A "Back Out Resistant Fastener" invention where the shank of the fastener is ribbed or barbed or fluted or upset or grooved with raised surfaces that will cause the fastener shank / body to grip the rail tie and resist backing out from repeated traffic loads.

Disclosure   CONFIDENTIAL;      6-7-2022

Problems: 

The major expense of railroad operations is track maintenance, which effects cost of moving goods and thereby the profitability of businesses of all kinds and sizes, prices of goods to consumers and ultimately the nation's economy due to the massive total amount of freight moved daily nationwide.  A major cause of railroad maintenance, replacement and repair is caused by loosened rail-to-tie fasteners.

A major cause of railroad accident derailments are caused by loosened rail-to-tie fasteners, resulting in loss of life, disability, injury, and increasing railroad operating costs, costs of goods to consumers and ultimately effects the national economy. 

The Current Situation:

The common in-use-today railroad fastener (spike or dog), because they have a "smooth" shank, will eventually "back out" of the tie from forces of rail car traffic constantly compressing the rails onto the ties and then releasing, acting like a crow bar going up and down, to actually pull the fastener out.  The flexural wave of stress loads of the weight passing over the rails are not only vertical, there are horizontal sideways load components on the rail, and twisting forces to roll the rail over; this along with the sudden vertical movement forces of wheels constantly quickly pressing down on the rail and then releasing, provides a complex combination of forces that operate to remove or "back out" the fastener out of the ties.

Solution -

#I A "Back Out Resistant Fastener" invention where the shank of the fastener is ribbed or barbed or fluted or upset or grooved with raised surfaces that will cause the fastener shank / body to grip the rail tie and resist backing out from repeated traffic loads.

The Joshua invention has its shaft or shank grooved or fluted or ribbed or barbed or upset or ridged or shaped or formed or cast to increase frictional and mechanical forces between the fastener and the tie to prevent fastener "backing out" from the tie or whatever the fastener is  nailed / driven / hammered into.

The Joshua invention fastener shank is ribbed or barbed or fluted or grooved or upset with raised surfaces by hot or cold pressure stamping or hot or cold pressure rolling the shank, either as a bar stock, or cut bar stock pieces with no head, or cut fasteners with no head or in the finished fastener formed with the head already onto the fastener (on hand fastener inventory) or previously used fasteners*.

*already manufactured fasteners (inventories, etc.) can have the ribbing / barbing / fluting / grooves  added later after manufacture, by either hot or cold stamping, pressing or rolling.

Previously used fasteners can have the ribbing / barbing / fluting added after manufacture, by either hot or cold stamping, pressing or rolling.

The Joshua invention fastener shank can be ribbed or barbed with raised surfaces on one, two, three or all four sides / surfaces (sides).

The Joshua invention fastener shank can be ribbed or barbed with raised surfaces through its entire length or any portion of it.

Joshua invention fasteners can have the ribbing / barbing / fluting may be effective in decreasing back out when raised up from the shank surface by 1/16 inch through 1/4 inch; but amounts more or less do not deviate from the claims of this invention.

The Joshua invention fastener shank can be round, square, oblong, multisided or any other shape.

The Joshua invention is a railroad spike / fastener which is driven with conventional, as used today, railroad maintenance, installation and repair equipment and techniques.

#II The fastener may be coated with hot or cold or wet or dry materials to aid in the ease of driving the fastener in place such as a wet or dry hot or cold lubricant that dissipates after curing or drying or cooling.   Such "lubrication" will cause the tie material to move aside to allow the fastener pass downward to drive to its set point instead of crushing the tie material and compacting it below the fastener, which provides upward pressure forces to back out the fastener.   Additionally, fastening equipment will have less load on it increasing its lifetime and the fasteners will dive in quicker decreasing installation, maintenance and repair costs.  The fastener coating material may be added to current fastener inventory or to used fasteners.

#III The point of the invention fastener may be sharpened or pointed or shaped in such a way as to facilitate its easy of passing through the tie, with the fastener moving the tie materials aside as it passes down, without crushing the materials below the fastener; such crushed materials at the point of the fastener provides upward pressure forces to back out the fastener.  A rounded-point  (like the end of a pencil) fastener end shape will result in gripping or side friction forces more evenly and in total higher, between the fastener and the tie than the standard wedge-point fastener shape. Such rounded point and or sharpened point shapes will decrease the crushing effect of the fastener point when it is pressed into the tie.   The crushed tie material at the bottom of the fastener point will provide pressure on the point of the fastener to back it out.

While being driven in, the fastener, in the process of moving the tie materials aside instead of crushing and pressing the materials downwards to the bottom of the fastener insertion,  more tie material is left in its place around the fastener to apply sideways "gripping" frictional forces and pressure of the tie material onto the fastener shank to hold the fastener in place and increase forces on the fastener shank that prevent the fastener from backing out.

Additionally, fastening equipment will have less load on it increasing its lifetime and the fasteners will dive in quicker decreasing installation, maintenance and repair costs.

#IV The fastener may be coated with wet or dry hot or cold materials that, after curing or drying or setting, will provide a bond between the fastener and the tie to provide forces that will hold the fastener in place after the fastener is driven into place.   Such bond / coating would be flexible and not brittle to allow the normal forces from the rails to pass through the fastener to the tie without breaking / defeating the bonding or sticking between the fastener and the tie.  Such bonding or sticking agent could be waterproof provide longer life to the tie by keeping water from seeping along the fastener and into the tie material to degrade or rot it.   

The bonding / sticking material may be a  single-part material such as a "hot glue", or a multi part material that is mixed before applying the fastener.  Such material may be applied to the fastener before insertion either by the fastener manufacture or by another process as a later operation, or on site, or added in the fastener dynamic driving process at the insertion site.  The fastener coating material may be added to current fastener inventory or to used fasteners.

Such fastener coating material, when dry / cured / set,  would increase friction between the fastener shank and the tie material, further increasing resistant to fastener back out.

#V Such fastener coating material may provide a lubricating effect when driven in before it is dry / cured / set upon insertion as seen in #III above.   The combination of #III and #IV could be a single material, or several materials, installed wet or dry hot or cold, during manufacturing process or later, at the manufacturing site or afterwards or even at installation location.  The combination material may be added to the fastener at the driving in installation process.

#VI The fastener may be made round, from round bar / wire stock, which can be cheaper than bar stock and can be cheaper to form barbs or ribbing or ridges or flutes upon, which can be easily rolled into the metal which can be faster / cheaper than stamping square stock.

#VII Square or round bar / wire stock can be manufactured at the steel mill with the barbs or ribbing or flutes or ridges or grooves high speed rolled onto the stock at the mill, which will allow the spike / fastener to be made from cut lengths of the stock, with the head then formed in a high speed pressing operation just like common screws and nails are made.

The Joshua invention claims are not limited to the design of other hardware used or by the current equipment used in railroad maintenance, installation and repair.  

Invention #2

A machine or machine tool to form ribbing / barbing / fluting on the fastener shank bar stock by hot or cold pressure stamping or hot or cold pressure rolling

Machine to hot or cold pressure or roller form ribbing / barbing on cut-to-fastener-length shank bar stock pieces / lengths with no head 

Machine to hot or cold pressure or roller form ribbing / barbing / fluting onto  cut-to-fastener-length shank with head 

Portable or non-portable machine to hot or cold pressure or roller form ribbing / barbing on cut-to-fastener-length "finished" fastener shank with head on,  in the warehouse or field,  whether a new or used fastener.