New Bond.for Tramway- and Railway-rails.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New Bond.for Tramway- and Railway-rails.
ARTHUR ALBERT DAY, 59, Stamford Street, Old Trafford, Manchester,
Engineer, I do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the bonding for electrical purposes of railway or tram-
way rails and is applicable only to those tram or railway rails which are made
with scarfed ends the joint being made by bolfing the two scarfed ends of a
adjacent rails together so that the rail joint is diagonally across the line of rails
when seen in plan, it does not apply to the older method of butt joints held to-
gether with fish plates. It consists in placing between the two scarfed ends of
rails to be joined a thin sheet of soft copper, or other good conducting soft metal
(cut or punched to the required shape, and with the necessary bolt holes in it)
after the ends of the rails & the copper or other sheet of good conducting soft
metal have been thoroughly cleaned, & then bolting up the joint in the usual way
by screwing up the bolts passing through the rails and soft copper sheet or
other sheet of soft metal of good conductivity at the scarfed joint. The copper
sheet or other soft sheet metal of good conductivity thus introduced, will by its
softness, when the joint is screwed up, tight make up any inequalities in the
surfaces, joined so ensuring good electrical contact over the surface of the joint
and also it will prevent the ingress of water or other oxidising or corroding
agent to the surface of the joint & so keep the contact good.
1400
A New Bond for Tramway- and Railway-rails.
ARTHUR ALDERT DAY, Engineer, 59, Stamford Street, Old Trafford, Manchester,
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 the bonding of tramway and railway rails for the pur-
pose of increasing the conductivity of the rails at the joints thereby facilitating
the passage of au clectric current through them.
It (the invention) relates only to rails with scarfed ends known as continuous
rails patented by Holmes, & others, the ends of these rails are champered off at
an angle vertically so that when two are placed end to end, & bolted together the
joint is diagonally across the top surface of the rail & not a butt joint as is usual:
My invention consists in the insertion between the two ends of the scarfed
[Prire 8d.1

page_text: rail before it is bolted together of a thin sheet of thoroughly clean soft copper
or other thin sheet of thoroughly clean soft conducting metal & then bolting
up or rivetting up in the usual way.
The thin copper sheet will have to be cut to the required. shape for this &
holes punched for the insertion of the bolts or rivets.
The advantages of this invention are the securing of a large area of good con-
ducting surface which will be well maintained by the softness of the conducting
metal, allowing to be squeezed in to any inequalities of the joint & so prevent
the contact being damaged by water or other oxidising agent.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said
invention & in what manner the-same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1st. The electrical bonding of the ends of tramway or railway rails with
scarfed ends by the insertion in the joint between rails of a thoroughly clean
sheet of soft copper; or other thoroughly clean sheet of soft, conducting metal
cut to the required size & shape: