US3018967A - Method and means for the installation of rail track - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 3o, 1962 M. KHAL". 3,018,967

METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE INSTALLATION OF' RAIL TRACK Filed March 12, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 n x lig@ w Jan. 30, 1962 M. KHALIL 3,018,967

METHOD AND MEANS FOR INSTALLATION OF RAIL TRACK Filed March 12,. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fl! 'I y MUHAhm/D KHAL/L nwe/wrok Jan. 30, 1962 M. KHALIL 3,018,967

METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE INSTALLATION OF RAIL TRACK Filed March 12. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 3o, 1962 M. KHALIL METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE INSTALLATION OF RAIL TRACK 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 12, 1953 IWI/EN To@ example:

ff' Stats The present invention relates to a new and improved method of installing rails and to universally applicable fastening assemblies, including resilient clamps for securing railway rails having a flat base to railway sleepers of any type such as, for example, wooden, metal castings or concrete, and more particularly, to a manner using adjustable resilient cl-amps.

When two pairs of said fastenings made in accordance with the present invention are fitted about the rail seats of a sleeper v either by hooking the end of the fastening itself through a slotted hole in the back plate of the seat or by providing additional means of connection, e.g., a rivet, screws, spike or bolt, said fastenings will permanently arrest creep of the rails or absorb vertical movement orthe so-called wave motion of the rails, without appreciably disturbing the sleeper and the ballast underneath as well as enable the gauge of the track to be minutely adjusted and maintained with little or no further attention on the part of the permanent way staff.

It is known to railway engineers that most of the common types of track fastenings in use today are in some respects limited in their utility and function; for

(a) The Well known dog spike neither prevents lcreeping nor allows satisfactory gauge adjustment. They have to be hammered down frequently to keep contact with the rail owing to their failure to withstand the direct leverage from action of the rail anges tending to pull them out from the sleeper under the impact of fast moving loads.

(b) The various types of solid tapered rail keys, which are a common feature of a number of existing types of sleepers, prevent rail creeping only against the direction of their taper. Furthermore, such keys cannot be manipulated to adjust the gauge and even if so, such manipulation is only possible to a very limited extent except where four keys per sleeper are applied. A further disadvantage is that such keys have to be manufactured to a close tolerance in order to obtain a satisfactory t even where particular rail types and sleepers are used, since the fitting range is highly limited due to their non-resiliency. As a result such keys, after little wear and tear by their service, tend to loosen and slip through the sleeper jaws, unless they are supplemented by' liners to keep them right. Moreover, the taper keys fail to impart the desired resiliency to the track owing to the rigid attachment between the rail and the sleeper and the vertical forces thus imparted by the rails to the sleepers quickly tend to undo and crush the ballast packing and induce blowing and pumping under the sleepers. Furthermore, such keys are also easily removable and stolen from the track along with the movable loose jaws with which they are commonly tted on the sleepers.

(c) The solid types of rail clip-and-bolt fastening systems do not .allow for fine gauge adjustment which is necessary for high speed tracks and the rigidness of the clips tends to shake loose the bolts thereby necessitating frequent attention. For the same reason this fastening system frequently fails to check creeping effectively.

(d) The various types of loose rail anchors are, at most, effective against creeping in one direction at a time only. Actually, such anchors are supplementary track `working position against the rail base.

VQ" was.,

fittings used in addition to dog spikes, etc., and are not meant to serve as independent fastenings between rails and sleepers.

(e) The various arrangements of critter-pins and gibs which are used where sleepers have pots or plates coupled together by means of tie-rods, can only serve for a restricted range of gauge adjustments and do not function as fastenings between rails and sleepers.

lt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a track fastening combining the following most desirable and important features:

(l) To prevent rail creeping in either direction,

(2) To provide an adequate range of gauge adjustment to cover all practical service requirements for high looseor re uire stead su ervision and which is alsosuitably protected against sabotage or pilfering.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a track fastening which is suitable to absorb impacts from moving loads, thus helping the sleeper to act elastically, whereby the ballast below Yit remains more or less undisturbed by trains moving at high speeds. This will result in a substantial increase of the useful life of the sleeper as well as an appreciable saving in the cost of maintenance.

lt is yet another object of the present invention, especially in the case of wooden sleepers, to rendersupertluous single or double shouldered bearing plates under the rails but rather permits the use of the relatively simple and inexpensive flat bearing plates where the necessary Vrim may' be created while forming the Vrail seats in the sleepers, since the effect of a shoulder is effectively performed by the fastening itself.

It is finally another object of the present invention to perform a close gauge adjustment of the track by placing adjustable rail fasteners at both sides of at least one rail.

