US2387009A

US2387009A - Rail fastening

Info

Publication number: US2387009A
Application number: US488010A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ralph P Clarkson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1943-05-22
Filing date: 1943-05-22
Publication date: 1945-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 1962-10-16

Description

R. P. CLARKSON 2,387,009 RAIL FASTENING Filed May 22, 1943 Oct. 16, 1945.

- I INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 16, 1945 BAIL FASTENING i 7: Ralph P. Clarkson, Milford, Conn.

Application May 22, 1943, Serial 438,019 4 Claims. (c1. 238-7349) My invention relates to rail fastenings and in particular to rail fastenings which comprise a resilient clip fulcrumed on the tieplate and pressed on the rail by the action of a holding member which is inserted'in the present rail spike hole of the tieplate. The clip is preferably a sheared plate with a round hole punching for the holding member which is,preferabl'y, a dog leg bolt, i. e-., a bolt having a bent shank. One part of-the bolt shank is threadedand'the shank is of rectangular section below :the threads and has an'overall dimension in one direction which is greater than that of the spike hole or other opening into which it is tobe inserted from the top. In the other direction, the rectangular section of the bolt has a dimension substantially that of a rail spike. j v many instances in present track, the base of the rail extends over the spike hole to a greater or less extent and it is diflicult for a hook bolt inserted from the top with the railin place to get suflicient'grip below the tieplate under the rail in all instances met with along a stretch of laid rail with the variations that occur or, if constructed to get'such a grip, it must be of reduce'dfsection or lie backwards at an angle or both, thus being limited in strength. I propose to provide a maximum of strength both of the holding bolt and of the clip and to provide the clip with sufiicient resiliency'without overloading the bolt 'andyet provide'a rail fastening of universal application. 7

- In the case of the bolt, I provide a maximum section" through the use of a bent or dog leg shank such that the bolt may be inserted into the-"present tieplate opening from the top and then set upright and braced by the walls of the spike hole, at the same time bein g of minimum length and thus least likely to bend through rail lifting inlwav'e motion after installation. More over, my preferred bolt is of full spike width and of'such" shape" that it may hook under any side of th'e'spike opening. That is,-the bolt will hook under the back edge or the side edge of the spike hole equally well as the front or rail edge, thus being of general utility, particularly effective and convenient with tieplates having bottom ribs or waflle construction. p

In the case of the clip or plate spring, the bolt hole punching is madej' preferably, as a round hole, thus upsetting;crystallizing or distorting a minimum area around the hole and providing no sharp corners, lines or shear drag along which breakage may take place at this point. Also, I prefer to form the'clip in such manner as to provide two resilientarms, one 'of which is engaged by the bolt and the other by the rail, there being yielding action between them for a portion of the length of the clip, the arms being joined together at a point between the fulcrumed back edge of the clip andthe point of 'applied bolt pressure, the back or tieplate end of the clip being of relatively great stifiness. 'B-ythis con- "struction it is possible tobring the point of pressure'on the rail nearer'to the holding bolt and thus maintain a high rail pressure yet with a safe bolt pressure, as will be later apparent.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved rail fastener, simple and rugged in design, easy to manufacture and ofgeneral application to present track structure utilizing the standard spike holes when the rail. spike is removed or omitted, or any similar opening, not necessarily at the edge of the rail.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rail fastenerwhich maintains yielding vertical pressure on the rail of such magnitude as to frictionally restrain longitudinal creeping of the rail without .undue stress in the fastener.

A'further object is to provide. a rail fastener in which the bolt is .of maximum adaptability and the clip .ofsuch nature as to give desirable rail pressures. without overstressof the bolt.

7 With the foregoing and other objects in View, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds, myinvention resides in the, combination and arrangement of-parts and in the detailsof construction described in this specification and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the. particular embodiment of the invention within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention. I intend no limitation other than those of the claims when fairlyinterpreted in' the light of the full disclosure and the present state of the art.

