Railway Rail Joint.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 24th July, 1897-Accepted, 20th Nov., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Railway Rail Joint.
We, JEREMIAH DOWNS and LUKE BABCOCK, of the City of Argentine, in the
County of Wyandotte and State of Kansas, United States of America, Farmers,
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 rail joints, and it consists in certain novel and peculiar
features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter
described and claimed.
In order that the invention may be fully understood, we will proceed to describe
it with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of our improved rail-joint connecting-
plate.
Figure 2 represents a side elevation of the same, applied operatively to the
meeting ends of two rails.
Figure 3 represents a vertical cross-section, taken on the line III-III of
Figure 2.
In the said drawing, 1-1 designate the meeting ends of two rails.
2 designates our improved connecting-plate for said rails.
It is preferably of spring-metal, such as steel, and it comprises the base-
portion 3, which is preferably slightly concaved longitudinally at its under side,
as shown most clearly in Figure 3, and the side-arms 4-4, which conform to and
clasp tightly the foot-portion of the flanges and the web of the rail, and bear at
their upper edges against the under side of the ball or head of the rail.
At the junction of the portions 3 and 4, the plate is bent to form the outwardly,
projecting flanges 5, which bear squarely and firmly on the cross-ties.
Said flanges are provided with notches 6-6 at intervals, through which the
ordinary railway spikes 7 are driven down into the ties 8, so as to clamp the rails
firmly and reliably in position by providing them with an extended or widened
base or foundation.
One arm 4 of the connecting plate is provided with a series of rectangular
openings 9, while the other arm is provided with a corresponding series of circular
epenings 10, and said openings, in practice, register with the openings through
the web of the rail.
11 designates the pins or bolts by which the said plate is secured upon the rails.
Each of said pins consists of a cylindrical shank, a head 12, and a short rectangular
neck 13, and the shank near its free end is provided with a vertical opening or
hole, through which a spring cotter or key 14, wedge-shaped in form, is adapted
to extend downwardly.
In practice, after the rails are slipped into proper positions relative to said
plates, that is, with their openings registering with the openings 9 and 10, the
pins or bolts are slipped through said registering openings until their heads come
in contact with one side-arm, and their rectangular necks fit snugly in the rect.

page_text: .
angular openings 9, so that there can be no rotatable movement of the pins or
bolts when once in position.
To prevent any longitudinal withdrawal of said pins accidentally from position,
due to the vibration and jolting received by the rails with each passage of a train,
we slip upon said pins the circular collars or washers 15, and then force down
through the said openings in the shanks of the pins the wedge-shaped spring
cotters or keys hereinbefore referred to, as shown clearly in the drawings.
When a train passes over a joint or joints thus protected, it is obvious that the
slight downward movement of the free ends of the rails springs the concave base
of said rails slightly downward until it rests squarely upon the cross-tie, and this
downward movement, owing to the fact that it is resisted by the flanges 5, causes
the upper portions or arms 4 to more closely and tightly embrace the opposite
sides of the rail, which is immediately followed by an imperceptible downward
movement of the wedges through the openings in the ends of the pins or bolts.
This downward movement is due to the weight of said pins, and also to the fact
that the jolting they receive tends to force them downwardly.
After this operation has taken place possibly two or three times the rails are
clasped at their opposite sides as tightly as possible, and the wedge-shaped cotters
or keys have moved downwardly through said slots their full limit, and con-
sequently the armis 4 are held positively and reliably from any outward movement.
All subsequent passages of trains over the rail-joint connection now tends to
fix the relation thus established.
Thus it will be seen that we have produced a rail-joint which is positive and
reliable in operation, which is increased in effectiveness and power with each
passage of a train over it, and which is extremely simple, strong, durable, and
inexpensive of manufacture.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
In a rail-joint, the combination with the meeting ends of two rails, of a connect-
ing plate, consisting of a base-portion concaved at its under side for its full length,
side-arms clasping the opposite sides of the rails below the heads thereof, and bent
to produce flattened flanges at the junction of the base and said sides or arms, and
provided with registering circular and rectangular openings, headed pins or bolts
extending through said openings and also registering openings in the rails, and
which are provided with rectangular necks fitting non-rotatably in said rect-
angular openings, and wedge-shaped keys extending downwardly through the
openings of said pins or bolts, substantially as described.
11
T
T
1007
JEREMIAH DOWNS.
LUKE BABCOCK.