting longitudinal creeping movements of a rail, increasing the tie bearing area for said types of anchors, and making it practical to form such anchor of less material than heretofore required. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide improved and simplified constructions for onepiece anchors of the above character which pr0- vide new rail holding grips not heretofore provided in such anchors, which new gripping actions cooperate with the grips heretofore present in such types of anchors to increase the efiiciency of. the anchor ;devices.

in the manufacture of such anchors. both end portions of the bar are flattened to ,pro-

- tion of the bearing surfaces of the jaws.

November 18,1937, Serial No. 175,277

In Canada May 3, 1937 According to the present invention, anchors of tical thickness than have been used heretofore One orv vide anilpper jaw and/or a locking tail portion of substantially greater widthjthan thelower .jaw .andjthe under ,rail body portio-nof the anchor.

The effective widthof theupper and lower jaws for exerting a shackle, hold on the top and bottom surfaces of the rail is defined by the vertical plane of one side of the lower jaw and the edge ofthe widened upper jaw which projects beyond -thevertical plane of the other side of thelower jaw. The use of a bar of less widthbut of greater :vertical thickness than heretofore ,usedprovides a ,substantialincrease in the, tie abutting area of 1 the improved anchor without sacrificing the desired strengthvof the anchor and without.in-

creasing theweight of the anchor. In some embodiments of the invention the-horizontal width of the lower jaw may be less than the vertical thickness thereof, the said width being so proportioned relative to the upper jaw as to inthe upper jaw with the top surface of the rail 7 base at alocation spaced fromjthe edge thereof .andthereby improve the shackle gripping action of ,the jaws .on therailbase by reason of the effective increase in the vertically spaced rela- In addition to this improvement of the shackle gripping actionof the upper and lower jaws the said improved embodiments effect an additional vertical-grip'on'the rail when the anchor shifts to a diagonal position and thereby causes the wid- 'ened' jaw to rotate about a vertical axis passing. through astop surface at the edge of the rail. The said turning movement of the widened jaw causes the widened portion at one edgerthereof to move upwardly on the inclined surface of the rail base and therebyincrease the verticalv pressure of the upper and; lower jaws on, the rail.

.Further objects and advantages of the invene tionwill be apparent fromthe detailed descrip- I Fig. 1 is a side view of a rail anchor device constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rail anchor device shown in Fig. 1 applied to a rail.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1 so as to illustrate the effective width of the rail-gripping surfaces for resisting the forces tending to turn the jaws about a horizontal axis when the body portion of the anchor is forced against a vertical face of a cross tie.

Fig. a is a plan view of an anchor of the type shown in Fig. 2 but modified in certain respects.

Fig. 5 is a side View of the rail anchor shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5 but illustrating a further modification, and

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the manner in which the tail portions of said modifications may be flattened and widened to increase the bearing area of said portions against an edge of a rail base.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 inclusive of the drawings, l designates the base portion of a railroad rail, H a supporting cross-tie, 12 a tie plate interposed between the tie and the rail base, and I3 designates a rail anchor made in accordance with this invention and applied to the rail base. The said anchor device 13, insofar as its general contour is concerned, is of well known form and in this respect may be briefly described as comprising a downwardly bowed body or underrail portion 14, a hooked end portion 15 at one end and a locking tail portion 16 at the other end. The hooked end portion l provides the anchor with an upper jaw ill and a lower jaw l8 which are so positioned with relation to each other that the upper jaw bears against the upper surface of the rail base at a location near the edge of the base and the lower jaw l8 bears against the bottom surface of the rail base at a greater distance inwardly from the edge of said base. The arrangement of the upper and lower jaws permits them to be loosely slipped over one flange of a rail base and thereafter moved into clamping engagement with the top and bottom surfaces thereof by turning the hook end of the anchor about the bearing surface 18a; the said turning movement being effected by moving the tail end portion it upwardly to its operative position. The said locking tail I6 is resilient and adapted to be flexed outwardly relative to the edge of the rail base during the application of the anchor to the rail so that the anchor when in its applied position will exert resilient grips both vertically and transversely of the rail; the vertical resilient grip being effected by the aforesaid upward movement of the tail end of the anchor and the transverse resilient grip being effected by the outward flexing of the said tail.

The general constructions described above are recognized to be old in the art. It is to be understood, therefore, that the present invention resides in the hereinafter described improvements which make it practicable to accomplish the objects of the invention. Certain of said improvements were originally disclosed in a prior application Serial No. 80,047, filed May 16, 1936 (now Patent No. 2,101,884), of which the present application is a continuation in part.

