US632625A - Rail-joint. - Google Patents

Description

No. 632,625. P atented Sept. 5, I899. a. L. BAXTER.

RAIL JOINT. (Application filed Oct. 22, 1898.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets8heet J WITNESSES: z a INVENTOH 72% A TTOR rs.

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- Patented Sept. 5, I899. G. L. BAXTEB.

BAIL JOINT.-

(Application filed Oct. 22, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GERMAN L. BAXTER, OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,625, dated September 5, 1899.

Application filed October 22, 1898. Serial No. 694,256. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern Be it known that I, GERMAN L. BAXTER, of Lexington, in the county of Fayette and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and Improved Rail-Joint, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in rail-joints of the suspension kind and is provided with a cross-bar which engages the un der sides of the rails.

My invention comprises the novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

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 isaside elevation of myimproved rail-joint. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a side elevation of a modified form of construction. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken upon the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

The object of my invention is to support the joint at the ends of the rails and to bind the rails together in such manner that the joint cannot well drop down, but will be main tained at the same level as the central portion of the rail and will thus preventthe shock due to dropping of the joints.

My rail-joint consists of two principal members which are secured upon each side of the rail A and are connected by a third mem- The members which are connected to the side of the rails consist, first, of a fishplate member B, which engages the side of the rail and lies between the head and the base of the rail. Connected to each end of the fish-plate member is the suspension memher 0, which consists of a bar either welded to the fish-plate member or secured firmlythereto by other means, the central portion passing outside of the bases of the rail and dropping beneath the same, so as to permit the passage of a key D between the upper side of the suspension member and the base of the rail.

The members 13 and C are duplicated on each side of the rail, and the key D rests with one end upon each suspension member, and said members are so proportioned that the keyD will press firmly against the under side of the rail and hold the same up and prevent its dropping. The two fish-plate members B are preferably secured to the rails A by means of rivets E, which are inserted while hot, and thus secure the members 13 and O and the rail A firmly together. The key D has a downwardly-projecting rib d at each end,wl1ich prevents the withdrawal of the key from its position upon the suspension members and beneath the rail.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 a modified form of construction is shown, in which the fish-plate member and the suspension member upon each side form integral parts of one plate- This plate is bent so that one portion 13' forms the fish-plate and lies between the head and base of the rail, a central portion F rests upon the base or the rail, and the opposite portion 0 extends downward outside the railbase and forms the suspension member, being provided with a slot G for the reception of the key D.

The key D is similar in construction to that previously described, excepting that in cases where the joint is used in connection with electric railways a plate H of copper or similar material is placed upon the key and beneath the base of the rail, overlapping the joint between two rails, and thus forming an efficient electrical joint. In order to secure this plate in place and prevent its removal, the upper surface of the key is slightly recessed, the walls of said recess stopping short of the sides of the key, thus holding the plate H in place.

A rail-joint of the character described will be cheap in construction and may be made of such strength that the rail is as stiff and strong at the joint as at any other place and will thus help to maintain a perfectly level grade.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A rail-joint, comprising two parts each consistin g of a bar member adapted to lie between the base and head of the rail, and a suspencentral parts of the suspension members and sion member having its ends engaging the the rail-base, substantially as (lescrlbed.

ends of the bar member and with its center dropping below and outside of the rail-base, GERMAN BAXTER' 5 rivets passing through the bar and suspen- Vitnesses:

sion members and the rail securing them rig- E. L. HUTCHINSON,

idly together, and a key entering between the JESSE \VOODRUFFT

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