Iм- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LIFTING THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND FOR LIFTING AND PRESSING FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Charles Townsend, of Shrewsbury, in
the County of Salop, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LIFTING THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND FOR LIFTING AND PRESSING FOR VARIOUS
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Louis Christophe
Bernardin Michel 13. Rue Vavin. Paris.
Scaled the 9th September 1873, and dated the 20th March 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Charles
Townsend at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th March 1873.
I, THOMAS CHARLES TOWNSEND, of Shrewsbury, in the County of
Salop, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LIFTING
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND FOR LIFTING AND PRESSING FOR VARIOUS
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists of the construction, combination, and
arrangement of parts, herein-after described, of machinery or apparatus

page_text: for raising or lifting the permanent way of railways, and for lifting and
pressing for various purposes.
The said machinery or apparatus is constructed essentially as follows:
-A screw, one half of which has a right-handed thread, and the other
half a left-handed thread, is provided with two screw boxes, working
respectively on the two halves of the screw. When the said screw is
rotated in the said screw boxes, the said screw boxes are made simulta-
neously either to approach to or recede from each other. When the
screw has been rotated to its full extent in one direction the screw boxes
have been made to approach, and finally come in contact with one
another at the middle of the screw. When the screw has been rotated
to its full extent in the opposite direction the said screw boxes have
been brought respectively to the ends of the screw. It is upon this
simultaneous approaching to and receding from one another of the
said screw boxes upon the said screw that the action of the machine
depends. Each of the said screw boxes has trunnions on opposite sides,
and to each of these trunnions the ends of two arms or links are jointed,
thus making in all eight of the said arms or links. The said arms or
links are jointed together so as to form a series of four knee or toggle
joints, the said joints being in pairs, situated respectively on opposite
-sides of the screw, that is, supposing the axes of the screw and trunnions
to be in the same horizontal plane, one pair of the said knee joints will
be above and the other pair below the said screw. On the rotation of the
screw in one direction the advance of the screw boxes towards the
middle of the screw causes the extreme ends of the two arms or links
forming each toggle joint to approach each other, and the knee or
middle joint of each toggle joint to become more and more bent, the
knee joints above the screw ascending, and those below the screw
descending, that is to say, the knees of the knee or toggle joints recede
from one another. When the screw is turned in the opposite direction
the opposite motions of the screw boxes cause the knee joints to unbend,
and consequently to approach each other. The knee joints of the knee
or toggle joints below the screw are connected to a base plate, and those
above the screw are connected with a small platform. When the screw
boxes are respectively at the ends of the screw the platform is at its
nearest point to the base plate, the thickness or depth of the machine
being then at a minimum. If in this state the machine is put between
any fixed support and a body to be raised or moved, as for example,

page_text: between the earth and the permanent way of a railway, and the screw
be turned so as to make the screw boxes approach each other, the rails
will be raised with great force to the required height. One end of
the screw is made square or otherwise shaped for the reception of a key
or lever, or ratchet lever, and the other end of the screw may have a
loop or handle for convenience in carrying the machine. A case or
covering may be employed to enclose the greater part of the machine.
and to protect the screw and screw boxes from injury and from dirt.
The said Invention is not only applicable to the lifting of the per-.
manent way of railways and the lifting of heavy bodies in general, but
also to all purposes where great pressure is required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Charles Townsend in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
CHARLES TOWNSEND, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Charles Townsend, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Charles Townsend, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Charles Townsend, 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 RAISING OR LIFTING
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND FOR LIFTING AND PRESSING FOR VARIOUS
PURPOSES," (a communication to me from abroad by Louis Christophe
Bernardin Michel, 13, Rue Vavin, Paris,) upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Charles Townsend, my executors or ad-

page_text: ministrators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Charles Townsend, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The said Invention consists of the construction, combination, and
arrangement of parts herein-after described of machinery or apparatus
for raising or lifting the permanent way of railways, and for lifting and
pressing for various purposes.
:-
The said machinery or apparatus is constructed essentially as follows :-
A screw, one-half of which has a right-handed thread and the other
half a left-handed thread is provided with two screw boxes working
respectively on the two halves of the screw. When the said screw is
rotated in the said screw boxes, the said screw boxes are made simul-
taneously either to approach to or recede from each other. When the
screw has been rotated to its full extent in one direction the screw
boxes have been made to approach and finally come in contact with one
another at the middle of the screw. When the screw has been rotated
to its full extent in the opposite direction the said screw boxes have
been brought respectively to the ends of the screw. It is upon this
simultaneous approaching to and receding from one another of the
said screw boxes upon the said screw that the action of the machine
depends. Each of the said screw boxes has trunnions on opposite sides
and to each of these trunnions the ends of two arms or links are jointed,
thus making in all eight of the said arms or links. The said arms or links
are jointed together so as to form a series of four knee or toggle joints,
the said joints being in pairs situated respectively on opposite sides of
the screw,
that is, supposing the axis of the screw and trunnions to be
in the same horizontal plane one pair of the said knee joints will be
above and the other pair below the said screw. On the rotation of the
screw in one direction the advance of the screw boxes towards the
middle of the screw causes the extreme ends of the two arms or links