Referring now to the. accompanying drawing illustrative of my invention and showing an em-' bodiment thereof at present preferred: 7 Fig. 1 is an elevational assembly View, fragmentary and partly in section, showing the application ofa preferred. form of rail fastener embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective sketch illustrative of the clip shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a modification of the clip .of Fig. 2: Fig. 4 is a view, similar to that of,,Fig..1 showing theapplicationof another form'. of clipwith thebolt of Fig. 1; Figsl 5and6"are sideand front views, respective y.

of the holding member of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a perspective sketch of a modification of the clip of Fig. 2; Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of of Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is an elevational view similar to that of Fig. 1, showing the method of insertion of the bolt of Figs. 5 and 6 from the top through the present spike hole of a tieplate; Fig. 10 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 showing the engagement of the holding bolt at the side of the tieplate opening, the tieplate having interfering bottom ribs, a modified fOrm Of clip being shown; Fig. 11 is a perspective sketch of modified form of the clip of Fig. 1, using another 1' form of holding member.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in all the views.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated (Fig. 1), a rail I is resting on and supported by a tieplate 9, in this instance shouldered, both rail and-tieplate being shown fragmentary. The usual spike opening 8 is shown here adjacent to the rail; 'To clamp the rail to the tieplate and frictionally hold same a rail fastener is provided comprising a clip! and a'holding boltB positioned in the rail spike holeil, the bolt 6 having a hook or lip portion engaging the underside of the tieplate 9; 'Inthis assembly, a preferred clip 1, shown in detail in Fig. 2,;rests its rear or back end on the tieplate 9, thus providing a fulcrum for the pressure action of a bolt 6 when a nut 4, threaded thereon, is pulled up or, tightened. Clip Tis provided with a bolt opening 3, preferably a round punching for the reasons set forth-above, said bolt openings being made in an arm 2 which is resiliently related to the remainder of the clip 6, particularly the forward or rail-bearing portion thereof I which presses upon the rail base.

Clip 1 is, in this instance, a bowed plate of resilient, material, preferably having a center portion struck up to form an arm} (Fig. 2) but it is shown that a similar arm 2a may be struck up from the side of a clip In (Fig. 7) providing a resiliently .coacting rail arm la. Moreover, other forms of clips embodying my invention are shown as, for example, a clip 13 (Fig. 3) in which the, tieplateend of the plate is laminated or folded upon itself for a portion of its length and then separated into a bolt pressure arm l2 and arail arm II; a clip 1b (Figs. 10 and, 11) in which a bolt arm 21) may be downwardly struck and a resiliently coactingrail arm lb formed. Moreover, if desired, the bolt opening of the clip may be punched with a dependent t0ngue l6 (Fig 12) whena clip 10 is to be used witha bolt 6a having a dimension less than that of the tieplate opening. Such tongue and bolt construction are shown and claimed in my Patent No. 2,203,624 of June 4, 1940. I

In the present invention a preferred characteristic of the clip is the division thereof into separate coacting resilientarms, one of which is provided with an' opening for the holding member and lthe other constructed to bear on the'rail-base. In the clips illustrated the effective length of the rail bearing arm is greater than that of the bolt arm and thus of greater resiliency, if of comparable section, the two arms being joined behind the bolt opening and fulcrumed at the back endof such joined portion on the tieplate. This construction may provide equal rail base pressure as that of an undivided clip l5 (Fig. 4) applied to a rail I ll and held by a bolt 6, equal or greater resiliency of the rail arm but with less bolt pressure, as the rail pressure (Fig. l, for example) is applied to the rail nearer to the ed e of the rail and thus closer to the bolt. The rail arm I (Fig. 1) may be of the same effective length from its rail contact point back to its junction with the bolt pressure arm 2 as is the effective rail arm of clip I2 (Fig. 4) from its rail contact point tothepoint where it is held by-the nut 4. The ratio of the lever arms in the construction of Fig. 1, however, is such that the bolt Pressure more nearly approximates that on the rail than "is the case in Fig. 4. Similar in this respect are theflclips of Figs. 3, 7, 11, and 12, also.

