IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHES FOR FISHING RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Price Williams, of Great George Street,
Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FISHES FOR FISHING RAILWAY RAILS."
Sealed the 13th July 1869, and dated the 26th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Price Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,,
on the 26th May 1869.
I, RICHARD PRICE WILLIAMS, of Great George Street, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHES FOR FISHING, RAILWAY RAILS," to be as.
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to make fishes for fishing railway rails.
partially enveloping the ends to be connected, capable of passing over
the lower flange of the rails to be connected, and then of being drawn
together by screw bolts so as closely to embrace the web and lower
flange of the rails, and thus connect the two rails, as if they formed
one continuous girder. I take. for this purpose a plate of iron or steel

page_text: of the length of the fish, and I form in it two longitudinal corrugations
adapted to fit to the lower flanges of the rails, one on either side. The
plate is then bent along its centre line so as to bring the two lon-
gitudinal corrugations above mentioned nearly face to face, but allowing
room for the bottom flanges of the rails to pass between them. Bolt
holes are formed along the two sides of the fish plate beyond the
corrugations, and when the fish has been passed over the bottom flanges
of the rails as already mentioned the bolts are inserted through the
two sides of the fish, and the web of the rail between them and the
bolts being screwed up draw these parts closely together and at the
same time draw the corrugations together until they adapt themselves
closely to the flanges of the rails, the central bend of the fish plate
giving the elasticity necessary to allow them to do so. In this arrange-
ment the nuts will not be liable to become loose on the bolts, as the
elasticity of the fish will tend to prevent them turning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Price Williams in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
PRICE WILLIAMS, of Great George Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victorin, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Richard Price Williams, Her special licence
that I, the said Richard Price Williams, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Richard Price Williams, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FISHES FOR FISHING RAILWAY RAILS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Richard Price Williams, my executors or

page_text: administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, tho said Richard Price Williams, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to make fishes for fishing railway
rails partially enveloping the ends to be connected capable of passing
over the lower flange of the rails to be connected, and then of being
drawn together by screw bolts so as closely to embrace the web and
lower flange of the rails, and thus connect the two rails as if they formed
one continuous girder. I take for this purpose a plate. of iron or steel
of the length of the fish, and I form in it two longitudinal corruga-
tions adapted to fit to the lower flanges of the rails, one on either side.
The plate is then bent along its centre line so as to bring the two
longitudinal corrugations above mentioned nearly face to face, but
allowing room for the bottom flanges of the rails to pass between
them. Bolt holes are formed along the two sides of the fish plate beyond
the corrugations, and when the fish has been passed over the bottom
flanges of the rails as already mentioned the bolts are inserted through
the two sides of the fish, and the web of the rail between them and
the bolts being screwed up draw these parts closely together and at the
same time draw the corrugations together until they adapt themselves
closely to the flanges of the rails, the central bend of the fish plato
giving the clasticity necessary to allow them to do so.
In this arrange-
ment the nuts will not be liable to become loose on the bolt, as the
plasticity of the fish will tend to prevent them turning.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood
and readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings

page_text: Figure 2 is a sectional clevation taken on line 1, 2, Figure 1; Figure 3
is a section of the rail with fish plate ready to be affixed to the
rail, this is accomplished by placing the fish under the rail as shown
when it is raised into position and closed by means of a clamp or other
suitable implement, the bolts are then passed through the holes and
the nuts screwed up; Figure 4 shows a section of a flat bottomed
rail and fish securing such rail to an adjacent rail. The fishes are
made by rolling a shout of iron or steel to the section shown at Figure
5, then by passing the sheet through other rolls, it is corrugated in the
manner shewn at Figure 6, and afterwards by other rollers or in other
convenient way it is bent to the form shown in Figure 3. If the metal
be steel it is suitably tempered as is well understood. Although I
prefer to leave the fishes sufficiently open to pass over the lower flango
of the rails, they may be closed so as to render it necessary to pass
them on to rails at the end.
Fishes constructed as above described give great stiffness at the
joints of the rails, so that the strength at these places approximates
to that at the other parts of the line, this results from the central corru-
gation of the fish acting as a stiffening rib or web and projecting for
some distance beneath the rails, and the same corrugation gives the
freedom to the side cheeks of the fish which is requisito to admit of
these being drawn up by the bolts so as to nip the ends of the rails as
already described.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and tho
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what
I claim is, the constructing fishes for fishing railway rails, substantially
as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Price Williams, have here..
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-sixth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
ninc.