US408940A

US408940A - Fish-plate and joint

Info

Publication number: US408940A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1889-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 1906-08-13

Description

(No Model.)

I J. N. VALLEY..

FISH PLATE AND JOINT. No. 408,940. Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

*[rll n 'Il' y lr." I Xxx@ :El l

8 z-J. mmwmzw@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. VALLEY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEY JERSEY.

FISH-PLATE AND JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters `Patent No. 408,940, dated August 13, 1889.

Application filed January 25, 1889. Serial No. 297,518. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN N. VALLEY, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fish-Plates and Joints, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in .fish-plates and rail-joints especially adapted for use in connection with elevated, cylindrical, or square railroad-rails; and the object of the invention is to provide a sh plate and joint of simple, durable, and comparatively light construction, in the use of which a rail will have a firm and solid bearing.

The invention consists in the novel construction oi' the sh-plates and joint and in the combination, with the plates, of the rail, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an elevated structure illustrating the application of the fish-plates and rail thereto. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of rail-sections attached to girders by my improved fish-plates and joints. Fig. 4. is a transverse section through a rail and a side elevation of the plates, and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View of one end of a rail-section.

To fully illustrate the application of my invention, I have shown in connection therewith an elevated structure, upon which the rails are especially adapted to belaid, the said structure comprising a series of spaced columns 10, united in pairs by transverse girders ll, as shown in Fig. 2, which girders are preterably provided with a smooth iiat upper surface. Upon the upper surface of each girder ll, at each end of the same, an angle-iron 12 is securely bolted in such manner that the outer face of the said angle-iron, which constitutes one of the fish-plates, will be in alignment with the end of the girder, as best illustrated in Fig. 4.

The angle iron or plate l2 is attached to the girder by means of bolts or equivalent fastening devices 13, passed through the horizontal member into the body ot" the girder, as shown in Fig. 3 and likewise in Fig. 4.

The rails 14, employed in connection with my improved fish-plates and joints, are preferably cylindrical or square and provided at each end upon the inner face with a downwardly extending perpendicular lug l5, as shown in Fig. 5, in which lug an aperture 16 is produced. The length of the lug is essentially the same as the height of the vertical member of the plate 12.

In connecting or uniting the opposed ends of the two rail-sections the lugs l5 of each rail are brought together, placed in contact with the inner side or face of the vertical members of plates 12, the lower edges of said lugs resting on the horizontal member ot' the same, as shown best in Fig. 4. Thus each lug is eccentric to the axis of the rail proper, and the latter overhangs and rests upon the top edge of the vertical member of plate 12, which arrangement secures maximum strength and rigidity with minimum number and weight of parts. The rails having been placed in this position, the second plate 17, which also con-l sists of an angle-iron of equal width with the lower plate l2, is placed in contact with the said lower plate and also with the inner :tace

of the rail-lugs l5. The horizontal member of the upper plate 17 is bolted or otherwise secured to the corresponding member of the lower plate, and the vertical member of the said upper plate is held in position by passing a suitable bolt through the same, through the aperture 1G of the rail-lug, and out through the vertical member of the lower plate. As shown, bolts 13 pass through the horizontal members of the plates and through the girder. By means of this connection it will be observed that the rail is firmly tied between the vertical members of both of the sh-plates and has a iirm and secure bearing upon both the vertical and horizontal members of the lower plat-e.

It one rail-section is to be removed, it may be accomplished without interfering with the other railsection tied between the same plates, it being only necessary to remove one TOO of the bolts passing through the vertical members oi: the plates and through the rail-lug, whereupon the said lug` may be expeditiously brought upward and the section withdrawn.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with two fish-plates, each provided with an essentially vertical and a horizontal member, the horizont-al members of which plates are connected, of a rail provided with a downwardly-extending lug integral with the inner face held between the vertical members of the iish-plates, and a bolt or equivalent device passed through the said vertical members and through the said lug,

substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with two iish-plates, each provided with an essentially vertical and a horizontal member, the horizontal member of one plate being secured to the corresponding member of the other plate, of a rail provided with a dow]iwardly-cxtending lug integral with the inner face of a length equivalent to the height of the vertical member otl the lower plate, and a bolt or other equivalent fastening device passed through the vertical members of the plates and through the said lug, substantially as shown and described, whereby the lug is clamped between the plates and given a bearing upon both the vertical and horizontal members oi' the under plate, substantially as shown and described, as and for the purpose specified.

The combination, with two fish-plates, each provided with an essentially vertical and a horizontal member, the horizontal member of one plate being secured to the corresponding member of the other plate, of a rail pro vided with a downwardly-extending lug integral with the inner face of a length equivalent to the height of the vertical member of the lower plate, and a bolt or equivalent device passed through the Vertical members of the plates and through the said lug, substantially as shown and described, whereby the lug is clamped between the plates and given a bearing upon both the vertical and horizontal members of the under plate, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with a {ish-plate having a horizontal and Vertical member, of a rail having a downwardly-extending lug formed integrally with it and arranged eccentric to its axis, and means for securing the parts together as shown, whereby the body oi' the rail overhangs and rests upon the vertical member of the plate and its lug bears upon the horizontal member of said plate, as specified.

5. The combination, with two angle fishplates secured one upon the other, of a rail provided with a down\\'ardlyeXtending integral lug upon the inner face entered bctween the vertical members of the said plates, and a bolt passed through the said vertical members and through the said lug, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN N. VALLEY.

W'itnesses:

J. F. AcKER, Jr., C. SEDc'wIcK.