Railways and Apparatus Used therein.
Year: 1886

page_text: Railways and Apparatus Used therein.
I, JAMES COLQUHOUN, General Manager to the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company,
Limited, Tredegar, in the County of Monmouth, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
Heretofore in the manufacture of steel and iron sleepers it has been usual to roll
plates to a flat or trough-like form, subsequently re-heating such rolled plates in a
reheating furnace, then stamping or pressing them to the required form punching
and afterwards dipping them whilst still hot into rust résisting composition or
substance in a suitable tank or vessel.
Now my invention has for object to produce such sleepers more expeditiously
than hitherto and with less expenditure of labour and fuel, utilizing the initial
heat of the plates for completing the formation of sleepers so that reheating may
dispensed with.
•
For this purpose I employ a special arrangement of machinery such that the
rolled plates are forthwith delivered into a heat retainer and regulator lined with
non-conducting material and arranged so that the plates may be quickly and
easily transferred to it from the mill. In this heat retainer and regulator initial
heat or that existing or present in such rolled plates when they leave the rolls is
preserved for their further and subsequent treatment. From the heat retainer and
regulator the plates are delivered at a suitable temperature to a press or stamping
apparatus whereby the required form is imparted to them and thence they are
transferred to punching apparatus and from it before the heat imparted for the
rolling process has become dissipated, they are conveyed to pickling apparatus
which according to this invention is constructed as follows:-
A bosh or well with a semicircular bottom has a shaft suspended over it on the
centre from which the semicircle is struck. This shaft is provided with radial
arms, and when rotated by an engine or other means, pushes the still hot sleepers
around the sweep in which is the coating liquid, and finally they pass away down
an inclined plane.
By my invention rolled plates may with facility be converted into finished
sleepers without addition of heat beyond that originally imparted to plates pre-
paratory to rolling, the operation of the heat retainer and regulator being such as
to ensure a suitable temperature of the plates withdrawn from it for pressing or
stamping and subsequent treatment.

page_text: Railways and Apparatus Used therein.
I, JAMES COLQUHOUN, General Manager to the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company,
Limited, Tredegar, in the County of Monmouth, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Heretofore in the manufacture of steel and iron sleepers it has been usual to roll
plates to a flat or trough-like form, subsequently re-heating such rolled plates in a
reheating furnace, then stamping or pressing them to the required form punching
and afterwards dipping them whilst still hot into rust resisting composition or
substance in a suitable tank or vessel.
Now my invention has for object to produce such sleepers more expeditiously 1
than hitherto and with less expenditure of labour and fuel, utilizing the initial
heat of the plates for completing the formation of sleepers so that reheating may
be dispensed with.
For this purpose I employ a special arrangement of machinery such that the
rolled plates are forthwith delivered into a heat Retainer and Regulator lined.1
with non-conducting material and arranged so that the plates, may be quickly and
easily transferred to it from the mill. In this heat retainer and regulator initial
heat or that existing or present in such rolled plates when they leave the rolls is
preserved for their further and subsequent treatment. From the beat retainer and
regulator the plates are delivered at a suitable temperature to a press or stamping 2
apparatus whereby the required form is imparted to them and thence they are
transferred to punching apparatus and from it before the heat imparted for the
rolling process has become dissipated, they are conveyed to pickling apparatus
which according to this invention is constructed as follows:-
A bosh or well. with a semicircular bottom has a shaft suspended over it on the 2
centre from which the semicircle is struck. This shaft is provided with radial
arms, and when rotated by an engine or other means, pushes the still hot sleepers
around the sweep in which is the coating liquid, and finally they pass away down
an inclined plane.
By my invention rolled plates may with facility be converted into finished 3
sleepers without addition of heat beyond that originally imparted to plates pre-
paratory to rolling, the operation of the heat retainer and regulator being such as
to ensure a suitable temperature of the plates withdrawn from it for pressing or
stamping and subsequent treatment.
Referring to the accompanying three sheets of drawings, Fig. 1 is, a plan 3
illustrating the general arrangement of apparatus for manufacturing metallic
sleepers according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a heat
retainer and regulator according to this invention with means for, opening and
closing an exit door thereof by the operation of an adjacent press or stamping
apparatus; and Fig. 3 is a plan of a portion thereof partly in section. Fig. 4 is 4
an elevation of the heat retainer and regulator and attached parts in a plane at

