US1418930A - Railway rail joint - Google Patents

Description

1. A. HYLE AND G. W. WHITEIVIAN.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 20, IszI.

1,418,930. PanIeaJune 6,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. A. HYLE AND G. W. WHITENIAN.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 2o. 192|.

1,418,930. PawnIedJune 6,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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j STATES PATENT oFFlCE.

RAILWAY RAIL J' OINT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted J line 6, 1922.

Application led October 20, 1921.- Serial No. 509,107.

To all lw/wm t may concern:

Be it known that we, JACOB A..HYLE and GEORGE W. WHrrEMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadel hia, in the county of Philadelphia and tate of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Rail Joints, of whichthe following is a speci- `lication.

This invention relates to an improvement in railway rail joints, and has special reference to a novel construction of the rail joint bars or plates, whereby the clamping effect against the track rails at and near the meeting ends of the rails is materially and practically improved and adapted to compensate for the wear which usually occurs at and near said meeting ends, and this invention is an improvement on the patent granted to Jacob A. Hyle, under date of August 23, 1921, No. 1,888,184.

The main object of the invention is to provide novel, durable, economical, simple and thoroughly effective means for safely and.

reliably uniting and securing the meeting ends of railroad track rails together, said means being adapted to materially increase the longevity of the rail joint and the rails.

A further objectv is to provide a safe, strong and reliable railway rail joint composed of few parts, with means for safely and firmly securing the parts together when properly assembled, saidk joint including means adapted to compensate for the wear which customarily takes place at and near the juncture of the meeting ends of the track rails.

Another object of this invention isto so construct our improved rail joint that the meeting ends vof the track rails will possess a maximum of vertical strength, together with a maximum of lateral strength and .rigidity to withstand the excessivestrain to which the rails are subjected by the travel of the heavy rolling stock thereon.

Further objects of the invention are to so construct each rail joint bar or plate that if broken it will be impossible for the broken parts of said bar or plate to work outwardlyv and thus become dangerous during the travel of the rolling stock thereover; to so construct each rail joint bar or plate that its outer vertical face will be clamped `by a wedge-shaped member throughout its length; that the upper reinforced portion of each bar or plate will be caused to be iexed against the lower surface of the tread and the upper end ortion ofthe web of the rail as the wear ta ves place at and near the juncture of the rails, by the proper adjustment of the wedge-shaped member fitted therein and simultaneously cause the lower reinforced portion of vsaid joint bars `to firmly and securely clamp the base of each rail and the lowerportion of the rail web; to construct each bar or plate from a single piece of metal formed with an excess of metal at its headand foot portions, and thickened at that Vportion adapted to contact with the rail where the tread merges into the web and Where the web merges into portions adapted to yield when the wedge member. is forced or drawn inwardly thereby causing the said bars or plates to fit snugly and securely against the web, tread and base/of each rail.

The foregoing and such other objects as may appear from the ensuing description are attained by the construction, arrangement, combination and location of the parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims appendedhereto, it being understood that slight changes in the precise form, proportions and minor details of the construction may be resorted to without departing from the s irit or sacrificing any of the advantages o the invention. l

In .the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification it will be seen that Figure 1 is a perspective-of the improved rail joint embodying our invention, adapted to be secured to the railway ties.. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, showing the base of the rail resting on a tie plate, and a side elevation of a portion of a securing spike on the outer side of the rail.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a slightly modified form.

Fig. 4 -is a side elevation of the joint bar or plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2, disconnected from the joint.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the wedgemember removed from the joint.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the joint bar or plate shown in Fig. 3.

i F ig. 7 is an end view of the bar or plate `shown in Figure 6. and

Fig. 8 is an end View of the bar or plate shown in Fig. 4.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the embodiment of our invention as illustrated, it will be observed by reference to Fig. l that the track rails land 2 are shown as bein connected together by the joint bars or p ates 3, each of said bars or plates being preferably rolled from a single piece of steel and formed with a central elongated opening 4 formed therethrough; an upper head member 5, said member beine' formed with an excess of metal thickened or enlarged at 6, to furnish the desired strength, and is so shaped as to lit snugly and closely against and clamp the under surface of the rail tread and the upper portion of the web of the rail, and the foot or lowermost member 7 of said joint bar or plate is also formed with an excess of metal thickened or reinforced at 8 and so shaped as to contact with and clamp the upper surface of the base of the rail and the lowermost portion of the web of the track rail, the web portion 9 of said joint bar or plate being rolled comparatively thinI for the purpose hereinafter describe By reference to F ig. 2 it will be seen that the base of the rail is seated upon the well known tie or base plate 10 which is provided with an integral upward extension 11, adapted to contact with the outer side of the rail base and thus retain the rail in its proper alinement at all times, side plate 10 being provided with suitable openings therethrough adapted toreceive an'ordinary railway spike, such as `12, which is driven through the recessed opening 13 formed in the outer edge of the joint bar or plate and into a railway tie (not shown), with thel head of the securing spike overlapping the upper surface of thebar or plate 3 for securing said rail and bar or plate to the railwaiy ties.

t will be perceived that the outer face of each joint bar or plate 3 forms a wedgeshaped recess -14- for the rece tion of a wedge-shaped member 15 whic is litted within said recess overlapping the web portion 9 of bar or plate 3, and extending throughout the length of the said bar. Each wedge-shaped member is provided with four central openings for the reception of the securing bolts 16, each bolt being passed* through the track rail, and each bolt nearest the end of the joint is through an opening formed through t e web of the joint bars near each end thereof, while the intermediate bolts' pass through the elongated openings 4 in said joint bars, all of the se` curing bolts passing lthrough the joint bars i and wedge-members, and securely Fitted t0 j the threaded end of each bolt is a securing nut 17 adapted to contact with the outer face of the wed re members, said nuts being fitted so as to a ternate on opposite sides of the joint.

