Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to apparatusor use in the welding together of sections of railroad
rails by the use of electrodes. More specifically,
the present lnvention contemplates the use of mold
means in the form of members to cover the parts or
sections of the rail~ ~o b~ welded ~ogether, the mold
~embers having a specific shape and bein~ constituted
o~ speci~ic material~ to ~acil~tate the welding,
X~ ha~ bec~me a desirable practice in the
building of xail~ay beds to weld the sections of the
rails togethex to provide a smoother ride to the rail-
way passen~ers as well as ~o reduce the noise generated
when the wheels of the cars roll over the tracks. In
~he case of autogenous welding, that is, where the ends
of rail sec~ion~ are butted toge~her and hea~ed ~o fuse
~he parts t it has been the practice for two welders
to work on one rail joint with burners operating ~oward
~ach other in order ~o minimize the time required to
efect the weld over the relatively large cross-section
20 of the xailO Howe~er, such a procedure is expensive
~n ~erms of labor co~ts and also requires a considerable
re~working of ~he welded section~ to smooth them out.
It i~ an object of the presen~ inven~ion ~o
provide a~para~u~ for use in electroda ~ype welding
of ~h~ joint ~etween railway sec~ions which can be
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carried out by a single welder and which minimizes,
if not entirely eliminates, the necessity of re-working
the joint af'.er the weld is completed to finish it~
Fox ~-he attainment of these ends, the present
inven~ion provides a pluxality of mol~ members which
are disposecl around the joint of th~ sections to be
w~lded together. The mold members are constructed
of copper or ceramic materi21 and have a surface which
runs paralle~ to the surface of the parts ~hat are to
be welded. Spacing mem~er~ are provided on the mold
~embexs which con~act ~he rails and hold the mold members
at a pxedetermined distance from the surface of the xails,
Advantageously, the mold members are so shaped that
normal railway traffic need not be interrupted when the
mold members are in place, As a result, as soon as a
train has passed, the welder may return immediately to
car~y~ng out the welding without any adjus~ment of the
mold membersO
. In on~ emhodiment, the mold members disposed
on opposite sides of ~he xail arP held together by a
~pring clip ~ainst the parts to be weldedO The external
$ur'3ce of the molds is prov~ded with recesses fox re-
çeiv~ng the spring ~lip~ Further, the mold mem~ers
tha~ are placed on opposite $ides ~f the rail are shaped
to conform elosely to the web portion and rai~ head~
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A particularly durable and shock resistant arrangement for
making a very good weld sea~ includes a mold member having a
recess corresponding to the joint to be welded where a fire-
resistant insert is removably disposed in the recess of the
mold-member along its length corresponding to the ~ointO
While the mold~members may be made entirely of copper,
the present invention contemplates using a cexamic insert to
avoid the problem which arises when unskilled workers perform
the welding and the copper mel1s and Euses to surrounding ele-
ments. It has been found, on the other hand, when the mold-
members are made entirely of ceramic, they are not durable
enough to provide a useful life. Thus, the present invention
proposes using a ceramic insert in a mold-member, the body of
which is copper. The mold-member, in this instance, would have
a holding peg located in the recess to cooperate with a b~re
formed in the insert to removably hold the ceramic insert in
place during use. ~he insert may be usefully formed with a
grooYe which would be locat~d adjacent to the joint to be
welded tc run parallel therewith.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention,
there is provided an apparatus for use in the welding together
of railroad xails, superstructure profiles, to thereby extend
the same lengthwise using bar or wire ele~trodes chara~terized
by profiled mold members substantially covering up the joint
between the parts to be welded together, said mold members com-
prising copper material and having an elongated surface running
in parallel to and adjacent to the like ones of the parts tha~
are to be welded and said mold members including means to pre-
vent fusing of the copper material during welding and thus
affecting the purity o the welding seam, influencing the same
disadvantageou~ly .
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In accordance with a further aspect of the present in-
vention, there is provided an apparatus for the welding together
of railroad rails, supperstructure profiles, to thereby extend the
the same lengthwise, using bar or wire electrodes, characterized
by pro:f.iled mold-members substantially covering up the joint
between the parts to be welded together, said members being
made of preferably pure copper and having an elongated surface
running in parallel to and adjacent to like ones of the parts
that are to be welded, spacers located intermediate said mem-
bers and parts for maintaining said members in parts in selected
spaced relation, said mold-members further including .spaced
transverse bores for accomrnodating said spacers having pro-
truding heads or the like and which act respectively as a
locater for the parts that are to be welded together~
In accordance with a still further aspect of the
present invention, there is provided apparatus for the welding
of railroad rails, superstructure profiles, to thereby extend
the same lengthwise, using bar or wire electrodes, characterized
by profiled mold-members substantially covering up the joint
between the parts to be welded together, said members having
an elongated surface running in parallel to and adjacent to
like ones of the parts that are to be welded, which surface
includes a recess in which an insert of fireproof material
is disposed, said mold-members comprise copper material except
the insert which is of ceramic material, and wherein holding
peg means is disposed on the bottom of the recess for use in
se~uring said insertO
The foregoing and other advantages will ~ecome
apparent as cons.ideration is given to the following detailed
description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which
3a-
F~gure 1 is an end view il '.ustrating three
mold members assembled about a rail section according
. to the present inYention,
~ igur~ 2 is a side elevational view of the
, 5 lower mold membex o~ Figure l;
Figure 3 is a top plan view o the mold
mel~ber oE Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a front elevational view of a
late~al mold mem~er of Figure l;
la Figure 5 is a perspective view o~ a modified
mold member. a.ccording to the present invention;
Figure 6 is a front elevational view of the
mold member o~E Figure 5 showing an insert in place;
Figure 7 is a modified mold member which is
15 located beneath ~.e rail sec tion; and
E'igure 8 is a tsp plan view of the mola mem-
~er o~ Figure 70
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~ eferring now ~o the drawings wherein like
numeral.~ designate corresponding parts throughout
the several views, there is shown in Figure 1, the
plurality of mold means of the presel-.t inven ion dis-
5 posed about a rail 1. The mold members span a iointbe~ween the ends of rail 1 and the next adjacent rail
(~ot shown)~ A mold member 3 made of copper is placed
below the foot 2 of the rail prior to the welding opera-
~ion so that the member 3 spans the interval o~ the ~oint.
