IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PARTS OF THE SAME
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Gibson, of the City of Lincoln, Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS,
AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PARTS OF THE SAME."
Sealed the 29th June 1860, and dated the 31st December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Gibson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
December 1859.
I, ROBERT GIBSON, of the City of Lincoln, Engineer, do hereby declare tho
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PARTS OF THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in the following methods of securing wooden
keys in railway chairs:-On one side of the wooden key I form a groove' in
which is inserted a piece of iron enlarged or bent at one end, when the key is
driven home a nail or screw may be inserted through the piece of iron into the
wooden key after the iron key or wedge is driven close up to the chair; this
will prevent the wedge from receding, and in case the wooden key requires to
be tightened up the iron wedge may be again driven home against the chair
and a fresh nail or screw driven in. The projection on the iron key may be
inserted in a hole made in the chair or in the rail, and when the wooden key
is driven home the nail or screw may be put in, in order to prevent the wooden.

page_text: key from receding; or, instead of a nail or screw being driven through the
hole in the iron key and into the wooden one, the end of the iron key may be
elongated beyond the large end of the wooden key and bent for the purpose of
retaining the wooden key; and so often as the latter may be driven home so
often may the bending of the iron key take place.
Another method of securing the wooden key after it is driven home, accord-
ing to my Invention, is as follows:-A pin of iron or other material is placed
in a hole previously cast or drilled into the chair, and by means of a key driven
either longitudinally or vertically, may be forced into the wooden key or so
firmly against it as to prevent its receding; the longitudinal or vertical key
may be either spilt at one end and opened in order to secure it, or it bo
may
secured by any other means, or instead of the pin an ordinary wood screw may
be used; or the wooden key may be secured in its place after it is driven home
by having steps cut or pressed into one of its ends. The key has a groove
in which either steps or an inclined plane may be formed, either by com-
pression or by cutting tools. Two pieces of iron are cast or otherwise secured
to the chair (one only will be requisite, but it may be placed either at the fore
or hind part of the wooden key), and as the wedge is driven the piece of iron
will fall into the step prepared for it, and thus prevent the receding of the
wooden wedge. The iron key may be inserted in a mortice or groove cast in
the chair, and after the wooden key has been driven home this iron key may
be driven into the mortice or groove, until its bent end comes in contact with
the larger end of the wooden key; the iron key may then be further secured
in its position by a transverse or vertical key or other fastening, or the wooden
keys may be secured in their positions by holes being formed in the rails for
the purpose of inserting transverse split cottars, bolts, or other fastenings. In
the case where steps are employed they may be formed at the bottom of that
part of the chair where the wood wedges come in contact, and the fastening be
made there. A like position may be selected for the fastening when any other
of the foregoing modes are adopted.
A further method of securing the wooden key, according to my Invention,
is as follows: A hole is cast in the bottom of the chair, and a lever with an
enlarged end is so fixed beneath the chair, that on pressing down its outer end
the enlarged end will come through the hole in the bottom of the chair into
corresponding stops in the key, and thus secure it at any point which may be
most convenient.
The second part of my Invention consists in forming the chairs of wrought
iron by stamping in suitably formed dies; thus, presuming I want a chair, I
procure plain bar iron, or iron rolled in a particular form with reference to its

