US470009A - Railway-frog - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

N. RATGHFORD.

RAILWAY FROG.

No. 470,009. Patented Mar. 1', 1892.

20 11 lame ,16 I 7 a reasonable expense.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.NICHOLAS RATCHFORD, OF PLAIN CITY, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALF TO LEWIS D. EVANS, OF COLUMBUS, AND CHARLES N. BOYD, OF PLAIN CITY, OHIO.

RAILWAY-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 470,009, dated March 1, 1892.

Application filed August 10, 1891. Serial No. 402,211. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS RATCHFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plain City, in the county of Madison and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway-Frogs, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to the improvement of railway-frogs of that class wherein the frog rail or tongue is automatically thrown by the weight of a moving train or car, and has particular relation to that construction of railwayfrogs shown in former patents, Nos.

. 433,148, of July 29, 1890, and 434,525 of August 19, 1890, granted to myself and Lewis D. Evans.

The objects of my present invention are to provide improved means for automatically returning or moving the frog-rail or tongue outward from connection with the main track after the passage of a train and at the same time elevate the tongue-operating rail to its normal position, to obviate the necessity of employing springs to accomplish the above objects, and to produce the desired movement of said parts in a simple and reliable manner without unnecessary friction and at These objects I accomplish in the'manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a main and side track of a railway, showing the railway-frog and its operating mechanism.

'Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line a: aiof Fig.

1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line y y of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the frog-operating weight and bar.

Similar figures of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The numeral 1 indicates one of the maintrack rails, which, as described in the said former patents, are continuous at the frogpoint.

2 represents the outer and 3 the inner s1detrack rails, which intersect the main-track rails at the usual angle. As described in the said former patents, a suitable supportingblock at, the upper side of which is flush with the upper side of the main-track rails, is made to adjoin the outer side of one of said maintrack rails at the frog-point or point of intersection of the rails 3 and 1. Upon this supporting-block 4 is supported a frog-rail section or tongue 5, one end of which is pivoted upon one end of said block 4, as indicated at 6. This frog-rail 5 normally lies upon the blocket in a position parallel with the maintrack rails, and has its rear end supported'in such position that when moved inward, as hereinafter described, upon its pivot it will be brought into alignment with the sections of the side-track rail 3, which, as described in said former patents, are elevated to the height of said frog-rail.

Supported adjacent to the inner side of the outer side-track rail 2 is an operating-rail '7,

in the inner side of which is formed a longitudinal channel 8. This operatingrail, as described in said former patents, is formed in two sections, hinged near the centers of their 7: lengths at 9, the outer ends of said sections being pivotally connected with the side-track rail 2. The upper portion of the channeled operating-rail is normally supported, as here- .inafter described, above the outer side-track rail, and the outer end of abell-crank lever 10 is pivotally connected with a lug 11, which projects from the under side of said channeled rail and. which is rigidly connected with the latter. This bell-crank lever is further piv- 8o otally connected, as shown at 12, with a lug 13, which projects downwardly from the under side of a bar or plate 14 on the inner side of the operating-rail 7. This bar 14 has its ends supported upon suitable blocks 15, which in turn are supported upon the ties16, with which said bar is connected. The lower end of the downwardly-extending or vertical arm of the lever 10 is jointedly connected or pivoted at a point between the ties in the slotted 0 end of a lever 17. This lever 17 extends inwardly from its point of connection with the lever 10 in a line parallel with the ties to a point below and on the outerside of the block 4, from which point it is bent upward and thence again inward, and is pivoted, as shown at 18, to alug19, which projects outwardly from the outer side of the frog-rail 5, near the rear pivoted portion of thelatter. From the under side of one of the sections of the operatingrail I cause to depend a short bearing-arm 20, in the lower end of which is journaled the crank end of a rod or shaft 21,the horizontal body of which extends outward fro n1 its crank portion in the direction of the ties and bearing in suitable boxings or journal-bearings 22, which are formed with or supported upon transverse supporting-bars 23, which extend between and are secured upon two or more ties. On the outer side of the outer one of these bearings this rod or shaft 21 is bent at right angles with the direction of the ties, said bent portion being flattened or squared, and provided at desired intervals with pin perforations, as indicated at 24. This flattened or squared portion 21 is, as shown in the drawings, made to pass loosely through and support at the desired point thereon a suitable weight 25, which is normally supported near the earth, and which, together with the desired portion of the shaft 21, may be suitably covered or housed to prevent the entrance of rain or snow. WVhen the weight 25 is down or in its normal position, the crank end of the shaft 21 is held at such elevation as to result in a corresponding elevation of the central portion of the operating-rail, resulting in the incline of the sections of the latter from their hinge-point toward their outer ends.

