US2632601A - Rail anchor - Google Patents

Description

J. L. GRANT RAIL ANCHOR March 24, 1953 r 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 7, 1949 INVENTOR. 276/62 l f arzi J. L. GRANT Maid; 24, 1953 RAIL ANcHdR 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed May 7, 1949 INVENTOR.

(73in BY Patented Mar. 24, 1953 RAIL ANCHOR John L. Grant, Chicago, 111., assignor, .by mesne assignments, to Poor a Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application May 7, 1949, Serial No. 91,948

2 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in rail anchors.

The invention appertains particularly t rail anchors of the general type which, when applied to a railroad rail, grip the base portion of the rail and abut against a vertical face of an adjacent crosstie so as to prevent longitudinal creeping movements of the rail.

The usual supporting structure for a railroad rail comprises a wooden crosstie and a metal tie plate interposed between the top surface of the crosstie and the base portion of the rail. The widths of the tie plates and the crossties may vary so that insorne instances the tie plate may be of less or greater width than the cross tie. The present invention is directed to improvements whereby the anchor device may be made from a bar having a horizontal flange portion for gripping the rail and an integrally formed rigidifying portion which extends lengthwise of the anchor and abuts against an adjacent crosstie; the tie abutting portion being formed to extend substantially the full length of the under rail portion of the anchor and projects laterally beyond the opposite sides of the rail gripping portion of theanchor, whereby to insure firm contact against the crosstie when the anchor is applied to a rail in a position to engage either side of a orosstie.

According to the present invention, the anchor device herein shown is made from a rolled metal bar preferably substantially T-shape in cross section so that all of the advantages incident to the use of such a section, are incorporated in the present embodiment of the invention. Preferably, the crosssection is such that the longitudinal web has laterally extending flanges along both edges thereof with one set of said flanges being of greater width than the other and sufficiently so that they may be bent downwardly to provide opposite tie abutting faces. The said laterally extending flanges are cut away 'fromone end of the bar which is then bent into hook form to provide sur faces which engage the upper and lower surfaces of one base flange of the rail The other endof the bar is offset to provide a locking shoulder arranged to grip the opposite edge of the rail base when the anchor is driven transversely of the rail to its applied position.

It is therefore a specific object oi 'mypresent invention to provide an improved rail anchor device having the constructions and providing the advantages above described.

A preferred embodiment of the rail anchor, constructed in accordance with the present invention;

, 2 is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. v1 is a plan View showing the base portion of a railroad rail supported on a tie plate and an underlying crosstie, and showing a rail anchor constructed in accordance with this invention applied to the base portion of the rail in a position to bear against a vertical face of the crosstie.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the base portion of the rail and. showing in elevation the improved rail anchor device applied to said base portion.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the rail anchor device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and illustrating its tie abutting portion engagin an adjacent crosstie.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank from which the device shown in the preceding figures is formed, and indicating by certain broken line the portions thereof to be severed from the blank.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the blank with certain portions severed therefrom,

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the flanges bent downwardly.

Fig. '7 is an end .elevational view of Fig. 5, and showing in dotted lines the manner in which the lateral flanges are bent downwardly.

. Fig. 8 is an end clevational view of Fig. 6.

Referring to Figs. 1-3 of the drawings. the numeral it designates the base portion of a rai1- road rail supported on a conventional metal tie plate H secured, as by driven spikes I 2, to the top surface of a crosstie it. As shown herein, the tie plate H is of a width corresponding to the width of the crosstie !3. However, this relative width may vary so that in some cases the tie plate may be of greater or lesser width than the crosstie.

The rail anchor device of my invention indicated generally by the numeral it is formed of a bar of substantially T-shape cross section (Figs. 4 and. '7) having upper and lower laterally extending flanges 56 and ii respectively, and a connecting web 98, thelower flanges being of considerably greater width than said upper flanges. The said anchordevice extends acros beneath the rail flanges l9 and 2-! and engages the bottom surfaces thereof. Portions 23-48 of the lower lateral flanges tl-ll are cut away from one end of the bar (see Fig. 4) and the said end is bent into hooli form to provide an upper jaw 22 of inverted T-shapeior engaging the inclined upper surface of the rail flange IS and a lower jaw 23 for engaging the bottom surface of the said rail flange near the longitudinaledge thereof. The opposite end of the bar also has portion of the lower lateral flanges I! cut away, and portions of the upper flange I6 opposite thereto are offset upwardly, as indicated at 24, to provide a locking shoulder which engages over the vertical edge of the rail flange 2| when the anchor is in its operative position.