The mold members 6 and 7, als~ made of
copper, are p~aced laterally on both sides of the
rail w~bs 4 and of the rail heads 5 and a spring clip
~ ls placed as illustrated to hold the members 6 and
7 ti~htly against the xail web 4.
The copper mold members 3, 6 and 7 have trans-
vex~e bores 9 into which rivets 10 may be inserted.
The rivet head~ 11 protrude from the bores 9 and abut
against the rail ~eb ~ to thereby provide a gap 12
between the mold members 3~ 6 and 7 facing the rail
part~ to be welded. As illustrated in ~igure 1, the
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surface~ o the mold members 3 ~ 6 and 7 which face
the rail par$s are shaped to closely conform to
~he exterior surface of the rails so that the gap
12 ~ approximately the same dimension at all points
S between the rail and the mold members 3, 6 and 70
Wi~h this arrangement, during the welding
operation~ the r~sulting liquid slag can flow away
~n the gal?s 12 to form a layer betweerl the mold
member suriEaces and the s~lrface of the rails, ~hus
lû ~creening the weld agains!t oxygen and nitrogen and
al~o advant~geously allowing the weld to cool slowly
and thus minimize or elimlnate the creation of local
5tresse~ ~n the weld jo~ntO
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~ he mold member~ 3, 6 and 7 may be made of
pure copper since this element will not connect during
wèlding with the rails. On ~he other ha~d, the oopper
mold members will effec~ a good shaping of the weld and
will preven~ the occurrénce of swelling or beading of
th~ weld joint, ~hus minimizlng or e~en eliminating the
ne¢essity o re-wor~in~ the joint after the welding
is comple~edO
The exterior surfaces of the mold members
6 and 7 may have surface area enlarging forma~ions
$uch as rece~ses 13 to improve heat dissipation from
the mold me~ers.
~ h2 lower mold member 3 on its top side may
bQ pro~ided wlth a groove or drai~ 14 or the weld bath.
~ previously noted, the lateral mold members
~ and 7 may be held toge~her by a spring clamping clip
8, the ends 15 of which engage wi~h corresponding re-
cesses 16 formed i~ the exterior surfaces of the mold
membe~s. .I~ will be understQod~ of courseO that the
spring clip 8 may be s~ifted to clamp from below the
xa~ n general, the lateral mo~d members 6 and 7
are put in place whenever khe lower mold memher 3 has
~een ~nserted under the rail and the welding searn has
alr~ady been e~fected at the foo~ 2 of khe railO 5ub-
æequentlyO welding materials may be ;nserted into ~he
5g:~
join~ between the rails above ~lle foG~ and ~hen the
lalteral mc~ld m/~mbers 6 and 7 placed in position to
assure the dçsired shaping of t~e welding seam.
Referring now to Figures S and 5, khere is
disclosed a laterai mold member 21 which has a metallic
bc)dy, pre~erably of copper. The mold member 21 has in
ilts surface which faces the rail a grooved recess 22
extending from the upper edge to the lower s~dge of the
member~ Into the recess 22 an inse.rt 23 of fixe resis-
tan~ material such as refractory or ceramic rnaterial
i~ disposedO A holdlng pe~ 24 may be provided in the
a:ecess 24 I:o cos~erate with a bore in the inser~ 23
l~o hold the inser~ in place7 The insert 23 its~1~ is
providea with a longitudinal groove extending from the
top to the ~ottom edge of the mold member 2lo
Referring now to the em~odiment of Figures 7
and 8, thexe is illustrated ano~her modifi-.ation of
à ~old member ~1 which i5 formed as a lower mold member
corr~sponding ~o the mold member 3 of Figure 1. Mold
memb~r 219 is provided with a recess 22' extending from
ona ed~e ~o an opposite edge thereof. As with the
embr,~:lments of Figures 5 and 6, the recess 22 ' is pro
vided with holding pegs 241 which cooperate with bores
` ~ormed in ~he rear sur~ace of an insert 23 9 ~o hold the
~nsert 23 t in the groove or recess ~2'. Preferably, the
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ins~rt 23~ is made of a ceramic or other ~ireproof or
~re~resistant material and is removably held in the
mold member ~y the holding peg~ 24'1 Thus, ~he inserts
23 and ~3~ are easily remova~le so that they can be
xeplaced when worn out by ~ew inserts.
Spacing means similar to those shown at 11
in Figures 1 and 2 may also be provided in the mold
members 21 and 21' illustra~ed in Figures 5-8. Ordinarily,
however0 the provision of the longitudinal grooves 2S
10and ~5 in the inserts 23 and 23' will eliminate the
need for such spaclng meansO Also, ~h~ mold members
o~ Figures S~8 may also be held in place by a spring
clip in a manner analagous to that illustrated in
~gux~ lo
lSWhile ~he ~or going has been a description
of th~ p~eferxed embodiments of the invention0 it
will ~e obvious t~ those skilled in ~his art ~hat
various modi~ications may be made therein without
departing from the spirit ~nd scope of the present
~nvention a~ deined in he appended claims.
