Improvements in Railway Joints.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Joints.
I, JOHN SPEICHER, of 105 Newark Avenue, in Jersey City in the County of Hudson,
and State of New Jersey, United States of America, (the same being also my post
office address,) Electrician, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY JOINTS," 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 that class of railway fish-plates
in which the lower edge of the upper or vertical portions of the plates are
provided with doubled plates adapted to engage the upper and lower sides of the
rail-flange.
The object of this invention is to secure a more rigid, yet elastic, joint for railway-
rails whereby a heavy railway-train may travel more smoothly or without the jar
incident to the joints now in use, to secure a more durable and firmor seat and
attachment to the sleepors of the track, to allow of greater certainty and ease of
adjustment and to secure other advantages and results, some of which will be here-
after referred to.
The invention consists in the improved fish-plate having the peculiar arrangements
and combinations of parts, substantially as hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in
the clauses of the claim.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate corre-
sponding parts in each of the several figures, figure 1, is a perspective view of a
rail-joint having my improvements, figure 2 is an end view of the same but devoid
of a certain feature of the improvement; figure 3, is a section taken through line.<
of figure 1, and figure 4 is a perspective view of a plate of the construction shown in
figure 2.
In said drawing, a indicates the rails, of which a' is the head, a' the web and a³ the
flange, b. b. are fish-plates for uniting the ends of said rails, and c, are the bolts for
fastening the said fish-plates to the rails in the usual manner.
The said fish-plates consist of vertical plates 61 61, having oppositely inclined
bearings, at the upper and lower edges of the same adapted to engage corre-
spondingly inclined bearings a' a" on the under side of the head and on the flange,
respectively, spaces c¹ being provided and adapted to allow of wear being taken up as
the bearings wear away.
At the lower edge of the vertical plates the same are each provided with a doubled
plate, having a flaring space b', between the parts thereof, into which the flange of
the rail is seated.
The parts of said doubled plate rest against the upper and under sides of the flange,
bearing against the same, as shown, thus adding greatly to both the lateral and
vertical strength of the joint.
The bearings 623, are of substantially the same degree of inclination, said
inclination being sufficient to allow of the vertical plate being wedged between the
head and flange and of the wear being taken up by the bolt from time to time, and
yet none of said bearings approach a vertical line but, on the contrary approach more
nearly to a horizontal line or plane; thus the head a¹ may rest hard on the upper
seat without any material tendency to force the vertical-plate outward and thus
uplifting the under flange 6 of the doubled plate so that its upper surface does not
rest flat against the under side of the rail.
The wedging of the vertical portion ¹, between the head and flange, and the
wedging of the flange between the flaring parts of the plate 6, are conducive to
great solidity or rigidity in the rail, so that a heavy train may travel thereover more
smoothly than when the means now ordinarily employed are used.
By having the bearings a, b, and a*, 62, at each side of the rail, uniform in degree

page_text: of angle and both of said bearings approximating horizontal planes, as described,
when the heavy load or weight of a locomotive approaches the extremity of the
rail, the natural tendency of which is to band downward, the lower inclined boaring
counteracts this tendency and also affects the upper oppositely inclined bearing in
such manner as to prevent tilting of the under flange or to avoid forcing the
under dange to an inclined position or out of parallel with respect to the rail, whereby
its efficiency in giving firmness to parts of the joint is increased and the tendency of
the parts to wear loose by the repeated and very severe hammering by the wheels of a
train is greatly lessened.
I am aware that under flanges or bearings for the bottom of the rails have been
employed in connection with vertical plates having opposite bearings to engage the
sides of the rails, but the said opposite bearings were not uniform in degree of incli-
nation nor were they approximately horizontal, as hereinbefore described, but, the
upper bearing, on the heal of the rail approximated a vertical plane, so that the pear-
shaped rail-head tended greatly to wedge the upper parts of the said vertical plates
apart, and to tilt the under plates, integrally connected therewith, so that their
efficiency in conducing to continued or lasting firmness was greatly reduced.
In order to allow for perfect adjustment, so that the double wedged fish-plate may
be drawn together and be seated perfectly in place without obstruction, I have
rounded the edge of the under flange, as shown at 6, so that the said edge will
ride over the burs a³, figures 2 & 3, or other obstacles on both, or either, the rail and
tie or sleeper.
At the turn or bend in the doubled portion of the plate b. I profer to form a
flange, figures 1 & 3, to enable the plate to be nailed to the sleepers or ties.
Said flange may be notched, as at, for the reception of the nails or spikes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
:-
:
1. The combination with the rails having the upper faces of the foot and the under
faces of the tread inclined at the same angle of the fish plates having vertical
portions inclined at the same angle at the upper and lower edges thereof, whereby
they engage the tread and foot and prevent collapsing of the rail, as set forth.
2. The combination with the rail having the upper faces of the foot and the under
faces of the tread similarly inclined of the fish plates having the horizontal portions
engaging the foot of the rail; vertical portions at their upper and lower edges
engaging the foot and tread and formed with enlargements whereby the foot and tread
of the rails are firmly and evenly supported; said horizontal portions being dis-
connected from one another, as shown and described.
3. The herein described fish-plate, consisting of the horizontal portion adapted to
receive the foot of the rail and having an extension provided with bolt openings, und
the vertical portion having the onlargements at the upper and lower edges thereof to
sustain the foot and tread of the rail, as set forth.
Dated tins 25th day of April 1890.
Dated tins 25th day of April 1890.
JOHN SPEICHER.
Euseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.