According to the present invention the fasteners consist of elements which may be applied to the standards universally used in track structures and comprise a cam capable of pressing against a lateral edge of a rail base Vand a resilient clamp pressing down the rail baseJ said fastening element being pivotable in a manner so as to bring it from an initial position allowing for the placement of the rail into a Working position in which it keeps the rail in exact adjustment.

Preferably', a steel bar of flat, square or round section is forged, punched or coiled in such a manner that one end of the bar is shaped to resemble a cam in plan View with the other end of the bar bent back substantially above said cam to form a jaw suitable to press down into The cam then works against the side edge of the rail base and the jawformed end then lies at the same time on the upper inclined surface of the rail base. This is accomplished after the fastener has been pivoted on a bolt or the like put through a hole provided eccentrically in the cam end, which bolt also secures the fastener assembly to the sleeper.

lf desired, the separate connecting means may, as an alternative arrangement, be replaced by a forged rivet extruded from the Vrail seat or by a welded hook which performs the fastening through a slotted hole in the rail seat on the sleeper. Where a separate eccentric washer in lieu of thefcam-shaped end of the fastening is used, the clip and the lower portion accommodating the eccentric washspiace? er may preferably be made of a bar that is square in crosssection. Such an eccentric washer which may be made of cast iron or steel, has a nut shaped collar projecting above the top surface of the cam portion of the clip. The securing connection, i.e., a bolt, rivet, etc., passes through the hole in the washer, and the arrangement has the added advantage that the clip as well as the washer can be rotated independently of one another. The manipulation of the collared washer by means of a special Spanner wrench gradually moves the clip towards or away from the rail, due to the eccentricity of the washer which serves the same purpose as the cani profile in the one piece arrangement referred to above.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference letters in the various figures indicate corresponding parts.

FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are plan views of four sets of the said fastening assemblies, in one row on the rail seats of four sleepers illustrating various positions of the various fastening means to assure a correct positioning and holding of the rail.

FIG. 1 illustrates the initial position of each pair of fastening assemblies in which they are clear of the rail to facilitate the installation on the sleepers of the rails.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show the possible close adjustment in the location of a rail by a change in the positions of the cams whose pivoting causes the rail to move laterally to diminish or widen the gauge between the rails.

FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are cross sectional elevations of a steel trough sleeper, a wooden sleeper, a cast iron sleeper and a prestressed concrete sleeper respectively, illustrating the adaption of the said fastening means to said miscellaneous types of sleepers by using, for example, either rivets or bolts in the case of steel sleepers or round spikes, coach screws or fang bolts in the case of wooden sleepers, or screws or bolts in the case of cast iron sleepers and head screws or anchor bolts in the case of concrete sleepers.

In the illustrations shown in FIG. 5, rivets are used for connection with spike connections being employed for the wooden sleeper in FIG. 6, screw connections for the cast iron sleeper in FIG. 7 and bolt connections for the concrete sleeper in FIG. 8. The embodiments shown in FIGS. to 8 illustrate that the use of the fastening assemblies made in accordance with the present invention when used with any type of sleeper obviates the necessity of providing rimmed bearing plates or jaws on the rail seats since the necessary lateral support of the rail is provided by the fastening itself.

FIGS. 9 and l0 illustrate details of a pair of fastenings shown in FIGS. l and 2 in initial and working positions respectively then keeping the rail base in correct position.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are elevations taken along lines U-U and V-V' respectively in FIGS. 9 and 1.0. These views particularly illustrate the elastic expansion of the clip end of the fastening while pivoting from its initial to its working position.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 12, A defines a rail, V a rail seat resting on the top of a sleeper. Cr and Cl symbolize a pair of coordinated right and left-handed fastenings of identical, but opposite handed structure, having holes D suitable to receive connecting links projecting from rail seats B. E is the clamping top portion of a clamp which embraces the slanted surface F of the rail base in working position. G defines the bottom portion of the clamp pivoting around hole D and buttng against the side edge of the rail base H.

FIGS. 9 to 13 illustrate all structural details of the clamps and their application for rail fastening. This embodiment of the clamp is made of a flat strap of resilient material C. A hole D is eccentrically provided with reference to the cam-shaped curvature of the strap end. As seen from FIG. 9, the top portion E of the 4 clamp is bent back to form a vertical loop and finally twisted so as to form an approximately semi-circular jaw, adapted to press against surface F commensurate with the pivoting of the clamp.

FIGS. 14 to 16 illustrate another species of the inventive clamp and of its application. The clamp is made of bars which may be square or round in cross-section. In FIG. 14, C is a bar which is square in cross-section, its ends being cut to form a wedge K with one end being coiled to form an eccentric eyelet G1 while the other end is bent back to end into a left handed or right handed open jaw E1, as shown in plan view by FIG. 15 and in end view by FIG. 16.

