US985470A - Railroad tie or sleeper. - Google Patents

Description

W. L. SYKES.

RAILROAD TIB 0R SLEBPBR.

Arruognox Hum 11.411` 1a. 1910.

Patented F9128, 1911.

3 SHEBTS-SHEET 2.

1m n: banaan-:1an u t v Paieuted Feb. 28, 1911. v

summa-sum: a.

lll'

0. .M B1.. ,m3, El |B- s R Euhm KB. 7.0M. Smm. .Tr LDI 'Ao I WOT BL LO Mm RP. ,P

. 2b all whom 'it may concern:

, appended cli aims.

of a still further modification. Fig. 7 isa am aware have proved successful or have .cracks which will admit of moisture, thus is a transverse sectional View through a 'tie growing scarcity of timber 'and .the increasl Atie, thus shortening` its period of usefulness. Furthermore, considerable diilicultv has been The season cracks will be reduced iii number WILLIAM L. sYiiEs, or

Be it known that LWViLiiiAii Sruia's, citizen of the United States,'residing at Buffalo, New York, have .inventedcertain new and useful Iniproi-'einents -in Railroad My invention relates to imprdifements in railroad ties orsleepers and comprises the' novel features of construction and arrangement and combination of parts` hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the In. the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 orsleeper constructed in a'ccordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Figs. 2* and Q are detail views of modifications. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of a modified form. Fig. 4 Ais a similar view of a.' still further modification. Fig.' 5 is a' view cfa still further modification. Fig. G'is a view side elevation of the same, and Fig. 8. is a View of a modification of Fig.. 6.

rIt' is well `known that the problem of securing timber for railway sleepers'or. ties'is becoming a very serious one owing to the ing cost. This has led to many attempts to provide substitutes for wood ties, either in the shape of concrete or composition ties, or metallic ties, but none of these, so-ar as I been adopted to any extent by the railroads.

The average size oftie used is approximately x9 in cross sectionl and hence requires for its product-ion a log to be at least 11" in diameter, and hence, of considerable initial value. Such ties are at present more or less treated by wood preservatives, but before they can be properly treated it is necessary that they be thoroughly seasoned, and in the seasoning of a tie from a single stiel; of timber they, of necessity, develop large causing decay and otherwise weakening the experienced to getthe preservation material to thoroughly penetratesfa' tie of this size.

and size by using pieces ofsmaller dimensions, and such smaller pieces possess the further advantage that -they can be more unirsi) s'riirns Parenti oiarion.

nUrrALo, NEW Your.

nAirnoAD Tin on sLEErnR.-

Specification of Letters Patent. -Patented E91), 28, 1' 911, l' ppiiean'an sied March is, l

l ieio. seriai im. 550,250.

ther, can be made from parts of trees and smaller trees than will mal-te a standard tie of one piece. A-

I have aimed to produce a tic of such a construction that. it can he madt` o' such smaller pieces with the attendant advantages above set forth and which will lyet be'as strong and more durable than the tie made in the ordinary manner of a single solid piece of wood. In other words, I have aimed `all the demands of the railway, may be constructed to the bestadvantage from the standpoint of the lumbcrman and forester, with a view to making the most economical use of the smaller sizes of lumber, and thereby producing the maximum number of ties with av minimum amount of Waste from given number of-trees. l

lu the preferred form of in v inventipn. villustrated iiiF 1 and Q, I form the tie of 'a main central section A. and two side sections IS and C. and preferably with a base member or section I). YVhile I do not restrict myself to size or dimensions, I will describe this tie as oi a size which I regard as preferable. and' in giving the dimensions. cairthe more readily explain some of the salient features. The central oi main meinwidtli b v about six .inches` in height and the two side pieces B and C are of the same height and aboit one-and-a-half inches thick at the top and about twoand-a-half inches at'the bottom. It will' thus be seen that stick or piece ot the size of the piece A, by simply sawing through the center of such piece on a slightly inclined or diagonal line and tl' en by inverting one-half and placing the tr'o on opposite sides of the piece A, a combined article is produced haring an upper sarfaceseven inches in width and' a base nine inches in width. -This gives an upper cent qioition of requisite size and strength and soliditv to receive. the spikes or screws. and provides a broader base to afford ample bearing upon the road bed. .The thicliiiess of the side pieces orinembers B and Cjs such that they may be readily fastened to the central member or section by nails o'f .suitable size. which form a cheap'ifastening means but at the same time one .of great strength and durability. The'miing may effectively treated by preservatives, and furl be cheaplv and rapidly dong-either. by hand to produce a. tie which, while meetingl with'V anyA these two pieces may be made from a single ber is preferably about four inches in' suvf'acut ample width to support the rail, a

