US2764357A

US2764357A - Model railroad track

Info

Publication number: US2764357A
Application number: US287964A
Authority: US
Inventors: Katryniak Edward
Original assignee: ROVEX SCALE MODELS Ltd
Current assignee: ROVEX SCALE MODELS Ltd
Priority date: 1952-01-09
Filing date: 1952-05-15
Publication date: 1956-09-25
Anticipated expiration: 1973-09-25

Description

Sept. 25, 1956 Filed May l5, 1952 E. KATRYNIAK MODEL RAILROAD TRACK FEImv e] v 2o /4 ZY /2/ 30] 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 t 34 30 /2 2a 2o' /4' sle' Jzr Inventor Edy-a er@ Knl'nvNnAK Attorney Sept. 25, 1956 E. KATRYNIAK 2,764,357

MODEL RAILROAD TRACK Filed May l5. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 '4 "HW i( I Inventor E'awmw Kawa/wak 72 69 65 Altorney United States Patent MODEL RAILROAD -TRCK Edward Katryniak, Richmond, England, assignor to Rovex Scale ModelsLimited, Richmond, England' Application `May15, 1952, Serial No.287,964

Claims priority, application Great Britain January 9, 1952 s Claims. (Cl. 'ass-10) This invention relates to lsectional tracks for 'model railroads.

Recently model railroad tracks have been made of sections each consisting of rails carried by a plastic base and have been joined together by end connections between the adjacent bases. The bases can be moulded :from a plastic more satisfactorily than they can be made from sheet metal, as has been the more common practice in the past. The present invention is concerned with sections with plastic bases.

The principal object of this inventionis to improve the end connections of sections havin'gplastic bases so 'as to allow either end of any section to be joined to either end of another section, that is to say, to "make the rails're- Versible, and to ensure that when joined the sections are firmly held together with the rails 'in exact alignment and with'the ends of the rails in contact'with one another.

VAnother objectof the invention'is to provide-an improved double interlock between the Vvends 'of track sections to enable them to bejoined together.

`Afurth'erV object'of the vinventionisto provide' a'track section v`base which can both easily be 'moulded from a plastic andberr'nly united to anadjacent base'by 'simple longitudinal engagement.

My vinvention' will :nowbe described in d'etaibwi'th reference to the annexed drawings, which show two examples of track sections :according tolthe invention. In these drawings:

Figure l isapla'n of the 'ends of vtwo track sections slightly separated;

'Figure Ziisf'a view-'ofthe underside fof/the trackisections assembled;

Figure 3f`is-a-side-elevationof ithel'enAd of one olf-"the track sections lookin-g -inthe -directi'onfof the arro'w III in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end elevation of one of the track sections looking in thel direction of' the arrow 51V" in Figure M1;

Figure 5 is a plan of the ends of two different sections slightly separated;

Figure 6 is an underneath view of the parts shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a section on the line XIX- XIX in Figure 5; and

Figure 8 is a View of the underside of the track sections of Figure 5 assembled.

The ends of the two track sections shown in Figures 1 to 4 are identical and accordingly the same reference numbers are applied to both sections, the right-hand section being distinguished by the addition of a prime mark to each reference number. The sections shown are curved in plan, but of course the same form of end connection is equally applicable to straight sections, points, crossings, and the like.

Each track section shown in Figures 1 -to 4 has a base 2 of moulded plastic. This base has a flat top on which raised sleepers 4 with chairs 6 are moulded, and at each side the base has a downwardly and outwardly ice extendingflange 8 forming an inverted shallow trough,-.as shown in Fig. 4. Rails `10 Hare carried by and make va sliting lit inthe chairs 6, being slid into posit-ion from one en `At 'each end 'the base 2 is formed with a tongue 12 whichsprings from a root 15 lying just beneath the at top of the base. The tongue 12 is lsubstantially rectangular in plan, having 'an outer side lying in one ilange 8 and an inner side 16 lying on the centre line of the track section, so that Vthe root occupies half the distance between the tlanges. The .space between the root 15 and the second flange 8 constitutes a substantially rectangular socket 14, the outer wall of which is constituted by the second flange 8 and the inner wall by the side of the tongue root 15. This side is a continuation of the side 16 of the tongue. The socket is bounded on the underside by a flat bar 18 which runs from the second ilange 8 to the root 15 ofthe tongue as shown in Figures 2 and 4. There is an opening 20 in the top of the base above the bar 18 to enable the bar to bemoulded in the same operation as the rest of 'the ibase.

There is a small semi-circular projection 122 on the inner wall of the tongue root, i. e. the inner wall of the socket, and a corresponding semi-circular recess 24 in the inner side of the tongue. The projection 22 and recess 24 are complementary parts which engage resiliently when the sections are joined together as shown in Figure .2. The sections are joined by Vforcing each tongue into the socket opposite it against the resilient yielding of one of the complementary parts, i. e. the recess 24, until Vthese parts engage ro-resist separation .ofthe-'sections The `proportions 'of the'complementary'engaging parts must ofcourse be chosen in relationto 'theresilience of the particular moulded plastic used so that ithe sections can be put together. and taken' apart readily by hand, but willnot`be come'acci'dentally separated. A

The'inner corner of the tongue is -bevelled at `2`6 so thatfduringthe joining it-will ride over the projection'22. To 'enable the tongue' to .yield laterally as 'this occurs it is vforked to present a'laterally yieldable innerprong, the space 28between the twoprongsof the fork .being keyhole-shaped in plan. This shapeprevents concentrationof stress at the'bottom ofthe space.

