USRE1602E - Improvement in railroad-frogs - Google Patents

Description

'Y UNITED STATES PATENT (Minori.v

l). l). LEWIS, 01" PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-moes.

Spccilicntion thinning part of Letters lntcnt No.24,034, datmldlhay 17, 1659; Reissue No. 1,802, dated January i864.

vTo all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, DAVID I). LEwIs,for merly of Taniaqua, Pennsylvania, but now of 'Plliladelphia, Pennsylvania, did obtain Letters vPatent of the United States for un lmrovelnent in Railroad-Frogs, which Letters aient I now deem inoperative and invalid by reason of 'a defective specification and I doy Jiex'cby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact deseriptiouot' the said invention, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists in the peculiar for- 'mation of the ribs of railroad-frogs, fully described hereinafter, whereby thesndden lateral strains to which 'both cars and frogsare subjected when the former pass over the latter are in a great measure obviated, and whereby the weer and tear of the frogs and the-loosen- 'ingof the same from their foundation are t0 a n great extent prevented.

l- -My invention further consists in a inode, described ,hereinaitexy of securely fastening the ateelI point to the frog.

-I n order to enable others skillcd'in tuisclass ofrailway work' to make and apply my invention, I will new proceed to describe the Inan- 'ner of constructing the same.

s `0n rctferencetothe accompanying drawings ywhich' forni a part' of this speciteation'Figfnre'l 'is a plan view of my improved raiiroaddrag; Fig. 2, a longitudinal sectional elevation Aol! the line 1 2,Fig. 1; Fig. Il, a transverse vaection on the line I3 4, Fig. 1; lfig. 4, the

/same on the line 5 6, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, thesame lou the line 7.8, Fig. 1 and Figs. 6, '1, and 8,l Niewsotvdetachablefportions of the frog.w

. Similarletters referto similar .par ts through ont theseveral'views.

My improved frog consists of a cast-iron plntehaving the two exterior ribs A and A' and the intermediate angular rib, B..

Although of'a form somew'hat'similarto that oil the frogs in common use, my improved frog ditl'ers from Athose vheretofore made in several important particulars.

0n referenceto Fig. 1 Itgvin oe seen that the inner'cdge of cachot' ,the ribs A and Ais curved throughout its 'entire length, that each yrih, from what may he termed the l throat ,v-

of the frog is curved gently ontwal'd'in both directions.

- It'will also ne sceuon reference io Figs. 3, 4, and 5 that the inner edge otl each ot' the ribs A and A is inclined and rounded at ,the

upper corner, so as tohe adapted to the flanges4 Y and treads ofthe caiwlieels.

' The objects and advantages o'rthcsc't'eatures' will be explained hereinafter.

The frog is secured to asnitahle. foundation by bolts passing through holes iu lugs a a, and others passing through Aholes b b at one end ofthe frog. A steel plate, e, is secured hy meansof suitable rivets to each ofthe opposite side ribs, A and A', the plate. extending t'roin theend y of the l'rog to thepoiht n', so'thnt a hard steel surface is presented throughout the greater portiouof the ribs for the car-wheels tobearon. a tendency to inove these steel plates outward, especially at thethroat a', and, as ordinary rivets do not su lllce to preventthe plates from being torn from their hearings, a strip, j', 1

is east to and forms apart of cach of the ribs A and Al of the frog near the throat a' and serves to resist the outward pressure imparted to the plates c hy the camvheels. As an additional security for the plates they are made of. aV t'orm at the points 1v, the ends ot' the vplates fitting' against a shoulder of va. similaiforln on the ribs. 4Nolateralstrain'can therefore disturb the position ot the plates at; this point. 'Thel intermediate. Ipointed Iih, B, is constructed as follows: rl`he extreme point h consistsof steel let into a recess Ain the body oi- ,the frog, both the point and recess heingol' the dovetailcd form represented in Fig. 4. Between the rear ol the steclpoint h and the' rear end of the recessn which it tits there is a space just large enough to receive the block i, the presence of which within the said space prevents the sliding hack of thcpoint freni y its dovetailed socket. 0n the removal of theblock i, however, which may be done hy simply raising it upward out ot its recesses, the

,steel point hma'y be in ovedvhack from' its socket and raised out of the recess free from the frog.v

The re'ur end ot' the point h is lcut away or recessed on the top so as' to receive the end ot'. the steel ,tread-plate Ir, which is secured by Thetlang'es of thecar-wheels have rivets to the intermediate rib of the frog by a rivet passing through the block'z and by its socket, and a new point tted to its place.

1t will be observed that the block i is slightly larger at its upper than on its lower end,

so that on securing the rivet the block must act as a wedge and force the point h so'tight l iup into its socket that no action of the earwheels can loosen it.

It is well known that railroad-frogs arcsubiected to the most severe lateral strains and jars, and that they last but a comparatively short time, the' strains being so' severe that -the frogs either become loosened from their foundations or the ribslbecome so worn by the action of the wheels that the frogs must of necessity be removed and replaced with new ones.

The severe strains to which Vfrogs are subjected are communicated withV more or less force to the ears, engines, Snc., which :pass

over them. 'The rapid wear and tear of the "cars may, infact, be. attributed in a. great measure to the strain to which they are subjected in passing over frogs.

My improved frog llas been designed with the view of preventing.` or, at least, diminish irr, the above evils.

n allrailroad-frogs the narrow throat .r is

necessary, and itis at this point where the greatest strain is exerfed, hence the impor4 tance ot' curving the ribs A and A gradually outward from this point in both directions,

' so that the car-wheels may be directed grada Y ally and gently towardwthe throat and from the same, insteadot'being directed in a straight line iibruptlytoward the throat and in a likest'raight lineequallyas abruptly from the throat, which is the ease when wheels ,mss over the frogs as constructed rprior to my invention'. Thus by using thc curved ribs both the frogs and the cars areto an important extent relieved from the injurious lateral `strains and shocks previously alluded to.

In ordinary frogs theedges of the ribs A and A' are abrupt,no provision being made for so constructing the ribs that they will conform to the ear-wheels, as is the case with mv improved frog.

By beveling the edges of the ribs and rounding the comers so that the ribs may conform to or nearly conform tothe'shape of the wheels two advantages are obtained, first, the climbing of the wheels onto the ribs as they approach and leave the throat of the fron,r is prevented and the inordinate wear and tear ot' the ribs thereby prevented; secondl y, this adaptation of the ribs to the wheels adds to the easy and gentle approach ot' the wheels to and departure from the throat of the frog. l

I am aware that'detaehable steel points have heretofore been dovetailed to railroadfrogs. 1 therefore lav no claim to such a device; but s I claim as my inventioni The ribs A and A', curved from the throat a: outward in both directions, as 'set forth, for the purpose specified.

2. The ribs A and A', so beveled and rounded on the edge that they will conform to or nearly conformvto thetreads und flanges of the car-wheels, tor the purpose described.

3. The steel point h, dovetailed to the body of the frog, in combination with the treadplate k and the block i, when the said treadplate overlaps andis secured to the said point, and when the block i is of such a tapering or wedgeshaped form that during),r the process of riveting it and the tread-plate to the body

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