IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING FOR JOINING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Beckett Johnson, Manager for Mess"!
Ormerod and Son, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
PREPARING FOR JOINING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 14th June 1859, and dated the 17th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Beckett Johnson'
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou
the 17th December 1858.
I, WILLIAM BECKETT JOHNSON, Manager for Mess. Ormerod and Son,
of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR PREPARING FOR JOINING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to a method of cutting so as to obtain correct
lengths. For this purpose I employ a portable apparatus, which may be trans-
ported to any part of the line, and constructed with a cutting tool, to which a
reciprocating motion is imparted; this tool I cause to reciprocate by an
excentric or other such apparatus, and I gain the traverse for the cut by
suspending the tool upon a centre, on which it is caused to swing.
Secondly, my Invention refers to apparatus for making "fish joints" or
other joints of similar requirements, and consists in combining the above or
other cutting apparatus with a drill or drills, so that the two operations of
cutting to length and drilling the holes may proceed simultaneously. And

page_text: as applied to making the said "fish joints," my Invention consists in using a
combination of two or more drills without the cutting tool, so that the like
number of holes may be drilled at the same time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Beckett Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BECKETT JOHNSON, Manager for Messieurs Ormerod and Son, of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing. date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Beckett Johnson, Her special license that I,
the said William Beckett Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Beckett Johnson, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR PREPARING FOR JOINING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition,
amongst others, that I, the said William Beckett Johnson, 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 William Beckett Johnson, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates, firstly, to a method of cutting the rails so as to obtain
correct lengths. For this purpose I employ a portable apparatus, which may be
transported to any part of the line, and constructed with a cutting tool, to
which a reciprocating motion is imparted; this tool I cause to reciprocate by

page_text: an excentric or other such apparatus, and I gain the traverse for the cut
by suspending the tool upon a centre, on which it is caused to swing.
Secondly, my Invention refers to apparatus for making "fish joints," or
other joints of similar requirements, and consists in combining the above
or other cutting apparatus with a drill, or drills so that the two operations of
cutting to length and drilling the holes may proceed simultaneously. And
as applied to making the said "fish joints," my Invention consists in
using a combination of two or more drills without the cutting tool, so
that the like number of holes may be drilled at the same time. In the
two Figures of the accompanying Drawings these improvements are shewn
in combination, but may be used separately, as hereafter to be mentioned.
The framework of the machine is shewn at a, at the upper part of which
is the main shaft b, to which a fly wheel and handle c are attached; upon
the shaft 6 is a bevil pinion d, taking into another e, mounted within a
socket formed in the framing. The boss or tube of this bevil carries a spur
pinion g in gear with another h, also mounted upon a boss or tube which turns
in a socket of the framing. Within the pinions g and h are spindles i, pro-
vided with feathers so as to receive rotatory motion, but to be capable of
moving upward or downward, and after passing through a lower bearing f
they carry at their extremities drills k. The spindles i are connected together
by a strap l, the central point m of which is coupled to a lever which is
jointed to a stud n projecting from the framework, this coupling, however,
is not shewn in the Drawing, but it will be evident that upon raising or
lowering the said lever, the spindles and their drills will be elevated or
depressed at pleasure, and thus the feed thereof is accomplished. Upon the
shaft is an excentric o, which imparts reciprocating motion to a sliding bar p,
the
mounted in a guide q. This guide at its upper end is mounted upon
shaft b, so as to swing thereon, and its lower end is guided by a bar 1, being a
portion of a circle struck from the said centre of motion. The sliding bar p
carries the cutting tool which is shewn at s, and the above description will
have explained how it is caused to move upward and downward in order to
effect a cutting operation. The advance or feed of the tool is as follows:-To
the sliding bar p is jointed one end of a screw t, passing through a nut placed
within the boss of a ratchet wheel u, which nut moves on swivel joints carried
by the guide bar r and the framing; the ratchet wheel u is carried by the
nut, and therefore swivels with it as the angle is required to vary. Upon the
shaft b is a cam v, which as it revolves strikes against one arm of a bell-crank
lever w, mounted upon a centre at x, the other arm of this bell-crank lever is
jointed to a rod y, which, after passing through a guide, terminates in a

page_text: driver 1, situate within the teeth of the ratchet wheel u, and pressed forward
by a spring 2; as therefore the shaft revolves the ratchet uis periodically
turned so as to force forward the screw t, and consequently the guides q, sliding
bar p, and tools, and thus the feed for a fresh cut is effected. The rail to be
cut and drilled is placed as at 4 upon two projecting parts 5, formed upon
the framework, and is held down thereon by a cross piece 6, drawn downwards
by bolts as at 7; having been arranged in this position the operations above
described will cause the cutting tools to sever it to the required length, and
at the same time the drills being pressed downward, will perforate it suitably
for the bolt holes of a "fish joint" or other joint of similar requirements.
I have above described the several parts of my Invention as united in one
machine, but I would remark that the cutting apparatus may be employed
alone, whether drilled holes be or be not required. Also, that the drilling of
one or more holes may be combined with apparatus for cutting of a different
construction from that shewn and above described. Also, that two or more
drilling tools may be used so as to act simultaneously without the combination
of a cutting tool, and I would also remark that as the machine is perfect in
itself, and therefore portable, that the working parts may be adapted to the.
framework of a truck used by platelayers, so as to be more readily conveyed
from one part of a line to another.
. Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be understood
that I claim,
Firstly, the use of a cutting tool acting by a reciprocating motion for the
purpose above set forth, such tool being mounted in a machine which is
portable so as to be used upon any part of the line.
Secondly, the combination of a cutting tool with a drill or drills for the
purpose above set forth.
Thirdly, the combination of two or more drills acting simultaneously for the
above purpose, and in the arrangement of machinery described, I claim
mounting the cutting tool so as to swing upon a centre for the feed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Beckett.Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
W. B. JOHNSON.
(L.S.)