An Improved Rail Joint Support.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Oct., 1889-Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Rail Joint Support.
A communication from abroad by THE LONG SPRING TRUSS JOINT Co., a corporation
existing under the laws of the State of Illinois, United States of America,
and having its principal place of business in the City of Chicago, in said
State.
I, PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents 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 :-
The invention relates to rail joint supports and has for its object to improve the
construction of such joints and to provide a simple cheap and effective joint which shall
not only furnish the necessary degree of strength, but the desired elasticity or
flexibility to the joint; and to these ends the invention consists substantially in a
spring truss support having practically two members, one of which is a substantially
rigid member, and the other of which is a spring member, the truss being constructed
and arranged substantially as hereinafter set forth.
To clearly explain the nature of the invention reference is had to the accompanying
drawings in which :-
Fig. 1 is a side view showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a similar section showing a modified form.
Fig. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same.
Fig. 6 is a side view showing another embodiment of the invention; and
Fig. 7 is a transverse section thereof.
It is well known that one of the most serious problems connected with the track
or way of a railroad is to provide suitable and proper connections for the adjacent
ends of the rails, and as the use of heavy steel rails increases, necessitated by the
increased weight of engines and cars and rapidity of travel, the question becomes
more and more difficult, and while a great deal of time, money and ingenuity have
been spent in attempts to produce a satisfactory means of connection of the rails,
and many devices and arrangements have been made, they are all more or less
objectionable and unsatisfactory and fail to meet to their fullest extent the require-
ments of the present railroad construction. It has been considered that one of the
most important features in this connection was to produce a joint or connection having
great strength and rigidity, and many of the efforts made have been to improve the
construction and arrangement of the joint in this direction.
The present invention is based to a certain degree upon the assumption that the
perfected track should be so arranged and constructed that all portions thereof shall
be of the same strength and rigidity and still have the same degree of elasticity and
flexibility, and the nearer the construction approaches this idea the more perfect will
it be. While great strength and rigidity within certain limits are absolutely necessary
it is also advantageous and indeed necessary that there should be a certain degree of
elasticity and flexibility in the rails themselves, and one object of the invention is to
produce a rail joint which shall not only have the required degree of rigidity but
shall have the same degree of flexibility and elasticity as the body of the rail itself.
With this general idea in view what is considered to be the preferable form of
embodiment of the improved rail joint support will now be described.
A, B, represent the adjacent ends of two rails, shown to be of the usual construction,
and resting as usual upon the ties or sleepers C, C. J represents the spring truss
which constitutes the support for the adjacent ends of the rails, and consists essentially

page_text: of two members F and G, one of which is practically rigid and forms the rigid
member of the truss, while the other forms the spring member of the truss. In
Figs. 1 and 2 the rigid member F is shown as consisting of a plate, preferably of
wrought metal, bent to form substantially an inverted V, the extended limbs of which
rest upon the spring member of the truss, which in this instance is shown as con-
sisting of curved steel blades, bars or rods suspended below the rails from points a
short distance from the meeting ends thereof.
The members of the truss may be in direct contact or connection with the rails
themselves, as shown in Fig. 3, which represents a construction in which each flange
of each rail is perforated for the passage of one of the ends of one of the rods con-
stituting the spring member G, each end of each rod being threaded to receive a nut f
which bears upon a wedge-like washer i of such shape as to afford a level bearing
for the nut, and the apex of the rigid member is in direct contact with the under side
of the rails.
Instead of this construction the members of the truss may be indirectly connected
to the rails through the medium of a base plate D, suitably bolted or otherwise secured
to the rails and perforated or otherwise formed for the attachment of one member of
the truss, and channelled to receive the rails and rest with its lower face below the
meeting ends of the rails upon the member F.
The angle plates E, E, may also be used as a means of connection between the base
plate and rails, each angle plate being secured to the base plate D by bolts or by
means of the rods constituting one member of the truss, and being secured to the sides
of the rails by means of a transverse bolt or bolts e. In Fig. 4 the angle plates are
shown as secured by a single bolt taking into notches formed in the ends of the webs
of the rails, and this is a construction particularly applicable when laying new tracks,
but when the invention is applied to tracks already laid having the usual perforations
in the webs for the bolts of the ordinary fish plate, angle plates are used, each having
two holes in the upright portions to correspond with the end holes in the webs of the
rails. These perforations or holes are preferably elongated slightly to permit the
ordinary contraction and expansion of the rails. In the construction shown in Figs. 1
and 2 the base plate D is spiked to the ties and the angle plates are secured to the
base plate by one of the members of the truss and to the webs of the rails by bolts.
In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the angle plates are secured to the base plate by
independent bolts, and to the rails by a single bolt, as before stated; and in the
form shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the angle plates are secured to the base plate by bolts
holding one of the members of the truss.
In the form shown in Fig. 1 the spring member G of the truss consists of rods,
bars or strips composed of metal which has a slight elasticity, as for instance, steel
slightly tempered, supported below the base plate by nuts upon the screw threaded
ends of the rods, the nuts resting upon the angle plates, and the rigid member F has
its extended limbs resting upon said rods and its apex bearing against the under side
of the base plate beneath the meeting ends of the rails. As indicated by dotted lines
in Fig. 1 the rigid member is preferably arranged so that its ends bear upon the
spring member at the points where the radial lines intersect the same, so that the
radius or curvature of the spring member is divided by the double strut or rigid
member so as to distribute the strain equally throughout the entire portion of the
curved or spring member of the truss; and in this way the elongation of the spring
member under heavy strain is entirely prevented. In this way the spring bars may
be of metal tempered to a low degree having sufficient elasticity to support the rails
under all conditions and to prevent permanent elongation or set under the stress.
As the train passes over the track, and as the weight is brought upon the rails at
their point of meeting, any depression of either rail will be transferred to the other
rail through the medium of the angle plates, so that one end cannot be depressed
while the other is projecting upwards, and such depression will result in bending
downward the base plate to a slight extent at its centre, and in a corresponding
downward movement of the rigid member F of the truss, but as the ends of the
spring member G of the truss are fixed at points that are comparatively stationary