The rail anchor shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is made from a steel bar, the horizontal thickness of which is substantially less than the breadth or vertical dimension of the bar. Preferably one or both ends of the bar are flattened before the bar is bent to the configuration shown in Fig. 1. The flattened portion at one end of the bar provides the jaw I! with a rail bearing surface I 9, which is substantially wider than the bottom bearing Illa of the lower jaw. By inspection of Fig. 3 of the drawings it will be seen that the narrower under rail portion of the anchor is centralized with relationto the width of the flattened end portion and that the widened end portions do not bear against thecross tie. Therefore, either side of the underrail body portion of the anchor may bear against a vertical face of the cross-tie, depending upon which side of the rail the hook portion of the anchor engages. The upper and lower jaws I1 and l 8 are held in clamping engagement with the top and bottom surfaces of the rail base by the resilient pressure incident to the upward movement of the locking tail It, the latter of which has a shoulder 21] adapted to snap over the upper corner portion of the rail base. In order to facilitate the flexing of the locking end of the anchor outwardly relative to the rail, the upper end of the tail is inclined, as indicated at 2 i, to provide a cam surface 22 which rides over the edge of the rail base when this end is forced upwardly to its applied position. The horizontal width of the lower jaw 18 and its position relative to the widened upper jaw i'i is such that the shackle grip of the jaws is greater than the corresponding grip present in the old form of anchor, because the effective width A of the improved jaws is less than the effective width of the jaws of anchors of the same general contour which have been made heretofore from bars of greater width. Preferably the vertical thickness of the bar corresponds substantially to the width of the upper jaw and provides the added strength to resist any tendency which the jaws of reduced width might have to spread apart during the presence of the canting or turning action of the jaws. The taper and widening of the bar is such that it does not reduce Y the effective strength of the jaws. The bend connecting the upper and lower jaws of the anchor is preferably formed so as to insure a contact with the upper corner portion of the rail base. The under-rail portion of the anchor being arranged edgewise to the rail so that a wide side face of the anchor bears against the cross tie, prevents the anchor body from cutting into the cross-tie. When the upturned end it of the anchor is flattened and widened, the widened portion thereof corresponds in width to the flattened portion of the jaw ill and is therefore substantially wider than the horizontal dimension of the downwardly bowed under-rail portion of the anchor. By widening the end portion it in the above manner the anchor body is given an effective width, insofar as the engagement with the opposite edges of the rail base is concerned, equal to the widest portion of the flattened ends. The engagement of the flattened end portions with the edge portions of the rail base at points indicated at 23 and 24 and at points indicated by the numerals 25 and 26, resists the pressures ordinarily encountered in service tending to turn the anchor about a vertical axis to an abnormal diagonal position across the rail. The flattened end portions of the anchor being of greater width than the tie engaging under-rail portion, are so proportioned in length as to avoid contact with the cross-tie when the anchor is in its applied position.

The anchor device illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings is of the same general contour as the anchor device illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, but is modified in certain respects. The modified anchor is preferably made from a bar of less horizontal width than heretofore used for tical faces are somewhat wider than the corresponding faces of the 'old anchors. One end of the bar is flattened and widened and the bar is bent adjacent to said flattened and widened portion into hook form to provide a" relative wide upper jaw 27 and a narrower lower jaw 28. The upper and lower jaws are positioned to bear against the top and bottomsurfaces of the rail base, respectively, at different locations relative to the edge of the rail, the upper jaw being positioned to bear against the upper surface at a location intermediate the edge of the rail base and the point of bearing of the lower jaw against the bottom surface of the rail. The bend connecting the upper andlower jaws is formed so as to bear against the upper corner portion of the rail base at the point29, the curvature of the bendextending along a portion of the jaw 21 so as to provide a substantial clearance between the jaw and the toplof the rail base adjacent the edge of the base. bend is such that the under surface of the jaw,

' adjacent the contact, 29, will function'as acam,

when the heavier portion of the jawis struck by a derailed car wheel, so as to force the jaw 27 outwardly and thereby relieve the edge of the rail tending to turn the widened portion of the jaw 21 about a vertical axis passing through the abutment surface at either point 23 will force a widened side portion of the jaw upwardly on the inclined surface of the rail base andthereby increase the vertical gripping action of the jaws 2i and 28 on the top and bottom surfaces of the rail base. This gripping action is in adidtion to the gripjexcrted by jaws on the rail by reason of the upward movement of the locking tail portion 3| to its operative position. The locking tail portion 3! of this embodiment is preferably, but not necessarily, of, the same width as the under rail body portion of the anchor. The width of the lower jaw 28 is substantially less than the width of the upper jaw 21 and is centralized with relation to the widened upper jaw in the same manner as described in connection with the previous embodiment. The proportions of the said jaws, as

herein illustrated, give them a more effective shackle grip because of the fact that the upper jaw bears on a thicker portion of the rail base and therefore provides a greater spread between the bearing surfaces of the upper and lower jaws than is obtained in the old form of anchors and also by reason of the narrower effective width of the two jaws in preventing rotation of the anchor about a horizontal axis extending transversely of the rail. In other respects the contour of this improved anchor may be the same as shown in Fig. 1. The common features of the two embodimer ts of the invention are, therefore, illustrated by the use oft-he same reference numerals.

