US2665849A - Perforate roadbed simulating attachment for toy railroad tracks - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 12; 1954 R. D. SMITH PERFORATE ROADBED SIMULATING ATTACHMENT FOR TOY RAILROAD TRACKS Filed July 13, 1950 INVENTOR STATS PERFORATE ROADBED SIMULATING AT- TACHMEN T FOR TOY RAILROAD TRACKS Raymond D. Smith, Easton,

The A. 0. Gilbert Company,

Conn., assigncr to New Haven, Conn a corporation of Maryland Application July 13, 1950, Serial No. 173,559

3 Claims.

This invention relates to track beds for toy railroads having some of the features disclosed in a copending application of Raymond D. Smith and Maurice H. Romer, Serial No. 148,596, filed March 9, 1950.

In said copending application there is disclosed a mat adapted to serve as a removable base for conventional toy track sections of the skeleton style, which mat faithfully simulates or is strong" ly suggestive of a road bed preferably ballasted by crushed rock and having sleepers embedded therein. When a conventional toy track section of the skeleton kind including cross ties underlying the rails is assembled with bed structure of that kind, the cross ties are sunk below the top surface of the removable bed structure and thereby embedded therein to such depth that the top surfaces of the cross ties alternate with and lie in coplanar relation to simulated top surfaces of dummy sleepers configured on the top surface of the bed structure. This gives rise to the ap pearance of rails supported by sleepers which are all alike and located as closely together in proportion to the gauge of the track as is common in real railroad construction.

In the aforesaid copending application a detachable roadbed-simulating mat of the above characteristics is described, wherein the cross ties of the toy track are nested in depressions of dovetail profile shape closed at the bottom by a Web of the resilient material, usually rubber, of which the mat as a whole is made. This web limits the extent to which the size of the crosstie cavities can be enlarged by stretching the material of the mat such as medium soft rubber for the purpose of buttoning the mat onto the cross ties in clinging conformity therewith and because of the stretch-limiting effect of the floor web of the cavity makes acute bending of the body of the mat the easiest way to apply and remove the mat from a toy track section but this proves to require finger strength sometimes in excess of that possessed by a child.

I have discovered that if the floor web of the depressions or cavities or sockets formed in the mat material is cut out or eliminated, the size and shape of the cavities in relation to the cross ties being not otherwise changed, the resulting apertures which extend completely through the thickness of the mat make the mat more flexible, stretchable and flabby and permit the toy track rails to seat more dependably on and in close contact with the dummy sleepers configured in the top rubber surface of the mat, yet in no way impair the dependable cling of the mat to the track section. It also makes the cross ties much more readily embeddable in the mat be cause of the ease of distortion of the cross-tie receiving openings in the mat as well as the ease of adapting the spacings thereof to that of the cross ties when the mat material is stretched by finger manipulation.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is more particularly explained in the following de scription having reference to the appended drawings wherein:

Figs. 1 and 2 show respectively a conventional section of toy track and an underlying mat unit separated therefrom and embodying the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows the fingers of an operators hand in the act of buttoning on or peeling off the improved road bed mat with respect to two of the cross ties of a toy track section.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view taken in section longitudinally of the mat of Fig. 2 with the track section of Fig. l superimposed thereon and is taken in section on a central vertical plane extending longitudinally of the assembled mat and track section.

Fig. 5 is a view taken in section on the planes 5-5 in Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a view taken in section on the plane 66 in Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

In Fig. 1, I2 designates a conventional toy track section including stiff metallic rails l3 with their usually metallic underlying cross ties or sleepers l 4, the sheet metal of each of which cross ties has struck-up tongues l5 which fold over the base flanges of the rails for securing the latter in fixed relation to the cross ties. This conventional construction produces a rigid unitary track section of skeleton nature. The ends of the rails of adjoining track sections are con.- nected in true alignment by coupling pins such as I! one of which is lodged in one hollow end of the rail and removably insertable in the hollow end of the rail of a companion track section.

The improved mat shown in Fig. 2 has a series of pseudo cross ties of sleepers 2i configured in its upper surface and comprises a slab-like body having an external configuration resembling in miniature the ballasted road bed of a railroad track.

According to the present improvements mat 20 contains rectangular holes cut entirely through its thickness to form apertures 23 and the side Walls 24 of the apertures are slanted in a spreading or undercut manner from the top surface of the mat to produce the profile of dovetail shape most clearly shown in Fig. 4.

The width of the socket at the bottom equals the maximum over-all width of the cross tie at its bottom turned-out edges 26 whereas the stretchable cross-tie-admitting mouth of the aperture has a smaller width equal to the width of the relatively narrow top surface 2'! of the sleeper.

Owing to the soft resilient stretchable properties of the material of the that, usually rubber, there is enough stretch to such material to permit temporary distortion of each aperture so that it can be buttoned on to "one of the projecting cross ties IQ of the rigid track section [2 whereby the cross tie is forced into fitting -andfilling occupancy of the aperture as shown in Fig. 4, Thus the bed structure contains embedded therein and clings firmly to a plurality of the cross tie while the track rails 13 rest upon and 'haveitheir weigfnt supported on all the pseudo ties ii that-are :configured in the top surface "of the mat in closec'ontact therewith.

A road-bed-simulating :mat constructed with apertures as herein, in place of depressions, cavities or sockets as in the beforementiond patent application, is sufficiently more flexible and stretchable to coniormmore closely to all surfaces of the track section intended to contact therewith than is the case with mats having sockets sun'x therein instead of apertures pierced therethrough. Consequently les accuracy of the molded rubber shape of the mat and size ofits apertures is necessary to insure a snug fitting-together of the track section'and the matsuchas will best-produce the illusion of the pseudo sleepers or cross ties being'mdistingnishable from the metallic cross ties of the track section. Furthermore less rubber material ands-less weight .is cocasioned by completely cut-out openings to accommodate the cross ties than results irommere sockets sunk in the body-of the mat;

It will be noted in particular thatthe ontturned edges 26 of the cross ties bottom against nothing in Fig. 4 and thereby are;prevented:from interfering with all-over contact between'th'e bottom of the track rails and each of the slightly raised pseudo sleeper configurations 2 i.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture adapted for removable attachment to a skeleton section of toy track comprising laterally spaced apart track rails fixedly united by underlying crossties spaced apart along said rails, an accessory base mat comprising a relatively thin slab-like solid having an external surface configuration resembling in miniature a length of the road bed of a railroad track, said solid having at least one perforation extending completely through its thickness having a shape and size to permit at least one of said crossties to be inserted in and fit the same.

2. As an article of manufacture adapted for removable attachment to a skeleton section of toy track comprising laterally spaced apart track rails fixedly united by spaced apart underlying structural crossties, an accessory mat comprising a slab-like body of stretchable material having an external configuration resembling in miniature the road bed of a railroad track, said body con- .taininga plurality of buttonhole forming perfora- .tions extending completely through its thickness and sufi'iciently smaller than said structural crossties to admit, contain and cling respectively to said .cro'ssties when .the latterlare buttoned into said apertures.

3-. The combination of, a skeleton section of toy track comprising laterally spaced apart track rails fixedly united by spaced apart underlying crossties, and an accessory mat comprising a slablike body having a plurality of perforations of dovetail profile shape extending completely through its thickness, each of said perforations being normallyoi :shape andsize toadmit thereto and closely conform to the top portionof a single one of said 'crcssties.

RAYMOND DQSMITH.

References Cited in the fileof. this patent STATES PATENTS Satterthwai-te Aug. 1,1934

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