US546269A - Railway-spike - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

0` Z. GOUTANT.

RAILWAY SPIKE.

Patented Sept. 10, 1895.

MIME

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SPECIFICATION forming pari? 0f Letters Patent N0. 546,269, (lated Septenlber 10, 1 895.

Application filed March 26, 1894. Serial No. 505,151 (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR ZERAH COUTANT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefnllmprovements in Railway-Spikes, of which the following is a true and faithful description.

The object of my invention is to provide a railway-spike which shall beeasy to drive and which, shall combine the characteristics of a minimum of weight and a maximum of holding capacity; and to these ends the invention consists in the construction hereinafter described and claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention and form part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a front View, Fig. 2 a lside view, Fig. 3 a rear view, and Fig. i a cross-section, as on the line fi 4, of a spike embodying the features of my invention.

The body of the spike is triangular in crosssection, with a longitudinal V-shaped groove a. in the rear side thereof extending from near the head entirely to the point, the depth of said groove being equal, approximately, to one-half the thickness of the spike from front to rear, as indicated by the broken line in Fig. 2.

The spike has a flanged head b, which overhangs the front edge, as at c, Figs. l and 2, and between said flanged head and the body portion the sides are hollowed out, as at d d, to form a neck c, the rear side of which extends out beyond the body portion, as bestseen in Fig. 2. The overhang c forms the holding portion of the head, and this is somewhat below the flanges b, the object of this construction being to leave space below said ilanges when the spike is fully driven for the entrance of the claws of a clawdoar or other implement for drawing the spike when necessary or desirable to remove it.

The spike is pointed by beveling the sides and edges thereof to the bottom of the groove d, the beveled portion being of suiiicient length to form an easy driving-point.

The flaring sides of the spike are provided both on their front and rear faces with upwardly-pointing teeth or serrations f f, extending entirely across and inclining upward and outward from the inner and outer angles. These teeth subserve the purpose of barbs to prevent withdrawal of the spike, and by inclining them as shown the length of their holding edges or faces is increased and they are given greater holding capacity.

When the spike is driven into wood, the severed fibers of the latter are turned or bent down at both sides, so that they abut directly against the tops of the teeth, the result being that when the spike is drawn the bent fibers in straightening ont under the action of the teeth close toward each other from opposite sides and clamp and hold the spikes with increased resistance.

It will be apparent that inasmuch as the bent fibers stand in angular relation to the surfaces of the spike against which they bear the lines of resistance when a drawing force is applied to the spike will be in the direction of the length of the fibers, instead of across the same, the libres thus acting as braces against the top of the teeth.

Having now described my invention, I claiin- A railway spike Vshaped in cross section provided with the head herein described and having on its inner and outer surfaces upwardly pointing teeth or serrations extending entirely across and inclining from the angles outward and upward, substantially as shown and described.

OSCAR ZERAH COUTANT.

Witnesses:

J. B. JOHNSTON, J. W. PENTZER.

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