US287583A - Railway-track clearer - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) I

G. ROYAL.

RAILWAY TRACK GLEA'RER.

N0. 287,583. Patented Oct. 30, 1883.

" IIYYENTOR:

I ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. Photo-Lithographer. Wnhin tm. D.C.

UNITED STATES j PATENT OFFIC GEORGE ROYAL, OFDAVENPORT, IOWA.

RAILWAY-TRACK CLjEARER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 287,583, dated October 20, 1883.

Application filed April 27, 1883. (N model.)

' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE ROYAL, of Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Clearers, of which the following is a full, .clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to devices for clearing railway-tracks. of accumulations of hard snow, ice, or earth that may have packed against the inner or wheel-flange sides of the rails, the object of the present improvement being to provide a simpler and more effective arrangement of the parts of the clearerthan is shown in previous United States Patents granted to me for improvements in this class of inventions, as follows: No. 198,468, dated December 25, 1877, No. 203,377, dated May 7, 1878, and No. 204,092, dated May 21, 1878, the present improvement providing for a free lateral movement of the vertically adjustable clearerknife frame, which is supported from hangers directly back of the rear pilot-wheels of an engine, and connected by sway-bars, preferably with the engine-frame, and by a pin and socket with the truck frame of the pilotwheels, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is'to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a locomotive in part with my improvement applied; Fig. 2, a crosssectional elevation on line w as of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a plan view.

- a represents the locomotive-boiler, 1) its frame, c the forward drive-wheels, and d the rear wheels of the pilot or forward truck of the engine, which parts may be of any approved construction.

To any suitable bar, 0, fixed to the frame I) transversely, I hang, by eyebolts f and connected bars or links g, theknife-carrying plate or bar h, which has the knives or I clearers proper, t, fitted to slide vertically in suitable ways or guides, j, formed in or on the ends of the plate It at a backward and outward incline fromthe front of said plate, and so that .the'

knives '11 maybe lowered inside and below the head-surface of the rails k, as will appear from arms m of a rock-shaft, n, j ournaled on frame.

I), and the rod 0 with any suitable lever or other contrivance within the cab of the enmultaneously raising or lowering the knives?) at both sides of the track at will when cross- 'ing tracks, frogs, or switches. Sway-bars 1) (here shown as pivoted to the engine-frame at q) permit free lateral play of the lower ends of the bars, where they have like pivotal connec tion with-the plate h or its guidesj just back of and about at the center. of the knives or clearers t. otal connections at both ends are of a substantial character to resist the thrust of the clearerknives 2' when at work. A guide pin or bar, r, firmly fixed to the engine truck-frame 8, enters a hole, It, in the center of the knife-holding plate h, which compels the plate, with its knives i,to always closely follow the wheels of the pilot and guide the knives or clearers t properly against the material to be removed from the inside of the rails, the pivotal connections of the bars 10 with the frame I) and plate It permitting a free lateral swinging of the body of the engine while rounding curves in either direction, while firmly supporting the clearers 5 without lateral strains or friction when the cutters are at work, and also allows the cutters to be set to the full width of the gage of the track to work closely to the inside of the rails. By setting the knife-guides and knives j t at the outward and backward inclination shown, they are less liable to catch on joints or fish-plates of the track or rails is in moving rapidly forward than if set directly at right angles with the rails and in line with the main central portion of plate h, and this inclined position of the knives gives them increasedstrength, and tends also to throw the snow, ice, or other obstructing'matters away from the rails, and the backward incline of the knives permits them to glance or slide off when-meeting bad joints of the rails or loose fish-plates or bolts, thereby avoiding serious injury to the clearing-knives and their connections.

I arrangesuitable brushes,u, to be vertically adjustable by their handles 1; in eyes or gine, to be operated easily therefrom, and si- These sway-bars p and their piv- IOO sockets in of arms :0, which are fixed suitably to the plate h, set-screws 3 being provided to fix the brushes to the arms 00 at thedesired height for perfectly cleaning the rails for the driving-wheels.

It is evident that the plate 7:,with the cutters or knives i, and brushes u can be attached to or suspended from the truck-frame s; but the above-described construction is preferred.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with the plate It, carrying' vertically-movable knife-clearers i, and suspended near the wheels (Z, of the sway-bars 1), pivoted to plate h, and the g11ide-1)i11r,iixe(l to the truck of wheels (I, and entering an aperture of plate 71, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, withthe plate 71, carrying VCIHCZLHYJIIOXZIDIO kuil'e-elearers i, and

suspended near the wheels (Z, of the pivoted sway-bars p, the guide-pin e, and the eonnecj, of the vertically-sliding clearer-knives t at I like inclination to the rails, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with the clearer-plate h, having its ends inclined backward toward the inside of the rails, and provided with ways j, of the vertically-sliding clearer-knives i, at like inclination to therails,andbrnshes u, substantially as shown and described.

GEO. ROYAL.

Witnesses:

PATRICK O. BRYAN, GEORGE W. SHOEMAKER.

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