US727657A - Method of and apparatus for making continuous lenghts of railway-track rails. - Google Patents

Description

No. 727,657. PATENI'ED-MAY 12, 1903;

I GEE. MARK. METHOD 01-" AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING oommnous LENGTHS 0F RAILWAY/TRACK RAILS.

' APPLICATION FILED IEB. 19, 1896.- N0 MODEL. a 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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PATENTED MAY 12,1903. 0. B. MARK.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING GONTINUOUS LENGTHS I N0 MODEL.

0F RAILWAY TRACK RAILS.

- APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 19, 1896.

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OFFI E.

CHARLIE E. MARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTINUOUS LENGTHS OF RAILWAY-TRACK RAILS.

SPECIFICATION torming'part of Letters Patent No. 727,657, dated May 12, 1903. Application filed February 19,1896. Serial No. 579,876. (No model.)

To on whom it may macaw.-

Be it known that LQHARLIE'EQMAR a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Method of and Apparatus for Making Continuous Lengths of Railway- Track Rails, of which the following is a specification. 7

My invention has as its object the provision of means whereby joints between sections of rail of a railway are avoided and a practically endless length of rail'is provided.

Heretofore it has been usual to construct a railway from a number of short sections of rail joined together and secured in position by means of rail-chairs, fish-plates, and the like. It has also been usual and customary to connect together the ends of the sections of rail by the use of plates placed on either side of the two meeting ends of the rails and applying an electric current to electrically weld said plates to the sides of the rails, and also the ends of the sections of rail have been connected and held together by means of what is known as a cast joint, which consists in casting or forming anlagglomerated mass of metal whilein'amoltenstate about the sides of the meeting endportions of the sections of ,rail, which serves as a joint or brace on each side of the said meeting ends.

'It has been found in the use of these methods that expansion and contraction or some unknown element or elements cause breakage and dislocation of the rails 'at or near the ends of the rails or of the casting at the joint.

' Myinvention consists as aprocess or method in first providing sections of rail of suitable length, positioning two or more railsin proper location relative to each other, the meeting ends of the rail-sections being separated to a greater or less degree, then filling in the space between the rails at their ends with a suitable metal in a molten state, which in the act of fillin'g'in reduces the end portions of the meeting ends of the sections of rail to a plastic, semiplastic, or molten condition and which molten metal spreads and accumulates to a more or less degree about the exterior of the meeting ends of the sections of rail, and finally subjecting the molten metal inand about the ends of the rail to ,a pressure which, in effect, causes the two independent sections of rail to become practically one continuous length, this operationbeing repeated, so that ultimately.onecontinuous undivided and endless length of rail is provided. V

' My invention, further, as a process or method consists in'fi'rst positioning the independent sections of rail so that the same are separated to a more Orlessdegree than filling in the space betweenthe rails at their ends with a suitable metal in a molten state, which in the act of filling in reduces the end portions of the meeting ends of the section of rail to a plastic, semiplastic, or molten condition and which molten metal spreads and accumulates to a greater or less degree about the exterior of the said meeting end portions, which result in forming and connecting the meeting ends together into one integral and continuous length of rail. p

My invention consists, further, in certain other features as a method and in certain features of construction to be particularly described, reference being now had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the completed apparatus; shown mounted upon the car. Fig. 2 is'a plan yiew of 'the's'ame. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the,pressure-rolls in position upon the rail. Fig. 4 is asectional view on the line 1 1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View of the mold.

In carrying out my invention I mount the apparatus employedupon the platform 15 of a car, which car is adapted to travel along, the railway-track the rails of which are being formed at the point of junctu re of the meeting sections of rail. Mounted upon the car-platform 15 is a cupalo-furnace, in which a suitable metal is reduced to a liquid niolten condition. Separate sections of 'raila're'adj usted in position upon the ties so that their meeting ends abut or are adjacentto each other and are thus arranged in that position ordinarily assumed when the meeting ends of the rail-sections are joined together in the ordinary manner. Mounted upon the car-platform 15 is a suitable prime mover 17in this instance a steam-engine-which serves the purpose of actuating the apparatus by which the molten metal is subjected to pressure.

I will first describe the instrumentality by which the molten metal from the cupola-furnace is delivered to the point of jointure between the meeting ends of the sections of rail.