FIGS. 17 to 2O illustrate another form of the invention in which a separate eccentrically punched washer is used to build up a cam effect as necessary for gauge adjustment. FIG. 17 shows the eccentric washer L in plan view and side elevation provided with a hole J, a nut shaped collar M and a cylindrical portion N fitting into the eyelet which is formed of one of the wedgeshaped ends G2 of bar C2, as shown in FIG. 18. The other end of bar C2 illustrated on this View as still being straight is subsequently bent to form a right handed or left handed jaw-shaped loop E2 similar to but shorter than those shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

A plan view of the assembly fastenings Cr2 and C12 is shown in FIG. 19'with a sectional view taken along line X-X of FIG. 19 being illustrated in FIG. 20. By this arrangement the clipping portion of the clamp may remain stationary while the gauge adjusting manipulation is accomplished by means of the eccentric washers L. The position of the clips as shown in FIG. 19 provides a. shoulder constantly butting against edge H on either side of the rail base and is therefore preferable to be adopted throughout the track.

FIGS. 21 to 24 show still another for-1n made in accordance with the present invention in which a hook formed under the bottom portion of a clamp by forging, pressing, welding or riveting takes the place of the separate connecting means, e.g., bolts, rivets, spikes, etc. lIn FIG. 21 a slotted hole D1 in the rail seat B is shown in the top view on either side of the track rail A. In FIG. 22 a hook P is shown riveted on the lower arm G3 of theriainp forming a cam, which in all other respects is similar to that shown in FIGS. l to 13. The hook P is inserted through the larger end of the hole D1 in the rail seat and engages with the smaller end of the slot in the working position of the clamp. As shown in FIG. 2l, the slotted hole DI lies partly under the rail, whereby the clamp once inserted cannot be removed unless the rail is removed. The hook P acts as a pivot and at the sarne time forms a connection in the same manner as the separate connecting means hereinbefore described. The assembly of clamps C3r `and CSI is shown in FIG. 23 in plan view and in the sectional view taken along lines Y-Y in FIG. 24.

When fastenings made in accordance with `any of the illustrative embodiments hereinbefore described have been attached to the sleepers in a length of track, the rails can be conveniently placed in position, as shown in FIGS. l and 9 without removing or loosening connections at D. For this purpose the fastenings have simply to be turned about the pivoted connections by means of a tommy bar or lever in such a manner that the shortest radius of the cam shaped end G is open to the edge of the rail foot N and the clip end E of the fastening is ialso clear of the rail. The fastenings on either side of the rail seat, by virture of the cam shaped construction, can be moved nearer or farther from the edge of the rail foot I-I but in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction only according to whether they are right handed or left handed, as shown by arrows in FIGS. l, 2, 9 and l0,

It is an inventive feature of the present invention that the clip portion of the clamp on butting of the cam against the rail edge (FIGS. 10 and l2), the end of the upper arrn Q forming the clip, by virture of the spring action, has already surpassed the highest point of its path on the slanted surface F of the rail base. Thus when the clamps are turned in their inal positions as shown in FIGS. 10, 15 and 23, their tips Q have already reached a lower level on the rail base than their highest position and thus would resist a sliding back into their starting position, thereby supporting the butting position of the cam against the rail edge. Thus the inventive arrangement reinforces the grip of the clip in arresting any creeping. Although the clamps on the rail seats are so disposed with the normal direction of creep of the rail in the case of a possible revers-al of that direction of creep in the track, the clamps are prevented lfrom giving way by the combined locking action of the clip and cam portion of the clamp which tends to sustain the correct position.

Aside from the requirements of wide gauges on sharp curves or tight gauges on tangent track, all types of rail seats need some means of gauge adjustment to compensate for both of them in the manufacture or in the boring of the rail seats and of the clamps, the inventive clamps as disclosed provide the necessary possibilities of gauge adjustments. First, the average range covered by the manipulation of the inventive clamps is at approximately -a right angle. The rotation of the c'am end of the fastening by one right angle should therefore provide for vthe desired gauge adjustment to cover all practical requirements. The limiting radii of the cam proiile can easily be made to vary by about 1A", which figure is the maximum adjustment that may be required. By manipulation of the fastenings on either side of the rails forming the track, the nest gauge adjustment can be obtained and it is permanently retained by Virtue of the combined pressure of the upper and lower arms E and G of the clamp against base F of the rail as well as against its edge H.

In the case of the fastening with a separate cam, that is where a separate cam shaped washer (FIGS. 17 to 20) is used, said washer itself supplies the necessary provision for gauge adjustment since it may be manipulated independently from the clip.

