US1586081A - Connection device for railway rails - Google Patents

Description

May 25,1926. 1,586,081

J. GANIME ET AL CONNECTIpN DEVICE FDR RAILWAY RAILS Filed May 7, @925 Patented May 25, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH GANIME AND PETER GANIME, OF RUSSELLTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONNECTION DEVICE FOR RAILWAY RAILS.

Application filed May -7, 1925.. Serial No 28,584.

l are employed.

The invention is applicable both to ordinary railroad tracks and to industrial railways, but is particularly useful in mines employing electric locomotives for hauling the coal cars. It frequently happens that acar in a mine will become derailed, and, being coupled to other cars will be dragged along with the flanges of the wheels at one side of the car held against the rail. This results in the wheel flanges cutting the rail bonds which afford the grounding connection for the mine locomotives. Sometimes there may be a number of bonds broken or cut. Destruction of a bond not only interferes with the free flow of current to ground, but may also result in the burning out of the locomotive motors. For instance, a locomotive may .pass from a poorly grounded section of track to one that is properly grounded and the resulting rush of current may cause excessive heating and even destruction of the motor.

lVhile I have referred to the necessity of protecting the motors of locomotives, the motors of pumps and mining machines are also grounded through the rails, and they likewise require protection against faulty grounding.

Even when a condition of faulty ground connection is found to exist before serious damage occurs to the electrical apparatus, considerable time and delay is required in locating the particular bond or bonds that require repair, because of the darkness in the mines and numerous branch tracks, and by reason of the collection of coal or dust along the tracks, which obscures the bonds and necessitates cleaning away of the dirt at each joint by an inspector until he finds the faulty joint.

Our invention has for its object the provision of a bond and rail joint connection so arranged that the bond will be protected from serious injury by the wheels of derailed cars or by falling objects.

One form which our invention may take is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of two connected rails to which our invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a View of the splice bar of Fig. 1 with the other parts removed; Fig. 3 is a view showing the side of the splice bar opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4C is a view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

The rails 5 may be of the usual form and connected by splice bars in somewhat the usual manner. Similarly a rail bond 7, which may be of copper, is provided with terminals 8 that may be secured to the rail in the usual manner, care being taken to place the terminals as close to the web of the rail as possible in order that they lie under the head of the rail and are therefore protected from contact with car wheels upon derailment of a car.

The splice bar ('3 may be rolled or forged in such manner that protuberances 9 and 10 extend outwardly therefrom in position to overhang the cable 7 in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 4:. For convenience of manufacture and economy of material I prefer to form the protuberances by displacing metal from the body of the bar, with the result that recesses 11 and 12 are present opposite to the protuberances 9 and 10, respectively. The recesses 12 may be con veniently availed of in removing the splice bar 6, since the end of a lever can be inserted in the recess and the splice bar thereupon pried loose from its seat.

Spaces are provided between the protuberances 9 and 10 for the passage of track bolts 13 which hold the splice bars and rails in assembled position. The heads of the bolts 18 are preferably cut away at their undersides so that they not only afford better protection to the cable 7 but will not be interfered with by the cable, in cases where the cable is disposed in a line immediately beneath the bolt holes. It will be apparent that if the bolt holes were in a higher plane, the heads of the bolts could be of the usual circular form.

It will thus be seen that when the cable 7 is placed in the position shown, with. its terminals 8 bent inward toward the web of the rail, that substantially continuous protection is afforded throughout its length, beginning with the tread of the rail at one end and continuing along protuberances 10 and 9 and the bolt heads 13, to the opposite terminal 8, where protection is afforded by the tread of the adjacent rail.

The protuberances not only protect the bond but also prevent the heads or nuts of bolts from sheared by the wheels of derailed cars. Both splice bars may obviously be provided with protuberances instead of only the bar 6, if desired.

lVe claim as our invention:

1. Rail bond protecting means comprising a splice bar having bolt holes and protuberances disposed adjacent to said bolt holes and in position to overlie a rail bond.

2. Hail bond protecting means comprising a splice bar having bolt holes and protuberances disposed adjacent to said bolt holes and in position to overlie a rail bond, the said protuberances being in substantially longitudinal alignment with said bolt holes.

3. A rail bond support and protecting structure con'iprising a splice bar having a base portion upon which the bond may rest, and provided with overhanging por tions above said base portion, that portion of the bar to the rear of the overhanging portions having recesses corresponding in general outline to the form of said overhanging portions.

4. Rail bond protecting means comprising a splice bar having bolt holes, and protuberances disposed between said bolt holes in position to overlie a rail bond.

In testimony whereof we, the said Josrrn GANIME and PETER GANIME, have hereunto set our hands.

JOSEPH GANIME. PETER GANIME.

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