page_text: right angles to that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 6 a
transverse section, and Fig. 7 a plan or top view of pickling apparatus according
to my invention for coating a sleeper with rust preventing composition.
Referring to Fig. 1, 8, 8 are rolls; 9, 9, live rollers; 10 shears; 11 a heat
retainer and regulator; 12 a press or stamping apparatus; 13.an over-head
gantry; 14, 14, are punches; 15, 15, cooling benches; and 16, 16, pickling or
coating apparatus.
The heat retainer and regulator shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, comprises a
rectangular chamber 18, lined, with non-conducting or refractory material 18*
such as fire-brick; it is provided on one side with a hinged or flap door 17
opening inwards for the admission of sleepers, and on the opposite side with a
plate or door 19 arranged to slide in vertical guides or grooves 20, and balanced
by chains passing round over head pulleys 21, and having attached to them
weights 22. The door 19 is opened or closed, as the case may be, by means of
levers 23 attached to it, and worked by .the moving parts 24 of the press or
stamping apparatus 12. The arrangement of the levers in relation to the moving
parts 24 is such that the last few inches of the stroke of the press or stamp opens
the door sufficiently to allow a sleeper to be drawn out of the heat retainer and
regulator and passed on to the press, the door closing and remaining closed until
that sleeper is nearly completely stamped or pressed, that is to say, until near the
completion of the next stroke. Instead of operating the door by means of the
moving parts 24, it may be opened and closed by an arrangement of foot levers or
other suitable means. By the use of a heat retainer and regulator as described,
sleepers may be finished to shape without the consumption of additional fuel for
re-heating them. Further advantages obtained by the use of a heat retainer and
regulator are that waste of metal by the production of scale, which would be
produced by a separate re-heating operation, is avoided, and, the heat of the
sleepers being made uniform, no subsequent difficulty with their gauge or form
arises.
The pickling or coating apparatus shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, comprises a well
or bosh 25 with semi-circular bottom which is traversed by a pair of radial arms 26
suspended over it by a shaft 27 arranged at the centre from which the curve of the
well or bosh is struck. The shaft is driven by an engine 28 so as to constantly
rotate, and the hot sleepers being served into the well or bosh from one of
the cooling benches 15 as they cool are caused to traverse the well or bosh by
the radial arms 26 which are counter-balanced at their opposite ends by balance
weights 29. The sleepers thus coated are then caused to run down the inclined
plane 30 by their own weight, surplus coating liquid draining from them into a
tank 31 which is placed beneath. The sleepers are then ready for stocking or
otherwise. The method or operation of manufacturing the metallic sleepers is as
follows:-
When a sleeper of plate or trough-like form passes from the rolls 8 it travels on
the live rollers 9 to the shears 10 where it is cut to the required length (see Fig. 1).
It is then passed up the incline 11ª (Figs. 1 and 2) and into the heat retainer and.
regulator 11 by endless rope or chain or manual labour the object of this heat
retainer and regulator being to retain the remainder of the initial heat imparted
to the sleeper for the rolling operation to equalize its temperature and to deliver it
of a regular or uniform heat into the press or stamp 12 to which it is moved by
the man attending to the press.
When pressed to the required form in the press or stamp.12 it is carried by the
overhead gantry 13, or by other suitable means, to the punches 14 (which may be
of ordinary construction) and where the necessary holes or clips as the case may
be, are punched out. The sleeper (which is still red hot) is then delivered to, and
carried along, the cooling benches 15, by an endless band or manual labour whence
when cool enough it passes into the pickling or coating apparatus 16, after which
the now completed sleeper passes down the incline 30 and is allowed to drain aş
hereinbefore stated.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is -
1. In the manufacture of metallic sleepers for railways, utilising by the use of a
beat retainer and regulator in the manner set forth initial heat remaining after the
rolling of a sleeper for completing the formation thereof, so that separate re-heating.
may be dispensed with substantially as described.
2. The improved heat retainer and regulator constructed and arranged sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and shown in Figs. 2, 8,
and 4, of the drawings for the purpose specified.
3. The use for pickling or coating metallic sleepers, of a well or bosh for
containing coating composition, and arms .or levers operated in such a manner as
to cause a sleeper placed in the well or. bosh to traverse it pass through and be
covered with coating composition substantially as hereinabove described.
4. The manufacture of stamped coated metallic sleepers by machinery arranged
and operating substantially as hereinabove described with reference to the
drawings.