US1983924A - Road rail - Google Patents

Description

W; Q NEYS Dec. 11, 1934. w. M. VENABLE ROAD RAIL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 8, 1952 Dec. 11, 1934.

W. M. VENABLE ROAD RAIL Filed Aug. 8, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIIII] I Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES ROAD RAIL

William Mayo Venable, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Blaw-Knox Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 8, 1932, Serial No. 627,863

1 Claim.

This invention relates to road rails or forms and particularly to that type of rail which is adapted for convenient and ready positioning and alignment with others, as well as for removal from place to place along the bed of a road which is under construction.

Rails of the character referred to, in addition to serving as a mould for concrete of which the road is made, also serve as trackways, guides and the'like for road building and finishing machinery. In view of these uses and purposes, the rails must not'only be of relatively great strength, rigidity and the like, but must further be arranged so as to permit ready removal from place to place as the building operation progresses.

In order to support and position the rails at the edges of the road under construction, it has been customary to employ metallic stakes which are driven into the ground, as by means of a sledge, after which the rails are secured to the stakes in order to maintain their proper positions .and alignment-particularly laterally or in a direction crosswise of the road bed.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is involved in the provision of adjustable means for securing the rails to the positioning stakes. The importance of this adjustable feature will be more apparent when it is considered that, as a practical matter, it is virtually impossible to accurately drive the stakes along the edge of the roadway. While the points of the stakes may be properly positioned when they are started into the ground, the party driving the stakes may not have suflicient skill to ensure accurate positioning and alignment when the stakes are driven home. Still further, the stakes very frequently encounter stones or other obstructions which cause some deflection while they are being driven into the ground.

With the foregoing in mind,- the present invention provides for adjustment of the railwith respect to the stakes and for rigid attachment or securing of the rail to the stakes even though the latter are somewhat out of alignment. It should be noted in this connection that sincethe frails must be capable of receiving very substantial loads, including spreading action, without material deflection or shifting, provision must be made for very rigid attachment of the rails to the stakes, and the present invention accomplishes this purpose and at the same time provides for adjustment of the rails with respect to the stakes. The specific manner in' which this Figure 2 Figure "1;

is accomplished will be more apparent from the following description.

Another object of the invention relates to arrangement of the parts employed to secure the rails to the stakes in such manner as to avoid danger of injury thereto during driving of the stakes, it being noted that the rails are ordinarily placed in approximate alignment before the stakes are driven. 'Still further, this invention contemplates "wedge devices which serve not only as the adjustable elements for accurately aligning the rails, but also as the'means by which the rails are rigidly secured to the stakes.

In addition to all the foregoing, the structure of the present invention is extremely rigid and yet simplified as to form and number of parts employed. I

Other objects and advantages, as well as those hereinbefore referred to, will appear to better advantage after consideration of the following description making reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is'a' rear elevational view of a road rail constructed in accordance with this inventiom. I

. 25 is a top plan viewof the rail shown in Figure 3 is'a considerably enlarged rear elevational view of a device for securing the rail to a stake;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figures 5, 6 and '7 are horizontal sectional views taken substantially along the line xa: of Figure 3, but showing the wedge devices which I employ in different positions.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the reference numeral 8 designates the base portion of the rail and 9 indicates the web or upstanding part at the top of which a flange 10 is provided, having "a downturned outerlip 11 (see Figures 3 and 4).

The rail is equipped with a plurality of devices A each arranged to provide attachment of the rail to a stake B. While the drawings indicate a rail equipped with three such devices, it will be apparent that any desirable number may be employed depending, for example, on the length of the rail. One end of the rail may'also be provided with a device C slidable generally longitudinally of the rail to provide for engagement and align- 'ment'with an adjoining rail. 'At the opposite end therail may be equipped with a guide D adapted to receive the slidable aligning device C of the rail adjoining at that end.

Referring now to Figures 3 to 7 inclusive, it

will be seen that each stake-engaging device A includes a stake embracing member or pocket which is generally U-shaped having a base 12 and side portions 13. At the bottom, the side portions 13 are provided with flanges 14 rigidly secured as by welding and/or rivets 15 to the base 8 of the rail. At their upper ends, the side portions or webs f3 are providedwitlt outwardly extending wings 16- similarly secured to the downturned lip or flange 11 of the rail as by rivets 1' 7.

The webs 13, therefore, serve to rigidly brace the upper and lower portions of the rail in addition to their function now to be described in connection with securing the rail to the stakes B.

As best seen in Figures 4 to"7"inclusiva'theb'ottom flange or base 8 of the rail is provided with an elongated aperture 18 through/which the stake B is driven into the ground. In the preferred arrangement, the length of the aperture is equal to several times-thediameter of thestake and the width is also preferably materially greater than the stake diameterr For the purpose of receiving andsuppor-ting wedge means, the webs 13 are apertured as indicated at 19 and 20', and wedges 21 and 22v are'extended' generally horizontally through these apertures, one at each side of the stake B. As seen in. Figures 5, 6- and 7, I prefer to employ counterpart elements as the wedges 21 and 22, although their wide and. narrow portions are extended in opposite directions. The wide end of each wedge 'is preferably made suliiciently large to prevent displacement thereof through the receiving apertures in webs 13 and, in order to prevent displacement in the other di": rection, I preferably attach a nut and bolt, or other projection, 23 to its small end. While I prefer the means just referred to for the purpose of preventing displacement or loss of the wedges, it will readily be apparent that, if desired, only a single aperture. may be provided to receiveboth wedges, and the wedges may then be made of greater thickness toward both ends so as toprevent displacement thereof in either direction.

