US2265104A - Rail anchor - Google Patents

Description

C. G. ERICSQN RAIL ANCHOR Dec. 2, 1941.

' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 20, 1940 6 c. G. Ericson J W Dec. 2, 1941.

-RAIL ANCHOR FiI Led May 20, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet" 2 c. atmcsow 32,265,104'

Dec. 2, 1941. G, ERI SO 2,265,104

RAIL ANCHOR Filed May 20, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet s I II A G.Ericson Patented Dec. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES FATE ZZtSJO i T orrics Application May :20, 1940, Serial N 0. 336,109 In Mexico October "Z, 1939 9 Claims.

This invention relates to rail anchors .ior preventing rail creepage and more particularly to a two-piece type of rail anchor and the objects of this invention are to provide an improved, simple and practical anchor of this type in which the parts are so constructed that they may be cheap- 1y manufactured and readily assembled on a rail base, in which the parts so engage one another and the rail base that they insure permanency of application as a unit thereto, and in which danger of damage to the rails by derailed wheels or the like striking anchor parts is prevented.

The various features of the present invention and novel combination of parts are hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which hand;

Fig. 4 a side elevation of the shoe, showing the yoke in section as initially applied to the shoe;

Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the yoke in its final position;

Fig. 5 a vertical section through part of the rail showing the anchor of Fig. 1 in side elevation;

Fig. 6 an end view of the short hook in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 a detail in section showing the initial differences in curvature of the throat of the large hook and of the shoe;

Fig. 8 a vertical section, on a reduced scale, of the rail and anchor shown in Fig.5 showing the position of the short hook after it has been shifted by a derailed wheel;

Fig. 9 a detail of the short hook end of the yoke engaged with :a rail base;

Fig. li) a vertical section, on a reduced scale, on the rail and anchor of Fig. 9 showing the position of the short hook after it has been shifted by a derailed wheel;

Fig. 11 a vertical section of another modified form of yoke; and

Fig. 12 a detail showing a further modified form of short hook.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indi-cate corresponding parts in the different figures.

The rail anchor is shown as applied to a rail of the conventional type having the usual head portion intermediate web 2 and base 3. The rail base has the lower flat face '4, the vertical side edges 5. and the upper sloping face 6, and the rail is shown as resting upon the stationary tie I.

The rail anchor as shown comprises a shoe adapted to fit andembrace an edge portion of the rail base and ayoke adapted to span the rail base and engage one edge of the rail base and embrace the shoe to lock the parts in place upon the rail.

The shoe as constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises an elongated member having a slot formed longitudinally thereof to receive the rail edge, and this slot is formed with an upper jaw 8, extending from one end of the shoe to the other and one lower continuous jaw 9 somewhat shorter than the upper jaw 8. The slot has an upstanding rear wall 19, and this rear wall, it should ice noted, increases in thickness from one end "of the shoe towards the tie engaging end thereof to provide a tapered or wedge portion Ii'l which is curved or rounded in cross-section. This upstanding rear wall extends the full length of the upper jaw 8 and is provided with a recess l! to ensure positive contact at both ends against the vertical edge 5 of the rail base. The lower jaw 9 as is shown, engages the lower face 4 of the rail base in intimate contact at both ends but its intermediate portion has a recess 52 which is introduced to provide free movement of the rail undulations under the impact of the trafiic load and ther is also a recess 53 intermediately positioned in the upper jaw 8 for the purpose of additional clearance under conditions of extreme trafiic undulations. All the recesses are slight in depth and the ends of the recesses 12 and 53 may be filleted and arranged in staggered relationship to eliminat'e possibility of establishing a line of weakness across the shoe. While the lower jaw 9 is in parallel contact with the underface 4 of "the rail base at its two ends the upper jaw '8 dif- -fers fits inclination from the upper sloping surface of the rail base to the extent that the outer terminals of the jaws 8 and 9 are closer to- .gether than the rail thickness to provide a pinching engagement between the jaws and the rail base when the shoe is forced into position there on. The shorter lower jaw 9 reduces the length of contact with the underside of th rail base thereby giving a greater freedom of motion to the wave like motion of the rail under the impact of the wheel load. This increases the life of the shoe because the short recess 12 permits the flexing of the rail without danger of damage to the shoe or of loosening it on the rail base.

The tie engaging end of the shoe is provided with a downwardly extending abutment l5 having a broad tie engaging surface !5, a reinforcing flange I6, and a stiiiening rib l1.

