USRE14647E - Posatios of stew jsbsey - Google Patents

Description

G.`A. MEnKT.

RAIL BONDI'NG. APPLICATION FILED FEB. l5. ISH?.

zl SHEET-Eine?? Ressncd May 13, 1919.

' Faas.

Fle. |o.

/6 (dapper) UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

GUSTAV A. MEBKT, 02|?.WORJJES'.II'EIR, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGOB T0 THE AMERICAN" STEEL `AND WIRE QOMPANY OF NEW JERSEY, 0F HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A COB,-

PORATION 0F NEW J' EBSEY.

Speeication of Reissued Letters Patent. Reigsued lWIay 13, 1919.

rillnal No. 1,154,$84, dated September 21, 1915, Serial lo. 689,202, ied April 8, 112. Application for reissue led February 15, 1917. Serial No. 148,704. '4

Toiillevhom it mag/concern; l Y

Be i known that I, GUsTAv A. MERKT, a

citizqi of -the United States, residing at` Worcester in the county of lVorcester and State off assachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail-Bonding, of which the following is a specification.

invention' relates to-the construction of rail bonds used in connecting the adjoinends of the track rails of railways, and

the invention more particularly relates to theconstruction 4of the type of rail bonds 'used on electric railways in which the terminalfgfthe rail bonds are welded to the ofthe rails to which the bonds are for 1:|se.`.'l

.a l'etofoe it'lins been the practice to bond thela joining rail ends of the railway tracks'hy ineens of copper conductors of various'commercial forms. The terminals of such bonds are expanded into .or riveted in openings` or holes inthe track rails, and, w'ith Some forms of such rail bonds, the

nils.

With such) 'bonds the terminals are applied to the rail heads in some cases, to t e flanges of the rails in 'other cases, in addi- -tion to the more'general practice of appl ing the Kennin-alette the webof therais. The conductors, tothe endsof whichA the bond terminals are attached, have suillcient flexibility to permit the unavoidable movemen't occasioned by the expansion and contraction lengthwise of the rails.

One object of my invention is to provide a rail bond of improved construction having novel means whereby a vlarger contact'surface is aorded on the bond terminals, the

ontact intensity is increased, and by which the bond terrnlnals are more securely anchored or united to therails and liability of loosening ofthe bond terminals and of.

echanical in'ury to theY contacts is lessened d prevented;

Another object 'of my invention is to pro- Yide a rail :bond having improved means hereby a, perfect union is obtained .beween the contacting faces ofthe rails and rail bond terminals.

The invention also provides a method of .this connection being of the weldterminals are lsoldered or welded to thef a od welded connection between ed type; and this method resulting in a new product, a combination of rails and bonds 6I fusing .point and degree of conductivity as that of the rails to which the rail 'bonds are welded, as inthe case of rails Composed of steel, to provide 'the' rail bond with terminals-f having steel surfaces' forming contacts en gaging with the rails in welding the termi# i nals to the rails; and the invention consists further in the' method and product above referredto and in other features set out in 7.0 the following description and claims.

Myy invention is applicable to any of the known types `of rail bonds 'in wl1 ic v theterminals aie welded tothe track r or 'secured thereto in an analogous manne'rr.

Referring to the accompanying drawings Figure lfis a plan showingthe adjoining' ends of the. track 'rails having one form of rail bond lconstructed and arranged and secured in place thereon in accordancewith 80 this invention. Fig. Qis a transverse section of the same taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is aplan showing a modified rail bond construction, having the. terminals thereof constructed in accordancev with. my invention. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal side elevation ofthe construction shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a det-ail sectional side elevation, on an enlarged scale,showing the manne in which the terminals are secured to the conductors and the metal coating is applied to the terminals of the rail bond of Figs. 3 and a 4. Fig. 6 is a section on'the line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional end view of a track rail, showing a splice-bar connected thereto with the. rail bond terminals secured to the splice-bar in accordance with this invention. Fig. 8 is a sectionalplan, on the line 8-8 lof Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a plan showing the adjoining ends of two track rails, with a 100 rail bond applied to the upper faces of the rail flanges Fig. 10 is a side elevation showing a rail bond constructed in faccord` ance with my invention as appliedl for use toA the lower face of the ra-il flanges in bonding 105 the track rails. l

In the drawi i" s vreferring to -ggdesignates the ends of two 2, the numeral track rails which are secured together by means of splice bars 3, .3, and boy ts 4, and 'which have afrail bond secured thereto in accordance with my invention. In the form ductor formed by the ribbons 5 and 6 are curvedor bent so as to bring the steel ribbon 5 thereof with the steel faces of the" rail bond the splice liars 1() in engagement with web of the 'rails 2. The bonds which'are formed in a separate process prior to 'being applied for use in the tlack, are then united to the Vi'ail webs by welding. In this way,

contacting with the rails are of substantially the saine composition as 'the rails' and having substantially the same electrical conductivity, which permits of the parts being easily heatedA to the same temperature in ywelding the parts to attach the raiI bond in place on the rails.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3, 4, V5 and 6, a well known formof rail bond is shown in 'which strands formed of copper :wire are connectedY at their ends to additional bodies of copper constituting terminals 8 which have a steel plate 9 united thereto by welding or fusing,=this plate `forming the face of the terminals contacting with-and welded to the rail when applied" for. use, the plate 9 being the saine in composition and degree of electrical conductivity as therail to which the rail bond is supplied.

