US1612984A - Bond-wire supporter - Google Patents

Description

Patented Jan. 4, 1927.

unrrso STATES 1,612,984 PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK A. IBEEST'ON, OF HIGHLAND ?ARK, ILLINOIS,.ASSIG-NOR TO THE P & M COMPANY, OF CHICAGO., ILLINOIS. A COEPGEATION OF ILLINOIS.

BOND-WIBE SUPPORTER.

Application filcd December 30, 1922. Seri'al No. 609,806.

My invention relates to bond wire supporters, that is to say, to devices for supporting, intermediate their ends, the Wires used for bonding or making electrical Vconnections between abutting rails of a railroad track; and the object of the invention is to provide a new and improved bond wire supporter which can be cheaply manufactured and easily applied to the rail and which will hold the bond wire or wir'es in proper position against the angle bar or splice bar employed for making the join between the rails in such manner that the wire or wires cannot be removed from the supporter without removing or at least loosening the nut of the track bolt which fastens the supporter to the splice bar.

It is a matter of considerable importance, and one concerning the safety of the traveling public and those operating railroad trains, that the wires used for bonding the rails, particularly the bonding wires used on steam railroads for insuring the transmission through the track of signaling currents, should be held in their proper place against displacement accidentally or through malice or ignorance, since the proper functioning of the signaling mechanism depends upon maintenance of a continuous current through the track. V

Bond Wires are usually of such length that when attached to adjacent rails there is enough slack to allow the wires to be bent over on the ball of the ra'il in a position to be cut by the Wheels of passing trains or to be bent down on the ballast or away from the rail, in which positions they are likely to be injured through the ignorance of the track men or torn from the rails by dragging rigging on the trains, The same considerations which make it desirable to fasten or clip bond wires at points intermediatc their ends to the splice bars, should require also that these attachments be reliable and capable of withstanding some force and that they should be such that cannot be easily tampered with either ignorantly or maliciously. Unless the wires are so fastened to the splice bar there is a chance of their being disengaged from the supporter or clip by the dragging rigging on passing trains. It also happens sometimes that bond wires are deliberately and maliciously pulled away from their clips and over the ball of the rail by trespassers in order that they may be cut and 'destroyed Not infrequently trackmen, not m'aliciously but through ignorance, finding the wires in the way, will either bend them upwardly or downwardly out of their proper' place in order to more conveniently reach some part of the track on which he is working. My invention has these several contingencies in view and seeks to provide a supporter which, besides being inexpensive to manufacture, will serve to hold the wire or wires in their proper place positively and so long as the track bolt nut is not removed or loosened instead of merely clipping them to or retaining them against the splice bars as has been customary. Even a maliciously inclined person is not likely to go so far as to loosen a track bolt since such act is likely to be detected and if detected will be severely punished. The invention has in view in its more specific aspect, a bond wire supporter for use in connection with a splice bar having an outwardly projecting shoulder along its upper edge as shown in the annexed drawing.

In the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of a railroad rail and its splice bar with the bond wire supporter of my invention attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is a view, in perspective, of the supporting device shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a view, in elevation, of the inside of a slightly modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, designates a railroad rail and 11, 11' the splice or angle bars for making the joint between abutting Vrails, the term abutting being used with only approximate correctness because aocording to the usual practice Spaces' for expansion exist between the adjacent ends of the rails of a railroad track. 12 indicates one of the track bolts for securing the splice bars 11, 11' to the rail 10, and 13 a nut for bolt 12.

Referring first to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the supporter consists of a strip of metal 141, preferably of steel having some resiliency, the lower end 15 of which (having reference to the more usual position of the device on the track) is formed with an opening 16 for the track bolt 12. Above this apertured part the strip is formed with an outwardly projecting offset 17 and the remaining portion of the strip ll O is bent to form a loop 18 for the bond Wires, tWo of Which are shown in Fig. 3 and designated 19, the extremity of the strip providing a tongue 20 Which, as the device is manufactured, stands close to but out of contact With the portion 21 of the strip on the other side of loop 18 so as to leave a spa-ce or channel 22 for insertion of the bond Wires into the loop. Preferably the tongue 21 is formed With an inwardly projecting lip 23 Which has substantially the inclination of ofiset 17.

In attaching the supporter to the rail joint nut 13 is removed from bolt 12, the supporter is slipped over the bond Wii-es 13, Which pass into the loop 18 through the open channel 22, and the nut 13 is then replaced on the bolt and screWed down so as to clamp the supporter against the oi'itu'ardly projecting shoulder 24 on the upper edge of the spliee bar 11, thus closing,` the loop by bringing tongue 20 against the opposite portion 21 of the device and he lip 23, Which extends under the shoulder 242 of the splice har, against the offset portion 17 of the supporter.

VVith the bond Wires held in this manner at one or more points interniediate their ends (the usual practice being; to use two sipporters for each joint), it is impossible to detach the Wires from the supporter Without removing the nut 13. Moreover, the Wires are held With practical certaintltv .against accidental detachinent since ithardly possible to oxert sufiicient force on the Wlres to pull the tongue 20 away ironi its bindinr enfl'ao'einent With the solice bar. u z: a l

rl`he device is preferably made of spring` steel yielding enough so that the loop is closed, or to all intents and purposes closed, When the device is attached to the splice har but stiff enough so that the upper part of thedevice cannot he bent, Without exerting` considerab-le force, to open up the loop In Fig. 3 I have shown J inodifieo forin of bond Wire supporter,

designated 25, i. Yhich has the general configuration of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but oniits the lip 23 and is provided With an open recess 20 at its loi-.ver end so that it inay he slipped o'lf and on the track bolt by inerely loosening the nut 13.

wWhile I iav assumed that the liond Wire supporter of my invention Would lie used on the nut end of the holt it obvious the* 't might be used the r end of trie ho lthough less convenientv I. claim: 1. A bond Wire supporter for attachment by a fastening device to a rairmild rail bar having an outvra ff i a. L l at its upper edge consisting` a inet the lower end of Which is formed nient With said fastening device and the upper end of which is offset outwardly from the lower end, is bent over to forin a loop for the bond Wire and a tone `e Which intervenes between the shoulder oi the splice har and the part of the supporter on the opposite side of said loop to close said loop When the supporter is secured to the splice har.

2. A bond Wire supporter for attachment hy a fastening device to a railroad rail a strip,

elite bar having' an outwardl nro'ectino' r to i b shoulder at its upper edge, consisting of niet-il strip formed at its lower end for engagenient Wit-h said fastenine` device and at its upper end With a 1' ion offset out- Wardly from the lower end and bent over to form a loop for the bond Wire, and a' 4tongue Which intervenes between the shoulder of the splice har and the part of the supporter on the opposite side of said loop to close said loop 'When the supporter secured to the splice bar, said tongue loeing provided With an inwardly projecting' lipwvhich extends under the splice W shoulder.

rnnnsnioit a. ransi-on.

Images