Having described the construction of the shoe of the present invention, the yoke of the present invention that co-operates therewith as the clamping member will now be described.

In the construction shown in Figs. 9 to 12, the

yoke comprises a resilient body portion l8 adapted to extend under and span the rail base 3. This body portion is provided at one end with an upwardly extending short hook I9 of which the upstanding portion 29 engages the vertical edge of the rail base flange and the inwardly extending portion 2| engages, in overhanging relation, the upper sloping surface 6 of the rail base only adjacent the edge 5 thereof. This inwardly extending portion 2| of the short hook end as shown in one of the preferred forms of the present invention has a modified or reduced portion 22 from a lip 2| which also engages the sloping surface l'i only adjacent the vertical edge 5 of the rail base. The depth of the lip 2| is less than the depth or thickness of the portion of the rail base underlying the lip so that the mass of metal in the rail base immediately beneath the lip is greater than the mass of metal in the lip. The upper surface 23 of the lip 2|*'= is also upwardly and outwardly inclined whereby if a rapidly revolving derailed car wheel or the like engages the said inclined surface 23 the lip will be forced from the'upper sloping surface 6 into engagement with the vertical edge 5 of the rail base as shown in Fig. 8 or the lip will be damaged. In either case, the rail base will not be damaged because the lip will be broken off before it could be forced through the rail base.

The upstanding portion 2|! of the short hook end |9 is upset in the forging operation and is laterally reinforced at the point 35 so that, when this end is forced into tension transversely in relation to the large hook on the opposite end of the yoke the reinforced upstanding portion 29 is capable of withstanding the tensional stresses imposed during the application process and as may occur under the creepage load and thus minimize the tension stresses in the overhanging lip 2|.

The opposite end of the body portion l8 has a larger hook 21 adapted to embrace the shoe. The hook 21 comprises a downwardly extending portion 32, a throat 30 on the inner periphery of the curved portion 28 and an upper portion 29 which overhangs a portion of the rail base and engages the inner edge of the upper jaw 8 of the shoe. The portion 32 clears the underside of the lower jaw 9. The distance from the inner periphery 39 of the large hook end to the upstanding portion 20 or 20* of the short hook end, is such, relative to the width of rail base 3 plus the thickness of the entering end of the wedged portion H! of the shoe, that the steel yoke may readily be placed in its starting position on the rail base and the shoe which is tapered at 33 to facilitate this. The upper overhanging portion 29 of the large hook in its relation to the underportion 32 and the body portion l8 of the yoke, which engages the under surface 4 of the rail base, is

such that it is necessary to spring the upper overhanging jaw 29 relative to the underlying portion 32 of thehook. In other words, the curvature of the throat 39 is smaller than that of the wedge portion ||l of the shoe whereby as the yoke is forcibly impelled to its operative position on the rail base and the shoe, it is obvious that the inner periphery or throat 30 of the large hook 21, will be spread to correspond to the curvature of the wedge portion Ill This ensures a firm gripping engagement between the upper portion 29 of the hook and the inner edge of the upper jaw 8, and also between the throat of the hook and the wedge portion ll] of the shoe. Referring to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the upper portion 29 of the large hook is distorted laterally whereby the shoe engaging face of said portion normally lies substantially parallel to the tapered portion 33 of the shoe. When the yoke is moved longitudinally of the shoe, the above mentioned gripping engagement between the portion 29 of the hook and the upper jaw 8 is such that the pressure of the distorted portion 29 upon the shoe causes the distorted portion to be twisted as the shoe engaging face of said portion follows the contour of the upper edge of the shoe (see Fig. 4 Thus not only is the portion 29 sprung vertically but laterally to exert a biting engagement between it and the engaged surface of the shoe. The recess I3 in the upper jaw 8 will permit the latter to yield slightly under the pressure exerted by the hook portion 29 and thus form a slight depression in said jaw to further resist any tendency of the hook portion 29 to loosen itself from the shoe.