page_text: the said member cannot descend bodily with the other member but will yield thereto,
a result which is possible owing to the form of said spring member, inasmuch as the
curved portion thereof will tend to straighten or flatten under strain, permitting the
descent of the other member, but with a constantly increasing resistance until after
a short movement, the spring member ceases to yield and the truss becomes practically
rigid and constitutes thereafter an inflexible support for the weight which is upon the
rail, and after the removal of the weight the spring member will recover its former
form and the rails will be supported horizontally in line as before.
The curved form of the spring member is not essential to the operation above
described, inasmuch as it my be made in different forms provided that at least a
portion thereof is normally non-coincident with the line of strain when the rails are
loaded, so that the pressure of the load will bring such portion into or toward a
straight line coinciding with such line of strain. Thus the portion of the spring
member between the bearings 3, 3, of the rigid member F may be straight as shown
in dotted lines in Fig. 1, or the other portions may be straight and the portion only
between the bearings 3, 3, may be curved. The rigid member F instead of being in
the form of a bent plate may consist of a solid standard or series of standards, as
shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and in cross section Fig. 3. By threading the
portions of the spring member which extend upward through the support, and
providing the same with nuts, the said member may be adjusted to apply any desired
tension when setting the truss in position, while its application and removal is
facilitated.
In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the rigid member of the truss F consists of
one or more rods, bars or strips in the form of a U shaped bolt or yoke piece, the
ends of which are connected to the base plate by the screw nuts ; and the spring
member G consists of a plate of metal having some degree of elasticity, and preferably
arched, the upper or central portion of the former resting beneath the base plate
directly under the point of junction of the rails, and the ends of which rest or bear
upon the U frame or yoke piece as shown.
In the form illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 the spring member G consists of one or
more curved plates arranged on either side of the rails above the base plate, the ends
being secured to the base plate by suitable rods or bolts g; and the other or rigid
member consists of a rod or bolt F extending from the head of the arched or
spring member through the base plate, and being provided with an adjusting
nut f
From this it will be seen that the invention is not limited to any specific con-
struction and arrangement, the essential feature being that the adjacent ends of the
rails shall be supported at or near their point of junction by a truss which shall not
only afford the requisite strength and rigidity, but permit of the desired flexibility
and elasticity.
It will also be evident that the truss in its various forms may be used either with
or without the base plate, and if desired the angle plates may be dispensed with,
although it is preferable to use them to aid in maintaining the rails in position
against lateral strain.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to he performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A rail joint support consisting of a truss composed of a spring member and a
igid member, the truss being supported from opposite sides of the rails and
supporting the meeting ends thereof, substantially as set forth.
2. A rail joint support consisting of a truss composed of two members, one of
which is a spring member, and having adjustable devices for regulating the tension
of the spring member, substantially as set forth.
3. A rail joint support consisting of a truss composed of two members, one of
which consists essentially of rods, bars or strips supported from each side of the rails,

page_text: and the other member interposed between the rods and the meeting ends of the
rails, substantially as set forth.
4. A rail joint support consisting of a. truss composed of two members, one being
in the form of curved spring bars supported beneath the rails, and the other of a
rigid standard between the spring bars and the meeting ends of the rails, substantially
as set forth.
Dated thin 1 of Ontative 1000
PHILIP M. JUSTICE.