Improvements in Means for Bonding Railway Rails.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 18th Feb.,
1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Bonding Railway Rails.
We, FREDERICK HACHMANN, of the City and County of Milwaukee, State of
Wisconsin, Electrical Engineer, and (Miss) ELISABETH MARIA FRANCES BAASEN, of
the City and County of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, Rentier, both of the United
States of America, 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:—
Our invention relates to the bonding or coupling together the abutting ends of
railway rails; and because our invention is especially applicable to the rails of
street railways, we show in our drawings herewith, a style of railway rail, substan-
tially such as is in common use, which being somewhat changed in making, is
adapted for the application of our invention thereto.
The invention consists of the means in combination and in segregation, for
bonding together railway rails as herein described and claimed, or their equivalents,
In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of adjacent portions of
the abutting ends of railway rails, showing therewith our improved means (partly
in section) for bonding the rails together.
Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the abutting ends of two railway rails, and our
improved bonding means applied thereto.
Fig. 3 is an end view of the street railway rail illustrated in Figs. 1 & 2, showing
the thickened portion of the web of the rail, near its end, required for applying
our improved bonding means; and the bonding device in cross section.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of our improved rail-bonding device, detached.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a plug employed in securing our improved bonding
device in position on the ends of the rails.
A street railway rail as now constructed is formed with a foot 10, a web 11, a
laterally projecting top tread 12 and a somewhat lower and oppositely projecting
Hange or ledge 13. To apply our improved bonding device to rails or substantially
this form, it is necessary to provide somewhat enlarged or thickened ends of the
rails, and for this purpose the rails are constructed with a boss or thickened web 14
extending from the foot 10 to the tread 12, and from the end of the rail along the
rail endwise a few inches, substantially as shown in Figs. 1 & 3.
The bonding device employed by us consists of a bar or elongated body 15
having a substantially flat top surface and provided at its respective ends with
downwardly-extending legs 16, 16 the extremities or free ends of which are en-
larged, both projecting laterally in the same direction, and preferably in the direc-
tion of the long axis of the bar or body of the device, forming a projecting toe 17.
These legs are preferably severally inclined or beveled on the side of the toe 17,
from the junction of the leg with the body of the device, to the extremity of the
toe forming the oblique wall or surface 18. The wall of the leg opposite the
beveled wall 18, is advisably transversely recessed as shown at 19.
For applying this bonding device to the abutting ends of the rails, a longitudinal
recess is cut in the tread 12 of the rails of such size and form as to receive the

page_text: body 15 of the bonding device therein, and deeper recesses or sockets are cut in the
rails respectively at the ends of the elongated recess or channel, to admit therein
the legs 16 of the bonding device. These sockets in the rails are undercut in such
direction as substantially to be complementary to the beveled surfaces 18 when
the bonding device is applied to the rails, and the sockets in the rails in which
these legs 16 are inserted while being substantially of the same width transversely
as the width of the legs 16, are elongated in the other direction sufficiently to
permit of the ready insertion of the enlarged extremities of these legs 16 into the
sockets. In applying our bonding device to the abutting ends of two rails pro-
vided with such channels and sockets, the legs 16 are inserted in the sockets in the
rails, the body 15 being in the channel therefor in the tread of the rail, and there-
upon the bonding device is, pushed endwise in its seat carrying the projecting
toe portions 17 of the legs under the overhanging portions of the rails in the manner
shown in Fig. 1, bringing the beveled surfaces 18 below and opposite the corre-
spondingly undercut surfaces of the rail or walls of the sockets. Thereupon the
plug 20 is inserted in the recess in the rail at the rear end of the bonding device
filling the aperture in the rail at the surface of the tread and locking the bonding
device in place in the ends of the rail. Thereupon molten metal is poured through
an aperture 21 in the plug 20, into the space in the socket in the rail about the
leg 16, which molten metal 23 passes beneath the extremity of the legs and about
its toe, and into the recess 19 and fills up the socket about and on either side of
tongue 22 projecting medially from the under side of the plug 20. As this metal
sets and hardens it forms with the legs 16 and the plug 20, a key that secures the
bonding device firmly in the end of the rail. At the other extremity of the bonding
device molten metal is poured through the aperture 24 in the body of the bonding
device, into the space in the rail socket about the leg 16 therein, and when this
inolten metal 23 sets and hardens therein, this extremity of the bonding device
is thereby locked firmly in the end of this rail. The bonding device is so con-
structed and fitted into the ends of the rails that its top surface is flush with the
surface of the tread of the rails, whereby a smooth and continuous trade surface is
formed along on the rails and from one rail to the other. The sides of the tongue 22
of the plug 20, are preferably made concave so that the free edge of the tongue is
wider than its medial portion thus forming a key-like construction that cannot
be removed from the metal that was poured into the socket and has hardened
about it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:-
1.-The combination with abutting railway rails having a recess in the tread
of each rail at the abutting ends thereof and sockets each with an overhanging wall
in the rails at the inner ends of the recesses, of a bonding device having a bar-like
body fitted in said recesses and terminal legs with toes projecting laterally in the
same direction inserted in said socket the toes being under the overhanging walls
of the sockets, and means for locking said bonding device in place in the rails, sub-
stantially as described and set forth.
The combination with the abutting ends of two railway ways provided with
registering recesses in the treads of the rails and sockets having undercut walls in
the rails at the inner extremities of the recesses, of a bar-like bonding device fitted
in said recesses, and legs on the extremities of said bar having projecting toes, said
legs being inserted in said sockets the toes being under the overhanging walls of
the sockets, a plug in the recess at the end of the bonding device holding the bond-
ing device in place, the toes of the legs under the overhanging walls, and metal
fillings introduced in molten state into the sockets about the legs securing the parts
in position, substantially as described and set forth.
3.A bonding device for bonding together railway rails end to end, consisting &
of an integral metal bar and legs thereon one at each extremity of the bár pro-

page_text: jecting in the same direction, the legs having laterally projecting toes on corre
sponding sides of the legs, substantially as described and illustrated.
4. An integral bonding device for bonding together railway rails, comprising an
elongated bar, legs at the ends of the bar projecting therefrom on the same side
of the bar, the legs each having a beveled side wall, an enlarged free end projecting
laterally in the same direction, and a recess in the wall opposite the beveled wall,
substantially as described and illustrated.
5. A railway rail provided with recesses one at each end in the tread of the
rail extending in the direction of the length of the rail from its ends inwardly a
distance, and provided with sockets entering deeper into the rail one at or near
the end of each of said recesses and continuous therewith, said sockets each having
an undercut wall, the undercut walls of the sockets projecting laterally in one and
the same direction whereby two abutting rails may be securely bonded to each
other by conforming bonding piece, as described and set forth.
Dated this 17th day of January 1800
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.