US48926A

US48926A - Improvement in railroad-rail couplings

Info

Publication number: US48926A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1865-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1882-07-25

Description

H. J. GILMAN. RAILROAD RAIL COUPLING.

Patented July 25, '1865.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFEIcE.

HENRY J. GILMAN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN RAILROAD-RAIL COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,926, dated Jui 'es, 1865 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. GIL AN, of the city of Bufialo, county of "Erie, and State of NewYork, have invented a certain new and Improved Railroad-Rail Coupling; and I do hereby declare that the followin gis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure I is a cross-section, and Fig. II is a plan, of my improved rail-coupling.

The nature of this invention consists in the combination of a base-plate with a clampingbar and tightening-wedges, by which the contiguous ends of two rails may he coupled'together in a manner to give them both a vertical and lateral suppcrt and prevent the possibility of the end of one rail getting outofline with the other in any direction, so that in effeet a continuous rail is formed.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

A represents the base-plate, which, when in position, underlies andlaps equally onto each of the contiguous ends of the two rails to be coupled together. It has a hooked flange or lip, a, atone edge, taking hold of one edge of the base flange of the rails, as shown at B, its

opposite edge projecting beyond the base of.

the rail and cut into tenons a This baseplate should be made of wrought-iron to secure lightness with the required strength.

0 represents the clamping-bar, the contour of which, in its cross-section, is the reverse of one side of the web and base-flange of the rail, so that it may fit closely against the web and base flange. It also has a flange, O, which 'laps under the base-plate and gives additional stizpport thereto. It has mortises out through i through which the tenons c of the baseplate pass, projecting through far enough to receive the tightening-wed ges D, slots or holes 0 being made in the tenons for that purpose. This clamping-bar, from its peculiar form and the duty it has to perform, may be made most economically of cast-iron, but may be made of wrought-iron,if preferred. The wedges D. being held by the base-plate and bearing against the clamping bar, will, upon being driven through the base-plate, force the clam pin g-bar against the web of the rails,-and the base-plate being held by its flange a bearing against the opposite flange ot' the rails, the ends of the rails will be firmly clamped or coupled together.

The base-plate will prevent the end of one railsettling below thatof the other, and theclamping-bar, by itsinterlocking with the web of the. rail,its flange. O lapping under the base-plate, will prevent anylateral or rising movement of the rails, except as they may move together, thus making, in effect, a continuous rail. The wedges D are' split, as shown at 0, so that atter being driven they will expand and prevent the jar of passing trains from working them out of place.

To prevent the contraction of the rails by cold from drawing them outof the coupling, (as sometimes happens in long incliues,) logs are cast-on the clamping bar, as shown atf,

.which fit. into notches cut into the flange of the rails near the endsthereot. These notches are enough longer than the lugs to allow the rails to expand and contract without straining the coupling, while at the same time they cause the expansion and contraction of a long line of rails to be taken up equally at each coupling, and not all at one coupling, as might be the'casewhere the rails were laid 011 an incline were not some such provision made.

This coupling does not partake of the nature of a chair, being used between the ties; but it firmly couples the rails together and acts as a protector to the ends of the rails, preventing them from getting out of line and springing up one above the other. By its use one of the largest items of expense of keeping the permanent way of a railroad in order is saved, for it is well known that the ends of rails become battered and worn out long before the body of the rail is injured, and this battering of the ends of the rails is occasioned by their springing up one above the other.

This coupling is cheap and durable and easily and quickly applied, and produces the effect of a continuous rail in causing the cars to run smoothly and quietly thereon without the jar and noise and damage to the rails attending the use of the common chairs. It is a. suspended cou .iling,receiving no support from the ties or from a bridge-piece reachi'ngfrom tie to tie. It couples the rails between the ties without an under support. Itmay be also used for mending broken rails, and in replacing them by new ones it will lie found particularly convenient.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the base-plate A and clamping-bar G and tightening-wedges D, or equivalents'thercof, for the purposes and substantially as described.

HENRY J. GILMAN.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. WALLACE, W. H. FORBUSHK