fg i j v' 985,410'

or a nail driving machine. I have 'ound by practice that fastening by means of snitablcnails. properly lspaced, is pr:\t"erable to using bolts, as bolts must, of i'ieeessity. be placed a greater distance apart, and must have holes bored for their reception, are costly. and because of their distance apart attord opportunity tor a slight movement of the. parts withrelation to each other under weight of the henry rollin'; r stock now used. and vibration thereof. lieces ot' the size thus described, in addition to being easily and cheaply secured together.v4 possess the further advantage of being more readily seasoned with less attendant cracks and more thoroughly treated by the preservative processes, as this may be done betere they are secured together. I prefer to provide be- -neath the three assembled pieces above described. the base I). hcreinbet'ore referred to. This ispl'etierably composed ot' a pluralityoit' strips or pieces of hoard of promis-f en'onswidth placed edge to edge with the g ain running; erosswise or at right angles to the grain of parts A., B. and C. Such st rips or pieces, in a tie of the dimensions giron above, would be approximately one inch in thickness. The base D I secure to the pieces A. B and C. by a sutlicient number ot nails of suitable size. in the same manner as I se-A cure the side pieces B and C to the central or intermediate pieces. If desired. the lower corners or edges of the base may be beveled or inclined. as indicated at d, to facilitate tamping. The vertical lines of junction er contact o and c, between the central and side members, and all other joints. will in prac t-ice. be found to have little'detrimental etfect upon the tie, as they will not admit an appreciable amountof moisture, nothing in fact compared with that admit-ted by the season cracks of the ordinary standard solid. -wood tie. and further, it any moisture should enter these joints. it would not, as in the case ot the one piece season cracked tie. reach a part of the wood which has not been .snbected to the action of the preservative. In case it is desired, thel upper surface or top of the tie may be covered by a cap plate E made of metal, rolled or pressed, with -the flanges e, embracing the sides of the tie at the upper corners, and provided with holes for the passage of the vfastening devices. Such a plate serves to edectually cover and protect the-upper faceof the tie. would prevent spreading and also affords a-,crood bea ring seat. or chair for the rails. Itis, not necessary for the central member or piece to be made of a' single homogeneous stick of timber. as it may, if desiredl` be composed of two pieces. as the overlappingof the. side pieces B and C 'will afford the necessary strength. thus producing standard length ties from promiscuous lengths of lumber,

With minimum amount of waste. These pingl as shown in Fig. 2b, the spliced parts being connected by nails as -shown. It will be obvious that instead of making the central member of -piec A of two parts, it could he mad of one piece and the side pieces o r members madc'each of two parts, similarly spliced, but in no case should a spliced joint be. located 'within eighteen inches ot the rails. I

ln the form shown in Fig. 3, I have shown a larger central portion A3, five inches by six inches in' cross section, and two side pieces B3 and C 3, cut from a stick of about threc-a11d-onehalt by six inches cross sectional area, but on an incline which, when theparts are placed together in the posi- 'tion shown 'and secured in the manner described in connection with the preferred form, producesa tiehaving an upper surface seven inches in width and a ten inch base, thus making a; tie with an ample upper surface and a broad base, affording large surface area vupon the road bed, with a minimum amount of material, and constructed from comparatively small pieces. In this form also I haveshown a base with the grain running at right; angles to the grain of the superimposed pieces, which may be made wither Without beveled edges, as in Fig. 2.

In the .form shown in F i g. 4, the construction as provided is built n of still smaller pieces, by retaining the underlying princi ple of the foregoing forms. In this the.central piece may be made of a four by four .inch stick, and theside pieces of a piece of the same size, cut on a diagonal line which will give two pieces, each having a thickness of about one-and-one-half inch on one edge, and about twoand-one-half inches onthe other. These are placed on the opposite Asides of the center piece and secured in the same manner already described, and' rovided preferably with the bottom section D* In this form I may,if desired, provide above the pieces A4, B4, and C,'the covering nicmb'er F 4 which may consist, like the bottom section Dt, of a plurality of strips arranged with the grain running crosswise of the tie and secured by nailing, in the manner already described. A Above this is placed a sin- ,cle piece G* extending the whole length of the tie, preferably-seven inches in width and one-and-onc-half inches in thickness which could be of hard and selected wood for this purpose; or the coveringr member F* can be eliminated from this tie and the piece G* nailed direct to the pieces A, B* and C. If i strips Flwould be one-half inch thick, but

if the coveriinT member l"4 is eliminated or iicd, as shown bv Fin'. S in havinff the de ith a v b 1 not used, then the strips G* can betwo inches thick, .,1 the pieces A4, B", and C4, four-andone-half inches` thick. `This provides a tie with a nine inch base and a seven inch upper surface, and a height, ot seven inches, composed of pieces which are cntwith a view of 'economy from thc. luiuberinans standpoint,

and united in a manner to vproduce a strong durable tie free from liability of decay. This form leavesl no exposed lines of division for the admission ot' moisture from the upper surface. The vbasemcniber D4 can have its edges beveled, as shown in Fig. 3, if desired.