I provide a mold18, which is made up of two holding members 19 and 20, which members are pivoted or hinged together at 21 and mounted in a manner to be described. Secured within the holding members 19 and 20 are the dies 21 and 22, which are preferably made from fire-brick and which therefore are adapted to receive the molten metal which is poured into the end of the delivery-channel 22. These dies are made to conform to the shape of the rail, and therefore will form about and hold between the meeting ends of the rail and about the end areas thereof a mass of molten metal, the valves 23 and 24: controlling the ingress and egress of the molten metal. In order to perform this stage of the operation, it is simply necessary to position the holding members 19 and 20 of the mold 18 upon either side of the meeting ends of sections of rail and then open the valves 23 and 24- and pour a stream of molten metal between and about the said meeting ends of the rail-sections and permitting the molten metal to flow in a stream upon and about the meeting and portions until the same are reduced to the desired molten, plastic, or semiplastic condition, when the valve 23 may be closed. It is apparent that this molten metal so applied to the end portions 'of the rail will reduce the body of said end portions to a molten, plastic, or semiplastic condition and the mold will then shape the metal of the rails and the added metal into the outline of a rail, so that at this point an integral connection is effected between the sections of rail, the added metal assimilating with and becoming a part of the metal of the rails, thus forming the two sections into one continuous, integral, and unbroken length. When this portion of the operation is accomplished, the clamp 25, which secures the holding members 19 and 20 together, is loosened, so that the said holding members may be swung apart and the car advanced until the instrumentality for subjecting the molten metal or partially-cool plastic metal to pressure is brought into position coincident with the said molten or partially-cooled agglomerated mass of metal. I will now describe the apparatus by which this pressure is brought to bear, which consists in two counterpart roll-holding hangers 26 27, which are pivoted at 28 and carry the pressure-rolls 29 and 30, each of which rolls is of such conformation as to cause the plastic metal between and about the ends of sections of rail to become virtually a part of the rail and to roll the plastic metal at this point in such a manner as to form a continuous length between the two sections of rail. -When this operation is completed, the yoke 31 is removed and the two hangers 26 and 27 separated and held when not in use by the chains 30, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

Both the molding apparatus and the rolling or pressure-applying apparatus are mounted upon the car-platform 15, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a traveler-bar 33 also constituting the pivot for the holding members 19 and 20 of the mold 18 and the hangers 26 and 27 of the rolling apparatus. The rolling apparatus,which I will'designate generally at 32,is reciprocated, by means of the prime mover 17, through the intermediate connections, consisting of an engine connecting-rod 33 and crank 36 on the main shaft 35, Fig. 2, a gearwheel 38 being mounted on said drive-shaft 35, meshing with a gear-wheel 39, the shaft of which operates a crank 40, which in turn operates the connecting-rod 4.1, which reciprocates the rolling apparatus.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be observed that the apparatus is duplicated on each side of the car-platform 15, so that the joints between sections of rail on each side of the track may be treated at one and the same time. In order to accomplish the desired result, it is simply necessary to lay the sections of rail in place and then, having advanced the car near to the point of juncture between said sections, to adjust the molding apparatus 18 along the traveler-bar 33 until the same and its internal molding parts are brought opposite to the joint or joints, when the holding members 19 and 20 may be locked together, and after adjustment of the valves 23 and 24. the molten metal may be molded between and about the joint. When this is accomplished and the holding members unlocked and suspended by chains in the manner as shown in Fig. 3, the car being properly adjusted, the plastic, semiplastic, or molten metal may be then rolled by the rolling apparatus 32, which is reciprocated in the manner described, and since the rolls 29 and 30 conform to the outline of the rail it is evident that this rolling process so treats the joint at this point as to practically obliterate any joint and form a continuous length of rail between the two sections of rail and finally producing a railwaytrack having continuous lengths of rail on each side thereof, except where it may be necessary to break the continuity of the track rail for switches, crossovers, and the like.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, the meeting ends of the sections of rail may be formed into an integral continuous length by the use of the mold or other like instru mentality and the application of the molten metal in the mold to the meeting end portions of the sections of rail, in which case the end portions are not subjected to'pressure or rolled.

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

IIO

1. A continuous rail for'street-car tracks, railways, &c., consisting of rolled steel lengths connected byand alternating with relatively short cast metal rail portions, the said relatively long rolled steel lengths and the said intermediate cast portions being integral.

2. A continuous rail for street-railways, railroads, &c., consisting of rolled steel portionsintegral with and alternating with intermediate cast portions.

3. The method of integrally connecting railway-rails which consists in pouring a stream of molten metal upon and between the meeting ends of the rails until they are heated to a plastic or weldable condition, and confining a portion of such molten metal between the ends of the rails until it solidifies unitedly therewith.

4. The method of making a continuous length of rail for a railway-track along said track which method consists in first providing separate sections of rail, positioning two or more of said sections in place, filling molten metal between and about the meeting ends of the sections of rail and reducing the meeting end portions thereof to a plastic, semiplastic or molten condition whereby the added molten metal assimilates with and becomes a part of the meeting endportions of the sections of rail and then subjecting said end portions to pressure before said molten metal so filled in has hardened whereby the metal at the point of juncture between the said sections is made to conform to the outline of the rail and producing track rails which are continuous and endless.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLIE E. MARK.

Witnesses:

CHAS. O. BULKLEY, W. T. TOMPKINS.

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