. It will be readil joint wears at an near the meeting ends of the railsby drawing the nuts inwardly on the two bolts nearest said meeting ends the wedge-members are gradually forced inward into the recess 14 thus forcing the joint barlto yield in its thinnest web portion and causin said bars to be moved in closer contact wit the web of the rails and more directly between the top and bottom thereof and simultaneously causing the heavy head evident that when the and Vfoot `members of the joint bars to be I flexedinto rigid contact withthe lower surface of the rail treads and the upper surface of the rail bases, respectively. Thus more direct strength is `attained than when the joint bars are away from the rails, and as expansion and contraction cause wear the jouit bars may be drawn closer to the rails from time to time as the wear permits at and near their meeting ends, while the clamping eli-'ect of the bars is `not so intense at and near the ends thereof, where the clamping of the ordinary rail joint becomes most effective after wear. Hence. the wave motion of the track rails usually produced by the movement of the rolling stock thereon may ass through the joint to the rail ends, there y eliminating the tendency of the breakage of the rail in a plane with one or more of the boltholes formed near the meeting ends of the rails, thus saving annually a considerable amount to the railway system. It will be seen that' the heavy wedge-members adjustably fitted within the recess 14 of each joint `bar 3 constitute suiiicient material to form an' unusually strong, durable and efficient joint, which may be easily and readily adjusted and kept tight at the required and desiredV points and is much easier to adjust and tighten than the ordinary rail owing to the excessive shaking and jarring caused by the paing of the rolling stock, both the upper and lower portions of the joint bar 4or plate are liable to work outaol wardly .thus causing a dangerous obstruction, hence to prevent `such dangers. We

thicken, enlarge orreinforce each joint plate together with the clamping effect of theV wedgemembers with the outer' face lo'fV the at the points 6 and `8, thus forming a dovetion, thereby spreading, fiexin web portion of the joint bars renders it impossible for the broken portions of said bars to work outwardly.

By our improved construction of rail joint the battering of the ends of the rails is entirely avoided by forcing the wedge-members inwardly at and near their central poror bowing upwardly such portions of the joint bars as are disposed at and near the meeting ends of the rails into close and rigid contact with the worn portions of the rails, thus lessening the clamping effect at and near the outer ends of the joint and permitting the wave motion to the rail to continue to the bowed portion of the joint bars, which is substantially at the end of the track rail, thereby preventing the usual tendency of the breakage of the rail at one or the other of the bolt holes near its ends. l j

It willalso be evident that the forcing of the wedge-members inwardly at and near their central portions will insure tight nuts at the end portions of the joint, and that this construction of joint may be used with or withoutlthe use of railway joint crossties.

It will be understood that the elongated opening 4 formed in the central portion of each joint bar or plate 3, maybe contracted or restricted to any suitable or desirable degree, it being evident that by the formation of said elongated opening through the central portion of each joint bar or plate the head and foot portions thereof may be more readily forced or expanded upwardly and downwardly, and caused to clamp tightly against the head and base portions of the rails, respectively, when the centralsecuring bolts are forced inwardly by tightening the securing nuts.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is :-'f

1. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar having an excess of metal at its lower and upper portions and athickened portion at the inner curved end of said lower and upperportions with a recess formed within 4its outer face, and a thin web member, and means vfitted. within said recessv for causing said lower and upper ortions to be flexed against the rail tread an a portion of the railv web 2. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar having outwardly extending head `and foot portions formed of an excess of metal in dovetail form land with a recess formed within its outer facel and a thin web member, and means fitted within said recess for causing said head portionl to be bowed upwardly at and near its central portion into tight contact with the undersurface of the rail tread.

3. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar formed with an excess of metal at its upper and lower portions, each of said portions forming an outwardly extended dovetail between the track rail and a wedge-member, and a recess formed within the outer face of said splice bar, a thin yielding web member,l and a wedge-member adapted to cause said uptightly into contact with the tread and base portions of the rails.

5. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar having outwardly extended head and foot portions formed of an excess of metal with a thickened portion at the point of contact with the `tread and web of the rails, with a recess formed within its outer face and a thin web portion connecting said head and foot portions, and means fitted within said recess for causing said head portion to be bowed tightly into contact with the lower surface 'of the rail treads at all times.

6. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar having outwardly extended head and footportions, each of said portions being thickened at its inner side, each splice bar being formed with a recessed outer face, a thin yielding. web connecting said head and foot members with an elongated opening formed through the central portion of said web, and means vfitted within said recess for fiexing sald head and foot portions tightly into Contact with the tread, base and web ofthe rails.

7. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar formed with outwardly extending head and foot portions having an lexcess of metal and a thickened portion at the inner side of each head and foot portion with a recess formed lwithin its outer face, a thin yielding web connecting said head and foot portions and an elongated opening formed through the central portion of said web, and means fittedV within said recess for fiexing said head'portion upwardly at and near the center of said splice bar into tight contact with the lower surface of the tread of the rails.

JACOB A. HYLE. GEORGE WHITEMAN.

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