US2853260A

US2853260A - Rigid track frog

Info

Publication number: US2853260A
Application number: US601980A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard G Simmons; Norman E Gillespie
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-08-03
Filing date: 1956-08-03
Publication date: 1958-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 1975-09-23

Description

RIGID TRACK lFROG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 23, 1958 R. G. slMMoNs Erm.

Filed Aug. 5, 1956 Sept. 23, 1958 R. G. SIMMONS E1-AL 2,853,260

RIGID TRACK FROG Filed Aug. 3. 1956 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Pateneilice RIGID VTRACK .FROG

Richard G. Simmons, 1i`ranklin,.Ill.-and` Norman E. Gillespie, Atchison, Kans.

Application August 3, 1956, Serial N0..601,980 v 2,. Claims. (Cl: 246-1468) ingnrails, which merge intoI other portionsvthat are` aligned with the respective track, as is `well known in the art; The

bothtof these `rails yare planedA orcut,diagonallyfofuthe rail head to fornrthe pointof the frog tongue, One ofr the heel railsknown as therside ory shortgpoint, isconyentionthe main or long point, forms the point of thev frogs tongue'with the planed end of, thef-sidefor short point rail abutting the side of saidmainor longrpoint1 raih The four rails are rigidly securedtogethcr to-vform the, heel, tongue, throat, mouth, and,toeofrthefrog. v

failure of the frogwtongueto stand up under `heavy traiic.`

the tongueV are weakenedby beingrplaned: or otherwisel formed into a point.

The principal object` of our inventionl is tov provide a y rigid.track frog including an insert inthe form-cfa rigidunitary body that replacesthe tapered portions o f the point piecesthat comprise the Vtongue ofthe frog,

Another important object of the invention; is to-provide a rigid track frog including a,v tongue made of a rigid unitary body to which the heel rails4 may` betxedand which eliminates the need for planingor otherwise cutting the heel rails to form tapreredends.

A further important object ofA the inventiozntis,k topro. vide a rigid track frog including a tongue comprisingv a, rigid unitary body which is readily.` adapted toiboL made fast to the heel rails and the wing rails.

Still a further important object of the invention. is to` provide a rigid bolted track frog including a rigid unitary body that forms the frog tongue and isillers-` of the frog, in which the elements ofthe yfrog, are rigidly bolted to, gether to'unite the frog elements intoan unusually strong, wear-resisting unit.

Other objects, uses and advantages will be obvious or become apparent from a considerationA of the` following description and the drawings,

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View. illustrating a side trackrnerging into amrnain tralgL WithfQUI invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a plan/.view ofthe insert that eomprises the tongue of our track frog, with a filler element shown applied thereto and theiianges or bases andj webs o f theV frog rails shown in dotted lines; A

. formed by two of the rails, and theother-twozrails, which are known as wing rails, include portions thatroverlapand are on either side of the V formed by the heel ferm;

heel` forming rails are generally. terrnedfpoint piecesA andi ally shorter than-theother, and thellonger rail,,known-as,`

A well known diiiiculty with frogs of` this type is thel This-is because the` portions of the point pieces that, form Figure 3 is -a cross sectionalkview substantiallyalong line A31- 3fof-,Figure2,V with-the frog rails and thecentralz Figure 7 isa crosssectional view along line`7--7 otA Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a cross sectional.View` along line 8 8 of Figure 2; andy Figure 9 is a cross sectional viewpalong. line 9.-,-9 of Figure 2.`

Reference numeral 10 of Figure 1 generally indicates a preferredrforrn of our track frog shown in theusual positionastride the mainl track ,12 and the side track 14, The heel of the frogisgenerally indicated at 16, the tongue of the frog is generally indicated at 18, the throat of the frog is generally indicated at 20, the mouth ot the frogis generally indicated atr22, and the toe of the frogis generally indicated` at 2.4.v The rails oftthefrog, being conventional in coniiguration, are shown in dotted linesinFigures 2 and 6-9.,