A steel or cast iron tie plate is normally used on wooden sleepers of the hard wood variety,.e.g., sal, oak, pynkado, in which bearing plates as shown in FIG. 6 for wooden sleepers may be omitted and the clamp may be secured by means of round spikes or coach screws only. A preferable arrangement where 4wooden sleepers are used, are dog spikes and single shouldered bearing plates as illustrated in FIGS. 25 to 30. In this modilied arrangement the fastenings effectively prevent a creeping of the rails, having simultaneously and in addition most of the other aforedescribed inventive advantages, they are not required for the adjustment of the track gauge. Therefore, the fastenlngs are necessarily provided on all the sleeper-s in a row only and as many as may be required to prevent creeping may be used. For instance only -alternating sleepers may be provided with two clips on the gauge side of the rails.

FIG. 25 shows such an 'assembly in which the fastenings are partly in the initial position for laying the rails, while lthe clamps are not provided on the following sleeper, so the next sleeper shows the fastenings overriding the base of the rails in working position. FIG. 26 shows a top plan View of an embodiment in which the fastening is riveted to the beming plate. FIG. 27 is Ia top plan view in which the fastenings `are shown in iinal assembled relationship. FIG. 28 is a fragmentary enlarged top plan View illustrating the assembled relationship of the fastening device with the rail. FIG. 29 is a side elevation taken along lines Z-Z of FIG. 28. FIG. 30 shows a side View of a ilat steel spring C4, one end G4 of which is arcuate in configuration defining a cam shaped corner, with its adjacent corner defining 6 an acute angle. The other end B4 of the at lis subsequently formed into a right handed or left handed clip which is suitable to override the rail as shown in plan and elevation of the completed assembly by FIG. 28 and FIG. 29. In FIGS. 25 to 27, A defines the rail, B the bearing plate or rail seat on the sleeper, Cllr and C41 the right and left handed clamps riveted semi-rigidly to the bearing plate through hole D2. The rail base is secured between the shoulder S of the bearing plate and the cam shaped arm G4 of the clamp. The acute corner of arm G4 stops the' turning movement of the clamp on the pivot D2. After a clamp has been turned into positions shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, the clip arm E4 will fully override the inclined plane F on the rail base land the dog spike T adjoining the acute corner of arm G4 .then stops any further movement of the clam-p. Thi-s arrangement ensures a reliable checking against creeping in either direction, even though all the clamps `are one/handed, eg., left handed. The fastening can, however, always be made at right and left hands when warranted by the severity of the creeping.

I claim:

1. Clip means for securing nails to sleepers comprising a substantially planar base portion, said base portion having means for mounting same to the top surface of a sleeper in pivotal relationship in a horizontal plane with respect thereto, one end of said base portion having a camming edge for engagement with the side edge of the base of a rail, a resilient top portion secured at one end to the opposite end of said base portion in spaced relationship by an intermediate resilient portion substantial-ly arcuate in its vertical plane, said top portion extending in the direction of the rail land being of a length greater than said base portion to engage the top surface of the base of said rail.

2. Clip means in accordance with claim l wherein the free end of said top portion is curved in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the base portion.

3. Clip means in accordance with claim 1 wherein the free end of said top portion is upwardly inclined in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the top surface of the base of the rail.

4. A rail holding device comprising in combination, a rail resting on a sleeper; clip means comprising a substantially planar base portion secured to the top surface of the sleeper in pivotal relationship in a horizontal plane, one end of said base portion having a camming edge in engagement -with the side edge of the base of said rail, a resilient top portion secured at one end to the opposite end of said base portion in spaced relationship by an intermediate resilient portion substantially arcuate in its vertical plane, said top portion being of a length greater than said base portion with the end thereof being in engagement with the top surface of the base of said rail.

5. A rail holding device in accordance with claim 4 wherein the free end of said top portion is curved in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the base portion with the underside of said curved portion engaging the top surface of the base of said rail.

6. A rail holding device in accordance with claim 4 wherein the free end of said top portion is upwardly inclined to engage the top inclined surface of the base of the rail.

7. A method of laying tracks having a rail resting on a sleeper comprising securing a pair of r-ail holding clip means to the sleeper in pivotal relation-ship in a horizontal plane with respect thereto, said rail holding means being spaced in opposed relationship from one another a distance greater than the width of the rail, said rail holding means having a bottom camming means and a top resilient holding means, positioning a rail to said sleeper between said rail holding means, `and pivoting said rail holding means unti-l the bottom camming means engages the side edge of the base of the rail and the top holding means engages the top surface of the base of the rail.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 8 Holland Jan. 12, 1926 Holst May 31, 1927 Carncross Oct. 6, 1936 Heald May 25, 1943 Boyce et al. Sept. 5, 1944 Cantrell et al. Sept. 5, 1944 Smithers Aug. 3, 1948 Sonneville Aug. 30, 1949

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