Lap joint for highway guard rail

Claim 1

IN A LAP JOINT BETWEEN TWO SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICALLY SHAPED ELONGATED SHEET METAL MEMBERS WHEREIN EACH MEMBER HAS AT LEAST ONE PORTION INTERMEDIATE ITS SIDES OFFSET OUTWARDLY FROM THE NORMAL PLANE OF THE MEMBER AND EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID SIDES OF THE SAID MEMBER, AND WHEREIN SAID OFFSET IS PROVIDED WITH SLOPING WALLS WHEREBY A NEUTRAL AXIS IS ESTABLISHED IN SAID MEMBER AND THE DEPTH OF SAID OFFSET IS SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE AN EFFECTIVE FORE-SHORTENING OF THE SLOPING WALLS OF THE OFFSET OF THE OUTER MEMBER WITH RESPECT TO THE SIMILARLY SLOPED WALLS OF THE OFFSET OF THE INNER MEMBER AND MISALIGNMENT OF THE AXES OF ANY SIMILARLY DISPOSED BOLT HOLES IN SAID MEMBERS WHEN SAID MEMBERS ARE NESTED AND LAPPED, ONE END PORTION OF ONE MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OF STAGGERED HOLES IN THE OFFSET THEREOF WITH THE AXES OF SAID HOLES ALL BEING POSITIONED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM AND SLIGHTLY BELOW THE NEUTRAL AXIS OF SAID MEMBER, THE OPPOSING END PORTION OF THE SECOND MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OF SIMILARLY DISPOSED HOLES IN THE OFFSET THEREOF, THE AXIS OF SAID LAST MENTIONED HOLES ALL BEING POSITIONED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE NEUTRAL AXIS OF SAID SECOND MEMBER, BOTH OF SAID PREDETERMINED DISTANCES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL, SUCH THAT WHEN THE OPPOSING END PORTIONS OF THE TWO MEMBERS ARE OVERLAPPED, EACH SERIES OF HOLES IS ALIGNED IN PAIRED RELATIONSHIP AND THE AXES OF THE HOLES IN EACH PAIR OF ALIGNED HOLES COINCIDE AND INTERSECT AT THE SAME POINT WITH THE COMMON NEUTRAL AXIS OF THE LAP JOINT FORMED BY THE OVERLAPPED MEMBERS, SAID COMMON NEUTRAL AXIS OF THE LAP JOINT ALSO BEING LOCATED INTERMEDIATE TO THE NEUTRAL AXIS OF EACH OF THE TWO LAPPED MEMBERS, AND BOLT MEANS PROJECTING THROUGH THE HOLES IN BOTH SERIES OF HOLES AND SECURING SAID MEMBERS TOGETHER.