Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Sept., 1887
Complete Left, 5th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 6th July, 1888
I VERE GEORGE WEBB L.K.Q.C.P.I. of Brandon Lodge, Wood Green in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Hitherto in the construction of permanent way for railways, it has been customary
to secure the ends of the rails together by means of fish plates bolted to the rails on
both sides of the joints.
The expense of this mode of securing being considerable, attempts have been made
to dispense with the bolts and bolt holes, by arranging the chairs at or near the joints,
so that the fish plates placed flat upon the web of the rails could lie in the chairs, and
be secured therein by wedges such as are ordinarily used for securing the rails in the
chairs. The laying of the permanent way in this manner was much more expeditious
and cheap than when the usual bolts were employed, but it was found that the
vibration set up by passing trains caused the fish plates to work out of the chairs in
an endway direction, thereby rendering the permanent way insecure.
Now it is to remove this objection, and at the same time to maintain, as far as
possible, the advantages, in simplicity and economy, of the unbolted fish plate, that
my present invention is designed.
In carrying out my invention, I employ pairs of fish plates, one plate of each pair
having a projecting pin upon its face about the middle of its length, the other plate
having a hole to receive the end of this pin, and the abutting rail ends are slightly
recessed transversely to allow the pin to pass through between the rail ends from
plate to plate. To secure the abutting ends of the rails, the fish plates are laid on
either side of the web of the rails, so that the projecting pin lies in the recess provided
for it, and enters the hole in the plate on the opposite side of the rails. Chairs are
arranged at or near the joints to receive the rails, and fish plates and wedges are

page_text: provided for securing the rails and fish plates therein in a manner that will be well
understood.
From the above description it will be seen that the endway creeping of the fish
plates is effectually prevented by the transverse pin securing the two plates together
between the rail ends; at the same time the construction of permanent way, according
to my invention, will be found little less simple and economical than when unbolted
fish plates are employed.
Dated this 5th day of September 1887

page_text: I VERE GEORGE WEBB, L.K.Q.C.P.I. of Brandon Lodge, Wood Green, in the
County of Middlesex, 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:-
Hitherto, in the construction of permanent way for railways, it has been customary
to secure the ends of the rails together by means of fish plates bolted to the rails on
both sides of the joints.
The expense of this mode of securing being considerable, attempts have been made
to dispense with the bolts and bolt holes, by arranging the chairs at or near the joints,
so that the fish plates placed flat upon the web of the rails, could lie in the chairs,
and be secured therein by wedges, such as are ordinarily used for securing the rails
in the chairs. The laying of the permanent way in this manner was much more
expeditious and cheap than when the usual bolts were employed, and fully permitted
the contraction and expansion of the rails, but it was found that the vibration set up
by passing trains, caused the fish plates and the wedges to work out of the chairs in
an endway direction, thereby rendering the permanent way insecure.
Now it is to remove this objection, and at the same time to maintain, as far as
possible, the advantages in simplicity and economy, of the unbolted fish plate, that my
present invention is designed.
I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawing.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, shewing the abutting ends of two rails.
Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a plan view, and
Figs. 4 and 5 are details to be presently described.
A A are rails having, at their abutting ends, recesses a a.
BB are chairs which are secured to sleepers in the usual manner, and in which the
rails A A lie.
CC are fish plates (see detached view Fig. 4), one of which has upon its face a
projecting pin c; the other plate has a hole c in it to correspond with the projecting
pin c. These fish plates are laid on the web of the rails within the chairs (that
carrying the pin upon the inside of the web), so that the pin c passes through the
recess a a between the rail ends, and engages with the holo in the opposing fish
plate. Wedges are then driven between the outer plate and the outer arms of the
chairs, to prevent the fish plates from becoming disengaged.
For greater security, the outer arms of the chairs may be grooved vertically, and
likewise the wedges, and a metal pin may be driven tightly down to effectually prevent
end way movement.

page_text: In Fig. 5 I have shewn an arrangement of wedges which I sometimes find it advis
able to employ. In this arrangement, there are two wedges driven into the chair from
opposite sides, and having their inclined surfaces in juxtaposition. These inclined
surfaces are grooved vertically, and a metal locking pin or key is driven into the hole
formed by the two grooves, as indicated in the drawing.
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 :-
Constructing the permanent way of railways in the manner herein shewn and
described.
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