page_text: thickness, and I bend it so that its ends may form the jaws of the chair; and
in a properly constructed furnace or fire I heat it to a welding heat, and then
insert between the jaws a suitably formed mandril, and then place the whole
into a properly shaped die, and with a stamp whilst in a welding state I give it
the proper configuration, and, if required, I punch the necessary bolt holes at
the same time; or, instead of bending the bar so as to form the jaws of the
chair, loose pieces of a suitable form and weight may be laid on to the bottom
bar, and the entire mass welded as before. The welding and stamping may
be performed without the mandril by first making the part between the jaws
parallel or slightly taper, so that the upper tool will readily leave after having
performed the operation of stamping and welding, and in a suitable press or
stamp the configuration of the inside of the jaws can be afterwards performed
on a suitably formed mandril.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Gibson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
GIBSON, of the City of Lincoln, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Gibson, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Gibson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Gibson, 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 PERMA-
NENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PARTS OF THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Gibson, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Gibson, 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
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say :-
The head fon
The object of the first part of my Invention is to prevent the wooden keys
now used to secure the rails in the chairs from jolting out or slipping back-
wards, which I effect in one or other of the following methods. On one side
of the wooden key I form a groove in which is inserted a piece of iron enlarged
or bent at one end; when the key is driven home a nail or screw may be in-
serted through the piece of iron into the wooden key after the iron key or wedge
is driven close up to the chair; this will prevent the wedge from receding, and
in case the wooden key requires to be tightened up the iron wedge may be
again driven home against the chair and a fresh nail or screw inserted.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a sectional elevation of a rail with
the wooden key secured in a chair by the means just described. Figure 2 is
a side elevation, and Figure 3 is a plan of the same. a is the rail, 6 is the chair,
c is the wooden key of a wedge-like form, and with a groove d made in the
side; e is the iron pin or key formed with an enlarged head f.
the iron key may be inserted in a hole made in the chair or in the rail; when
the wooden key is driven home a nail or screw g may be passed through the
pin e, and into the wooden key c, to prevent it from receding. Or instead of a
nail or screw being driven through the hole in the iron pin and into the
wooden key the end of the iron pin may be elongated beyond the large end of
the wooden key, and may be bent for the purpose of retaining the wooden key
as shewn in sectional elevation at Figure 4, and in plan at Figure 5. a is the rail, b
the chair, c the wooden key, and e the iron pin, f the bent over end of the pin 1.
So often as the key may be driven home as often may the bending of the iron
pin take place over the large end thereof; another method of securing tho
wooden key after it is driven home, according to my Invention is shown in
sectional elevation, Figure 6, in plan Figure 7, and in side elevation at Figure
8. A pointed peg of iron or other suitable material e, is placed in a hole
previously cast or drilled into the chair b, and, by means of a pin c, driven
either longitudinally or vertically, the peg e is forced into the wooden key d,
or so firmly against it as to prevent its receding; the longitudinal or vertical
pin may be either split at one end and opened, in order to secure it, or it may be
otherwise fastened, or instead of the peg an ordinary wood screw may be used,
or the wooden key may be secured in its place after it is driven home by having
steps cut or pressed into one or both of its ends. The wooden key has a

page_text: groove in which either steps or an inclined plane may be formed by com-
presssion or by cutting tools. Two pieces of iron are cast or otherwise secured
to the chair (one only will be requisite but it may be placed either at the fore
or bind part of the wooden key) and as the wedge is driven the piece of iron
will fall into the step prepared for it, and thus prevent the receding of the
wooden key. The iron pin may be inserted in a mortice or groove cast in the
chair; and after the wooden key has been driven home this iron pin may be
driven into the mortice or groove until its bent end comes in contact with the
larger end of the wooden key the iron pin may then be further secured in its
position by a transverse or vertical key or other fastening; in the case where
steps are employed they may be formed at the bottom of that part of the
chair where the wooden keys come in contact, and the fastening may be mado
there; Figure 9 is a plan of a double-headed rail, showing the wooden key
secured in a chair according to this arrangement. a is the rail, b the chair,
c'is the wooden key having steps formed in it, as shown; d, d, are two pieces
of iron cast or otherwise secured to the chair; as the wooden key is driven the
pieces of iron fall into the steps, and thus the receding of the wooden key is
prevented. The wooden keys may be secured in their positions by holes being
formed in the rails for the purpose of inserting transverse split cottars, bolts,
or other fastenings, as shown at Figure 10. a is the rail, 6 the chair, c tho
wooden key, and d a screw for securing the key.
A further method of securing the wooden key is shewn at Figure 11. A
hole is cast in the bottom of the chair, and a lever with an enlarged end is so
fixed beneath the chair that on pressing down its outer end the enlarged end
will come through the hole in the bottom of the chair into corresponding stops
in the key, and thus secure it at any point which may be most convenient.
The second part of my Invention consists in forming railway chairs of
wrought iron by stamping in suitably formed dies; I take plain bar iron or
iron rolled in a particular form with reference to its thickness, and I bend it so
that its ends may form the jaws a, a, of the chair as shewn in Figure 12,
and in a properly constructed furnace or fire I heat it to a welding heat,
and then insert between the jaws a, a, a suitably formed mandril 6, and
then place the whole into a properly shaped die, and with a stamp whilst
in a welding state I give it the proper configuration as shewn at Figure 13.
If required I punch the necessary bolt holes at the same time, or instead of
bending the bar so as to form the jaws of the chair loose pieces of a suitablo
form and weight may be laid on to the bottom bar and the entire mass welded
as before. The welding and stamping may be performed without the mandril
by first making the part between the jaws parallel or slightly taper so that the

page_text: upper tool will readily leave after having performed the operation of stamping
and welding. In a suitable press or stamp the configuration of the inside of
the jaws can be afterwards performed on a suitably formed mandril as shown
in Figure 14.
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,-
First, the methods, all and every of them, of securing wooden keys or blocks
in railway chairs herein-before described.
And second, the constructing railway chairs by shaping and stamping them
in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Gibson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
ROBERT GIBSON. (L.S.)