US3664584A - Concrete ties - Google Patents

Abstract

A CONCRETE TIE IS PROVIDED WITH PROTUBERANCES ON OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF SERVING TO ANCHOR A PAIR OF ONE-PIECE SPRING-TYPE RAIL FASTENERS. EACH FASTERNER HAS A BIGHT TENSIONED ON THE PROTUBERANVE, AND A PAIR OF LEGS EXTEND UPWARD FROM THE BIGHT. THE UPPER ENDS OF THE LEGS ARE BENT TO AFFORD EXTENSIONS WHICH OVERLIE THE BASE OF THE RAIL, AND BENDS THEREIN ENGAGE THE BASE OF THE RAIL WITH A SPRING FORCE. THE FREE ENDS OF THE FASTENERS END IN HOOKS, ONE HOOK BEING THE COMPLEMENT OF THE OTHER SO THAT A PAIR OF SUCH FASTENERS MAY BE COMPLEMENTALLY JOINTED AT THE FREE ENDS AND TENSIONED ONE ON THE OTHER. THE PROTUBERANCES OF THE TIE ARE UNDER A GREAT DEAL OF COMPRESSION AND ARE REINFORCED BY BENDS IN A PLURALITY OF ROD-LIKE STRINGERS EMBEDDED IN THE TIE TO EXTEND BETWEEN THE PROTUBERANCES.

Description

y 3, 1972 R. .1. NOVOTNY 3,664,584

CONCRETE TIES Filed Feb. 9, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR RAYMOUD J. NOVOTNY BY/MWZM W ATTORNEYS y 1972 R. J. NOVOTNY 3,664,584

CONCRETE TIES Filed Feb. 9 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet i F166 A F168 INVENTOR RAYM OND J. NOVOTNY il w, W1

ATTORNEYS May 23, 1972 R. J. NOVOTNY CONCRETE TIES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 9 1970 FIGIO INVENTOR RAYMOND J. NOVOTNY BY I:

ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 238-349 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A concrete tie is provided with protuberances on opposite sides thereof serving to anchor a pair of one-piece spring-type rail fasteners. Each fastener has a bight tensioned on the protuberance, and a pair of legs extend upward from the bight. The upper ends of the legs are bent to afford extensions which overlie the base of the rail, and bends therein engage the base of the rail with a spring force. The free ends of the fasteners end in hooks, one hook being the complement of the other so that a pair of such fasteners may be complementally jointed at the free ends and tensioned one on the other.

The protuberances of the tie are under a great deal of compression and are reinforced by bends in a plurality of rod-like stringers embedded in the tie to extend between the protuberances.

This invention relates to a reinforced concrete tie and a spring-like fastener to be tensioned on the tie for holding the rail to the tie with a spring force.

The advent of concrete ties in the railroad industry has prevailed for some time, and there have been constant efforts concerned with developing specialized rail fasteners in that the conventional spike, so familiar in the instance of wooden ties, cannot possibly be used anchoring a rail to a concrete tie. It is of course highly desirable to avoid a rail fastener for a concrete tie which involves drilling a tie or otherwise forming an opening therein in which the fastener is to be anchored. Not only does such alteration of the tie involve a great deal of equipment and labor, it also may cause localized weakening of the tie. Collectively, the various proposals for physically embedding or anchoring a fastener part within a tie may be viewed as involving a screw or stud which itself may present the rail fastener or which is used to secure in place a separate member presenting the rail fastener.

It is the primary object of the present invention to develop a fastener which in no way requires a physical alteration of a concrete tie incidental to anchoring a fastener to the tie, and more specifically the primary object of the present invention is to develop a rail fastener capable of being tensioned on the tie incidental to being operatively mated to a fastener of like form also tensioned on the tie, the two fasteners in their tensioned state presenting parts bearing with great spring force on the base of the rail.

As another statement of the invention, it is an object thereof to hold a rail to a concrete tie by means of two fasteners .of spring form having a pair of free ends in complemental hook engagement, statically loading the rail with a spring force produced by tensioning the fasteners on protuberances cast integral with the tie.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims 3,664,584 Patented May 23, 1972 "ice and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principle thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principle may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation showing two fasteners, constructed in accordance with the present invention, securing a rail to a tie, and taken on line 1--1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is atop plan view on the line 33 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 4 is an elevation on line 44 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a fastener constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a top elevation on line 6-6 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 is an elevation on line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an end elevation on line 8-8 of FIG. 7; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are perspective views showing stages of assembling the fasteners to hold a rail in place.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a railroad tie 10 of concrete supports a trafiic rail 11, the tie having a recess 10R therein in which is disposed a resilient tie pad 12 on which the base 13 of the rail sets. The tie pad may be of any preferred, essentially elastomeric composition, but is advantageously provided with depending or downwardly directed end lips 14 which overlap marginal portions of the outer faces of the concrete tie at the end limits of the recess 10R, whereby endwise movement of the tie pad is limited.

