US1795140A - Insulated rail joint - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1931. R. w. PAYNE INSULATED RAIL JOINT Filed April 28, 1950 Ra bh Wfayne,

v UNITED STA Patented Mar. 3, 1931 TES PATENT OFFICE RALPH WOODRUFF PAYNE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR T THELRAIL JOINT COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YOBK INSULATED RAIL JOINT Applitation iiled April 28,

This invention relates .to rail joint structures, and particularly to an improvement therein having special utility in connection with rail joints: of the insulated type employed in connection with track signalling systems.

To that end, the invention has in view a simple, and practical joint 1 construction clamping force on ftheinsulatingmaterial.. of the invention to provideja rail oint construction which is particularly applicable to wherein provision ismade for an adjustment vthat eifectively keeps the joint parts in a properly tightenedrelation,and also exertsa the rails ina direction to obtain a maximum efliciency and life from Also it is an object thattype of railroad rail now known as the .headfree rail wherein the bottom corners of the rail. head aretruncated, and anchorages for the head of thejoint bars are provided at andwithinthe head fillets of the rail.

a, With these and other objects in view which gwill be appreciated byjthose familiar with the art, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more" fully described, illustrated and claimed, and while the invention is susceptible of'structural change without departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims, a preferred and practical embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Figural 1s a cross-sectional View of a rail In carrying forward the present invention 1930. Serial No. 448,129.

it is especially applicable to the headfree type of railroad rail, which type of rail is covered by the patent to Thomson, No. 1,507,870 dated September 9, 1924, and involves as a characteristic feature thereof a rail head 2 having the bottom corners truncated as at8, thereby substantially eliminating the usual flatfishing'surface of the under sides of the head of the rail, and producing curved joint bar seats or anchorages i at or within the head fillets of the rail so that the loading engagement of the joint bars is at the head fillets of the rail.

In a rail of the type referred to, it is desirable to provide a proper fitting and ad justment for the joint bars in order to maintain the permanent loading engagement of the bars at the head fillets of the rail, and in the case of insulated joints to provide for maintaining the efficiency and prolonging the life of the insulating material for a rail of this type. To that end the novel joint struc ture constituting the present invention includes, at each side of the rail, a joint bar designated generally by the reference letter 5 having an inclined web portion 6 provided at its outer side with the inclined downwardly and outwardly sloping clamping face 7 and at its upper edge with a head portion 7 a the.

characteristic feature of which is the rounded bearing member 8 fitting the head fillet 4 of the rail, or the head insulating material 9 inter osed between the same and the rail. In a dition to these features, the joint bar 5 is formed with a foot portion 10 overlying the rail flange and preferably formed with the integral base member 11 underlying the rail flange in the manner of the well known continuous-type rail joint bar.

To provide for proper adjustment of the inclined joint bar, particularly in the direction to move its head portion inwardly into proper fitting relationto the head fillet of the rail, there is preferably employed an adjustment wedge block 12 arranged at the outer side ofeach joint bar, and provided with-an inner inclined bearing face 13 and an outer vertical boltingface 14 with which cooperate the heads and nuts of thejoint fastening bolts 15; v

' Thestructure so far described is applicable to a standard or non-insulated joint, but as it possessesspecialutilityvin connection with j an insulated construction for headfree rail there is shown in Figure 1 of'the drawings plane o-fth-e outside of the railihead. I

' Inaddition to the head insulation",9;";the 4 20.

the necessary insulating equipment. This in- 1 sulating equipment may consist: oftthe fibre head piece 9 fitting the 'head fillets of the rail, and provided with downwardly extend ing skirt' portions l5 alongside of therail web and upstanding flangeportions 16 lying between the head of the bar and the truncated face of the rail head inside ofithevertical insulating equipment of the joint illustrated includes {the jbasefinsulalticnpiece 17 underlyingltheffoot of the'joint bar and overlying of the adjustment wedge blocks-12; 7

It will be seen from the construction described that a tightening of the joint fastening boltsjcau's'es the adjustment Wedge blocks ftaini'ng'the proper tight'fit of thebar head I within'the head fillet of the rail and against thefinterpose'd insulation at that point where the jointisan' 'insul'atedjoint? In connec tiongwiththe insulated joint phase of the invention, adetailof construction that may be the easement of'pressure' on the insulating material atthis point, thus reducing the risk of morequic'kly cutting out here than-at other points within the oint.

, ,In carrying outthe invention it may be found desirable tointroduce a "spring tension inthejoint fastening, and that maybe accomplished b'yutilizing an adjustment wedge "block 12 of a spring'type of construction, such for instance as shownin Figures 2 and 3 of thedrawings.-- In Figure 2, the spring-type j beveled 'waslier l2? shown may consist of a spring metal plate folded to provide an outer vertical-bolting member 22 and inner inclined Wedge clamp ng niember23 havinga sprlng clearance. Or, a'sshown in Figure 3 of'the drawings the beveled clamping washer designated by the reference nuInb'e1-"12 may 'con-" the bolt threads.

sistof a spring plate of bowed formation at its inner inclined side 24 and having an outer vertical bolting face 25'. In both of these s ggested modifications, as :Well as in themain construction shownin Figure 1 the adjust ment wedge blocks may be only sufliciently long to accommodate one nut, or may be suifi ciently long to accommodate two or more nuts. Also a detailed feature of practical impor tance; in connection with the action of the wedge blocks 12Ais preferably to provide or form on the outer inclined'face of the joint bar a stop bead'or projection 26 locatedin I proximity to the tops ofthe wedge blocks and-actin as sto s. reventinv u ward dis placement of theseblocks thereby preventing cutting. orrdamageto the bolt insulation or to.

'{Qther'modifications (if the invention will be apparent without further description,and

it is to be'understood that various changes in the'jforin, proportion, and; minor details of constructionmay be resorted to,without departing from the'spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

1'. A rail j'ointincluding the rail and the joint bar, the jointbar havinganouter clamping face inclined downwardly and outwardly from the-headjto the ba'se'of the bar, and as;

we age-memb r engaging said face and-having I u 'an outerboltin'grface. r r I '12 to have awedging engagement with the f inclined 'clanipin'g'ifaces 7 of the joint bars in such a manner, and exerted insuch a dire'ction,--that an inward adjustment of the "headofthe'bar is compulsory, thereby main- 2'. A' rail -joint including the rail, a joint bar'having loading cooperationfat'its head j s. Arailfjoint including a rail havingzbar anchorages withinthe head fillets, andtrung cations at the bottom corners ofmits head, a resorted to theprovision of an easement groove -or depression2l formed in the head of the bar oppositethe'outer terminus of the rail head fillet This feature. provides for joint barhavingaloading engagement in said anchorages, .joint :insulation including head I an easement depressioninits head opposite theouter terminus of the rail headifillet, and insulation interposed between the rail and said'bar. & I v 5, Arail joint including a rail having head fillets andtrunc'ations at the bottom. corners of its head, a joint bar formed at the upper inner corner of its head for loading cooper- .ation with'a head fillet of the rail, and a head piece of insulation disposed betweentheupper inner corner of thejoint bar and the related head filletof the rail and extending into the spaceprovided by tie adjacent truncation ofthe bottom corner of the rail head.

wedge adjusting means for the v 6. A rail joint including the rail, and the joint bar, the joint bar havin an outer clam ing face inclined downward y and outwa y from the head to the base of the bar, a wedge member engaging said face and having an outer bolting face, and a. stop formation on the outer face of the joint bar to limit upward movement of the wedge member relative to the'joint bar. 16 In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

RALPH WOODRUFF PAYNE.

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