US747477A - Rail-insulator. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED DEC. 22, 1903.-

' L. M. RANDOLPH.-

RAIL INSULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 1903. v

N0 MODEL.

THE cams PETERS co, Pno'm-umc. mwmsvow u c.

UNITED STATES Patented December 22, 1903.

LEONARD M. RANDOLPH, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

RAIL-INSULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,477, dated December 22, 1903.

Application filed May 4, 1903- Serial No. 165.491. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD M. RAN? This invention relates to rail-insulatingdevices, and particularly to insulating devices for rails laid upon or in the ground and serving as conductors of electricity.

It is well known that in uninsulate'd groundrails a constant leakage of current takes place at every point, thus causing a material loss of current, as well as seriously aifecting adjacent water-pipes and other underground metallic conduits, into which the current escapes and sets up a continuous electrolytic action. Heretofore various means have been devised to insulate ground-rails to prevent this leakage, recourse having been had to the embedding of such rails in concrete and to the laying of bricks or tiles around the rails. The objection to the use of such devices for insulating ground rails has been that owing to the porosity of the concrete, cement, and of the brick and tile the moisture in the ground has easily penetrated these substances and rendered them fairly good conductors. Furthermore, the spaces between adjacent bricks and tile has permitted Water to collect therein in wet weather, which water would form a continuous conductor from the rail to the damp earth,into which the electricity from the rails would easily escape. Another objection to these insulating-rail devices is that they are brittle, and therefore are liable to crack, chip off and crumble, thus destroying the continuity of the insulation, and consequently afiording new avenues for leakage.

The object of the present invention is to provide an insulating-covering for groundrails, which covering shall be adapted to be laid about the rails so as to form acontinuous coveringthat is, a covering in which "there shall be no intervening spaces, as is the case with bricks and tiles, and which covering shall also be non-porous and adapted to insulate the rails under all conditions.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the invention is illustrated, Figure 1 is a transverse section of a T-rail around which the insulating-covering has been laid, and Fig. 2 isa transverse section of a common form of street-car rail around which the insulatingcovering has been laid and also a'layer'of cement or concrete and showing pavingstones laid around the rail.

Inorder to provide a suitable non-porous insulating-covering adapted for the purpose in hand, a substance known in the trade as varnish residue or varnish mud is preferably employed, although any other non-porous plastic substance may be used. This substance comprises the settlings or waste which adheres to the varnish kettles or tanks after the refined varnish has been removed,and it is of a plastic or gu mmy nature and capable of being easily molded into any desired shape or form or of being applied to the surface of any object to form a coating or covering. If the varnish residue when taken from the kettles or tanks is of too thin a consistency to be molded, it may be boiled until a sufficient quantity of oil is removed therefrom to render it more viscous. Instead of boiling the varnish residue, however, it is preferable to mix it with cement, sand, or any absorbentsubstance, asuflicient quantity of cement or sand or other substance being used to render the resulting mixture of a proper consistency for molding.

In applying this insulating substance (varnish residue or varnish residue and cement or sand) to a rail (1 the sides and base of the rail are covered with as thin a coat 1) of the substance as is convenient to apply, and atterward, if desired, a layer of cement or concrete c, Fig. 2, may be applied, which acts as a protective coat, although a protective coat is by no means a necessity, as the insulating-coating of varnish residue 1) will grad ually set and become quite hard. The insulating-coating may be molded about the rail in any suitable manner. It is laid about the rail so as to be continuous at all points, there being no cracks or spaces in the same where water might collect or through which a leakage of current could in any manner take place. As soon as the rail has been coated with the sure is preferably applied around the same in order to harden the coating and to press it into intimate contact with the rail. If a layer of concrete or cement c is to be added over the insulating-coating b, as shown in Fig. 2, the pressure may be applied after this layer of concrete or cement has been laid, and the concrete or cement, as shown in Fig. 2, is preferably molded so as to present a squared exterior. This extra layer of concrete will be added as a rule whenthe rail is laid between paving-stones d.

A'coating of varnish residue laid around the rails on a track in the manner above described or in a similar manner will insulate the rail completely from any adjacent matter. Such a covering is also especially adapted to be used around the rails of a track, inasmuch as the jolting and vibration of the same will not cause this covering to crack or to crumble or to become disintegrated in any way, and for this reason the continuity of the insulation will always be preserved.

I claim as my invention 1. A non -porous insulating-covering for rails consisting of varnish residue and an absorbent substance laid around the rail and pressed into intimate contact therewith, substantially as described.

2. The combination withaconducting-rail of acontin uous insulating-coverin g consisting of a non-porous plastic substance laid around said rail and pressed into contact therewith, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a conducting-rail o E a contin uous insuIating-coverin g consisting of a substance of a gummy nature mixed with sand or other absorbent substance, said covering being laid around the rail and pressed LEONARD M. RANDOLPH.

Witnesses:

ANTHONY N. J ESBERA, LUCIUS E. VARNEY.

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