US104902A - Improvement in iroh bridges - Google Patents

Description

4diagonals or ties of' an iron :bridge to the. chords ofthe bril ge; and,

. block, and require no further aid to retain them, the' A boing en tlre upper dell' lter-tea Leners Parent No. 104,902, dazed .noie 2e, 18m

. IMPROVEMENT IN IRON BRIDGE The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part o! the saine.

Be it known that I, Looms E. TRUESDELL, of'. Warren,l in the county of Worcester and State of' Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements' in Iron Bridges, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had 'to the accompanying drawing makingr part of' this specification, in which- .Y v

Figure 1 represents aside elevation of the improved bridge, and l -liigures 2, 3, and 4, a side elevation of the blocks to which my present irnprovenrerrt is more immediately confined, a portion of their' side being removed Ato illustrate the peculiar' construction of the connection, lig. being the top block and iig. 3 the lower-block.

Figure represents a plan of the bottom block, and

Figure 6 an end view ofthe same. v

Figure 7 represents a top riew of the top block, and

Figure 8 a section of the top chor'd. f

Figure 9 represents the post foreslrortencd by breaking, and l l Figure 10 a eross-secrron oiV its bottoni. .Figure 11, a key sometimes used for the purpose oftightening the-top chord. I.

y .Figure 12 represents vthe s plieing'ol` the eudsof two of the lower chords with the clamps that confine them, and

Figure 13 a plan oi' the inside of one of the clamps, and v' My invention relates- First, to a new and improved 14 the metallic hand that y confines the :node of fastening the Secondly, to a new and improved inode vof securing the ends ofthe lower chords to each other'.

The first, part of the invention consists- First, in corrugating each end oi' the ties or (hago-- nais a. A

4Sec'oridl), in forming a corresponding counter-cor;v rugated key-wedge in two parts, c and c', so as to embrace the corrugated end ot' the ties a?, the-outer sides of the double ley c and c' being made of a 'wedge-shaped form, so that, when drawn down into a wedge-shaped opening formed'in the upper and lower block for its reception, and driven boinc, the end 0f the ties will in this' "way become firmly wedged in the 'form the lower chord,

' the manner described;

operation being the same in both, with this exception, thai, in fastening the tie to the upper block, the diagonal d is passedlhrough the block A from its under side, and the key-blocks c and c' then4 fitted over its corrugated endand the whole then' drawn down und driven home tightly in the block, the large end'ofthe edge-shaped opening in the upper block side for this purpose,'while the reverse is true of the lower block, the lower end of the tie a. being' passed through from the upper side of the lower block, 'and then litted with the key, and drawn up into the bloeit, and forced home as the one above. A.

By this means, it will be apparent that the tie can never be withdrawn from either, unless great violence should be used either in forcing the upper chord down or the lower one up, a condition which cannot arise under ordinary circumstances. But, as tberevnray 'oe danger ol' bursting the blocks A, either when driving the ties and their wedges home, or under severe and sudden strains on the bridgethe blocks being made of cast-iron- I slrrink,'for the purpose of preventing such a casualty, a strongr wrought-iron band, H, figs. 4, 5, and 6, around the blocks, which is amply snliicient for the purpose.

- The next part of my invention consists in splicing the ends of the parts-of the chord together, which by a corresponding eorrngation onthe end of each, s o as the corrugation of the one shall fit into that of-the other, as represented iu iig. 12, in which position they areembraced 4by two corrugated clamps, d and d', as shown in said r'gure,and va plan ot' the inside of one of which is shown in lig. 13.

Previous to their being placed together', a band, s, iig. 14, is ir'rst slipped over the, end of one of the chords, when the two ends are bronghttogether, and the clamps put in place, and the band s, fig. 14, (it having first been heated for this purpose,) shrunk upon it, thereby forming a connection of the strongest and most enduring character. l

It will be apparent that any number of' parallel chords may be thus spliced together by one band, each chord, however, having its own. set of clamps.

Having thus describedmy iw'ention,

What I claim as new, and desire te secure by Letters Patent, is-

. 1.V Fastening the end of -thc tie a of an iron bridge fto the block A, either of the upper' or lower chord, in

that is tosay, by corrugating its 'end andnsing, in connection therewith, wedgeslraped corrugated-keys c and c', which arc made to ,take into a corresporrdingly-sbaped opening in the block A, as described, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination oi' the wrought-iron band H with the block forth. A

3. The combination of the band s,ig.14, and clamps d and d', with the corrugated ends ot' the "chords, for the purposes set forth. 1

` L. E. TRUESDELL.

Witnesses:

n l. HAXNAY,

Guo. liasses'.

A, as described; for the purposes set

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