Asiswellknown inthe art, track frog 10 generally comprises apair of heel rails o-rpoint pieces 26 anda pair, of wingrailspza. ordinarny, the heel rails 2s are planea or cutdiagonally of the railhead at theirends extending towardfthe frogthroat Zftto formthefrog tongue. As'l describedaboye, oneof the rails 26, known asthevside or short point, is conventionally, shorterw than the other, andthe longer rail, known asI the mainorlong point, formsthe point of a frogs tongue, with the plaried end ofthe side or. short point rail abuttingthe side of said main or long `point rail. rl`he main orl long pointrail is aligned. vvith-4 theniain track, and hence, frogs made in this way are known conventionally as right hand or left hand frogs, depeudinglon whether the side point piece is ontheright or'left handside asonefacesthe right oithev frog. The wing railscare bent as att]r to the angle illus,- trated; and theangle portions 320i the. rail 28 overlap the rails 26 approximately as shown in Figure l to, form wheel flange guard portions. l In rigid frogs of thef illustrated type, Aall parts are rigid.- ly connected together. In accordance. with conventional practices, they may be, connected together by placing fillers orfiller blocks between the pieces of rails and holding them together with bolts passing through them andthe websof the ralsor by riveting the anges of the. rails to a plate and fixingthe plate into. position, or by ernployingfclamps. or clampsV and` wedges.

The illustrated frogis ottherigid bolt type, though theinvention is applicable to other types of frogs. In accordance with our invention, the portions of heel rails 26, thatl are tapered to formY a'tonguel 18 of the frogare eliminated, andthe rigid insert body 34 is ein` ployed or substitutedfor these tapered portions of rails 26. Y

The rigid body 3 4 is generally of inverted pan shape and, comprises a tongue in the form of a roof or top 36 (see Figures 2 6, and 9), depending straightsided side walls 3,8, aV longitudinally extending depending central support web or Vilange 40, and transversely extending webs or flanges 42 that interconnect the flange 40 and wall 3 8 as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. Ribs or webs 43 (see Figure 9) may be employed inside the body 3 4 for strengthening purposes. The body 34 has a generally wedged shaped conguration, andj the frog hfl1end0tths body. terminates@ a pair of Quiw'ardir extending projections or arms 4 4 that are respectively Patented Sept. 23, 1958 parallel to the converging sides of the body 34. As shown in Figure 3, the arms 44 are formed with longitudinallyextending recesses 46 separated by webs V48. l As seen in Figures 6-9, the side walls 38 and arms 44 are formed to conform to the'internally recessed portion or web pocket defined by the heads S0, Webs 52, and bases or iianges 54 of the

frog rails

26 and 28. The top surfaces of the side walls 38 of body 34 merge into generally concave grooves '5 in the top of the body 34 that define flangeways 56 that receive the flanges of railroad car wheels. The arms or legs 44 are also formed with curved grooves 58 that likewise form ilangeways for the same purposel The relatively flat top of roof 36 forms a tread surface 60, which terminates at 59 to form the point of tongue. The angeways merge at this point; it will be noted that the body 34- extends to the point of frog indicated on the drawings at 61.`

As shown in the drawings, the illustrated body 34 including arms or legs 44 is formed with a plurality of bolt holes adapted to receive conventional bolts 62 which, together with nuts 64, rigidly bind the

rails

26, 28, and body 34 together. In the embodiment illustrated, the body 34 is formed about its bolt holes with enlargements 63 which are the po-rtions that

contact rails

26 and 28, respectively.

lIn accordance with our invention, the shortened and squared off ends of rail 26 are received between arms 44, they being positioned so that the heads 50 of the two rails will abut each other adjacent the base 65 of body 34. It will be necessary to shear the bases 54 of these rails somewhat, as shown at 64 in Figures 7 and 8. We prefer to interpose a liller body 70 (see Figure 4) between the portions of rails 26 that are received between the arms 44. VAs shown in Figure 7, the filler 70 generally comprises an elongate element having a generally I shaped configuration with a ridge 72 extending from the top of the 1, which ridge 72 is formed with an upwardly inclined surface 74 that merges into a substantially level surface 76 in the direction of the frog tongue. The web 78 of element 70 is formed with appropriate bolt holes to receive the bolts 62 employed at this end of the device.

Figure 5 illustrates another form of ller 80 comprising an elongate element having a generally H-shaped configuration in which the sides of the element are shaped to conform to the generally concave sides of rails 26. Element 8i) is also appropriately formed with bolt holes to receive the necessary bolts 62 and in use is employed where body 70 is shown in Figures 2, 7 and 8.

