US2771670A - Method for forming a rail anchor with a positive applying stop - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 27, 1956 M. K. RUPPERT METHOD FOR FORMING A RAIL ANCHOR WITH A POSITIVE APPLYING STOP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. jpz o aer BY 1 a Filed March 31, 1950 II n Nov. 27, 1956 M. K. RUPPERT 2,771,570

METHOD FbR FORMING A RAIL ANCHOR WITH A POSITIVE APPLYING s'ToP Filed March 31, I950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent METHOD FOR FORMING A RAIL ANCHOR WITH A POSITIVE APPLYING STOP Max K. Ruppert, Chicago, 111., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Poor & Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application March 31, 1950, Serial No. 153,164 1 Claim. (Cl. 29-550) This invention relates to an improved method for forming a specific type of rail anchor device having a stop shoulder for preventing overdriving of the anchor and thereby prevent overspreading of the rail gripping jaws of the anchor during its application to a railway rail.

The present method makes use of the procedure heretofore known in connection with the production of the general type of rail anchor herein shown, but the several known steps have been modified by improvements which simplify the operations necessary to form the stop shoulders on the anchor device, whereby the shoulder forming operations involve no appreciable additional expense and may be formed simultaneously with the general breakdown and bending operations heretofore used in the manufacture of said general type of anchor device.

The invention is illustrated, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a base portion of a railroad rail supported on a rail supporting structure and provided with a rail anchor device constructed, in accordance with this invention, and applied to said base;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the rail anchor shown in Fig. 1, the base portion of the rail being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the construction of the stop shoulders for limting the applying movement of the anchor device;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a metal bar of T-shaped in cross section used in forming the anchor device shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, inclusive;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the metal bar shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing die elements, in section, for performing the initial or breakdown bending operation on the metal bar;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a machine for performing the final bending operations to form the upper and lower jaws of the anchor; and

Fig. 8 illustrates the parts of the machine illustrated in Fig. 7 in the positions which they assume when the metal bar is bent around an anvil to form the completed rail anchor.

The improved method herein disclosed is particularly adapted for forming the rail anchor device shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings. Consequently, for a complete understanding of the invention, the anchor device is shown herein in its operative position on a rail. The main body portion of the anchor is designated by the reference numeral 10 and the numeral 11 designates a base portion of the railroad rail to which the rail anchor is applied. The said railroad rail is supported by means of a crosstie 12 and a tie plate 13 which intervenes between the top surface of the crosstie and the bottom surface of the rail base. The tie plate 13 as herein illustrated, is provided with spaced shoulders 14-14 for defining a seat for the rail base and the plate is secured to the crosstie 12 by means of suitable fastening devices 15. The fastening devices may be of any approved form and are illustrated herein as ordinary track spikes which are driven into the underlying crosstie through square openings 16 formed in the tie plate.

The rail anchor device is formed from a rolled metal bar of T-shaped cross section, the bar being arranged so that the lateral arms 17-17 provide a platform for engaging the bottom surface of the rail base and the centrally disposed rib 18 of the bar provides a flat, vertical face for abutting against a vertical face of the adjacent crosstie 12. One end of the main body 10 is bent into hook form to provide the anchor with upper and lower jaws 19-20 which grip the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one flange of the rail base. The bend 21 for connecting the upper jaw 19 with the lower jaw 20 is formed with a radius which is less than the overall thickness of the bar and the lower portion of the bend merges into the fiat upper surface 22 of the lower jaw 20 adjacent the lower corner of the rail base. A pair of aligned but spaced apart shoulders 23-23 are formed on the inner face 24 of the bend so as to provide vertical shoulder surfaces 25-25 adapted to abut against a vertical edge surface of the rail base to limit the applying movement of the anchor.

When the anchor is in its applied position there is a substantial clearance 26 between the upper corner portion of the rail base and the overlying jaw 19, the said jaw 19 being provided at its terminal end with a bearing surface 27 for engaging the upper surface of a rail base flange. The tail end of the body is offset to provide a locking shoulder 28 having a vertical face 30 and is adapted to snap up into locking engagement with the edge of the rail base flange 29 so as to hold the jaw end of the anchor in its tight gripping engagement on the rail.

