Improvements relating to Means for Fixing Railway Rails to Sleepers.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 28th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 31st Dec., 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Means for Fixing Railway Rails
to Sleepers.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the firm of G. F. Redfern & Co. the General
Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from abroad
by Frédéric Coblyn, of Seraing, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer) to be as
follows
This invention relates to improvements in the means for fixing Vignolles rails
to sleepers described in the specification of Haddan's Patent No. 11146 dated
1st September 1886, whether such sleepers be made of wood or entirely cast iron.
The invention described in the said Letters Patent consists mainly in the employ-
ment of a key of wood or other elastic material for fixing the rail and in the use of a
removeable shoe against which the key bears and which serves to partly fill the
necessary space for putting the rail in place and removing the same.
The present improvements consist principally in increasing the thickness of the
sole plate, in forming the support or joggle hollow instead of solid and in providing
the foot with two ribs for strengthening it.
It has been found that, by reason of the advances made in metallurgy, the sole
plate and the foot which were formerly wrought from one piece of iron can now be
cast in a mould.
This improved method of manufacture necessitates some modifications in the form
of the parts, the principle of the invention however remaining unchanged. The
foot is made integral with the sole plate instead of being rivetted or bolted thereto,
the exact distance between the rails and the exact distance in the curves being
obtained by utilizing the elasticity of the material employed; only the support or
joggle and the shoe have been modified.
The support or joggle instead of consisting of a rectangular truncated pyramid
consists of a pillar or chair strengthened by a rib. Cheeks are formed on this support,
the inner sides of which cheeks are inclined towards the bottom as is also the inner
face of the bottom.

page_text: The shoe is not applied over the support but enters the support and bears against
the said cheeks, and the key of wood or other material employed for fixing the rail,
at the same time fixes the shoe in the support.
The hereinbefore described inclined surfaces have for object to prevent the key from
becoming unfastened and the shoe from rising.
The improved form of joggle or support can also he adopted where cast-iron is
employed by calculating the resistance of the metal to the strains to which it will
be subjected, that is to say, the sole plate and the foot should be considerably
strengthened by ribs.
Dated the 5th day of March 1888.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Means for Fixing Railway Rails
to Sleepers.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., the General
Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from abroad
by Frédéric Coblyn, of Seraing, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer,) and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in the means for fixing Vignolles rails to
sleepers described in the Specification of Haddan's Patent No. 11,146 dated 1 Septem-
ber 1886, whether such sleepers be made of wood or entirely of cast iron.
The invention described in the said Letters Patent consists mainly in the employment
of a key of wood or other elastic material for fixing the rail and in the use of a
removeable shoe against which the key bears and which serves to partly fill the
necessary space for putting the rail in place and removing the same.
The present improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which
Figures 1, 2 and 3 are a cross section, a side elevation, and a plan of a railway rail
showing my improved means for fixing the rail to its sleepers.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 are similar views illustrating a modification.
The improvements illustrated in figures 1, 2, and 3, consist principally in
increasing the thickness of the sole plate a; in forming the support or joggle b
hollow instead of solid, and in providing the foot with two ribs d, d for
strengthening it.
It has been found that by reason of the advances made in metallurgy, the sole
plate and the foot which were formerly wrought from one piece of iron can now
be cast in a mould.
This improved method of manufacture necessitates some modifications in the form
of the parts, the principle of the invention however remaining unchanged. The foot
is made integral with the sole plate instead of being rivetted or bolted thereto, the
exact distance between the rails and the exact distance in the curves being obtained by
utilizing the elasticity of the material employed; only the support or joggle and the
shoe have been modified.
The support or joggle instead of consisting of a rectangular truncated pyramid
consists, as shown in figures 4, 5, and 6, of a pillar or chair b strengthened by
a rib e. Cheeks are formed on this support, the inner sides of which cheeks
are inclined (as shown by the dotted lines, figure 6,) as is also the upper face of the
sole plate a.
The shoe h is not applied over the support 6 but enters the support and bears against
the cheeks ff and the wedge or key g of wood or other material employed for fixing
the rail, at the same time fixes the shoe h in the support.

page_text: The hereinbefore described inclined surfaces have for object to prevent the key g
from becoming unfastened and the shoe h from rising.
The improved form of joggle or support b can also be adopted where cast-iron is
employed by calculating the resistance of the metal to the strains to which it will
be subjected, that is to say, the sole plate a and the foot e should be considerably
strengthened by ribs.
1 wish it understood that I reserve to myself the right to make the support or joggle
the sole plate and the foot in one or more pieces.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1.) The use for the purpose of fixing railway rails to sleepers, of the improved
form of sole plate, support, or joggle and foot for the purpose and substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
(2.) The improvements relating to means for fixing railway rails to sleepers as
herein before described with reference to the various figures of the accompanying
drawing.
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