US2205282A - Rail fastener - Google Patents

Description

June 18, 1940. N, D, FATTA 2,205,282

RAIL FASTENER Filed June 1959 mania 1NVENTOR.

' ATTORNEYS.

Patented June18, 1940 RAIL FASTENER Nicholas D-i Fatta, Oakmont, Pa., assignor to Woodings-Verona Tool Works, Verona, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 6, 1939, Serial No. 277,655

9 Claims.

This invention relates to rail fasteners, and has among its objects the provision of a'combined rail fastener and creep check of simple and inexpensive construction which is easy to apply and highly eflective in operation, which can be readily tightened in case it becomes loose, and which can be used with conventional tie plates without the necessity of altering them.

In accordance with this invention a resilient rail clip that is arched longitudinally is mounted with its ends engaging a tie plate and the base flange of a rail seated on the tie plate. -The clip is provided with an opening formed by striking downwardly a tongue that extends into a conventional spike hole in the tie plate at the edge of the rail base. This opening may be in the form of a slot extending upwardly from the outer end of the clip. To hold the clip in place a spike is driven down through this slot, through the tie plate hole and into the underlying tie. The spike may be the same width as a conventional railway spike, but it is only about half as thick so that it can extend'through the tie plate hole with the tongue which it engages. The tongue is inclined upwardly and outwardly in its partially applied position, whereby downward movement of the spike, as it is driven into the tie, will force the upper end of the tongue and the clip inwardly toward the rail. Also, the tie plate engaging portions of the tongue and spike are preferably bowed away from each other in order to permit them to resiliently wedge themselves in the tie plate hole. The lower end of the tongue is slightly enlarged so that it will engage beneath the tie plate and help lock the clip in place.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of my rail fastener in opera tive position; Fig. 2 is avertical section taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1; Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are plan, side and rear views, respectively, of the clip; and Figs. 6 and 7 are side and rear views, respectively, of the spike used with the clip.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, a railroad rail 1 is mounted on a conventional type of tie plate 2 having a shoulder or rib 3 on its upper surface for holding the rail against lateral movement. The rib and plate are provided with the usual spike receiving hole 4.

In accordance with this invention the rail is held down on the tie plate by means of a spring clip 6 held in place by a spike 1 driven into the underlying wooden tie 8. The clip is preferably rectangular as seen from above in Fig. 1, and is arched longitudinally (Fig. 2) with its inner end extending slot 9 is formed in the outer or rear 1 portion of the clip by striking down a tongue I l which is inserted in the tie plate hole l. In order that the tongue may extend entirely through the hole it is somewhat longer than the slot.

To hold the clip firmly against the rail and tie plate, spike I is driven through slot 9 and tie plate hole 4 into the wooden tie. This spike is as wide as an ordinary spike, but it is only about half as thick because the tongue substantially fills the rest of the tie plate hole. When the spike is driven down its head engages the resilient clip and tends to flatten it, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the clips bears with considerable pressure upon the tie plate and rail base flange. The clip not only holds the rail on the plate, but

,helps to keep the rail from creepinglongitudi' nally."

Another'feature of this inventionis that in its unstressed condition, shown in Fig. 4 and in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the tongue I I is inclined upwardly and outwardly so that when the spike is driven down through the tie plate hole it must force the upper end of the tongue and the clip inwardly toward the rail. This movement in itself tightens the clip on the rail because the rail base flange is inclined upwardly away from the spike. In order to help hold the tongue and spike down in the tie plate, they are preferably bowed away from each other before being mounted in place (Figs. 4 and 6). When driven through the tie plate hole the opposite walls of the hole force the bowed portions toward each other whereby the spike and tongue are resiliently wedged therein. To further aid in locking the tongue'in place, its lower end is enlarged so that it will project under the tie plate (Fig. 2).

