US979015A - Rail-joint. - Google Patents

Description

L. P. LOGKE.

BAIL JOINT.

APPLIOATIOi rrnnn In 24, 1909.

979,015. mama Dec.20,1 910. 1

6 1 k 55E (Q ,i= vm= WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

94? 7%? v arm i the danger position. f

fstructed, the joints, between the abutting accordance with the movements of, the

breaks in the rails,- since breaks cause in- 25 dition, conductor boiids are used connecting I the iish plate is not ordinarily depended and the bond ordinarily used. is not neces nnrrnn srarns ra rnnr OFFICE;

LOUIS r. LOCKE, or women, NEW YORK.

RAILJOINT.

Application filed May 24 1909. Serial No. 497,921.

'| sarily broken or disconnected in consequence I To all whom it may concern: F

of the breakage of thetish plate.

Be it knownv that l, L'otisl. Lonnie, a citizen of the lnited States, and resident of One objectof the present invention is to Victor, in the county of Ontario and State produce an improved rail joint for use in of New York, have invented certain. new I connection with a track constituting a track and useful Improvements in llailqloints, of i circuit, this joint being so constructed that which the following, is a specification. a breakage in a "ail will cause an interrup- This invention relates to rail joints for use can in the track circuit even though it occur in connection with railways upon which at the extremity of the rail, that is, between electric signaling apparatus is used. I

In modern electric railway s' tiling systems it is common to use track circuits or controlling the signals and other traiiic-eontrolling devices, the current in these circuits flowing from rail to rail, and the ends of 3 the rails being bonded together in order to allord a more certain and eiiicieut path for the current. These. track circuits not only operate in conjunction with the wheels and axes of the trains to control the signals in j ot' the fish plates. To. this end I so construct my rail joint that the rails are electrically the fish plates are insulated from the rails, at least at the end portions of the fish plat-es, so as not to constitute electrical tremities.

A form of breakage very common in connection with a rail joint is the breaking away of the head alone of the rail at the end thereof, and a further object of the inrention is to so arrange the joint that such trains, but they havc the further incidental but valuable characteristic that they detect terruptigni in the track circuit, and thus havethev effect of causing signals to assume break extending entirely through 'the'rail.

To this end I connect the proximate ex- Inthe track circuit as ordinarily con- 5' the rails at their heads, so that in case the ends of the rails areniade .iu' the ordinary head of either rail is broken away, this conmanner, that is,-- by means otfish plates f doctor is interrupted. bolted to the rail ends and more-or less in A third'object oi the invention is to pro electrical contact with the rails, and, in adduce a rail joint which shall detect a break in a fish plate. Tothis end I so connect the the rails and attached to the rails atpoints beyond the ends of the fish plates. In such a construction the t'pnction of the track citcuit in detecting breaks in-the rails, as abovedescribet'h'is not con'ipletely performed 'for the reason'thatif such :a breakage occurs in the extremities of the rails between Ahe points of connection of the bonds, there is i no interruption to the track circuit. and the break is-not'detected. Even in. the absence l of a. bond, this woulddoe in general'thc case, sinhe the fish plates themselves, being, in electrical contact with t-he rails, would act l to transmit the trackcircuit c i-rent tron! one rail to another through the fish plate and independently of the proximate ex- 1 tremitics of the rails. For the same.reas n1 the in'dinary track joint affords no provision for detecting breakage in a tish plate since t the conductor connecting the extremities of tlic -rails,so that in case of a break in the fish plate, this conductor is interrupted and. the track circuit broken.

in the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is u'ti-ansvcrse section of a rail joint.en1-, bodying the present invention in its simplest form, taken on the line XX in Fig. 2;

in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of the joint adapted to detect a break in a fish plate. a

in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the rails 1 are joined by fisliiplates are insulated from the rails by sheets of insulating material 2, the extremities of the rails are insulated from each other by a. plate 3 of insulating material, and the bolts by which the fish plates are secured in place upon to conduct the track circuit current,

connected at their extremities only, while a breakage shall be detectechas well as a.

. tremities ot'the rails by a conductor joiningtin the usualnuianiwrrbut the fish; plates" l I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented'Dec. 20, 1910.

I the abutting ends of the rails and the ends bonds between the portions of the rails substantially removed from their prox1mate'exextremities of the 'rails with a fish plate that th .e fish plate constitutes a portion of Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the joint shown tion to the extremities of the rails.

i in the usual manner, but being connected only path for the current flowing through '20 ends of the fish plates, it will interrupt the her. rails beyond the ends 'tending completely through the rail.

' the form illustrated in Fig. 3 is in some cases I preferable.

are also insulated by washers 5 of insulat- 1 ing material. This construction is the same as that used in the ordinary insulated rail i joint, but-in the present instance it is em.- ployed not to create an interruptlon 111 the conduc'tiyity of thetrack, but merely to permit the confinement of the electrical connec- In Figs. 1 and 2 the rails are connected by a short bond 6 of any ordinary or usual form, thisbond being plugged into the rails with the heads of the rails instead ofbeing connected with the webs in the usual man- The usual'long bonds connecting the of the fishplatcs are expressly omitted. In the construction above described the the track circuit is through one rail to its extremity, thence through the bond (3 to the extremity of the abutting rail. and thence through the latter rail. It is oliwi'ous, therefore, that if either rail is broken, even though such'breakage occurbetween the The embodiment of the invention illustrated-in Figs. 1 and 2 is the simplest embodiment, but it is not adapted to detect breaks in the fish plates, and for this reason In this form of the invention, two bonds are used, each bond connecting the extremity of one rail with one of the fish plates. The two bonds and the intermediate portion of the fish plate thus constitute cent extremities.

a short conductor of low resistance connecting the extremities of the rails, and in this respect are equivalent to the single bond of Figs. 1 and 2. -If the fish plate should? break, however, between the points of connection of the two bonds, the eircuit'would thereby be interrupted. Such a break is most likely to'occur in the fish plate at the i I l I point of junction of the two rails,- and thus I.

This form of the invenl between the bonds.

tion gives, therefore, complete protection 'ment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in various forms with in thenature of the-1nvent1on as it is de-- lined in the following claims.

I claim r 1. The combination of two abutting rails electrically and mechanically connected at their adjacent extremities, said connections including a fish-plate.secured to the rails and insulated therefrom at its ends.

2. The combination .of two abutting rails electrically and mechanically connecteglat their adjacent extremities, said connectlons including a. bond and a fisl1plate, the fish plate being secured to the rails and being insulated therefrom at its ends. A

3. The combination of two abutting fails, and a rail joint comprising a short conductor of low resistance connecting the heads of the rails at their adjacent extremities, the rails, except at said points, being electrically disconnected from each other.

4-. The combination of two abutting rails, and a rail joint comprising a conductor connecting the heads of the rails and comprising a bond secured to the head .of one rail substantially at the extremity thereof, the rails, except at the extremities of their heads, being electrically disconnected from each other.

. 5. The combination of two abutting rails insulated from each other, and a fish plate secured to the rails, the fish plate being 1I1Sll+ lated from the rails at its ends and electrically connected with the rails at their adja- 6. The combination of two abutting rails insulated from each other, a fish plate secured to the rails and insulated therefrom, and two bonds connecting the rails, respectively, with the plate on opposite sides of the joint. Y T. The combination of two abutting rails insulated from each other, a fish plate secured to the rails and insulated therefrom, and two bonds connecting the adjacent extremities of the heads of the-rails, res ectively, with the fish; plate on opposite sides of the joint. 1

- LUUIS P. LOCKE." Witnesses:

C. A. Moons,

B. A. PZILIMPTON.

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