Improvements in or connected with the Fish Joints of Tramways.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 24th Oct., 1892-Accepted, 26th Nov., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with the Fish Joints of Tramways.
We, HUGH EDWARD WHYTEHEAD, of The Hermitage, Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire, Engineer, and JOHN WILLIM HALL, of Ivy House, Bilston,
Staffordshire, aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide improved means for giving access to
the nuts of the bolts which secure the fish joints of tramway rails so as to enable
the said nuts to be tightened up by a spanner periodically as may be required
without disturbing the sets or other pavement of the roadway.
In carrying out this invention instead of laying the sets or other pavement close
up to the rails so as to cover or hide the nuts of the fish bolts as is usual, we leave
a narrow space between the sets or other pavement and the sides of the rails where
the fish bolt nuts are so that the said nuts can readily be tightened up by a spanner
without disturbing the sets or other pavement. The said space is or may be
temporally filled in with sand or by a piece of wood or a casting or other substance
which can easily be removed to enable the nuts to be tightened up as aforesaid.
We may provide a frame of cast iron or other metal or a block of stone blue
brick or other substance in which is formed the said space round the fish bolt nuts,
this frame or block being adapted to fit in between the sets or other pavement and
the side of the rail and make a good finish to the said space round the nuts.
removable cover is or may be provided for the said space and adapted to fit
therein.
A
The said frame may be formed as a part of the fish plate by continuing the lower
part of the fish plate upwardly so as to form a second vertical plate beyond the
buts and a short distance from the fish plate proper and preferably parallel
therewith.
Dated this 11th day of March 1899
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with the Fish Joints of Tramways.
We, HUGH EDWARD WHYTEHEAD, of The Hermitage, Stoke on Trent,
Staffordshire, Engineer, and JOHN WILLIM HALL, of Ivy House, Bilston,
Staffordshire, aforesaid, Engineer, 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 :—
The object of this invention is to provide improved means for giving access to
the nuts of the bolts which secure the fish joints of tramway rails so as to enable
the said nuts to be tightened up by a spanner periodically as may be required
without disturbing the sets or other pavement of the roadway.
In carrying out this invention instead of laying the sets or other pavement close
up to the rails so as to cover or hide the nuts of the fish bolts as is usual we provide
a frame of cast iron or other metal in which is formed a space round the fish bolt
nuts, this frame being adapted to fit in between the sets or other pavement and the
side of the rail and make a good finish to the said space round the nuts.
removable cover is or may be provided for the said space and adapted to fit therein.
CO
A

page_text: When this cover has been removed the nuts of the fish bolts can readily be
tightened up by a spanner.
The said frame may be formed as a part of the fish plate by continuing the lower
part of the fish plate upwardly so as to form a second vertical plate or web beyond
the nuts and a short distance from the fish plate proper and preferably parallel
therewith.
On the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a cross sectional elevation of a fish joint of tramway rails with our
invention applied in the form of a cast metal frame, in this case carried by a sole
plate;
Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the fish joint and frame taken on·line.X*X.
of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a part sectional plan of the same;
Fig. 4. represents the same parts as Fig. 1 but in this case the said frame is used
without the sole plate;
Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form of the said frame continued under the rails;
Figs. 6 and 7 shew.another form of our invention made of wrought iron.or
steel.;
Fig. 8 shews another form of the removable .cover;
Fig. 9 shews another arrangement of our invention;
Fig. 10.shews another arrangement of the same and
Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate another arrangement of the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures of the drawings.
A1 A2 are two tramway rails, secured together by the fish plates B B and
bolts C in the usual way and D is the frame of cast iron or other,metal fitting,
between the, sets G or other pavement and the sides of the rail and forming the
space E round the fish bolt nuts e of sufficient size to allow of a spanner being used
on the nuts c. The frame D can be. constructed in various ways and either of.cast
iron or steel or.of wrought iron or steel. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 shew various forms
of the frame. D. when made, of. cast. metal and Figs. 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 shew
various forms of the said frame D made of wrought metal either rolled to the
particular sections shewn or raised from plate metal in dies. Moreover the frame D
can either be made with a bottom flange or base to bed' on to a sole plate F
(Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7) or the flange or base d' can bed upon the concrete or
sleepers on which the railst are laid (Figs. 4, 5, 9, 10 11 and 12) and the flange or
base d' can be arranged to be only under the sets G or other pavement (Figs. 1, 2,
3 and 4) or only under the rails (Figs. 9, 11 and 12) or for extra steadiness the
flange or based can be continued both under the rails and under the pavement G
(see Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 10). The, space E may either be closed at the ends by the
ends of the frame D' being continued round to the side of the rail (see Figs. 123,
4, 5, 6, 7) or the frame D may be open at the ends' (Figs. 9 and 10) and the
space E closed by the sets or other pavement: H is the removable cover for
closing the space E. This cover H (see Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) is by preference a
flat bar rolled with a chequered upper surface and arranged to rest on and be let in
flush with the top of the frame D; or instead of resting on the top of the frame D
the cover Himay be supported from the base of the rails or from the bottom of the
frame D'by having a downwardly projecting portion hat each end as shewn in.
Fig. 8 or the cover may take the form of a removable, block of metal or wood:
shaped so as to fill in the space E..
Figs. 13, 14 and 15 illustrate the modification of our invention where the said
frame forms part of the fish plate. Upon referring to Figures. 13 and 14 it will be.
seen that the lower part of the fish plate is continued upwardly as a second vertical
plate or web D/beyond the nuts and a short distance therefrom, thus forming the.
space E the ends of which may be closed by vertical websl connecting the fish plate.
proper B with the plate or web-D:: The top of the space. E may be closed in any
of the ways above described.
6

page_text: Instead of the combined fish plate and frame being made of cast metal as shewn
by Figs. 13 and 14 it may be made of wrought iron or steel by rolling a trough
section bar of the proper section (see Fig. 15) which forms the fish plate proper B³
and the vertical plate or web D and then sawing or otherwise cutting this bar up
into the lengths required for the fish plates. In this case the ends of the combined
fish plate and frame will be open but they can readily be closed by the sets. One
side of the removable cover H rests on the top edge of the fish plate proper B'
which is turned back from the rails for this purpose and the other side of the cover
rests in a rebate on the top edge of the vertical web D; or the combined fish plate
and frame may be made from plate metal by stamping in dies or by various bending
processes so as to obtain somewhere about the same cross section as shewn in
Fig. 15.
The accompanying drawings shew what we consider to be the best methods of
carrying our invention into practice but it is to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details shewn as they may be varied without departing
from the nature of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The improvements in or connected with the fish joints of tramways for giving
access to the nuts of the bolts without disturbing the sets or other pavement of the
roadway, herein before described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings,
that is to say, the employment at the fish joints of tramways of a metal frame such
as D between the sets or other pavement and the side of the rails forming a space
round the nuts of the fish joint the said frame being either made separate from the
fish plates (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12) or made in a piece with one of
the fish plates (Figs. 13, 14 and 15) and either made with or without a removable
cover such as H, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the.
accompanying drawings.
2. The hereindescribed improved fish plate for tramway joints made with an
upwardly projecting plate or web D so as to form a narrow open topped space for
the bolts of the nuts, and either adapted to receive a removable cover or not,
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by Figs. 13 14 and 15 of the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of October 1892.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.