US1027956A - Rail-joint. - Google Patents

Description

W. H. WILTSHIRB.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION `FILED MAY 11, 1911` Patented May 28, 1912.

wlmfssfs 2% ATTORNEYS RAIL-JOINT.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Application led May 11, 1911.

Patented May 28,1912. serial No. 626,416.

To all whom 'it may concerter Be it known that I, AVILLIAM H. WILT- sHIRn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Gillespieville, in the county of Ross and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Rail-Joint, of which the following is a full,l clear, and exact description. f

My invention is an improvement in rail joints, and the object thereof is to provide a construction of this type which will enable the ends of the rails to be slipped together,

one on the other, to make a rigid connection, and at the same time keep the top surface ofthe rail practically continuous. The joint is self-supporting, and provision for contraction and expansion of the rails is made by means of elongated holes in the ends of the rail and the plates used on the sides of the joint,so as to allow for relative movement of the ends of the rail, according to changes of the temperature at various seasons of the year.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specilication, in which the same characters of reference indicate the same parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved rail joint, showing the same finished; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal horizontal sectional view of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view thereof taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one end of the rail shaped to form my improved joint; and Fig. 5 is a bottom plan, showing the manner in which the ends of t-he bases of two adjacent rails are tted together.

On the drawings, the numerals 1 and 2 indicate two rails which are joined together at their adjacent ends by my improved rail joint, and t-he ends of these rails are given an especial shape to provide a joint or connection of the kind desired. For this purpose the webs of the rails l and 2 are thickened at the meeting ends of these rails, as shown at 4, and the web and the ball of each of these rails are rabbeted as shown at 6. The base of the rail is also rabbeted, as shown at 7 but not on the same lines as the webs and the tops of the rails 1 and 2, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, that is to say, the webs 3 and the tops of the rails 1 and 2 are simply cut transversely and then longitudinally to form a plain rabbet joint; while the bases of the rails 1 and 2 are first cut straight across as shown at 8, then longitudinally as shown at 9, then straight across again as shown at 10, for a shorter distance, and then diagonally as shown at 14, the surfaces 11, 12 and 13 corresponding to the surfaces 8, 9 and 10, respectively. The correspondingly-formed ends of the bases 5 of the ends 1 and 2 will therefore match together when the joint is made up, and a part of the base 5 of the rail 1 will form a `ledge 7 beneath the corner of the rabbeted portion of the top and web of the rail 1, so that the end of the top and web of the rail 2 when matched against the end of the rail l, will rest upon this ledge 7 and keep the ends of the rails 1 and 2 in the same horizontal plane. In this way all liability of one of the rails at the joint ever being lower than the other rail is avoided. The rabbeted meeting ends of the rails 1 and 2 after being tted together are held in place by means of sh plates 15, which have holes therethrough to register with holes 16, 17 and 18 in the ends of the rails. The holes 18 are somewhat elongated; and bolts 19 are passed through the webs of the rails 1 and 2 at the joint to hold the joint and the plates together. The elongated apertures 18 are located toward the outer extremity of the rabbeted ends of the rails 1 and 2, and the shape of these openings or bolt holes will allow for a certain `amount of relative motion of the rails 1 and 2, to allow for such contraction and expansion as always takes place along a line of track.

It will be observed that with a rail joint constructed as above described, the ends of the rail will lit snugly together, and the top or ball of t-he rail will form a flat continuous surface. At the same time, the ledge 7 will keep both meeting ends of the rails on the same level, making a self-supporting joint.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a rail joint, the combination of a rail having a base, the end of which is cut on each side of the rail transversely, then longitudinally a-nd then transversely for a short distance, the end of said base then being cut to form a vertical diagonal surface uniting said last-named cross-cut surfaces.

2. A rail joint comprising a pair of rails having thickened webs at the meeting ends thereof, said Webs being rabbeted and having a plurality of perforations formed through their rabbeted portions, the perfo rations adjacent the extremities of said rabbeted portions being elongated, a pair of fish plates for each side of said rail joint, one of said fish plates on each side overlap ping the meeting ends of said rabbeted portions, and fastening means passing through said fish plates and said perforations in said Webs to hold the meeting ends of the rails with the fish plates thereon together, the said elongated openings and the arrangement of the fish lates permitting of relative movement of the rails, to provide for the expansion and contraction thereof.

3. In a rail joint, t-he combination of a rail having a thickened Web portion at one end, said thickened web portion and the top of the rail being rabbeted, said rabbeted portion comprising transverse and longitudinal surfaces, the base of said rail also being rabbeted by being cut on each side thereof transversely, then longitudinally, then transversely for a short distance, and then cut to form a continuous diagonal surface unit-ing said last-named cross-cut surfaces, the said diagonal surface being so located that its upper edge Will intersect With thelovver edge of the longitudinal surface of the rabbeted portion of the Web and top of the rail to form a supporting ledge adjacent the corner of the rabbeted extremity of the Web and top of the rail.

4L. A rail joint comprising a pair of rails having the Webs thereof rabbeted, said Webs each having a plurality' of perforations formed through their rabbeted portions, the perforations adjacent the extremities of said rabbeted portions being elongated, a pair of fish plates for each side of said rail joint,

one of said fish plates on each side over-V lapping the meeting ends of said rabbeted portions, and fastening .means passing through said fish plates and said perforations in said Webs to hold the meeting ends of the rails with the fish plates thereon together, the said elongated openings and the arrangement of the fish plates permitting relative movement of the rails, to provide for the expansion and contraction thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

VILLIAM H. IVILTSHIRE. Iitnessesz ROBT. O. FRANCIS, WVM. H. PINKERTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

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