Improvements in Jointing Rails for Railways and Tramways, and Appliance therefor.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 7th May, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Jointing Rails for Railways and Tramways, and
Appliance therefor.
I, HERMAN WAHL FALK, of The Falk Manufacturing Company, of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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 :-
This invention relates to that method of jointing the rail lengths of railways and
tramways in which the ends of the rails to be joined are placed closely end to end
within a mould, into which molten cast iron is then run so as to form a coupling
sleeve which is practically weld-jointed to the ends of the rails.
According to my present invention I utilise this method of jointing rails for
obtaining a perfect level joint for rails the ends of whose heals have become
more or less worn by use.
For this purpose when only the one rail end is worn, I first drive an iron or
steel wedge between the abutting ends, so as to insure a tight frictional contact,
and I then strike the non worn rail end with downward directed blows, whereby
the worn rail end will be caused to gradually rise up, this being effected to an
extent corresponding to the wear; the casting mould is then fitted around the
joint and the sleeve is cast on. After cooling I then plane away the projecting
portion of the worn rail end until a perfectly level joint is obtained.
In operating in the above described manner I prefer to employ a clamping
device for holding the two rail ends in correct position as I will describe with
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 shews a side view of the
rail joint and clamp, and Figure shews a sectional end view at X X. The rail
ends R1 R2 are fitted together in such manner that the worn head of the rail R² is
raised above the surface of the non-worn rail R¹ to an extent corresponding to the
amount of wear, as shewn, and the two rail ends are secured in this position by a
clamping bar A, the underside of the left hand end of which is formed level so as to
bear upon the level top surface of rail R¹, to which it is secured by the screw
clamp C while the under side of the right hand end is cut away to an extent,
corresponding to the amount which the rail R2 is raised above R', and R2 is secured
tightly against the bar by the clamp C¹.
The casting mould having been fitted on, and the jointing sleeve M cast round the
joint so as to be welded to the rail-ends, and then allowed to cool, the part of
the rail head of R² which projects above R¹ is cut away, so as to present a perfectly
level surface.
The clamping bar A may also be used for clamping together two non-worn rail
ends when joined together by a cast iron sleeve in the manner described in my
application for Letters Patent No. 8152, dated 5th April 1898. In this application
the bar is preferably provided with a notch at d and is shifted to the right hand of
the position shewn, sufficiently to bring the notch d exactly over the line of joint,
thus making room for the projecting end of a wedge which may have been driven
in; the level under surface of the bar A on each side of the notch will then press
equally upon the top of each rail end.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In jointing together rails by means of a cast iron jointing sleeve, the method
of producing a level top surface for the joint when one of the rail ends is worn, by
first driving an iron or steel wedge between the abutting ends of the rails and
then raising the worn rail-end above the non-worn to an extent equal to the amount
of wear, by striking the non-worn end with downward directed blows, and, after
casting the sleeve upon the joint, planing off the projecting portion of the worn rail,
substantially as described.
2. The use for producing a level surface on rail joints with a worn rail end such
as referred to in the first claim, of a clamping bar such as A. whose under surface is
so formed that when the bar is clamped upon the two rail ends, it will secure the
worn rail end at a higher level than the other one, substantially as described:
.
Dated this 6th day of Anril 1898
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.