Improvements in Rail Butt Joints and Fish Plate Fastenings for Railways and Tramways.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 6th July, 1896-Accepted, 5th Sept.. 1895
COMPLETE. SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rail Butt Joints and Fish Plate Fastenings for
Railways and Tramways.
I ALFRED ROBERTO PULLEN of Liverpool Street Paddington near Sydney in
the Colony of New South Wales 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 certain improvements in rail butt joints and fish plate
fastenings for railways and tramways by which rigidity and stability of the rail
upon the foundation is attained to a greater extent than has been hitherto possible and
the said improvements consist first in the particular construction of the ends or butts
of the rail so that when these ends are butted together and fastened by fish plates
the weight sustained by a wheel travelling over the said butt joint of the rails will:
during the time said junction is being passed be partly upon one rail and partly on
the other and these improvements consist, secondly of the combination with the.
butted rails and a fish plate of a guard or protector box supported by the fish
bolts and adapted to protect the bolts and nuts against contact with the road or
way and allowing of the tightening of the nuts of the fish bolts without disturbance
of the said road or way and adapted also by an additional locking plate to prevent
This invention further
the nuts of the fish bolts from turning or loosening.
consists of a modification of the said guard or protector box or part thereof so as to
provide a device or devices for locking the fish bolt nuts peculiarly constructed;
for the purpose when other parts of said guard or protector box are dispensed with.
In order that this invention may be more clearly understood reference is made
to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a plan of a rail end according to this invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the butt joint of two rails having ends formed
according to this invention and having also a guard or protector box and locking
piece constructed according to this invention.
Figure 3 is a cross section of a rail and its tish guard or protector box according
to this invention.
Figure 4 is a detail of the guard or protector box and Figure 5 is a detail of the
locking plate forming part of said guard or protector box.
Figure 6 is a similar view to Figure 2 but in this case a modification of the
locking plate and a peculiar construction of nut is used instead of the guard or
protector box. Figure 7 is a detail of the said modified locking plate and
Figures 8 and 9 are details of the peculiarly constructed nuts.
Figure 10 is a perspective view of a spring washer which in some cases may be
used on these fish joints.
The butt joint shewn in Figure 2 is more especially useful where rails are laid
in streets as for tramways and where a paved carriage way is provided in the said
streets while the butt joint represented in Figure 6 is more especially suitable for
open railways or where the rail is above the ground.
The rails A are peculiarly constructed at their ends. as.shewn in Figure 1 by
having the end face of the tread portion made approximately in, the form of the
letter "S" and the tails or ends extended across the flange at right angles or
thereabouts to the length of said rail and it is this peculiar formation of end which
enables the weight on the wheel passing over the joint to be distributed between the
two butted rails.

page_text: The guard or protector box B takes against the edge of the tread A¹ of the rail
and against the fish plate C with its holes B¹ over two of the fish bolts C¹ C.
The locking plate B has a flange B³ thereon forming a cover to the protector box
after the fish bolts C1, C2, C3, C4, are screwed tightly up. This locking plate or
cover is slipped over the box B so that its extending pieces B will take between
the sides of said nuts and so prevent them from turning or loosening. The
railway being paved right up to the edge of the guard or protector box need not
be disturbed when inspection or repair is necessary as the cover B³ and locking
plate B need only be lifted to obtain access to the bolts and freedom to manipulate
them.
In using the modified locking plate as shewn in Figure 7 it is made in pieces D
and the nuts E as shewn in Figures 8 and 9 are rabbetted as at E and the
rabbetted face as shewn in Figure 6 placed inwardly when tightening up. The
locking pieces D are of a breadth and length just sufficient to take behind
the rabbetted part of the nut and bear against the smaller portion and they have
flanges D or the like upon them to prevent them passing right through or falling
out and they are easily removable or withdrawn by such flange when necessary.
To prevent vibration and provide a means within certain limits of always keeping
the fish bolt tight the crescent sectioned convex spring plate or washer
tempered steel or like material shewn in Figure 10 may be used and this may be
used with either the arrangement shewn in Figure 2 or that shewn in Figure 6 and
in the latter case with or without the locking plate and rabbetted nut.
of
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
First. The construction of rails for permanent ways of railway or tramways
having their ends with the end face of the tread or weight bearing portion
approximately in the form of the letter "S" with. its tails extended at right
angles or thereabouts to the length of the rail substantially as herein described and
explained.
Second. The combination and arrangement with the butted rails and fish plates
and fish bolts of a guard or protector box for the joint and for locking the nuts of
the bolts substantially as herein described and explained.
Third. The particular construction of guard or protector box and locking plate
and cover substantially as herein described and explained and as illustrated in
Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings.
Fourth. The modified construction of locking plate for nuts of fish bolts and the
like consisting of flanged pieces such as D and of rabbetted nuts such as E adapted
to receive said locking pieces behind and within their rabbets substantially as
herein described and explained and as illustrated in Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the
drawings.
Fifth. The combination and arrangement with fish bolts of rail joints of a
crescent sectioned convex washer or spring plate of tempered steel or like material
adapted to take between the fish plate and the nut substantially as herein described
and explained and as illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this Twentieth day of May Oue thousand eight hundred and
ninety-six.
A. ROBERTO PULLEN.