US1804784A - Toy railway track clip - Google Patents

Description

- BY 1931; J. c. koERBER 1,804,784

TOY'RAILWAY TRACK CLIP Filed July 16 1928 Patented May 12, 1931 e V H I 1 V ,umrasrr PATENT, OFFICE .J'OHN C. KOERBER, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY .TOY RAILWAY TRACK CLIP Application filed July 16, 1928. Serial No. 293,000.

I "This invention relates to electrical' confixed and movable casings forming parts of nectors or clips, and particularly to clips the clip, together with a spring located in adapted to form electrical connections with said casings and adapted to move the mov the rails of toy railway tracks. able casing into engagement with one of the Toy railway tracks are customarily track rails, and I 55 formed of two wheel-bearing rails and a Figure 6 is a fragmentary View similar third rail, which is generally located between to Figure 1, but showing the clip applied to the" wheel-bearing rails. Current is supa toy railway track of wide gage. I

plied to the toy car through the'rails, the Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings,

third rail serving as one terminal, and one reference character 10 indicates 'aportion 60 or L both of the heel-bearing rails serving ofa toy railway track which comprises ties as the other terminal of the supply circuit. 11, On Which are mounted tWO outer Wheel- To connect these rails with the supply conbearing rails 12, and an intermediate in ductors, as well as, in certain cases, to consulated third rail 13.

nect the rails with auxiliary circuits, such Secured tothe track 10, and, adapted to 65 as circuits employed for energizing wayside form electrical contacts respectively 7 with signals, it is customary to employ clips one of the Wheel-bearing rails and with the which may be attached to and. removed from third rail is a clip 15, which comprisesv a the track. base or plate of insulating material 16, car- 1 i v The principal objects of the present invenrymg a stationary third rail engaging contion are to provide 3,11 improved clip of this tact member 17, and a movable Outside rail character which is simple and economical ng ging Contact member 19. l in construction, is composed of relatively I In'the particular embodiment of clip disfewparts, which may be easily applied to closed the member 17, is formed of a strip Ii 1 and removed from the rails, andwhich will of metal secured to the bottom of the base 7 serve to form good firm electrical contacts 16 as by eyelets 20. This strip of metal with the rails, extends the length of the base, and is wid- A further object of my invention is to ened at one end, as indicated at 22, so as provide a clip of this character which may to extend across thewidth of the base. The 5;, be constructed so that it can be applied to strip at its enlarged end is bent upwardly an tracks of difi'erent gage. A further object around the end of thebase 16, and termiis to provide an improved clip of this charnates in a rail engaging portion or abutment acter which is adapted for attachment to 2 1. One of the eyelets 20 at one end of the tracks of diflerent gage withoutr'requiring strip forms an electrical connection witha '11s the-removal or adjustment of any of its terminal member 27, to which a wire ter-rea parts. c minal maybe secured.

Further objects ofmy invention will ap- Permanently secured to the base 16 .by pear from the following description, taken means of downwardly extending lugs 33, in connection with the accompanying drawwhich pass through openings in the base 3 ings, which show one embodiment of my in: and are bent over beneath the base, is a vention, and wherein: 1 member or casing 34, which is preferably Figure 1 is a plan view of a clip showing formed of sheet metal bent into the shape the same applied to a toy railway'track of shown in Figure 5. One corner of the easnarrow gage; ing 34 -is formed with a flat projecting por- LL; 'Figure 2 is a sectional View taken on the tion 37, which is secured by one of the eyeline 2+2 of Figure 3; 1 lets 20 to the base 16 and to a terminal Figure 3 is a sectional View taken on the member 38, to which a wire terminal 39 line 33, Figure2; may be secured. The outer end of the eas- Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the clip; ing 3& isclosed by a wall 51 and its inner end to Figure 5 is a perspective bottom'view of is open, as indicated at 36, and slidable in 10 and out of this opening is a rail-engaging contact member 40, which is formed of sheet metal having two lateral longitudinally extending channels 42, which are closed at their outer ends as indicated at 43. The outer end of the member 40 extends outwardly beyond the channels 42, and may be bent downwardly as indicated at 45 to form the outer rail engaging portion of 44. v

The member 40 is preferably formed from a flat sheet metal blank by cutting and stamping. The outer walls of the channels 42 are formed by bending down the metal of the blank along its side edges, there being extensions 46 at one end of these edges which, when bent inwardly and backwardly, form the closed ends 43 of the channels. The inner walls of the channels 42 are formed by making and I-shaped cut in the center of the metal blank, so as. to leave :two inwardly projecting metal portions, which are then bent down, as indicated at 52.

