Chairs, Rails, and Rail-joints.
Year: 1885

page_text: Chairs, Rails, and Rail-joints.
I, FREDERICK JOHN TALBOT, Managing Director, Messrs Ibbotson Bros & Co,
Limited, Globe Iron and Steel Works, Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO
FASTENINGS FOR RAILWAY CHAIRS, RAILS, AND RAIL-JOINTS" and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:—
My invention relates to fastenings for securing railway chairs or rails upon their
sleepers, and for securing fish-plates at the rail-joints.
The said invention obviates the necessity of using the ordinary screw-bolts
heretofore employed for these purposes. Such bolts are objectionable by reason of
tbe difficulty of preventing their turning in their holes in tightening their nuts
upon them.
When bolts with round necks are used, two men are often required to
effect the tightening of the nuts thereon, one man to hold the head of the bolt with
a spanner while the other man is screwing up the nut.
With a view to avoid this difficulty, square, pear-shaped, or oval holes have
been provided in the sleepers or plates, and the necks of the bolts have been made
of corresponding shape, but, in this case, the bolts frequently slip back so that
their necks are clear of the holes, and then there is nothing to prevent their
turning while the nuts are being screwed up. Moreover the punching of square
holes in the said sleepers or plates is very objectionable by reason of diminution of
strength resulting therefrom."
My invention is designed to overcome this difficulty and also to provide
fastenings which can be readily re-tightened by one man, when they have
become slack through vibration or otherwise, without disturbing or altering the
position of the rails, chairs, or sleepers.
My improved fastening has the general form of a staple whose prongs or
extremities are screw-threaded and provided with nuts like ordinary screw-bolts,
or it may be described as a double bolt, consisting of two screw-threaded ends or
shanks whose heads are formed integrally with, and united by, a cross-bar. It is
obvious that, when the two screw-threaded ends of the said staple-formed or
ID 2

page_text: uble bolt are inserted into their holes, they cannot turn in the same, and, there-
re, I accomplish the desired result without resorting to the square or oval necks,
other means heretofore usually employed for accomplishing this result.
My improved fastenings can be produced, at a very slight cost, from a round bar
steel or other metal by stamping the same between dies specially made for the
rpose. The heads are preferably made of the same size as ordinary bolt-heads,
ensure the requisite bearing surface between the said heads and the sleeper or
h-plate with which they are used.
My improved device is chiefly designed to be used in connection with the well
nown "Ibbotson" lock-nuts, such as are described in the specification of former
etters Patent dated 11th Decr, 1878, N° 5082.

page_text: My fastening is very valuable for securing rails to sleepers, because it obviates
the necessity for lifting or holding up the bolts from beneath, as heretofore
practised, when the nuts are to be screwed on or tightened, as the said fastening
can be loosely placed in the sleepers with the nuts on, and the sleepers placed in
position before the rails are laid, and no subsequent disturbance of the sleepers
will be required when screwing up the nuts.
I am aware that staple-formed or double bolts have been heretofore used for
various purposes, but such bolts are made by simply bending metal bars to the
desired form, and are not provided with heads; therefore they have not the ample
bearing surface possessed by my fastening, and, when used with fish-plates, the
holes in the said plates have to be countersunk or cut away to admit the bends or
curved corners of the bolt, which is a costly operation.
Moreover in the absence of the bearing surface afforded by the heads, these bolts
distort, or tend to distort, the shape of the plates when the nuts are tightened
thereon.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it understood
that I do not claim generally a fastening consisting of a bent metal bar with two
screwed ends, but I claim the improved form of such fastening in which the
screw-threaded ends or shanks are combined with heads or bearing surfaces united
by a cross-bar, substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Dated this 17th day of July 1885.
F. J. TALBOT.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
Agents.