page_text: forming each toggle joint to approach each other, and the knee or
middle joint of each toggle joint to become more and more bent, the
knee joints above the screw ascending and those below the screw
descending, that is to say, the knees of the knee or toggle joints
recede from one another. When the screw is turned in the opposite
direction the opposite motions of the screw boxes cause the knee joints
to unbend and consequently to approach each other. The knee joints
of the knee or toggle joints below the screw are connected to a base
plate and those above the screw are connected with a small platform.
When the screw boxes are respectively at the ends of the screw the
platform is at its nearest point to the base plate, the thickness or depth
of the machine being then at a minimum. If in this state the machine
is put between any fixed support and a body to be raised or moved, as
for example, between the earth and the permanent way of a railway and
the screw be turned so as to make the screw boxes approach each other,
the rails will be raised with great force to the required height. One end
of the screw is made square or otherwise shaped for the reception of a
key or lever, or ratchet lever, and the other end of the screw may have
a loop or handle for convenience in carrying the machine. A case or
covering may be employed to enclose the greater part of the machine
and to protect the screw and screw boxes from injury and from dirt.
The said Invention is not only applicable to the lifting of the per-
manent way of railways, and the lifting of heavy bodies in gencral, but
also to all purposes where great pressure is required.
Having explained the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal vertical section, Figure 2 partly
in plan, and partly in horizontal section, and Figure 3 partly in cross
section and partly in end elevation, machinery or apparatus constructed
according to the said Invention; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the
same, without the cover, drawn to a small scale; and Figure 5 represents
an clevation of the acting end of a ratchet lever used for turning the
screw of the apparatus. The same letters of reference indicate the same
parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
a, a², is the right and left-handed screw of the apparatus, the right-
The end a³
handed half being marked a, and the left-handed half a².

page_text: of the screw is square for convenience in turning it; b is the screw box
working on the half a of the screw; and c is the screw box working on
the other half a of the screw. The screw box 6 has trunnions 6º, 6º, on
opposite sides, and the screw box c has similar trunnions c², c³, on
opposite sides (see Figures 2, 3, and 4). In Figure 3 one of the
trunnions 6º of the screw box 6 is represented in section and the other
trunnion in end elevation. To the ends of the trunnions 63, 62, of the
screw box b the inner ends of the pairs of links or arms d, f, are respec-
tively jointed, and to the ends of the trunnions c², c², of the screw box c
the inner ends of the pairs of links or arms e, g, are respectively jointed.
There are thereby formed four joints of the kind called knee or toggle
joints. The upper ends of the arms or links d, d, and e, e, of the said
knee or toggle joints are jointed together by the pin or axis d³, by which
they are also connected to the platform i, and the lower ends of the
arms or links f, f, and g, g, of the said knee or toggle joints are jointed
together by the pin or axis f² by which they are also connected to the
base plate h. The manner in which the arms or links of the knee or
toggle joints are jointed together, and to the platform and base plate,
will be readily seen by an examination of Figures 1 and 3 of the
Drawings. The screw a, a², and screw boxes b, c, are covered and
protected by the case or covering k.
The action of the machinery or apparatus is as follows:―The
screw a, a, being rotated by means of the ratchet key represented in
Figure 5 placed on the square end a³ of the said screw, the screw boxes
b, c, are made simultaneously to approach to or recede from one another.
When the said screw a, a², has been rotated to its full extent in one
direction, so as to bring the screw boxes b, c, in close contact, the pairs
of knee or toggle joints d, f, and e, g, are nearly vertical, and the base
plate and platform i are at their greatest distance apart, the said screw
boxes and toggle joints occupying the respective positions represented
in the Drawings. When the screw a, a², is moved to its full extent in
the opposite direction the screw boxes b, c, are brought respectively to
the ends of the said screw and the knee or toggle joints are at their
greatest distance apart as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, and the
base plate hand platform i are situated at their minimum distance apart.
When the parts of the machine or apparatus occupy the respective
positions last described and indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1 the said
machine is ready for use for lifting or pressing purposes. For example,

page_text: in using the machine for lifting the permanent way of a railway the
parts h and i of the collapsed machine are put between the earth and
the permanent way to be lifted and the screw a, a³, is turned by the
ratchet lever, Figure 5, in the direction proper to make the screw
boxes b, c, approach each other. As the said screw boxes approach each
other the moveable parts of the machine pass from the positions indi-
cated in dotted lines in Figure 1 to those represented in continuous lines
or fully drawn in Figure 1 or approaching them according to the
extent to which the screw is turned. The small perspective view,
Figure 4, represents the parts in an intermediate position. During the
action described the platform i and base plate h have separated more or
less, and the permanent way is lifted to the required extent. By rotating
the screw a, a³, in the opposite direction the platform i and base plate h
are brought into their closed or normal positions.
For convenience in carrying the machine or apparatus, one end of the
right and left-handed screw a, a³, is furnished with a loop or handle a*,
which may be hooked upon a hook made on the end of the handle
of the ratchet lever or key, Figure 5. Instead of covering the screw
and screw boxes of the machine with a case or covering, as represented,
the said case or covering may be omitted.
The application of the said Invention to the lifting of heavy bodies
and to all purposes where great pressure is required will be readily
understood by the foregoing description, reference being bad to the
accompanying Drawings, the shape and construction of the two parts /
and i being varied to suit the particular use to which the machine or
apparatus is to be applied.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of the said Invention, but I claim as the said Invention, the
improvements in machinery or apparatus for raising or lifting the
permanent way of railways, and for lifting and pressing for various
purposes herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say, machinery or apparatus, consisting essentially
of the right and left-handed screw a, a³, screw boxes c, d, and the pairs
of knee or toggle joints d, e, and f, g, carrying the parts h and i, the

page_text: parts of the said machinery or apparatus being constructed and com-
bined or arranged, and used substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Charles Townsend, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
THOMAS CHARLES TOWNSEND. (L.S.)
Witness,
E. CRESSWELL PEELE,
Sol*.,
Shrewsbury.