IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Sexton Sarney, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Sexton Sarney
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th March 1871.
I, THOMAS SEXTON SARNEY, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE ENDS OF
RAILWAY RAILS," to be as follows:-
-
My Invention has for its object the novel construction of a rail
joint whereby I obtain great strength at the joint and a firm support
for the base and sides of the rail. The said joint may be applied to
railway rails of any sectional form, it consists of few parts, and is
therefore simple both in its construction and use and is cheaply manu-
factured, while at the same time it is safe and durable. The said joint
morcover, may be placed upon the rails or taken away from the same

page_text: with very little disturbance of the permanent way. For suspended
joints, that is to say, where the ends of the rails are not supported on a
sleeper, the said joint may be put down and secured in its place or
taken away therefrom without moving the rails, while when the joint is
to be placed upon a sleeper it is only necessary to raise the ends of
the rails to be united from a quarter to three quarters of an inch;
or, if preferred, the rails may be left undisturbed, and the sleeper
slightly lowered.
My improved joint is constructed as follows:-I take a plate of steel
or other suitable metal and bend it into such a form that it will cover
the bottom of the rail and the greater part of one side of the same.
At the other side the said plate is extended beyond the base of the rail
and bent transversely into the form of a hook, I then take another
metal plate smaller than the first one and bend it into such a shape
that it will nearly cover the side of the rail not covered by the first
plate while one edge lies in the recess of the hook shaped part of the
large plate. The rails whose ends are to be secured together are there-
fore enclosed at the base and sides by the two plates one of which
covers the base and one side, while the other covers the opposite side
of the said rails. These plates are secured together by screw bolts
passed either vertically through the two plates or longitudinally through
the said plates and the web of the rail, and from the peculiar form of
the small plate and its arrangement in relation to the large plate and
the rails when the nuts of these bolts are screwed down, they will not
only tighten the small plate against the rail but will also draw the
large plate tightly up against the opposite side of the said rail. The
ends of the rails will thus be tightly held between the two plates and
the entire joint will be firm and secure. When the joint is used over
a sleeper I may pass the screw bolts or screws through the plates and
sleeper but when my Invention is used as a suspended joint I prefer
to pass
the bolts through the vertical portions of the two plates and the
web of the rail. In all cases the holes through which the bolts pass
must be somewhat larger in diameter than the bolts to allow room for
the plates and bolts to adjust themselves when the said bolts are
tightened. The small plates will exert a constant clastic pressure
on the bolts and nuts, which will be thereby kept from working
loose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Sexton Sarney in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SEXTON SARNEY, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Sexton Sarney, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Sexton Sarney, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Sexton
Sarney, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY
RAILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Sexton Sarney, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Sexton Sarney, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification :-
My Invention has for its object the construction of a joint which
will form a strong, safe, and durable connection and support for the ends
of railway rails, which joint may be adapted to rails of any sectional

page_text: form and may be placed upon the rails or removed therefrom with the
least possible disturbance of the permanent way.
The construction of my improved joint is clearly illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings of which Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are transverse
sections showing the said joint applied to various ordinary forms of
rails. Figure 1ª is a plan of Figure 1. Figure 2 is a side elevation
of Figure 2. Figures 1, 2, and 5 show the position of the parts of the
joint before the bolts thereof are tightened. Figures 3 and 4 show the
position of the parts with the bolts tightened.
In all of these Figures A, A, indicate the rails and B, C, the plates
of the joint.
To make this improved joint I take a plate B of steel, wrought iron,
"Bessemer" metal or other suitable malleable metal and bend it into
such a form that, as seen in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 it will fit against
one side of the rail A and pass underneath the base of the same. At
the other side of the rails the said plate is extended as shewn beyond
the base of the rails and bent transversely into the form of a hook at b.
I also take another metal plate C smaller than the first one and bend
it into such a shape that it can be placed against that side of the rails
not covered by the first plate while the lower edge c of this smaller
plato lies in the recess of the hook shaped part 6 of the plate B, as
shewn in the above Figures. The rails A whose ends are to be secured
together are therefore enclosed at the base and sides by the two
plates B, C, one of which covers the base and one side while the other
covers the opposite side of the said rails. These plates are secured
together by a screw bolt D, or two.or more of such bolts, passed either
vertically through the two plates and the flange or flanges of one or
both rails, as shown in Figures 1 and 5, or longitudinally through the
said plates and the web of the rail or rails, as in Figures 2, 3, 4, and
from the peculiar form of the small plate Cand its arrangement in
relation to the large plate and the rails, the bolts and nuts when screwed
together will not only tighten the small plate C against the rails A but
will also draw the large plate B tightly up against the base and the
opposite side of the said rails. The ends of the rails will thus be
tightly held between the two plates B, C, and the joint will be firm and
secure. When the joint is placed over a sleeper I may pass the screw
bolts D or screws D' through the plates and sleeper, as in Figure 5, but

