US28645A

US28645A - Claw-bab

Info

Publication number: US28645A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1860-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 1877-06-12

Description

UNITED s'rkfrns PATENT OFFICE.

G. H. BEARD, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CLAW-BAR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,645, dated June 12, 1860.-

ATo all whom fit 'may concern:

Be it known that I, Gr. H. BEARD, of Oincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Instruments for Drawing Spikes on Railroads, &c., W'hich I Have Denominated a Claw-Bar; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon and forming a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention relates to an improvement in the construction of instruments for drawing spikes, particularly on railroads where repairing is necessary. Claw bars for drawing nails and spikes are common. They also have some variety of form and construction, but among them all none of the more simple and practical forms have been found perfectly adapted to the somewhat variable requirements of road building and repairing. Among the requisites to constitute a good, efficient and convenient instrument for these purposes, may be named; first, that it shall grip the spike in such a manner as to furnish a great leverage to start the spike; second, that it shall be of such a nature and construction as to be operated for the first starting of the spike with great power in a narrow space, as between two rails, operating at right angles with reference to them; and furthermore it should not only be so constructed and of such a nature as after starting the spike to be readily applied to the rail as a fulcrum, but yet be so furnished as to operate equally well when the rail is not in such relative position as will allow it to be so used. Again the gripping surfaces should be of such a form as to furnish a good seat for the head of the spike during the drawing operation to prevent injury and to secure a fair hold. To obtain the above advantages is the object of my invention which I will now proceed to describe, as follows.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side view. Fig. 2 is a plan. Fig. 3 is a side view showing the bar when it takes hold of the spike and Fig. 4L is a section illustrating also the position of the spike when drawn.

The same letters of reference indicate similar parts in each figure.

A common bar A has formed upon its end the two curved jaws B, the curves being formed as seen in the drawing, with reference to the lever or bar A, and the inner sides of the jaws are parallel to each other as shown, at E, so as to allowvthe spike to assume the position shown in Fig. 4L, as well as any intermediate position without bending it in the space between the jaws. The upper inner corners of the jaws are beveled in such a manner as to form a resting place for the head of the spike, having a U-shaped cross sect-ion, but conforming to a short curve which while it commences at nothing or nearly so, at the point runs deeper and out again to the surface about the back end of the slot formed between the two jaws B. This curve is so short and is aranged, as shown, with reference to the other parts that the head of the spike is sure to have a fair'seat in all the different stages of the drawing operation.

a, a, are the beveled surfaces.

C is a heel arranged as shown, and forming part of the claw bar, so as to come into operation as a fulcrum after the spike has been started from its position in the wood by the short and powerful leverage 0btained near the point of the jaws, while the bar is operating at the commencement in, or nearly in, a line with, or parallel to, the spike. The heel C also serves to get a hold upon a rail when operating in a narow space between the rails, so that the instrument may not slip upon the rail, the rail being used as a fulcrum. When made in this form the jaws are exceedingly strong. In using the instrument the point is slipped so as to embrace the head of the spike by means of a slight thrust. When the bar is pushed backward and as the spike starts and is drawn it changes its position relatively to the instrument, gradually, during the operation from the one shown in Fig. 3 to the one illustrated in Fig. 4. When the heel C comes in contact with the sleeper, the fulcomprising the three following and several features, viz., the U-shaped space E receding toward the heel to allow the necessary traverse to the spike in the process of drawing; the heel C, and the recess formed by the inclined surfaces a, a, to receive the head of the spike all substantially as described.

G. H. BEARD. Witnesses:

WM. CLOUGH, CHARLES L. FISHER.