US784855A - Rail-joint connection. - Google Patents

Description

No. 784,855. v PATENTED MAR. 14,4905.

J. GRAFP.

RAIL JOINT CONNECTION. APPLICATION FILED DEO.1B, 1904.

2 SHEETS-BR1113 1- WITNESSES: g

zfoagpfi Qrajf 7 i er I v ATTORNEYS No. 784,855. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905. J. GRAPE.

RAIL JOINT CONNECTION.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.15, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

RAIL-JOINT CONNECTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,855, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed December 15, 1904.. $erial No. 236,962.

To (all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GRAEF, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Calmar, in the county of Winneshiek and State of lowa, have invented a new and Improved Rail-Joint Connection, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.-

This invention relates to a class of railroad rail-joint connections that comprise a pair of clamping fish-plates and a shoe whereon said plates are mounted and secured, and has for its object to provide novel details of construction for a rail-joint connection of the class indicated which afford a very reliable clamping device for securing track-rails at their joints upon cross-ties of the railroad and permit the rails to expand and contract longitudinally to conform with changes in temperature to which the rails are subjected.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the subjoined claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the adjacent ends of two track-rails and of the improved rail clamping device engaging said ends and seated upon a cross-tie whereon the rail-clamp is spiked. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan view of the improved rail-clamping connection and of the ends of two track-rails held clamped thereby. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of a pair of clamping-plates employed embodying a novel detail. Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view, substantially on the line 4 4 in Fig. 1, seen in the direction of the arrow 00 in said figure. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view, substantially on the line 5 5 in Fig. 1, seen in the direction of the arrow as; and Fig.- 6 is a perspective view of a shoe, showing-a novel advantageous construction therefor.

Two similar clamping-plates of a novel formation are details of the improvement, these contacting with the meeting ends of two track-rails and each consisting of integral parts formed and arranged as follows: On a .t se-flange 8, of a suitablelength and Width,

that is shaped on its lower surface to conform with the upper side of the alined base-flanges A on two track-rails A, is formed an upright flange 8, which is joined therewith at a suitable angle and has a bearing contact with the webs A of the track-tails, these flanges being braced bytwo integral webs 8", which are respectively located near the ends of the clamp ing-plate members 8 8" and project from the outer sides thereof. From the lower surface of the base-flange8 of each clamping-plate a horizontal flange 8 projects inward substantially at a right angle to the inner surface of the uprightfiange 8, this horizontal flange, which extends nearly the length of the clampingplate, having atransverse slot (0 formed therein, which is of suitable width, and where the slot terminates near the base-flange 8 is formed a convex-edged abutment b, that projects inwardly from said base-flange. The horizontal flange 8 is formed with a notch c, which trends from a transverse edge cof this flange toward the slot 0, and said notch, which is preferably concaved on the bottom wall 0 that defines its length, has its outer definingwall 0" sloped toward said concaved bottom, as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The notch c leavesatongue o intact with the portion of the horizontal flange that has been mentioned as separated by the transverse slot (4 from the other half-section of said flange 8, the outer endof the tongue that is convexed on its edge projecting away from the slot (L. The remaining portion of the horizontal flange 8 extends away from the upright flange 8 a greater distance than the flange portion just described,and this extended portion is notched, as at 0 toward the outer transverse edge 0 of the flange 8, and said notch, which extends from a side wall of the slot a, has its inner defining edge alined with the outer side wall of the tongue c".- The notch 0 is concaved on its bottom wall 0 and sloped outward therefrom on the outer side wall thereof, thus producing an inwardly-converged notch similar to the notch 0. A tongue 0 is formed on the horizontal flange 8 outside of the notch 0", and this tongue having a rounded free end trends in an outward diagonal direction. Upon thelower side of the horizontal flange 8 a bottom horizontal flange 8 is formed integral therewith, said bottom flange projecting below and beyond the tongue 0 or away from the inner side edge thereof, and, as shown, the edge 0 of said flange 8, that extends from the base-flange 8, may be arranged parallel with the defining side walls of the slot or channel a. The remaining edge 0 of the bottom flange 8 is sloped from the free end of the edge 0 toward the base-flange 8, said flange 8 extending beneath the slot or channel a, as is shown in Fig. 3, forming a bottom wall therefor. The outer side edge of each bottom flange 8 terminates a short distance inside of the like edge on an adjacent base-flange 8, producing a shoulder a, and it may here be explained that on the inner side edge of one of said base-flanges the abutment b may be omitted.

The relative proportion of the described details is such that the two similar clampingplates may have their tongues c" c slid endwise into the notches c c in respective horizontal flanges 8, and these horizontal flanges receive support from the bottom flanges 8, whereon they are seated, the longitudinal sliding movement of the tongues into the notches and along the sloped side edges of the latter causing the clamping-plates to approach each other and forcibly impinge upon the baseflanges and webs of the track-rails A that may have been slid into the space between the baseflanges and upright flanges of the clamping-plates.