In the form showin in Iiig. 5, I still preserve, though to aless degree, the idea of using pieces cut .with economy from the lumbermans standpoint, butwith a View to Vusingtimber of comlimratively small size In this construction I use two pieces, H and H',each about four-and-one-hal' inches in width by six inches' in height, connected by nailing at frequent intervals. In this torni it may be desirable to use several bolts ar ranged near the upper edge, as shown in Fig. 5, and provided with a base piece similar Vto that described in connection with the foregoing figures.

In Fig. 6, I preserve the saine general underlying principles of construction as found jin the'other figures; viz., keeping the idea of single small pieces, cut. with economy, thus conserving or saving timber from the luinbermans point of View, as will be seen by referring to its construction. In

this construction I have used two main pieces, I and I', each about. tive-and-one -half inches wide by three inches thick, and

foul-'side pieces BB and C, B7 and C7, which are fastened to the main section I and I as hercinbefore provided. I use the section D, made up of pieces of boards or strips with `the grain running at right angles to the main sectionI and I', as a binder between the two pieces I and I', 'with its attendant side pieces B, C, and Il?, C' base to base; all securely nailed together as hereinbei'ore f provided. Itwill thus be seen that I have a tie with a.. surface seven inches, a base seven inches, and a depth of seven inches, and having both edges beveled from the-center to the surface and to the. base, thus giving' a wedge shaped tie in the ballast and affording greater' and easier facility for ltainping, the tie being about twelve inches Wide on the ballast. It' desired the boards or strips of,section I) could be spaced to pro- Vide an opening extending transversely of the. tie in which could be inserted a nut for the-reception of a bolt where it. is desired to use a bolt as thc rail fastening' means. Otherwise a screw or spike might. be used extending directly through the section D into the section below.

The vconstruction of F ig. 6 may be modiof the pieccs'I, B8 and C, all about four niches instead of three inches, and the depth of I', B, C9, about two inches instead of three inches, thus being better adapted for' ing spikes, bolts or screws, can be made of hard wood, and the other ortions of softer wood. Itwill also'- be un erstood that the size and relation of the-parts may be Varied so 'as not to bring the line of division between the parts in such position at the point where the bolt orother fastening de vice of any standard rail fastener would enter, and proyide a solid pieceor member at the 'point-.where such fastener would penetrate the tie.v Y i Having thusdescribed my invention;wha't, Iclaim iszi l. A railroad tie or'sleeper comprising a'A plurality of sections of wood of substantial thickness arranged sigle by side' on edge and suitably secured together, and a base also composed of woodwith the grain arranged crosswise of said sections,wlnch base is suitably secured to. said sections, lsubstantially described.l e i E2. A railroad tie or sleeper comprising three sections of wood of substantial thickness` set on edge, and suitably secured together, and a base secured beneath said sections, said base having the grain arranged at right angles to the grain of said sections, substantially as described.

3.l A railroadtie or sleeper comprising a central section and two side sections secured thereto, the side sections gradually increasing in thickness toward the base, substantially as described. f

4., A railroad tie or sleeper comprising a.

central section and two side sections suitably.

central section and two side sections suitably 1 secured together, and a superimposed c0v- @ring piece ormember, substantially as described.

't'. A railroad tie or sleeper comprisin a central section and two side sections suitably binder made up of boards with the grain 4 `v 7 985,470 v l secured together,` nd a cvrng member fV means forsecuring the parts together, sub- 10 'upon the upper face thereof, composed of l stantially as described.

strips or boards with the grain at right In testimony Whereolafx my Signatura angles to the grain of said sections, substanin presence of two witnesses. ia-HY as desmbed' WILLI'm L SYI'ES 8. A-railroad tio or sleeper comprising two central and four side sections, with a fitnesses n BENNETT S. Jomzs,

running Lt right angles to said sections, and I JAMES M. SPEAR.

Copies of this patent may be obtainedV for nve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

Images