The lower edges of the outer walls of the channels 42 are formed with downwardly projecting lugs 48, which project into longitudinal slots 49 formed in the base 16, this construction serving as a means to guide the casing 40 in its movement in and out of the casing 34.

The member or casing 40 is normally biased towards its outermost position by means of a spiral compression spring 50,

e which is located in the casings 34 and 40.

In the clip shown this spring is doubled on itself andextends through the two channels 42 of themember 40. The outer ends of the spring press against the ends 43 of the channels, and the spring at its central or bent portion presses against the wall 51 of the casing 34, the wall 51 thus receiving the reaction of the spring. It will be noted that in the clip shown, the spring is not secured to any part of the clip, but merely lies inside the casings 34 and 40, being confined by' the walls of the casings and the a base 16.

It will be seen that the clip constructed as described may be easily applied to and removed from the track. The construction and mounting of the fixed and movable contacts .for holding members permits a relatively wide range of movement of the movable member, and for this reason, if desired, the clip may be so constructed that it may be applied to tracks of different gage, wherein the outer rails are located at different distances from the third rails. .Thus, in Figure 1 I show the clip applied to a track of narrow gage, and in Figure 2 to a track of wide gage.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The toy railway track clip comprising a base, a third rail engaging contact carried by said base, a second contact slidably mounted on said base and movable toward and away from said track, said second contact being adapted for engagement with the outside of an outside rail of said track, and said second contact having a suflicient range of movement to permit of its engaging the outside rails of tracks of different gage, and a compression spring located in said second named contact and adapted to move said second named contact through said range.

2. A toy railway track clip comprising a base of insulating material having a slot therein, a contact mounted on said base and slidable thereon into circuit making contact with a rail, said contact being formed of sheet metal having downwardly extending side edges formed with lugs located in and movable in said slots.

3. A toy railway track clip comprising a base of insulating material having slots therein, a contact slidably mounted on said base, said contact being formed of sheet metal having downwardly extending side edges formed with lugs located in and movable in said slots, and a spring for moving said contact, said spring being located be tween said contact and base.

4. A toy railway track clip comprising a base, a stationary rail engaging member carried by said base, a movable rail engaging member carried by said base, a disconnected compression spring for moving said movable member, a stationary member adapted to receive the reaction of said spring, and means for confining said spring laterally of its length. v

5. A'clip for toy railway tracks compris ing an insulating base, a rail engaging contact comprising a casing open along one side, means for slidably securing said casing to said base, with said'base closing the open side of said casing, and a spring located inside said casing, and adapted to engage iaid casing to move said casing along said ase'.

6. A clip for'toy railway tracks comprising an insulating base, a stationary rail engaging member, a movable rail engaging member comprising a casing, means for movably securing said casing to said base and a spring in said casing-and bearing against oneend thereof to move said casing along said base.

. 7 A clip for toy railway tracks comprisnga rail engaging member, a second rail engaging'member adapted to cooperate with said first named member to clamp the clip to the track, and a spring for moving said second named member into clamping engagement with a rail of said track, said second named member serving to enclose said spring.

8. A clip for toy railway tracks comprising a rail engaging member, a second rail engaging member adapted to cooperate with said first named member to clamp the clip to the track, and a spring for moving said second named member into clamping engagement with an outside rail ofsaid track, said second named member serving to enclose said spring.

9. A track connector for toy electric railroads comprising two cooperative rail engaging members, one fixed and the other movable, a contractible spring urging them toward one another, and a wire receiving terminal connected to each rail engaging member.

10. A track connector for toy railways, comprising a fixed rail engaging member, a movable rail engaging member, a spring for moving the latter member relative to the former member to clamp the connector to the track and a wire receiving terminal connected to each member.

11. In a contact device for toy railways an insulating supporting structure, a movable contact carried thereby, a spring for moving said contact, a circuit terminal and electrical connections through which current may flow between said contact and terminal without flowing through said spring.

12. In a contact device for toy railways an insulating supporting structure, a movable rail engaging contact carried thereby, a spring for moving said contact, a fixed circuit terminal and electrical connections through which current may flow between said contact and terminal without flowing through said spring.

13. In a contact device for toy railways an insulating supporting structure, a movable rail engaging contact carried thereby, a spring for moving said contact, a fixed circuit terminal and a telescoping casing enclosing said spring and forming an electrical connection through which current may flow between said contact and terminal without flowing through said spring. Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 9th day of July, A. D. 1928.

JOHN o. KOERBER;

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