IMPROVEMENTS IN FISH JOINTS FOR RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th September 1878. A communication
from abroad by John Lang Pope, of Cleveland, Ohio, United States of
America.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. IMPROVEMENTS IN FISH JOINTS FOR RAILWAY
RAILS." [A communication from abroad by John Lang Pope, of Cleveland, Ohio,
United States of America.]
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of fish plates used for
uniting and securing one rail to another on a line of railway.
It is well known that great inconvenience is experienced upon railways by reason
of the constant tendency of fish plates as ordinarily constructed to become loose as
a result of the shaking and jarring to which they are constantly exposed by the
passage of trains over the rails, and many different kinds of fish plates and of fas-
tenings therefor have been devised with the object of providing a tight and secure
joint which shall stand the effects of the traffic without becoming loose. But
although considerable improvements have been made from time to time, 'I am not
aware that any device has heretofore been provided which is not more or less liable
to get slightly loose in a comparatively short space of time, varying according to
the amount of traffic passing over the rails, and it is well known that when once
the slightest degree of looseness occurs there is a constant working or jarring of the
various parts, which tends to detach them to such an extent from the rails that the
latter are practically disunited at the point where this looseness takes place. This
tendency necessitates constant watchfulness, and much time is occupied in screwing
up the nuts which have become loose.
By means of this Invention I am enabled to provide fish plates which will firmly
and securely unite the rails without any danger of such fish plates wearing loose,
however great the traffic may be, and this result is accomplished in a simple manner
without any additional parts, that is to say, the only parts required are the plates
lts and nuts.
constructed according to this Invention, with any suitable
"

page_text: In carrying the said Invention into practice I construct the plates of spring steel,
or any suitable metal which is permanently elastic, and of a curved form in trans-
verse section, with the convex surface on the side which is to be placed towards the
rails. Both the upper and lower parts of the plate are provided with an extension
projecting outwards and forming a flange along the whole length of the plate. The
upper flange bears against the lower surface of the head or upper part of the rail,
and the lower flange bears against the upper part of the foot or lower part of the
rail. These plates are provided with holes to admit bolts which pass through the
plates and the rails in the usual manner and are furnished with nuts. When the
fish plates so constructed are placed in position it will be obvious that by reason of
the form of the same the screwing up of the nuts will cause the plates to act as
springs, and that a very considerable pressure will be exerted by them upon the
head and foot of the rails on both sides thereof, also upon the heads of the bolts on
one side and the nuts on the other side of the rails. The pressure thus obtained
being so considerable a tight and rigid joint is made, which if the parts are properly
adjusted cannot get loose, as the greater the amount of traffic there may be the
greater will be the pressure of the plates. The tendency to a slight loosening of
the parts, which loosening when once commenced usually increases rapidly, is thus
obviated, and the plates so constructed will remain firmly united to the rails as
long as the latter continue in use.
If by reason of improper adjustment or from some extraordinary cause any slight
looseness should occur in a joint só constructed, one turn or a half turn of the nuts
will so effectually remedy the same that the joint becomes at once quite secure, and
is then not liable to become loose again, as is the case with joints as ordinarily
constructed.
•
I may modify the construction of the said fish plates in various manners to
accommodate them to the varying conditions under which they may be used, always
however retaining the essential feature of the said "Invention, namely, the forming
the plates in such a manner that they will have a spring action so as to press with
great force against the rails and against the heads of the bolts and the nuts. For
example, I may in some instances turn the flanges inwards instead of outwards, or
one flange may extend inwards and the other outwards, or one or both may extend
outwards and inwards. In some cases the lower flange will extend around or
partially around the base of the rail, or I may construct the lower flange to extend
far enough for a part thereof to rest upon the sleeper and be bolted thereto.
I prefer that in all cases the lower flange shall extend as far outwards as is prac-
ticable, as this ensures a good bearing, and provides great resistance to the action
of the wheels of the vehicles in their tendency to force down the ends of the rails.
The plates constructed according to my Invention should be sufficiently thin in
cross section to ensure the necessary spring action.