Resilient rail spike

Jan. 23, 1940. b. kuckuck 2,188,084

RESILIENT RAIL SPIKE Filed April 10, 1939

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Patented Jan. 23, 1940

2,188,084

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,188,084

RESILIENT RAIL SPIKE

Berthold Kuckuck, Mount Vernon, N. V., assignor to Elastic Rail Spike Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware

Application April 10, 1939, Serial No. 267,059 .

Claims. (Cl. 85—28)

The invention aims to provide an elastic rail spike which may be formed by simple shaping operations from lengths of plain rectangular stock, to provide one or more resilient arms 5 adapted to apply and effectively maintain adequate elastic pressure upon a rail flange, the spike being readily driven into the ordinary rectangular spike holes as usually provided for railway ties and tie plate. Further objects and 10 advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the description hereinafter contained which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, discloses certain preferred forms of rail spike 15 which are constructed to operate in accordance with the inventon. In the drawing—

Fig. 1 is a side view showing one form of rail spike constructed to operate in accordance with the invention, the spike being shown in operative 20 position with respect to the adjacent parts of a rail flange, tie and tie-plate.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the spike shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail section on the broken line 25 3—3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a front and side elevation of a blank from which the spike of Figs. 1 to 3 may be readily made.

Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a front elevation 30 and a side elevation of a somewhat modified form of spike constructed to operate in accordance with the invention.

The spike of the present invention is characterized by a shank I of solid metal which is 35 substantially square in cross-section, and which accordingly may be readily made from plain square metal stock, which will fit holes 2 of rectangular cross section, such as are usually provided in a tie-plate 3, as well as the similar 40 holes 4 Which usually are preformed in a tie 5.

The upper portion of the spike which bears resiliently upon the upper rail flange 6, is also specially constructed so as to be readily formed from plain square stock as above mentioned, and 45 is looped spirally downward to provide one or more resilient arms projecting crosswise of the shank to overlie the rail flange 6. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the upper portion of the spike is looped as above described ' 50 to provide a portion 7 which extends away from the shank (in a direction opposite to the side of the shank which is to be positioned next to the rail) and then spirally downward as shown at 8 in Figs. 1 and 2, and then crosswise of the shank , to provide a resilient arm 9 which extends cross wise of the shank I on one side thereof, and projects beyond the shank to provide a portion 10 which overlies and presses down upon the rail flange 6, when the spike is in operative position. Preferably the parts 7 to 10 of the spike, as above 5 described, taper gradually in thickness as best shown in Fig. 1 so as to have elasticity which increases gradually from the shank to the rail flange engaging portion 10 of the arm 9. For elastic pressure to be effectively applied ,and 10 maintained upon the rail flange 6 it is very advantageous that the arm 9 have a long radius of bending, and that the stresses be quite uniformly distributed throughout a relatively long length of the upper part of the spike, instead of being 15 localized. The looped construction of the upper end of the spike as above described affords such a long radius Of bending, notwithstanding that as shown in claim 1 the shank of the spike may abut the rail flange, and the tapering thickness above 20 described further assists in distributing the bending stresses uniformly along the parts 7, 8 and 9 above described. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the spike may be readily formed from a plain piece of square metal stock of proper length, merely 25 by tapering one end of the blank as indicated by the numerals 7α, 8α, 9α and 10α, to provide cross sections appropriate for the parts 7 to 10 of the completed spike. The shank portion la of tjie blank needs no shaping operations whatso- 30 ever unless a pointed lower end is to be provided on the shank. Then the upper end of the spike may be bent into the shape shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The tapering operation above referred to, may readily result in a resilient arm 9 which gradually 85 increases in width as it reduces in thickness, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, thus providing a wider rail engaging portion 10 for the arm 9 which affords greater bearing area against rail flange 6.

The spike may be readily driven into position in 40 the usual way, a cylindrical piece (not shown) being preferably inserted to fill the cylindrical space enclosed by the parts 7, 8 and 9 during the driving operation, and the spike may be withdrawn by the use of usual tools, preferably also 45 with the aid of a cylindrical piece as above mentioned.

In Figs. 6 and ? a somewhat modified spike construction is shown, having a shank 11 similar to the shank I above described. In this instance 50 the upper portion of the spike is forked to provide portions 7b, 8b, 9b and I Ob which are respectively similar to the parts 7 to 10 previously described except that the portions 8b are curved downwardly in oppositely directed spirals so that 55

2,188,084 the resilient arms 9b extend crosswise of the shank 11 on opposite sides of the latter, as shown in ng. 6. Thus the resilient pressure is distributed between two resilient rail flange engag5 ing portions I Ob which are located on opposite sides of the shank 11. The spike shown in ‘Figs. 6 and 7 may be readily driven into position with the aid of a set 12 fitting into the crotch 13 (Fig. 6) of the spike, and if desired the upper portion 10 of the shank may be provided with side flanges 14, which prevent it from being driven in too far, these flanges 14 also assisting in the withdrawal of the spike by the use of a claw tool as known in the art. The spike construction shown in Figs. 15 6 and 7 may also be readily made from plain square metal stock, the shank 11 needing no special shaping except at the upper end above the flanges 14 where the stock is slightly flattened to form the flanges. At the upper end the stock 20 is then tapered in thickness as previously described and split to provide the forked upper portions 7b to I Ob which then are bent around to the final shape described.

While the invention has been disclosed as em25 bodied in rail spikes of the above described specific constructions, it should be understood that changes may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, within the scope of the appended claims.