Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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1 This invention relates generally to railway devices, ;~
` and more particularly, to an improved rail fastener including
an anchor-member fixedly attached to a crosstie and provided ~
with means cooperating with a removable spring clip to position ~;;
and retain the clip in a deflected stressed condition with one
end thereof bearing upon the upper surface of a rail base flange.
~ umerous types o rail clips have been devised in
the past for the purpose of restricting longitudinal displace-
ment or creeping of a rail during passage of traffic there~
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, 10 over, and it has been known to combine with the rail clip and
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its anchoring member means for additionally maintainlng the
gage of the rail. By the present invention an improved spring
clip rail fastener is proposed comprising an L-shaped spring
clip having a pivot sect~on directed toward the upper ~ur~ace
of the crosstie on the one end and a rail base engaging section
on the other end. The spring clip is retained in working
position by means of a unique an~hor member having insertable
means for downwardly deflecting the central body section of
the spring clip such that an extremely high degree of pressure ~ r ."
is exerted by the under surface of the rail engaging section
upon the upper surface of the rail base flange.
$~ An example of an earlier attempt to provide a spring i
`~ clip rail fastener seeking some of the same objectives as the ~i
pxesent invention will be found in U.S. Patent No. 1,998,043
-~ 25 issued hpril 16, 1935, to Boyd et al and which proposes an
anchor member comprising a vertically extending lug having a
transverse openlng therethrough and about which a plurality o~
¦ apertured spring clips are straddled prior to the insertion
¦ of a wedge through the lug which is provided with distal
portions intended to downwardly deflect the two sides of the
~ spring clip. Such an arrangement falls far short of achieving
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:-` 1 the stability and holding force of the present invention, -~
,-~ particularly since the referenced earlier spring clip~ are ,;
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extremely weak in view of the large opening req-lired thexein .i:.:
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to straddle the lug, with the result that only the relatively ... :
` 5 narrcw side edges of the spring clips are engaged and deflected , .
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by the ends of the wedge as opposed to the instant arrangement ~ : ~
. :., .:wherein the entire width of an imperforate spring clip is ::~
de~lected by the shank o a cross pin.
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~,' Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the .~.
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:~ 10 present invention is to provide an improved rail fastener in- . :
.; cluding an anchor member fixedly secured to a crosstie and ' :
, containing a longitudinal spring clip therein having its medial
. portion deflected downwardly by means o a removable cro~s pin. `
;. A further object o~ the present invention i9 to pro-
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.l 15 vide an improved rail ~a~tener including an anchor member
secured to a crosstie and provided with a pair of upwardly ex- ..
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,l tending sidewalls connected by a top bridge with a removable ~ .:
cro3s pin insertable between said sidewalls and bearing against
the under surface of the bridge on the one hand and serving to
downwardly deflect a spring clip insertable between said side- ~:
'`~ walls beneath said pin.
1: Still another object of the present invention is ~ :
-~ to provide an improved rail fastener including an anchor member i.
.. ``I fixedly attached to the crosstie and containing a removable .`.
spring clip maintained in a d~wnwardly de~lected condition by
,~3 means of a removable *ransversely disposed pin and a gage block , .
insertable between said anchor memb~r and a rail base flange
.. ;l and upon which one end of the spring clip bears.
:~j Another object of the present invention is to pro~
r- 30 vide an impsoved rail astener includîng an anchor member j~;
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1 having a pair of spaced apart vertical sidewalls between
which is disposed an L shaped spring clip having a rail en-
gaging section on the one end and a vertical pivotal section ~l;
on the other end directed downwardly toward the upper surface
~ 5 of the crosstie.
'i ` With the~e and other o~jects in view which will more
readily appear as the nature o the invention is better under-
stood, the invention concists of the novel construction, -
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combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully ``~
described, illustrated and claimed.
Preferred and practical embodiments of the present
1 invention are shown in the accompanying drawing in which:
`, ~IG. 1 is a partial top plan view, partly in section,
~ o a rail astener according to the present invention.
,~ 15 FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, taken
along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an end elevation taken aLong the line 3-3
of ~I6. 2.
¦ FIG.~4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of
`~l a modification of the rail astener as 3hown in FIG. 2.