The anchor device illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7 is of' the same general character as the other anchors illustrated herein, but is somewhat different in structural detail. For example, the

under-rail body portion is bowed downwardly.

il basev adiace t oppos te; d es hereof; T e.

Preferably, the curvature of the end of the anchoradjacentthe "lower jaw 33 is bent into hook form to provide an upper jaw 35. Thisend of the. anchor may be and preferably is of the same construction as the hook end of the device shown in Fig. and functions in the upper corner portion of the rail base to lock the anchor on'the rail. This form of anchor is applied to the rail in the same general manner.

asthe anchor previously described, to wit: The

hook end of the anchor is slipped loosely over one flange of a rail base and the other end is forced upwardly and flexed outwardly into looking engagement with the other flange of the rail. The upwardmovement of the locking end of the anchor forces the upper and lower jaws of the hook end of the anchor into clamping engage ment with the top and bottom surfaces, respec-' tively, of the rail base. The upper jaw 35 is substantially wider than thelower jaw 33 and the bend connecting the upper and lower jaws is substantially narrower than the upper jaw and bears against the upper corner of the rail base at 38 for the same purpose as previously described. It will be seen, thereforethat any movement of the anchor tending to move the widened jaw 35 about a vertical axis passing througheither the points 38, for example, when the pressure at the looking end of the anchor against the cross-tie tends to move it to a diagonal position, the turning movement of the widened jaw will force one of its widened edges upwardly on the rail base and therefore increase the vertical grip of the, upper andlower jaws on the top and bottom surfaces of the rail base. The outwardly turned portion of the locking end of the anchorprovides a cam surface'39 adapted to bear against the edge of the rail base and thereby flex the anchor transversely of the rail when the locking end is forced upwardly over-the rail-base.

While bothembodiments shown in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive have been illustrated herein as having a widened and flattened portion at the hook end only of the anchor, these embodiments may be further modified by flattening and widening the locking end portions 3! and 36, respectively, in a manner indicated by the reference numeral M in Fig. 8 and thereby increase the effectivewidth of the anchor for resisting movement thereof about a vertical axis.

I I claim: 1. A rail anchor comprising a metal bar, an end portion of which is bent to hook form to provide. an upper. jaw formed to engage the upper corner of the rail base flange and at a location remote from the corner and a lower jaw for gripping the bottom of said flange at a location spaced inwardly from the bearing of the upper jaw, and means at the tail end of the bar adapted to be flexed outwardly relative to the rail into engagement with the vertical edge portion of the being flattened and widened to provide rail gripping surfaces which are substantially wider than the lower jaw portion of the anchor and are somewhat thinner and more flexiblethan the intermediate portion of ,the bar, whereby the effective width of the anchor for. resisting turning movement thereof about. a horizontal axisis defiIlSd-bytheplane. of oneside of: the under-rail portion of the anchor body and the edge of said widened upper jaw which projects beyond the plane of the other side face of the anchor body and whereby the effective width of the anchor for resisting turning movement about a vertical axis is defined by one edge of the upper jaw which bears against the upper corner of the base flange and the edge of the widened tail portion at the other side of the anchor body.

2. A one-piece rail anchor adapted to be flexed both vertically and transversely of the rail into resilient gripping engagement with the top, bottom and edge portions of a rail base, comprising a bar formed intermediate its ends with a downwardly bowed portion for bearing against the vertical face of a cross-tie and having laterally extending portions at either side of the bowed portion for bearing against the bottom surface of the rail base adjacent opposite edges thereof; the bar having a flattened and widened end portion of greater flexibility than the intermediate portion and bent adjacent to said widened portion into hook form to provide a wide upper jaw and a narrower lower jaw for gripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one flange of the rail base at different distances relative to the edge of said flange and having a stop surface for engaging the edge of the flange to limit movement of the hook transversely of the rail; the portion of the anchor adjacent the other edge of the rail being formed with an upstanding tail portion adapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly into locking engagement with the edge of the rail base, there being a shoulder formed on the outwardly flexible portion adapted to snap over the upper corner portion of the rail base to lock the anchor in its applied position, the widened portion of said upper jaw at the hook end of the anchor being formed to bear only on the top surface of the rail base flange at a location spaced from the edge of the flange whereby a turning movement of the widened jaw about a vertical axis passing through said stop surface increases the grip of the upper and lower jaws on the top and bottom surfaces of the said base flange.

