AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF JOINTS FOR RAILWAY BARS OR RAILS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF JOINTS FOR
RAILWAY BARS OR RAILS."-A communication from abroad by George
Smith Avery, of Cross River, West Chester, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 17th July 1860, and dated the 11th February 1860..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th February 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF JOINTS FOR
RAILWAY BARS OR RAILS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel mode of constructing the lap joints of
railway bars or rails, whereby, among other advantages, the necessity for using
joint chairs is dispensed with.
The improvement is obtained by the offsetting or bending of the end of one
bar or rail, and lapping the end of the next one alongside of it as far as the
off-set extends, and rivetting or bolting the two lapping portions together with
or without the application of a key or filling piece of wood or iron in the space
between the necks of the rails where they are lapped, thus forming a con-
tinuous rail with lap joints of greater strength and durability than the joints
generally used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Vincent, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF JOINTS FOR RAILWAY BARS OR RAILS,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
consists in the construction of the joints of railway bars or rails by the
offsetting or bending of the end of one bar or rail, and lapping the end of the
next one alongside of it as far as it is offset, and riveting or bolting the two
lapping portions together, with or without a key of wood or iron, in the space
between the necks of the rails where they are lapped, thus forming a con-
tinuous rail with lap joints of greater strength and durability than the joints
generally used.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which repre-

page_text: sents its application to the inverted T-form of rail.
Fig. 1 is a perspective
Fig. 4 is a
view of a joint. Figures 2 and 3 are transverse sections of rails.
top view of the offset part of the joint, and Fig. 5 a bottom view of the same.
Fig. 6 is a top view of the other part of the joint, and Fig. 7 a bottom view
of the same. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a solid wooden key to be
employed between the rails where they are lapped. Fig. 9 is a perspective
view of a tubular iron key for the same purpose. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
The Invention is applicable to rails of the inverted T-form, or to those of
the I-form, and in applying it to rails of the form first mentioned, they may
be made a continuous fin a projecting downward from the bottom, as shewn
in Figures 1, 5, and 7, or with the usual flat base, as shewn in Fig. 3.
To
construct the joint, one rail A is offset, as shewn at b, Figures 1, 4, and 5, at
about one foot or more or less from its end in a horizontal direction to a
distance about equal to the width of the head of the rail. The inside flange
of the base of the offset portion of the rail is cut off when the base is wider
than the head to make it perpendicular, or thereabout, with the inner edge
of the head. The corresponding portion of the other rail B which is to lap
against the offset portion of A is left straight with the main portion of the
rail, the outside flange of the base being cut off (when the base is wider than
the head) perpendicular, or thereabout, with the outer edge of the head, as
shewn in Figures 6 and 7. Holes are also punched horizontally through the
necks of those portions of the rails which are to lap together, as shewn at c, c,
Fig. 1, for the purpose of receiving bolts or rivets d, d, for bolting or riveting
them together. The key C represented in Figures 8 and 9, when used should
fit the space between the necks of the rails, and may be of about the length
of the lap, and the bolts or rivets d, d, will pass through holes e, e, provided
for them in the keys.
By thus offsetting and lapping the joints of the rails several advantages are
obtained, viz., first, a greater breadth of bearing is secured for the rails at the
joints, and the necessity of joint chairs is dispensed with, and the bearing parts
of the wheels of the locomotives and carriages are kept upon one rail until
they come to a fair bearing upon the next one. Second, it admits of an
oblique joint being made where the heads of the rails meet, which prevents
the wheels jumping or jolting when the rails contract and leave an open joint.
Third, it gives nearly double the strength at the joint in a vertical direction
that is obtained by the joint commonly used, more especially when the key C
is used.
Ilaving now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved

page_text: Construction of Joint for Railway Bars or Rails," as communicated to me from
abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that I do not claim, broadly uniting the rails by means of
lap joints, but what I claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent is,
making a joint between two railway bars or rails by offsetting a portion of
one bar or rail near the end thereof, lapping the next bar or rail against the
said offset portion, and riveting or bolting the lapping portions together, either
with or without a key between them, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of August, in the year of
out Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)