If the pressure of the clip on the rail happens to decrease, it may be increased again by merely pounding the spike down the desired amount. It will be seen that the cost of making such a clip and spike is small compared with the cost of most rail fasteners. The spike serves the doubleduty of holding the clip in place and helping to hold the tie plate on the tie. The tie plate is of standard form and need not be altered in any way to receive this fastener.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and construction of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiments. However, I desire to have PATENT OFFICE it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A rail clip having a longitudinally arched resilient body of substantially the same thickness from end to end and with ends adapted to engage a tie plate and a rail base flange, the portion of said body adjacent the tie plate being provided with an upwardly extending slot adapted to receive a fastening member, and a depending tongue at the upper end of the slot adapted to project entirely through a hole in the tie plate, the lower end of the tongue being curved away from said slot for engaging the edge of the tie plate at the bottom of said hole.

2. A rail clip having a longitudinally arched body with ends adapted to engage a tie plate and a rail base flange, the portion of said body adjacent the tie plate being provided with an upwardly extending slot adapted to receive a fastening -member, and a depending tongue at the upper end of the slot adapted to projectinto' a hole in the tie plate, said tongue being bowed away from the tie plate engaging end of the clip and being resilient.

3. A rail clip having 'a longitudinally arched body with ends adapted to engage a tie plate and a rail base flange, the portion of said body adjacent the tie plate being provided with an upwardly extending slotadapted to receive a fastening member, and a depending tongue at the upper end of the slot adapted to project into a hole in the tie plate and inclined downwardly and toward the rail-engaging end of the clip, whereby said tongue is forced into a substantially vertical plane by a spike driven through said hole behind the tongue and in engagement therewith.

4. In combination, a longitudinally arched rail clip having ends adapted to engage a tie plate and a rail base flange seated thereon, the portion of the clip adjacent the tie plate being provided with an upwardly extending slot, said clip having a depending tongue at the upper end of the slot adapted to project into a hole in the tie plate, and a spike disposed in said slot against the tongue and adapted to extend through said tie plate hole, the combined thickness of the tongue and spike being substantially equal to their widths whereby they may be disposed in a conventional spike hole in the tie plate.

5. In combination, a longitudinally arched resilient rail clip having ends adapted to engage the tie plate and a rail base flange seated on said tie plate, the clip being provided with an opening and a down-struck tongue adapted to project into a hole in the tie plate, and a resilient spike disposed in said clip opening against with an upwardly extending slot, said clip having an integral tongue extending downwardly from the inner end of said slot and into said tie plate hole in engagement with the inner wall thereof, and a relatively thin spike disposed in said slot and hole in engagement with said tongue and driven into said tie.

'7. The combination with a wooden tie and a tie plate having a spike-receiving hole at the edge of its railseat, of a longitudinally arched resilient rail clip having ends for engaging the tie plate and a rail basefiange mounted on said seat, the outer portion of the clip being provided with an upwardly extending slot, said clip having a tongue extending downwardly from the inner end of said slot and into said tie plate hole, and a resilient spike disposed in saidslot and hole in engagement with said tongue and driven into said tie, the tie plate engaging portions of said tongue and spike being bowed away from each other to wedge themselves in said hole.

8. The combination with a tie plate having a spike-receiving hole at the edge of its rail seat, of a longitudinally arched resilient rail clip having ends for engaging thetie plate and a rail base flange mounted on said seat, the outer portion of the clip being provided with an upwardly extending slot, and said clip having a tongue extending downwardly and inwardly from the inner end of said slot and into said tie plate hole, the lower portion of the tongue engaging the inner wall of said hole, said slot and hole being adapted to receive a spike for forcing the upper'end of said tongue toward the rail seat.

9. A substantially rectangular rail clip having a longitudinally arched resilient body of substantially the same thickness from end to end and with ends adapted to engage a tie plate and a rail base flange, theportion of said body adjacent the tie plate being provided with an upwardly extending slot adapted to receive afastening member, and a depending tongue at the upper end of the slot adapted to project through a hole in the tie plate, the lower end of the tongue being formed for engaging the bottom of the tie plate.

NICHOLAS DI FATTA.

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