US427436A

US427436A - Railway-spike

Info

Publication number: US427436A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1890-05-06
Anticipated expiration: 1907-05-06

Description

(No Model.)- I' A i R. S. MERRILL.

RAILWAY SPIKE.

No. 427,436. Patented May 6, 1890.

UNITED STATES iPATnNT Ormes.

RUFUS S. MERRILL, OF IVAKEFIELD, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOSHUA MERRILL, O F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAI LWAY-SPI KE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,436, dated May 6, 1890.

Application filed February 20, 1890. Serial No. 341,183. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUFUs S. MERRILL, of VVakelield, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Railway-Spike, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a rail way-spike which shall have great strength, which can be easily driven, which cannot be 1o drawn or loosened by the constant jars to which it necessarily is subjected when in use, and which will have great capacity to resist the lateral thrusts that come upon it when it is used, for example, on railway-curves and in like localities. A spike embodying a construction possessing` these advantages is illustratcd in the accompanying drawings, forining part ot this specification, wherein- Figure l is a perspective View. Fig. 2 is a cross-section, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section, ot" said spike. Fig. 4: is a view of a modified form of spike hereinafter more particularly referred to.

The spike is one which has a broad body of comparatively little thickness. Its sides a are parallel with each other and its front and rear faces b c are also parallel with each other, so that there is no taper in the shank of the spike. This construction renders it most difficult to be drawn after it once has been driven. In the rear or outer face c of the spike-shank, by which I intend the face opposite that from which the head of the spike projects, is formed a longitudinal groove or recess d, which extends from the point,or what in an ordinary spike would be the point, of the spike toward the other end, terminating about halt' an inch or so below the line to which the spike is usually driven into the cross-tie or stringer. At this point the groove or recess terminates in a bevel d. This groove leaves the sides a of the spike as longitudinal and parallel ribs. The groove or recess is of the same depth throughout, so that its bottom will be in substantial parallelism with the improved front face c of the spike-shank. The shank at thepoint end of the groove, as well as at the point end oit the two ribs c, (as they may be called,) ,is finished with a chiseledge, the bevel being from within the groove outward. y

IVhen the spike is driven, it usually enters the wood as far as the dotted line a: o5, Fig. l, on the unrecessed portion of the shank.

This spike possesses great strength and stability, as well as capacity to resist outward strain that may come upon it. It enters the wood with comparative ease, its chisel-edge, which is on the lower edge of both the broad face and each ot the two side ribs a of the spike, (the latter bounding and standing at right angles to the cutting-edge on broad faee,) facilitating the driving of the spike and cutting a clean way without crushing or tearing or bunching the fibers. The substantial parallelism ot all of the opposite faces of the spike-shank affords an exten ded surface for a frietional hold on the wood, whch is not weakened by the partial drawing of the spike, as in the case of a tapered shank, and while the spike is exceedingly stili, yet it has comparatively less metal in it than the usual spike.

The only difference between the spike illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 3 and that illustrated in Fig. 4 is that in thelatter the shank above the point where the recess or groove terminates is made broader, so as to have on each side a lateral wing c, which extends beyond the side of the main portion of the shank below. These wings at their lower ends terminate in a bevel e', slan ting from front to rear and similar to the bevel d. The head of the spike is made correspondingly broader also. The object of-this modiiication is to give increased capacity tothe spike to resist thrusts uponit by the rail.

IIaving described my invention, I would state that I do not claim, broadly, a spike which is longitudinally grooved upon one of its faces, nor do I claim, broadly, a spike which is ot considerable width or breadth and of comparatively little thickness. In either one of the kinds of spike referred to, however, the

shank, so far as I am aware, has been of the usual taper term.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-a l. The herein-described spike, having a broad but comparatively thin shank, with parallel sides and front and rear faces, provided in its outer face for a portion of its length from its front end with a recess or groove d,

IOO

of substantially the same depth throughout, end of the bottom and sides of the groove, which forms the sides of the spike into ribs and lateral Wings e With beveled lower edges a, and provided at its front end with a ohisele', as and for the purposes hereinbefore set edge on the broad face and side ribs of the forth.

5 groove, substantially as and for the purposes In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 15 hereinbefore set forth. my hand this 17th day of February, 1890.

2. A railway-spike having abroad but com- RUFUS S. MERRILL. paratvely thin shank formed with parallel Vitnesses: faces b c, a groove d, of substantially the same EWELL A. DICK, To depth throughout, a chisel-edge on the outer WILLIAM II. SHIPLEY.