AN IMPROVED JOINT FOR UNITING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED JOINT FOR UNITING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS."-A com-
munication from abroad by John Mc Lean Staughton, of Riverton,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd December 1872.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
3 County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of:
the said Invention- for "AN IMPROVED JOINT FOR UNITING THE ENDS OF
RAILWAY RAILS," to be as follows:-
--

page_text: .
that one cannot rise above the other, nor can the two ends sink down at
an angle with the body of the rails, and which will give the joint
greater strength and equal flexibility with the other parts of the rails,
and which shall at the same time be simple in construction and easily
applied to the rails.
The Invention consists in making the fish plates (which are bolted to
the stem of the rails in the ordinary manner) with a fish belly curve
upon the middle part of their lower edges, so as to give additional
strength to the middle parts of said plates, the adjacent ends of the rails
having their flanges cut away for a less distance than the length of the
fish plates, so that the end parts of said fish plates may rest upon the
flanges of the rails, thus carrying the leverage of the fish plates back to
the parts of the rail that are strong enough to support it.
By this
construction the fish plates are made strong where they need strength,
and the bolts are relieved from having to sustain any downward pressure,
and have only to hold the fish plates to their places against the sides of
the rails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence
that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain-and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED

page_text: JOINT FOR UNITING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS," a communication to me from
abroad by John M° Lean Staughton, of Riverton, County of Greenup,
State of Kentucky, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet
of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention has for its object to furnish an improved rail joint,
which shall be so constructed as to hold the ends of the adjacent rails
level, so that one cannot rise above the other, so that the two ends
cannot sink down at an angle with the body of the rails, and which will
give the joint greater strength and equal flexibility with the other parts
of the rails, and which shall at the same time be simple in construction
and easily applied to the rails.
The Invention consists in making the fish plates with a fish belly
curve upon the middle part of their lower edges, and in the adjacent
ends of the rails, having their flanges cut away for a less distance than
the length of the fish plates, as herein-after more fully set forth.
Similar
Figure 1 is a side view of the improved rail joint; Figure 2 is a detail
cross section of the same taken through the line x, x, Figure 1.
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A and B represent the adjacent ends of two contiguous rails, the
flanges upon each side of each of which are cut away for a short
distance from said ends. C are the fish plates, which are bolted to the
stem of the rails in the ordinary manner. The middle part of the fish
plates C project downward with a fish belly curve, as shown in Figure 1,
so as to give additional strength to the middle parts of said plates. The
fish plates are longer than the cut-away portions of the flanges of the rails,
'

page_text: so that the end parts of said fish plates may rest upon the flanges of the
rails, as shown in Figure 1, thus carrying the leverage of the fish plates
back to the parts of the rail that are strong enough to support it. By
this construction the fish plates are made strong where they need
strength, and the bolts are relieved from having to sustain any down-t
ward pressure, and have only to hold the fish plates to their places
against the sides of the rails.
.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters 1
Patent is,-
1st. The fish plates C made with a fish belly curve upon the middle
part of their lower edges, substantially as herein shown and described,
and for the purpose set forth.
2nd. The adjacent ends of the rails A, B, having their flanges cut 1
away for a less distance than the length of the fish plates C, substan-
tially as herein shown and described, to adapt them to receive the fish
plates O for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, 2
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
thma
Witness,
HENRY W. DEWEY,
53, Chancery Lane.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)