ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,258,717, issued on March 25, was assigned to Lewis Bolt & Nut Co. (LaJunta, Colo.).
"Rail anchoring spike" was invented by David M. Barry (Greenwood, Minn.) and Jeremy W. Soden (Rocky Ford, Colo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An improved rail anchoring spike that includes barbs is used for fastening metal to ties. The spike includes a head having one or more flanges and a stand-off extending axially from the flange(s). The spike includes a shank extending axially from the stand-off to form a tapered tip. The shank is adapted to engage dense material of the tie by a combination of threads and barbs on the shank. The threads are generall...