The tie pad itself is provided with an upwardly opening recess 12R characterized by a pair of longitudinal side lips 16 which neatly embrace the edges of the rail base. Accordingly, the recess 10R in the tie may be of some standard dimension, and in the event that the railway is characterized by rails having bases with unusual width, it is only necessary to vary the thickness of tie pad lips 16 to neatly fit the base of the rail.

It may be noted additionally that the concrete tie is reinforced with rods R of the usual kind, and as will be explained in more detail 'below, a reinforcing grill 20 of unusual construction is also provided. 1

In accordance with the present invention, the rail is secured to the tie by a pair of one-piece fasteners or clips 25, each of identical construction, having free ends in complemental hooked engagement with one another as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and in accomplishing this, the fasteners are preferably of silico-manganese spring steel,

tensioned on protuberances 26 projecting outwardly from the front and rear faces of the tie, the protuberances 26 being molded integrally with the tie.

Each such fastener 25 embodies several different bends which are best defined by visualizing the fastener as disposed substantially in an upright position as shown in FIG. 5, and in terms of a plane PL, FIGS. 1 and 5, which includes the vertical axis VA of the fastener, FIG. 4. Referring for the moment to FIG. 4, each fastener includes a pair of legs 30 equally divergent from the axis VA and joined at their lower ends by a bend or bight 31 having a profile complemental to the underside of the protuberances 26. In this instance, the underside of the protuberance 26 is convex, such that the bight 31 is curved upward- 1y uniformly on each side of its bisector point NP, with the legs upwardly divergent therefrom, substantially of V-shape. All bends and curves in the fastener may be defined in terms of progressive movement upward and outward from the bisector point NP along the axes of the legs 30.

In the installed state the bight 31 of the fastener, FIG. 2, embraces the corresponding convex curve 26-1 at the underside of the related protuberance 26, and the legs 30 have the inner surfaces thereof in engagement with upwardly divergent side surface 26-1 of each related tie protuberance.

In the installed or operative state, the two legs 30 and the bight 3-1 which joins the legs lie in the plane PL, and this is equaly true of the fastener or clip in its free state, FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the legs 30 at the upper end thereof terminates in an intermediate bight 32 which commences well outboard of the base of the rail.

Each intermediate bight 32, progressively, bends inward toward the axis VA at 32A, FIG. 4, for about 90 of bend and then, at 32B, FIGS. 1 and 3, extends both downwardly and rearwardly out of the plane PL for about another 90 of bend. The rear extension of each bight 32 merges into a terminal bight 34 and 35, respectively. The terminal bights 34 and 35 extend generally along axes parallel to the rail, overlying respective sides of the rail base, FIG. 2, and as shown in FIG. 1 the low part of each bight 34 and 35 is adapted to engage the upper face of the rail base.

Each of the terminal bights 34 and 35 has a hook at the free end thereof, but the hooks are of slightly different configuration so that one will fit or clasp the other in a complemental fashion. Thus, and referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the free end of the bight 34 is characterized by an inwardly bent arcuate hook 37, bent inward toward the axis VA, whereas the free end of the bight 35 is characterized by an upwardly bent arcuate hook 38. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the hooks have concave faces which nest in one another.

In associating the fasteners 25, and referring to FIG. 9, it should first be noted that the construction is such that one of the legs 30 of the fastener in its free state, say the near leg 30, FIG. 9, may be held in the hand,'and the far leg moved under the protuberance 26 to present the intermediate bight associated with the far leg to the base of the rail on the far side, just as the intermediate bight 35, FIG. 9, is in engagement with the base of the rail on the near side.

This operation is repeated with the second fastener, FIG. 10, interlocking the hooked ends, except that the second fastener has its bight 31 displaced outward of the related tie protuberance 26. Thus, at this stage of installation, the left-hand fastener 25, FIG. 10, may be viewed as disposed in its ultimate operative position, anchored in its protuberance 26, whereupon a sturdy prise or crowbar or similarly effective tool is interposed between the bight of the right-hand loose fastener and the underside of the tie protuberance 26. Leverage is then applied to gradually move the loose or free bight 31 into locked engagement with the underside of its protuberance 26, thereby anchoring the second fastener. A force of 800 to 1000 pounds is required to effect the lock, and in the course of final motion, anchoring both fasteners, the two fasteners are under such great tension as to cause the hooked ends to be distorted from their free state, FIGS. 4 and 5, substantially into a true horizontal position (hook 37 and vertical position (hook 38) shown in FIG. 2.

