An Improved Fish-joint for Railways.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Fish-joint for Railways.
We, WILLIAM SANDFORD, of Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, in the Colony
of New South Wales, Ironmaster, WILLIAM THORNLEY, of Marrickville, near
Sydney, in the said Colony, Mechanical Engineer, and EDWARD SILCOCKS, OF
32, Buckingham Street, in Sydney aforesaid, Railway Inspector, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to an improved fish-joint for railways, by which the ends
of contiguous rails may be easily and firmly "fished" or joined so as to have a
creeping or
rigidity heretofore unattainable, and by which, if desired, a
longitudinal movement of the rail may be prevented.
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The
This improved fish-joint for railways consists essentially of the combination and
arrangement with the abutting ends of two lengths of rail, hereinafter referred to
as two rails, of an inverted bridge or fish-brace" and angular fish-plates, whose
bases or lower members are held by said fish-brace and whose other members take
under the heads of the two rails, and are bolted together through the webs of said
rails. The fish-brace has turned-in flanges, or hook edges, which just allow of its
being placed around the foot or base of the rail, and of said rail having a bed or
rest centrally between said flanges or hooks. The fish-plates are of angular section:
that is, have a lower member or base-bar and an upper member or rail-bar.
outer edge of the lower member or base-bar of each angular fish-plate is adapted
to take under the flange or hook of the fish-brace between said hook and the upper
face of the foot or base of the rail, and to rest upon said upper face. The upper
edge of the other member or rail-bar of each angular fish-plate, when the base-bar
is resting on or against the foot or base of the rail, is adapted to bear hard against
the under surface of the head of the rail; a space being preferably left between
the web of the rail and the rail-bar. The fish-brace and the angular fish-plates are
of the customary length, and ordinary bolts or fastenings are passed through the
two rails and the rail-bars, in order to tie the whole together, as will be well
understood. The fish-braces and the angular fish-plates are manufactured by
rolling bars to the desired section, and cutting or sawing same into the required
lengths. At one end of the fish-brace, there may be a stop or stops, made by
slotting or cutting into one or both sides of said bridge or bar, and swaging the
cut flange or hook or hooks slightly downwards, so that the fish-plate or plates will
bear against the stop or stops so made, and prevent creeping.
But in order that this invention may be more clearly understood, reference will
now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the improved fish-joint as applied to T-rails.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the fish-brace thereof.
Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively a cross-section and an end elevation of the joint;
while
Figs. 5 and 6 are sections shewing the parts in course of being assembled.
Figs. 7 and 8 are sections of the improved fish-joint as applied to a bull-headed
rail and to a double-headed rail respectively.
The improved fish-joint in a finished state has the fish-brace A with its hooks A'
taking over the edges of the base-bars B of the angular fish-plates, whose rail-
bars B bear under the heads C₁ of the contiguous rails C and C*; the whole
being fastened together by bolts D passing through said rail-bars B¹ and the
webs C of the rails. The brace A is in contact with the foot or base C of each
rail. It will be seen that, by tightening or screwing up the nuts on the bolts D,
1 D .
7

page_text: the fish-brace A is firmly fixed in place owing to the leverage on the edges of the
base-bars B tending to raise the hooks A'; and that the heads C₁ of the rails have
a firm support by the forcing thereunder of the rail-bars B¹.
In making this fish-joint, the fish-brace A is placed under the rail and one side
hooked thereon, as shown in Fig. 5, the other hook A¹ is then brought up until the
other end of the foot C³ of the rail passes inside the two hooks A'; whereupon,
said brace A being supported centrally up to the foot C3, the fish-plates are put in
by inserting their edges 132 under the hooks A' (as shown in Fig. 6), and pressing:
them into place; bolts or other fastenings, as will be well understood, being
afterwards inserted through holes in the rail-bars B' and web C2, and the whole
fastened together thereby.
The stop-pieces A2 on the fish-brace A are formed during manufacture by saw-
cuts in the ends of the sides of said brace (as shown in Fig. 2), and then, when in
place, swaging or hammering down the stops to the position shown in Fig. 4.
These stop-pieces A2 are provided only when it is desired to prevent creeping;
and, the brace A being reversible, they are only made at one end thereof. The
rail-bars B of the fish-plates abut against these stop-pieces, and the latter abut
against a sleeper, and thus the fish and rail are prevented creeping or moving
longitudinally.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is 11
First-The improved fish-joint for railways, consisting, in conjunction with the
abutting ends of two rails, of an inverted bridge or fish-brace and angular fish-
plates whose bases are held by said fish-brace to the foot or base of said rails, and
whose upper members or rail-bars are bolted or fastened together through said rails,
substantially as herein described.
Second In a railway fish-joint of the class referred to, the combination, with
rails (such as C and C*) and bolts (such as D), of a fish-brace (such as A) with
flanges or hooks (such as A¹) and angular fish-plates having base-bars (such as B)
and rail-bars (such as B'), substantially as herein described and for the purposes
set forth.
Third In a railway fish-joint of the class referred to, the combination, with
the abutting rails (such as C and CX), bolts. (such as D) and angular fish-plates
(such as B B¹), of, a fish-brace (such as A) having hooks (such as A¹) and a stop-
piece or stop-pieces (such as -A2), substantially as herein described and for the
purposes set forth.
:-
Fourth The manufacture, in the manner and for the purposes set forth, of
fish-braces (such as A) having hooks (such as A'), with or without stop-pieces
(such as A³), substantially as herein described and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated the 9th day of September 1892.
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C., Chartered Patent Agent.