The operation of myimproved device is as follows: Atrain which has been switched from the main track onto the side track travels upon the latter until the outer car-wheels come into contact with and run upon the operating-rail. The weight thus imparted to said operatingrail results in a depression of the latter, which, through the connection of the shaft 21 with the arm 20, results in a turning of said shaft within its bearings and a consequent elevation of the weight 25. This downward movement of the operating-rail also serves to depress the upper and shorter arm of the bellcrank 10, and to cause a movement toward the main-track rail of the lower and longer arm of said bellcrank. This movement of the bell-crank results, as will readily be seen, in an inward movement of the lever 17, which, through its connection with the frog-rail 5, results in causing the latter to slide upon its block 4 and the upper side of the rail 1 until the beveled outer end of said frog-rail is in engagement with the side-track rail. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, this movement of the fro -rail results in bringing the latter into alignment with the side-track rail 3 and in the formation thereby of a substantially continuous rail. As will readily be seen, this movement of the frograil will be accomplished before the wheels of the car reach the frog-point, and admit of the passage of the inner wheels of said car over the frog-point without contact with the main-track rail, and without the necessity of forming any break whatever in the rail. The cars having passed over the operating-rail, and the latter being thus released from weight or pressure, the weighted portion of the shaft 21 will drop to its normal position and the crank end of the shaft will be sufficiently raised to again drive the operating-rail in position for use. This return of the operatingrail to its normal position will result, through the connection therewith of the levers 10 and 17, in a return of the frog-rail to its normal position upon its support and a clearing of the main-track rail.

From the construction and operation described it will be seen that the means employed for transmitting the proper motion to the parts are exceedingly simple and are such as to produce but slight friction of the parts and render the latter durable and flexible. By sliding the weight 25 to diderent points upon the bar or shaft 2], and inserting suit-- able pins 27 ateach end thereof, through the proper perforations 24, the weight may be adjusted to the desired position upon its supporting-bar.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the main and side track rails, a movable frog-rail pivotally supported, as described, adjacent to and above the main-track rail, the sectional hinged and pivoted channeled operating-rail adjacent to the inner side of the outer side-track rail, of a bell-crank lever fulcrumed adjacent to said operating-rail and having its shorter arm pivoted to the latter, a lever 17 pivotally connected with the frog-rail 5 and the longer arm of the bell-crank 10, and means for returning the operating-rail to its usual elevated position, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with the intersecting main and side track rails, the pivoted frograil supported, as described, adjacent to and above the main-track rail, a pivoted and j ointed channeled operating-rail 7 adjacent to the inner side of the outer side-track rail 2,. of. a shaft 21, having a crank-shaped inner end, the end of the latter journaled to the under side of the operating-rail, the body of said shaft supported in suitable boxings, as described, a weight upon the outer portion of said shaft, and a pivoted lever connection between the operating-rail and the pivoted frograil, by means of which the latter is forced laterally when said operating-rail is depressed, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the intersecting main and side track rails, the pivoted frograil supported, as above described, adjacent to and above the main-track rail, pivoted and jointed channeled operating-rail 7 adjacent to the inner side of the outer side-track rail 2, bell-crank 10 fulcrumed adjacent to the operating-rail, its upper and shorter arm pivotally connected with the latteig'a level-17, hav boxings, as described, and a weight upon the ing its ends pivotally connected, respeetively,' outer portion of said shaft, substantially as with the longer arm 0f the bell-crank 10 and and for the purpose specified.

the frog-rail 5, of a shaft 21, having a crank- NICHOLAS BATCH FORD. 5 shaped inner end, the end of the latter jour- In presence of naled to the under side of the operating-rail, HOWARD 0. BLACK,

the body of said shaftsupported in suitable E. H. REEL.

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