US831776A - Rail-bond. - Google Patents

Description

No. 831,776. PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906. F, H. DANIELS.

RAIL BOND. APPLICATION FILED JUNE s, 1903.

a KZW snares OFFICE.

RAlL-B OND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1906.

Application filed June 8, 1903. Serial No. 160,498.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED H. DANIELS, a citizen of the United Stat-es, residing at Worcester, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Bonds; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable t ers skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to that type ofrailbonds or similar electrical conductors where in the process of manufacture the terminals are made se arate from the connectingstrands and t e strands are welded to the heads of the terminals by pressure, so as to unite the parts integrally into one homogeneous structure. In this type of bonds or conductors it is especially strands connecting the terminals should be entirely inclosed within the head, instead of merely seated'n an open-topped groove in rounding the strands on all sides.

so that in the last step of the operation, which is the forging or welding of the strands and head together, there should be part of the .metal of the head completely sur- An important advantag: of such a construction resides in the fact t at in the completed article there is no part of the metal of the strands exosed where they connect to the head, there Eein a layer of the metal of the head above and elow the strands as well as around the side edges.

The present invention presents a new conductor or bond where the head of the terminal is provided with a recess or openin passin through it, said recess being close si es and open only at the ends and the connecting-strands passing entirely through the recess of the head, so as to be completely inclosed therein and integrally united to the head by pressure.

The invention consists in the improved article, as will be hereinafter fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 re resents in perspective one of the tremina s of a rail-bond made in a ccordance with the invention, the formation of this terminal constituting the first step in the method. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the terminal, indicatin the second step in the manufacture name y, the formation of the slot or recess to receive the connecting-strands. Fig. 3 is a the same,

esirable that I the on all perspective view showing the terminal slotted as in Fig. 2 and having the connectingstrands inserted in the recess formed by the, slot. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but indicating a further step in the manufacturenamely, the closing down of the part of the head which overhangs the inner side of the strands, so as to inclose the strands on all sides; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 3 and l, but indicating the completed terminal and a portion of the connecting-strands after the final step in the manufacture.

Referring to theseviews, 0. denotes the terminal. of a bond, such as above described. It is made, preferably, in the form illustrated in Fig. 1, with an enlarged flattened head I) of oblong or generall triangular sha e and having a cylindrica plug a. It may e cast or forged and is here shown as a drop-forging having an upstanding lug d on to of the head at the apex of the triangle, w 'ch the contour of the head forms. Instead of makin the head triangular in outline it may be oblong or of any other shape that will permit a slot to be cut therein deeper than the width of.;tl1e connecting-strands. Connection between this terminal and the corres onding terminal at the other end of the hon (which is not herein shown) is preferably made by a two-ply series of connecting-strands e, which are in the form of flat ribbons laid sidewise together and bent and wound in a manner which is now well known in this class of devices. I

After the formation of the terminal a recess is formed in its head by cutting a slot f in the headparallel to its 'uppersurface and transverse to the plug 0. The'sl'ot is cut in the head from the side toward the apex of the triangle formed by the shape of the head. It preferably extends past the axial line of the plu and is open at practically three sides of the ead, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, leaving, however, a layer of the metal of the head on top of the slot and a layer under the slot next to the plug, said upper and lower parts or layers being joined together by the outer edge 9 of the head, which is not cut away. After bendin and winding the connectingstrands e in t e usual manner the end of the two-ply connection thus formed is inserted in the recess formed by the slot f in the head .of the terminal, leaving the apex side of the where they are bent around, as shown'in Fig. 3. After positioning the connectingstrands in the recess of the head, as thus described, the overhanging end of the upper part of the head having the lug (Z is forced down on the inner side of t e bend in the connecting-strands, so as to close the entrance to the slot f and completely encircle the strands at the bend, as illustrated in Fig. 3. This may be done in any sort of a press or drop or even by hand, and thereafter the terminal, with the strands inclosed in the recess, is preferably heated to a suitable-welding temperature and is next placed in any suitable die-press, when the final step in the manufacture is performed-namely, welding the strands integrally in the closed recess in the head by pressure.

Fig. 5 illustrates one terminal of a com pleted rail-bond constructed in accordance.

with the invention. The head I) of the terminal ispreferably cross-lined or milled, as indicated in the figure, the object of this being tw0fold-namely, first, the milling of the dies which form the head prevents the undue lateral expansion of themetal, and, second, the head of the terminal in the completed bond is given a neat finish and an ornamental appearance. The construction of the bond being as above described, it is to be noted that the recess into which the strands fit is not cast or forged in the head, but is formed therein by cutting away the metal of the head. This manner of forming the recess is a distinct advantage in that it leaves the interior walls of the recess with a clean bright surface, which unites more readily with the surface of the connecting strands. It is, moreover, to be noted that the cutting of the slot in the head below the surface provides for the complete inclosure of-the connectingstrands by the metal of .one layer of this metal layer below the strands, the metal formed by the side wall 9 and the lug d on either side of the strands. Thus in making the bond the bend atthe ends of the strands is inclosed on three sides by the metal of the head, and after the closing of the above the strands, a and also portions of open end of the slot f by pressing down the the head, there being lug d on the fourth side of the strands the latter are completely encircled and surrounded on all four sides by the metal of the head before the last step in the manufacture namely, the welding of the strands and head together-is effected. The result of this operation is that a more complete union and absolute weld of the metal of the head and the connecting-strands is effected, and no part of the connecting-strands where they join the head is exposed. Although, as above described, the terminal is preferably heated before the final weld, it is to be understood that this step in the manufacture may be effected without the application of heat, if desired; also, that a flux may or may not be employed, as is preferred.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure, is 1. A terminal for rail-bonds, consisting of a plug having a substantially flat enlarged head, with a transverse slot formed edgewise therein from one side so as to divide the head into solid cap and base portions, with anointervening slot between opening only at the edges of the head, and a lug on the up er side of the edge of the cap overhanging t e open side of the'slot.

2. A rail-bond, comprising a loop-shaped connector formed of strands or ribbons, and a terminal having a plug and an enlarged substantially flat transverse slot cut edgewise therein from one side so as to divide the head into solid cap and base portions, and the edge of the cap overhanging the open s de of the slot being provided with a lug on its upper side, whereby the loop of the connector may be inserted edgewise in the slot of the head and integrally united with the head by 'dropforging, so that the lug will inclose the inner side of the loop of the'connector.

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

- FRED H. DANIELS.

H. M. LATHAM.

head, said head having a,

Images