US2421602A - Expansion repair plate for worn railway ties - Google Patents

Description

June 3, 1947. J. H. DOOLING EXPANSION REPAIR PLATE FOR WORN RAILWAY TIES Filed Jan. 15, 1944 INVENTOR. J77. 5004 ave. BY f7 Patented June 3, 1947 EXPANSION REPAIR PLATE or. WORN RAILWAY TIES John H. Dooling, Fitchburg, Mass assignor of one-half to Louis J. OMalIy,;Newton,.Mass.

Application January 15, 1944,301ialNo. 518,315

2 Claims.

This invention relates toexpansion bearing plates forrepairing worn and out areas in'railwayties.

Objects of the invention include the provision of a flexible repair. pad to replace therwood'fiber destroyed in ties due to the downward cutting and abrasive action caused by the action of metal tie plates under dynamic and impact loads of heavy locomotives and loaded cars moving at high speeds; the provisionof a repair pad as aforesaid embodying means capable of expanding laterally under pressure to fill and conform to the limits of the depression in the tie caused by wear of the tie plate and to* assume all perishable aspects due to wear formerly imposed on the tie itself; and the provision'of an expansion repair plate comprising a plurality of laminations impregnated-with a preservative substance'of a fiowable nature which will exude laterally; under operating pressures to fill the worntie depression in addition to the lateral expansion of the body ofgthe repair'plate.

Further objects of the invention include generally' the provision of method and meansifor applying fiowable pitchy tie preservativematerial tothe depression worn in railway ties by the tie. plates,so as to tightly seal all jagged edges and: crevices of the depressions and to utilize a repair pad to supply a bearing. surface 'forthe replaced tie plate, the pressure of the trains pro.- ceeding on the rails forcing the preservative material into the wood to complete the repair of the worn tie.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view partly in section showing a form of the invention as applied to a worn railway tie;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of a form of the expansion repair plate; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevationalview of the plate of Fig. 2.

As is well known in the art, railway tie plates wear depressions and cut into the ties due to vibration in the rails and the fact that dirt and sand, etc., creep in between the tie plate and the tie, resulting in the mechanical wear of the tie. Also decay and vermin will add to the deterioration of the wood. The depression or hole worn and cut into the tie is larger in area than the bearing surface of the tie plate because of the above mentioned vibration. This invention contemplates an expansion repair plate of a size substantially; the same as the tie plate and thus smaller-than the depression in the tie, which repair'platei'sset into; thewornholeand as explained" below absorbs the subsequent'wearing action and replacing the wood fiber: destroyed so as to render the tie fitfOl further-use, avoiding the necessity of "renewing. thetie. The presentinventionis in: nosense a device for applicationito anew. tie but: is a repair device only.

In'Figilhthere isr'shown atie ID; a rail l2 seated in atie plate I4 and secured by railway tie spikes: l6; As shown; the illustrated tie has been. worn'andfcut down in the region of the tie plate M asindicated in Fig. 1. Constant shifting and vibration of the rail andftie plate under the impact of. heavy locomotive and moving trains has not only worn or cut'a hole in the tie, but has made as hole larger in the tie plate.

The edges of the WOIll' hole obviously will be jagged and formed with crevices due to the wearing and the Weathering of the Wood. The breaks and crevices permit the entrance of vermin and bacteria Which greatly accelerate the deteriorationof the tie. It willbe clear that i'n due time the tie will become unusable unless the wear is stopped;

The present expansion repair and bearing'plate comprises a plurality of laminations which may be formed of woven material, jute, asbestos, or other material, such as thin plastic sheets, etc. The material is first impregnated with a Wood preservingmaterial which is flowable under certain pressur'eand temperature conditions. Such preservative substances appliedare pitch;- asphalt, resins, mastic, plaster, or the likeybut in any case the laminations are thoroughly impregnated, or coated in the case of plastic sheet or sheets, and then assembled into a pad or plate, and rolled and pressed to form a relatively stiff pad which, however, also has flexible properties under conditions of pressure.

The plate so made may be reinforced as by stitching 22 or by wire mesh or other means, and holes 24 are punched for the accommodation of the spikes.

