AN IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF SECURING RAILWAY CHAIRS TO THE SLEEPERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard John Badge, of Newton Heath, near Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, Store Keeper to the Lancashire &
Yorkshire Railway Company, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE
OR METHOD OF SECURING RAILWAY CHAIRS TO THE SLEEPERS."
11
1.
Sealed the 13th April 1858, and dated the 17th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard John Badge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th October 1857.
I, RICHARD JOHN BADGE, of Newton Heath, near Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Store Keeper to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
Company, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF SECURING RAILWAY CHAIRS TO THE SLEEPERS," to.
be as follows:
Instead of the usual trenails or spikes which are driven through holes in the
chairs into the wooden sleepers, to secure them thereto, which trenails or
spikes are very liable to become loose and break by the motion of the engines
and carriages passing over the rails, I propose to make the fastener in three
or more separate parts similar to the mason's "lewis" for raising large stones
to their places. By this form of fastener the two outer parts are put into the
hole or aperture in the chair and sleeper, and then the third or centre piece
or pieces, if more than three are used, are driven down between the two outer

page_text: pieces, which by its or their peculiar formation extends or enlarges the size of
the fastener at its lower end, thereby preventing the possibility of its becoming
loose. I also make a head of any suitable size or shape for the purpose of
more easily drawing out the centre piece or pieces when required. I make
the said fasteners of iron, wood, or any other suitable metal or material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard John Badge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
JOHN BADGE, of Newton Heath, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Store Keeper to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard John Badge, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
John Badge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard John Badge, 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF SECURING RAILWAY CHAIRS TO THE
SLEEPERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard John
Badge, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Richard John Badge, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
Instead of the usual trenail or spikes which are driven through holes in the
chairs for the purpose of securing them to the sleepers, I employ fasteners

page_text: composed of two or more pieces similar to a mason's lewis, which is used when
raising large blocks of stone.
My improvement in the trenails or fasteners consists in having a compound:
slot cut in the direction of their length, into which a metal key of parallel.
thickness is firmly driven, after the wooden trenail or other side pieces have
been driven into their place. The key or centre piece is furnished with a
head, by which the said key or centre piece can be drawn out when required
by my patent extractor. The said compound fastener may be made partly or
wholly of iron, wood, or any other suitable metal or material.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, with the letters of reference thereon, in which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of one of my improved fasteners; Figs. 2
and 3, transverse sections thereof; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section of the same;
and Fig. 5, a section of the outer part or parts without the key or centre
piece. The section, Fig. 4, shews at A the appearance of the upper part of the
fastener, and at B the widening effect of driving a parallel centre piece
between outer pieces having parts in the interior cut away towards the top,
as seen in Fig. 5. The latter Figure also shews the external appearance
before the key or centre piece is driven in; Fig. 2 representing the transverse
section at A, and Fig. 3 the same at B. In all the Figures the outer parts or
pieces are shewn at C, and the centre piece at D, the head of which is seen
at E. This improved fastener is simple, secure, and efficient, being very tight
and firm, thereby preventing the loosening and shaking of the chairs; they are
very suitable for points and crossings, &c., as also for being easily renewed.
After an old trenail has been withdrawn, it is found that owing to its previous
expansion the hole will be too large to give to the ordinary trenail sufficient
hold to fix it firmly, while at the same time the hole in the iron chair
will not admit a trenail of larger dimensions than the one previously
driven in.
By the use of my improved fasteners it will be found that the outer part or
parts may be first easily driven into its right position; the introduction of the
parallel key will give considerable expansion to all that part of the trenail
which is driven into the sleeper, and if at any time required to be removed, by
the use of my patent extractor the iron key may be withdrawn without
damage, and the side pieces easily removed by hand.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as
such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof;

page_text: but I claim as my Invention the fastener or apparatus for securing railway
chairs to the sleepers in two or more parts, as a substitute for the ordinary
trenail, as such fastener is herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard John Badge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
R. J. BADGE. (L.S.).
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Richard John Badge,
in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
.