The upper lateral flanges 16 are of sufficient width so that the upper and lower jaws 22 and 23 respectively, of the hook portion and body portion engaging the under surface of the rail flanges l9 and 21 will resist all torsional stresses when the tie engaging portion, hereinafter to be described, is pressed against the face of an adja cent crosstie, or is held by the track ballast against retrograde movement. As will be observed the hook portion is of inverted T-shape in cross section throughout its length. Such a section provides a structure of very substantial rigidity suflicient to provide a firm grip on the rail flange, but is sufliciently resilient to compensate for variations in the cross sectional dimensions of such rail flanges.

The lower lateral flanges I! of the bar are bent downwardly to form in efiect a longitudinal channel providing two parallel spaced tie abutting faces 25 symmetrically arranged and offset relative to the plane of the longitudinal web [8. As will be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the tie abutting faces 26 extend substantially across the width of the rail base and project laterally beyond the planes of the vertical sides of the upper lateral flanges IE, it.

In applying the anchor device 19 to a railroad rail, the hook portion of the said device is hooked over one flange such as I9 of the rail base and is driven transversely of the rail base until the locking shoulder 20 snaps up into engagement with an opposite vertical edge of the rail base Ill. The anchor device is applied to a rail at a point proximate to a crosstie so that one of the tie abutting faces 2s of the device will bear firmly against a vertical face 27 of the crosstie. Since the tie abutting faces 26 project beyond the side edges of the upper lateral flanges 16, the anchor will bear against a vertical face of the crosstie even though the tie plate I I may project a slight distance beyond the corresponding adjacent vertical face of the said tie. It will be clearly apparent that because of the provision of two symmetrically arranged tie abutting faces 26 the device may be used on both right and left rails of the track in any desired position, that is, either in front of or in back of a crosstie.

Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive, illustrate a preferred form of blank from which the anchor device may be formed. The blank comprises a bar formed with said upper and lower flanges I6, I1 and with a vertical web 18. Portions 28 and 29 are cut away from the flanges ll to form the structure shown in Fig. 5. Thereafter, the lower lateral flanges IT are bent downwardly from the full line position to the dotted line position of Fig. 7 to provide the structure shown in Figs. 6 and. 8 in which the said flanges provide the opposed tie abutting faces 20 of the completed anchor. The end of the bar from which the portions 28, 28 are severed is bent into hook form to provide the upper jaw'22 of the anchor.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor comprising a bar including an under-rail body portion bent at one end into hook form to provide upper and lower jaws for gripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one base flange of a railroad rail and formed at the other end with means for engaging the other base flange of the rail to lock the anchor in its applied position on the rail, the said bar including a horizontally disposed portion extending from end to end of the bar and providing a platform for engaging the bottom of the rail and also extending around the inner surface of said hook to provide a surface, corresponding in width to said platform, for gripping the top surface of the first mentioned base flange, a centrally disposed vertical web depending from said platform and extending from end to end of the bar, a portion of said web providing reinforcement for said bend and said upper jaw of the anchor; said bar being formed also with flanges which stop short of the opposite ends of the bar and project outwardly and downwardly from opposite sides of said web to provide flat vertical faces positioned outwardly from the side faces of said platform, either of said flat vertical faces being adapted to abut a side face of a crosstie.

2. A rail anchor comprising a bar including an under-rail body portion bent at one end into hook form to provide upper and lower jaws for gripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one base flange of a railroad rail and formed at the other end with means for engaging the other base flange of the rail to lock the anchor in its applied position on the rail, the said bar including a horizontally disposed portion extending from end to end of the bar and providing a platform for engaging the bottom of the rail and also extending around the inner surface of said hook to provide a surface, corresponding in width to said platform, for gripping the top surface of the first mentioned base flange, a centrally disposed vertical web depending from said platform and extending from end to end of the bar, a portion of said web providing reinforcement for said bend and said upper jaw of the anchor; said bar being formed along the outer edge of said vertical web with flanges which stop short of the opposite ends of the bar and which project outwardly and downwardly from opposite sides of said web to provide flat vertical faces which project outwardly beyond the side faces of said platform, either of said flat vertical faces being adapted to abut against a side face of a crosstie.

JOHN L. GRANT.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,734,008 Frehse Oct. 29, 1929 1,748,294 Kadel Feb. 25, 1930 1,922,814 MacLean Aug. 15, 1933 2,206,307 Schneider July 2, 1940 2,210,062 Campbell Aug. 6, 1940 2,244,755 Warr June 10, 1941 2,268,327 Thomann Dec. 30, 1941 2,360,004 MacLean, Jr Oct. 10, 1944 2,373,923 Thomann et a1 Apr. 17, 1945 2,473,345 Preston June 14, 1949 2,511,062 Hyle et al June 13, 1950

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