Thus, in the free state, hook 37 is inclined downwardly at a slight angle of about 10 toward axis VA and hook 38 converges toward axis VA at an angle ofv about 4. However, in the installed state, each hook 38 is displaced from its free state plane PL-3 to be substantially vertical, and the other hook 37 is displaced from its free state plane PL-2 to be substantially horizontal. Resultantly, the rail is held to the tie by spring tension, the spring force being the two fasteners, and sufilcient stressing of the tie pro tuberance is involved as to prompt an unusual way of reinforcing the protuberances, and the main body of the tie therebetween as Well, as will now be explained.

The reinforce 20, FIGS. 1 and 6, is in the form of a grid or grill of rod form and is defined by a plurality of string ers 50 joined by cross ribs 51 as by welding the cross ribs to the stringers 50. The reinforcing grid is of symmetrical form at its ends, somewhat complemental to the protuberance 26, and in keeping with this concept the stringers include end stringers 50-1, FIG. 7, intermediate stringers 50-2, and medial stringers 50.3. The stringers are bent in an unusual way as will be described in detail, such that in their undeveloped or unbent form the cross ribs 51 are displaced considerably from the free ends of the stringers. Thus, each stringer has a downward bend 52 therein, FIG. 7, and a rearward bend 53 as well, such that the stringers have terminal extensions 54 lying beneath an extending parallel to the portions of the stringers 50 lying between the cross ribs 51. Such multiple bending of the end portions of the stringers outward of the ribs 51 results in each stringer having a downwardly extending leg respectively identified as 52-1, 52-2, and 52-3, FIG. 6, noting that the vertical legs thus presented are of progressively longer length proceeding inward from the end stringer 50-1 to the medial stringer 50-3. In like fashion the terminal extensions 54 are of progressively shorter length, 54-1, 54-2 and 54-3.

The free end of each stringer is bent downwardly at 55 to afford a hook, and as shown in FIG. 1 selected ones of the hooks 55 may be associated in hooked engagement with the reinforcing rods R which extend at right angles to the stringers 50.

As already noted, the portions of the stringers outward of the cross-bars or ribs 51 present something of the cornplement of each tie protuberance 26 to be reinforced thereby, so that the longest legs of the stringers, 52-3, FIG. 2, occupy the thickest part of the protuberance, and the bends in the stringers, 52 and 53, are within the protuberance.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that variations and modifications may be nonetheless made without departing from the principle of the invention.

I claim:

1. A rail fastener having two free ends to be associated in hooked engagement with the free ends of another fastener of like construction for holding a rail to a tie, being of one-piece spring metal and including, when positioned substantially upright: a pair of legs joined by a bight substantially in V-shape, said bight and legs being adapted to embrace a protuberance on one side of the tie, said legs and said bight lying substantially in a common plane and the legs diverging upwardly at sub stantially equal angles measured from a longitudinal axis lying in said plane and extended from the bisector point of the bight, each leg having an upper end to be outboard of the base of the rail on the tie and joined to an intermediate bight which, progressively, bends inward toward said axis then downward and rearward out of said plane to overlie the base of the rail, the rearward extension of each intermediate bight merging into a terminal bight having a low part engageable with the upper face of the base of the rail, and each terminal bight terminating in an upper bend presenting a free end of hook form.

2. A fastener according to claim 1 in which one of the hooks is characterized by an upright leg and in which the other hook is arcuateand substantially horizontal.

3. A rail fastener having two free ends to be associated in hooked engagement with the free ends of another fastener of like construction for holding a rail to a tie, being of one-piece spring metal and including, when positioned substantially upright: a pair of legs joined at their lower ends by a bight substantially in V-shape, said bight and legs being adapted to embrace in tension a pro- References Cited tuberance on one side of the tie, each leg having an up- UNITED STATES PATENTS per end to be outboard of the base of the rail on the tie 1,440,062 12/ 1922 Costello 238-324 and joined to an intermediate bight which bends inward 5 3,055,914 11/1962 Rigby 238349 to overlie the base of the rail, each intermediate bight FOREIGN PATENTS merging into a terminal bight having a low part engage- 86,039 8/1965 Norway 1,130,461 5/ 1962 Germany 238-349 able with the upper face of the base of the rail, and each terminal bight terminating in a free end of hook form, 10 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner said hooks being of complemental shape so that the hooks R, A, BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner of one fastener nest freely 1n the hooks of the other fas- Us. CL XR.

tener- 23 s 29, 91, 314

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