Patent GB-190418449-A (GB)
Title: An Improved Apparatus for Boring Railway Sleepers.
Inventor: COLLET ALBERT
Filed: 1904-08-25
Granted: 1905-07-13
Abstract: 18,449. Collet, A. Aug. 25. Sleepers ; plant for laying track.-A portable drilling-machine for boring railway sleepers has a special driving-mechanism, sensitive feed, and withdrawing motion, a spring presser-foot to guide and center the drill, vices worked by right and left handed screws to grip the rail, means for adjusting the position of the vices, and a special quadrant and lever for turning and locking the vice screws, and the machine is mounted on guide-tubes forming a horizontal or inclined plane and forming a support for a carriage. To bore a sleeper, the machine is brought above and placed so that the socket 7 of the spring presser-foot 6 centers in one of the holes in the feet 9 arranged under the rail and thereby centers the drill, and one of the two vices is caused to grip the rail by means of a right and left handed screw 2, having a square head y on which is mounted a notched washer z engaging with notches in a boss z' which is loose on the head y and is connected to a lever 3. A nut e<1> causes the notches to engage, and the lever 3 moving over a quadrant 5 causes the vice to grip the rail. To adjust the initial distance apart of the jaws 1, the nut e<1> is unscrewed and allows the washer z to disengage with the boss z' and to be turned in one direction or the other, consequently moving the jaws 1. The nut e<1> is then screwed up and the washer and boss caused to engage. The lever 3 is held in a suitable position by a screw 22 bearing on the quadrant 5 and worked by a hand-wheel 19 as shown in Fig. 5. The quadrant 5 is fixed to the frame k of the machine, and has a sleeve 16 mounted upon the tube l. The quadrant may have ratchet teeth and the lever a spring pawl to engage with the ratchet. In cases where the rail rests directly upon the sleeper, the socket 7 is plared against the foot of the rail and the lever 3 turned till the vice grips the rail. The machine being in position and the vertical shaft j. j<1> in motion, a lever s is depressed and causes a fork r to descend, which by the trunnions q carries a sleeve o which bears upon a tool-bolder connected to the vertical shaft and causes the whole to descend. The upper part j<1> of the vertical shaft is square to take the drive, and works in a sleeve h which is keyed to a pinion c driven by the pinion b from the shaft d. The shaft d is terminated by a square head e working in a sleeve f which allows it to be coupled to the driving-shaft g. As soon as the operator releases the lever s, the tool is brought back to its initial position by a spiral spring u. The hand-wheel 19 is then turned to release the screw 22, and the lever 3 is brought back until the jaws 1 release the rail. The machine is then ready for a fresh operation. The machine is fixed at the end of the tubes l of a support which is mounted on wheels running upon the rails of the permanent way. These two tubes may form an inclined or horizontal plane for giving a slight inclination to the apparatus as shown in Fig. 2, or a perfectly vertical direction. The jaws 1 are retained in the socket x<1> by a bent finger b<1> forming part of the lever 3 engaging with a circular projection a<1>. To remove the jaws and screw from the socket, the stop screw 23 is removed and the lever 3 turned until the circular projection a' ceases as shown in Fig. 3 and the lever has passed beyond the quadrant, when the jaws, screw, and lever may be bodily removed.