Improvements in Fastening Devices for Uniting the Ends of Railway Rails.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fastening Devices for Uniting the Ends of
Railway Rails.
I, JOHN WILLS CLOUD, of 996 Main Street, in the City of Buffalo, County of
Erie, State of New York, United States of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 rail joint by which the abutting ends of railway rails are
united together; and it has for its object to provide a joint of great strength and
rigidity whereby the track may be as nearly as possible of the same strength at the
joints as in the centre of the rails.
The novel features of my invention are hereinafter clearly pointed out in the claims
and will be best understood after an explanation of the drawings which illustrate the
invention and in which,
Figure 1, is a vertical section on the line of Figure 2.
Figure 2, is an elevation showing the abutting ends of two rails provided with my
improved rail joint in the form and construction preferred by me when the fish
plates are made of malleable iron or other cast metal.
Figure 3, is a plan view of the same joint.
Figure 4, an elevation similar to that of Figure 2 showing my joint as made with
the fish plates formed of a rolled section.
Figure 5, a cross-section on the line y-y of Figure 4; and
Figure 6, another elevation of a rolled section of fish-plate showing a convenient
way of cutting the rolled bar.
A is the rail; a a the lower sides of the rail head; a' a' the upper sides of the rail
base. B indicates my improved fish plate, two of which are used to make the rail
joint. These fish plates are formed with an upwardly-extending flange b adapted to
fit on the under head a of the rail as shown; an outwardly-extending flange, b',
adapted to fit upon and extend beyond the upper surface a¹ of the rail base; and a
downwardly-extending flange, 62, extending below the base of the rail. The flange b
is pierced with bolt-holes in the usual manner to enable the pair of fish plates to be
secured to the rail ends by bolts C passing through them and the web of the rail,
and nuts (fitting on the end of said bolts. In the downwardly-extending flange
of the fish plates I form bolt holes 62, the tops of which must be below the bottom
of the rail base as shown. A single bolt-hole, or more than one, may be formed in
this lower flange of the fish plate.
Where, as is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the fish plates B are formed of cast
metal, I prefer to strengthen and stiffen then by providing them with flanges b*
connecting the flanges b and b¹, such flanges acting to brace and strengthen the
casting. And I also prefer, when using cast metal, to form projections 6 6 6 on
the upper face of flange b and at its centre and ends, such projections resting on the
under faces a of the rail head; while the spaces 6 between the projections do not
come in contact with it. This device I believe to give a better and tighter hold upon
the rail than where the entire upper face of the flange brests against it.
cases I prefer to make the lower flange 2 shorter than the upper flange b of the fish
plates and preferably, make its length so that it can be inserted between two ties
so as to come in contact, or nearly so, with both of them; this construction acting
to prevent creeping. D is a bolt adapted to pass through the bolt-holes 63 in the
flange 62 of the fish plates, being of sufficient length to extend through the bolt-holes
of both fish-plates. D is a nut screwing on the end of bolt D.
In all
My improved fish plates are secured to the rail by the bolt C in the usual manner
as is best shown in Figures 1 and 5. After they are in place, the bolt D is inserted

page_text: in the bolt-holes 63 of the lower flange, and the nut D₁ screwed down tight upon its
end. It is necessary in all cases that the flange should extend out beyond the
edge of the rail base so that the dependent or downwardly-extending flange b² should
not in any case abut against or come in contact with the edge of the rail base. The
result of drawing the flanges & together by means of the bolt D and its nut D' is
therefore to press the flange or web b1, and the upwardly-extending flange against
the base and head of the rail respectively, thus coacting with the bolt C; and, owing
to the position of the bolt D, when once in place it acts with great power to prevent
the spreading of the fish-plates under the load of a passing train thus greatly
increasing the stiffness and rigidity of the joint. By the construction described, in
which the flanges 62 are so placed that they cannot come in contact with the edge
of the rail base, and the bolt holes 3 placed so far below the rail base that the bolt D
cannot come in contact with the bottom of the rail, the structural unity of the joint
is made perfect which would not be the case were either the flanges or the bolt D
in contact with the rail. My construction is thus clearly to be distinguished from
constructions which bring pressure to bear on the edge of the bottom flanges of the
rail or beneath its base.
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:
First A rail joint consisting of two fish-plates B having upwardly-extending
flanges adapted to fit under the head of. a rail and provided with bolt-holes ;
outwardly-extending flanges adapted to extend along and over the rail base; and
downwardly-extending flanges 62 adapted to extend below the rail base without
coming in contact with it and provided with one or more bolt-holes 6 at a point or
points below the level of the rail base in combination with bolts for securing the
Hanges to the rail and a bolt or bolts passing through the downwardly-extending
flanges, said fish-plato flanges and the bolt or bolts uniting them beneath the rail
base being so constructed and combined as not to press directly or indirectly upon
the under side of the rail.
Second: As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-
extending flange b adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail and provided with
bolt-holes; an outwardly-extending flange 6 adapted to lie along and extend beyond
the rail base; and a downwardly-extending flange 2 adapted to extend below the
rail base without coming in contact with it or passing beneath its edges and having
one or more bolt holes at a point below the level of said rail base all substantially as
described and so as to form with a similar plate a rail joint of the kind specified.
:
Third As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-
extending flange b adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail and provided with
bolt-holes; an outwardly-extending flange b₁ adapted to lie along and extend beyond
the rail base; and a downwardly-extending flange 62 shorter than the flange b adapted
to extend below the rail base without coming in contact with it or passing beneath
its edges and having one or more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail
base all substantially as described, and so as to form with a similar plate a rail joint
of the kind specified.
:
Fourth As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish plate having an upwardly-
extending flange b adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail, and provided with
bolt-holes an outwardly-extending flange b' adapted to lie along and extend beyond
the rail base; a downwardly-extending Hange a shorter than the flange b adapted to
extend below the rail base without coming in contact with it and having one or
more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail base; and a web b connecting
the flanges band 61, all substantially as described and so as to form with a similar
plate a rail joint of the kind specified.
:
Fifth As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-
extending flange b having projections 6 adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail
at the centre and the ends of the flange, said upwardly-extending flange being

page_text: provided with bolt-holes; an outwardly-extending flange 61 adapted to lie along and
extend beyond the rail base; and a downwardly-extending flange shorter than the
flange adapted to extend below the rail base without coming in contact with it and
having one or more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail base all
substantially as described and so as to form with a similar plate a rail joint of the
kind specified.
Sixth: As a new article of manufacture, a railway fish-plate having an upwardly-
extending flange b having projections & adapted to fit beneath the head of the rail at
the centre and the ends of the flange, said upwardly-extending flange being provided
with bolt-holes; an outwardly-extending flange adapted to lie along and extend
beyond the rail base; a downwardly-extending flange shorter than the flange b
adapted to extend below the rail base without coming in contact with it and having
one or more bolt-holes at a point below the level of said rail base, and a web b
connecting the flanges 6 and b¹, all substantially as described, and so as to form with
a similar plate a rail joint of the kind specified.
Dated this 3rd day of Sentember 1889
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.