A key9 is provided for enforcing the clamping engagement of the clamping-plates with the track-rails A, and, as shown in Fig. 2, the corners on the base-flanges of the track-rails at their ends may be removed to permit said flanges to bear properly on the abutment b. The key 9 is flat and tapered edgewise at one end, 5 the opposite end having a head formation thereon, which appears in Figs. 2 and 4. On the lower side of the key the head member lb thereon projects down from the flat lower surface of the key near its end that is opposite from the tapered one, said projection affording a shoulder A, corresponding with the shoulder a on the clam ping-plate that is devoid of an abutment b. Upon the upper side of the key-body the head portion if thereon is extended from the blunt end of the key toward the pointed one and may be rounded on the upper side fora sliding engagement flange 8 and in alinement with the slot or channel a.

It will be seen that if the track-rails A are at their meeting ends embraced by the pair of clamping-plates that have been described by interlocking their tongues c 0 within the notches 0 0 thus causing the upright flanges 8 to engage with the webs A of the trackrails, this contact may be enforced so as to clamp the sides of the webs securely by driving the key 9 into the keyways a a and through the intervening channel a. To more clearly explain this detail, it will be seen that when the key 9 is partly inserted one side edge thereof will bear upon a side edge of the slot or channel a in one horizontal flange 8, and its opposite edge will have contact with the opposed side edge of the channel a in the other horizontal flange. Now if the key is driven into the keyways so that its pointed end g projects outside of one of the key ways the head portion of said key will be fully introduced within the other keyway and the side edges of the channels a will be pressed upon, so as to drive the tongues 0" c farther into the notches 0 0 and thus force the clamping-plates into impinging contact with the webs and base-flanges of the track-rails A A.

A shoe 10 is employed as a chair whereon the clamping-plates are seated, and is in turn seated and secured upon a railroad cross-tie. As shown, the shoe 10 is in the form of a metal plate preferably having a greater length than that of the clamping-plates and provided with a flange '5 along each side edge, said flanges, that are projected upward and parallel with each other, affording upright walls on their inner sides, which are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width between the outer side edges of the base-flanges 8 for the clamping plates when the latter are clamped upon the track-rails A A. Two recesses m m are formed in the upper side of the shoe 10 and having flat bottoms, the recess m being of greater depth than the recess on, within which said recess m is located, these recesses respectively receiving the horizontal interlocked flanges 8 and the bottom flanges 8, which seat on the bottoms of the recesses, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, the recesses being clearly shown in Fig. 6. Near the corners at each end of each clamping-plate a notch 72, is formed in the outer side edge of a respective base-flange 8, and in said base-flanges equally distant from the keyways a a two rectangular perforations a are formed in said base-flanges, the latter passing down through the corners of the bottom flanges 8, as shown in Fig. 2. Upon the lower side of the shoe 10 near each end a plurality of spaced prongs 0 are formed, that are shown by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 4.

In the employment of the improvement a cross-tie B is located on the road-bed below the rail-joint, and the shoe 10 is seated thereon pending portion it of the key-head is impinged upon an adjacent edge of a respective bottom flange 8, thus disposing the blunt end of the key-head nearly flush with the side edge of the base-flange.

A shallow recess 2" is formed in the flange 7: adjacent to the tapered end of the key when in service, and this recess receives the pointed end g when the shoe is slid into place be- -low the clamping-plates, to eifect which the clamped track-rails are raised from the crosstie B sufliciently to permit the free introduction of the shoe.

It will be seen that when the shoe is engaged with the clamping-plates as described and is seated upon the cross-tie the prongs 0 will rest thereon, so that they will bed into the tie when spikes 11 are driven down through the openings 72 a into said cross-tie, the heads of the spikes that are forcibly impinged upon the upper surface of the base-flanges 8 serving to bind the pair of clamping-plates and rails they embrace upon the shoe l0 and secure the shoe upon the cross-tie, the embedment of the prongs 0 therein conducing to such a result.

Havingthus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with two track-rails at their joint, of two clamping-plates having horizontal base flanges and integral upright flanges, the base-flanges having notches and tongues adapted for an interlocked engagement and each having also a transverse keyway, a bottom flange on each horizontal baseflange that extends across the keyway, a key which when driven into the keyways forces the tongues further into the notches and draws the clamping-flanges toward each other, and a shoe wherein the clamping-flanges seat, the clamping-flanges and shoe having alined perforations through which spikes may be driven.

2. The combination with two track-rails at their joint,of two clamping-plates having horizontal base flanges, extended toward each other from respective upright flanges, said base-flanges each having a transverse channel through it, and also having notches and tongues at the sides of respective notches, the notches in one flange receiving the tongues on the other flange, a key having a head on one end that projects below the lower side of the key forming an oflset shoulder, said key when driven through the opposed channels drawing the clamping-flanges toward each other, and a shoe having a recess in its upper side, and flanges at its side edges, the recess in the shoe receiving downward-projecting portions of the base-flanges that seat therein, the shoulder on the key-head then bearing on the side edge of the adjacent base-flange, and one flange on the shoe contacting with the head of the key holding said key in place.

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

JOSEPH GRAFF. Witnesses:

C. S. Boron, FRANK H. REUM.

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