US410151A

US410151A - Rail-joint

Info

Publication number: US410151A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1889-09-03
Anticipated expiration: 1906-09-03

Description

(No Model.)

J. W. CLOUD RAIL JOINT.

110.410.151. Patented Sept. 3,1889.

4'" w a F1621 N PETERS Moliliwflnphlr. Waihingtm D. Q I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WV. CLOUD, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,151, dated September 3, 1889.

Application filed January 2, 1889. S rial No.295,200- N0 model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN WV. CLOUD, of Buifalo,county of Erie, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improved Rail-Joint, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the rail-joint by which the abutting ends of railway-rails are united together; and it has for its object to provide a joint of great strength and rigidity, whereby the track may be as nearly as possible of the same strength at the joints as in the center of the rails.

The novel features of my invention are hereinafter clearly pointed out in the claims, and will be best understood after an explanation of the drawings, which illustrate theinvention, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical section on the line 00 {E of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the abutting ends of two rails provided with my improved rail-joint in the form and construction preferred by me when the fish-plates are made of malleable iron or other cast metal. Fig. 3 isaplan view of the same joint; Fig. 4, an elevation similar to that of Fig. 2, showing my joint as made with the fish-plates formed of arolled section; and Fig. 5,a crosssection on the line 3 y of Fig. 4.

Ais the rail; 0, a, the lower sides of the railhead; a a, the upper sides of the rail-base.

B indicates my improved fish-plate, two of which are used to make the rail-joint; These fish-plates are formed with an upwardly-extending flange 1), adapted to fit on the under side a of the rail, as shown. An outwardlyextending flange Z), adapted to fit upon and extend beyond the upper surface a of the rail-base, and a downwardlyextendin g flange 12 extending beneath the base of the rail.

The flange b is pierced with bolt-holes in the usual manner to enable the pair of fishplates to be secured to the rail ends by bolts 0, passing through them and the web of the rail, and nuts 0 fitting on the end of said bolts. In the downwardly-extending flange of the fish-plates I form bolt-holesf b thetops of which must be below the bottom of the railbase, as shown. A single bolt-hole, or more than one, may be formed in this lower flange of the fish-plate.

Where, as is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the fish-plates B are formed of cast metal, I prefer to strengthen and stilfen them by providing them with flanges b connecting. the flanges b and I), such flanges acting to brace and strengthen the casting; and I also prefer, when using cast metal, to form projections 19 5 19 on the upper face of flange Z) and at its center and ends, such projectionsresting on the underfaces a of the rail-head, while the spaces 19 between the projections do not come in contact with it. give a better and tighter hold upon the rail than where the entire upper face of the flange b rests against it. The same form may be used when made of pressed metal. In all. cases I prefer to make the lower flange b shorter than the upper flangebof the fish-plates, and preferably make its length so that it, can be inserted between two ties, so as to come in contact, ornearly so, with both of them, this construction acting to prevent creeping.

D is a bolt adapted to pass through the boltholes 6 in the flange. b of the fish-plates, being of sufficient length to extend through the boltholes of both fish-plates. D is a nut screwing on the end of bolt D.

My improved fish-plates are secured to the rail by the bolt 0 in the usual manner, as is best shown in Figs. 1 and 5. After they are in place the bolt D is inserted in the bolt-holes b of the lower flange and the nut D screwed down tight upon its end. It is necessary in all cases that the flangeb' should extend out beyond the edge of the rail-base, so that. the dependent or downwardly-extending flange 19 should not in any case abut against or come in contact with the edge of the rail-base. The result of drawing the flanges 11 together. by means of the bolt D and its nut D is therefore to press the flange or web I) and the upwardly-extending flange 1) against the base and head of the rail, respectively, thus coacting with the bolt 0; and, owing to the position of the bolt D when once in place, it acts with great power to prevent the spreading of the fish-plates under the load of a passing train, thus greatly increasing the stiffness and rigidity of the joint. By the construction de- This device Ibelieve to scribed, in which the flanges b are so placed that they cannot come in contact with the edge of the rail base and the boltholes I) placed so far below the rail-base that the bolt D cannot come in contact with the bottom of the rail, the structural unity of the joint is made perfect, which would not be the case were either of the flanges b or the bolt 1) in contact with the rail.

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

1. A rail-joint consisting of two fish-plates 13, having upwardly-extending flanges b, adapted to fit under the head of a rail and provided witlibolt-holes, outwardly-extending flanges 1), adapted to extend along and over the rail-base, and downwardly-extending flanges [7 adapted to extend below the railbase without coming in contact with it and provided with one or more bolt-holes If at a point or points below the level of the railbase, in combination with bolts for securing the flanges b to the rail and a bolt or bolts passing through the downwardly-extending flanges, said fish-plate flanges b and the bolt or bolts uniting them beneath the rail-base being so constructed and combined as not to press directly or indirectly upon the under side of the rail.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-extendin g flange b, adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail and provided with bolt-holes, an outwardly-extending flange 1), adapted to lie along and extend beyond the rail-base, and a downwardly-extending flange b adapted to extend below the rail-base without coming in contact with it or passing beneath its edges, and having one or more bolt-holes at a pointbelbw the level of said rail-base, all substantially as described, and so as to form with a similar plate a rail-j oint of the kind specified.

As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-extending flange 1), adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail and provided with bolt-holes, an outwardly-extending flange 12, adapted to lie along and extend beyond the rail-base, and a downwardly-extending flange b shorter than the flange 7), adapted to extend below the railbase without coming in contact with it or passing beneath its edges, and having one or more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail-base, all substantially as described, and so as to form with. a similar plate a railjoint of the kind specified.

4L. As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-ex tending flange 1), adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail and provided with bolt-holes, an outwardlyextending flange 1), adapted to lie along and extend beyond the rail-base, a downwardly-extending flange b shorter than the flange 1), adapted to extend below the rail-base without comin g in contact with it, and having one or more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail-base, and a web 17*, connecting the flanges '17 and b, all substantially as described, and so as to form with a similar plate a rail-joint of the kind specified.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-extending flange I), having projections b adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail at the center and the ends of the flange, said upwardly-extending flange being provided with bolt-holes, an outwardly-extending flange 1), adapted to lie along and extend beyond the rail-base, and a downwardly-extending flange b shorter than the flange 1), adapted to extend below the rail base without coming in contact with it, and having one or more bolt-holes at a point be low the level of said rail-base, all substantially as described, and so as to form with a similar plate a rail-joint of the kind specified.

(5. As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate havin an upWardly-exten ding flange I), having project-ions 5 adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail at the center and the ends of the flange, said upwardly-extending flange being provided with bolt-holes, an outwardly-extending flange I), adapted to lie along and extend beyond the rail-base, a downwardly-extending flange b shorter than the flange 1), adapted to extend below the rail-base without coming in contact with it, and having one or more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail-base, and a web 1), connecting the flanges Z) and b,all substantially as described, and so as to form with a similar plate a rail-joint of the kind specified.

JOHN \V. CLOUD.

\Vitnesses:

A. G. THOMASON, F. A. KIsTLER.