IMPROVEMENTS IN PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wood at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th November 1877.
CHARLES WOOD, of Middlesbrough, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN PERMANENT
WAYS OF RAILWAYS."
This Invention has for its object improved means of fastening rails upon sleepers
where cast-iron or wrought-iron sleepers are used, but more especially where
wrought-iron sleepers are employed.
I make a chair or clip, or a combination of both, and it is slipped into place from
the bottom side of the sleeper. One side of the clip catches the bottom flange of
the rail, if flat bottomed, or fits into the form of the rail when double headed; and
the other side of the clip forms a jaw, like an ordinary chair jaw, to hold an
ordinary railway key, either in wood or iron, wood being preferred. The key at
once fastens the rail and the chair upon the seat in the most simple manner.
I also give the tilt to the rail by slightly curving the sleeper in the middle.
I also fasten flat-bottomed rails upon the sleeper by means of a separate clip,
also put in from the bottom side. The clip catches one flange of the rail, and a bolt
fixed into a hole in the sleeper has a wedge-shaped washer, which rests upon the
other side of the rail and wedges tight the rail both sideways and downwards upon
the sleeper.
I prefer making the clips or chairs, as well as the sleepers, in rolled wrought
iron.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th May
1878.
CHARLES WOOD, of Middlesbrough, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN PERMANENT
WAYS OF RAILWAYS."
This Invention has for its object improvements in permanent ways of railways.
The sleepers which I employ, by preference, are of wrought iron or steel, of
trough-like form, and laid transversely, but cast-iron sleepers and sleepers laid
longitudinally may be employed.
I form holes in the sleeper, and into these boles I insert, preferably from the
under side, the chairs or clips, which serve to connect the sleepers with the rails.
I produce the chairs or clips by rolling wrought iron or steel into a continuous
bar of a suitable section, which I cut off in lengths and bend to a clip-like form, as
is herein-after more fully described.
I make the chairs or clips with shoulders or projections to bear against the under
sides of the sleepers, and by the same key which binds the rail down to the sleeper
the shoulder or projection upon the chair or clip is held firmly up to the under side
of the sleeper.
When using the transverse trough-like sleepers, which I prefer, I give the
requisite tilt to the rail by curving the sleeper downwards in the centre.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a section representing a flat-bottomed rail, secured to a transverse
trough sleeper by a clip chair and key; Figure 2 shews a plan of the same; and s
Figure 3, an elevation with the sleeper in section. a is the rolled sleeper; it is cut
off to the length required; holes are formed in it at a¹, a¹, and it is curved, so that
when the foot of the rail stands flat upon the sleeper the rail may have the slight
tilt which is generally thought desirable; b is the rail of the ordinary flat-footed
section; .c is the clip inserted through the holes a¹ in the sleeper from the under
side; d is a wooden key or wedge driven in between the jaw of the clip chair and
the rail, and fastening the parts a, b, and c firmly together. Although I prefer to
employ wooden keys or wedges, metal keys or wedges, which are sometimes used
for fastening railway rails may be employed.
Clip chairs, such as the Drawing represents, may be made of cast metal, but, as ;
before mentioned, I prefer to roll them as bars and cut them off to the lengths
required. The metal is rolled out nearly flat to the section represented, and having
the ribs and the shape of the jaw perfect. The flat bars are cut off to the width of
the chair required, and the pieces are bent into the horse-shoe or bow shape by
tools which also press the jaw exactly to the width required, and give the taper
suitable for the wooden key.
The clips may be bent by hand, but I prefer pressing them in a die. The clips
may be made flat at the bottom, but I prefer the bow form, as represented by the
Drawing.
Figure 4 is a section representing a similar clip chair, applied to secure a double-
headed rail to its sleeper. In this form, on the side opposite to the key, it is
advisable to form the clip with double projections, embracing the end of the hole a¹
in the sleeper both on the upper and the under side.
The clip chair may be made in two parts, as is represented in Figure 5, in which
case the parts can be introduced into the holes in the sleeper from the upper side.
This arrangement is however not so advantageous as that previously described,
where the clip chair is made in a single piece.

page_text: a is
Figure 6 shews in section another arrangement in which the same key or wedge
which holds down the rail also secures the clip in its place upon the sleeper.
the sleeper; b is the rail; and c is the clip, which is different in form and construc-
tion from the clip chairs of the other arrangements; d is a double key, formed of a
three-sided piece of metal; it embraces the screw bolt e, the stem of which passes
through a hole in its centre. The elongated head of the bolt takes a bearing upon
the under side of the sleeper, and on screwing up the nut the key or wedge is
pressed home.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I claim,-
First. The chair or clip inserted through a hole or holes in the sleeper, and
secured by a key or wedge, which also serves to retain the rail in the chair or clip,
substantially as described.
Second. The chair or clip inserted through a hole or holes in the sleeper from the
under side, and secured by a key or wedge, which also serves to retain the rail in
the chair or clip, substantially as described.
Third. The chair or clip with a projection upon it held securely up to the under
side of the sleeper by the same key or wedge which binds the rail down to the
sleeper, substantially as described.
Fourth. The manufacture of chairs or clips for securing railway rails to their
sleepers by rolling iron or steel into a bar of suitable section, cutting the bar into
lengths, and bending the pieces to the clip-like form, substantially as described.
Fifth. The arrangements for securing railway rails to their sleepers, substantially
as described, and represented in the annexed Drawings.
Sixth. The combination of railway rails, clip chairs, and sleepers, substantially
as described, and represented in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Wood, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
CHARLES WOOD. (L.S.)