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Similar reference characters designate corresponding
parts throughout the several igures of the drawing.
~¦ 25 Referring now to the drawing, the rail fastener of
the present invention will be understood to comprise a spring
clip, generally designated 1, operating in combination with
i an anchor member 2, to inhibit the longitudinal creeping of
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a rail R as disposed upon the upper suxface 3 of a crosstie T.
Although the invention is especially adaptable for use with
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- 1 concrete crossties as sh~wn in the drawings, it will be appreci-
ated that when modified, as discussed hereinafter, the same
basic components may be employed in combination with wood or
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synthetic plastic crossties. Regardless of the type of cross-
tie used with the present rail fastener, the anchor me~ber 2
must be thoroughly secured relative the upper surface 3 of the
crosstie and in the case o a concrete crosstie, this is most
; readily achieved by orming the anchor member with an integral ~-
stem 4 during casting thereof. The stem is then placed in the
concrete of the tie during the casting of the crosstie. The
exact construction of the stem i9 immaterial as it may include
any of variou~ forms of projections 4', such as grooves or ~;
serrationis, or it may be otherwise irregularly configured to
enhance its r~tention within the c~os~tie ~ollowing lts
I 15 casting. ;~
; The anahor member 2 comprises a substantially planar
base 5 flushly disposed upon the upper surface 3 o the cross-
tie and from which the stem 4 depends. Extending upwardly from `,~
the two opposite side~ of the base 5 are a pair of vertical
~3 20 sidewalls 6-6 the limits of which are disposed in a plane ~ell
¦~ above the base of the rail. ~he spaced apart sidewalls 6-6 ~-
define a channel 8 therebetween which is bounded at its top by
means of a transverse bridge 9 having inclined sides 10-10 shown ;
most clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. The two ~idewalls 6 are provided ~;
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with aligne~ openings 11, the upper portion of the circumer-
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ence of which is contiguous with the arcuate bridge under-
surace 12 such that the bottom of the bridge 9 serves as a ;
curved bearing surface continuously extending from one sidewall
opening 11 to the other widewall opening 11, and the unction o
! which will become obvious hereinafter. Preferably, the included
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1 angle for~ed by the two bridge sides 10-10 is no less than 30.
Cooperating with the above described anchor member
2 i9 the spring clip 1 comprising a unitary metal member prefer-
.~ .ably L-shaped to pr~e a vertical pivot arm or tie section
13 at one end, an intermediate central body section 14 and a
rail engaging section 15 at the other end. `';
It will be understood that the rail fastener of the
present invention is intended to be used in pairs, that is,
one such assembly on opposite sides of a rail R and cooper- ,` .
ating with the two oppositely disposed rail base flanges 16. ``
In this regard, the anchor members 2 would be initially
secured to the crosstie T such that the opposed inner edges L7
~ o~ each pair of spaced apart anchor members 2 would be spaced
,; rom one another a distance su~icient to accommodate rails
of diferent weights intended to be used with the invention.
, With a rail R positioned bet~een a pair o spaced apart anchor
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members 2, the exact gage thereof may be positively achieved
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and maintained by means o a gage block 18 having a vertical
'l edge flange 19 insertable between the rail base edge and the
'"~ 20 inner edge 17 of each anchor member 2 with a top arm 20 o
i;l the gage block overlying the upper surface 21 of the rail
base flange 16. A more positive retention of the gage block
15 may be ensuxed by providing a notch 22 within the inner
edge 17 of the~anchor member as shown most clearly in FIG. 1
whereupon any longitudinal shifting of the gage block will be
precluded.
Proper orientation of the spring clip 1 prior to
its deflection and subsequent retention thereo is facilitated
by means of bearing means comprising a transversely disposed
~, 30 bearing groove 23 ormed in the upper surface of the anchor
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1 member base 5 and into which the rounded tip 24 of the clip ~-
pivot arm section 13 is disposed. When thusly positioned,
the upwardly curved tip 25 forming the distal portion of the ::
rail section 15 of the spring clip is properly located relative ;
the upper surface 21 of the rail flange and more specifically
1 the upper surface of the top arm 20 of the gage block 18. A
:; close it is provided by the proximity o the parallel lateral .:
: edges la of the clip to the parallel lateral limits of the .~'
channel 8 as defined by the anchor member sidewalls 6-6. In~
. 10 stallation i8 c~mpleted by the insertion of the cross pin 26
: through the two openings 11-11 provided in the anchor member ';
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., sidewalls 6-6, which action causes the shank 27 o the cross
pin to downwardly displace or de1ect the central body section
~ 14 o the spring clip, resulting in a signiicant vertical
.. 1 15 pressure being applied downwardly upon the gage block and rail
::, base 1ange 16 along the pressurei contact line 15a o~ the clip 1.
