US1412269A - Assighok to the electbic batlwat - Google Patents

Description

C. A. CADWELL.

RAIL BOND AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23. 1919.

1,412,269. Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES a CADWELL, orcmivnnmiii' 01110, AssIGNoR'To THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY IMPRovEMENT CQMIANY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

RAIL BOND AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

of Making Same, of whichthe' following is l a specification, theprinciple offtheinven tion being 7 herein explained, "and; the bes mode inwhich I have conteinglh fi t p P y;

alone,- in order to form a bond designed to 'be'ins'talled on the rail by mechanical means ing that principle, so. as as fr'om'other inventions. I I Heretofore, in order to satisfactorily apply a solid terminal or head to a flexible conductor, as in the manufacture 'of'rail bonds and ,the like, it haslbeen found neces' sar'yto separately cast such terminal and then forge or swage the same on the end of" the conductor in order to secure a firmiinion between the same, and at thesame'time'foom pact the material of the'head. "The object'of" Lheip'resent invention is top'rovide a method for directly casting such' terminals or heads in place on the end of the conductor so as not only to effect a homogeneous"u ncture between the individual strands of t elatter and such head, but also provide a head po ssessing sufficient density and proper texture "to serve without further treatment or manipulation as a finished terminal. H

In order to effect a welded unionbetween wires or laininations of a conductor and molten metal added to form a terminal, heat.

'turc, but disintegrates from the solid state to beads of melted copper which exude from the solid, leaving a porous brittle structure which is commonly called burnt copper,and is generally known to be very weak mechanically. Casting copper directly upon the wires of a copper conductor to form a terminal may give a poor result from lack of snllicient heat to form any kind of a union, and at best the union obtained is subject to the criticism above mentioned. However, by the present method of arc-mclting the metal for the terminal dircctl}, into a mold, the amount of heat required to form a perfect union of the metals. can be accurately condescribed and particularly S ecification of Lotte s? t V p p P 1 a @1111 Patented Apr. 11, 1922. Application filedlune 23,1918. Serial No. 306,172.

trolled, and by adding to the ends of the copper conductor after it is placed in the mold a small quantity of spelter solder or hard solder, an alloy metal is formed at the pointof union which is free from the weakness Ofthe all copper weld.

llly improvedmethod may be used for welding the terminalto the conductor and to the rail, thus simultaneously forming the bond and installing it; or to the conductor and related ends, the invention, then, consists of the steps and-means hereinafter fully I p pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing and the following description settin forth in detail certain n eans anldone mo e of carrying out the invention, such disclosed means and jmod'c illustrating, however, but one of various. ways in which the principle of the inventionmay be used.

In said annexed drawing Fig l, isafplan view of a suitable appa- 1'atus'incli 1ding a mold and welding pencil i'or tormingterminals directly on the ends (if-conductors in accordance with nay-prescnt iniproved method; Fig. 2 is a view of an apparatus similar to that of Fig. 1, but showing a modification consisting in the incorporation in the terminal of a plate of steel or other metal-within the copper which composes t e head or terminal proper; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified form of mold for forming a different type of terminal, i. e. a stud terminal on the end of the conductor; Fig.4 is a central vertical section of such modified form of apparatus, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 44, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan view showing still another form of apparatus adapted for the casting of the terminal and at the same time applying the same to the rail to which it is to he attached; Fig. 6 is a transverse section through such rail and associated apparatus, the plane of the section being indie-atix by the line GG. Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section through the end of the (able or specially prepared conductor which enters into the operation and forms part of the bond when completed; Fig. F3 is a longitudinnl section of a. finished bond terminal of the kind formed in the apparatus of Fig. 1; while Fig. 9 is a similar section of a finished terminal of the kind formed by the apparatus of Fig. 2.

The method consists essentially in inserting the end of a flexible copper band into a suitable open chill mold, covering the end so inserted, with a mistureof powdered bra'zing material and finely out or grannlated copper and then simultaneously fusing together the end of the copper conductor, the brazing material and granular copper and additional copper added by the arc pencil, by means of which the fusing and brazing is done.

