US359089A - Railroad-crossing - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. MGKENNA.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

No. 859,089. Patented Mar. 8, 1887.

pVz'znessesx [7421614107 8 W (707272 fly (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. J. MQKENNA.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

Patented M21128, 1887.

lzz's Attorney.

IJ'NiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.IOHN MCKENN A, OF JOHNSTOVVN, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

EPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,089, dated March 8, 1887.

Application tiled October 14, 1886. Serial No. 216,205. (No niodolJ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MCKENNA, acitizen of the United States, residing at Johnstown, in the county of Oambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Grossings5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railroadcrossings. Heretofore these have generally been constructed from a cast plate, or from the rails themselves crossed one into the other and bolted together by splice-bars. Considerable difficulty is always experienced in making crossings in either of these ways, and especially when the angles are particular ones, as they usually are.

The object of the present invention is to supply a railroadcrossing which shall be strong and durable, and which shall be composed of parts of such form that they may be produced by machinery, thus allowing the parts to be made interchangeable, if desired. Furthermore, the object is to supply a railroad-crossing so constructed that the parts may be quickly and easily adjusted to adaptthemselves to any angle at which it may be desired that the rails shall cross each other.

WVith these objects in view myinvention resides, essentially, in a railroad-crossing consisting of a base-plate capable of being firmly secured to the sleepers or embedded in the ground and having attached to it adjustable brackets upon which rest the ends of the rails forming the tracks which cross each other.

Furthermore, the invention resides in a railroad-crossing consisting, essentially, in a base and an upper plateprovided with ridges forming continuations of the adjacent rails, the base being; provided with adjustable projections or brackets, which form supports for the ends of adjacent rails.

The invention consists, finally, in a base having a circular groove capable of receiving and holding the head of a bolt or theheads of bolts in combination with a bracket or with brackets held by a bolt or by bolts, whereby the brackets are made adjustable.

I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 1s a plan view of a crossing constructedin aecordance with my invent-ion. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section.

In these drawings, A represents the base of the crossing, which is provided at the bottom with a flange, a, through holes in which may be passed bolts for securing the base either to sleepers or to any other piece of wood or other suitable material embedded in the ground. It is provided at the top with a flange, a, to which is secured, by screws or bolts, atop plate, upon which the wheels bear.

A represents brackets the inner ends of which are of such shape as to conform to that part of the base against which they bear. The upper portions, a of these brackets are pro vided with sockets for the reception of the ends of rails adjacent to the crossing.

The preferred means of attaching is by the bolts A, which project from the base, pass through depending portions of the brackets, and have nuts upon their outer ends to bind the bracket to the sides of the base.

In order that the brackets may be capable of being placed in such relation to the base as to enable a crossing of any desired angle to be made, the bolts are rendered capable of being moved around the base. This is accomplished by inserting the head of the bolt into a groove, a formed in the base. This groove is T- shaped, or of other suitable form, and theinner portion is of such size as to hold the heads of the bolts employed in such manner as to prevent their turning; A space, (6. sufficiently large to allow the insertion of the heads of the bolts, and which communicates with the groove, is provided upon one side of the base. The heads of the bolts utilized to attach the brackets are inserted into this and the bolts are then moved around to the desired place.

B represents the upper or face plate, which is attached to the base by screws or bolts Z). This plate is grooved in such manner as to form ridges b, which serveas continuations of the rails If. The grooves are provided with raised portions 1) near the point of intersection in such manner as to raise the wheels passing over the same and avoid sharp contact with the angles formed by the grooves.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the brackets which connect the base of the crossing and the adjacent rails may be moved to any desired position, producing a crossing of whatever angle may be formed by the intersecting rails, and allowing the use of one construction of devicein all situations. The only part necessarily of special construction is the face-plate, and this may be cast or otherwise made to conform exactly to the angle at which the rails cross each other after this angle has been ascertained.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is if 1. A railroad-crossing consisting of the base provided with adjustable brackets for receiving and sustaining the ends of adjacent rails, substantially as described.

2. A railroad-crossing consisting of a base 20 JOHN MOKENNA;

Witnesses:

STEPHEN QUIRK, GEORGE H. BROWN.

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