i'l The oregoing operation is rel~tively simple and re-
:.~ quires no special tools or appliance~i to accomplish. The ; :.
,j cross pin 26 i8 inserted merely by striking its head 27' with : -
¦ 20 a maul thereby driving the feed end 28 thereo~ through a first
.. 1 one of the openings 11 and while the top of the pin bears against
and is guided in a straight line by the curved bridge under- .
~urface 12, continuing to drive the pin over the top surace ~.
o the spring central body.section 14 to progressively down- ;.
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~i 25 wardly depress this area of the spring clip as the feed end ~ .,
,~l 28 is driven thereover and subsequently through the second one `.
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.~ of the openings 11. A chamer 29 Eormed adjacent the eed
.~ end 28 of the cross pin provides a camming action assisting in
i the initial de~lection of the spring clip and the subseq~ent ~ :
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~ 30 passage of the eed end through the second one o the openin~s 11. ^.
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1 Additionally, a slight taper may be provided adjacent the chamfer
to facilitate the assembly. ~:
Many rail installations speci~y an electrically in-
sulated assembly. FIG. 2 of the drawings most clearly
illustrates additional structure providing an insulated arrange- `
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ment. A tie bearing pad 30 of suitable insulating material
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may be provided intermediate the rail base flange and the `~
upper section of the crosstie while at the same time a suitable
insulating layer 31 may be applied as a coating to the under- -
surface of the gage block top arm 20 and edge flange 19 such
that the rail R i9 totally electrically isolated ~rom both the
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;l crosstie and the rail fastener o the present invention.
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1 FIG. 4 of the drawing ~how~ an embodiment wherein
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the same concept as described above i8 employed but wherein
~ 15 a longer spring clip 1' i8 utilized, an arrangement which has ;~
j been found to provide improved holding power in certain in- ;~
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stallations. ~he rail section 15' and pivot arm section 13'
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are both substantially longer than the corresponding portions
of the previously described spring clip 1. Unlike the clip 1
wherein the cross pin 26 engages the central body section 14
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~, sub~tantially medially of the longitudinal upper portion of the ~-~
clip, it has been found that in the embodiment of FIG. 4, an
~i improved device i9 achieved by providing khe pivot section 13'
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,.! longer than the rail section 15'. In the first descrlbed em-
I 25 bodiment, a suitable spring clip 1 may define an overall
I length of four inches ~rom the contaat line 15a to the vertical
"I axis passing through the tip 24 and with the cross pin 26 de-
~' flecting the intermediate central body section at substantially
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the medial point of the clip, while in the embodiment illustrated
in FIG. 4 a suitable spring clip 1' includes an overall length
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1 of approximately seven inches with the cross pin 26 engaging ~"
a central body section 14' at a point which is three inches
:~ from the pressur~ contact line 15a and thu~ our inches from the
vertical axis of the tip 24. ,
In order to conserve material and expense in the
~rmation of the anchor member 2', it is not necessary to ex-
tend the base 5' thereof outwardly to provide integral bearing ~i
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~ means ~or the tip 24 of the pivot arm section 13' and i~ tead, ~i
'~ a eparate bearing member 32 may be imbedded or cast in situ
within the crosstie T and further interlocked therewith by
the inclusion of a suitable stem 33 depending there~rom. In- `~
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l asmuch as the anchor member 2I deflects the spring clip 1' at
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a point ~rom the rail which i~ greater than in the ~irst ~l ;
~;l described embodiment it is neaessary to provide an inner base
extension 5" in order to present the notch 22 therein at a
point adjacent the edge o~ the rail base flange 16 90 that the
gage block 18 may cooperate therewj.th to define the speci~ied
gage.
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