US606697A - Douglas - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

A. WAMBSGANSS.

DEVICE FOR REGULATING POSITION 0F HEIGHT 0F HAILS OVER IUINT SLEEPERS. I (Application fileq. Dec. 23, 18974) Patented July 5, I898.

U ITED ST TES PATENT j rrrcn.

ALBERT WAMBSGANSS, OF FRANKFORT, GERMANY, 'ASSIGNOR TO SHOLTO- I DOUGLAS, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

DEVICE FOR REGULATING POSITION OF HEIGHT OF RAILS OVER .IOINT-SLEEPFRS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,697, dated July 5, 1898. Application filed December 28, 1897. Serial No. 663,164. (No model.) Patented in Germany November 26, 1896, No. 95,448.

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT VVAMBSGANSS, a subject of the King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany, and a .resident of Frankfort-onthe-Oder, Germany, have invented a new and Improved Device for Regulating the Position of Height of Rails Over Joint-Sleepers, (for which I have obtained a patent in Germany, No.95,4=48, dated November 26, 1896,) of which the following is a full and clear description.

The weakest point in a track is, as is known, the joint. Great attention has been paid for a long time to improving the same, as, first, the expensive destruction of the rails starts from the joints; second, the shocks caused by the latter are disagreeably felt, and, third, the locomotives and cars suffer a great deal from said shocks. A really satisfying construction doing away with these drawbacks hasnot yet been constructed, the reason being that the causes producing the destruction of the joints had not been completely revealed. The drawbacks in question cannot be overcome unless said causes are fully known, which, however, is the case at this present time.

It is now known that the shocks are produced not so much by the free spaces between the rail ends or joints as by the following circumstance: When the wheels of the locomotives and cars pass over the rails, the middle sleepers are less heavily loaded than the j ointsleepers, and the latter are consequently pressed deeper into the ballasting than are the other sleepers mentioned. Owing to the elasticity of the rails the joint-sleepers are raised into their former or normal position instantly after the wheels have left them, and they are thus powerfully hammered down into the empty spaces below them as soon as another train passes over the respective track. The difierence in height resulting from the occurrence just stated between two neighboring rail ends is the first cause for the shocks, the other cause being the finally remaining deformation or bending resulting from the rail ends or joints being bent down hundreds or thousands of times. If the joint-sleepers I can be prevented from sinking into the ballasting deeper than the other sleepers, the

change in the position of height of the railends and the arising of shocks will be prevented too.

In the method of keeping the track in order as carried outhitherto there is known but one means for doing away with the sinking of the joint-rails, said means consisting in boxing the ballast or gravel below said sleepers by aid of a boxer or similar tool. This means, however, is far from being perfect, as the compressed gravel formed by the powerful downward movement of the sleepers and representing a practically solid support is thence no longer used as such, there being after the boxing the fresh gravel between the compressed one and the said sleepers. The fresh gravel, although being somewhat compressed by the boxing, is far from being as strongly compressed as the old gravel. It becomes so only after some time, but during this time, just Y in consequence of the gravel becoming'compressed, the old drawback again makes its appearancei. e., the rail ends give way under theload of the train, shocks arise, and the joints are finally destroyed.- Y Y The purpose of this invention is to overcome all the drawbacks afore spoken of not temporarily but lastingly, this object being attained in general by regulating not the position of 'height of the sleepers with regard to the ground but the position of height of the rails with regard to the sleepers. The support'formed by the compressed gravel is not rendered useless by a layer of fresh non-compressed or'but slightly-compressed gravel, but is further used as a support for the sleepers also after the latter have sunk so much as to necessitate a change for the better in the position of height of the rail ends or joints. For this purpose I make use of adjustable wedges or wedge-plates located between the rails and the sleepers, as is more fully described hereinafter.

In order to make my invention more clear, I refer to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters denote similar parts throughout the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section through a rail and bed-plate or a rail-chair, the latter being supported in known manner by a sleeper and the wedge or wed ge-plate aforementioned being located upon the bed-plate or in the chair. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through a rail, and Fig. 3 is a side view of my novel device seen from the inner side of the track.

The regulating-wedge or wedge-plate Z) is arranged upon a bed-plate a, fixed to the sleeper A. Said wedge or wedge-plate supports the rail 13. The ends of the rails are connected with each other in known manner by fish-plates e and bolts f, and each rail is connected to the bed-plate 0. by clampingplates 0, the latter in their turn being held by bolts (Z and nuts (1 and taking with suitably-located projections 0 into recesses I), provided in the bed-plate I).

hen the joint-sleeper A has sunk, which in consequence of the constant watching and supervision can happen for a few millimeters only, the wedge-plate Z) is driven between the rail 13 and the bed-plate a in such a direction and for such a length (the nuts d having of course been unscrewed prior thereto and the clamping-plates 0 having been taken off the bolts (7) that the rail assumes its former or normal position of height. Thereafter the plates 0 are again fixed by the nuts so as to secure the wedge in its position by the projection c, as described.

According to experience with the novel device, the first readjustment in a track with a medium communication is necessary after about three months, although on constructin g the track every sleeper has been properly boxed. The second readjustment is to he made after about six months. The wedge being comparatively long the boxing of the sleepers can be suspended for about two or three years, and then only the wedge is dis placed in the reverse direction, so as to reassume its original position. The middle sleepers need not be reboxed at all, which is a point of very great importance and very significant for the value of the invention. The necessity of driving the wedge home, so as to raise the rail or, more precisely, to lower the sleeper and press the latter more strongly upon the compressed gravel, is indicated by the sound of a blow produced with a hammer upon the free end of the wedge. The readjustment of the latter requires less than fifteen minutes and may be effected by an unskilled hand.

The advantages offered by the method and means of regulation above described consist thus in, first, a diminution in the costs of maintenance of the track to about a half by preserving the rail ends and fish-plates and reducing the time of work, and, second, a preservation of the locomotives and cars by enabling the same to roll smoothly over the joints without being exposed to shocks.

Having now described my invention, what I desire to secure by a patent of the United States is In a railway-track, the combination with the joint-sleepers and the rails, of displaceable wedge-like plates placed between said parts, recesses provided in said plates, clam ping-plates taking over the feet of the rails and means for securing the said clamping-plates in position, for the purpose as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT XVAMBSGANSS.

Vitnesses:

CHAS. II. DALE, HENRY IIASPER.

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