US1227364A - Rail-joint. - Google Patents

Description

W. E. BAKER.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FlLED FEB. 21. 1911.

1,227,364 Patented May 22, 1917.

I IZZZL WEB FMER WILLIAM E. BAKER, 0F WACO, TEXAS.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1917.

Application filed February 21, 19171" Serial No. 150,118.

' To all whom it may concern: I, WILLIAM E. BAKER,

Be it known that a citizen of the United States, residing at Waco, in the county of McLennan, State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Rail- J oint, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and-exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in rail joints,

-. which enables the conventional of the rails at all portions and has for its object to provide a device of this character which embodies novel features of construction whereby a solid abutment is provided between the adjusting ends the tread, the tread portions of the rail ends being maintained in a spaced relation so that the projecting lips or noses which are ordinarily formed upon the tread portions by the passage of heavy rolling stock over the joint will be prevented from rubbing against each other and being broken off upwardly in such a manner as to form receding pits in the treads.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a rail joint of this character which does not involve any appreciable increase in cost over the conventional rail joint, splice bars to be used, and which holds the rail ends rigidly in alinement with each other and provides the necessary [solid abutment between the lower portions of the rail ends.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in

which on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

thereof except Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the interposed spacing plate.' 1 Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the middle portion of a rail joint, showing a slight modification of the invention.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Specifically describing the present embodiment of the invention, the numerals 1 designate the abutting ends of a pair of rails which are of the standard cross section, and are supported in the usual manner upon the ties 2. Splice bars 3 are fitted in the fishing spaces of the rail ends on opposite sides thereof, said splice bars being secured to the rails by the usual bOlts 4: and being formed with horizontally extending base flanges 3 which project over the basal flanges of the rail ends 1 and are secured to the ties by suitable fastening means such as the spikes 5. The rail ends are adapted, as usual, to have a slight longitudinal play within the splice bars 3 in order to comgensate for the expansion and contraction no to changes of temperature. When the rail ends are spaced slightly apart, the passage of heavy rolling stock over the joint tends to form longitudinally projecting lips at the tread portions of the rail ends, as indicated by 1. In many instances, after these lips I have formed, the rail ends are jammed tightly together. This almost invariably happens upon hills and down grades, where the constant passage of traflic over the track tends to cause the rails to creep longitudinally. Where the rail ends are thus jammed tightly together, the noses or lips 1 rub up and down upon each other each time a heavy load passes over the joint, with the result that the lips soon break upwardly and inwardly, substantially as indicated by the dotted lines A on Fig. 1, leaving receding pits in the tread portions of the rail ends. These pits are sufficiently large to cause an objectionable jarring and jolting of the rolling stock as it passes over the joint, and they gradually grow larger under the almost continual hammering of the rolling stock thereon, with the result that the rails soon become, worn out and must be replaced with-new rails.

With the resent construction this difficulty is avoi ed by the use of a thin spacing plate 6 which is interposed between tion so that the noses or lips 1 which may form thereon will be prevented from forcibly engaging and rubbing up and down upon each other each time a heavy load passes over the joint. The noses or lips 1.

are thus prevented from being broken upwardly and forming the large receding pits or recesses in the'treads of the rail ends. The life of the rails is 'thus greatly prolonged, since as the lips work out far enough the wheels of the rolling stock will break them off downwardly, the rupture being substantially in the form of a vertical shear flush with the end of the rail, and not accompanied by the formation of a re ceding pit in the tread of the rail. In other words, instead of each lip or nose being broken upwardly by the opposite lip or nose in such a manner as to form a pit in the tread of the rail, the noses will be sheared oif vertically by the weight of the wheels as soon as they have been rolled out a suflicient distance by the action of the rolling stock.

This thin spacing plate 6 is formed with an upper set of lateral flanges 6 which engage the upper edges of the splice bars 3 to hold-the spacing plate against downward movement, and also with a lower set of laterally extending flanges 6 which engage the lower edges of the splice bars 3 to prevent upward movement of the spacing plate. These lateral flanges correspond in configuration to theparts of the rail ends against which they fit, so that the spacing plate has substantially the shape of a rail cross sec-' tion with the tread portion thereof removed.

A slight modificatlon 1s shown by Fig. 5,

in which the rail ends 1 have the abutting faces thereof cut away or notched at 7, thereby providing a solid abutment between the lower portions of the rail ends, while.

the tread portions thereof are always held in a spaced relation. This results, exactly as in the previous instance, in preventing the noses 1 from forcibly rubbing up and .down against each other and breaking ofl upwardly to form receding pits in the treads of the rails.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A rail joint including the adjacent ends of a pair of rails, splice bars applied thereto, and a thin spacing plate interposed between the rail ends and terminating below the treads thereof so as to provide a solid abutment between the lower portions of the rail ends and hold the tread portions thereof in a spaced relation,said spacing plate being provided with means for engaging the splice bars to hold it against vertical movement.

2. A rail joint including the adjacent ends of a pair of rails, splice bars applied thereto, and a thin spacing plate interposed between the rail ends and terminating below the treads thereof to provide a solid abutment between the lower portions of the rail ends and hold the tread portions thereof in a spaced relation, said spacing plate being formed with upper and lower sets of laterally projecting flanges which engage the splice bars to hold the plate against vertical movement.

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

WILLIAM E. BAKER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM F. SONNEMAN, M. W. LARMoNE.

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