Regardless of the material of the expansion repair plate, the individual laminations of the finished plate will be resistant to or impervious to the passage of the preservative material after pressing and rolling,

A plate as above described is inserted, as shown in Fig. 1, under the tie plate l4 and will thus be located in the depression [8 with its edges stopping short of the limits of the depression.

area than As trains travel on the rails, pressure will be transmitted to the plate and this will cause the tie preservative to exude or flow from between the laminations so as to fill up the remainder of the depression as indicated at 26. Also the pressure of the rail will cause the plate 20 to further compress and expand approximately as shown in dotted lines at 28 in Figs. 2 and 3. It will thus be seen that a double action is produced to fill the depression l8 and to seal off its ja ed edges and crevices.

The expansion repair plate may be made of alternate layers 30 of one type of fabric, such as cotton, with layers of another type of material, such as wool, interposed; and it is preferred that the weave of the fabric should be diagonally disposed to overcome the normal friction and thread fatigue produced in a fabric by heat generated between laminations and cohesion, which when the pressures are released, causes friction by pulling the threads apart.

The method may also be carried out by app y-- ing the tie preservative directly to the depression and placing thereon a plate of the nature described, similar repair results being also beneficially occasioned thereby.

It will be clear from the above that this invention provides a laminated repair expansion and bearing plate incorporating a fiowable wood preservative having a viscosity permittin the latter to flow or exude laterally outwardly from between the laminations as pressure is applied and at proper temperatures in sufiicient quantity to fill all openings and to seal ofi jagged or crevice areas tightly and completely. It is to be noted that in the manufacture, allowance can be made easily to provide enough preservative for this use; in fact a surplus is preferred since too much preservative will not adversely afi'ect the results. Also, the worn depressions are obviously not all of one size, but a repair plate the size of the tie plate accomplishes the desired results perfectly, as the depressions are always larger than the tie plate.

When a repair plate of the nature described becomes compressed, after long usage, to a point where it begins to fail to carry out its purpose, a new repair plate may be inserted therein, as the old repair plate forms a pocket about the size of the tie plate for reception of a new repair plate.

- Certain subject matter disclosed herein is being claimed in a copending application No. 633,- 716, filed Dec. 8, 1945 of the same inventor.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. An expansible repair plate adapted to be inserted upon a wooden tie beneath a metal tie plate to fill an area which has been worn by the metal tie plate, said repair plate comprising a preformed flexible mat of a size initially slightly less than the worn area, and consisting of a plurality of layers of fabric material, each of said layers being coated with a mastic wood preserving material adapted to be extruded laterally from between the layers and beyond the fabric by downward pressure upon the mat when in use beneath the tie plate so as to completely fill the worn area.

2. An expansible repair plate adapted to be inserted upon a wooden tie beneath a metal tie plate to fill an area which has been worn by the metal tie plate, said repair plate comprising a preformed flexible mat of a size initially slightly less than the worn area, and consisting of a plurality of layers of fibrous base material, each of said layers being coated with fiowable pitchy material adapted to be extruded laterally from between the layers and beyond the fabric by downward pressure applied to the mat when in use beneath the tie plate so as to completely fill the worn area.

JOHN H. DOOLING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 1,905,397 Reynolds Apr, 25, 1933 491,092 Eaton Feb. 7, 1893 695,429 Gombar Mar. 11, 1902 1,128,048 Robbins Feb. 9, 1915 2,155,155 Stedman Apr. 18, 19 39 2,277,808 Wood Mar. 31, 1942 1,769,630 Fischer July 1, 1930 1,961,077 .Pater May 29, 1934 2,352,314 Fischer June 27, 1944 1,780,396 Kirkbride Nov. 4, 1930 1,413,085 Wells Apr. 18, 1922 1,765,796 Kirschbraun June 24, 1930 1,168,083 Lewis Jan. 11, 1916 445,325 Wilson Jan. 27, 1891 1,610,379 Hooper Dec. 14, 1926 952,591 Ulrich Mar. 22, 1910 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 669,003 France Nov. 9, 1929 223,956 Great Britain 2 July 20, 1923

Images