Improvements relating to the Construction of Rails for Electric Railways and to Bonds therefor.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 6th July, 1897-Accepted, 7th Aug., 1897
Improvements relating to the Construction of Rails for Electric
Railways and to Bonds therefor.
I, SAMUEL HOUSTON HARRINGTON, of 333, West 58th Street, City, County and
State of New York, United States of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
cf this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained, in and by the following statement:
-
A
My invention relates to electric railways in which the rails upon which the
carriages run are used also as electrical conductors, generally for the return of the
current after it has passed through the motor propelling the carriages. As hereto-
fore constructed, it has been found difficult to provide sufficient surface contact
between the electrical bonds, as they are called, by which the rails are united into
an electrical conductor. Copper bonds are usually employed for this purpose, and,
having much greater conductivity than iron or steel, of which the rails are made,
the bonds may be and are made of correspondingly less cross sectional area.
difficulty, however, remains in that the contact between the iron or steel of the
rail and the bond should be of such extent as will permit the unimpeded flow of
current from the rail to the bond, and it is usual to make the ends of the bond,
which come in contact with the metal of the rail, of larger area than the bond
proper, but this has not proved an altogether successful expedient, and the object
of my invention is to secure an ample contact between the bond and the rail with-
cut requiring an enlargement of the bond ends beyond dimensions which have
proved practicable and successful in use. This result I accomplish by the double
expedient of providing the rails with a projecting beading at the points where
bcnd receiving perforations are to be formed so
as to secure an enlarged
area to the walls of the perforation, and also by forming the perforations at an
acute angle to the plane of the web of the rail, thereby greatly increasing the area
of the perforation's walls. Excellent and greatly improved results can be obtained
by the use of the oblique perforation without the use of the beading, and also by:
the use of the beading without the use of the angular perforation, but the best
results are obviously secured by the conjoint use of the beading and angular
perforation.
Reference being now had to the drawings in which my invention is illustrated,
and in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of two rails provided with beadings and bonded
in accordance with my invention.
Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation taken through a rail provided with my
beading and also with fish plates adapted for use with such beaded rails, a bond
being shown in position in the perforation formed through the beading.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the end of a rail, such as is shown in
Figs. 1 and 2.
•
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the end of a rail having a perforated beading of
modified form.
Figure 5 is a side view of a portion of the fish plate adapted to be used with the
rail shown in Fig.4.

page_text: Figure 6 is an end sectional elevation showing the fish plate and rail of Figs. 4
and 5 assembled together, and
Figure 7 is a sectional end elevation of a rail showing the application of my inven-
tion in its most perfected form, that is to say, with the angular perforation in addition
to the beaded construction, also showing in dotted lines the use of the angular
perforation without reference to the use of the beading.
A indicates the rail, which may be of any ordinary and convenient construc-
tion, A¹, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, indicating a beading in the form of laterally extending
ribs, a form which will commend itself as being readily formed by the rolls in
which the rails are formed. At al, Figs. 4, 6 and 7, I have shown the beading
made in the form of a boss extending out from the web of the rail, a construction
which is preferable to that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in that it involves the use
of less metal and which will most conveniently Le constructed by welding the
bosses to the web of the rail, and which may be either at right angles to the web,
or preferably at an acute angle to the plane of the web, as indicated in Fig. 7,
in which event it is advisable to make the beading; indicated at a², on the different
sides of the rail web at different distances from the top and bottom of the rail so that
the angular perforation will pass through the beadings upon both sides. Of course
it will be understood that while I have shown the beading formed upon both sides
of the rail web, excellent and greatly improved results are obtainable by the use
of a single beading on one side of the web; also that the advantage of my inven-
tion is securable by forming a beading upon other parts of the rail than the web,
as, for instance, upon the flanges of the rail base where it is convenient that the
perforation should extend through said flanges. B indicates the fish plates by
which the rails are secured together, and which I have shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as
provided with recesses B¹ fitting over the beading A¹, and in Figs. 5 and 6 with
boss like recesses 61 adapted to fit over the boss like beading a¹. In all cases the
fish plates, at least on the side in which the bond is inserted, should be formed
with holes, as indicated at 132, so placed as to register with the perforations A²
and give passage to the bonds. The bond is indicated at C, the ends of which
enter the perforations at C¹, Fig. 2. I may mention that it is usual to provide
some means for anchoring or permanently securing the ends of the bond in the
perforations of the rail, but as very many such devices are in common use, and as
my invention has no relation to any particular device for anchoring the bond in
place I have shown simply a tight contact between the bond end and the
perforation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
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1. In an electric bond for railway rails the combination of an iron or steel rail
having a perforation formed in it at an acute angle to the plane of the web of the
rail with a bond formed of metal having greater conductivity than the metal of
the rail, said bond being inserted in and brought into close contact with the sides
cf the perforation in the rail, all substantially as specified' and so as to provide an
enlarged contact surface between the rail and bond.
2. A rail for electric railways having a beading extending out from it and a
bond receiving perforation formed through said beading and the adjacent metal
of the rail proper.
3. In an electric bond for railway rails the combination of an iron or steel rail
having a beading extending laterally from its web and a perforation formed
through the web and beading, of a bond formed of metal having greater conduc-
tivity than the metal of the rail, said bond being inserted in the perforation and
brought into close contact with its walls.
4. The combination of two abutting rails for electric railways each having a
Leading extending laterally from its web and a perforation formed in said beading
of a fish plate or plates adapted to secure said rails together having recesses adapted

page_text: to secure the beading on the rails and perforations formed through said recesses
to register with the perforations in the rail and give passage to an electric rail
bond.
Dated thin 5th dow... 1007
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.