Improvements in Bonds or Connections for the Rails of Electric Railways.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1898-Accepted, 27th Aug., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bonds or Connections for the Rails of Electric
Railways.
I, GEORGE ADAM WEBER, of Cotton Exchange, in the City and State of New
York, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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:-
My invention relates to bonds for electrically connecting the meeting ends of
adjacent rails.
The bond comprises a metallic piece which extends along the sides of adjacent
and meeting rails, and at the joint formed by the meeting ends of the rails the said
piece is provided with a thickened or enlarged portion. In the preferred form
of my invention, the thickened or enlarged portion is integral with the end
portions.
I will describe a connection embodying my.invention and then point out the
novel features in a claim.
In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a rail
joint to which I have shown my bond applied, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal and
horizontal section of the rail joint shown in Figure 1. Similar letters of reference
designate corresponding parts in both figures in the drawing.
A, represents a metal bond, preferably of copper, which may extend any distance
desired along the rail, and it may be secured thereto by rivets or otherwise. The
bond is preferably thin and flat throughout its length with the exception of the
thickened, swelled or protruding portion a which when the bond is in position to
form an electric connection between two rails is directly at the point of meeting
of the ends of the rails, as clearly shown in Figure 2.
The advantage of forming a bond with the thickened or enlarged portion inter-
mediate the ends thereof and of having this part at a joint formed by the meeting
ends of adjacent rails, is, that the end portions of the bond are taking off current
from the rails at every point of contact, and the amount of current taken off is
equal to the amount of current in the rail, and it is therefore necessary when the
joint is reached to provide a sufficient amount of metal in the bond at that point
to transfer the whole amount of current contained in the bond end from one rail
to the other with as little resistance as possible. In other words the capacity of
the metal of the bond at the joint for transferring current should be equal in
capacity to the capacity of either of the ends of the bond for receiving current
from the rail with which it is in contact. The proportions of the parts of the bond
vary according to the metal used in the bond and rails.
I have shown my bond in connection with the rail joint which comprises the
rails B and C, the angle chair D) for supporting the ends of the rails, fish plates E
and connecting bolts F. In forming the joint the bond is placed along both sides
of the web of each rail and an elastic packing G which may be of wood placed
intermediate the fish plates E and the bonds so that the bonds will be firmly held
in contact with the webs of the rails. The fish plate adjacent the bolt supporting
flange of the angle chair is channeled and the elastic packing H is inserted to

page_text: take up lateral movement of the rails. The fastening bolts are then inserted, as
shown in Figure 2, for firmly holding the several parts of the joint.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1.
bond formed with end portions and a thickened or enlarged part intermediate
its ends.
2. The combination with the meeting ends of adjacent, rails, a bond therefor
formed with the end portions extending along the web of each rail, and with a
thickened or enlarged portion intermediate its ends and placed at the joint formed
by the said rail ends, substantially as described.
3. The combination with the meeting ends of adjacent rails, fishplates therefor,
a bond on both sides of the web of each rail and extending along the same across
the joint formed by the said rail ends, and an elastic packing intermediate each
bond and adjacent fish plate, substantially as specified.
4. The combination with the meeting ends of adjacent rails, an angle chair
for supporting the said ends, fish plates for said rail ends, a bond extending on each
side of the web of each rail and across the joint formed by said ends, an elastic
packing intermediate each bond and adjacent fish plate, an elastic packing inter-
imediate the fish plate and bolt supporting flange of the angle chair and fastening
bolts for uniting the several parts, substantially as described.
T
11
220
.
T
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.