Improvements in Railway Fish Plates.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Nov., 1898-Accepted, 17th Dec., 1898
.....
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Fish Plates.
I, ERDMANN MEYER, of Neue Luissenstrasse, 17^, Wildpark, near Potsdam, in
the Empire of Germany, Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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 the present invention is an improvement in fish plates for con-
necting the rails of railways by the use of which the locomotives and cars may
pass without jar or vibration over the places of junction of the rails.
In the annexed drawing Fig. 1 is a plan, Fig. 2 an exterior side elevation,
Fig. 3 an interior side elevation and Fig. 4 a cross section on line of Fig. 1,
showing parts of two rails connected at their ends by the improved fish plates.
The fish plates consist as before of steel plates which are fastened one on each.
side of the rails by means of bolts. The fish plates at present used fill the space
between the head and foot of the rail and lie flat against the web of the rail. The
end of the rail being more or less flattened and when not well supported by the
fish plate, bent down, the flange of the wheel arrives with a certain blow upon
the end of the other rail and has to mount thereon, thus causing an unpleasant
jerk.
The novelty of my fish plates consists in their upper surface forming a running
surface for the wheel so as to take the load off the rail ends and enable the wheel
to roll without jerk from one rail to the next, the said surface being slightly
curved upwards. Its centre is high enough to support the flange or the tire of the
wheel respectively at the moment it crosses the interval between the rail ends.
When the wheel passes over the fish plates as shown in Fig. 4 its weight is
taken thereby from the rail head. The under surface of the fish plate is well
supported on the foot of the rails so that the load does not come on the bolts
which secure the fish plate.
In the drawing a a represent the rails, the outer fish plate, e the inner fish
plate d are the bolts which secure the fish plates. The drawing represents the
fish plates as having a web projecting downwards below the level of the rail foot
and so support better the curved surfaces which momentarily carry the load of
the passing wheel, but it is clear that this downward extension is not essential.
The best raw material should be used for these fish plates, and although their
cost will thus be greater than that of those formerly used, an equivalent saving
will be made in the greater durability of the rolling stock.
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. A rail connection by means of fish plates in which the upper surface of the
fish plates acts as a running surface for the tyre or flange of the wheel auch
facilitates the rise and fall of the wheel in a flat curve.
2. A fish plate adapted to be fitted to the exterior of the rail track and having

page_text: its head projecting above the rail head and its depth diminished to both ends in
a flat curve, its base resting on the rail foot.
3. A fish plate adapted to be fitted to the inner side of a rail track and having
its head adapted to form a running surface for the wheel flange and curved down-
wards slightly to both ends to permit of the rise and fall of the wheel without 5
jerk, the base of said fish plate resting on the rail foot.
Dated this 12th day of December 1898.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant, 18, Buckingham Street, Strand.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant, 18, Buckingham Street, Strand.