In assembling frog 10, the

rails

26 and 28 are positioned with respect to each other in the usual manner though, of course, the tapered portions of rail 26 are eliminated. The shortened ends of rail 26 with a

filler

70 or 80 positioned therebetween are received between the arms or projections 44 of the body 34, and the body 34 is positioned between the angled portions 32 of wing rails 23 approximately as shown in Figure 2. The

rails

26 and 28 are appropriately formed with bolt holes to receive bolts 62, and with nuts 64 applied as shown in the drawings, and drawn tight, the body 34, rail 28, the

fillers

70 or 80, and the rail 26 are rigidly secured together to form a rigid unit. This unit may be laid in operating position in any conventional manner.

Our invention has a number of important advantages. For instance, no deformation of the heads of the rails making up our track frog is required; this is very important as the railroad car wheels bear directly on the rail heads and it is desirable to have as large a bearing arca as possible. In our invention, this bearing surface is not reduced or cut down by deformation of the rail head.

The insert body 34 is a one piece element, and is not made up of separate elements that are rigidly united. The body 34 being a one piece element, is inherently much stronger than any two or more piece structure 4 could be even though the pieces of such multi-piece structure are rigidly secured together. The cast insert body 34 of the illustrated embodiment takes the place of the tongue and channel filling or filler bars usually employed in rigid bolted frogs.

lt will be noted that the apex of body 34 is in contact with both of the rails 28 adjacent the throat of the frog, which, together with the long line of contact of the body 34 with theA portions 32 of rails 28, insure that if the wing rails are depressed at all under a load they are depressed together.

The central flange 40 of body 34 and the transverse anges or webs 42 greatly strengthen the body 34 and eliminate the necessity of making the body 34 solid with consequent savings of material.

'ille rails 26 and 2S may be standard track rails, and the body 34 preferably comprises a cast alloy steel element.

rIhe llers

70 and 80 may be rolled or cast steel bodies. And, as already indicated, the main portion of the body 34 preferably is of sufcient length to extend between the ends of rails 26 and the point of frog, or the theoretical point.

Our track frog provides an extremely strong unit which is particularly adapted for yard service, where heavy switching occurs twenty-four hours a day. Tests have shown that frogs made in accordance with our invention have stood up several times longer than conventional frogs.

The foregoing description and the drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate our invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited since those skilled in the art who have our disclosure before them will be able to make modications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

l. An insert, for combination with a track frog arrangement that conventionally denes a point and a heel, said arrangement including a pair of generally lengthwise extending heel rails converging toward the point of said frog and terminating adjacent the heel of said frog in substantially transverse end faces having full width head sections, and a pair of Wing rails extending generally oppositely of said heel rails and having intermediate length portions converging toward said frog point and having end portions thereof extending beyond said frog point and diverging to extend in generally parallel anking relation with said pair of heel rails, each wing rail having a head and a ange interconnected by a vertical web to define lengthwise extending web pockets; said insert comprising a rigid, generally wedge-shaped body of inverted pan construction having an upraised lengthwise extending central frog tongue providing a tread surface at substantially the same elevation as that of the heel rails, said tongue having a heel end and a pointed toe end, said insert including a lengthwise extending internal reinforcing web supporting said tongue, said insert including liller webs disposed adjacent and beneath the upper extremity of said tongue and each terminating transversely in a straight-sided depending wall adapted for reception in the web pocket of the end portion of one of said wing rails for spacing the same uniformly from said tongue to dene a tlangeway bordered on one side by said tongue and on the other side by at least a part of said last-mentioned end portion, said filler webs being in merging anking relation to said tongue, said tongue terminating at the heel end thereof in a vertical abutment surface adapted for ush abutting engagement with the end faces of said heel rails, and said insert including integral extensions of said filler webs and said depending walls at the heel end of said tongue, each extension also including a second depending wall integral with the ller web thereof and in parallel spaced relationship to the other depending wall thereof, said extensions extending between and transversely spacing said wing and heel rails to form a ange References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Durvin Dec. 27, 1887 Reinoehl et al. Aug. 18, 1908 Rabbe et al. Oct. 6, 1908 Alden Iuly 16, 1912 Leedorn July 19, 1927