Railway Rail Joint Page: 2 of 3
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE
WATT. .M. NICHOLS, OF MAMBRINO, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JOHN T.
CHANLER, OF GRANBURY, TEXAS, AND ONE-THIRD TO JOSEPH L. HARPER, OF
NERI, TEXAS.
RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.Specification of Letters Patent.
Patented July 25,1916.
Application filed May 4, 1916. Serial No. 95,292.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, WATT. M. NIcHOLs, a
citizen of the United States, residing at
Mambrino, in the county of Hood and State
5 of Texas, have invented certain new and
useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Joints,
of which the following is a specification.
My invention relates to joints for railway
rails, and more particularly to means for
10 strengthening the rails at their meeting
ends; and the object is to provide a rail joint
for the abutting ends of rails which will
make the track as strong at the meeting ends
of the rails as at any other point and to
15 make the track rigid at the meeting ends of
the rails, and to provide a joint which can-
not be taken apart by mischievous persons.
Other objects and advantages will be fully
explained in the following description and
20 the invention will be more particularly
pointed out in the claims.
Reference is had to the accompanying
drawings which form a part of this appli-
cation.
25 Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved
rail joint. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the fish
plate which carries the locking lugs, show-
ing a portion broken for the purpose of
showing that the lugs are integral with the
so fish plate. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a
rail and an end view of the joint forming
devices. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the
key. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a key
which has a slight variation from the key of
35 Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vertical section through
a joint, showing a variation in the joint-
forming devices.
Similar characters of reference are used
to indicate the same parts throughout the
40 several parts.
In the drawings the ends 1 and 2 are
shown connected by fish plates 3 and 4
which have pockets 5 which inclose portions
6 of the flanges of the rails and thus form
45 chairs for the rails. The fish plate 4 has
locking lugs 7 integral therewith and pro-
jecting through the webs of the rails. A
brace 8 is placed next to the ends of the
rails and bears against the sides of the rails.
5o A wooden expansion brace 9 is placed be-
tween the brace 8 and the fish plate 3 andthe fish plate 3 and the brace 8 have flanges
above and below the brace 9 which sub-
stantially inclose this brace, merely leaving
space between the flanges 10 and 11 for con- 55
traction or compression of the brace 9. The
fish plate 4 and the brace are cut out next
to the web of the rail so that there will be
some space for springing the brace and the
fish plate in putting in the keys hereinafter 60
described. Openings 12 are formed in the
lugs for keys 13. The end walls of the
openings 12 are formed into racks 14 to be
engaged by teeth 15 of the keys 13. The
lugs 7 project through the webs of the rails 65
and through braces 8 and 9 and though the
fish plate 3 and are locked therein by keys
13. The keys 13 are inserted in the lugs by
clamping the fish plate 3 and compressing
the brace 9 so that the keys will enter the 70
openings in the ends of the lugs. When the
keys are inserted, they can be removed only
by clamping and compressing the fish plate
3 and the brace 9. The brace 9 is preferably
of wood because it can be compressed suffi- 75
ciently for inserting and removing keys 13.
The fish plate 3 may have a projecting lip
16 to engage recesses 17 cut in the key 13
for cooperating with the teeth 15 and rack
14 for holding the key in its seat. 80
A variation in the mechanisih for locking
the fish-plates 3 and 4 on the ends of the
abutting rails, is shown in Fig. 6. The lugs
18 may be made cylindrical and nuts 19
screwed on the lugs. A spiral spring 21- is 85
placed on the lugs 18 within the brace 9.
Seats are cut in the fish plate 3 and in the
brace 8 for the spring 21. The nuts 19 may
be provided with ratchet teeth 20 to engage
face racks on the fish plate 3 so that the nuts 9o
cannot be removed from the lugs without
compressing the brace 9 and brace 8. The
spring 21 will cooperate with the brace 9 in
holding the nut 19 in engagement with the
fish-plate 3. 95
In addition to the locking devices above
described, the spikes 22 which are used to se-
cure the rails to the ties will also serve as
locking devices. The joint could not be
taken apart even after the keys 13 were re- 100
moved until the spikes 22 were pulled up or
broken off. Various changes in the sizes,1,192,553.
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Nichols, Walt M. Railway Rail Joint, patent, July 25, 1916; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth858507/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.