The are pencil may consist of a rod of copper which melts away as the operation proceeds, or it may consist of a carbon pencil, the operator feeding in a rod of cop per as the operation progresses. The copper pencil is adapted to be used either for forming and installing the bond on the rail, or for forming a bond de'sied to be subsequently installed'on ther'ail by other means. The carbon pencil, hoivever, can be used only by'giving'ita negative polarity, which ineahs'that it is not applicable to the direct Wltling'of the conductdr to the rail, if the electric current used is taken directly from the tr'o'lle'y through a rlieostatl Theconductorusually'employed in bonding operations is of stranded form, being shown in tlic' seireralfi'gure's of the drawings asco'nsistiiig'of aseu n of cop 'er cable. The end 2 of such sectiiinfldsigne to enter into the terminal is compressed and preferably more or Iessfiattened toepproximate in 'form the desired cross-section of the head or terminal; Prifiously to such compression'a'slee e 3,"lilreivi'se.of copper, is fitted over the end'of the condiictor and is flatteiied dowh along with the latter. This terminal is theiilaid 'ina recess iii a block of suitable refractory material, so as to leave portion of the sleeve lie'clear of such a. mo d, the unfilled ortionof the recess being of any desire sha' e or size. Thereupon ni'cilten copper is do osited in,the recess, and upon'the expose ends of the conductor as well as the adjacent, i. e. outer, end of the sleeve, so asto fuse such strands and sleei'e together, formingahomogeneous 'inassof the same. along with the metal deposited in the recess. Preferably themolten metal is dcrircd from a copper pencil 4 which forms one terminal of an electric circuit 5', the mold constituting the other, so that an arc is formed between such pencil and iniildfcausing the end of the latter to gradually melt down.

The form of mold 7 illustrated in Fig. 1 is obviously dcsignciil to rovidc a head or terminal of flat form having a crosssection zi n-r-riinzdvly the same as that of the flattened compressed end of the stranded conductor (see Fig. 8). In Fig. 2 the mold 8 is of substantially the same character, the modification consisting in the introduction in such mold, preliminarily to the addition of the copper, of a plate 9 of steel or other ferrous metal, the same being disposed so as to be incorporated in the face of the finished terminal that is designed to be applied to the rail. (See Fig. 9,) This plate 9 is homogeneously united with the finished terminal under the influence of the molten metal deposited in the recess back of it.

In Figs 3 and 4, as already indicated, the modification consists in the form ofthe mold recess 10 which here includes a cylindrical depression 11 whereby the head or terininal pidper is formed with ac'orrespo'nding projecting stud.

In the apparatus shown in Figs. 5 the mold 12 is formed side only oftlie recess, the other being closed by the side'of therail l3, when such mold is pressed against the latter, thus causing the end 2 of the conductor to be pressed against such adjacerit r'ail face when it is inserted in the recess in the fashion heretofore described. The result of melting down the pencil in tliis case isto not only form a head or teirninal'on the end of the conductor as heretofore described, but at the same time to homogeneously unite such head with the adjacent 'rail' face As a result, when the moldis'rem'oved' the conductor is left at tachc d to th'e rail through the medium of the'he'ad orterininal thus formed.

A 'certain amount of braze 14, preferably ingra'iiula'r or dust form, is applied to the ends, of tlie,striuids of the conductor which project iiito the'rece'ss in each of the forms of apparatus illustrated in Figs 1, 2, 3 and 4. In order that such braze ma'y be con veniently provided in proper amount in the case'o'f theform of ap aratus illustrated in Figs. 5 a'ntl 6, theend of the sleeve 15 is here prolonged beyond the ends of such strands, and the bronze or braze 16 is de posited inside such sleeve extension 17, after which the walls of the latter are closed toget-her so as to retain the braze material until the molten metal from the pencil isapplied. h

The sectional views of the completed terminal appearing in Figs. 8 and 5) clearly shou' thc manner in which the strands entering such terminal ul'U incorporated along with the outer portion of thr sleerc and the metal deposited in the mold to form a solid. homogeneous head, pirsrnliiug :ill the characteristics of a fo ged lu-ud such as at present employed. It will be understood that it desired such head. rspwially when of the and 6, with a -W3.ll on the one l orm rcsullin" from u e ol .1 lllllltl such us i illustrated In Figs. i and lv may h llliltfllillt l or turned iliiwn lu prrwnt 1i snunilli surlni'ii'.