In the construction shown in Figs. 7` and 8, a rail bond `is applied to the splice bars which connect the rails and in this construction the splice bars 10 are bolted to the fianges 11 of the rails, one end of each splice bar l() being bolted in contact with the web of one -rail with the edges of the other end of the splice bar in engagement with the top surface ef the rail 'flange and. the under inclined surface of the rail heads. 'The rail bond conductor in this construction is formed of a copper wireor rod 12, one end being connected to each of the splice bars 101 as will be seen by reference to Figs. 7 aiid,8. In this construction the splice bars l() foi-in the terminals of the rail bond ai.d the ends 10 of these splice bars aie welded to the' web of the rail, the bolts 12 being employed to secure the othei. end of lo the rail langes. In this construction it will be seen that the rails can expand icngtliwise and at the same time a perfect connection is formed and maintnined'by the rail bond between the rails as the ends l0 ofthe splice liars are Welded to the rails.

ln the construction shown in Fig. 9 a rail with a steel ribbon 14 ductor forming the surfaces of the rail bond or body of. lhiysainc nietal bond is shown having a conductor comprising a ribbon 13 formed of aluminum orcopper which is welded or otherwise united preparatory to applying the rail bond for use in electrically connecting the ends of the rails 15. In this construction the ends 'of the ribbon which form the bond terminals are applied to the upper surface of the rail flange with the steel surface of the bond in contact with the rail.

In the construction shown in Fig. 10 a rail bond having a conductor formed of copper or aluminum ribbon 16 with a steel ribbon 17 is employed, the ends of the conthe terminals being secured to the, under surface of the flanges of the rails 18, and the steel surface of the ends of the bond which forms the terminals being welded to the rails.

From the above description it will be seen that in all cases the rail bonds are provided with a terminal formed of steel or a terminaLhaving a surface formed of metal of the same composition and electrical conductivity as the metal forming the rails which are to be united by the rail bonds.

I believe myself the first to discoveriand disclose the advantages of providing the terniinals of rail bonds with a coating or covering of metal which is united tothe terminals and is of the same composition or electrical conductivity as the `rails to which the rail bonds are applied, and I intend'to claim such construction broadly. L

Although in eachr of the cases4 illustrated and described above the copper bonds have their terminals coated with or provided With a surface portion of steel which is substantlally or approximately of the Isaine comiV position as the rail; yet it will be understood that the word steel is used to include compositions generally containing the saine ingredients, chiefly iron and carbon, but' of widely varying percentages. lt is pi'actically impossible to know the percentage composition of the r'ails which one is called on to bond, or to provide bonds with' steel portions on the end identical in percentage composition with themails on which they are to be used. In fact, for convenience in manufacturing the bonds the steel used will generallyfbe of a standard composition or carbon percentage and will, in most cases, corresi'iond only approximately to the rails lon which they are used.

Again, I believe myself to be the first to discover and disclose the advantages of first providing either one of the principal coatingr or body ol the metal which the other clement is composed olt and then welding the one of said' elements to the said matingr on the other. This produces a much beller union than vhas ` without melting been obtainable heretofore, with the usual methods of welding, as, for example, by the heat of a field ox) -acetyl'ene blow torch; and provi(y es a process which extremel simple to practice and can be performed quickly and cheaply. v

Where it has been attempted heretofore to weld n copper bond directly to the steel rai1,a practically insuperable difficulty has arisen because ot the high temperature necessary to bringthe steel to a welding heatv and the greater fusibility of copper as compared with steel. It has been impossible to bring steel, in the space directly opposite to the bond terminal, to a white heat without v causing the copper to melt and run But wherethe two parts which face each other are o f the same metal, as the steel in the specific case illustratedtherein, the same temperature will bring the two of them to a white or welding,r heat at the same time, either of them sufficiently tointerfere with the making of a good bond.

Th'e same difliculty does not arise in the applying of a .steel coating to the bond terminal since tnis work is done in the shop and f the two metals may be cast one on top of the other in a mold which prevents the copper from running away.

In attempts which have been made to weld a copper 4b-ond terminal side face of the steel rail. the inner or adacent faces of the rail and bond have. not

en Welded directly to each other for the reasons above stated. The union has buen effected by simply feeding molten copper to the to of the .bond terminal and the side face o the rail. This merely conceals a poor `joint beneath a goed looking top surface and thick usually there is an actual space;

to form a substantial air gap, be-

enou g tween the rail and the inner face of theibond A terminal.

directly to the lVhat -I claim is:

1. A. rail bond comprising a conductor and terminals on the ends of the conductor, said terminals being coated with `metal ot the same chemical composition, having the Same fusing point and having the same electrical conductivity as the metal in the rails to which the bonds areapplied, the metal coating of the terminals being united therewith, and directly welded to tli-e track rails.`

2. A rail bondt'or electrically luindin'g the adjacent ends of steel rails and designed to be welded tl1ereto,'said bond being of copferrous metal having a forward face adapted to be united by welding to a face of the rail and an additional -bod Welded on another face of said body of errous metal and on the end of the bond and being 'also of metal of greater conductivity than steel.

4. A rail bond for electrically bonding the adjacent ends of steel rails and designed to be welded thereto, said bond being of copper and having,r a terminal comprising an additional body\of copper afnd a'steel plate having one'face fitting a face of the rail to 'which it is to be welded and having its op- -positeiace welded to said additional' body of copper.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

GUSTAV A. MERKT.

Images