US1111720A - Spike. - Google Patents

Description

H. NORRIS.

SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED mm: 26. 1913.

1,1 1 1,720, Patented Sept. .22, 1914.

WITNESSES. INVENT'QR.

' UNITED, sra r ls iurnmr OFFICE- Baum-NORRIS, on PITTSBURGH, rsNnsYLvAn'm, assmuon or onanarrro 'wrLLnw m. Rae's or rrrrrssondn, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPIKE."

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HALLIE Noanis, a citizen of. the United States, resident of Pittsburgh. in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in railway spikes and the object thereof is to provide a spike of: this character with means such as recesses in its side walls to aid in the holding of the spike firmly within the wood of the tie.

The invention will be best understood from the following description taken in con: junction with the accompanying drawings in a whichvention' Fi 2 is a lon 'tudinal sectional view on the line 2-2 Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view onthe line 3-3 Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modification of the invention; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a spike showing another modification; and F ig. 6 is a transverse sectional view on the line 6-6 Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and?) the railway spike is shown to be of ordinary construction having shank 1, the pointed entering end 2 and the head 3, the latter having the railway flange engaging projection 4 and the claw bar receiving projections 5-5 at either side. Such spikes as ordinarily con structed are held within the wood of the tie merely by the frictional engagement of the sides of the shank with the fibers of the wood. In order to increase the holding effect however, I provide the side walls of the shank as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 with recesses 6 and 7 which in the form of the invention here shown extend for a considerable length throughout the length of the shank. These recesses have more or less abrupt side walls. It will be noticed that the tapered point 2 of the spike forms a cutting edge extending transversely or at right angles to the direction of the wood fibers of the tie when the spike is driven home, so that the severed ends ofthe fibers bear against the front and rear walls of the shank of the spike, and as is well known are deflected Specification o'fLettel-s Patent. Patent d S t 22 1 14 Application filed June 26.1913. Serial No. 775.993. I

fiber ends. The fibers 'ad' grcepraie gme walls of the spike are more orless" compressed or pressed apart by the entrance of the sp1ke shank and add their frietionaleffeet to the holding of the spike.: Itiswell known in practice however; that" spikes when thus held frictionally onlyfgradually work loose and withdrawn ore or less from the tie and loosen their hold upon "the rail flange. To overcome this "tendency, I provide the side Walls of the s ike shank with recesses such as 6 and 7 w "icl'i are preferably oblong in. shapehaving their greatest length longitudinally of the shank. spike enters the wood the unsevered wood fibers adjacent each of these side walls bulge into these recesses. Also some of the severed fiber ends project into these recesses so that when the spike is driven home these fibers which have entered therecesses add a powerful holding effect-against the withdrawal of the spike,but inaddition to this increased holdingefi'ect' due to the bulging in of the wood fibers the sweeping through the recesses of thesefibers as'the spike is driven home tends to displace the air in said recesses, so that as the upper end of the recess sinks beneath the surface of the wood, a considerable vacuum is produced in the recess due to the necessary withdrawal or forcing out of the fibers as they reach and pass over the upper ends of the recesses. This vacuum therefore produces a suction effect which not only tends to hold the spike down within the wood, but also draws the adjacent fibers more strongly into the recesses, thus adding to the tendency of the fibers to enter the recesses due to their own resilience. As shown in the drawings, the recesses 6 and 7 are in somewhat staggered relation, so that the portion of the surface 8 of the spike side wall opposite theylower end of the recess 7 and the portion of the surface 9 opposite the upper end of the recess 6 form in effect abutment surfaces to hold the spike steady and to maintain the requisite pressure to cause the fibers on the opposite side of the spike to enter fully into the recess at that side.

In Fig. 4 the recesses 6', 7', instead of being formed in the side" walls of the spike As the.

both at its sides and shank are formed in the front'and rear walls thereof, or in the sides parallel to the cutting edge of the tapered end 2 of the spike.

In this construction the 'increased holding eflt'ect is produced by the fact that the severed ends of the wood fibers spring into these recesses and form a more or less positive lock to hold the, spike within the wood.

I This arrangement of the recesses, however,

tically impossible to withdraw the spike from the wood and should sufficient power be applied to withdraw it, the fibers of the wood are. so disrupted that the tie is rendered practically useless.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5' and 6 the-s ike shank is provided ront and rear with the recesses 6, 7 and 6', 7 respectively, whereby the holding effect of the ordinary spike is increased by the sum of the holding efli'ects above described of the several recesses.

While I have herein described particular embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that. the same may be altered in details and in the relative arrangement of parts within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is: 1

A spike opposite walls of which have longitudinal recesses therein arranged in staggered relation, tion of the side wall opposite the end of each recess forms an abutment to steady the spike within the wood and to oppose the pressure of the wood fibers projecting into the recess at the opposite side wall.

In testimony whereof, I the said HALLIE Nonms have hereunto set my hand.

HALLIE NORRIS.

Witnesses:

J. GARFIELD HOUSTON,

ROBERT C. TOTTEN.

whereby the unrecessed por-

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