If desired, the short hook is may be provided with the extension 23 without having the modified or reduced portion 22 as shown in Fig. 12 and the large hook 21 may be provided with an outwardly and upwardly directed extension 31 as shown in Fig. 11.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the rail anchor of the present invention may be readily applied to a rail as shown in Fig. 1 by placing the shoe by hand in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3 and then engaging the yoke with the rail by hand so that the hook 21 embraces the tapered end 33 of the shoe as shown in Fig. 4. The operation is thereafter completed by driving the yoke hook 21 along the wedge portion Ill of the shoe until the desired clamping action is secured. The

parts may readily be removed from the rail when desired by driving the yoke in the reverse direction.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A rail anchor comprising a shoe formed of non-springy material having longitudinally extending upper and lower jaws forming a slot therebetween for embracing one edge of a rail base and having a longitudinally extending wedge portion behind the slot, the lower jaw being continuous and having a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only the ends of the lower jaw contact the lower surface of the rail base, the depth of the recess being suflicient only to provide clearance for the traffic undulations in the rail under the impact of a passing load; and a yoke constructed to span the rail base and provided at one end with an upwardly extending portion adapted to engage the other edge of the rail base and provided at its opposite end with a shoe embracing hook adapted to be engaged with the wedge portion to hold the shoe in gripping engagement with the rail base without causing the surface of the recess to contact the surface of the rail base.

2. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper jaw has a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only the ends of the upper jaw contact the upper surface of the rail base when the yoke is in its operative position on the shoe.

3. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper jaw has a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only the ends of the upper jaw contact the upper surface of the rail base when the yoke is in its operative position on the shoe, the lower jaw being shorter in length than the upper jaw and the ends of the recesses in the jaws being arranged in staggered relationship.

4. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the slot in the shoe has a substantially vertical wall for contacting a similar wall on the edge of th rail base, the vertical wall in the shoe being recessed slightly intermediate its ends so that only the latter contact the adjacent wall of the rail base when the yoke is in its operative position on the shoe.

5. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper jaw has a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only the ends of the upper jaw contact the upper surface of the rail base when the yoke is in its operative position on the shoe the lower jaw being shorter in length than the upper jaw and the wedge portion, the ends of the recesses in the jaws being arranged in staggered relationship, the outer extremities of the ends of the jaws being vertically spaced apart a less distance than the thickness of the rail base prior to application of the jaws to the rail base, the slot having a substantially vertical wall for contacting a similar wall on the edge of the rail base, the vertical wall in the shoe being recessed slightly intermediate its ends so that only the said ends contact the said wall of the rail base when the yoke is in its operative position, the shoe being formed of softer metal than the rail base and yoke so that pressure applied by the yoke as it is moved along the wedge portion will force the ends of the jaws into a pinching engagement with the edge of the rail base.

6. A rail anchor comprising a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and having its back curved and formed as a wedge inclined away from the vertical edge of the base; and a yoke adapted to span the rail base and engage the underside thereof, the yoke having a hook at one end adapted to engage the other edge of the rail base and having a hook at the other end adapted to embrace the shoe, the shoe embracing hook being offset to clear the underside of the shoe, the inner periphery of the shoe embracing hook having an initially smaller curvature than that of the wedge so that the free hook is spread upwardly and outwardly to closely follow the curvature of the wedge for engaging it and the inner edge of the upper part of the shoe without drawing the yoke away from the underside of the rail base so that the yoke will exert a firm gripping engagement with said wedge and edge of the shoe.

7. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 6 in which the shoe has an upper jaw for engaging the upper surface of the rail base, the said jaw having a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only the latter contact said upper surface when the yoke is in its operative position and the jaw is yieldable under the pressure exerted by the shoe embracing hook to form a slight depression in the upper jaw to further resist any tendency of the hook to loosen itself from the shoe.

8. A rail anchor comprising a shoe adapted to engage on edge of a rail base and having a longitudinally extending wedge portion formed on an outer face thereof and inclined away from said edge of the rail base, the shoe also having a tie abutment; and a yoke adapted to span the rail base and provided with a small hook at one end to engage over the other edge of the rail base and with a larger hook at the opposite end adapted to embrace the shoe and engage the wedge portion, the small hook engaging the inclined upper surface of the rail base only adjacent the outer vertical edge thereof to facilitate the shifting of 'said hook from said inclined surface by a derailed wheel, the small hook being provided with an end extending upwardly and outwardly from the portion of the hook which engages the upper surface of the rail base, the said end extending outwardly beyond the edge of the rail base to be clear thereof and being adapted for engagement by a derailed wheel to cause the said portion to be disengaged from the said upper surface, the cross-sectional area of the small hook being reduced at a point adjacent the portion which engages the upper surface of the rail base to facilitate the fracture of said portion or the disengagement thereof from said surface should a derailed Wheel strike the upwardly and outwardly directed end of the hook.

9. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 8 in which the large hook is also provided with an upwardly and outwardly directed end adapted to be engaged by a wheel should it become derailed on the side of the rail remote from th small hook.

CHARLES G. ERICSON.

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