IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF WOODEN KEYS AND TREENAILS FOR RAILWAYS AND SHIPPING, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wilson, of Conisbro', in the County of
York, Wood Turner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF WOODEN KEYS AND TREENAILS FOR RAILWAYS AND SHIPPING,
AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 8th November 1861, and dated the 11th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
May 1861.
I, WILLIAM WILSON, of Conisbro', in the County of York, Wood Turner,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN KEYS AND TREENAILS FOR RAILWAYS AND SHIPPING, AND
IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My improvements in keys consist in sawing and planing them taper by
improved machinery, which ensures uniformity in size and shape, and an easy
entrance into the chair.
My improvements in treenails consist in making them parallel three-fourths
of their length, and then taper or conical to fit the chair. The head of the
treenail to be convex.
I subject the wood (oak, elm, or other kind) to a chemical process by
boiling in linseed or other oil until thoroughly saturated, and then dry it by
heat or otherwise; thus prepared they stand driving much better than any now

page_text: in use, and after being driven into the sleeper are caused to expand. The
action of the sun on the keys also produces no contraction. The wood not
being in any way discolored by this process, prevents an inferior material being
used without immediate detection.
The improved machinery for manufacturing the keys consists of a frame
carrying a cutting tool, which frame is made to move up and down on stand-
ards to bring the cutting tool to act upon the wood; the wood itself is supported
against a guide or gauge upon a table hinged in such manner that the position
of the wood may be altered to obtain the cut required by inclining the table.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WILSON, of Conisbro', in the County of York, Wood Turner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said William Wilson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
WOODEN KEYS AND TREENAILS FOR RAILWAYS AND SHIPPING, AND IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Wilson, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Wilson, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: of the uprights B, B, and that of the central slide C are bevilled to correspond
with one another as shown in the horizontal section Figure 6; D is a rod
connected to the crank E on a shaft E, carrying the pulleys F, F, for com-
municating rotary motion to it, and reciprocating motion to the slide C; F¹ is
the fly wheel; G is a plane fitted to the slide C; H is a table for carrying the
platform on which the wood to form the key is laid. This platform rests at
one end on a joint I, and at the other on a screw L, by which means the
position of the platform is adjusted, and consequently the wood which rests on
it is set so as to receive the required taper; N is a guide I sometimes employ,
it can be arranged to be worked by lever and screw; M is the block of wood to
be cut, which is effected by the plane G in the slide C moving up and down
against it until it is sufficiently reduced; Figures 7 and 8 are end sections,
and Figure 9 is a central section of one form of key; Figures 10 and 11 are
end sections; and Figure 12 a central section of another form of key.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in the manufacture of wooden keys and treenails for railways and
shipping, and in machinery employed therein,-
First, the manufacture of keys by sawing and planing them "taper," in
manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
Second, the construction of treenails substantially in manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the method herein-before described for preparing and seasoning
wood.
Fourth, the machinery for the manufacture of keys and treenails constructed
and acting substantially in manner herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wilson have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
WILLIAM WILSON.
(L.S.)

page_text: statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed;
that is to say :-
My improvements in keys consist in sawing and planing them taper by
improved machinery, which ensures uniformity in size and shape, and an easy
entrance into the chair.
My improvements in treenails consist in making them parallel three-fourths
of their length, and then taper or conical to fit the chair, the head of the
treenail to be convex.
I subject the wood (oak, elm, or other kind), to a chemical process by
boiling in linseed or other oil until thoroughly saturated, and then dry it by
heat or otherwise; thus prepared they stand driving much better than any
now in use, and after being driven into the sleeper are caused to expand. The
action of the sun on the keys also produces no contraction. The wood not.
being in any way discolored by this process prevents an inferior material">
being used without immediate detection. In some cases, however, I stain or
paint the treenails black or other dark color.
The improved machinery for manufacturing the keys consist of a frame
carrying a cutting tool, which frame is made to move up and down on stand-
ards to bring the cutting tool to act upon the wood; the wood itself is supported
against a guide or guage upon a table hinged in such manner that the
position of the wood may be altered to obtain the cut required by inclining
the table.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section of a hollow
chuck screwed to the spindle of an ordinary turning lathe for producing
treenails of the shape herein-before described. a is the hollow chuck screwed
to the spindle b; c, c, are the cutting blades fitting in the hollow chuck as
shown, and of a form corresponding with that to which the treenails are to be
cut; d, d', are fast and loose pulleys, by which motion is communicated to
the lathe. A block of wood is forced into the aperture in the chuck between
the cutting blades, and as the latter revolve, the wood is gradually reduced
until it reaches the end of the chuck, when it is removed in the form of a
treenail of the shape shown at Fig. 2. The form I have shown is that which
I prefer, but by altering the shape or position of the cutting blades c, c, the
parallel part of the treenail may be increased or diminished, as for example to
the shape shown at Figure 3; Figure 4 is a side, and Figure 5 an end eleva-
tion of the machinery I employ for manufacturing keys possessing the
improved features herein-before stated.
A, A, are side standards to which the side slips or uprights B, B, are
bolted; C is the central slide free to work between the uprights. The edges