Chairs to the Sleepers on Railroads.
Year: 1885

page_text: Chairs to the Sleepers on Railroads.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, Fel. Inst. P.A. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and
323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention (a communication from abroad by Robert
M. Boyd of Racine in the State of Wisconsin, United States of America,
Inventor) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained, in and by the following statement :—
Figure 1 is a front view of the improved spike.
Figure 2 a side view.
Figure 3 a perspective; and
Figure 4 a series of sections on the lines indicated in Figure 1, showing the form
and proportions of the spike at different points.
Figure 5 a view illustrating a modification.
Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like letters of
reference.
Owing to the scarcity and high price of oak and other hard wood ties, railway
companies have been obliged to adopt the softer woods, and have long felt the
necessity of a track spike suitable for use with such soft ties.
Certain qualities are essential to such a spike; for instance it must be able
to resist the outward side pressure of the rail; hold tenaciously when driven into
soft wood; be capable of being used where the common spike is now used, for
instance, in the ordinary 9-16 slots cut in rail flanges or in angle bars; adapted to
be driven and withdrawn by the ordinary track tools, and so formed that it shall
drive squarely and hug tightly against the rail flanges.
This invention relates to improvements in a spike that fills in a pre-eminent
degree every one of the above essentials.
And said spike is especially adapted to the soft woods. The great width of back
prevents its giving away from side pressure of rail flange, and its great amount of

page_text: bearing surface with the compressed fiber in the channeled sides will make it hold
with the greatest tenacity against any drawing force. Every claim made for this
spike in soft wood will apply with equal force to hard wood.
The efforts of those who have endeavored to fill the above requirements by the
invention and introduction of the triangular or the T-shaped spike have only
increased instead of diminishing the obstacles they sought to overcome, as spikes
so constructed present a sharp-edged flange or rib to the wood that acts as a wedge
to divide the fiber thus preparing a way for the spike body to follow.
.
This increases the liability of the spike being forced from its bed by the side
pressure of the rail,in fact they do not offer as great a resistance as the old ordinary
square shanked spike. Furthermore these triangular or T-shaped spikes are difficult
to drive from their tendency to twist or dodge if they come in contact with a knot
or other hard substance.
The form and construction of the spike will be readily understood upon referring
to the annexed drawings, in which A indicates the head of the spike; B, B, nicks
or depressions in the rear flange immediately below and at each side of the head;
C the neck or solid body of the shank just below the head and of the same width
as the front flange; D the chin and F and G the front and rear flanges, connected
by a web H, thus forming channels or grooves a, a, in the side faces of the spike.
The lower end of the spike is beveled from the front downward toward the
lower end of the rear flange, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the result of which is
that both flanges F and Gare made to present sharp chisel edges at the lower ends,
as shown at I and K.
These sharp edges sever the grain of the wood into which the spike is driven,
making a clean sharp cut and ensuring a firm and solid backing for the flanges,
whereas the forms hitherto adopted have tended to tear and disrupt the fiber of the
wood, and to produce a jagged hole, the walls, of which yield more or less, under
pressure against the spike, and rot or decay in a comparatively short time.
The front flange F is made of the same width as the common spike, in order that
it may enter the seats or slots cut in the rail flanges and angle bars now in use, but
the rear flange is made considerably wider than the front flange, and wider than
any spike now in use, to present a broad bearing face to the wood into which it is
driven.
This widening of the rear flange is a very important feature of the invention.
The channels a, a, in the side faces of the spike also serve important purposes,-
firstly, in rendering the spike light; secondly, in increasing the amount of surface in
contact with the wood and proportionately adding to the tenacity of its hold in the
wood, and lastly, by affording spaces into which the wood at each side of the spike
enters and is compressed in the form of tenons, which give great additional support
to the spike against outward pressure of the rail.
Incidentally too, the channels or grooves lessen the displacement of the fiber of
the wood, decrease the tearing or breakage thereof, and facilitate the driving.
The chisel points and the broad flange G preyent the twisting or turning of the
spike in driving, and the beveling of the end downward from the front to or toward
the back causes the upper end or head to hug closely against the rail as the spike
is driven into the wood.
For the purpose of facilitating the entrance of the spike into the wood and
of causing it to become more firmly embedded with each driving stroke, the
flanges F, G, and the web H are made gradually tapering from the upper to the
lower end as shown in Figure 1 and as indicated by the sections shown in Figure 4;
and the lower end of each is beveled somewhat more sharply to produce a wedge-
like point, as best shown in Figures 1 and 3, thus causing a greater compression of
the wood in contact with the web, and edge of the flanges.
If extended entirely to the head of the spike the channels.a, a, might permit the
entrance of water at the sides of the spike, and cause the wood to rot away.
. To prevent this the channels are stopped some little distance usually from &
quarter of an inch to one inch below the head A leaving a solid neck C, as shown

page_text: in Figures 2 and 3, so that when the spike is driven to place, the solid portion C
overhangs and covers the channels and the wood extended into them.
By referring again to Figures 2 and 3 it will be seen that the chin D is curved
to conform with the flange or base of a rail, thus ensuring a more perfect bearing
and a firmer hold upon the rail than where the chin is simply beveled or inclined.
Owing to the greater width of rear flange G, the implement used for extracting
common spikes could not be used with this if the flange were carried of its full
width up to the head A, hence the nicks or depressions B in said flange are formed
just below the head and thus afford an entrance for the ordinary claw or extracting.
tool.
It is not necessary that the bevel or inclination of the lower end be all in one
direction, the only essential requisite being that it be so brought to a point that it
shall readily enter the wood and that the flanges be made with chisel ends or points,
which may be done by beveling the end from the front and back flanges toward
the middle of the web H, as shown in Figure 5.
It is important that the channels a, a, be left open and unobstructed at the
lower ends as otherwise the chisel could not be formed upon the flanges and the
driving qualities of the spike would be impaired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is
•
1. A spike having front and rear flanges connected by a web, said flanges and
web being made of decreasing width from their upper to their lower ends, substan-
tially as shown and described.
2. A spike having flat, front and rear flanges and longitudinal channels in its
side faces open at their lower ends.
3. A spike body consisting of a web and two flanges of unequal width, substan-
tially as set forth.
4. An H-shaped spike body with one of the flanges or sides considerably wider
than the other, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
5. A spike with back flange chisel-pointed from front to back for the purpose
described and shown substantially as set forth.
6. An H-shaped spike having its web and front flange narrowed or tapered
laterally at their lower ends.
7. A rail spike having flat front and rear flanges and channeled sides, the
channels being open at their lower ends; and a solid unchanneled portion above
the channels and below the head, of such depth as to enter the timber and cover
the wood in the channels when the spike is driven to its proper distance into the
timber.
8. A spike having a broad rear flange G provided with nicks or depressions B
in said flange just beneath the head to permit the entrance of an extracting
implement.
9. The herein described spike having head A, nicks B, B, flat neck C, curved
chin D, front flange F, rear flange G, wider than flange F, web H and cutting
edges I and K, all substantially as shown and described.
.
WM P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.