Special mention is made also of the novel construction of the holding bolt 6 having a width (Fig. 6) equivalent to that of a rail spike and providedwith a bent or dog leg shank (Fig. 5), the lower portion sloping at an angle to the threaded portion, resulting in offsetting the center line of the threaded portion from the center line of the hole.

The upper face of the sloping portion of the shank is indented to form a lip 5 to hook under the tieplate and at the same time to provide the adjacent spike hole bearing portion just above .the lip. The overall width of the bolt, shown in Fig. 4, is greater than that of the-spike hole by the amount of the projection of the hook. i Moreover,- by maintaining the full thickness of the bent portion (Fig. 5) the flat back of the bolt is brought below the inside bend line and provides a substantial bearing against'the side of the tieplate opening opposite to the hook, whether it be the back of the spike hole (Fig. 1) or the side (Fig. 10), the latter arrangement being resorted to because of the ribs l4, M, on the under side of the-tieplate 9a.

Insertion of a bolt 6 into a spike hole 8' from the top requires (Fig. 9) insertion of the lower dog leg with the threaded portion pushed over but gradually straightening up as the lip 5 gets beyond the critical lower edge of the tieplate 9. The bolt is then brought into position (Figspl, 4, and 10), the clip slipped over the bolt, the nut threaded on and turned up to the desired pressure, normally of the order of 2500 pounds on the rail.

The offset of thebolt away from the rail (Fig. 1) relativeto the near position of the usual hook bolt to the rail (Fig. 12) requires a greater force applied to the bolt to give the same rail pressure. Hence, for this form of bolt (Figs. 5 and 6) to be most effective, it is desirable to use a clip with a short rail arm to more nearly equalize bolt and rail pressures. To shorten the rail arm of such a clip as I5 (Fig. 4) decreases'its flexibility under wave action of the rail and incident tieplate bending. Thus clips of the construction shown in Figs. 1, 3, 7, 11, for example, wherein the flexibility of the rail arm may be maintained may be of particular value in combination with the bolt of Figs. 5 and 6.

- What I claim is:

1. In a rail fastening device 'for resiliently clamping'a rail to a tieplate characterized by the use of the regular tieplate spike hole'for the holding member and theemployment of a plate type spring clip resting at its rear end on the tie' plate outwardly from the spike opening and at its front-end on the sloping base of the rail and thus tending to bend'the holding member away from the rail, a holding member of substantially rail ke Width andof a shank thickness materially less than the corresponding spike hole .wall and that at the back side being positioned I to bear at the upper end of the opposite wall,

the portion of said holding member between said two fiat side portions when in operating position sloping at an angle across the spike hole to form a brace against the bending tendency of the spring clip, the center line of said holding mem ber being offset from the center line of the spike hole, a portion of said holding member extending beneath and engaging the bottom of said tieplate.

2. A rail fastening for resiliently clamping a rail to a support including a tieplate, said rail fastening comprising a resilient plate member fulcrumed at the back on said tieplate and resting at the front on said rail, an arm punched from the body of said plate member therebetween provided with an opening therethrough for the passage of a holding member, said punched arm being joined to said body behind said opening away from the rail end and a holding member engaging said support and so constructed and arranged as to flex said resilient arm and thereby clamp said plate member down on the rail.

3. As an article of manufacture, a rail fastening element comprising a plate of resilient material having a rail-bearing end and provided with an arm punched from the body of said plate, said arm being provided with an opening for the passage of a holding member and joined to the body of said plate behind said opening away from the rail-bearing end.

4. As an article of manufacture, a rail fastening element comprising a clip of resilient material provided with a rail-bearing end and a tieplate-bearing portion, an arm punched from the body of said clip therebetween and diverging from the rest of said clip and having an end free to flex provided with an opening near said free end, said arm being joined to the body of said clip behind said opening away from the railbearing end.

RALPH P. CLARKSON.