Another point to be observed in connection with the structure itselfv is the fact that the webs 13 are cut away at the top very materially toward their outer ends, as clearly seen in: Figure 4, in order to avoid as muchas possible the danger of damage as a result of careless use of a sledge'on the stakes when they are being driven home. The angle at which the upper edges of, the webs 13 are formed also serves to deflect the sledge in the event that it slips off the headof a stake, or misses the head entirely, withv the result that there is very little danger that the webs 13 will receive a direct blow of sufficient force to damage the parts. I

As clearly illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 4, the wedges are positioned very close to the base or bottom flange 8 of the rail and thisis of especial advantage with a securing arrangementemploying only two wedges lying a common. plane at oppositesides of the stake, for the reason that it provides for engagement. with; the stake at a point relatively close tothe bottom of the rail. Whenv the rails are properly bedded,- therefore, an extremely rigid arrangement is provided since the wedges engage the stake very close to-the bedding on which the rail rests.

In order still more clearly to bring out certain advantages above referred toand also to clarify the mode or manner of use of rails constructed in accordance with this invention, reference should be made to the following comments with respect to the preferable operation:-

in Figure 7.

With rail structures at present in commercial use it is very diflicult, if not impossible, to adjust the rails for purposes of alignment after the stakes have been driven. As a result, difiiculties have frequently been encountered in running the road building and finishing machinery on the rails and in providing uniform edges at the sides of the road. Furthermore, it has beenvery dinicult to utilize rails which havebeen set" accurately to line for the finished road edge to support machinery for forming or smoothing out the bed, known as the sub-grade, on which the concrete is to be laid, without displacing some of the stakesso as to require realignment before the concrete is placed.

In accordance with this invention, however, the rails may be employed substantially in the following manner: firstly, they may be laid one after another in approximate alignment, suitably bedded under their base plates, and their respective positioning stakes driven into the ground. Adjustments may now be made by means of'the wedges 21 and 22' so as to compensate for any irregularity of alignment from stake to stake. The manner of adjustment may readily be understood from. inspection of Figures 5,, 6 and "7'. In Figures and 6 I have illustrated a stake as having been driven approximately centrally through the aperture 18 in the base plate of'a rail. The rail may be attached to this stake by displacing one wedge, for example, wedge 21, to the right (as viewed in Figure 5') until the angled surface 21a contact'switli the stake B. Wedge 22' may then be moved toward the left and its angled surface 22a tightened against the stake as by means of, a hammer or sledge, and the rail is thus securely and rigidly fastened to the stake. The Wedges 21 and 22 are illustrated in tightened position in Figure 6 and from this figure, as well as Figure 5, it will be seen that the wedge surfaces 21a and 22a are substantially in parallelism so that they engage the stake B at substantially diametrically opposite points.

Assume now that astake has been deflected while being driven into the ground and its position, somewhat offset or out of line, as suggested In this case, the wedge 21 is moved to the right only a short distance until its angled surface 21a contacts with the stake, while wedge 22- moves considerably farther in order to bring its surface 22a into contact with the opposite side of. the stake. However, the same very rigid engagement of the wedges and stake may be had in this position and, from the foregoing, it should be apparent that the arrangement provided will compensate for all normal inaccuracies in driving the stakes.

After a series of rails have been laid in accordance with the foregoing, they maybe employed as trackways for moving machinery, for example,

for smoothing the bed.- of the roadway. If any makes possible much more secure and rigid wedging action without danger of bending the stakes,

but at the same time permits some shifting and tilting of the rail inwardly or outwardly with respect to the stake. In this way, in the event that a stake is driven into the ground at a slight angle, this angularity may readily be compensated for and will not result in similar and undesirable mis-alignment and tilting of the rail itself.

Thus, by the use of a pair of wedges arranged in the manner above described, the attaching devices are materially simplified and. at the same time, while maintaining rigidity, considerable flexibility is also afforded so as to compensate for improper angling or mis-alignment of the stakes along the edge of the road. Other parts of the stake-engaging devices are also very sturdy and yet comparatively easily fabricated.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a road rail or form of materially improved characteristics, particularly with respect to flexibility of adjustment while retaining maximum rigidity when the stake-engaging wedges are driven home.

I claim:-

,Road rail equipment including a rail having a base flange adapted to be bedded at a side of a roadway to provide the principal vertical support for the rail, said rail further having a head part adapted to support road construction machinery, and means for securing the rail in its bedded position as against transverse displacement including a stake, a pair of plates secured to the rail and extending rearwardly therefrom, the plates being spaced to embrace a stake and further being apcrtured to pass wedges, one in front of and one in back of the stake, and a pair of wedges constituting the sole means of attachment of the rail to the stake, said wedges projecting through the apertures in the plates and being located in a common horizontal plane close to the base flange so as to connect the rail to the stake with freedom for relative tilting or angular deflection about the point of engagement of the wedges on the stake, whereby, when construction machinery is being carried, the consequent deflection of the rail is accommodated without tilting or loosening the stake.

WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE.

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