US893878A

US893878A - Track-clearing device for railroads.

Info

Publication number: US893878A
Application number: US34720006A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph A Shires
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1906-12-10
Filing date: 1906-12-10
Publication date: 1908-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 1925-07-21

Description

PATENTED JULY 21, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

V J. A. SHIRBS. TRACK CLEARING DEVICE FOR RAILROADS.

APPLIGATIOII FILED DEC 10 1906 gine or locomotive. snow sto be removed from the rails, the airair d ivery nozzle.

JOSEPH A. SHIRES, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

TRACK-CLEARIN G DEVICE FOR BAILROADS.

A No. 893,878.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Application filed December 10, 1906. Serial No. 347,200.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. SHrREs, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements' in Track-Clearing Devices for ailroads; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention-relates to improvements inmeans for removing obstacles from railway tracks such as ice, sandf snow or other arti-' cles wlfidhform obstructions thereon.

The invention includes means for delivering air or .oth'er fluid under ress ure to the rails in front of the forward wheels of the en- In case ice'or frozen or other. fluid is delivered to the rails in a heated co dition, and for this pur ose I providemea 's for heating the air. T e air may be either taken from the atmosphere b J means of a forwardly directed funnel or it may be taken from a compressed air source mounted on the train. 1

Having briefly outlined my improved construction as well as the function it is intended to perform, 1 will proceed to describe the same in detail reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated anembodiment thereof.

.In this drawing, Figure 1 is a side eleva-' tion partly in section, of a locomotive equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view showing the loco motive fire box in horizontal section, the air pipes and nozzles being illustrated in plan view. Fig. 3,is asection taken through one of the fluid delivery nozzles and the rail underneath. Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the same with the nozzle housing shown in longitiidinal section. Fig. 5 is a section taken throd h the rail showing a modified form of Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same showing the nozzle in section.

/The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate alocomotive provided with a fire box 6. As shown in the drawing a forwardly-directed funnel 7 is mounted on the locomotive and terminates in an elbow 8 communicating with a conduit 10 having a vertical part 12 provided with a valve 13 and a union 14 which may be connected with a pipe 15 for the passage of compressed air or other fluid. The conduit 12 enters the fire box as shown at 16 and merges into a coil 17 located therein and communicating with a forwardly-extending conduit 5 the track rails 23, each nozzle having "a perfog0 rated bottom 24 occupying -a position directly above the 'rail' and inchned down lwardly on opposite sides thereof.

Iiithelform'of construction shown in Figs.

1 to 'in'clusive, the nozzle is protectedby a housing 25 acted on by a coil spring 26 whose upper extremity engages a stop 27 adjustably mounted on the pipe 20 by means of a set screw 28. By virtue of the adjustability of the stop 27, the normal tension of the spring so 26 may be regulated at will. The housing 25 hields the nozzle from atmospheric influences and facilitates the ap lication of the fluid employed to the desire ointnamel'y upoirthe rai 4 inclusive is more especially intended for use where it is desired to warm the rail either. for the purpose of'thawing ice or. snow, or for 'moderating or raising the temperature of the rail to prevent the possibility of breaka e due to conditions existing in very co (1 -weather when the rails. are said to be full of frost. The form of nozzle shown in Figs. 5 I

and '6 is more especially intended for use where compressed air is employed for removmg obstac es from the track. By using a strong ,current'of air, obstacles of considerable size may be advantageously removed from the rails by the use of nozzles 22 which are supposed to be forwardly directed and located in front of the forward wheels of the truck, the same as the other construction of nozzle.

From the foregoing description the use of my improved device will be readily understood. The funnel 7 is swiveld at A and is provided with a vane B, whereby the funnel may at all times be directed toward the wind. The air as heretofore intimated may be taken in throucgh this funnel producing a sort of I natural raft; or compressed air from a suitable source on the train may be employed The" form of nozzle shown in Flgs. 1- to 85 taking the same through the pipe 15, a valve C being opened for the purpose. Where it is desired to heat the air, the temperature of the same is raised to a suitable de ree by 5 ipassing it through the coil 17 locate in the re box as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If it is not desired to heat the air, the conduit need not pass through the fire box. In removing obstaclesfron'n the track by the use of compressed air the heating of the latter of course is not necessary.

The ipe system is provided with a nozzle in a moment with the conduit 18 and located forward of the branch pipes 19. Immediately in the rear of this'nozzle is located a valve 31. By connecting a hose Withthis nozzle and opening avalve 31, hot air may be employed for thawing out switches or for use in connection with other devices adjacent the I track.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is: V 1. The combination with a locomotive or other similar vehicle, of a nozzle mounted thereon and occupying. a position above the track rail, .a spring-retained housing inclosing'the nozzle, and a pipe system connected with the air source and communicating with the said nozzle, a portion of said system being located within the fire box, whereby the fluid delivered to the rails may be suitably heated, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a locomotive or similar vehicle, of nozzles mounted thereon and occupyingpositions above the track rails, the nozzles being arranged to deliver fluid to the rails, and a pipe system cpnnected at one extremity with a fluidpressure supply source and at the other extremity with the nozzles, and spring-retained hous-' ings inclosing the nozzles, substantially as described. I

3. The combination with'a locomotive or similar vehicle, of a nozzle mounted thereon and occupying a position adjacent a .rail of the track, means connected with said nozzle for delivering fluid thereto under pressure,

and a spring-retained housing inclosing the nozzle for the purpose set forth.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a locomotive or similar vehicle, nozzles mounted thereon and occupying positions directly above the track rails, a pipe system communicating with said nozzles at one extremity, and a funnel-shaped air receiver communicating with the system at its opposite extremity, the said receiver being swiveled and provided with a vane for maintaining it in proper position with reference to the direction of the wind; substan tially as described.

5. The combination with a. locomotive or JOSEPH A. SHIRES.

Witnesses:

A. J. OBRIEN, DENA NELSON.