AN IMPROVED JOINT FOR RAILS
Year: 1884

page_text: I JAMES KERR of 20 Bucklersbury in the City of London, Merchant do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED JOINT FOR RAILS to be as
follows:-
•
This invention relates more especially to portable railways and consists in a.
novel joint for the railways which will admit of the sections of rails being readily
fixed in place and equally readily taken up when it is desired to move the rail or
tramway.
The invention is however equally applicable to permanent way.
In carrying out my invention as applied to a Vignoles or other flat based rail
I cut from a plate of iron or obtain in any other convenient manner a piece of any
suitable length and say some eight or nine inches wide with a tang of any con-
venient length but of a width equal to the width of the base of a Vignoles rail.
The opposite sides of the wide portion of this piece are then turned up. and over so
as to form a clip from the base of a rail.
The tang portion of the plate is rivetted to the under side of one rail with the
turned up portion a short distance away from the rail to allow for dirt being
pushed out and this turned up portion will form a socket into which the end of
the adjoining rail is fitted. This socket may be arranged to fit just over the edges
of the base of the rail which is the form best suited for portablo railways or one
side may be formed to lie against the web of the rail an ordinary fish plate being
used for the other side and the two being bolted together or both sides. may be
made to fit against the web of the rail.
It will be seen that by the means above described a convenient and simple joint
will be formed either for permanent or portable railways.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, JAMES KERR of 20 Bucklersbury in the City of London, Merchant, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED JOINT FOR RAILS and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates more particularly to portable railways or tramways and
consists in a novel joint for rails which will admit of the sections of rails being
readily fixed in place and equally readily taken up when it is desired to move the
rail, or tramway. The invention is however also applicable to permanent ways.
In carrying out my invention I prefer to use what are known as Vignoles rails.
or rails having flat base.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown my improved joint in three
different forms.
The simplest form is that shown in plan and cross section at Figs 1 and 2. The
form of joint shown in plan and cross section at Figs. 3 and 4 is that perhaps best
suited to a permanent way while that shown in plan and cross section at Figs. 5
and G is suitable for either a portable or permanent way.
In forming a joint plate I cut or otherwise obtain from a sheet of metal (iron
by preference) a piece A of the form say as shown at Fig. 7. The tang portion A¹
of this piece AI rivet to the underside of the base of a rail B as shown in the side
elevation Fig. 8. The side pieces or flaps A' are in any convenient manner turned
up and over as shown in the three cross sections Figs. 2, 4 and 6 so as to form a
I sort of socket or clip into which the free end of the abutting rail is inserted.
Between the socket and the end of the rail to which the piece A' is rivetted a
space should be left as seen in Figs. 8 and 9 so that any dirt which may be in the
socket when the rails is being inserted may be pushed out and fall away.
Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively a side elevation and plan of a rail end with a joint
of the form shown at Figs. 3 and 4 attached thereto.
C is a fish plate which is bolted to the web of the rail B and extends forward as
shown in the figures.
By forming the socket of the cross sections shown at Figs. 4 and 6 a support for
.the head of the rail is obtained.
In laying a permanent way the sockets or joint plates will be bolted to the
rails in any convenient manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is-
A joint for rails consisting of a socket to receive the free end of an abutting rail
and formed either in one piece from a plate of metal which is rigidly secured to
one end of a rail or in two pieces viz:-from a plate of metal and an ordinary fish
plate both being secured to one end of a rail, all substantially as herein shown and
described, such socket being so arranged with respect to the rail to which it is
secured as to permit of any dirt or mud which may have collected therein being
readily forced out by the insertion of the free end of the abutting rail as set forth.
Dated this 24th day of December 1884.
YRITION
NON