3. A one piece rail anchor comprising a bar having an end portion which decreases in thickness toward the end and bent adjacent to said end into hook form to provide a lower jaw for bearing on the bottom surface of one base flange of the rail at a location spaced from the edge thereof and an upper jaw which increases in flexibility toward its end and bears on the top surface of said flange at a location intermediate the edge of the flange and thesaid bottom bearing, a downwardly bowed tie abutting portion, and an upstanding tail portion at the other end of the bar adapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly into locking engagement with the other base flange of the rail; the bend connecting the upper and lower jaws being formed to contact the upper corner of the rail base and provide a substantial clearance above the base between the said corner contact and the end bearing surface of the upper jaw, whereby the lower surface of the upper jaw adjacent the said corner contact will function as a cam to force the jaw outwardly when excessive downward pressure is applied to said jaw above said clearance.

4. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a metal bar rectangular in cross section having a flattened and widened end portion and bent adjacent to said widened portion into hook form to provide a lower jaw-for bearing on the bottom surface of one base flange of the rail at a 1ocation spaced from the edge thereof and an upper jaw having a relatively 'wide portion which is more flexible than the intermediate portion of the bar and bears on the top surface of said flange at a location intermediate the edge of the flange and the said bottom bearing, a downwardly bowed tie abutting portion, and an upstanding tail portion at the end of the bar adapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly into locking engagement with the other base flange of a rail; the bend connecting the upper and lower jaws being formed to contact the upper corner of one base flange of the rail and provide a substantial clearance above said flange between the corner contact and the end portion of the upper jaw, whereby the lower surface of the upper jaw adjacent the said corner contact will function as a cam to force the jaw outwardly relative to the edge of the rail base when excessive downward pressure is applied to said jaw above said clearance.

5. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a bar having a body portion adapted to extend across beneath the rail with opposite faces arranged substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the rail base so that either of said faces may bear against a vertical face of a cross-tie, the said bar being bent adjacent to one end into hook form to provide an upper jaw for gripping the top surface of one base flange of the rail, 2. lower jaw for gripping the bottom surface of said flange at a location spaced inwardly a greater distance from the edge of the flange than the bearing surface of said upper jaw, and to provide also a stop surface for engaging the upper corner of said flange to limit movement of the hook transversely of the rail, and rail engaging means at the other end of the anchor adapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly relative to the other base flange of the rail to turn said hook about the lower jaw as an axis into resilient gripping engagement with the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of the first mentioned flange and to lock the anchor on the rail; the portion of the bar which forms the said upper jaw being gradually decreased in vertical thickness and increased in width toward the end so as to provide the said upper jaw with increased flexibility toward its extremity and to provide a widened portion which projects beyond the side planes of the lower jaw, whereby the increase in the flexibility of the upper jaw insures downward pressure contact on the base flange at the said stop surface and at the extremity of the jaw when the anchor is in its applied position and whereby the effective width of the anchor for resisting turning movement thereof about a horizontal axis extending transversely of the rail is defined by the vertical plane of one side of the lower jaw and the edge portion of the widened upper jaw which projects beyond the plane of the other side of said lower jaw.

6. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a bar having a body portion adapted to extend across beneath the rail with opposite faces arranged substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the rail base so that either of said faces may bear against a vertical face of a cross-tie, the said bar being bent adjacent to one end into hook form to provide an upper jaw for gripping the top surface of one base flange of the rail, a lower jaw for gripping the bottom surface of said flange at a location spaced inwardly a greater distance from the edge of the flange than the bearing surthe said upper jaw with increasedflexibility toabout the lower jaw as an axis into resilient gripping engagement with the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of the first mentioned flange "and to lock theanchor on the rail; the portion of the bar which forms the said upper jaw being gradually decreased in vertical thickness and increased in width toward the end so as to provide ward'its extremity and to provide a widened por- I tion which is substantially wider than said step surface andprojects beyond the side planes of the lower jaw, whereby the increase in the flexibility of the upper jaw insures downward pressure contact on the base flange at the said stop surface and at the extremity of the jaw when the anchor is in its applied position and whereby turning movement of the widened jaw about a vertical axis passing through said stop surface increases the grip of the upper and lower jaws on the top and bottom surface of the rail base. I HAROLD G. WARR.

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