Since each plastic base has a tongue and socket `arrangedside by side atuone endandanidentical tongue and .socket vat :the other end, `either end `of anysection canbejoine'd to another-section'in the way described; in other words the track sections are reversible, and so .the assembly of the sections into a `track is much"facilitated. Moreover, at each end'there'isia double interlocking en- Owing to the rectangular shape of the tongues and sockets the movement of the two track sections as they are brought together or taken apart is in the direction parallel to the rails. This enables electrical connections between the rails to be made by fish-plates 3), so that the track can be used with an electric locomotive. Each fish-plate is xed to the rail end above the tongue 12 and makes a sliding tit over the rail end above the slot 14. The sh-plate is iiXed in place by punching its bottom at 32 and crimping its sides at 34. During `the moulding of the base 2, an opening 36 is formed in it to admit a punch to perform these operations. The chairs at the ends of the track sections are cut away at 38 to clear the {ish-plates.

The fish-plates serve not only to connect the rails electrically but also to hold the rails in place in the chairs. The inner end of each fish-plate abuts against the end face of a chair at 40, and a tongue 42, struck downwards from the bottom of the {ish-plate, abuts against a chair in the opposite direction.

The track sections shown in Figures 5 to 8 have each a moulded plastic base 60 with sleepers 61 and chairs 62 carrying

rails

63 and 64. Each track section is formed at its ends with a tongue 65 and a socket 66. The underside of the socket is again formed by a bar 67, but this runs from one ange 71 of the base to the opposite ange. In this construction the root of the tongue occupies about half the distance between the ilanges of the bases but there is a considerably larger semi-circular projection 69 from it, and there is a corresponding recess 68 in each tongue. Both corners of the tongue are considerably beve'lled and in addition there is a slight step 70 in the outer edge of the tongue. When the track sections are lbrought together the tongue yields outwards and bears against the flange 71 which forms the outer wall of the socket, and this ange yields outwards also.

With this joint the movement of the two sections towards one another is not parallel to the rails and accordingly fish-plates cannot be used. Instead, each rail end above a tongue is provided with a clip 72 which grips the underside of a rail and which has a curled-up end which makes electrical contact with the underside of an adjoining rail. There is a slot 73 in the tongue 65 to receive this clip, and in addition the base is cut away at 74 -to receive the clip on the adjacent section. The clip 72, being conned in the slot 73, serves to hold the rail against longitudinal movement in the same way as does the fish-plate in Figures l to 4. An important advantage of the invention is the elimination of metallic connections made possible by forming the joint members integrally with the plastic bases of the sections.

I claim:

l. A model railroad track made in unitary sections adapted to be joined together end to end by longitudinally separable connections, each of said sections consisting essentially of individual rails mounted upon a moulded resilient plastic base having complementary tongue and socket joint members moulded integral therewith and symmetrically arranged at each end in horizontal alinement, said tongue members each having a part adapted to interengage laterally with a complementary part moulded integral with the socket of an alining base when assembled in a track, at least one of said interengaging parts being resilient, whereby either end of any section can be joined to another section by forcing each tongue into the socket opposite it against the resilient yielding of at least one of said complementary parts until these engage to resist separation of said sections.

2. A model railroad track according to claim l in which the complementary parts comprise a lateral projection from the inner wall of the socket and a recess in the inner side of the tongue.

3. A model railroad track according to claim 2 in which each tongue is forked to provide a prong which yields laterally to allow the projection and recess to engage.

4. A model railroad track according to claim l in which each base has downwardly extending flanges along its sides and at each end the base has a root from which the tongue springs and which occupies about half the distance between the llanges, the side walls of the socket being constituted by the side of the tongue root and one of the flanges.

5. A model railroad track according to claim l in which the tongues and sockets engage by movement parallel to the rails, and the rails in adjacent sections are electrically connected by fish-plates each fixed to one of ltwo adjoining rails and fitting around the lower part of the other rail to form a sliding connection therewith whenY assembled in a track.

6. A model railroad track according to claim 5 in which each rail makes a sliding fit in spaced chairs moulded on the base and is held in place longitudinally by engagement of the lish-plate xed thereto with two of the adjacent chairs.

7. A model railroad track made in sections adapted to be joined together by end connections between the adjacent bases, each of said sections consisting essentially of rails carried by a plastic base, each of said bases having integral ytongue and socket joint members arranged side by side at one end and identical tongue and socket joint members at the other end thereof, Ithe inner vertical side of each tongue and the inner vertical wall of the socket at the same end of the section being continuations of one another along the centre line of the section, and said tongues and sockets having complemetary parts at least one of which is resilient and which engage sidewise, with z like sockets and tongues carried by alining sections when assembled in a track, whereby either end of any section can be joined to another section by forcing each tongue into the socket opposite it against the resilient yielding of at least one of said complementary parts until these engage to resist longitudinal separation of said sections.

8. A model railroad track according to claim 4 in which each socket is bounded on its underside by a at bar that extends from the ilange which forms the side wall of the socket to at least as far as the root of the tongue.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS