Rail-Joint. Page: 2 of 3
This patent is part of the collection entitled: Texas Patents and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
ANDREW FREE, OF SULPHUR BLUFF, TEXAS.
RAIL-JOINT.Specification of Letters Patent.
Patented Oct. 10, 1911.
Application filed March 11, 1911. Serial No. 613,725.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, ANDREW FREE, a
citizen of the United States, residing at
Sulphur Bluff, in the county of Hopkins
5 and State of Texas, have invented certain
new and useful Improvements in Rail-
Joints, of which the following is a specifica-
tion, reference being had to the accompany-
ing drawings.
10 My invention relates to new and useful
improvements in railway rail joints, and
more particularly to the class of joints
wherein the use of bolts and nuts is elimi-
nated, and my object is to provide a device
15 of this character in which the ends of the
rails are provided with interlocking exten-
sions.
A further object of the invention resides
in providing a connecting member designed
20 to fit between the ends of the rails and over
the interlocking extensions thereof.
A still further object is to provide a joint
of this character which is of such simple
construction as to be cheaply manufactured,
25 and which will be very effective in locking
the ends of the rails without the use of bolts
and nuts.
With these and other objects in view, my
invention consists in the novel features of
30 construction, combination and arrangement
of parts as will be hereinafter referred to
and more particularly pointed out in the
specification and claims.
In the accompanying drawing, forming
35 a part of this application, Figure 1 is a
side elevation of the rail joint having a por-
tion thereof broken away to show the en-
gagement of the locking members; Fig. 2
is a detail perspective view of one end of a
40 rail; Fig. 3 is a similar view of the end of
the opposed rail; and Fig. 4 is a detail per-
spective view of the connecting member.
In carrying out my invention, I shall re-
fer to the drawing, in which similar refer-
45 ence characters designate corresponding
parts throughout the several views, and in
which 1 and 2 indicate, respectively, the ends
of two opposed rails which are adapted to
be joined, said rail ends being provided
50 with longitudinal extensions 4 and 3, re-
spectively. The extension 3, of the rail 2,
is formed on a portion of the web, and has
the base, or bottom face thereof, in con-
tinuation with the base or bottom face of
55 said rail proper, and the outer end of said
extension is provided with an upwardly ex-tending projection 5, the inner face of which
is inclined, as shown at 6.
The opposed rail end 1, has its extension
4 formed between the web and tread thereof, 60
and the outer end of said extension 4 is
provided with a downwardly extending pro-
jection 7, the inner face of said projection
being also inclined, as shown at 8, at an an-
gle coincident to the inclination of the face 65
6 of the opposite projection. These exten-
sions and projections are of equal length,
so that when engaged with one another the
inclined faces 6 and 8 of the projections will
snugly engage one another, and the outer 70
ends of said extensions will fit tightly
against the webs of the opposed rails. In
this manner the ends of the rails may be
securely locked together, but this means
will, of course, only prevent longitudinal 75
movement of the rails.
. In order to prevent any possibility of
lateral movement of the interlocked exten-
sions of the rails, and further to cover the
space left between the ends of the opposed so
rails, I provide the connecting member 9,
which is of a length equal to the length of
the extensions 3 and 4, and channel or U-
shaped in cross-section. The inner faces of
the walls of said connecting member are 85
fiat and the distance between the side walls
thereof is equal to the width of said exten-
sions 3 and 4, so that when said connecting
member is positioned thereover, the same
will fit snugly between the ends of said 90
rails, and also engage tightly the sides of
said extensions. This connecting member
9 is of a height equal to the height of the
rails and the outer faces of the walls thereof
are curved coincident to the curvature of 95
said rails, whereby when the connecting
member has been properly positioned, there
will be no crevices or spaces between the
same and the ends of the rails, and a per-
fect rail surface for the wheels of the car 100
to pass thereover will be provided.
It will be understood that when such a
joint, as above described, is sued in practice,
a tie of the usual or any preferred form is to
be placed immediately thereunder and in 105
order to provide for the securing of the
rails to the tie, I provide the usual spike-
receiving openings 10, adjacent the ends
thereof. In this manner, two rail ends
having interlocking extensions may be se- 110
cured to a tie and the connecting member
merely spaced from said extensions, where-1,005,529.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This patent can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Patent.
Free, Andrew. Rail-Joint., patent, October 10, 1911; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth512916/m1/2/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.