US942668A - Railway-spike. - Google Patents

Description

R. L. SMITH RAILWAY SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.21, 1905.

942,668, Patented Dec'.7,1909.

UNITED STATES PATEN @F.

ROBERT LEE ,SMITI-I, OF RICH MOUNTAIN, WEST VIRGINIA.

RAILWAY-SPIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT LEE SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rich Mountain, in'the county of Randolph, State of Test Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Spikes; and I do hereby 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.

This invention relates to a railroad spike and has for its object to provide a spike which may be readily driven into a tie which will be held securely against lateral displacement in all directions and which will have a minimum tendency to work loose.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several. views, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a spike embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the spike, while, Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the spike.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be noticed that the spike comprises a tapering body portion 5 having a wedge point 9 and a head 6 which projects beyond the flat front face 7 of the body or stem in the form of a lip 8 which is designated to engage over the flange of the rail in the ordinary manner. The face of the spike which is adapted to come against the flange of the rail is in the form of an elongated coffin-shaped polygon the perimeter of which comprises parallel running top and bottom edges, the incised or notched edges 18 and 19 the upper edges of which converge toward the head 6 to form a bearing surface as shown at 7 in Fig. 1, this bearing surface being intended to lie adjacent the rail flange. From the head 6 the body of the spike is gradually enlarged a short distance to form a transverse shoulder 11 presenting a straight under edge as shown in Fig. 2, the shoulder being continued at right angles to form the two end webs 12 and 13 directed toward the wedge end of the spike, this rear face of the spike being longitudinally channeled or concaved to a point proximal to its end as shown in Fig. 3 to present the knife edges 14 and 15, the knife edges being notched or incised as shown in Fig. 2. This rear face Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 21, 1905.

Patented Dec. '7, 1909.

Serial No. 251,275.

or surface is angled near its lower end to form a wedge in conjunction with said face 7 as shown in Fig. 1. This rear face as shown in Fig. 3, is hollow, and in outline has the form of a quadrilateral the upper edge formed by the shoulder 11 being wider than the lower edge represented by the cutting edge of the wedge point and at its lower end forms a wedge with said face as shown. The sides of the spike are also channeled or concaved and flared rearward and outward as clearly shown in Fig. 3 and in outline are ,wedge shaped having a straight edge formed by the face 7 while the opposite edge is twice angled, the first angle being formed by the inclined wedge surface and the second by the edge of the rear face of the spike. It is by means of the concaved surfaces of the sides and rear that the knife edges 14 and 15 are formed.

The spike is so constructed that when driven into a tie to bring the lip 8 into snug engagement with the rail flange the shoulder 11 will be in engagement with the top of the tie to cover that part of the tie which is crowded between the projecting edges 14% and 15 so that rearward movement of the spike from the rail is prevented, the spike furtherbeing held against such movement by the crowded wood fibers in contact with the concaved sides of the spike. The shoulders 12 and 13 cut the wood just below the shoulder 11 to prevent the tie from tearing or blooming, and

Having thus described my said invention what I claim as new is As a new article of manufacture, a tapering spike, consisting of a single piece of metal having a wedge point, a lip provided head, a flat front face, a rear hollow face, channeled sides, and a transverse shoulder at the rear upper end having a straight under edge and two end webs directed toward the point of the spike, the lower portions of the edges between the channeled sides and rear face being incised, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, I afiiX my siguature, in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT LEE SMITH.

Witnesses AARON SMITH,

O. L. FLANAGAN.

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