According to the improved method for forming the rail anchor disclosed herein, the lateral arms 17-17 of the T-bar stock are pressed between dies 31-32 (see 'Fig. 6) to form the bar with the said aligned but spaced apart shoulders 23-23 and simultaneously bend one end 41 of the bar upwardly to an inclined position. The other end of the bar is offset during this preliminary or breakdown operation, to form the locking shoulder 28. The die 32 is formed with a recess to receive the vertical rib 18 of the bar, whereby the bar during the initial bending operations rests on the lateral arms 17-17 and the vertical rib 18 is free to stretch in response to the bending forces applied. During this initial bending operation the metal of the lateral arms 17-17 of the bar is displaced to form the spaced apart shoulders 23-23, the displaced metal being pressed into a suitable recess 33 formed in the upper die 31. It will be observed, at this time, that the shoulders 23-23 are positioned on the inner or compression side of the hook forming bend. It will also be observed by inspection of Fig. 6 of the drawings, that the said shoulders are formed immediately preceding the completion of the breakdown operation. Consequently, the shape of the stop shoulders, formed during the breakdown operation, is not altered substantially by the stretch of the metal during the breakdown operation or during the bending of the hook end of the anchor into its final configuration. After the breakdown operations are completed, the partly formed anchor is then removed from the dies 31-32 and is arranged in inverted position on an anvil die 34 having an end 35 which is rounded to correspond to the configuration of the hook end of the anchor. This portion of the die is formed with a recess 36 which receives the offset stop shoulders 23-23. The offset shoulder end 28 of the bar is firmly clamped to the anvil die structure 34 by means of a clamp device 28a (Fig. 6), which device is constructed and operates substantially as shown and described in the patent to Laurence A. Schneider 2,206,307, dated July 2, 1940. Thereafter a holding die 37 is moved downwardly into engagement with the main body portion of the anchor. A wing arm 38 pivoted at 39 on the downwardly moving die is provided with a nose 40 which engages the end portion 41 of the T-bar and bends it around the curved portion 35 of the anvil die. The die 37 and the wing arm 38 are both formed with recesses 42-43, respectively, which receive the outwardly extending central rib 18 of the bar but do not apply any pressure thereto, the said rib being free to stretch lengthwise of the bar. When the presure die 37 assumes its lowermost position an inclined portion 44 thereof engages the outer surface of the arms 17-17 of the T at the location of the metal displacement for forming the stop shoulders 2323. The pressure applied by said portion 44 during the final bending operation is intended principally for the purpose of removing .any distortions in the shoulders which may have occurred during the bending of the bar around the end 35 of the die 34 and for insuring the formation of a relatively sharp corner 45 at the junction of the vertical surface 25 of the stop shoulder and the fiat top surface 22 of the lower jaw 20. The Wing arm 38 is provided with suitable rollers 46 which bear on a cam-shaped trackway 47 during the downward and inward movements of the wing arm.

With the exception of the recesses 33 formed in die 31, the reces 36 formed in die 34 and the inclined face 44 of die 37, the mechanism for bending the bar may be, and preferably is, the same in construction as illustrated in said Schneider Patent 2,206,307. However, the forming of the spaced apart, but aligned stop shoulders 2323 during the breakdown operation (Fig. 6) is an improved step in the method of making anchor devices of this type, and it is this improved step in the method which simplifies the manufacture of the present anchor and makes it practicable to form the improved anchor device on a commercial production basis.

For the purpose of making a full and clear disclosure of the improved method herein claimed, the disclosure includes a full description of the structure of the rail anchor device. However, the rail anchor device is not claimed per se in the present application, since it forms a part of 4 the subject matter disclosed and claimed in application Serial No. 284,047 (Patent 2,717,740), filed April 24, 1952, as a continuation in part of the present application.

I claim:

The method of forming a rail anchor of the one-piece hook-jaw type with stop shoulders on the curved inner surface of the hook portion of the anchor, the method including the steps of pressing a metal bar of T-shape cross-section between breakdown dies to partially bend one end of the bar into hook form, the bending pressure being applied exclusively'to the lateral arms of the T-bar, and one of said-dies being formed with an open recess extending transversely of the bar, applying metal displacing pressure to the lateral arms only of the T-bar at the bend of the partially formed hook immediately preceding the completion of the breakdown operation to force metal of the lateral arms into said recess to form a pair of longitudinally aligned shoulders on the inner face of said partially formed hook, thereafter clamping the bar on an anvil die having a recess to receive said longitudinally aligned shoulders, applying bending pressure exclusively to the lateral arms of the bar to bend the partially bent end portion thereof around the anvil die, to complete the formation of the hook, and applying pressure to the outer surface of said lateral arms at the location of said shoulders simultaneously with the completion of the hook forming operation so as to further press the shoulder portions into the last mentioned recess to remove any distortions formed in the shoulders as an incident to the normal stretching of the metal during the bending of the bar around said anvil die.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,371,288 Wolhaupter Mar. 15, 1921 2,078,710 Henggi Apr. 27, 1937 2,161,484 A Preston June 6, 1939 2,171,819 Warr Sept. 5, 1939 2,206,307 Schneider July 2, 1940

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