It will also be noted that the inner portion the end ofa stranded copper conductor in a of the copper sleeve, which is not melted down or welded to the terminal strands,

forms'a protection for such strands as" they emerge, preventing the tendency they otherwise have to break off short, i. e. close to the terminal, asa result of, the vibration to which they are subjected in use.

Other forms may be employed embodying the features of my invention instead of the one here explained, change being made in the form or construction, provided the elements stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated elements be employed, whether produced by my preferred method or by others embodying steps equivalent to those stated in the following claims.

I therefore particularly point out and.- distinctly claim as my invention 1. The method of making a rail-bond of the character described as a separate article of manufacture, which consists in inserting the end of a stranded conductor in a moldrecess of desired shape and size, and then fusing down such inserted end and filling up such recess by means of a metal arepencil.

2. The method of making a rail-bond of the character described as a separate article of manufacture, which consists in enclosing the end of a stranded conductor in a, sleeve, inserting such end in a mold-recess of de sired shape and size, the inner portion of such sleeve being left without such recess, and then fusing down such inserted end along with the outer portion of such sleeve and filling up such recess by means of a metal aropencil.

3. The method of making a rail-bond of the character described as a separate article of manufacture, which consists in preliminarily compressing the end of a stranded conductor to approximately the cross-section of the desired terminal, inserting such end in a mold-recess of desired shape and size, and then fusing down such inserted end and illing up such recess by means of a metal arcpencil.

l. The method of making a railbond of the character described as a separate article of manufacture, which consists in enclosing the end of a stranded conductor in a sleeve, pltllll'lllltllllV compressing such end with sleeve thereon to approximately the rrosssection of the desired terminal. inserting such end in a mold-reress of desired shape and sim. the inner Ptll'tlfill of such sleeve being left without surh reress. and then fusing down such inserted end along with the outer portion of surh sleeve and filling up such recess by means of a metal :iIr}il)in!il.

5. The meth d of making a .'"l l"ll llll of the haracter ilrsrribwl us a separate arlirle of inanulnrturc. \Yhirh ronsisls in enclosing sleeve, "i likewise of copper, preliminarily coinpr'lssifig such end with sleeve thereon ofappr'o xiinately the cross-sectioirof the de 'sired terminal, inserting such end in a mold- 'recess of desired shape and size, the inner portion of such sleeve. being left Without such recess, and then fusing doWnsuch inserted end along with the outer portion of such sleeve and filling up such recess by means of a copper arc-pencil.

(3. The method of making a rail-bond of the character described as a separate article of manufacture, which consists in inserting the end of a stranded conductor in a mold recess of desired shape and size, placing in such recess adjacent one wall thereof a metal plate of higher fusibility than said conductor, and then fusing down such inserted end and fillin up such recess by means of a metal arc-penci said plate being incorporated in one face of the resulting terminal.

7. The method of making a rail-bond of the character described as a separate article of manufacture, which consists in inserting the end of a stranded copper conductor in a mold-recess of desired shape and size, placin in such recess adjacent one Wall thereof a plate of ferrous metal, and then fusing down such inserted end and filling up such recess by means of a metal arcpencil, said plate being incorporated in one face of the resulting terminal.

8. As an independent article of manufacture, a rail-bond having a stranded body and a solid terminal formed of metal molded on the end of said body from a metal arepencil, and a metal plate of higher fusibility than said body incorporated in one face of said terminal.

9. As an independent article of manufacture, a rail-bond having a stranded copper body and a solid terminal formed 6f metal molded on the end of said body from an arc-pencil, substantially as described.

10. As an independent article of manufacture, a rail-bond having a stranded copper body and a solid terminal formed of metal molded on the end of said body from an arc-pencil, and a plate of ferrous metal incorporated in one face of said terminal.

ll. As an independent article of manufacture, a rail-bond having a stranded body, a sleeve surrounding the end of said body, and a. solid terminal formed of metal molded on such end so as to interfuse the component strands of said body and the outer portion of said sleeve.

ii As an independent article of manufacture, a railbond having a stranded copper bod v a sleeve of copper surrounding the end of said body, and a solid terminal formed of ropper molded on such end so as to interfuse the component strands of said body and the outer portion of said sleeve.

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