page_text: when my Invention is used as a suspended joint for the rails shown
in Figures 2 and 3 I prefer to pass the bolts through the vertical
portions of the two plates and the web of the rails. In all cases the
holes through which the bolts pass must be somewhat larger in diameter
than the bolts to permit the plates and bolts to adjust themselves when
the said bolts are tightened. The small plates will exert a constant
back pressure on the bolts and nuts which will be thereby kept from
working loose. For suspended joints, that is to say, where the ends of
the rails are not supported on a sleeper the said joint may be put on
the rails and secured thereto or taken away without moving the rail,
and when the joint is to be placed upon a sleeper it is only necessary
to raise the ends of the rails to be united from one half to three
quarters of an inch, or if preferred where cross sleepers are used the
rails may be left undisturbed and the sleeper slightly lowered to allow
the joint to be placed under the rails.
In Figure 1 the rail A is of the "bridge" form. The plate B is made
to correspond with the peculiar form of this rail so far as it is necessary
for the purposes of my Invention, that is to say, it is made flat on the
part b', to fit the bottom of the rail A, and bent or curved up around
the flange of the rail at b² to cover the same, and a portion of one side
of the rail, while on the other side at the said plate is bent into the
form of a hook as above described. The other plate C which fits against
the side of the rails not covered by the plate B, has one edge c fitted
into the recess formed by the hook-shaped portion as shown.
b
In placing this improved joint on the rails the plate B first has its
part slipped under the rails from the side thereof. Then the edge c
of the small plate C is inserted in the recess at b, the bolts D being
passed through the plates and the flange of the rails into the nuts E.
It will be seen that the hook-shaped portion 6 of the plate B forms a
fulcrum or abutment for the other plate C, the edge c of the latter being
held thereby immoveably with regard to the plate B, so that when in
tightening the bolts the part c¹ of the plate C is forced against the side.
of the rail there will be a counter pressure or reaction against the hook-
shaped side of the plate B, and therefore the parts of the joint will be
drawn towards each other in all directions, and the rails will be tightly
and securely bound between the plates, whose peculiar formation and
the manner in which they are secured will effectually prevent any

page_text: displacement or giving way of the ends of the rails or slackening of
the bolts and nuts from the vibration of the traffic or changes of
temperature.
In Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 the plates B and C are shown with their
shape so modified as to adapt them to rails of different section, but it
will be seen that with regard to the hooked-shaped portion of the
bottom or large plate, and the insertion of the small plate therein the
joint is the same as in Figure 1, and that no substantial change is
necessary to adapt it to any of these forms of rails. The bolts D in
Figures 2, 3, and 4 are passed through the web instead of the flange of
the rails, but a slight examination of the Drawings will show that the
effect of tightening the bolts will be the same in both cases; that is
to say, the hook-shaped portion b of the bottom plate B forms a fulcrum
for the plate C, and any pressure on the latter will react on the former
to draw and tighten it upon both the side and the bottom of the rails
which will thus be securely held between the two plates, as before
described.
The vertical portions of the plates B, C, may be formed either as
shown in Figure 3 or in Figure 4, but where nuts are used, I prefer
the latter form, either on both sides of the joint as in Figure 4 or on
one side as in Figure 2, as it gives great facility for screwing and
unscrewing the nuts.
In Figure 3 I have shown the joint further strengthened by thic
application of fish plates F outside the plates B, C, the bolts in this
case being screwed into one of the said fish plates instead of having
the ordinary nuts E.
In Figure 5 I have shown on one side of the joint the bolt D passing
through the sleeper G, and at the other side of the joint a wood screw D'
screwed into the said sleeper, If desired a spike may be used instead
of a screw, or either bolts or screws may be used on both sides of the
joint.
Having thus fully described my said improvements, I wish it under-
stood that I do not claim simply a joint consisting of two parts fitting
the sides and bottom of the rails, and secured thereon by bolts or screws,
and that my Invention does not in any way relate to clip joints, which
consist of a plate bent to embrace the bottom and sides of the rails,
and secured thereon by their own clasticity cither with or without bolts.

page_text: "6
as auxiliary fastenings, but I claim,-A joint for uniting and securing
the ends of railway rails consisting of plates of steel, wrought iron,
Bessemer" metal or other suitable tough metal adapted to the shape of
the rails, one of which plates is formed to fit one side and the bottom
of the rails, and has a hooked-shaped portion to receive the edge of the
other plate which is fitted to the other side of the rail, and which plates
are secured and drawn together by bolts or screws, so as both to support
the rails and bind the same tightly between them with a back pressure
against the bolts and nuts, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, Thomas Sexton Sarney, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
THOMAS SEXTON SARNEY. (L.S.)
Witness to the signature of
the said Thomas S. Sarney,
ROBERT WEAR.