US121848A - Improvement in connections for iron and steel bridges - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONNECTIONS FOR IRON AND STEEL BRIDGES.

Specification forming part 0f Letters Patent No. l21,848, dated December 12, 1871.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that We, THOMAS C. CLARKE and ADoLPHUs B-oNZANo, of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Connections for Iron or Steel Bridges; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, apd exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making a part of this specication, in which- Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent, respectively, a front view, elevation, and plan of a Wrought-iron column, postfoot, and lower chord, iioor, and tie systems, as will be explained.

This invention consists in forming a wroughtiron post-foot for cylindrical, segmental, or squaresided wrought-iron columns by passing the connecting-pins of the lower chord directly through the body of the columns without the use, as heretofore, of any wrought-iron brackets, angle-irons, or plates, or the use of cast-iron, and, at the same time, so to connect this foot with the licor-beams, by means of a lower plate, as to hermetically seal the lower part of the post, and, by a cylindrical projection on the lower part oi' said lower plate, so to attach the Hoor-beams that they will be rigidly held to the toot ofthe post and at any angle with the axis of the bridge; and it further consists in the construction ofthe suspension-Washers under the licor-beams, made of wrought-iron beams, angle-iron, and plates, riveted or otl1erwise united together, as will be explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawin N represents a vertical post ot' an iron bridgei truss with the lower-chord system O and tie system P connected therewith or thereto by means of a pin, Q, passing through the body ofthe column. The foot of the post N sits or rests upon a plate, R, that has a sleeve or iange, c, upon it for receiving said post, and turned-down iianges a a for takin g over and holding together the lower chords O O. A wrought-iron washer, S, is suspended by and drawn up against the under side of the chords O by the suspension-rods T, which take over the pin Q. The washer S is made oi' the beams d and plates e riveted thereto; and on the top of the Washer is riveted the angle-iron f, which embraces and retains the bottom chords O. On the under side of the plate R there is a cylindrical projection, i, which passesbetween, in-

to, or through the heads of the chords O, which admits of the tloor-beams being fastened to the foot of the post at any desired angle with the axis of the bridge. This plate R, further, seals the lower part ofthe post and prevents any Water or moisture from entering there. The floorbeams are supported on or by the washers S, and may have any desired angle of skew. The column N, where the pin Q passes through it, may be re-enforced, as at b.

Ve are aware that lower-chord pins have been made to pass through the body of open posts made of channel, angle, or ot' T-iron. We are also aware that a thrust-piece on a lower plate at the bottom otl the post has also been used. Our invention differs from these in this: That in our case the lower chord-pin passes through a segmental wrought-iron column in connection with a lower plate, which closes the post hermetically, preventing .thereby oxidation ot the interior of the post; and the cylindrical projection z' on the under part of the plate forms a radial thrust-piece for the Hoor-beams. The suspending ot' the floor-beams oi' a bridge-truss b v means ofthe compound wroughtiron suspensionwasher, made ot' channel or :l2-shaped beams and a plate, is tar preferable, because much more reliable than cast-iron plates or wrought-iron straps, as heretofore used.

Having th us fully described our invention, what we claim herein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination ofthe lower chord-pins of a bridge-truss with a segmental wrought-iron column, the lower plate and its cylindrical thrustpiece, and the compound su spension-washer, substantially as and for the purpose described and represented.

2. In combination with the post and lower chord, an interposed plate, R, with a project-ion, z', for a thrust-piece for the licor-beams and for holding the Hoor-beams at any desired angle, substantially as described.

3. The washer S, composed of the beams d d, plate e, and angle-irons f, riveted or bolted together, substantially as and for the purpose described.

THOMAS C. CLARKE. A. BONZANO. Witnesses:

A. B. SToUeHToN,

EDMUND MASSON. (2l)

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